Ten Thousand Ways To Eliminate Players
Chapter 36 - 036 Heavenly Remnant Collection

Chapter 36: 036 Heavenly Remnant Collection

"Indeed, what a coarse person! Even the poems I wrote when I was eight were better than this!"

"Never mind the poem, just look at his handwriting. It’s skewed and twisted, lacking strength and form, much like a child who has just begun their studies—an absolute eyesore."

"Gentlemen, since we have nothing better to do, why don’t we add a finishing touch to Shopkeeper Lin’s doggerel?"

"Excellent! I’ll go first: Before my bed, the bright moonlight gleams, I suspect it’s frost upon the ground, it seems. I lift my head to gaze at the bright moon, then lower it to look at your mother! HAHAHAHA..."

A group of scholars erupted in uproarious laughter, drawing chuckles even from the surrounding commoners. Apart from a few scholars, most of the crowd were ordinary people who didn’t understand poetry but found the scene amusing enough to laugh along.

’Lower my head to look at your mother’—how catchy! When they got home, they could use it to curse people in verse.

"No, no! ’Lower my head to look at your mother’ is too vulgar. Better to change it to ’lower my head and think of your dear lady.’ It echoes the ’bed’ at the beginning of the poem and sparks the imagination. Isn’t that beautiful?!"

"Brother Gu’s literary talent is extraordinary! A mere ’thinking of your dear lady’ transforms a piece of doggerel into a masterpiece..."

...

"Lift your head to gaze at the bright moon, lower your head to look at your mother!"

"Lift your head to gaze at the bright moon, lower your head to scold your mother!"

Hearing the scholars’ additions, the children found it hilarious. They ran back to the entrance of the Chef’s Divine Food Stall, singing and clamoring, even abandoning their song of "You love me, I love you."

"Master, your idea is good, but the poems you’ve written are truly awful. Let me do it!" Dumbelldore said, holding back his laughter. "Your poetry writing here is already affecting the stall’s business."

Lin Bai glanced at him and wrote a second poem:

"If life were always as it was at first sight,

Why would autumn winds grieve the painted fan?

Too easily an old friend’s heart may change,

Yet they say it’s the old heart that’s prone to stray.

After words at Mount Li, the clear night half-spent,

Tears like rain on bells, yet no resentment.

How different from the fickle, silk-clad lord,

Whose vows of ’paired birds, joined branches’ were once adored."

...

This was a complete poem.

Even if Dumbelldore didn’t understand poetry, and though he didn’t grasp the allusions, he was still profoundly moved.

He carefully compared it with the poems he had learned, and in an instant, a thin layer of sweat broke out on his forehead. He couldn’t find a single poem that could match this one.

Has the game’s NPC intelligence advanced this far?

Dumbelldore dazedly hung up the poem, only then remembering that the poem didn’t have a title. He turned back and asked Lin Bai, "Master, what’s the title?"

"None."

Lin Bai didn’t even lift his head. He had already started writing the third poem.

Classical poetry is no ordinary matter. Sometimes, if even one or two lines are missing, the overall style of the poem diminishes. And if one or two words are missing, it’s very easy for an expert to fill in the blanks, robbing it of the intended effect of being incomplete.

So, some poems should be written in full.

When a poetry collection is full of excellent poems, and you’re enraptured, suddenly one or two incomplete poems pop up—that’s when they achieve the best effect.

In a poetry collection where all the poems are masterpieces, if the added lines can’t match the quality of the originals, it utterly ruins the cachet. Would you still dare to add to it? Are you asking for criticism?

...

In the crowd, the scholars, who were just laughing, now couldn’t utter a word after seeing the newly posted poem. They studied this subject, and although they couldn’t write poems like this, they still possessed basic discernment.

They read the newly posted poem back and forth several times and couldn’t find the slightest flaw. They couldn’t even suggest changing a single word.

Was this the coarse person they had mocked? If Lin Bai was a coarse person, then what were they?

After a while, a scholar indignantly said, "The handwriting is too ugly and not worthy of this poem."

Another scholar, his eyes bloodshot, exclaimed, "Such exquisite verses are beyond his ability! He must have copied it from somewhere!"

This assertion immediately drew a chorus of agreement, "Precisely! He must have copied it..."

But before their voices faded, another poem was posted:

"Yongliu

A tree adorned like jade, so tall and grand,

Ten thousand silken boughs of green descend.

Who was it that these slender leaves did hew?

The Febru..."

Looking at the abruptly stopped brushstrokes, Dumbelldore’s hand started to tremble as he ground the ink. "Master, ’Febru-what’?"

"That’s it!" Lin Bai laughed. "Go post it."

...

"Magpie Bridge Fairy · Skillful Play of Delicate Clouds

Delicate clouds weave skillful patterns, shooting stars convey their sorrow,

Across the distant Milky Way, a secret passage we borrow.

One meeting ’midst autumn’s golden wind and dew so bright,

Surpasses countless unions in the mortal world’s light.

Feelings tender as water, this joyful tryst a dreamlike art,

How can one bear to gaze upon the Magpie Bridge, as we depart?

If two hearts are destined for..."

...

"Hard to meet, and harder still to part,

The east wind languishes, all flowers lose heart.

The spring silkworm, till death, its silk will spin..."

...

"Fine grape wine in luminous cups at night,

About to drink, the pipa urges from horseback, swift and bright.

Drunken on the battlefield should we lie..."

...

"When did the bright moon first appear?

Wine cup in hand, I ask the heavens clear.

Unknowing, in those celestial halls divine,

What year is it tonight...

The heights are unbearably cold...

People have sorrows, joys, partings, and reunions,

The moon has its dark, clear, full, and waning..."

...

In just a moment, more than ten classic ancient poems emerged from Lin Bai’s hands, appearing fragmentarily in this otherworld.

The jealous remarks of the scholars had long disappeared.

Where they stood was dead silent; their eyes were so fixed on the poems that they couldn’t tear them away.

However, looking at the places where lines and words were missing, their talents were insufficient to fill in a single missing word, making them increasingly agitated, scratching their ears and cheeks.

At this point, casually uttering something like "lower my head and think of your dear lady" would be an insult to these famous works; they couldn’t afford such a loss of face!

"Sacrilege! Utter sacrilege! These extraordinary verses are being used by a businessman reeking of copper coins to attract customers! This is an insult to scholars! An insult to refinement!"

"Any single one of these, if published, would be enough to make any of us famous throughout the land!"

"I feel like killing someone."

[Resentment from Dumbelldore +1]

[Anger from Song Shiqing +1, Zhao Mengzu +1, Qian Chong +1...]

...

Lin Bai received a notification of incoming negative emotions in his mind. He glanced in the scholars’ direction, smiled faintly, put down his writing brush, and stopped writing.

Seeing him stop writing, a group of scholars stepped out of the crowd.

Song Shiqing took a step forward, his face ashen. He stood opposite Lin Bai, cupped his fist, and said, "Shopkeeper, please complete the poems."

"And who might you be, sir?" Lin Bai asked.

"I am Song Shiqing of the Northern City’s Song Family." Song Shiqing looked at Lin Bai with disgust, his voice cold. "Poetry is the essence of written language, the treasure of literature. No matter where Shopkeeper Lin obtained these famous works, they should not be utilized in this manner. Please complete them. I assure you, Brother Lin, you will become famous throughout the land because of them. Wouldn’t being a renowned literary figure be a cut above being a mere merchant?"

A scholar is a cut above a merchant?

Lin Bai inwardly sighed, his expression unchanged. He returned the salute, saying, "Young Master Song truly has sharp eyes, identifying with a single glance that these poems weren’t written by me."

"Since they are not your work, then it is all the more reason they should be completed," Song Shiqing said.

"If I were able to complete them, why would I not wish for these masterpieces to be passed down through the ages?" Lin Bai sighed. "Indeed, though I, Lin Bai, am but a humble merchant, I have always admired men of letters. Young Master Song, it is not that I am unwilling to complete them, but that I am unable to. I was entrusted by an elderly man to publish this poetry collection called the ’Heavenly Remnant Collection’..."

"Heavenly Remnant Collection?" Song Shiqing was stunned.

"To be frank with Young Master Song, this poetry collection has been incomplete since its inception. The reason I’ve announced it publicly is to find wise individuals from all corners of the land to complete it, so that this pearl is not left to gather dust," Lin Bai said. "My own status is humble, and my words carry little weight. If I were to rush into publishing a poetry collection, I fear it wouldn’t even create a ripple. Thus, I had no choice but to resort to this strategy. My opening of the Chef’s Divine Food Stall, writing incomplete couplets at the entrance, and using fragments everywhere to attract attention—all of it was to build momentum for the poetry collection’s publication. If I have offended you gentlemen in any way, I ask for your forgiveness."

As he said this, Lin Bai cupped his fists and performed a deep, circular bow.

With Lin Bai’s words, the anger of Song Shiqing and the others instantly vanished.

Their gazes towards Lin Bai immediately turned to admiration, and they bowed to Lin Bai in unison, saying, "Shopkeeper Lin, your actions are truly noble!"

[Admiration from Song Shiqing +1+1+1...]

[Admiration from Zhao Mengzu +1+1+1...]

Looking at the fragmented texts posted on the entrance of the stall, a hint of regret flickered in Song Shiqing’s eyes. He sighed, "Shopkeeper Lin, my family happens to be in the book business. My Song family will gladly contribute our humble efforts to the publication of the ’Heavenly Remnant Collection’. Please, Shopkeeper, do not refuse!"

Sigh! Dumbelldore thought with a deep sigh. The Shopkeeper is tricking them again! But what’s his goal in creating this ’Heavenly Disabled Poem Collection’? Is it also a plot quest? To have players complete the poems and increase their renown? But is it really appropriate to use so many masterpieces just for a game’s storyline? Wouldn’t it be more profitable for the game company to publish these poems themselves?

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