Shi Shaojian: Have I Become an Outsider?

Leaving aside Shi Shaojian in the east-wing bedroom, who had been so frightened by the commotion that he yanked the transformer onto himself and was screaming from the shock. Shi Jian's eyes flew wide. His figure turned straight into a wisp of azure lightning and vanished from the bedroom doorway. A blink later, he appeared before the little grove a hundred meters out from the Yizhuang gate. Eyes wide, he stared at the trees before him, reduced to powder across the sky—tree after tree pulverized where the steel beads fired by the electromagnetic thunder cannon had passed through them. Still wide-eyed, Shi Jian clutched his beard. Only when he had unconsciously yanked out several hairs did he come back to himself. "This spell... no, this is a divine ability!" A divine ability of primordial magnetism! A great divine ability of primordial magnetism! Shi Jian murmured it inwardly. Even as he reeled at the immense power of the electromagnetic... great divine ability of primordial magnetism, he was just as stunned that Liu Xiu had actually made up a whole book of a divine ability this powerful! And this power, mind you, came when he still had not fully grasped The Celestial Worthy Expounds the Primordial Magnetism Jade Pivot Precious Scripture. "I remember him saying this talk of electromagnetism was something he saw in the school library while studying in the provincial capital. If I read the books on electromagnetism, and then read this Primordial Magnetism Jade Pivot Precious Scripture again..." Longing filled Shi Jian's eyes. He did not dare imagine how strong he would be then. All at once he began, a little, to look forward to seeing that junior brother of his, Lin Jiu, again. At the thought, he once more turned into a wisp of lightning and vanished where he stood. He did not return to the Yizhuang. He followed the path of the electromagnetic thunder cannon to see whether any ordinary people had been hurt. Several breaths later, certain that no one had been injured, Shi Jian returned to the Yizhuang by the thunder-escape art. At the same time he began to feel fortunate that the Yizhuang stood in so out-of-the-way a place, with hardly any households nearby. Otherwise... He did not dare picture those people being struck by this electromagnetic... great divine ability of primordial magnetism. He set the stray thoughts aside. Just as he was about to ask Liu Xiu, standing at his bedroom door, whether books on electromagnetism were easy to buy, he saw Liu Xiu point toward Shi Shaojian's room. "Master, let's look in on Senior Brother first. He's been yelling this whole time. He hasn't been shocked again, has he?" "It's nothing. He's shock-resistant!" Shi Jian answered without a second thought. What he wanted to know even more just then was whether books on electromagnetism were easy to learn and easy to understand! At those words, Shi Shaojian—still in the bedroom, screaming from the shock—opened his eyes even wider and cried out even more wretchedly! "Uh, Master, I don't think Senior Brother is quite that shock-resistant!" Liu Xiu spoke and ran for Shi Shaojian's bedroom. Right after that, Shi Shaojian saw a sight that left him rather blank. After Liu Xiu had rescued him, he watched Shi Jian look at him... and after only that one look, Shi Jian said to Liu Xiu, "Ah Xiu, come here. Your master has something to ask you!" "Oh, oh, all right!" Then, the two of them left! Shi Jian left, taking Liu Xiu with him!! Shi Jian simply turned and left!!! "???" No—just who is your son here! I'm hurt! I'm hurt!! Shocked until he could not stop shaking, his hairstyle even more fashionable than before, Shi Shaojian collapsed on the bed. Eyes wide, he watched Shi Jian leave with Liu Xiu, and for a moment he shook even harder. A few minutes later, Shi Shaojian walked trembling out of the bedroom. He looked toward Shi Jian's room, the door left open and the room empty. Finding no sign of him, he called to Liu Xiu in the courtyard in a voice that carried its own electric effect. "Liu... Xiu... where's... my... dad!" "Uh... he went to the provincial capital to buy books!" And also, aren't you a little too shock-resistant? What, did you download that input method too?! Looking at Shi Shaojian, who after only a few minutes could already get up and walk, Liu Xiu wore an odd expression. When Shi Jian had questioned him just now, he had asked about nothing else—only whether the books on electromagnetism Liu Xiu had seen in the school library could be bought. He had answered that they could. The library at the school in the provincial capital really did have books on electromagnetic force. Liu Xiu had seen them. Of course, at the time he had been busy chatting with his female classmates, and had never opened that book on electromagnetism to read what was inside. Mm. Looking at the title counted as reading! He felt there was nothing wrong with putting it that way! And so Shi Jian had run off to the school in the provincial capital to buy books. To be fair, his master truly loved to study. That was a good thing! "???" Buying books? Why not say he went to buy rice crackers! Honestly, he felt this sharp-tongued little junior brother was lying to him! Shi Shaojian looked at Liu Xiu, his face full of suspicion. "Senior Brother, I'm going to find someone to repair the courtyard!" With that, Liu Xiu left the Yizhuang. He was not only going to find people to repair the courtyard wall. He also needed to buy the medicinal herbs required for cultivating the immortal aspect. While he was at it, he meant to eat lunch, and see whether, after he finished a meal at a restaurant in this era, the waiter would make him stay behind and wash the dishes. Only then did Shi Shaojian notice a hole in the wall beside the Yizhuang gate. A very large hole. "???" So, what exactly had just happened? A blank look came over Shi Shaojian's face... ... Night. The Yizhuang, repairs finished. Beside the stone table in the courtyard. "No, no, it hardly cost anything..." Liu Xiu refused the money Shi Jian held out for repairing the Yizhuang wall, and began to ask—already knowing the answer—whether Shi Jian had bought the books. He asked what he already knew mainly because Shi Jian's expression had not looked good when he returned. Clearly, he had not bought them. That, Liu Xiu felt, was not how it ought to be! "Didn't buy them." Shi Jian's brows drew slightly together. Liu Xiu, inwardly protesting that this was all wrong, had just begun to ask when Shi Jian said outright, "The teacher at the school library said those books are school property, and a sale would be hard to manage!" "..." Master, haven't you heard that "hard to manage" means "sure"... And couldn't you have paid a student to borrow the books! Liu Xiu was silent for a moment, and grew certain that this master of his was a bit not... not all that versed in the ways of the world. At the same time, he began to understand why those old... patriarchs of the Maoshan Sect looked more favorably on Lin Fengjiao as the next Dragon Head. "What's wrong?" Shi Jian asked, puzzled. Liu Xiu shook his head, said it was nothing, and only asked, "Master, you didn't go look in those bookshops?" "I did. They said the books would have to be ordered, and that it would take more than a month for them to arrive. But they said Pudong has them in stock. Your master means to go straight to Pudong. A trip there and back won't even take half a day!" Shi Jian said mildly. "..." Being able to fly sure is nice! Envious, Liu Xiu said, "Master, you're incredible. Pudong is so far from here, and you can actually make the round trip in less than half a day!" "Actually, traveling by the yin road is even faster!" Hearing Liu Xiu's envious, admiring words, a little of Shi Jian's displeasure at failing to buy the books faded, and he lifted his head slightly as he spoke. "The yin road?" It sounded somewhat familiar to Liu Xiu. Shi Jian began to explain. "The mortal world has its sunlit high road. The underworld, naturally, has yin roads as well..." Of course, this yin road was not truly in the underworld. It lay in the seam between the realms of yin and yang. Traveling there brought about wondrous effects, such as shrinking the earth to an inch! "..." Absurd. Minecraft actually took this from real life! Liu Xiu nodded, privately noting that he had learned something. Shi Jian gave a hum and cautioned him, "But on the yin road there are also some who don't know any better... hmm. For you, they'd be somewhat dangerous!" "..." Honestly, this master had a real way of saying unpleasant things! The corner of Liu Xiu's mouth twitched as he nodded. What came to mind was Harry Potter—ptui, Harry Spitting Foam—no, the movie called Humans, Ghosts, and Gods. That movie had a plot about traveling the yin road. Shi Jian then mentioned that the study held secret manuals on traveling by the yin road, and afterward brought up again the matter of buying books on electromagnetism. Off to the side, Shi Shaojian ate with his head down, his expression growing faintly blank. For no other reason than that he could no longer quite follow what the two of them were saying. And besides, his dad had really gone to buy books?! His dad wasn't thinking of going to the provincial capital to study, was he? "Master, what are you buying books for?" Shi Shaojian asked. But Shi Jian only glanced at him once, then turned to Liu Xiu. "Right—how are your medicinal herbs coming along?" "???" No—just who is your son! I'm talking to you! Dad!! Eyes wide, Shi Shaojian stared at Shi Jian, who had looked at him once and then looked at him no more. In a huff he set down his bowl and chopsticks, returned to the bedroom, and went on cultivating the thunder arts by means of left neutral, right live.