Great Zhou Wensheng

Chapter 35 Dragon-Attracting Insect Runes - Erya Insect and Fish Seals!

Beneath the corridor of the Xue residence, a gilded incense burner with a tortoise-shaped knob emitted a wisp of smoke.

"Sis, what new and interesting idea are you coming up with this time?"

Xue Fu asked curiously.

Xue Lingqi turned around and smiled, then looked at Jiang Xingzhou, Xue Fu, and Xue Gui, and said, "I was thinking that today is the Awakening of Insects, and all the insects are awakening."

Have you ever heard the "Supplement to the Monthly Calendar" say that the three signs of the Awakening of Insects are: insects awaken their wisdom, silkworms spin cocoons, and dragons raise their heads?

Yesterday, the energy of Jiangyin County surged, coinciding with the Awakening of Insects. The earthworms must have turned over and produced high-potential insects that feed on the energy to grow!
"The three of you have just been promoted to the rank of Tong Sheng, so you are now free to catch and raise scholar insects!"

"Oh, right!!"

"When we were born, our father said we were too weak in talent. He said that we needed our own talent to raise crickets and that we shouldn't waste it on them, so he forbade us from raising crickets!"

Now that the young scholar has achieved such great success, he is old enough to raise scholar insects!

Upon hearing this, Xue Fu and Xue Gui were overjoyed and slapped their thighs.

They had long harbored this intention and had secretly read "Ode to Insect Raising." However, they dared not raise them due to their father's authority.

Since Miss Xue has spoken, the restriction can be considered lifted.

He quickly instructed his servant to bring a mother-of-pearl inlaid ebony box and a cricket jar to store the crickets.

"Young Miss, that's a great idea!"

Jiang Xingzhou, holding a section of Thunder-Burning Bamboo, couldn't help but nod in approval.

The "Monthly Ordinances of the First Month" states, "Hibernating insects begin to stir," referring to the first month of the year.

All things emerge from the Zhen trigram, which represents thunder; hence the name Jingzhe (Awakening of Insects), signifying that hibernating insects are startled and emerge. Jingzhe is the only one of the twenty-four solar terms named after an insect.

The day of Jingzhe (Awakening of Insects) is also the best time of year to catch insects.

Once you miss it, you can only wait until next year.

He had previously seen Li Sanlang Li Yunxiao's [literary insect] turning the pages of a book at the Xue family's private school. Its purpose was quite interesting and it was also somewhat beneficial to the cultivation of literature and Taoism.

Scholars of the Great Zhou Dynasty loved to keep all sorts of literary beasts and pets—monsters, wood spirits, stone monsters, paper spirits, ink spirits. They included anything that could become a spirit, nurturing them with their talent.

The bixi-shaped tortoise in the Confucian Temple was a literary beast raised by the magistrate of Jiangyin County five hundred years ago.

However, since literary insects are transformed from the essence of talent, those who are novice or junior scholars have too little talent to raise large literary insects. Therefore, most people raise all sorts of strange and wonderful small literary insects.

"Chuntao, go to the kitchen and get some fresh wood ash, mugwort, and peach branches."

[The practice of fumigating the bed and kang (heated brick bed) is called fumigating insects, intended to draw out dragon insects.]

Seeing that everyone was interested, Xue Lingqi gave instructions.

To ward off and catch insects during the Awakening of Insects, these three items are needed.

"Yes, Miss!"

Chun Tao rushed to the kitchen, where she found a cypress wood basket full of freshly roasted wood ash still steaming hot, along with some dried mugwort and peach branches.

Xue Lingqi pulled a peach branch with flower buds from the cypress basket.

The more than ten masters of the Xue family in the mansion, along with hundreds of maids and servants, scattered ashes on the walls and thresholds of the Xue State Duke's mansion to drive away insects and ants.

Wood ash has a scorching, alkaline odor that can frighten away insects.

Burning mugwort indoors creates a thick smoke that can drive out insects and ants hiding in caves and burrows.

Holding long peach wood branches, they banged on the beams, kang (heated brick bed), and walls of various rooms in the mansion, trying to scare out the hiding insects.

This is called "knocking on the dragon's head"—awakening the dragons and insects in their nests, leaving scorpions, centipedes, and centipedes nowhere to hide!

"Adult insects cannot be domesticated; their aptitude is already mature and fixed, making it difficult for them to absorb talent."

It's best to capture young, newly hatched insects; all shapes and sizes are suitable—eggs, eggs, or newly hatched insects are all good for raising.

Jiang Xingzhou took the Thunder-Burning Bamboo and tapped on the wall of the mansion, speaking to everyone.

The people in the Xue family carried earthenware jars containing insects and peach wood branches, spending nearly an hour burning mugwort to repel the insects and capturing dozens of insects, ants, centipedes, and geckos.

Upon closer inspection inside the earthenware jar, it was discovered that the insects were all mediocre adults—they had failed to consume any vital energy after birth and had not developed into full-grown insects, making them utterly worthless to raise!
"The mansion is so cleaned so often that you can't find any good insects."

Occasionally, a few insects or ants might be found, but they were all extremely mediocre and stupid creatures, unsuitable for keeping as pets.

Xue Fu searched through a jar of dozens of insects and ants he had caught, but none of them possessed any extraordinary talent or characteristics that would satisfy him. He couldn't help but sigh in disappointment.

The maids in green robes standing nearby were both amused and exasperated upon hearing this.

The mansion was cleaned up, but no paper insects were caught. Can we blame them for that?
"Yesterday, the Confucian Temple resounded three times, and the talent within Jiangyin County surged overnight. This is an extraordinary phenomenon that occurs only once every ten years, causing spirit insects to go berserk. Surely, some good insects will emerge, devour the talent, and hatch into literary insects."

Today is the Awakening of Insects, and the best literary insects of the past ten years will surely emerge.

There can't be only these incompetent idiots!

"If we can't find good insects today, then it will be even harder to find them on ordinary days!" Jiang Xingzhou pondered and said.

But continuing to search like this isn't a solution.

He quickly came up with an idea, saying, "Forget it, why don't I write a few [Dragon-Attracting Insect] runes to find the insects!"
The finest literary works are like candlelight in the night.

The Dragon-Attracting Insect Talisman resembles a moth; it will be drawn to the insects and fly towards them!

"Young Master Jiang, this is an excellent idea!"

Xue Lingqi's eyes lit up, and she said happily, "Chuntao, bring me pen, ink, paper, and inkstone, and light the lamp for the young master!"

"Yes!"

Chuntao said cheerfully.

Soon, the maids prepared a set of top-quality writing materials in the hall—snow-white yarrow talisman paper, pine soot ink, a unicorn brush, and a Wenxin inkstone.

Jiang Xingzhou picked up his brush and poured his talent into the yarrow stalk talisman paper, writing the talisman to attract dragon insects.

But see,

The characters he wrote were not in normal script; instead, they resembled ancient seal script that was neither insect nor fish.

"What is this word?"

Xue Fu was stunned; he had never seen him before.

"Could this be the insect and fish seal script of the Erya?"

Xue Lingqi's beautiful eyes rippled with surprise.

The insect and fish seal script in the Erya!

This script combines bird-and-insect script and seal script, possessing both the beauty of small seal script and the appearance of ancient, primitive writing leaping out from the wilderness, namely ancient large seal script.

This insect and fish seal script is commonly used in the engraving of ancient seals.

This is an extremely niche document; ordinary scholars would not write it, nor would they need it.

Even if you searched all over Jiangyin County, you probably wouldn't find many people who could understand this script.

This ancient seal script was used only in the carving of official seals of the Great Zhou Dynasty to signify solemnity and reverence.

She happened to see this type of seal script (肰魚篆) from the Erya dictionary in a book, and learned how to write it.

"Not bad!"

Jiang Xingzhou smiled and explained, "This [Dragon-Attracting Insect] rune is a niche rune. It needs to be written in the insect and fish seal script of the Erya to have a miraculous effect and resonate with the insects and fish."

"[Fireflies illuminate the study curtains as if stars were falling, crickets chirp on the mossy steps as if swords were ringing out]!"

"[The locust ant dreams of the golden palace at dawn, the smartweed worm suffers bitterness in the jade pot of ice]!"

Jiang Xingzhou used the insect-fish seal script from the Erya dictionary, expending nearly three hundred strands of his talent, to write two short poems with dragon-summoning talismans.

He kept one for himself and gave the other to Xue Lingyi.

"Brother Jiang, write one for me too!"

Xue Fu hurriedly asked for the Dao.

"I also want!"

Xue Gui also pleaded urgently.

"We want some too!"

Several of Xue's younger siblings were also gathered around him, their innocent eyes fixed on him with longing.

"Okay~!"

Jiang Xingzhou was helpless.

He had no choice but to take a Hundred-Thread Pill to replenish his energy, and then write several [Dragon-Attracting Insect] talismans, one for each of the two brothers and the younger siblings of the Xue family.

Before long, the runes were written.

Runes are easy to use.

"[Fireflies illuminate the book curtain as if stars were falling, crickets chirp on the mossy steps as if swords were ringing out]—summoning dragons and insects!"
"Imperial Edict—!"

Jiang Xingzhou waved his hand, igniting a dragon-summoning talisman in his hand with fire, and flung it away.

In an instant,
"Hoo~!"

The [Dragon-Attracting Insect] rune transformed into a floating ball of fire in mid-air. Inside, the seal script characters, which were neither insects nor insects, turned into golden light. As it burned its ashes, it floated leisurely out of the hall and drifted towards the Xue family's courtyard, searching for superior-grade literary insects.

"Come on, keep up with it!"

The place where the dragon-summoning rune lands is where the dragon-summoning worms will be!
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Insect and fish seal script, attracting dragons and insects! Requesting monthly votes!
(End of this chapter)