Li Diudiu was not particularly familiar with Yuan Xiuwei — and it wasn’t just Yuan Xiuwei. Besides Yan Qingzhi, Li Diudiu wasn’t very close with any of the Academy’s instructors. If he were to rank them by familiarity, the one who came right after Yan Qingzhi would be the instructor in the Academy’s Book Forest Tower.

The instructor of the Book Forest Tower was a deeply mysterious man, and also one who inspired fear. Rumor had it that he had once committed a grave transgression and had been demoted to the Book Forest Tower to guard the collection. Among the entire Academy, only Yan Qingzhi could communicate with him freely.

As for what transgression he had committed, very few people knew — for those who had known at the time had most likely already left the Academy long ago, and even they did not dare speak of it carelessly.

Li Diudiu only learned later that in the eyes of everyone at the Academy — whether students or other instructors — none of them particularly liked Yan Qingzhi either.

They considered the instructor of the Book Forest Tower a monster, and Yan Qingzhi half a monster. It wasn’t that Yan Qingzhi had done anything shocking or outrageous — it was simply that the monster only seemed willing to have any kind of exchange when Yan Qingzhi was present.

Li Diudiu hadn’t known any of this at first, because when he visited the Book Forest Tower he hadn’t sensed anything amiss. The instructor had been reasonably amiable toward him — just unusually quiet.

Later, when Li Diudiu began going to the Book Forest Tower on his own to read, he would bow respectfully each time he saw the instructor, and the instructor would glance at him once and offer nothing more.

It wasn’t Yan Qingzhi who told him that the Book Forest Tower’s instructor was abnormal — Yan Qingzhi had never once spoken a single ill word about the man behind his back, nor had he even brought him up in conversation.

The revelation came after Li Diudiu had frightened Yuan Xiuwei away. A fellow Academy student who had witnessed the incident nearby was also startled by Li Diudiu.

Li Diudiu had slapped a table apart with one palm, then bowed low toward Yuan Xiuwei — and as he bent down, he had lifted his eyes to look up at Yuan Xiuwei. It was precisely that one glance that had drained all color from Yuan Xiuwei’s face.

As misfortune would have it, a few Academy students happened to be passing by the entrance to the dining hall and also caught that upward glance Li Diudiu had directed at Yuan Xiuwei.

Li Diudiu then overheard their conversation. Those students quickened their steps to leave, and one among them said: “Stay away from Li Chi from now on. Did you see that look in his eyes? It’s exactly the same as how that monster in the Book Forest Tower looks at people. They’re both monsters.”

Monsters?

Li Diudiu thought: the so-called monsters in the eyes of these self-proclaimed normal people were, more often than not, far more genuinely human than the normal people themselves.

After that day’s lessons ended, Li Diudiu deliberately fell into step behind Yan Qingzhi as he left the classroom. Out of curiosity, he asked Yan Qingzhi what exactly was strange about the Book Forest Tower’s instructor, and why the Academy’s students were all so frightened of him.

“Him?”

Yan Qingzhi stopped walking and looked at Li Diudiu. “Why are you suddenly curious about him?”

Li Diudiu shrugged. “They said I look like him.”

“You?”

Yan Qingzhi was silent for a moment, then shook his head. “You’re nowhere close.”

This only made Li Diudiu more curious.

Yan Qingzhi started walking again and spoke as he went. “He came to the Academy about ten or so years ago. After meeting with Headmaster Gao, the two of them talked for roughly more than an hour, and the Headmaster was deeply impressed by his learning and immediately hired him as an Academy instructor.”

Li Diudiu asked, “And then? Why was he demoted to the Book Forest Tower to guard the collection?”

“Because his teaching was… far too audacious.”

Yan Qingzhi said, “In the beginning he was still relatively ordinary. But later, perhaps as he grew more familiar with the students, his lectures became less rigid, and one shocking, outrageous opinion after another began to pour out. When these reached Headmaster Gao’s ears, the Headmaster was so alarmed he nearly fainted. He summoned the man for a talk at once — originally intending to expel him from the Academy, but unable to bear losing his talents — and so had him reassigned to the Book Archive Tower.”

Li Diudiu asked, “What did he say?”

Yan Qingzhi said, “He said—”

Before finishing, Yan Qingzhi glanced around in all directions, then lowered his voice further. “He told one of his closest students at the Academy that there should be no hierarchy in this world. He also said that the Emperor exists only to serve the common people, and that common people have the right to their own portion of land…”

Yan Qingzhi let out a sigh, his voice dropping as low as it could go. “In truth, that alone is nothing by comparison — the things he’s said to me, if they were ever spread about, would bring ruination upon the entire Academy… He said that emperorship should not be an inherited succession of one family, but rather that a person of talent should be chosen by the people of the entire nation, and that there must be oversight over imperial authority…”

These words gave even Li Diudiu a tremendous fright.

If such words got out, it truly would be utter ruination.

Yan Qingzhi continued, “His strangest quality is that he cannot remember his own surname — or rather, he doesn’t care what his surname is, doesn’t even care what he’s called. For instance, if he happens to be reading a scroll one day and finds a person in it worthy of his admiration, he changes his surname to match that person’s. Then a few days later when he encounters someone else who earns his admiration, he changes it again. In all the years I’ve known him, as best I can count, he must have changed his surname about forty or fifty times.”

Li Diudiu stuck out his tongue. “That is indeed… rather shocking and outrageous.”

Yan Qingzhi said, “The things he said earlier constitute disloyalty. Casually changing his own surname constitutes lack of filial piety. A man who is neither loyal nor filial…”

Li Diudiu asked again, “Then why does he get along so well with you?”

“Er…”

Yan Qingzhi laughed with a hint of awkwardness.

He walked on a while before saying, “People of any kind can have friends. And speaking from the heart — I don’t actually think what he said was so wrong… so sometimes, thinking about it, perhaps I’m something of a monster too.”

Yan Qingzhi suddenly turned back. “Oh right — you’re the second Academy student he’s ever been willing to accept. The first was Tang Pidi.”

Li Diudiu was momentarily stunned.

“He said you’re all right.”

Yan Qingzhi smiled and said, “He also said that one day you’ll achieve great things — the kind without limits.”

Li Diudiu laughed. “My master says the same.”

Yan Qingzhi said, “Do you think your master is normal?”

Li Diudiu thought it over, then nodded. “True enough…”

Then he glanced at Yan Qingzhi. Yan Qingzhi gave a huff. “Don’t look at me!”

Since he couldn’t see Gao Xining every day, Li Diudiu usually practiced his martial arts alone in the woods. But that day, having talked about the Book Forest Tower instructor, Li Diudiu decided to go to the Book Forest instead of the forest. He was truly curious about that instructor now.

Yan Qingzhi had nothing in particular to do, so he went along with Li Diudiu to the Book Forest Tower. On the way, Li Diudiu recounted the whole affair with Yuan Xiuwei in detail. Yan Qingzhi’s verdict on the matter was:

Well done.

He didn’t like Yuan Xiuwei — the man was rigidly doctrinaire to an off-putting degree. For instance, when it came to teaching, if a student’s answer differed from the textbook by even a single character, it was marked wrong. When it came to recitation, dropping even one character meant failing.

Yan Qingzhi had no patience for such people. He and Yuan Xiuwei were opposite in every way. When Yan Qingzhi taught, as long as the student grasped the right meaning, that was sufficient. He would never nitpick character by character — he found that approach pathological.

The Book Forest Tower was as empty as ever. Books were rarely borrowed here even on ordinary days, and the instructor’s eccentric and reclusive temperament drove away even the few who might otherwise visit. Even those who did come only ever showed up when other instructors were present as well.

As Yan Qingzhi stepped inside, he saw the instructor sitting with his head down, writing something. Beside him on the table was a thick stack of manuscript pages that had already piled up considerably.

“What’s your surname today?”

Yan Qingzhi asked, then added, “If I don’t know your surname, I can’t greet you properly.”

This was a man with a strangely elusive quality. He appeared to be in his thirties at first glance — but if you studied him for a while, you’d think he must be fifty. Look a little longer, and you’d reckon he couldn’t be thirty yet.

“My surname is Li.”

The man answered and lowered his head again, continuing to write and sketch on the paper before him.

Yan Qingzhi said, “So who’s earned your admiration this time?”

The man answered without looking up. “My surname has always been Li.”

Yan Qingzhi: “Give me a break — the number of times you’ve said ‘always’ followed by a different surname could fill a Hundred Family Names volume by now.”

The man still didn’t look up, continuing to write and sketch as he replied, “I’ve remembered — my surname truly is Li.”

Yan Qingzhi looked toward Li Diudiu. “You may offer your greeting now.”

Li Diudiu bowed respectfully. “Good day, Instructor Li.”

Instructor Li looked up and regarded Li Diudiu. Unusually, a smile appeared on his face. “Come over here and take a look at what I’ve written.”

Even Yan Qingzhi was taken aback.

That attitude — something was off.

Li Diudiu walked over and looked at what Instructor Li had written on the paper. After staring at it for quite a while and genuinely unable to make heads or tails of it, he cautiously ventured, “Is this… drawing talismans?”

Instructor Li pursed his lips. “This is phonetic notation. I’m adding phonetic annotations to every character. Once I’ve finished preparing all of this, children learning to read will find it much easier.”

Li Diudiu didn’t understand.

From Li Diudiu’s expression, Instructor Li could tell he didn’t understand — but he was too disinclined to explain. He was, after all, a man thoroughly out of step with this world, and the fact that he’d said even this much to Li Diudiu was already sufficient proof that he was quite fond of the boy.

Li Diudiu didn’t understand because it seemed to him that adding phonetic notation would mean learning an additional layer on top of everything — wasn’t it simpler to just learn the characters directly?

Yan Qingzhi walked over for a look, then curled his lip. “Never mind whether this system of yours has any practical use — how would you even spread it? Could you actually manage that?”

Instructor Li froze. He sat up straight and thought carefully for quite some time, then nodded. “That’s true. I couldn’t spread it at all.”

Yan Qingzhi said, “So it’s useless.”

Instructor Li repeated quietly, “So it’s useless…”

He glanced at the already considerable stack of manuscripts, then slid them casually across the table toward Li Diudiu. “Here — I’m giving these to you.”

Li Diudiu was taken aback and quickly said, “This is the fruit of your dedicated labor. This student couldn’t possibly accept it. Instructor, if this truly is something of value, even if it cannot be spread or put into practice now, there should be opportunities in the future.”

Instructor Li said, “That’s precisely why giving it to you is appropriate.”

Li Diudiu asked, “Why would giving it to this student be appropriate?”

“Because you’re young, and under normal circumstances, you’ll outlive the rest of us.”

Instructor Li said, “That’s all there is to it.”

He rose and stretched his body, glanced at the light outside, and said, “If you want to go upstairs to read, do it quickly. I forgot to go out and buy lamp oil — I’ve been without it for about two months now, and the sky will darken soon.”

Yan Qingzhi said, “You’re the Book Forest Tower instructor, and you forgot to keep lamp oil stocked.”

Instructor Li said, “Because there’s no need for it. After dark, no one is permitted in the Book Forest Tower.”

Yan Qingzhi asked, “But what about yourself? Don’t you need it?”

Instructor Li said, “What would I need lamp oil for? Every step in this Book Forest Tower — how many stairs there are, how many paces from east to west, how many from north to south, how many windows — I know the entire layout so intimately I could walk through it blind without bumping into a single thing.”

Yan Qingzhi said, “But it would still be dark.”

Instructor Li looked at Yan Qingzhi. After a moment, he asked, word by deliberate word, “If you have grown familiar with darkness, you no longer fear darkness. And if you yourself become darkness, then darkness ceases to exist.”

Yan Qingzhi felt that this reasoning made no sense.

Instructor Li paid no further attention to Yan Qingzhi. Instead, he turned to Li Diudiu and said, “It is not because there is light that one fears the dark. It is precisely because there is light that people come to dread darkness. If there were no light in this world, would people still be afraid of the dark?”

He turned to gaze out the window, and said with a faintly profound air, “So if you wish to dispel darkness, the answer is not to become light — it is to first become darkness…”

—