bayedsolid Chapter 179 The Rating Controversy is Skillfully Resolved
Chapter 179 The Rating Controversy is Skillfully Resolved
The rating controversy was skillfully resolved.
Three of the thirty-six bronze sparrow lamps suddenly went dark, and the cinnabar worms twisted into half-inch-long red lines on the Xuan paper.
Su Yunlan lowered her eyes and looked at the frost pattern on the edge of the tea table. The cracks were spreading along the position of the Big Dipper and into the sandalwood grain. Suddenly, she turned the tea whisk upside down on the celadon ice-crack patterned cup.
"Lady Su's tea-making skills are more like a ritual dance performed by a Nanzhao shaman." Judge Zhao's vermilion-dipped pen hovered above the Xuan paper, the ink spreading into blood-drop-like stains on the words "turbid color".
Tea Master Wu, her pearl-adorned hair flowing, leaned slightly toward the judges' table, the five-poison silver bracelet on her wrist clinking crisply.
Xiao Yuhan's sword sheath trembled slightly in the shadow cast by the corridor pillar, and the fallen ginkgo leaves turned into golden dust before touching the ground.
The celestial chart on the back of Su Yunlan's neck scorched the frost on the edge of the tea table, causing it to melt into mist. She suddenly nodded to her servant, Sun, who was huddled behind the screen: "Please fetch the dew jar for the hour of Mao (3:45 AM)."
"Does Madam Su intend to test for poison on the spot?" Tea Master Wu chuckled, holding a tea spoon wrapped in gold thread. Her peacock blue dress swept across the lamplight wicks scattered on the ground. "There's no rule about rematches in tea competitions." A drop of wisteria pollen from her sleeve landed on the scorebook, eroding half of the ink in the "Fragrance" category.
As Sun Xiaosi trembled as he presented the ceramic jar bound with red rope, seven golden leaves suddenly fell from the phoenix tree behind the judges' table.
Su Yunlan's fingertips brushed over the water droplets condensed at the mouth of the jar. The spiritual spring water, which he had nurtured with sword energy last night, seeped through the cracks in the bluestone slab to the edge of Judge Zhao's boots. Suddenly, the cinnabar Gu worm on his judgment pen curled up into a ball and rolled to the ground.
"This tea is made with morning mist from Mount Jiuyi and snowmelt from Kunlun." The moment Su Yunlan lifted the ceramic jar, the remaining tea in the crackled teacup suddenly glowed with a moon-white fluorescence, and the twelve glass lamps on the judges' table lit up without any wind.
As Xiao Yuhan's sword tassel swept across the back of her neck, the Big Dipper pattern suddenly reflected a complete star map on the surface of the tea soup.
The old shopkeeper, the organizer, choked on his pipe when he saw the frost on the inside of the earthenware jar—those six-sided ice crystals clearly formed the emblem of the first master of the tea competition.
Suddenly, a crack appeared in the silver bracelet on Wu's wrist, and the toad's eyes in the Five Poisons relief turned and stared straight at the scorebook that was beginning to fade.
"Tea mist condenses!" someone shouted, their voice cracking.
White smoke rose from the teacup in front of Su Yunlan, transforming into the shadow of a crane spreading its wings and sweeping past the thirty-six bronze sparrow lamps. The half-ginkgo leaf that had been cut off by Xiao Yuhan's sword energy suddenly floated between the crane's beak.
The phoenix tree behind the judges' panel suddenly burst into a shower of sparks, illuminating the secret letter that Judge Zhao hadn't had time to burn in his sleeve.
Suddenly, the servant boy rushed to the old shopkeeper's feet: "The dew jar at dawn... there's a secret at the bottom!" He shook open the oil paper package inside the earthenware jar, and thirty-six tea cake samples engraved with the marks of various schools appeared in the firelight.
Xiao Yuhan's sword sheath had somehow blocked Wu Chayi's retreat, and the pearl pendant in her hair suddenly exploded, revealing the curled-up Gu worm inside.
“This rating book…” The old shopkeeper tapped his pipe heavily on the faded “Fragrance” label. The eroded ink revealed golden patterns in the firelight of the phoenix wood—it was the fragment of Lu Yu’s Tea Classic that Su Yunlan had copied with spiritual spring water last night.
Suddenly, the cinnabar on Judge Zhao's pen ignited into a blue flame, burning the Pixiu pattern embroidered on his cuff to ashes.
When all thirty-six bronze sparrow lamps were lit again, the frost patterns on the edge of Su Yunlan's tea table had spread into a complete Big Dipper array.
Tea Master Wu stumbled backwards, knocking over the sandalwood screen. The poisonous insects in the Five Poisons Silver Bracelet turned into green smoke when they touched the pollen of the phoenix wood.
As Xiao Yuhan's sword tassel brushed against Su Yunlan's nape, the star patterns suddenly condensed into translucent tea needles at her fingertips.
(Setting the stage for the ending)
Suddenly, all the copper bells under the eaves pointed to the northwest, and Xiao Yuhan's shadow stretched into the shape of a long sword amidst the gold dust on the ground.
Just as Su Yunlan was about to bend down to examine the star map that had reappeared in the tea soup, a flower seed suddenly burst out from the charred phoenix wood behind the judges' table, landing right in the crack of the blue brick where she had carved runes with her sword energy the night before.
When Xiao Yuhan's palm covered the red mark on Su Yunlan's wrist, the Big Dipper pattern formed by sword energy suddenly lit up at the point where the two clasped hands.
The embers of the burning phoenix wood swirled around their feet, forming a yin-yang symbol, swallowing the last remnant of the cinnabar worm into the cracks between the floor tiles.
"The star map in this tea..." Xiao Yuhan used his sword tassel to stir up the foam, and the stars reflected in the celadon cup suddenly shifted to the phase of the moon from when the two first met. "It's even more ingenious than the battle formations in military books."
Su Yunlan's silver needle slipped half an inch from his hair bun, the tip piercing the floating tea mist, turning into tiny frost flowers that adorned his black robe.
Behind the judges' table, the charred phoenix tree suddenly sprouted tender buds. The flower seed embedded in the blue brick had grown three crimson-gold leaves, the veins of which were exactly the same as the star chart on the back of Su Yunlan's neck.
Tea Master Wu retreated into the shadows outside the moon gate, and the cracked silver toad bracelet suddenly spat out half of its scarlet tongue.
She dug her fingernails, stained with wisteria sap, into her palm, and sneered as she looked at the gold dust floating in the corridor: "Boss Su, you'd better protect this new seedling." The pearl, stained with Gu blood, rolled across the bluestone slab and exploded into poisonous mist the moment it touched the spiritual spring water.
Xiao Yuhan's sword energy spread faster than the poisonous fog, and the severed half of the pearl turned into dust under Su Yunlan's tea needle.
Sun Xiaosi collapsed to the ground, clutching the dew jar. Suddenly, a jade cicada engraved with the character "Wu" popped out from a hidden compartment at the bottom of the jar—the missing tea utensil from the first master's burial goods.
"Be careful of the flower seeds." Su Yunlan suddenly grabbed Xiao Yuhan's sword tassel; the roots of the newly grown phoenix tree had already entangled the runes she had carved last night.
Suddenly, the frost patterns on the edge of the tea table expanded by three feet, condensing the bursting poisonous mist into an ice crystal chessboard, with each chess piece reflecting the lost tea recipes and secret techniques of various schools.
The old shopkeeper slammed his pipe heavily on the ice chessboard, and the thirty-six tea cake samples suddenly floated into a star array: "Lady Su's move of condensing mist into ice reminds me of twenty years ago..." He suddenly fell silent, staring at the sandalwood tea scoop that tea master Wu had left behind—the Kunlun snow water on the blade was corroding the three characters "semi-finals" into a dent.
Xiao Yuhan's sword sheath suddenly appeared behind Su Yunlan's waist, and the sword energy shattered the poisonous frost that was about to fall from her hair.
As the copper bells under the eaves rang out in unison, turning southeast, the new shoots of the phoenix tree had already climbed up Su Yunlan's Xiangfei bamboo tea box, the back of the leaves densely covered with fragments of tea classics bitten out by worms.
“My lord, look.” Su Yunlan’s silver needle picked up a dewdrop on the edge of the ice chessboard, and a miniature map of the tea mountains was curled up in the water droplet. “Someone even schemes to control the fog of Mount Jiuyi.” Suddenly, the star patterns on her fingertips pierced the water film, and dozens of marked red dots appeared on the map.
Wu, the tea master, sneered from the end of the street, and the vibrations of the Five Poisons Silver Bracelet caused the signs of the various tea shops to rustle.
Xiao Yuhan chopped off a phoenix tree leaf to cover the dew jar. Suddenly, the veins of the leaf burst forth with golden light, illuminating the jade cicada at the bottom of the jar until it became completely transparent—the inner side of the cicada's wings was clearly engraved with a secret diagram of the first grandmaster playing chess with the Nanzhao witch.
"The final is tomorrow..." Sun Xiaosi suddenly exclaimed, pointing at the melting ice chessboard. The watermarks that had turned into chess pieces automatically pieced together the portraits of the champions of the Tea Competition throughout the ages.
When the water reached the tips of Su Yunlan's shoes embroidered with honeysuckle patterns, the last portrait's eyes suddenly turned to the silver needle in her hair.
As the night wind whipped up golden dust from the ground, Su Yunlan pressed down on the trembling tea box.
The newly sprouted flame tree suddenly cast a toothed shadow on her palm—the very shape of the petri dish markings from her previous life's laboratory.
Xiao Yuhan's sword energy silently enveloped her trembling fingertips, crushing the last trace of Gu worm energy into the Big Dipper constellation.
Suddenly, the sound of jade clashing came from the hidden compartment of the tea box. When Su Yunlan lifted the lining, the jade cicada engraved with the character "Wu" fit perfectly with the tea mortar of the first generation master.
As Xiao Yuhan's sword tassel swept across the spliced joint, the phoenix tree's new shoots suddenly grew three feet, and as the leaves turned over, a challenge written in Gu blood was revealed on the back—the Five Poisons Seal at the end perfectly overlapped with the silver bracelet relief of Master Wu.