The art classes in the Biyong Pavilion are not included in the Six Arts, and they are not compulsory courses for students, and interested students can take them. Under the art class, it is divided into three small courses: stargazing, divination, and charms. There were not many students who took the Charm course, there were about 20 students in the first year, and a few people in the second year no longer took the course, and only about a dozen people remained, so Wu Ji combined the first and second year students to take the class together.

There are three female students who take the Charm class: Wu Ping, Ya Li, and Xizi. Xizi didn't want to take this course, but Ya Li wanted to learn, she pulled Xizi with her, and Xizi thought that as a priest, it didn't hurt to know more about the knowledge of charms, so she agreed.

This talisman class is taught in the Xuantang in the southeast corner of the Mingtang Palace. Wu Ji looked at the students sitting around him and said, "I taught you the runes to be used in the fire dragon cannon before, who can tell me, what are them?" ”

A few second-year students stood up and bowed their hands to Wu Ji. Wu Ji waved his hand to sit them down, and said, "Please answer this question to the yearlings." ”

The yearlings looked at each other, but no one got up. Wu Ji was about to designate someone to answer, but Ya Li stood up and replied: "The position of the fire dragon cannon should be reinforced with earth runes, so as not to raise dust from the impact of the ground when the cannon is fired, which will affect the sight of the cannon." The body of the dragon cannon is cast in red gold, and when casting, the inner wall of the barrel is cast with gold runes to strengthen the solidity of the barrel and prevent it from exploding. The primer uses runes of the fire and wind systems to generate thrust to fire the projectiles, and the gunner should use the mixed primer with different proportions according to the battlefield conditions to meet the needs of the range and the projectile. ”

"That's it." Wu Ji waved his hand to let Ya Li sit down, and then asked, "What runes are used for different types of fire dragon cannonballs?" It's up to you to answer. ”

The son of the Zhongsun clan of the Emperor of the Lu State stood up and replied: "The stone bullets used to bombard the enemy's city are attached with gold runes to strengthen the destructive power of the city wall; Grass and wood bullets that burn enemy buildings and utensils, with fire runes attached to them, will be scattered and burned wherever they hit; Kill and injure the enemy's soldiers with hollow red gold bullets, which contain fire-based thunder runes, and explode into 100 pieces of fragments on impact, which will cause damage within a radius of three zhang to the opponent. ”

Wu Ji asked the heir to sit down and said to everyone: "The fire dragon cannon is a sharp weapon in war, and it is very lethal, often a few rounds of artillery bombardment will reap the lives of countless soldiers. We have this kind of thing, and the enemy also has it. We must not only be able to attack, but also be able to defend, and what I want to teach you today is the defensive forbidden runes against the fire dragon cannon in the battle array. ”

Wu Ji paused for a moment, and then said with a serious expression: "I told you before, I don't require you to be able to become a master of spells like a professional warlock, but at least you must be able to make an accurate judgment on whether these runes are drawn correctly or not. You are the pillars of the future country, and in the future, you should lead troops to fight on the battlefield, and in the fierce environment of battlefield fighting, it is inevitable that the warlocks accompanying the army will make mistakes, so you generals need to develop the habit of checking weapons at any time, and if you find errors or omissions in the runes attached to the weapons, you must correct them in time. Just like the forbidden rune that I am going to teach you today, it is drawn on the soldier's shield to defend against the bombardment of the enemy's dragon cannon, even if this rune only has a small stroke error, the price paid is the lives of several brave soldiers. ”

Wu Ji looked around and said, "Gentlemen, this is a major matter related to life, please be serious." ”

Everyone bowed their heads in unison. Wu Ji nodded, holding a slender pen in his hand, and began to draw the three basic forbidden runes of the defensive fire dragon cannon on the sand table. After the runes were drawn, the students took turns watching and copying in front of the sand table. After the students finished copying, Wu Ji dismantled the runes one by one on the sand table, and explained the essence of them according to the order of writing.

The students practiced while learning, and after half a day, they had almost mastered these runes, so Wu Ji ordered someone to take the prepared shield and let the students practice on the shield.

The students finished drawing the runes on the shields, and after checking them, Wu Ji divided the students into two groups, and each gave them a rune, saying, "Everyone, the forbidden runes on your shields have been drawn, now let's test the results." What you have in your hand is a rune that can simulate a fire dragon cannonball, and of course the power is much smaller than that of a real fire dragon cannonball. Now you two groups practice facing each other, taking turns firing simulated dragon cannonballs to attack each other's shields, shield bearers to experience the feeling of soldiers on the battlefield in the face of dragon cannon attacks, which will be very helpful for you to step on the battlefield in the future. ”

Wu Ji asked Zhong Qi and the other three second-year students who had good grades in the charm class to check the shields and runes of the students again, and the four of them did not need to participate in the sparring practice, but had to assist Wu Ji in maintaining the order of the practice.

Zhong Qi finished checking the shields of the students in his row, and finally carefully examined the shields and runes of Xizi, and then retreated behind this row of students, waiting for the practice to begin.

Wu Ji asked the first student to enter the state of preparation, and with an order, the student in charge of the attack launched the fire dragon cannon in his hand to simulate the rune, and the rune culture made a fireball and smashed it towards the shield on the opposite side, making a soft sound and exploding on the shield, and the shield lit up with a blue forbidden light, canceling out the explosive power of the fireball. A wisp of green smoke rose from the shield, and the student holding the shield placed it on the ground, rubbing his ached hands and grinning. Wu Ji stepped forward to check the runes on the shield, and said to the student holding the shield: "Not bad, your prohibition should be able to resist a real fire dragon cannonball, and in the future, on the battlefield, you can also draw double or triple prohibitions, and use different prohibition runes to deal with different types of cannonballs." ”

Wu Ji ordered the students to prepare, and then proceeded in turn, the simulated fire dragon shells exploded on the shield one after another, and the hall was filled with the cracking sound of the fire dragon cannonballs, the flickering light of the shield prohibition, and the smoke produced after the explosion. A few of the students' forbidden runes were poorly drawn, and the forbidden runes were broken up by the fire dragon cannonballs, but fortunately, the cannonballs were not very powerful, and the shields were strong enough to cause casualties, but they also scared these students and the surrounding classmates enough. With personal experience, this lesson is profound enough, and it is expected that they will be more serious on the battlefield in the future.

After the platoon of students has finished their drills, the attacker and the shield-wielder swap identities, and the shield-wielding students begin to use runes to attack the opposite side.

The object of Xizi's training is Wu Ping, Zhong Qi is looking at Wu Ping opposite, his pupils suddenly dilated, only to see that the fireball emitted by the rune in Wu Ping's hand is more than two or three times larger than the others, and a huge fireball quickly smashed on Xizi's shield, and the forbidden light on the shield was scattered before it could flash, and the huge explosive momentum pushed Xizi to fall backwards. Even if Zhong Qi's eyes were fast, he only had time to pounce and stretch out his hand, and the back of his head slammed into Zhong Qi's right hand, Zhong Qi only felt a sharp pain in his hand, and he was glad that he didn't hit the ground, otherwise he would have been injured.

Zhong Qi asked eagerly, "Are you okay?" ”

Xizi sat up, shook her head when she heard the words, there was a hint of confusion in her eyes, she didn't understand why she fell to the ground. Ya Li ran over to check if his son was injured, and scolded Wu Ping angrily: "What are you doing? Who told you to increase the power of the runes without permission? Don't show off here, someone else will get hurt, bastard! ”

Wu Ping on the other side didn't seem to hear Ya Li's words, and she didn't speak, she still had a cold expression, and she didn't even have a trace of apologetic eyes. Seeing this, Ya Li became more and more annoyed, and said loudly: "Hey, did you hear that?" You're a person who hurts others and doesn't even say a word of apology? ”

At this time, Wu Ji also came, leaned over to check on his son, and saw that there was no big problem, so he walked up to Wu Ping and asked, "Wu Ping, what's going on?" ”

Wu Ping lowered her eyes, turned around, and walked away. Ya Li shouted behind her, "Hey, you're just leaving? Feed! Wu Ping ignored Ya Li, stepped out of the gate of the Xuantang, turned to the side, and the figure disappeared. Ya Li said indignantly: "What kind of person is this! ”

Wu Ji looked at the direction Wu Ping left, his eyes were complicated. Seeing that the time was almost up, he asked the students to leave class and asked Zhong Qi to take a few first-year students to pack up the shields they used and put them back in their places. Wu Ji asked Ya Li to accompany his son to the hospital for a closer examination, Ya Li nodded, and helped his son to go to the medical hall.

Zhong Qi led people to pack up the shields, and when everyone left, he said to Wu Ji: "Sir, I have carefully checked the runes that simulate the fire dragon cannon when I distributed them to everyone, and the runes that everyone got are the same, and Wu Ping's is no exception. Her runes are so powerful that she can only activate the spell amplification herself. - Did she do it on purpose? ”

Wu Ji muttered: "It shouldn't be ......" As soon as he raised his eyes, he saw Zhong Qi looking at him with a puzzled expression, so he said: "I will ask Wu Ping for the specific situation." Fortunately, there is nothing wrong with the son-in-law, you should go to the hospital to see her. ”

Zhong Qi said "yes", saluted Wu Ji, and went out to run to the medical hall. Wu Ji stood in place for a long time, his eyes flashing, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

The winter of the seventh year of King Mu of the Great Zhou Dynasty was a warm winter, and I saw that half of the wax moon had passed, and there was still no snow. Zhong Qi remembered that at this time last year, he was still clearing snow with his classmates, but this year he didn't have to do so.

On this day, the second-year students were sweeping the building according to Mr. 's request, they were sweeping the roads, picking up garbage, smoking and chasing mice, and sealing the windows, and they were busy, when someone suddenly came to Zhong Qi and said that Wu Ji wanted him to go to the school field.

Ji Bohu said: "Why do you have something to do as soon as you get to work?" ”

Zhong Qi said: "It was Mr. Wu Ji who called me, it is estimated that it is related to the rune matter, or you two should go with me." ”

Ji Bohu shook his head and said, "Don't call me about the rune, I can't get the ghost talisman." ”

The general next to him said: "I guess you are also going to be caught as a coolie." After cleaning here, Ji Bohu and I will go back to simmer the taro around the stove, and you will come back early after finishing there, and I won't leave it for you when it's late. ”

Zhong Qi said "yes", then said goodbye to the two and went to the school field.

Zhong Qi rushed to the school and found that Lu Kui, a doctor in the stargazing class, Yi Gao, and Wu Ji, a doctor in the divination class, had gathered sixty or seventy people on the school, all of whom had taken the spell course, and even the students who had chosen them had called over.

Hearing Lu Kui's introduction, Zhong Qi knew that it was the imperial court that had continuously used troops in the north in recent years, and the people were gradually exhausted, in order to boost the morale of the army and the people, the Son of Heaven wanted to arrange a grand fireworks show on the first day, and the required project was very huge.

Zhong Qi stood in the crowd and looked around, and saw Xizi and Ya Li not far away, Ya Li also saw Zhong Qi and beckoned to him, Zhong Qi ran over and stood next to them.

Under the assignment of Lu Kui, the students on the school field drew the most basic runes for the fireworks according to the template provided, and the three gentlemen and several fifth-year students with the best grades in the charm class shuttled through the crowd for inspection and guidance.

Although this winter is warmer than usual, after all, it is the lunar month, and it still feels very cold after being bare outdoors for a long time. Zhong Qi secretly glanced at the son on the other side of the crow, who was engrossed in drawing runes, and exhaled a cloud of white haze from the mouth of the mask on her face, and a pair of small hands were frozen white. Zhong Qi took out a pair of deerskin gloves from his arms, touched Ya Li lightly, and handed the gloves to her.

"Yo, this is for me?" Ya Li said in surprise.

"For both of you." Zhong Qi pointed to the son on the other side.

"How can two people wear only one pair of gloves?"

"The main way to draw runes is to use the right hand, the left hand can be copied in the sleeve, and only the right hand can wear one."

"Dare is not for me." Ya Li glanced at Zhong Qi and pouted: "Fortunately, this girl doesn't need to be cared about by others, and she has already prepared." As he spoke, he took out a pair of delicate gloves from his arms, handed Zhong Qi's gloves to his son, and bowed to Zhong Qi's side, saying, "Na, this is for you by Zhong Qi's son, you can wear it." ”

"No need." Xizi whispered, and then took out a pair of small gloves from his arms: "I have it myself, you let him wear it himself." ”

"It's not like I didn't help you, someone else brought it themselves." Ya Li returned the gloves to Zhong Qi, and Zhong Qi took the gloves in a sneer, and his face turned red. Ya Li couldn't help but giggle as she looked at Zhong Qi's embarrassed appearance. This laugh is good, I don't know which laughing point of Ya Li was poked, and I couldn't stop laughing. She was afraid that others would notice, so she covered her mouth with one hand and struggled to hold back, but her shoulders still shook.

The son quietly stretched out his hand from the side and pinched Ya Li's waist hard, and Ya Li jumped to the side with a "ah-yo" sound, stepping on Zhong Qi's feet. Zhong Qi gritted his teeth and said nothing, endured the pain in his feet and the heat on his face, and forced himself to pay attention to the fireworks in front of him, and at this time he didn't feel his hands cold, and he didn't put on those gloves anymore.

After a few days of busy work, the fireworks were finally completed and shipped to Hojing.

On Chinese New Year's Eve, Mr. Li, the deputy priest, led the teachers and students of the museum to carry out a grand ceremony, and arranged a sumptuous banquet in the evening, and the teachers and students of the museum gathered in the main hall of the Mingtang Palace to celebrate and welcome the arrival of the new day. During the period, there were pot throwing and archery, hiding hooks and shooting, and there were music and dance performances arranged by the students themselves, which was so lively.

There is no curfew on this night, and the whole building is brightly lit. Zhong Qi sneaked out of the banquet, climbed up the Bishan Mountain behind the pavilion, and sat down on the branch of the "Danlin Place". The students who participated in the production of fireworks knew that in addition to transporting them to Hojing, they also made an extra batch of fireworks bombs to stay in the museum, and the deputy priest also released fireworks on the first day, echoing with Hojing from afar, so as to strengthen the prestige of the Son of Heaven and repay the kindness of the Son of Heaven. Zhong Qi came here to find the best viewing position to enjoy this annual event.

Zhong Qi had just sat down on the branch of the tree, and found that there was a light floating on the way up the mountain. The son walked to the top of the mountain, turned off the lights, and climbed the tree she frequented. It turns out that the son is also here to watch the fireworks. Zhong Qi, as usual, quietly hid his figure among the branches and waited quietly.

As soon as the time came, the sky in the direction of Haojing was faintly bright, and on the top of the stargazing hall on the top floor of Mingtang Palace, several fireworks whistled through the night sky, blooming into beautiful fireworks in the sky. Then the fireworks exploded one after another, the gold runes burst out of golden fireworks, the wood runes burst out of cyan fireworks, the water runes burst out of blue fireworks, the fire runes burst out of red fireworks, the earth runes burst out of yellow fireworks, and occasionally there are many fireworks bombs that are mixed with two or three kinds of runes together, and the end is colorful and beautiful.

The people in the Biyong Hall gathered around the Mingtang Palace, looking up at the fireworks in the night sky, shouting and cheering together. Zhong Qi looked at the fireworks made by himself in front of him so beautifully, and he also felt a sense of pride in his heart. He turned his head to look at Xizi, and saw that Xizi was also staring at the fireworks in front of him for a moment, and he could not see her expression under her leather mask, only a pair of her eyes, which were flowing with colorful light in the darkness.

Zhong Qi was watching, and suddenly felt a chill on the tip of his nose, he reached out and touched it, and saw that it was a snowflake slowly melting on his fingers with the light emitted by the fireworks. He looked up at the sky, and at some point, the snow had fallen.

The first snow of this winter came together with the first day of the eighth year of King Mu of the Great Zhou.