Chapter 55: The Strange Person

  In the garden in front of the living room.

  Several young men from the Shi family followed closely behind Zuo Shi, smiling fawningly and vying to speak up, each trying to make a good impression in front of him.

  Among these Shi family children, some are collateral descendants, but there are also Shi Tianxiao and Shi Tianluo who are the direct line of the Shi family.

  Zuo Shi appeared somewhat distracted in the midst of the flowers, her footsteps light and unhurried, yet never stopping. She held a small water bottle, swinging it listlessly, as carefree as an elf amidst the blossoms.

  Shi Yan walked out of the living room, hesitated for a moment, and then strode towards the flower cluster, arriving at Zuo Shi's side with large strides. He stretched out his hand and said, "Let me take a look at the tortoise shell."

  "You little brat, now you know to come and curry favor with me, where did you run off to just now?" Shi Tian Xiao hummed discontentedly.

  "Grandfather is looking for me, something's up." Shi Yan casually explained, calmly saying: "I'm only here to help out because I promised Left Grandfather, our goals are not the same as yours."

  "...what's our goal? What's the point of all this?" Shi Tianxiao suddenly felt a pang of guilt, and then he abruptly covered his nose and shouted: "Shi Yan, what kind of smell is that on you?"

  A sour smell gradually emanated from Shi Yan's body.

  At first, the few people on this side didn't pay attention. After Shi Tianxiao said that, those stone family children who were only trying to please Zuo Shi suddenly realized it and also covered their noses to avoid him, scolding Shi Yan for being ruthless.

  Unexpectedly, the only woman in the field, Zuo Shi, who was the focus of everyone's attention, did not dodge and instead remained standing there with her small water bottle, seemingly unbothered by the sour smell emanating from Shi Yan's body.

  Zuo Shi stared at Shi Yan in surprise, and his heart was also curious.

  In the past, every young man who came to see her would dress himself up neatly, and even spray some perfume on his body, like Shi Tianxiao and Shi Tianluo, before coming here, they had all taken a bath with hundred flowers dew, afraid that there would be an unusual smell on their bodies that would offend the beauty.

  The man in front of him, however, was the exact opposite. His martial attire was wrinkled and covered in dust, clearly having not been washed for a long time. There was even a strange smell on his body, as if he had just finished practicing some sort of cultivation technique.

  This guy obviously doesn't take me seriously!

  Zuo Shi was taken aback for a moment, and immediately came to this conclusion in her heart, which made her have some interest in Shi Yan.

  Seeing that many people had avoided him, only Zuo Shi remained motionless on the spot. Shi Yan nodded secretly in his heart and asked faintly, "Where's the tortoise shell?"

  "In the living room, I'll go get it right away." As soon as Zuo Shi Yue's voice fell, she swung her slender legs and disappeared from view after a few flashes of her body.

  This girl's speed was extremely fast, like a flash of lightning. Even Shi Yan only saw a shadowy figure flashing by and couldn't take in her entire trail with his eyes.

  Shi Tian Xiao and others all had a look of horror on their faces.

  It wasn't until then that they seemed to realize that Zuo Shi was not only handsome but also a warrior who was an entire level higher than them.

  Poetry goes quickly and comes back quickly.

  In just five or six seconds, before Shi Tian Xiao and the others' expressions of shock had faded away, she returned once more.

  Zuo Shi suddenly appeared in front of the stone statue, holding a turtle shell the size of a washbasin with one hand, and handed it over, saying "Here."

  Shi Yan nodded, reached out to grab the turtle shell, and suddenly felt a strong gravitational force pulling him down. His body stumbled, and he almost fell over, nearly being pulled down by the weight of the turtle shell.

  His entire body's vital energy suddenly erupted, and Shi Yan barely managed to steady himself, letting out a deep roar: "So heavy!"

  When speaking, Shi Yan looked at Zuo Shi with some displeasure, thinking to himself: Are you deliberately trying to make me lose face?

  However, upon closer inspection, he found that Zuo Shi's eyes were clear and bright, without any hint of mischief, as if she hadn't intentionally teased him.

  "Hmm, I don't even know what material this tortoiseshell is made of. It's just one piece, but it weighs around 700-800 catties." Zuo Shi seemed to be completely unaware that Shi Yan had already silently criticized her several times in his heart. She smoothed out the stray hairs by her ear and continued, "I was startled when I first got this tortoiseshell too."

  "Seven or eight hundred catties!" Shi Tianxiao rubbed his temples and felt a bit dizzy.

  Zuo Shi had just single-handedly twisted a heavy object of seven or eight hundred pounds, as if it were nothing, and the speed was as fast as lightning. This made him even more deeply aware of the gap between himself and Zuo Shi, and a feeling of weakness suddenly arose in his heart.

  Shi Yan, however, was able to firmly grasp the 700-800 jin heavy object after just one pause, and it opened his eyes wide, immediately realizing that Zuo Shi's previous words were not unfounded.

  "Shi Yan, you, you bastard..."

  Shi Tian Xiao, although not talented, was not stupid either. He had just prepared to point out the strange things on Shi Yan's body when he suddenly realized that Shi Yan's secret must be being guarded by Shi Jian, so his last sentence stopped halfway.

  Shi Yan's expression was calm and collected, he didn't bother to respond to Shi Tian Xiao, but instead carefully examined the tortoise shell for a moment before nodding at Zuo Shi and saying: "This is one of the most ancient forms of writing, I'll need to consult some materials in order to decipher it, come with me to my room."

  With that said, Shi Yan twisted his turtle shell and headed straight for his residence.

  "Mm." Zuo Shi nodded and followed him at a steady pace.

  "Big brother, that... should we go too?" Shi Tian Luo asked in a strange tone after Shi Yan and Zuo Shi left.

  "Cough, go take a look too." Shi Tianxiao couldn't bear the curiosity in his heart, and his eyes glanced at the living room, seeing no one came out, so he walked towards Shi Yan's residence.

  ……

  The Shiyuan residence is a three-storey stone building.

  At the very bottom, there were many miscellaneous items piled up. The second floor was a resting room, and the third floor had huge bookshelves, which held various ancient texts and introductions to all sorts of antiquities.

  After bringing Zuo Shi to his own quarters, he saw a group of people walking over from the other side. Shi Yan directly shouted at the door: "I need quiet, you all don't come in!"

  With that, Shi Yan directly closed the door and said to Zuo Shi inside: "Let's go, we're going upstairs."

  Zuo Shi nodded and followed him upstairs to the second floor.

  "Uh, you take the turtle shell and go sit on the third floor first. I'll wash up and change clothes on the second floor, and then come up." Shi Yan handed the turtle shell back to Zuo Shi, pointing casually at the stairs leading to the third floor: "Just go up from there."

  "How did you suddenly think of taking a bath?" Zuo Shi wrinkled her straight nose and gave him a white eye.

  "I'm uncomfortable myself, it's not about considering your feelings, don't overthink and get worked up for no reason, little girl."

  "You're just overthinking!"

  "Don't waste time anymore, go to the third floor quickly, I'm going to take off my clothes."

  Shi Yan didn't hesitate, as soon as he finished speaking, he took off the warrior's uniform on his body and casually threw it onto a clothes rack on the side. Wearing only a pair of shorts, with most of his upper body exposed, he lazily glanced at Zuo Shi with a tilted head, "You're not leaving yet?"

  During this time, he had been practicing asceticism. After taking off his clothes, his robust body was immediately exposed, with every muscle well-proportioned and strong, without a single excess of flesh, as if cast in iron and steel, full of the unique masculine charm.

  As soon as he said to take it off, she took it off without any hesitation. Zuo Shi was obviously startled and secretly scolded Shi Yan for being shameless. Her face red, she hastily carried the turtle shell up to the third floor.

  This guy's figure is... still okay, Left Poetry secretly evaluated in her heart when they hugged.

  The third floor has two hundred square meters.

  In such a large room, apart from bookshelves, there are also some strange and peculiar jars, vases, and various ancient wine cups...

  After Zuo Shi came up, she casually pulled out an ancient book from the bookcase next to her and flipped through a few pages. She found that she didn't recognize a single character on it.

  Shaking his head, Zuo Shi muttered: What a weird person!

  Zuo Shi's interests are also very broad.

  She was once fascinated with gardening, tea art, astrology, medicinal herbs and alchemy for a period of time. However, she is too lazy and would never allow one interest to constrain her other interests. Generally, she would only delve into something for a short while before becoming fascinated with another thing.

  Most of the ancient writings on these three floors are related to history and the living habits of ancient people.

  Zuo Shi had no interest in this aspect, she occasionally flipped through an ancient text that she could understand, glanced at it for a few moments, and then felt bored and uninterested, and was even more convinced that Shi Yan's temperament was strange.

  What's the point of being so concerned about the living habits of ancient people? What does it have to do with you? Is it useful to you?

  Zuo Shi curled her lip and thought Shi Yan was even more uncouth than she was.

  ……