Under the Lantern: IX

About

Under the Lantern: IX In Linlang there was an inn, frequented by scholars who gathered day and night to study diligently. One morning, as the students reviewed their texts, they noticed something strange: the passages they had read the day before now appeared entirely different. The following day, the texts changed again—full of errors, nonsensical, as if eaten away by worms. The scholars were bewildered. At that moment, an academician happened to be staying at the inn. Hearing of their confusion, he merely smiled and said, "This is but an easy trick." He closed his door and set to work. By the next day, the texts had returned to their original form. Suddenly, a young boy with tied hair appeared, his expression blank. He neither ate nor drank, and only enjoyed listening to others read.…