Chapter 17: Too Exaggerated

It was a pity he hadn’t extracted A Bing’s memories; otherwise, Wuque would have known so many of the Empire’s top secrets.

But no matter what, having A Bing’s memory ability was already enough.

For the Classic Texts Examination, memory was the most important thing, and in this regard, Master Fu Baoshi truly had absolute confidence, enough to look down on everyone.

So when Wuque claimed to have a photographic memory, he really snorted in disdain.

Fu Baoshi tossed over a booklet and said, “This is a damaged ancient text I just compiled. It hasn’t been published before, totaling five thousand characters. Didn’t you say you have a photographic memory? If you can memorize it within five hours, then at least the Classic Texts subject in the Academy Grand Examination a month from now, you can pass. If you can’t memorize it, you should go back. Don’t waste your time or mine.”

After saying that, Fu Baoshi went back to sorting through the books scattered all over the floor, quickly flipping through them and correcting any errors he found with a pen.

As he said, he was engaged in a very great task and didn’t want to waste any time.

Wen Daozi originally wanted to say something, but he gave Wuque a deep look, then clasped his hands and left.

Master Fu Baoshi was right. For the Academy Grand Examination, the basic Classics Interpretation alone had over three hundred thousand characters. With only one month left, without extraordinary memory, staying here would just be a waste of time, and taking the Academy Grand Examination would only be embarrassing.

Fu Baoshi took out a large hourglass and turned it over.

This was a five-hour hourglass.

Once the sand ran out, if Wuque still hadn’t memorized this five-thousand-character text, he could leave, and the Academy Grand Examination a month later could be given up.

“You can make ten mistakes,” Fu Baoshi added, then paid no more attention to Wuque, throwing himself into the work he loved and completely ignoring him.

Master Fu Baoshi was already over eighty years old and had never met anyone who could match him in photographic memory, which was why he was called the Human Library at Tianshui Academy.

For almost any ancient text, no matter how obscure, if you asked him, he would know it.

Wuque took a look. The title of the text was “Western Regions Records of Deities.”

“Lan Zu was a state advisor during the Yin dynasty, surnamed Lu, given name Zheng. Grandson of Yan Li, third son of Mo Lian Shi. He lived from the Yin era to the end of the Liang dynasty, said to be nine hundred years old. He often consumed cassia and fungus. In E City, there was a Lan Zu immortal chamber. Previous generations said: Praying for wind or rain, no request went unanswered. Often, there were flood dragons around the shrine. Today, where the shrine once stood, two flood dragon traces remain.”

The entire text spanned five thousand three hundred characters.

It wrote about some strange deities in the Western Regions during ancient times.

The key was that the history of these people had long been buried in ruins, and it was the Western Regions, where civilization had broken off. So these strange figures were entirely unknown in the present era.

In short, there was no celebrity effect—all the content was unfamiliar.

Even some of the characters were very rare and uncommon, with no known famous phrases, making it extremely difficult to memorize.

Master Fu Baoshi had secretly tried it himself. It took him one hour and three quarters—over an hour and a half—to memorize this text.

So, he gave Wuque five hours and allowed only ten mistakes, which was already a very high requirement.

Wuque closed his eyes and activated A Bing’s photographic memory skill.

Suddenly, a strange feeling emerged.

Was this true photographic memory?

What he remembered wasn’t the characters, but images.

Each page was a complete image, stamped into his mind after just one glance.

This text had only ten pages in total.

After just three seconds, he had completely memorized the first page.

Closing his eyes, the characters of that page appeared directly before him.

It was truly amazing.

So this was how he memorized things.

Because this A Bing had memorized so much content in the spy organization, he had developed a conditioned reflex to these characters. He first memorized the page as an image, then extracted the characters from it.

That took about another minute.

So, memorizing this page’s content took only sixty-three seconds in total.

Wuque understood that A Bing’s photographic memory skill, in a way, could be called an illness as much as a skill.

One minute, two minutes, three minutes…

Eleven minutes passed.

Wuque had finished flipping through the ten pages of “Western Regions Records of Deities.”

Master Fu Baoshi, meanwhile, was still immersed in his work, completely unaware of Wuque beside him.

Wuque didn’t show off immediately. Instead, he closed his eyes and silently recited it once.

Because he was reciting silently, the speed was slightly faster, about two hundred characters per minute.

In twenty-seven minutes, he finished reciting!

Then, he called out, “Master Baoshi, this student is done.”

Fu Baoshi looked up, startled. Done already? Had five hours already passed?

Whenever he started working, he completely lost track of time, but this time, it seemed to have passed too quickly—five hours gone in an instant?

Then, he couldn’t help but look at the hourglass nearby.

This… only three quarters of an hour had passed? Less than half an hour?

Are you kidding?

This five-thousand-character “Western Regions Records of Deities” had no known famous phrases, mostly unfamiliar figures, and many rare characters and place names.

It took me nearly two hours to memorize it, and you did it in less than half an hour? Three quarters of an hour, to be exact.

How is that possible?!

Too ridiculous!

Then, before Master Fu Baoshi could question him, Wuque started reciting.

And so Wuque recited, character by character.

No mistakes in two hundred characters, no mistakes in three hundred, no mistakes in five hundred, no mistakes in a thousand…

Master Fu Baoshi was first shocked, then numb, and finally completely incredulous.

Half an hour passed.

All five thousand three hundred characters of “Western Regions Records of Deities” were fully recited.

Master Baoshi didn’t even need to check the original text; he knew there wasn’t a single mistake.

Too… too terrifying.

Could it be that Wuque had read this text before?

It was possible. Because to please Fu Caiwei before, Shen Wuque had focused on studying ancient history and astronomy.

Although this “Western Regions Records of Deities” was a damaged text compiled by Fu Baoshi himself, it wasn’t impossible that Shen Wuque had come across it while wandering the world. Since it was content he was interested in, he might have memorized it.

It must be so. Otherwise, this would be too mind-blowing.

How could anyone have such an incredible memory ability?

So, Master Baoshi handed over a few more pages. This was an article he had just written recently, guaranteed that no one had read it before.

Wuque looked at it. The title was “Record of the Setting Sun,” again about five thousand characters.

He once again activated A Bing’s photographic memory skill.

Half an hour later!

He put down this “Record of the Setting Sun” and started reciting.

“In the leisurely spring, traveling from afar on winding paths, coming here to inquire and seek proof, such earnestness, how can I deserve it! Having gathered two or three like-minded companions, we retreated to a quiet place, staying for ten days, offering some humble insights, hoping to sharpen each other’s understanding…”

Half an hour later.

All five thousand characters were recited, again without a single mistake.

Immediately, Master Fu Baoshi was completely stunned.

This… this… this is true photographic memory.

This is too amazing.

Too dazzling.

Too exaggerated.

…