Ma Yun's life felt like it had suddenly been thrown into a whirlwind. Ever since acquiring the mysterious brush, his mind had been in turmoil. Passed down from his grandfather, the brush seemed to hold an unknown power, and every time he touched it, he felt a strange wave of energy. However, the problem was that this power was not as controllable as he had imagined.
For the past few days, Ma Yun had devoted nearly all his attention to the brush. Whether waking in the morning or in the dead of night, he couldn't help but take it out and try to uncover its secrets. His study had become his laboratory, and every stroke on the paper was filled with mystery.
But to his confusion, the brush's abilities far exceeded his imagination. At first, Ma Yun simply used it to draw everyday objects, such as fruits and animals, all of which looked remarkably lifelike. Yet every time he drew something, the object would vanish within seconds, as if it had been an illusion.
"What is going on?" Ma Yun wondered. Holding the brush, he pondered how he could make these objects last.
Suddenly, an idea struck him—what if he drew something larger? A building, perhaps, or a landscape? Excited by the thought, he decided to give it a try.
He began to draw a small house on paper. As the brush moved, the house's outline gradually emerged. Every beam, every tile was extraordinarily vivid. He carefully added a window, a door, and finally, a surrounding wall. The entire house was so lifelike that even smoke rising from the chimney seemed real.
Ma Yun stared intently at the drawing, his heartbeat quickening. After a few seconds, he finally exhaled in relief—the house didn't disappear this time but stayed firmly on the paper.
He stood up and approached the drawing, reaching out to touch the house on the paper. Its surface felt real, and he could even sense the warmth radiating from the roof.
"This… is real," he murmured to himself, a mix of astonishment and excitement on his face.
However, the house soon began to tremble slightly, as if reacting to a disturbance in the air. Ma Yun quickly stepped back, his eyes fixed on the house in the drawing. Then something extraordinary happened—the house slowly lifted off the paper, as if supported by an invisible force, and floated gently into the air.
Ma Yun's heart skipped a beat, and he froze in place. He had never seen anything like this before. The scene before him was simply beyond belief.
"This… this is the power of the brush?" His mind surged with waves of shock. Without warning, the brush had turned his drawing into a tangible object, even making it float in the air.
But the marvel was short-lived. In less than a minute, the floating house began to blur, eventually dissolving into a wisp of smoke and vanishing without a trace. Stunned, Ma Yun stood in silence, his mind racing with questions. "Why did it disappear?"
After a moment of reflection, he understood—the objects he drew could manifest but would only exist for a limited time before fading away.
"It seems this power is unstable, and its use comes at a greater cost than I expected," Ma Yun muttered to himself, his eyes flashing with determination. "But that doesn't mean I'll give up."
He realized that he had only scratched the surface of the brush's power. Even so, this power had filled him with both anticipation and apprehension about the future. If he could better control the brush, he could create even more astonishing miracles, perhaps even change his destiny.
From that moment, Ma Yun resolved to use the brush more cautiously. He decided to stop drawing insignificant objects and instead focus on creating things of greater meaning.
One evening, Ma Yun sat at his desk, eyes closed in deep thought. Suddenly, an idea came to him—what if he could draw money? Could it solve his current difficulties?
He shook his head and chuckled at his own naivety. "Such thoughts are a bit childish," he said to himself.
Yet, driven by an inexplicable impulse, he picked up the brush, dipped it in ink, and began to draw gold coins. One by one, he sketched the coins, filling the paper with shimmering gold.
As he completed the last stroke, the drawing began to glow. Several gleaming gold coins slowly emerged from the paper and floated steadily in the air.
Ma Yun's eyes widened, his heart pounding like a drum. He had never witnessed such a miraculous sight. The coins appeared as though they had stepped out of the drawing, radiating a golden light and feeling solid and cold to the touch.
"They're real gold coins!" Ma Yun thought, his mind awash with awe.
But just as he was about to examine them more closely, the coins began to turn translucent, eventually disappearing into thin air.
"So, this power is indeed time-limited," Ma Yun mused, lowering his head in thought, his eyes reflecting a deep contemplation. He realized that every use of the brush exacted a price—one that might not only deplete his energy but also impact his life and the future of his family.
As the family records had warned: "You shall bear its power; the greater the power, the higher the price."
Ma Yun silently resolved to approach the brush with greater caution. He didn't fully understand what it could bring him, but he was prepared to face whatever consequences it might entail.
Yet fate seemed unwilling to let him enjoy this power in peace. Just as he decided to rest, his phone rang, breaking the silence of the room.
Glancing at the screen, he saw it was Su Qing calling.
"Ma Yun, you've seemed a bit off lately. Why do you always seem distracted?" Su Qing's voice was filled with concern. "Are you overworked? Are you feeling okay?"
Ma Yun paused, sighed softly, and answered the call.
"I'm fine, Qing. Just a little tired," he replied, trying to mask his unease.
"If you're really tired, don't push yourself too hard. Come home early tonight—I made your favorite dish," Su Qing said warmly, her words bringing a wave of comfort to Ma Yun's heart.
"Alright, I'll be back," Ma Yun said with a faint smile, ending the call.
As he sat in the now-quiet room, his thoughts drifted back to the power he wielded. What kind of changes could it bring to his life? Could it help him escape his current struggles? And what secrets lay hidden within the family records, waiting to be unraveled?
The answers to these questions remained shrouded in the unknown.