Chapter 71
Baji crept to the window, keeping a fist's distance from the yellow talisman stuck to the glass, and let out a huff as he stared at the girl sprawled on the rain canopy, her fate uncertain.
【She must be tired of living, daring to covet the boss's spirit plant!】
【Too bad I can't touch her; otherwise, she'd be dead by now!】
Baji was quite dissatisfied but had no choice but to let it go.
He cast a fearful glance at the talisman on the flowerpot, which was flickering with warning lightning, and hurriedly hopped down from the windowsill to curl up on the sofa.
In the eyes of this enlightened boss, he was just a cat.
So, he could only play the role of a good cat.
Otherwise, if he were ever exposed, he would meet a gruesome end.
…
Meanwhile, Chen Huai'an had arrived at a corner of the square.
He didn’t go to the place where the old man practiced his martial arts.
Before that, he needed to test whether this talisman could actually be used.
…
…
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Chapter 75: Is It the Wrong Posture? (A special update sponsored by Wang Yaoguan, who loves Xiao Guanzhong)
“How much do I have to pay if I blow a hole in the square?”
Chen Huai'an stared at the lawn in front of him, lost in thought.
Though he was relatively well-off now, he doubted he had enough to cover the damages.
“Is there anything I could blow up without having to pay for it?”
After pondering for a while, Chen Huai'an made his way to a nearby dump. At that moment, the residents' trash was nearly overflowing the site, and the garbage truck hadn’t arrived yet. Since it was all garbage, blowing a hole there should be fine.
“Alright, here it comes!”
Chen Huai'an focused his eyes, took a deep breath, and reached into his bag, pinching a lightning fire talisman between his index and ring fingers before yanking it out.
Biu—
The talisman flew half a meter before crashing to the ground.
Chen Huai'an: “…”
That’s not right; the talisman should be used with an incantation.
He picked it up and shouted coldly, “Waya ya! Urgent as the law commands!”
Biu—
The talisman flew half a meter again, only to crash down once more.
Could it be the incantation was wrong?
Chen Huai'an furrowed his brow and shouted again:
“Concentrate—!”
“Go!”
“Get out of here!”
“Zizak—”
“Ah, more bites!”
“Damn it!”
“Saipan—!!!”
The lightning fire talisman repeatedly fell to the ground.
Chen Huai'an fell into deep thought.
No, in the game, he hadn’t said any incantations at all; it shouldn’t be a problem with the incantation. It must be the posture that was wrong!
What posture do immortals use to throw talismans?
Chen Huai'an struck several poses on the spot: a spinning shot put throw, a running javelin toss, a one-handed salute while flicking cards, a one-handed salt toss… No matter what action he tried, none worked.
“Ha, I really was too naive…”
Chen Huai'an looked up at the sky, his gaze forming a sorrowful 45-degree angle with the horizon, and chuckled at himself, “What talismans? What immortal realm? It’s just a dying cancer patient’s boring fantasy.”
A stray dog passed by Chen Huai'an’s feet.
The dog sniffed at his shoes, its expression suddenly changing, and it whimpered and ran away as if it had seen a ghost.
Chen Huai'an was taken aback, a flash of inspiration struck him.
The talisman had triggered when it landed on a living being, so simply throwing it wouldn’t work; he needed a specific target!
What could he use as a target to test it?
Instinctively, Baji’s figure appeared in his mind.
In the room, Baji, who was sleeping on the sofa, suddenly shivered all over, feeling a chill wash over him from head to toe. But when he looked around, he couldn’t sense where this killing intent was coming from.
“No way, Baji is too cute, and I can’t mistreat little animals.”
Chen Huai'an shook his head, standing by the dump.
The killing intent surrounding Baji dissipated as well.
“Maybe I’ll buy a fish at the market on my way back.”
That seemed to be the only feasible target.
After all, he was going to eat the fish anyway.
Besides, normally, killing a fish involves scaling and gutting it. If the talisman activated, it would quickly carbonize the fish in an instant, so he wouldn’t be considered cruel.
With this thought in mind, Chen Huai'an happily ran to the old man’s martial arts practice spot, and sure enough, he found the old man there.
“Hey, young man, why didn’t you come yesterday? I thought you’d lost interest,” Old Li said, his cloudy old eyes lighting up when he saw Chen Huai'an. He had been quite upset when Chen Huai'an didn’t show up the day before.
“Hahaha, how could that be, Old Li? I had something to do yesterday.”
Chen Huai'an set up his phone with a selfie stick.
As soon as he opened the game, he nearly had a nosebleed.
There was Li Qingran, already dressed in that newly bought nightgown, which fit her perfectly.
She sat on the bed, her face as red as spilled vermilion, with her neck flushed as well. Her hair fell naturally, hiding her earlobes and part of her ear, like red jade nestled in black silk.
She puffed out her cheeks to blow her bangs, revealing a smooth forehead, her slender neck supporting an oval face, her beautiful eyes filled with emotion, occasionally glancing at the ceiling as if waiting for something.
As she looked up, her delicate collarbone was fully revealed, like pavilions among mountain peaks, supported by full white jade hills.
The valley was quiet, devoid of spring colors, with a piece of emerald-green phoenix lying across it, red threads winding like a string of wintersweet petals in the snow.
Her waist was as slender as a willow, barely filling a hand. In the dim candlelight, as her little feet danced, her waist swayed gently, like a breeze carrying the night.
And those little feet, they were truly…
“What are you staring at, you little brat? It’s pitch black in here.”
Chen Huai'an was startled, instinctively covering the screen, awkwardly laughing, “N-nothing! Just looking at study materials for the entrance exam, ahaha…”
“You’re quite sensible. My grandson is about your age, always thinking about starting a business. He lost twenty million and is still trying to start another one!” Old Li sighed, shaking his head at the thought.
“Wait, Old Li, what did you just say?”
“I said my grandson is starting a business.”
“The part after that.”
“He lost twenty million?”
“Right, right, right!” A smile of flattery spread across Chen Huai'an’s face: “Old Li, the pressure of starting a business is just too much. I think it’s too cruel to put all that on your grandson. Why not let me take part?”
“Eh, that’s not impossible,” Old Li waved his hand. “But mainly, my grandson is all about loans.”
Chen Huai'an: “Then let’s just practice martial arts.”
The topic returned to practicing martial arts.
Chen Huai'an forced himself not to look at Li Qingran and instead pulled up the progress of the Qinglian Sword Manual. Upon seeing it, he was completely dumbfounded.
All twelve chapters of the sword manual had reached 99% mastery; with just a bit more practice, he could achieve minor success.
Moreover, the first move, “Long Wind Breaking Waves,” and the second move, “Sword Light Emerging from the Box,” had both been unlocked for training.
“What the hell happened?!”
Chen Huai'an was utterly confused.
He didn’t remember practicing any of this.
How did they all reach the brink of minor success?
Could it be that he was practicing in his dreams at night?
“Kid, I see you have quite an interest in swordsmanship.”
Just as Chen Huai'an was poking around for answers, Old Li’s voice came from the side, a mix of pride and a hint of showing off:
“I went back and studied a bit. That stance you used before is the starting stance for swordplay, so I specifically reviewed the Tai Chi sword I learned before… What do you think? Interested in learning from this old man?”
Chen Huai'an squinted his eyes: “So, Old Li, your swordsmanship is pretty impressive?”
“Ahem,” Old Li raised his chin: “It’s average, probably ranks first in the whole province.”
“Wow! That’s amazing!!”
Old Li was pleased, patting Chen Huai'an on the shoulder: “I guarantee, after just one demonstration of my swordplay, you’ll want to call me master!”
…
…
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Chapter 76: What? Sword Qi?!
Seeing Old Li boast so highly of himself,
Chen Huai'an couldn’t help but feel excited.
“Kid, you better watch closely; this sword is incredibly cool!” With that, Old Li struck a pose and demonstrated the Tai Chi sword, moving from slow to fast and then back to slow.
As expected of an old master, his swordplay was impressive.
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