“Lu, out again today?”
As the sun dipped west, the rented donkey cart clattered back to Tongyi Lane. Stepping down, Lu Zheng saw Liu Qingyan heading out.
“Yes, went to Baiyun Temple,” Lu Zheng nodded, “Miss Liu, going out? It’s getting late.”
“Father’s still busy at the clinic, Mother sent me to fetch him for dinner.”
“Has Uncle Liu bought the clinic?”
“Yes, a shopfront on East Street, not far from home.”
“I’ll come with you then, get to know the place, so I know where to go if I get a headache or fever.”
Liu Qingyan’s lips curved slightly, “If you master your martial arts, Lu, would you even get minor ailments like headaches or fevers?”
“You never know,” Lu Zheng replied.
They soon turned out of the lane, walked another street, and Lu Zheng saw a shopfront on the south side, where carpenters were hammering away.
Looking up, he saw the signboard already hung.
Benevolent Heart Hall.
“Father, Mother says come home for dinner, that’s enough for today.”
Old Liu stepped out, saw the late hour, and agreed, dismissing the hired carpenters, locking up, and heading home with Liu Qingyan and Lu Zheng.
“Lu, out again today?” Old Liu asked.
Lu Zheng repeated, “Went to Shaotong Mountain in the east, joined Baiyun Temple as a registered lay disciple.”
Old Liu paused, surprised, “Young Master, planning to become a monk?”
“No way!” Lu Zheng waved his hands, “Just a nominal disciple, learning skills, that’s all.”
“Oh, I see!”
“Does Baiyun Temple have real skills?” Liu Qingyan’s breath grew lighter.
Lu Zheng nodded, “They do, in fact, the temple master practically saved my life.”
On the way home, Lu Zheng told the Liu father and daughter about the ghoul.
This world had demons and ghosts, no secret, so Lu Zheng didn’t hide it, hoping to make them more cautious.
“So, someone in human skin might not be human, could be a ghost!”
Old Liu and Liu Qingyan exchanged glances.
“Didn’t expect you’d have such an experience, Lu,” Old Liu said.
“Didn’t expect you’d face such a vile ghost,” Liu Qingyan paled, clearly shaken.
“So, you both need to be careful. By the way, Master taught me the *Five Talisman Techniques*, I’ll draw you each a peace talisman soon, it’ll warn you of danger.”
Old Liu smiled broadly, “Good, we’ll wait for you to cultivate your qi and draw those talismans.”
“I’ve already cultivated qi,” Lu Zheng said, “The *Five Talisman Techniques* don’t seem too hard, I’ll probably draw them soon.”
Old Liu stumbled, “You’ve already cultivated qi?”
Lu Zheng nodded.
“Lu, you faced a ghoul before, and now you’ve cultivated qi, will you go hunting ghosts and demons?” Liu Qingyan’s face looked uneasy.
Lu Zheng rubbed his chin, pretending to ponder.
Hunting ghosts and demons might be the fastest way to earn fortune’s light.
But it’s too dangerous…
Seeing him silent, Liu Qingyan lowered her head, saying nothing.
Old Liu licked his lips, “Lu, though you met a heart-eating ghost, just like people can be good or bad, demons and ghosts aren’t all the same, you can’t judge them all alike.”
“I know!” Lu Zheng said, bewildered.
“You do?” Old Liu blinked.
Liu Qingyan glanced up at him.
“Uncle Liu, you don’t think I’d just attack any demon or ghost I meet, do you?” Lu Zheng laughed helplessly.
“You wouldn’t?” Old Liu asked.
“Of course not,” Lu Zheng grinned, “I’m an adult, I know human hearts can be worse than ghosts.
Besides, I often go to Qingsheng Tower to hear stories, plenty about kind demons or human-ghost romances.
Honestly, with all those tales of charming ghost maidens and passionate fox spirits, I’m no old fogy, I’d love to meet one, see if they’re like the storytellers say.”
Old Liu chuckled, “Lu, you’re truly a spirited young man!”
Liu Qingyan’s cheeks flushed, and she blurted, “Ghost women are no good, the living and dead are worlds apart, you’d… lose your yang energy!”
Her face reddened visibly, “I, I’m just speaking as a healer…”
Lu Zheng waved his hands, “Just curious, that’s all!”
Caught up in the moment, he’d spoken too freely in front of a beauty, and now felt awkward.
They chatted awkwardly back to Tongyi Lane, Liu Qingyan fleeing home, Old Liu bidding Lu Zheng farewell before leaving.
At home, after dinner, Lu Zheng began practising the *Baiyun Common Refining Qi Scripture*.
With the *Meridian Breathing Method* as a foundation, he quickly mastered the new technique, his trace of true qi transforming into a higher-quality form.
“Enhance!”
Seven strands of fortune’s light consumed, the *Baiyun Common Refining Qi* became second nature, his true qi fully converted and slightly increased.
Next, the *Cloud Mist Transport Technique*.
This required substantial true qi, too weak, and it wouldn’t work.
After consuming six more strands of fortune’s light, Lu Zheng mastered the *Cloud Mist Transport Technique*, his true qi growing stronger.
Now, it was about accumulating qi to increase transport distance and weight.
“Done! Bedtime!”
…
The next morning, refreshed, Lu Zheng went out early, buying a brush, ink, paper, and inkstone at Cong’an Market.
Talisman drawing!
After a gruelling day of seclusion, Lu Zheng laboured for four hours, even skipping his nap, to shakily draw five talismans.
“This is too hard!”
Wiping sweat from his brow, he said, “Enhance!”
Five strands of fortune’s light vanished, and the *Five Talisman Techniques* became clear in his mind.
Seven plus six plus five, eighteen strands of fortune’s light spent in two days.
Lu Zheng added one more strand to his physique, leaving a round number of fortune’s light in the jade seal, feeling satisfied.
Spreading yellow paper, grinding cinnabar, lifting the wolf-hair brush, Lu Zheng calmed his mind.
After a dozen seconds, he dipped the brush in cinnabar, channelled true qi to the tip, and drew fluidly on the paper in one go.
The talisman formed, a red glow flashed, then faded.
Lu Zheng sensed his true qi locked in the paper, ready to function as a talisman.
Peace talisman, complete!
