Chapter 8: The Carpenter’s Shock

The mountain path was rugged, and the morning mist had yet to fully dissipate, leaving the forest air damp and cool.

Lu Hongzhuang carried Su Qinghan on her back, fine beads of sweat already forming on her forehead and dampening the hair at her temples.

The woman on her back was light, but after such a long trek on the mountain path, even someone made of iron would be exhausted.

Worse still, her passenger was anything but cooperative.

“I say…”

A lazy, nasal voice sounded by her ear.

“Are we there yet?”

Su Qinghan groggily opened her eyes, let out a long yawn, and nuzzled her chin against the crook of Lu Hongzhuang’s shoulder.

Lu Hongzhuang’s body went rigid.

A tingling sensation shot down from her shoulder, making her almost drop the woman.

She gritted her teeth, forcing the words out.

“Almost.”

“Oh…” Su Qinghan drew out the word. “Your stamina is pretty poor, isn’t it? And you’re supposed to be the genius of the Department of Exorcism? Is this all you’ve got?”

Lu Hongzhuang stumbled.

Rage instantly shot to the crown of her head!

She stopped, her patience finally snapping, and growled, “Say one more word, and I’ll dump you right here on the road!”

“Then I’ll get on *your* back and make you crawl home!”

‘This woman is poison!’

‘Absolute poison!’

Sensing the rigid tension and rising fury in the body carrying her, Su Qinghan immediately backed down.

She reached out, gently patting Lu Hongzhuang’s shoulders, and placated her in a soft, cooing voice, as if soothing a kitten. “I was just joking. Don’t be angry, don’t be angry.”

“I’ll make you something delicious tonight.”

“…”

Lu Hongzhuang felt as if she had punched a bale of cotton.

The anger was stuck in her chest, neither rising nor falling, leaving her face flushed with frustration.

In the end, she could only let out a heavy huff and resignedly start walking again.

‘What have I done to deserve this!’

After walking for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, a small courtyard finally appeared behind a sparse bamboo grove.

With its green tiles, white walls, and a fence enclosing a small vegetable patch, the place looked exceptionally serene and elegant.

Lu Hongzhuang’s home was a secluded little courtyard. She took a key from her robes and unlocked the slightly rusted bronze lock.

Creeak—

As the wooden door swung open, a faint, fresh scent of plants and trees wafted out.

Lu Hongzhuang set Su Qinghan down on a stone bench in the courtyard, then let out a long breath, rubbing her sore shoulders.

Su Qinghan, ever one to make herself at home, surveyed the neat and tidy courtyard. A perfect, impeccable smile graced her lips as she called out in a clear voice towards the empty main house.

“Auntie, Uncle, sorry to intrude.”

Lu Hongzhuang’s movements froze.

The atmosphere in the courtyard instantly fell silent.

Her back was to Su Qinghan, and her voice dropped low.

“There’s no one here.”

“I’m an orphan. My master found me, brought me back to the Department of Exorcism to be raised, and taught me martial arts. That’s how I became an exorcist.”

A faint, almost imperceptible sadness filled the air.

The smile on Su Qinghan’s face stiffened for a moment before she reverted to her usual languid expression.

She had no intention of dwelling on the somber mood. Instead, she called out to Lu Hongzhuang’s back with an air of entitlement.

“Well then, pour this Daoist Master a cup of tea. I’m a bit thirsty.”

Lu Hongzhuang: “…”

That fledgling bit of sorrow was instantly obliterated by the woman’s words!

She spun around and walked up to Su Qinghan with a blank expression.

Then, she gave her a push.

“Ah!”

Su Qinghan, completely caught off guard, toppled backward.

In a flash, her survival instincts kicked in. Her hands shot out like lightning and latched tightly around Lu Hongzhuang’s neck!

Thud!

The two of them, like a pair of rolling gourds, fell to the ground in a heap.

Lu Hongzhuang’s world spun. Her head landed on something soft, and an intoxicating fragrance filled her nostrils.

That feeling…

Boom!

Her face instantly turned so red it looked like it could bleed!

“What are you doing!”

Lu Hongzhuang scrambled off Su Qinghan, both embarrassed and furious.

Su Qinghan lay on the ground, wincing and rubbing the small of her back, yet still managing to joke.

“Ahem. This is what you call ‘injuring the enemy by eight hundred while losing a thousand yourself.'”

Looking at her utterly shameless expression, Lu Hongzhuang seethed.

She strode over, bent down, and scooped Su Qinghan up from the ground, then roughly tossed her onto the bed inside.

“You look so frail and sickly, how can you have such a sharp tongue!”

“And another thing, you’re a young lady, yet you keep calling yourself ‘Daoist Master.’ I think studying at whatever ‘Orthodox Mystic School’ you’re from has made you stupid!”

Su Qinghan lay on her side on the bed, propping her head up with one hand in a languid pose.

She leaned closer to Lu Hongzhuang, her warm breath brushing gently against the other’s ear.

“So, do you want to learn?”

Her voice was very low, laced with a hint of seduction.

“I can teach you.”

A buzz went through Lu Hongzhuang’s ears as heat spread from her neck all the way to her cheeks.

She subconsciously took half a step back, her voice stuttering slightly.

“I… I can learn too?”

‘Those were techniques that could instantly annihilate a hundred ghosts! A power that transcended the known limits of martial arts!’

The corners of Su Qinghan’s mouth lifted in a proud smile.

“Of course!”

“Once you put on Daoist robes and become a Celestial Master in purple, wielding a three-foot sword, speaking heavenly decrees, and slaying demons… you’ll be totally badass!”

‘A Celestial Master in purple… slaying demons… totally badass?’

Although she didn’t quite understand the last phrase, Lu Hongzhuang’s heart still began to pound uncontrollably.

She looked at Su Qinghan as if seeing the gates to a whole new world slowly swinging open for her.

“I…”

Grrrrowl—

An inopportune sound shattered the atmosphere in the room.

Both of them looked down at Su Qinghan’s stomach.

Unfazed, Su Qinghan patted her belly. “This Daoist Master is hungry.”

Lu Hongzhuang: “…”

She took a deep breath, suppressing all the unrealistic fantasies in her mind.

“Wait here!”

“Also, you’re a young lady. Stop calling yourself ‘Daoist Master’ all day. It’s unseemly.”

With that, she turned and left.

“I’m going to town to buy some groceries. Weren’t you going to cook? Tell me what you need, and I’ll get it.”

Su Qinghan immediately rattled off a list of dishes, all of them simple, home-cooked fare.

Lu Hongzhuang committed them to memory and turned to leave.

As she reached the doorway, Su Qinghan called out to her again.

“Oh, right.”

“Could you… buy something for me?”

“What is it?”

“Yellow talisman paper, cinnabar, and a wolf-hair brush. I used up most of my supply back at the ruined temple.” Su Qinghan’s tone had become much more serious.

Those were the tools of her trade, her only means of defense against the ghouls of this world.

Lu Hongzhuang’s heart tightened, and she nodded gravely.

“Alright.”

After agreeing, she quickly left the courtyard.

The streets of Bluestone Town were bustling with activity, filled with the cries of vendors and the clamor of the crowd, creating a vibrant atmosphere of daily life.

Lu Hongzhuang navigated the familiar streets to buy the groceries, then went to the largest stationer’s shop in town to get everything Su Qinghan needed.

Talisman paper and cinnabar weren’t common items, but they weren’t too difficult to find. The paper, however, came in large sheets and would probably need to be cut down to size.

As she passed a carpenter’s shop, she stopped, as if guided by some unseen force.

She remembered Su Qinghan’s stolen, strangely designed four-wheeled cart.

‘And her mournful wails,’ she thought. ‘Her legs are weak; losing that cart must have been hard on her.’

Lu Hongzhuang hesitated for a moment before stepping inside.

“Shopkeeper, excuse me, do you take custom orders for carts here?”

An old carpenter covered in wood shavings, who was planing a piece of wood, looked up.

“What kind of cart would you like, miss? A horse-drawn carriage or a flatbed cart?”

Lu Hongzhuang gathered her thoughts and did her best to describe Su Qinghan’s cart.

The old carpenter was completely baffled and shook his head repeatedly.

“Miss, this thing you’re describing… four wheels, no ox or horse to pull it, and it moves by cranking it with your hands… I’ve been a carpenter for decades and have never heard of such a thing.”

Lu Hongzhuang thought for a moment and simply asked for a brush and paper.

She spread the paper on the counter, her wrist hovering as the tip of the brush flew across the page.

In just a few moments, a detailed and exquisitely structured diagram of the four-wheeled cart appeared on the paper.

It featured a unique transmission system and an ingenious lever design for saving effort.

The old carpenter leaned in for a look and was completely stunned.

He picked up the drawing, examining it over and over, his expression shifting from confusion to surprise, and finally to utter shock and admiration!

“Brilliant! Simply brilliant!”

“This… this design! It’s a work of genius! Who could have possibly come up with it?!”

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