Chapter 10: A Worthless Piece of Paper

A dead silence hung over the courtyard.

The evening breeze swept through, catching the solitary yellow talisman on the ground and sending it skittering with a soft whisper.

Lu Hongzhuang stood frozen, her cheeks burning with humiliation.

She bent down, snatched up the disgraceful talisman, and hastily shoved it into her robes.

‘How could it have no effect whatsoever?’

Refusing to accept it, she walked to the stone table and stared at the six finished talismans held down by books.

Each one emanated a faint vermilion glow, suffused with an indescribable, subtle charm.

Then, an impulsive thought struck her.

She quietly picked up her own useless attempt, carefully lifted the corner of the books weighting the papers down, and slipped hers into the pile, burying it at the very bottom.

‘Hmph.’

‘I refuse to believe she can spot the difference with so many talismans!’

The next day, at the hour of Mao.

Day broke as a sliver of golden morning light pierced through the window lattice and fell upon the bed.

Su Qinghan sat cross-legged in a meditative posture, her breathing deep and even.

With each breath, she slowly drew a wisp of the nascent True Fire of the Sun into her body.

“Hmph… So tiring. This fox wants roast chicken!”

Jiu Li’s delicate yet haughty, childlike voice chimed in her mind, right on cue, tinged with a hint of self-praise.

The chaotic and impure demonic energy from the outside world was filtered through Jiu Li, who acted as a converter.

It was then mixed with that single wisp of the purest, most yang-aspected essence of the sunrise, transforming into an incomparably refined spiritual energy that flowed gently through Su Qinghan’s desiccated meridians.

Su Qinghan could clearly feel that the purity of this spiritual energy was several times greater than the worldly spiritual energy she had cultivated in her sect during her past life!

With an advantage like this, what was to stop her from returning to her peak as a Purple-Robed Celestial Master?

Perhaps she could even surpass it!

“Creeak—”

The door was pushed open.

Lu Hongzhuang entered carrying a bowl of steaming white congee and some side dishes, just in time to see Su Qinghan finish her cultivation and open her eyes.

“Were you cultivating?”

“Mm.”

Su Qinghan fumbled under her pillow and pulled out a small, thread-bound booklet, its cover bearing four crookedly written characters—Dragon-Tiger Guidance Technique.

She offered the booklet to Lu Hongzhuang.

Lu Hongzhuang’s breath caught, and she reached out to take it.

But with a flick of her wrist, Su Qinghan raised the booklet higher, a mischievous smile playing on her lips.

“Take me as your master.”

Lu Hongzhuang rose on her toes, snatched the manual, and clutched it tightly to her chest.

She lowered her head, her voice somewhat muffled.

“Forget about the master part. I only have one master, and he’s already…”

She didn’t finish her sentence, but the sense of loss and sorrow hung heavy in the air.

Seeing her like this, Su Qinghan decided not to tease her any further.

“Fine. Once you’ve mastered the basics, I’ll pass on the true profound arts of the Celestial Master Dao.”

“Our lineage worships the Three Pure Ones and our founding master, Zhang Daoling. Just keep that in mind. Don’t go telling everyone, and definitely don’t set up any statues or memorial tablets.”

“After all, your Exorcism Division is cracking down hard on metaphysics. I’d rather not have the statues of the Three Pure Ones smashed by you all as feudal superstition.”

Lu Hongzhuang was speechless.

She held the manual, her feelings a complicated mess.

Su Qinghan had already hobbled into the courtyard, leaning on her new crutch.

She walked over to the stone table where she had drawn the talismans the night before, picked up the stack of papers, and began flipping through them one by one.

Suddenly, she paused.

She drew one out from the pile and held it up to her eyes.

“What is this?”

“A worthless piece of paper.”

She turned her head to look at Lu Hongzhuang, who had just stepped out of the room.

“You drew this, didn’t you?”

“It has the form but lacks the spirit. It can’t even stir a wisp of spiritual energy. What is it if not a worthless piece of paper?”

A flush of heat rushed to Lu Hongzhuang’s face, turning it crimson, as if she were a thief caught in the act.

She stormed over and snatched the talisman from Su Qinghan’s hand.

“It is not a worthless piece of paper!”

With that, she grabbed her sword from the wall and turned to leave.

Planting a foot lightly on the courtyard wall, she launched herself into the air like a red swallow in flight, disappearing into the distance with a few graceful leaps.

“My, what a shy girl.”

Su Qinghan shook her head with a chuckle.

Qingshi Town, Exorcism Division.

Lu Hongzhuang strode into the main hall with a dark expression.

Colleagues greeted her along the way, but she only offered them perfunctory nods.

In a corner of the courtyard, a tall woman, also dressed in the Exorcism Division uniform, was sharpening her sword on a whetstone, one slow stroke at a time.

The blade was long and narrow, its edge glinting with a cold light.

Hearing footsteps, she looked up.

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

This was Liu Ruyan, Lu Hongzhuang’s senior sister and a genius at the Exorcism Division second only to Lu Hongzhuang herself.

“There’s trouble in town.”

Lu Family Courtyard.

Su Qinghan took a turn around the courtyard, finally stopping beneath a peach tree.

The tree was old, with a thick trunk and lush foliage.

More importantly, it grew in the eastern part of the courtyard, where it was nourished day and night by the auspicious violet qi from the east and the essence of the sun, making it an excellent material for crafting spiritual tools.

It took a tremendous amount of effort, but she finally managed to hack off the thickest branch with a wood chopper.

Sitting on a stone stool, she took out her small knife and began to whittle away at the peachwood, one shaving at a time.

She planned to carve herself a peachwood sword.

Talismans were too draining; in her current physical state, she would be exhausted after drawing just a few.

Having a handy peachwood sword for self-defense would be a good thing.

“Bang!”

The courtyard gate was kicked open.

Lu Hongzhuang burst in like a gust of wind.

Su Qinghan jumped in fright, nearly dropping the half-carved peachwood sword in her hand.

“You’re back! The Exorcism Division is quite humane, giving you a lunch break?”

Before she could finish, Lu Hongzhuang rushed to her side, and without another word, bent down and swept Su Qinghan up in her arms!

“Hey! Hey! We can talk about this! A gentleman uses his words, not his fists!”

Su Qinghan was completely bewildered, her arms and legs flailing in the air.

But Lu Hongzhuang ignored her, rushing outside while carrying her and managing to get out only a few words.

“There’s trouble in town!”

“The regular physicians are helpless. You have to take a look!”

Hearing this, Su Qinghan immediately stopped struggling.

She understood the urgency of the situation and dropped her playful demeanor.

The two of them raced through the streets, soon arriving at a carpenter’s shop.

At the entrance, Liu Ruyan was standing guard, her sword cradled in her arms, her expression impassive.

She saw Lu Hongzhuang approaching with someone in her arms, and as she got a closer look, her brow furrowed.

“This is the expert you brought?”

“A cripple?”

Lu Hongzhuang set Su Qinghan down, straightened her slightly disheveled clothes, and prepared to help her inside.

“She is a very skilled physician.”

Liu Ruyan let out a scoff, repeating Lu Hongzhuang’s words with a voice dripping in distorted mockery.

“A very skilled physician?”

“If she’s so skilled, why hasn’t she fixed her own leg?”

The words were sharp and merciless.

Liu Ruyan tried to follow them inside, but Lu Hongzhuang blocked her path with an outstretched arm.

“A secret family recipe. Outsiders are not permitted to watch.”

Liu Ruyan was stunned.

She looked at Lu Hongzhuang, then at Su Qinghan, who was being shielded behind her, a fascinating series of emotions playing across her face.

‘Me?’

‘An outsider?’

The door slammed shut in Liu Ruyan’s face with a bang.

Su Qinghan had no time to worry about the undercurrents swirling outside.

The moment she entered the room, she froze, stunned by the sight before her.

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