Chapter 30 – The Talisman is Done

Seeing the people around her starting to get back on their feet, no one was happier than Xue Yong. Since the disaster, his pharmacy business had come to a halt. It had been a long time since he received any medicinal herbs or sold a single medicine.

Especially now that Scarface Qing was a man of power and Healer Lynn was his medicinal farmer, he felt a little useless in comparison. He even felt embarrassed to eat too much during meals.

Of course, the main reason was that as a person from the lowest class, he could best empathize with everyone’s feelings. Seeing that everyone had chosen to start over, he was genuinely happy about the change.

“Move aside, move aside, especially the children. Watch out and don’t get hit.” In the evening, Xue Yong and three others were carrying two large grapevines back to their courtyard.

After half a month of hard work, their three families’ underground rooms were not yet finished, but their shared courtyard was mostly done.

Maybe because he was in a good mood, Xue Yong remembered his promise to his son and spent a day hiring people to help him dig up two large grapevines from outside.

When Lynn Naya returned from the mountain after getting the message, the grapevines were already planted in the courtyard.

Xue Yong had even set up a trellis. Clusters of green grapes, big and small, hung from the wilting leaves, making the three children squatting below them drool.

“What do you think these grapes taste like?” Xue Dailang licked his lips.

“I don’t know,” little Lingmin shook her head. “They should be sweet, right?”

“They’re not sweet. They’re sour,” Zhang Mingguang, the Zhang family’s son, said. He was about the same age as little Lingmin, about five years old. “I’ve eaten them before. They’re really sour, and the skin is bitter.” Even so, he couldn’t stop himself from drooling.

“No way. My dad said they were sweet.”

“They’re sour!”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Then why don’t we pick one and try it?”

“They’re not ripe yet. It’s no use. My dad said they would be ripe in autumn.”

“I really hope autumn comes soon.” On this point, the three children agreed.

The taste of wild grapes was usually not good. Lynn Naya didn’t want to break the children’s fantasy, so she walked past them and returned to her house.

Her new house was still a wooden house, but it was much bigger than before, with three rooms. The living room was in the middle, her bedroom was on the left, and the Zhang family’s son’s room was on the right.

Although the Zhang family’s son and the Xue family’s two children were very close, she had promised Supervisor Zhangthat she would take care of his son, and since she had the means, she would not mistreat his child.

The floors of the three wooden rooms were all covered with a layer of wooden planks as she had requested. In addition to the normal doors and windows, the roofs also had skylights. When it wasn’t raining, she could open them to let the sunlight in, making the room bright.

“How is it?” Zhou Yuan, holding her baby, came over to her.

“It feels like a home.” Lynn Naya said. Her old house was so cramped that she felt like she was only surviving, but the new house’s brightness made her feel like she was living. “I really like it.”

“I like it too,” Zhou Yuan said with a smile. “When are you moving back in?”

No matter how comfortable the mountain was, it wasn’t as comfortable as a home.

“I’m definitely sleeping here tonight.” Lynn Naya said. As for the future, that depended on the situation. Before, she didn’t have a place to cultivate or practice talisman-making. Now she had the space, but there were other cultivators in the mortal area, and she was worried she would be discovered.

Thinking of “other cultivators” Lynn Naya couldn’t help but ask Zhou Yuan. “By the way, isn’t that green-robed cultivator always sitting out there? Why isn’t he there today?”

She had purposely looked on her way here and didn’t see him in his usual spot.

“They went out this morning. Maybe they haven’t come back yet, or maybe they won’t come back tonight.” Zhou Yuan said, her tone sounding very normal since she had seen them many times.

“Oh.” Lynn Naya nodded. Thinking of the time limit on her cold water, she made an excuse that she needed to get ready for bed and asked Zhou Yuan to get her some food. She then went to her room to get some water.

After a grueling session of cold-water body tempering, Lynn Naya sat down and had dinner with her neighbors to celebrate. By the time they finished, the moon was high in the sky.

“Time to go home and sleep.” she said, leading Zhang Mingguang through the courtyard. She was about to ask him if he was used to sleeping alone at night and if he wanted to go back to Xue Yong’s house to sleep with Xue Da Lang, but Zhang Mingguang suddenly tugged on her sleeve. He looked up at her and asked, “Now that we have a house, will you live here from now on?”

Lynn Naya looked down at the child and saw the cautiousness in his eyes.

She had thought he was young and didn’t understand many things, since he played so happily with the two Xue kids. But now she realized he wasn’t ignorant; he was just hiding his true feelings.

Right. Who would be so carefree when living under someone else’s roof?

It was my fault. I promised Supervisor Zhang I would take care of his son, but I haven’t really put my heart into it.

“Do you want me to come back?” She crouched down to his level and asked.

Zhang Mingguang nodded softly. “Yes.” But then he seemed to think he said the wrong thing and quickly looked down. “If you’re busy, it’s okay if you only come back sometimes. As long as… as long as you come back.”

Lynn Naya thought seriously for a moment. The talismans she was practicing were low-level, and the spiritual energy fluctuations were not very strong. It was possible to practice at home without being discovered. But to be safe, she could practice talismans during the day and cultivate at night.

After thinking it through, Lynn Naya said, “Now that we have a good place to live, why would I want to sleep outside in the open? I’ll come back every day from now on.”

“Really?!” Zhang Mingguang looked up in surprise, his eyes shining brightly.

“Of course. I always keep my promises.” Lynn Naya touched his head. It was a little greasy, so she quickly pulled her hand back. “Wash your hair tomorrow when you take a bath.”

“Okay, I’ll listen to you!”

“Come on, let’s go home and sleep.”

The two of them went back to the house. Lynn Naya wasn’t sleepy yet, so she spent some time rearranging the furniture in her room. She set up a table by the window and looked up, seeing the grapevine trellis under the moonlight.

The moonlight tonight was dazzlingly bright, casting frosty white across the grapevines. The silvery dapples reminded her of the Qixi Festival, when lovers say that you can overhear the whispered words of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl beneath the vines.

She could hear things now, too. She could hear Zhang Mingguang grinding his teeth and laughing in his sleep, as if he was dreaming of something happy.

She could hear Scarface Qing outside trying to calm his daughter down, but the more he tried, the louder the baby cried. When Zhou Yuan took the baby, it stopped crying. The couple then concluded that the baby was scared by her father.

She could also hear Xue Yong snoring loudly, and his wife, who was exhausted from telling stories to their children, told them to go find their dad instead.

“You’re pretending to be asleep, aren’t you?” Xue Yong’s wife smiled and pinched the soft flesh on his waist. Xue Yong let out a cry and woke up, and Lynn Naya couldn’t help but laugh.

Xue Yong’s cry broke the silence of the night, but Lynn Naya’s heart felt a sense of peace from all this life.

It didn’t have to be too loud or too quiet. Just the sound of people crying, laughing, and living was enough.

Sensing her state of mind was very peaceful, Lynn Naya had a thought. She took out her talisman paper and brush. Taking a deep breath, as if something had blessed her, she drew the talisman in one go. When she finished the last stroke, a flash of spiritual light appeared on the talisman paper and quickly sank into the ink.

The talisman is done!

It actually worked!

She had been studying talisman-making for almost three months and had ruined over two hundred talisman papers. Today, she had finally created her first talisman. Even though it was just a simple Cleanse Talisman, Lynn Naya knew this was a moment she would remember for many, many years, just like the first time she scored a hundred on a test as a child.

She couldn’t put down the talisman. Following the instructions in the theory book, she injected a hint of spiritual energy into it. She then felt a subtle connection between the talisman and herself.

“Cleanse!” As she thought it, the talisman in her hand turned into a streak of spiritual energy and brushed over her body. Lynn Naya looked down and saw that all the dust on her body, even the soles of her shoes, was gone.

What a magical experience.

Lynn Naya immediately drew another one. This time, because her emotions were a little unstable, she failed. But the third and fourth attempts were very successful.

Once the talisman was created, Lynn Naya used it again and came to a conclusion: The Cleanse Talisman worked by having spiritual energy travel through the body and automatically remove dust.

As for the range, since it was a low-grade talisman, the affected area was small. If she focused on a person, it would clean their whole body. It could also clean a bed, but not an entire room; the range was too big.

That’s interesting.

She played with the Cleanse Talisman for a while. Although her success rate was high, Lynn Naya didn’t continue to draw it.

First, she found that her talisman-making experience didn’t increase even when she successfully drew a Cleanse Talisman.

Second, the Cleanse Talisman was a little useless. She could use it to be lazy when she didn’t want to shower, but at the moment, her finances couldn’t support such a luxury. As for selling it, she wasn’t sure she could, and even if she could, it wasn’t very practical.

To gain more experience, she would have to switch to another talisman.

Which one should I choose?

Lynn Naya was originally going to learn the most difficult Grade 1 talisman, the high-grade Five Thunder Talisman, but it was too difficult. She couldn’t skip grades. She only drew one stroke before the talisman paper was ruined.

She had no choice but to give up and start learning a medium-grade talisman. But even that was only a little better. She couldn’t even finish a third of it.

Looking at her talisman-making experience bar, which only had 18 points, Lynn Naya decided to go back and try a low-grade talisman.

This time, she chose the Light Body Talisman. This one was a little more promising. The first time she drew it, she almost succeeded and gained a point of experience.

So, to gain experience, I have to go from low to high?

Tch, Lynn Naya accepted her fate and continued to draw Light Body Talismans.

The Light Body Talisman was a speed-increasing talisman, a must-have for running away. She needed to prepare more of them. If she ever ran into trouble, she would use a hundred Light Body Talismans and see who could catch up to her.

The night was spent drawing talismans. The next morning, Lynn Naya looked toward the edge of the safe zone as usual. The man in green still hadn’t returned.

Another two days passed, and they still hadn’t appeared.

Something is off. They must be preparing for a big move. I don’t ask for a nice surprise, but I hope they don’t bring us a big scare.