Chapter 58: The Phoenix Returns

Early morning.

Zheng Fa, holding a stack of papers covered in talisman diagrams, walked into the Seventh Young Master's study.

In the morning light, the Seventh Young Master sat by the desk, hair disheveled, face full of sleepiness, unwashed, his head nodding as he dozed off.

Compared to the refined appearance he had when Zheng Fa first met him, the Seventh Young Master was now utterly slovenly.

Hearing the sound of Zheng Fa's footsteps entering the room, the Seventh Young Master showed no reaction, still sleeping soundly, a trickle of drool from the corner of his mouth about to fall onto an open talisman diagram on the desk.

Zheng Fa placed the papers in his hand onto the desk before him.

Startled awake by Zheng Fa, the Seventh Young Master slowly raised his head, glanced at Zheng Fa, then looked at the new stack of papers Zheng Fa had brought.

"What is this?"

"Today's task." Zheng Fa smiled very kindly.

The Seventh Young Master trembled as he reached out, spreading his index finger and thumb to gauge the thickness of the stack of papers, realizing his hands were simply not big enough.

He widened his eyes: "This is even higher than a few days ago!"

"A few days ago, Young Master, you had just begun learning this secret technique, so I reduced the workload to let you adapt." Zheng Fa indicated his great consideration: "But now formal training can begin."

"Adapt?" The Seventh Young Master's voice was filled with incomprehension of the word: "For these past few days, I've slept only two hours a day, and the moment I open my eyes it's talisman diagrams, talisman diagrams, talisman diagrams. You tell me this is adapting? I'm about to die, okay!"

Zheng Fa shook his head; the sea-of-diagrams tactic was indeed a bit cruel for someone like the Seventh Young Master who had basically never studied hard before.

But two months was too tight a timeframe; there was no choice but to do so.

These talisman diagrams were not ones Zheng Fa had simply picked out at random.

The notebook Bai Lao had given him, Zheng Fa did not intend to leak out—one copy of the Spirit Crane Body had already brought him considerable trouble, making Zheng Fa even more cautious about such modern knowledge.

But to enable the Seventh Young Master to improve his ability to analyze talisman diagrams, he needed to impart some of the techniques within it to the Seventh Young Master.

Zheng Fa simply learned the methods in the notebook himself first, then found talisman diagrams with similar characteristics that could be analyzed using a single technique, assigning them to the Seventh Young Master to analyze every day.

Subtly letting the other party grasp the techniques within.

This was somewhat like what modern schools call specialized training.

This approach was a bit tiring for Zheng Fa, but it was safe.

On the other hand, it also forced Zheng Fa to improve his own understanding of these methods.

"I'm not doing this anymore!" Looking at the papers before him that he hadn't finished analyzing yesterday, then at the new papers Zheng Fa had brought, the Seventh Young Master pushed the table, stood up.

Zheng Fa was not surprised; the fact that the Seventh Young Master had persisted for so many days was already somewhat beyond his expectations.

"Really not studying anymore?" He looked at the Seventh Young Master.

"Not studying!" The Seventh Young Master shook his head resolutely.

"Fine." Zheng Fa turned to look at Gao Yuan: "Bring over the box I brought."

"Got it!" Gao Yuan, overjoyed, trotted over carrying a long rectangular box.

"What is this?" The Seventh Young Master was a bit confused.

"A couple of days ago, Lady sent Steward Wu to find me and entrusted a magical treasure to me." Zheng Fa spoke with a deep tone, taking the long box from Gao Yuan's hands.

"Magical treasure?" The Seventh Young Master was stunned.

Zheng Fa opened the long box and pulled out a long vine whip, on which a red silk ribbon was exquisitely tied.

"Why does this thing look so familiar?" The Seventh Young Master frowned in thought.

"Bestowed by the Lady, I name it the Imperial Precious Vine. Steward Wu said that if Young Master gives up halfway again, this Precious Vine will be as if the Lady herself has arrived." Zheng Fa held the vine whip in his hand, his smile becoming even gentler: "Allowing me to strike first and beat later."

"I recognize it!" The Seventh Young Master suddenly realized: "Isn't this what my mother used to scold me with when I was young?"

"Young Master has a good memory!"

Watching Zheng Fa approach with the vine whip, the Seventh Young Master's face grew increasingly terrified: "Stop! My mother only used this to scare me; she doted on me and never actually hit me!"

"Yes, the Lady said that hearing Young Master cry, seeing Young Master shed tears, she simply couldn't bear it. So she gave the vine whip to me." Zheng Fa waved the vine whip: "I'll hit, and she won't hear or see it."

"..." The Seventh Young Master plopped down onto the chair in an instant, expression obedient: "I'll study! Don't hit!"

Watching the Seventh Young Master bury his head and study hard, Gao Yuan sighed regretfully.

"What's wrong?" Zheng Fa turned to ask him.

"Young Master has no backbone."

Gao Yuan spoke quietly, regretting that the Seventh Young Master didn't get beaten.

"Don't think I can't hear you." The Seventh Young Master raised his head and glared at Gao Yuan.

Gao Yuan covered his mouth.

The Seventh Young Master frowned and looked at Gao Yuan a few times: "Young Master suddenly realizes you also have some talent for talisman arts; how about we study together!"

"No!" Gao Yuan waved his hands frantically: "I don't have that kind of fortune!"

The Seventh Young Master looked at the gleeful Gao Yuan, then at Zheng Fa standing aside, and couldn't help but curse: "A petty person in power, snakes and rats in the same nest! My future life will be dark and hopeless!"

The room suddenly grew dark.

"Eh?" The Seventh Young Master paused, murmuring: "My words become law? Then I shall become an immortal on the spot, I shall make the Talisman Dao die!"

"Young Master, a bird!" Gao Yuan pointed outside the window.

"What bird?"

The Seventh Young Master and Zheng Fa looked up at the sky.

A giant bird the size of the courtyard flew across the sky; its wings spread, blocking the sunlight above.

This giant bird had green feathers all over, with only some long red feathers growing at the very edges of the tail and the rear of the wings; as it swept across the horizon, it was like a firework of green with red.

"Green Luan!" The Seventh Young Master suddenly jumped up: "My sister is back!"

He waved frantically at the sky, shouting loudly: "Sister! Sister! Save me! Come save me!"

On the back of the Green Phoenix, two young girls stood one behind the other.

The one in front, dressed in red, craned her neck to gaze at the scenery below, pointing a finger at the Zhao family compound to introduce it to the companion behind her: "This is my home!"

"Over there is my courtyard; inside there's even a small fish pond where I raised many fish. I even fell into it when I was little."

"That small building is where my mother lives. She loves listening to those chirping tunes the most; I never liked going there before."

"The one we just passed is my younger brother's courtyard. It seems to have been renovated; they built a small flower garden."

The young girl behind her, wearing a simple green Daoist robe, looked at her companion who was speaking incessantly in excitement and asked softly, "You've been away from home for ten years; do you still remember it so clearly?"

The girl in red pressed her lips together and smiled sheepishly: "When I first went to the Qingmu Sect, I dreamed every night of being at home—later, I drew this place myself and would take it out to look at from time to time. Although ten years have passed now, the general appearance hasn't changed."

Seeing her slightly embarrassed expression, the girl in green smiled gently and asked, "Wasn't someone in that courtyard just waving at us? It seemed like they were shouting 'Sister'? Is that your younger brother?"

"No!" the girl in red stated decisively: "That person looks like an unkempt, hard-studying scholar; he is absolutely not my younger brother."

Seeing the girl in green's incomprehension, she added an explanation: "You don't know what kind of person my younger brother is; he has been vain and lazy since childhood."

"When we were little, I beat him once. I know my own strength; an injury that should have healed in a day, he stubbornly stayed in bed for three months, just to avoid going to the academy! My mother still dotes on him; now he's probably even worse!"

"... Perhaps after ten years, a person might change?"

"Hmm, maybe if he was possessed by some old monster?" The girl in red rubbed her chin: "Impossible; what old monster would be so blind as to take a fancy to my younger brother?"