Chapter 60: Addict

In the Zheng family's main hall, Zheng Fa stared at the girl before him, whose expression was calm to the point of indifference, her peculiar hobby still echoing in his heart.

The last time Zheng Fa heard someone say they solved math problems to pass the time was during a modern holiday, when the math teacher walked into the classroom carrying a stack of exams half his height and said:

"If you're tired of memorizing vocabulary over the holiday, go do a full math exam to pass the time."

He was certain none of his classmates understood the logic behind that statement—or rather, they all internally asked with perfect logic: If I want to pass the time, why would I deliberately do math problems?

But now, in another world, Zheng Fa had found the soulmate of that math teacher!

He couldn't help but voice the question deep in his soul: "Where's the joy in solving arithmetic problems?"

The green-robed woman lifted her eyes, as if she'd never considered the question, then said after a pause: "Perhaps… because it's somewhat difficult?"

"So anything difficult brings joy?"

"Are there many difficult things in this world?"

Looking at her earnest face, Zheng Fa had no reply, only offering her a smile twisted by envy.

The green-robed woman raised her right hand, revealing a Bai Yu bracelet on it; a soft, glowing aura flowed across its surface, and a scroll, roughly the length of a forearm, appeared in her grasp.

A storage treasure?

Zheng Fa recalled the colossal blue phoenix that had blocked out the sky earlier, and guessed this woman must be the Young Lady's companion—though why not the Young Lady herself? If not for the Seventh Young Master's slander, the Young Lady's hobby surely wasn't math, but staff techniques.

"This book of yours," she said, pointing to the *Junior High Mathematics*, "is also meant to test your talisman talent, isn't it? Many talisman masters prefer to first assess their disciples' aptitude for arithmetic. Though I've never seen this book, my master once gave me an arithmetic text and only accepted me as a disciple after I solved every problem in it."

…Someone stole my brain-sifting method!

Then again, though this world lacks modern math, that doesn't mean they don't recognize the significance of arithmetic aptitude for talisman arts.

The woman placed the scroll on the table; it slowly unfurled, revealing nothing but blank parchment.

"But later, my master admitted it was just a formality—he would've taken me in even if I couldn't solve the problems. Still, I found solving those problems interesting, and after becoming his disciple, I kept enjoying difficult arithmetic puzzles." She tapped the scroll with a finger, and a problem appeared on it: "That's why I had this artifact crafted, to collect interesting problems."

Someone actually collects this stuff? And had a special artifact made just for it?

What a wealthy lunatic!

"Over the years, I've read every arithmetic text in my sect, searched far and wide for ancient arithmetic manuscripts, and now I've read every arithmetic book I could find—I haven't encountered a problem that stumped me in a long time." The woman looked at Zheng Fa, her eyes bright, her expression brimming with uncontainable excitement: "The problems in your book aren't hard, but I've never seen them before. Their methods are unique, yet I feel unsatisfied—do you have harder ones?"

Zheng Fa couldn't help thinking that no human could possibly say they'd read every arithmetic book in existence.

He'd always assumed someone in the Xuanwei Realm must possess extraordinary arithmetic talent—this woman was clearly that person.

Modern mathematics rests on a complete system of axioms; when he wrote *Junior High Mathematics*, he'd deliberately avoided such content.

But given his current level of math knowledge, traces inevitably remained—that was precisely what the woman meant by "unsatisfied."

Seeing Zheng Fa's hesitation, the woman said generously: "I'll trade you other hard problems!"

…Who wants to trade this?

He remembered her obvious identity as a cultivator, her persistent effort to track him down, and most of all, her utterly abnormal hobby terrified him…

Zheng Fa finally spoke: "I do remember some arithmetic problems—I don't know if you've seen them."

He took out paper and pen and wrote down a relatively simple fill-in-the-blank question from his recent monthly exam.

"This problem…" The woman bent over the question Zheng Fa had written, frowning slightly: "Much harder than those in the previous book."

Though she said it was hard, Zheng Fa clearly saw in her eyes the same wild excitement of a predator spotting prey.

After nearly a stick of incense's time, the girl solved it.

Zheng Fa glanced at her method—it wasn't standard—but the answer was correct.

Meaning, she'd used this world's existing arithmetic knowledge to reason through it—and actually got it right.

After finishing the problem, the woman's eyes narrowed, as if deeply savoring the experience.

She asked Zheng Fa: "Correct?"

"Correct," Zheng Fa nodded.

"Give me another harder one!"

Zheng Fa: "…"

He wrote another problem.

"Any more?"

"… "

"One last problem!"

"… "

"Problem!"

Facing this insatiable girl, Zheng Fa rubbed his forehead, feeling his mind utterly drained.

First time meeting an addict who drains others dry!

…

The Zhao Young Lady had seen her mother, then rushed straight to the Seventh Young Master's courtyard.

"Zhao Jingfan!"

She burst into his study, shouting loudly.

On the desk, a disheveled head lifted in confusion.

"Where's Zhao Jingfan?" the Young Lady asked.

"Sis?"

"Who are you? Zhao Jingfan!" The Young Lady widened her eyes, staring at the familiar face before her: "How did you end up like this?"

"Sis! You finally came!" The Seventh Young Master rushed over, grabbing his sister's arm as if he'd burst into tears: "I called you before—why didn't you answer me?"

The Young Lady extended one hand and shoved away his snot-and-tear-streaked face, clearly afraid of getting his filth on her clothes.

She scanned him from head to toe, frowning as if unable to believe it.

"You're really my brother?"

"Sister! After all these years, have you forgotten my face?" The Seventh Young Master looked wounded.

"I recognize this ugly face of yours," the Eldest Young Lady shook her head, turning to the desk piled high with talisman diagrams: "But I don't recognize you looking so hard at your studies!"

Hearing this, the Seventh Young Master felt even more wronged.

"Sister! I screamed for you to save me, and now you finally show up!" he complained: "Zheng Fa is wielding the vine whip Mother gave him, forcing me to study these talisman diagrams… If you'd come back two more days late, your brother would be dead—or insane!"

"I didn't know you were suffering this badly before…"

The Eldest Young Lady shook her head, slightly regretful.

"If you'd known, you'd have come back sooner to save me?" the Seventh Young Master asked hopefully.

"If I'd known, I'd have stayed longer at Qingmu Sect!" the Eldest Young Lady sighed, patting the Seventh Young Master's shoulder: "Mother said Zheng Fa was a talent—I didn't believe her. Now I do. He's done great service to our Zhao family—he deserves a reward!"

Seventh Young Master: "?"

"Enough! Forget about Zheng Fa or not Zheng Fa—I've brought back Zhang Shijie for you. She's a master of talisman arts. For the next two months, you'll study under her properly, do you hear me?" the Eldest Young Lady turned to serious business.

"A master of talisman arts?" the Seventh Young Master was confused, turning to the still-unresolved talisman diagrams on the desk: "What about my diagrams?"

"Forget about those!" the Eldest Young Lady waved her hand: "I'll take you to listen to Zhang Shijie's teachings—it's far better than how you're learning now. With her guidance, you'll improve much faster!"

The Seventh Young Master began to understand: "So you're saying I don't need Zheng Fa to teach me anymore—you want Zhang Shijie to teach me?"

"Exactly!" the Eldest Young Lady smiled sweetly: "And you'll escape this hell—aren't you happy?"

"I won't go!" Unexpectedly, the Seventh Young Master, who had been moaning just moments ago, now refused outright.