Chapter 23: Where Is It Hidden?

Two days passed quickly.

Chen Yan stayed home these two days without going out; when hungry, he ordered takeout, and when tired of takeout, he cooked two dishes himself.

The ordered bluestone strips haven't arrived yet, so the array-setting work cannot begin.

Chen Yan spent half his time each day meditating and practicing the Primordial Energy Transport Technique, savoring the pleasant sensation of Primordial Energy entering his body—any more would be too much; when cultivation is low, the body's capacity to bear Primordial Energy is limited.

After kicking Lu Sisi into the water last time, his Primordial Energy (Merit?) grew again, and these two days Chen Yan tried practicing a novel technique from the manual.

"Decree."

Actually, this isn't 【one】 technique, but 【a set】 of techniques.

Within this set, it is divided into several character formulas: Control, Attack, Dominate, Conceal...

Anyway, there are quite a lot.

The cultivation thresholds vary from high to low, and the difficulties range from strong to weak.

However, divided into different character formulas, they can be learned separately, one by one.

This set of "Decree" was carefully selected by Chen Yan from the techniques recorded in the manual—the standard being the same as the Spirit-Gathering Array: low threshold, high ceiling.

Moreover, its functions are complete.

Control means defense; once mastered, it allows drawing on Primordial Energy when danger strikes to condense a Primordial Energy defensive spell.

The others—Attack, Dominate, Water, Fire, and so on—are self-explanatory and not hard to understand.

And Chen Yan, as a person, is cautious.

His Primordial Energy cultivation is not high, so the first one he chose to cultivate was...

The Escape Formula!

Escape... means running away.

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The Escape Formula has a low cultivation difficulty; after practicing for two days, Chen Yan's "Decree: Escape Formula" had reached the entry level, with the rest depending solely on the level of his Primordial Energy cultivation.

Those with high cultivation run faster and farther; those with low cultivation run slower and shorter distances.

After mastering the Escape Formula, Chen Yan closed the courtyard gate and jumped up and down in the yard for two days.

From the east end to the west end of his own courtyard, it was at least over a hundred meters.

He used the Escape Formula, condensing Primordial Energy and projecting it outward according to the incantation...

His body, like a swallow skimming the water, rose and fell three times before reaching the west end from the east!

Moreover, during the process, there was quite a sensation of 【flying close to the ground】.

This feeling made Chen Yan extremely delighted!

Just after learning it, like a child getting a new toy, he tossed and turned in the courtyard all afternoon.

If not for fear of being seen, he would have run to the main road to fly a few laps!

"Damn it, the courtyard is still too small; once I master the Conceal Formula, I must try it on the road!

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On the night the ritual was to be performed, just a little after ten o'clock, Assistant Yan arrived with people as scheduled.

Taking money to remove disasters for others; Chen Yan was quite rule-abiding in this regard. He had long since put on his three treasures, opened the door to greet Assistant Yan, and then left with a smile.

As for that Luo Qing, he paid no attention to Chen Yan at all.

Assistant Yan brought three cars, which slowly drove into the villa's garage.

Two business vans and one sedan.

Chen Yan noticed that several people got out of one business van; they were probably subordinates of Manager Fang or Luo Qing.

The other business van was clearly not for carrying people.

Through the car window, Chen Yan vaguely saw that the seats inside had been removed, with many items placed there, all covered with yellow cloth, so he didn't know what they were.

However, Chen Yan was rule-abiding; if he said he wouldn't go back, he wouldn't go back.

Only, after waiting for Assistant Yan and his people to enter the villa garage, and after the garage door and courtyard gate were closed...

Chen Yan strolled a distance, went around the roadside, turned a corner at the intersection, and circled to the right side of his own villa.

He sat by the roadside inside the residential area, with flower beds and green belts behind him, and beyond that, the wall of his own villa's courtyard.

It was agreed not to enter the house, but it wasn't said he couldn't stay outside, was it?

Sitting by the roadside flower bed on the green belt for over half an hour, Chen Yan scrolled on his phone for a while, thinking that things inside should have started by now.

Midnight, that is, the Zi hour, calculated to begin at eleven o'clock at night.

He left to let them have the place at ten-thirty; he had been sitting here for nearly forty minutes.

Glancing at the time, it was already eleven ten.

Chen Yan took a deep breath, circulated the Primordial Energy throughout his body, and then infused it into his eyes.

Opening the Heavenly Eye to observe Qi, while silently calculating the algorithm from the "Qi Fortune Cycles"...

He sat quietly, his breathing much lighter than usual, carefully using the "Heavenly Eye" to look toward the wall of his villa's courtyard, sensing the Primordial Energy fluctuations inside...

One minute...

Five minutes...

Ten minutes...

Chen Yan waited like this for nearly twenty full minutes.

It had been winter for quite some days; by nearly midnight on this night, it was truly very cold outside, and Chen Yan's nose had frozen red.

After entering the Primordial Energy realm, his hearing and sight became sharp; he could already hear Luo Qing's voice coming from inside his own courtyard through the wall.

After entering the Primordial Energy realm, Chen Yan's hearing and sight were sharp; following the wind, he could vaguely hear Luo Qing muttering in the direction of the courtyard, with a strange tone...

Listening to the tune, it actually had a bit of the flavor of his Old Grandma performing rituals and dancing as a shaman in the countryside back in the day.

Yet no matter how Chen Yan used the Heaven-Eye Gazing Technique to sense the air...

... there was not a single wisp of Yuan Qi fluctuation.

"That can't be right. How can performing a ritual cast a spell without any Yuan Qi fluctuation?"

After a moment of confusion, Chen Yan suddenly realized the truth and burst out laughing.

Tsk, what a great master? He's just a street swindler.

That so-called Director Fang has clearly been scammed.

·

Having figured this out, Chen Yan naturally would not sit here drinking the northwest wind anymore; he stood up, stretched his limbs, and walked toward the residential complex gate.

He called a ride-hailing car to head near the University City in the eastern part of the city to find an internet cafe for an overnight stay.

This is a high-end villa district; there are no internet cafes nearby.

And Chen Yan was too lazy to look elsewhere.

Better to go back to the internet cafe near the school—that place feels familiar.

·

In an alley behind a commercial street near the school stood an old, two-story office building.

The sign was somewhat weathered, bearing four colorful large characters: Limit Internet Cafe.

Chen Yan pushed the door open with practiced ease; immediately, he felt the abundant air conditioning and heating inside, a warmth like spring.

And also... the smell of a boys' dormitory in summer!

The air was thick with swirling smoke mixed with the scent of instant noodles, the sound of keyboards never ceased, and occasionally one could hear people cursing.

Looking around, over a hundred computers on the first-floor lobby were more than half occupied; it seemed they were all students from nearby schools sneaking out for an overnight stay.

Chen Yan walked up to the counter and smiled, "Boss lady, open a machine for an overnight stay!"

Behind the counter, the boss lady, who had been staring at a historical romance drama on her computer, lifted her eyelids and gave Chen Yan a seductive glare.

"Oh my, Little Yan? It's been a long time since you've been here."

"I've graduated," Chen Yan said. "I didn't bring my ID card; please swipe it for me."

The boss lady casually pulled out an ID card—she didn't know whose it was—stood up, leaned her body outward, and scanned it on a machine on the bar counter.

Beep.

Chen Yan secretly drew in a breath.

As expected, she is truly the one and only flower of Limit Internet Cafe.

This boss lady looked to be no more than thirty years old; with large eyes and a small face, her already not-ordinary features were enhanced by a mature charm unique to women of her age...

Especially that figure, the mature flavor of a married woman, and what was most rare of all was...

Thin branches bearing heavy fruit!

With that figure of hers, if she stood up, bent slightly at the waist, and leaned forward just a bit...

... that posture would make eight out of ten men who saw it freeze in a daze.

No wonder, when Chen Yan was in university, a group of boys used to joke and say that line.

What's an overnight stay at an internet cafe compared to having the money to overnight stay with the boss lady of an internet cafe!

Knowing Chen Yan was looking at her, the boss lady didn't mind—she had been doing business here and was long used to being stared at by these college students.

However, though they looked, no one dared to actually do anything improper to the boss lady.

Although the boss lady looked tempting, her younger brothers were not to be trifled with!

Big and burly, with arms thicker than legs, covered in dragon and phoenix tattoos, bald heads...

Such younger brothers...

She had three of them around her!

Usually, whether there was business or not, they would loiter inside and outside the shop.

One of them even had a crescent-shaped scar on his head, said to be left from fighting someone in a duel when he was young!

With these three younger brothers who could serve as door gods in her family, the boss lady sat in this shop as stable as Mount Tai.

"Computer number forty-six, go ahead."

The boss lady fiddled with her computer, then tossed a token to Chen Yan.

Chen Yan took it and added, "Get me some instant noodles for a late-night snack, add a sausage, and add an egg."

The boss lady immediately beamed with joy: "People who work for a salary are just different; they are willing to spend money on food too."

Having said that, she called out, "Little Gu! Computer number forty-six, instant noodles, add sausage and egg!"

"Mm."

Suddenly, Chen Yan heard a crisp voice coming from the aisle behind a row of machines right behind him.

He turned his head to look and saw the back of a girl.

A black, slightly old-fashioned cotton jacket—hmm? Why does this piece of clothing look somewhat familiar?

A thick braided pigtail hung down her back.

The girl, with her back to Chen Yan, was holding a broom and sweeping cigarette butts off the floor.

Chen Yan glanced at her once, then withdrew his gaze, and casually said to the boss lady, "You've hired someone?"

"No, we barely make any money; where would we get the money to hire someone?" The boss lady casually tore open a bag of potato chips and ate some herself. "She's a pitiful person. Yesterday, she wandered back and forth on this street outside my shop for several hours. Seeing that she was starving to death, I kindly bought her a bowl of noodles.

After asking around, I learned she came from out of town to Jin Ling to find someone. Her money and phone were stolen; she couldn't find the person she was looking for, and didn't even have money for a meal."

Chen Yan laughed: "In this situation, you should have taken her to report it to the authorities. Go find the police."

"She wouldn't agree," the boss lady said, lowering her voice. "So I suspect she might be that kind of young Miss who ran away from home. She refuses to see the police.

I felt sorry for her that she couldn't even eat a meal, so I let her stay here with me for a few days.

During the day she goes out looking for people, comes back before six in the evening, and spends the first half of the night here sweeping up and working as a server.

When the second half of the night comes and there are fewer people, she goes sleep on the wire-mesh bed behind the storeroom.

As for wages—there aren't any, but I feed her two meals a day, morning and evening."

Hearing this, Chen Yan thought, how should he put it…

Half-believing, half-not.

The boss lady not reporting it to the authorities, not calling the police—she probably has her own considerations.

Running an internet café, there are actually plenty of violations too—like fire safety and that sort of thing.

Add to that the three younger brothers she has here, who at a glance don't look like good sorts—who knows what they might have on their backs.

Of course she wouldn't go inviting the police to her door for no reason.

Still… the intention to help is certainly well-meaning.

In these times, seeing a pitiable person and being willing to lend a hand, to treat them to a proper meal, is already extremely rare. Let alone bringing them back, giving them food and a place to stay?

Chen Yan didn't think much of it, and just ran off to turn on a computer and play games.

He played games at his own station for a while, earphones on, not noticing any other sounds.

Suddenly a hand reached over from behind and set down a bucket of steaming hot instant noodles on Chen Yan's desk.

Chen Yan was in the middle of gaming, and just happened to click the mouse, his arm swinging up with a bit too much force.

The person behind dodged, their hand jerking aside, and a few drops of broth from the noodle bucket splashed out, landing on the back of Chen Yan's hand.

Before Chen Yan could react, he heard a crisp voice behind him quickly say something.

"Sorry about that."

Without waiting for his response, the person was already gone.

Chen Yan was stunned for a moment.

That voice was quite nice.

But…

That "sorry"—why does it sound a bit familiar?

Just as he was thinking of turning around to look at the retreating figure, a voice came through his earphones.

"Holy shit! Mid mid mid mid! Where's the team! Get over here!!"

No time to think further, Chen Yan quickly adjusted his earphones and threw himself back into the fight.

·

At the back of the internet café, the girl surnamed Gu had already quickly walked into the storeroom and hidden behind the door.

Through the crack in the door she secretly watched the internet café hall outside.

She had recognized Chen Yan.

The day before yesterday, the bucket of chicken she'd snatched… was his, wasn't it?

Good thing he probably couldn't recognize her.

Thinking this, the girl surnamed Gu sat down on the wire-mesh bed and brooded for a while.

So many days already…

Where on earth are those detestable Chen family people hiding?!!

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