Chapter 63: [Pah, Little Scumbag]

Chen Yan asked, puzzled: "Still… the same house?"

"Mm," Fang Fang Laoban replied with great certainty.

Chen Yan fell silent.

Going after Luo Qing again?

No way… what has this guy done to offend Fang Fang Laoban now?

Didn't he just say yesterday that he wanted to make peace and beg for mercy, and even said he'd paid a sum of money as compensation?

And in just one night's cultivation he's changed again? Surely Fang Fang Laoban didn't just discover that Luo Qing had given him a green hat, did he?

"Can I ask what happened?" Chen Yan asked, frowning.

Fang Fang Laoban's voice was muffled: "He played me. The matter I mentioned to you before I left yesterday — today he's denied the whole thing."

What kind of move is that?

Chen Yan was also a bit puzzled.

He thought for a moment: "I need to think it over, I'll give you an answer later."

After saying that, Chen Yan hung up the phone and walked along the side of the road, thinking as he went.

Taking another shot at Luo Qing — for something like this, Chen Yan honestly had no psychological burden.

That guy was a rotten egg anyway, who knew how many scams and harms he'd pulled off — just look at that doctored sandalwood incense, such a practiced hand, the number of people he'd swindled was definitely not small!

Still, how to make the move — Chen Yan needed to think it over a bit more.

Going after the Luoyunzhai shop again… wouldn't mean much.

As for Luoyunzhai's business… the sign and reputation were already ruined; targeting the shop again wouldn't really hurt Luo Qing.

Thinking as he wandered along, Chen Yan decided to go to Luoyunzhai again to case the place.

Maybe something would come to mind.

When he picked up his phone to call a car, he saw a message pop up on WeChat.

One look — it was Lu Sisi?

Mm, this rabbit-like girl hadn't been in touch these past two days.

What Lu Sisi had sent was a photo — a selfie.

From the photo, the girl was riding a pirate ship at an amusement park; her smile in the picture was like a flower in full bloom, and even her eyes were brimming with the joy of being alive.

The expression on Chen Yan's face softened of its own accord, and he replied: "Off to ride the pirate ship?"

Lu Sisi replied instantly: "Mm, I plucked up my courage and finally went on it once. It was really scary, but also a lot of fun."

Chen Yan sent with a smile: "Played anything else?"

What came back from Lu Sisi's side was a few selfies.

Riding the bumper cars, sitting in the Ferris wheel, and one of those drifting rides…

These were all things Lu Sisi had never dared to try, from childhood all the way up.

Well, this girl had also been crushed by misfortune until she was eighteen — now she was indulging in revenge-driven entertainment.

"Didn't try bungee jumping or anything?"

"No, the amusement parks here in Jin Ling don't have bungee jumping," Lu Sisi answered honestly.

Thinking of how, when they parted that day, the girl had suddenly rushed up and hugged him around the waist, and the kiss on his cheek.

Chen Yan, as if possessed, sent: "Where are you right now?"

"Watching a movie," Lu Sisi replied immediately.

Then, as if afraid Chen Yan might misunderstand something, the girl quickly added: "I came alone."

Chen Yan smiled, didn't poke through Lu Sisi's little scheme, and instead sent: "What are you planning to do after the movie?"

This time Lu Sisi didn't reply right away; she waited for quite a while, with WeChat showing 【The other party is typing…】 the whole time.

After a long pause, she finally sent just a few short words: "Can I go see you after the movie?"

Chen Yan's gaze softened; he took a deep breath and sent: "When does your movie end?"

Lu Sisi replied instantly: "It's already over!"

·

The place Chen Yan arranged to meet Lu Sisi was set at the gate of the big temple on Qixia Mountain.

He was planning to go case the area around Luoyunzhai again anyway, and today he didn't intend to take any action against anyone — no burden, no pressure — so it worked out perfectly to wander around with Lu Sisi.

Lu Sisi didn't show the slightest objection to Chen Yan setting the meeting place at the temple gate — probably in the girl's eyes, someone like Chen Yan who carried magic arts showing up at a place like a temple was perfectly normal, right?

In the afternoon, the bustling temple with its thriving incense still had plenty of worshippers and devotees.

After meeting up, Chen Yan took the girl and walked into the temple together.

At the entrance, Lu Sisi had even scurried off to the incense and candle counter, scanned twenty yuan, exchanged it for twenty yuan in coins, and then stuffed them all into Chen Yan's hands.

Chen Yan, having no experience, didn't understand at first; instead, once inside the temple, he went bowing to Buddha all the way — from the main hall to the ancestral hall, from the Buddha to the various Bodhisattvas…

Whenever Chen Yan knelt and bowed, Lu Sisi would stand beside him with a smile, quietly slipping coins into the merit box.

Chen Yan actually hadn't believed in any of this to begin with, but now that his circumstances had changed — he himself had already begun cultivating — he kept a measure of respect for these things. This world had no gods or Buddhas.

But the Domain Realm might, right?

After finishing a full circuit of bowing, Chen Yan finally looked at Lu Sisi curiously: "Why didn't you bow? You don't believe in this?"

Lu Sisi stood close beside Chen Yan, her body leaning against him with just a touch of pressure, and said softly: "I used to pray to the Buddha all the time, asking the gods and Buddhas to protect me and lift the fate of misfortune that clung to me…

I don't know how many times I prayed from childhood on, but it was never any use, so later on I stopped believing in any of it."

Chen Yan gazed at the girl intently for a moment, then reached out and ruffled her head, deliberately messing up her hair, and said with a smile: "You won't have to worry about any of that from now on! Come on, I'll take you to eat stinky tofu."

Watching Chen Yan walk ahead with a smile, Lu Sisi's expression softened as she gently gathered the hair Chen Yan had ruffled back into place.

Those eyes, fixed on Chen Yan's back, seemed to hold starlight within them.

I'll never believe in gods or buddhas again...

Because in my heart, all the gods and buddhas in the heavens cannot compare to you...

·

After leaving the great temple, the two young men and women wandered over to the nearby commercial district where Luoyun Studio was located.

Chen Yan and Lu Sisi walked side by side, simply eating their way along the whole way: fried stinky tofu, crispy roast sausage, fried yogurt...

Actually, they knew these things weren't necessarily clean or sanitary, and didn't have much nutrition.

But what they were eating was that touch of worldly flavor.

Lu Sisi was the type of girl whose nature was gentle to the extreme; no matter what Chen Yan said or did, she would sweetly smile, then obediently say: "Okay."

The things they bought were clearly too many; the two of them couldn't possibly finish them all, but as they walked on, when Chen Yan saw new food, he would still turn back and ask Lu Sisi: How about we eat this?

Lu Sisi would always gently nod, raise her smiling face: "Okay."

Even when Chen Yan acted childish, passing a toy store and picking up a cheap, shoddy plastic golden hoop staff from someone's stall, waving it in his hand—such childish behavior—Lu Sisi, looking at Chen Yan from the side, did not have even half a sliver less affection in her eyes.

Unknowingly, the two walked to a street corner; by the roadside was a shop called 【Guangsheng Hao】,

Chen Yan had been here a few days ago; the talismans used to trick Luo Qing with the rats were drawn using the talisman paper, cinnabar, and brush and ink bought here.

This shop, on the commercial street, counts as a peer competitor of Luoyun Studio; its scale didn't look small, dealing in all kinds of talisman papers and cinnabar, warding off evil for homes, and also doing fortune-telling, divination, geomancy, feng shui, and the like.

Chen Yan's cultivation had now been going on for some time; passing by this kind of shop, it was as if he had encountered something from his own profession, and habitually he brought Lu Sisi inside to browse.

Just as he stepped over the shop's threshold, he saw the curtain door at the back of the shop lifted, and a woman slowly walked out from within.

Chen Yan casually swept a glance over, and instinctively froze for a moment.

The first thought that flashed through his mind was...

This top-grade gorgeous mature beauty, and she's a glasses girl too... holy crap, brave new world, squad leader...

A face the size of a palm, a pointed chin; that pair of glasses perched on her nose bridge not only failed to conceal her stunning beauty, but instead strangely added a few hints of allure.

This kind of woman, any man who glanced at her would feel a sense of stunning admiration.

There is a kind of person whose looks and figure, as if born that way, carry a few hints of a peculiar temperament.

Many years ago it would be called sexy; in today's terms, it would be called naturally carrying a few hints of sultriness.

Lu Sisi, with the sensitivity unique to girls, caught Chen Yan's gaze; the girl followed his gaze, then sensed the nature of Chen Yan's look, and couldn't help feeling a sudden panic in her heart.

There was no other reason; it was purely that Lu Sisi, being a girl who could see her own toes when she looked down, saw a woman who couldn't see her toes even if she stretched her neck, and felt that kind of vigilance as if encountering a natural enemy.

Chen Yan only glanced twice before withdrawing his gaze.

This was his principle of conduct.

Looking the first time is a man's nature. Looking the second time is to confirm that his nature hasn't erred.

Not looking a third time is cultivation.

Chen Yan smiled and patted Lu Sisi, whose eyes were a bit complicated, and was about to lead her away, when he heard a voice speaking from behind that gorgeous mature beauty.

"Elder Zi, please stay."

From behind the door curtain, a middle-aged man wearing a button-front jacket followed her out.

Chen Yan heard the address "Elder Zi" and grew thoughtful!

He therefore stopped his feet, and instead pulled Lu Sisi to stand aside, pretending to look down at the prayer lockets and the like displayed in the counter.

"Elder Zi, the talisman paper you brought is indeed produced by our shop. But as you also know, our street has a large flow of people; although my business here can't compare with your Luoyun Studio, it's always been decent, and the usual volume of goods shipped out isn't small either—there's really no way to trace the buyer's source."

Chen Yan heard these words, and his heart stirred—Luoyun Studio!

The gorgeous mature beauty heard this, smiled faintly and nodded: "Alright, I was just casually inquiring. Many thanks, Boss Zhou."

"Take care on your way; please do favor us with your business in the future, Elder Zi."

The shopkeeper's words were polite, but his actions were negligent; after exchanging greetings, without waiting for the woman to leave, he turned around and went back inside.

The gorgeous mature beauty seemed to smile, and didn't mind—rivals in the same trade are enemies; moreover, making a living on the same street, she herself had a great connection with Luoyun Studio, so no wonder the other party didn't take kindly to her.

Standing outside the shop, she looked at the flow of people on the commercial street, and sighed softly in her heart.

Actually, it wasn't really that she wanted to find her rival to retaliate or anything.

Rather, the talisman left by the other party was something not recorded in what she had learned. This kind of talisman made the woman, who had studied the arts since childhood, unable to resist being excited at the sight, and as if possessed, wanting to investigate.

Since she couldn't find it... then let it be.

Just as she was about to leave, the corner of her eye suddenly saw, by a section of the counter inside the shop, a young man and woman standing.

The boy was slender and fair-featured. The girl's pretty face was full of tenderness; gazing at the boy, her eyes seemed to carry light.

Looking at the girl's standing posture, her body clearly leaned lightly against the boy...

The boy seemed quite curious about the things in the counter, looking intently. Yet the girl's entire mind was hanging on the boy; with eyes full of affection, she gazed at the boy's profile.

Seeing this scene, the woman couldn't help but sigh softly in her heart for no reason.

To be young... how nice.

Many years ago, she herself back then, was just like this girl, wasn't she—her eyes, her whole world, filled with that person...

·

She wasn't young anymore, yet at this moment she was suddenly moved by tender feelings, and couldn't help looking a few more times.

Then, staring at that boy, she silently activated her spiritual light in her heart, and used the Qi-Gazing technique to look.

At one look, the gorgeous mature beauty's expression instantly darkened.

That girl's gaze was so deeply affectionate, yet the boy's fortune as displayed showed that recently he had been having one romantic entanglement after another...

Bah, so he's just a little scumbag!

The thought of originally wanting to bestow a stroke of good fortune instantly faded away.

Shaking her head, the woman stepped away.

Chen Yan, after waiting for this woman to leave, slightly furrowed his brow.

Just now... my Qi responded involuntarily—this woman called Zi Lao was using the Sight of Qi to observe me?

·