Chapter 320: A Glimmer of Hope (Requesting Monthly Votes)

Xiang Qinghuai formed a hand seal with both hands and pushed it toward the man-eating monster.

An invisible wave of power surged and struck the monster.

Voom—

The monster was directly knocked flying three zhang.

"Aao!" The monster let out a shriek and fell to the ground.

Xiang Qinghuai pulled a chain from under his clothes, shook it with a clatter, and threw it at the monster.

The chain swiftly wrapped around the monster and immediately tightened; the monster roared repeatedly and struggled with all its might.

This creature was one zhang in size, covered in red fur, with a head like a fierce tiger and claws two chi long!

Xiang Qinghuai leaped forward, quickly formed another hand seal with both hands, and pushed it toward the monster's chest.

A wave of power condensed into a cone-shaped spike and, with a "puff," pierced through the monster's body!

"Aao—"

The monster let out a shriek, suddenly lost all strength in its entire body, and crashed down with a boom.

Neither Xu Yuan nor Lang Xiao Ba intervened.

Xiang Qinghuai was an old veteran patrol officer; dealing with such a suddenly transformed monster was naturally within his grasp.

Unexpectedly, when the monster hit the ground with a "pa," its entire body shattered.

Its head, limbs, and torso detached from the chain, each transforming into a new eerie form, and swiftly darted in all directions!

"Not good!" Xiang Qinghuai shouted loudly, quickly reformed the hand seal with both hands, and pushed outward with all his might.

Invisible energy waves converged from all directions and condensed into a square cage.

The cage was five zhang square, trapping all the evil spirits inside.

From the head of the evil spirit, a giant centipede grew, staring with blood-red eyes as it fiercely rammed into the cage.

Its arms sprouted two pairs of bat wings, suddenly taking flight to crash into the cage.

Its two-chi-long claws pierced the air wall of the cage, cutting downward with force!

One leg's long fur grew wildly, and the sole split open into a terrifying large mouth.

Relying on the rapid wriggling of the long fur, the large mouth opened and bit down on the air wall.

The other leg suddenly trembled, revealing dozens of pores beneath the long fur, which sprayed out a great deal of corrosive slime!

Upon landing on the air wall, it hissed and emitted green smoke!

Meanwhile, the torso grew more than a dozen limbs consisting only of fine bones.

A bloody crack opened on its chest, spitting out a strange tongue fully seven chi long, which twisted its way straight toward the cage's air wall.

"My Lord Xu, lend a hand!" Xiang Qinghuai, while exerting all his strength to maintain the cage, called out to Xu Yuan for help.

Xu Yuan quickly stepped forward and spat the Fu Zhong Huo from his belly into the cage.

Xiang Qinghuai cooperated at the right moment, opening a gap in the cage so the Fu Zhong Huo surged inside.

"Hoo—"

The evil spirits inside were burned, letting out strange squealing cries.

After spitting the fire, Xu Yuan, without pausing even a moment, released the carriage.

A huge "bamboo cage" descended from the sky, covering the entire cage.

Xiang Qinghuai let out an "Ah," fell backward, and sat on the ground, panting heavily.

Xu Yuan had calculated correctly: after he spat out his fire, those evil spirits could not withstand it, but neither could Xiang Qinghuai.

His cage, once burned by the fire, would surely collapse.

Xu Yuan could control the flames precisely, but covering it with the carriage to smolder it directly was far more convenient!

Why bother with all that extra effort?

"Fortunately, My Lord Xu was with us," Xiang Qinghuai said, feeling a wave of post-fear.

Inside the carriage, those evil spirits were burned, screaming in agony and violently battering the carriage, producing dull thuds.

Lang Xiao Ba, puzzled, asked, "What kind of evil spirit is this?"

"This is a Ji Cheng Tang printer who has undergone a transformation," Xiang Qinghuai explained. "Moreover, it is a foreman; otherwise, my strike would have already annihilated it."

Xiang Qinghuai stood up from the ground: "Ji Cheng Tang must reprint the almanac; they must review it in advance before carving the blocks for printing.

Reviewing the almanac in advance invites ill fortune; therefore, these printers often undergo transformations.

If it were just an ordinary printer, it would be easy to deal with, but if it is a foreman or above, it will be like this time: you think you have killed it, but it may only have triggered a secondary transformation!"

As he spoke, a plump middle-aged man ran out of Ji Cheng Tang. His face full of anxiety, he sighed with relief upon seeing Xiang Qinghuai: "Fortunately, My Lord Xiang is here!"

"My Lord Xiang, rest assured; Ji Cheng Tang will certainly offer a 'Red Envelope'."

Xiang Qinghuai waved his hand: "The one who solved your problem is my brother Xu here. Your Red Envelope should be given to him. This thing has undergone a secondary transformation—do not bully this outsider for not knowing; this Red Envelope must not be small!"

"My Lord Xiang, rest assured; Ji Cheng Tang does not do such things."

The plump Shopkeeper approached Xu Yuan, clasped his fists in a bow, and said, "Thank you, Brother Xu! Please, my lords, come inside for tea."

After entering, the Shopkeeper ordered someone to prepare the Red Envelope.

This so-called "Red Envelope" is a custom of Ji Cheng Tang; because reprinting the almanac over the years has always resulted in printers occasionally undergoing transformations.

Therefore, anyone who helps Ji Cheng Tang deal with these transformations is given a token of gratitude.

Ji Cheng Tang is in the business of printing books, so they must appear more "elegant"; thus, this token of gratitude is wrapped in red cloth, hence the name.

Before the first cup of tea was finished, the servants below had already brought the Red Envelope.

The Shopkeeper suddenly added, "For some reason, the number of transformed printers this year has suddenly doubled. I wonder if Brother Xu would be willing to join Ji Cheng Tang as the manager of the rear hall.

If you are willing, we have just obtained a copy of the Analects personally transcribed by a Fifth-Rank Literary Cultivator, which we can offer to Brother Xu as a betrothal gift."

Xu Yuan's heart stirred; a copy of the Analects personally transcribed by a Fifth-Rank Literary Cultivator was worth him using his dog-head gold enhanced by merchant arts to buy it!

Could the result calculated by Elder Yan be destined to land here?

Xu Yuan first suppressed the excitement in his heart and continued to think deeper.

But what thing on his own body is Ji Cheng Tang so urgently in need of that they would not hesitate to buy it back with dog-head gold?

Seems there isn't anything.

Unless he could help them solve the reprint problem.

Xu Yuan shook his head secretly; he still had to look further.

"What a good thing," Xiang Qinghuai's eyes lit up, but he still said with a smile, "Shopkeeper Tang is likely to be disappointed; my brother Xu here is also an inspector of the Quwei Bureau."

Xu Yuan was not wearing official robes today.

"Ah!" Shopkeeper Tang immediately apologized, "Impolite, impolite."

He handed over the red envelope, saying, "Please accept it, my lord Xu."

Xu Yuan took it, didn't even look, and stuffed it into his chest, "Every year there are strange changes among the printers; has Shopkeeper Tang not thought of a way?"

Shopkeeper Tang gave a bitter smile and shook his head, "I have thought of it, but unfortunately there is no good way."

He was unwilling to talk more about this matter; after chatting a few more words, as Ji Cheng Tang still needed to handle the aftermath, Xu Yuan and Xiang Qinghuai took their leave and departed.

Only after coming out did Xiang Qinghuai tell Xu Yuan, "Ji Cheng Tang has thought of some methods, but they are all too expensive. Calculating it, using the printers is still the most cost-effective."

The extra silver given to those printers actually totals no more than a hundred taels.

Even counting the money for the red envelopes every year, it is still cost-effective. Moreover, Ji Cheng Tang only wants to keep the title of Southern Jiaozhi's sole reprint house for the almanac, to facilitate their other businesses, that's all."

Xu Yuan sighed; no matter what time it is, the lives of the lower class are the cheapest.

That copy of the Analects was not a calligraphy model, but in the hands of a sixth-rank literary cultivator, they could draw out every single character within it, combine them, and unleash power not inferior to a fifth-rank calligraphy model.

But for other cultivators, the effect is not so great.

Ji Cheng Tang obviously obtained this thing to deal with those strange printer changes.

It's just that today's incident happened too fast; the literary cultivator who holds the Analects had no time to act.

After wandering around a while longer, Xu Yuan still found nothing, "Let's go; tomorrow we'll go to Qianjin Fang and try our luck."

Xiang Qinghuai arranged for Xu Yuan to stay in the yamen; Xu Yuan tossed and turned all night: Is there any cheap and effective way to solve Ji Cheng Tang's reprinting problem?

(End of this chapter)