Chapter 73: Bad Luck Talisman

Master Sun watched in silence and sighed involuntarily.

He had grown cold toward his sons and let them die as they would, but for his two daughters, he still felt a pang of sorrow.

Master Sun asked Wang Feiyin, "Master Wang, is there truly no perfect solution?"

Wang Feiyin acted as if he couldn't see him, turning instead to Sun Laotai Tai and saying, "The child's feet need conditioning before correction; the better the conditioning, the higher the chance of success. If the kind elder trusts me, let my junior sister stay by her side to monitor her at all times."

Sun Laotai Tai was only too happy to agree.

Wang Feiyin and Tao Ji then took their leave together.

Master Sun walked beside him, "Don't pretend you can't see me—I know you can."

Tian Xu and Zhou Chao watched in cold sweat, one hesitating to speak, the other crawling on the ground, keeping far away from where Master Sun had passed.

Tian Xu's movements drew Master Sun's attention; he turned and squinted at him, "I'd forgotten about you, ungrateful brat. Come, your father-in-law has a word with you."

Tian Xu immediately wailed like a demon, "Immortal Master, save me, save me! Niangzi, Niangzi…"

Tian Xu scrambled toward Sun Huiniang on hands and knees, begging her to save him.

Sun Huiniang's face flickered with satisfaction, then instantly shifted to an expression of fear and hesitation—wanting to move closer but daring not to.

Pan Yun spotted it at once and rejoiced inwardly; all sorts of wicked ideas bubbled up inside her.

It seems Sun Huiniang isn't entirely meek—she doesn't truly submit to Tian Xu from the heart.

There's much that can be done now.

Wang Feiyin halted and waved his hand; Master Sun was immediately restrained.

He said gently, "Tian Shanren, Zhou Shanren, Master Sun's funeral is tomorrow—you should both pay your respects at the wake. That will resolve everything."

Seeing his father-in-law under Wang Feiyin's control, Tian Xu immediately nodded, "I'll go right away, I'll go right away…"

Tian Xu scrambled toward the funeral hall as if a ghost were chasing him.

Zhou Chao also quickly agreed, following close behind Wang Feiyin—but lagging two steps behind, respectfully leaving an empty space for his father-in-law.

Pan Yun, seeing her senior brother depart, rose and said, "Kind elder, rest for now. I'll walk to the funeral hall—I may be needed for the rites."

But Sun Laotai Tai grabbed her hand, "There are plenty of people up front—let them handle it. Little Immortal, you've labored half the day; rest with us in the inner quarters."

Sun Laotai Tai dismissed all servants, even had her two daughters take the children away, leaving only herself and Pan Yun in the room.

When no one remained, she tugged Pan Yun's sleeve and whispered, "Little Immortal, you mentioned an Itch Talisman earlier? Do you have other similar talismans?"

Pan Yun's eyes flickered, and she lowered her voice, "There's also the Bad Luck Talisman. Both the Itch Talisman and the Bad Luck Talisman are extremely useful—unnoticeable, non-lethal, yet maddeningly irritating."

"Think about it: someone chokes on water, trips while walking, bites into a stone while eating, gets drenched by water while walking down the street—isn't that terribly unlucky?"

Sun Laotai Tai nodded vigorously.

Pan Yun said, "These incidents seem minor and harmless, yet they wear a person down utterly. But not everyone can use the Bad Luck Talisman—it won't work on just anyone."

Sun Laotai Tai eagerly chimed in, "What do you mean?"

"My Bad Luck Talisman activates the host's own accumulated misfortune, not external misfortune," Pan Yun said. "For example, if you paste this talisman on your eldest son-in-law, it concentrates all his remaining year's misfortune into one month. The heavier his personal misfortune, the worse his luck becomes."

Sun Laotai Tai: "The brute who beats his wife must have heavy misfortune."

Pan Yun: "Extremely heavy."

She shook her head thoughtfully, "A person carries righteous qi, wrathful qi, and decaying qi. Righteous qi nourishes body and soul; conversely, wrathful and decaying qi harm both. Young Master Tian's body is choked with wrathful qi, displacing righteous qi and fueling decay. Left unchecked, heaven will not grant him longevity—and…"

Seeing Sun Laotai Tai's expectant gaze.

Pan Yun lowered her voice further, "He will attract accidents and calamities."

Sun Laotai Tai sighed and gripped Pan Yun's hand, "Little Immortal, please have mercy—I wish to request several Bad Luck Talismans."

Pan Yun generously counted out six Bad Luck Talismans for her—the most attack talismans she'd drawn, second only to the Lei Fu.

Sun Laotai Tai carefully flipped through them but dared not keep them on her person, as if wanting to keep them ten thousand miles away.

Clearly, the Bad Luck Talisman remained as disliked as ever.

Pan Yun drew them—and classified them as attack talismans—so she could throw them during fights to make her opponents unlucky.

She couldn't expect them to jump onto her sword, but she could make them slip mid-leap, miss their thrusts, and turn their misfortune into her fortune.

Since discovering her own fortune was mediocre, Pan Yun began focusing on her opponents.

If she couldn't summon a fortune boom for herself, she'd summon a misfortune boom for them—then they'd finally be on equal footing.

"How do you use this talisman?" Sun Laotai Tai fretted. "You can't just stick it on him, can you?"

Any fool would tear it off. Pan Yun whispered, "The best way isn't to stick it—it's to eat it."

Sun Laotai Tai's eyes widened. "Eat it?"

"Yes. Burn it, mix the ash into water or food—swallow it. It activates naturally inside the body."

Sun Laotai Tai's mind opened up—this meant the talisman water had countless uses.

Pan Yun left carrying a sack full of silver.

Outside, she saw Sun Xian Niang sitting on the veranda with the child; she stepped forward and patted the child's head. "Sun Shanren, have the nurse bring the child to me later—I'll perform a rite for her."

Sun Xian Niang blinked. "Perform a rite for her? Won't that frighten the child?"

Pan Yun said, "The rite is to bless and ward off disaster—it won't frighten her. If a rite frightens people, it isn't a blessing rite. If you're uneasy, you may watch."

Sun Xian Niang quickly agreed.

Pan Yun returned to her room and counted the silver and banknotes, then separated them and stowed them in her Spirit Realm.

!. Read

After dividing the estate, Sun Laotai Tai was exceptionally generous—she paid swiftly and generously: six Bad Luck Talismans, two Itch Talismans, and two Thunder Talismans—all paid in banknotes.

Likely feeling guilty for favoring her eldest daughter, she also wanted to compensate her second daughter; after spending two hundred taels on Sun Huiniang, she handed Pan Yun another hundred taels as payment for treating Zhou Meiniang, adding that another hundred taels would follow if the child was fully cured.

Pan Yun readily accepted on behalf of both her senior brothers, then counted out one hundred taels to carry with her, planning to give them to her senior brother later.

This trip down the mountain was utterly worth it—heeheehee—she'd made so much money.

Pan Yun took out yellow talisman paper, cinnabar, and brush from her Spirit Realm, planning to meditate briefly before drawing more talismans.

What a great opportunity to make money—miss it, and you might not get another chance for ages.

Making money is indeed faster and more satisfying than earning merit.

The black cat leapt gracefully through the window, landing silently and lightly.

Pan Yun opened her eyes, gazing at it. "Finally decided to come back?"

Whether it was the cat's nature or the spirit realm's mischief, Pan Xiaohei had been yearning for freedom these past few days—vanishing for entire days, then reappearing out of nowhere.

Pan Xiaohei: "Meow, I saw you making money."

Pan Yun closed her eyes and continued her meditation.

Pan Xiaohei leapt onto the table, crouching opposite her, waiting until her breathing steadied before saying: "As your partner, I sincerely advise you to spend that money as soon as possible."

Pan Yun's heart tightened. "Why?"

Pan Xiaohei's cat face twisted into a sneer. "I thought after all you've been through, you'd have noticed—you may have great fortune, but your luck is abysmal. Every time fortune smiles on you, disaster follows. Especially with wealth: since you became a disciple, your wealth palace has been leaking air—it's nearly as bad as your senior brother's."

Pan Yun's ability to perceive aura was decent; she couldn't see her own, but she could see her senior brother's.

Her senior brother's wealth aura…

Just thinking of it made Pan Yun feel sorrow for him—and now she was almost catching up to him?

Pan Yun's spiritual sense swept over the money in the spirit realm. A glimmer of hope arose: "The money's stored in your space—Heaven might not count it as mine."

Hearing this, Pan Xiaohei hesitated. "If it's counted as mine, maybe we can dodge it. After all, I'm a spirit realm entity—anything that becomes sentient already holds great fortune. My luck must be excellent."

Pan Yun lowered her head, studying its black face intently. After a moment, she shook her head. "My skill isn't refined enough—I can't tell your wealth aura from your cat face."

Pan Xiaohei: "Black cats ward off evil and attract wealth!"

Pan Yun found his logic plausible. She still hadn't figured out how to spend this money, and didn't want to waste it blindly.

She needed to send more money to her father and brother for emergencies;

She needed to save for a temple to be built for her master;

Body tempering had worked well—she should keep some money to buy medicinal herbs for it;

This batch of talismans sold exceptionally well; she believed that, with the Qian and Sun families' promotion, her talisman business could grow steadily. She could make the yellow paper herself, but cinnabar and other talisman materials had to be purchased.

To make better talismans, she could add other ingredients to the cinnabar—but those ingredients were expensive too.

Of these four necessary spending paths, only the third and fourth could be stockpiled; the first two required saving.

The prices of herbs and cinnabar fluctuated with the market. Having spent a lifetime budgeting carefully, Pan Yun still preferred to save first and buy only when the timing was right.

So, after careful consideration, she decided to keep the money—only then could she maximize her gains.

Afraid Heaven might mistake the money as hers, Pan Yun spoke clearly to Pan Xiaohei: "All the money in the spirit realm belongs to you."

Pan Xiaohei meowed in response, thinking inwardly: 【You say it's mine, but why don't you open more of the formation? I can only look—I can't even touch anything in the spirit realm. I'm just a cat. How am I supposed to spend it?】

Pan Yun remained unmoved, closing her eyes to rest. "Don't bother me—I'll be drawing talismans soon."

Pan Yun planned to draw a talisman array for Zhou Meiniang.

Today's lucky number is any number ending in 2—screenshot as proof.

(End of chapter)