Chapter 73: Misfortune Talisman

Sun Master watched in silence and sighed.

He had lost all hope in his sons and let them die as they wished, but for his two daughters, he still felt some sorrow.

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

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

Sun Laotai was delighted and agreed at once.

Wang Feiyin and Tao Ji then took their leave together.

Sun Master walked beside him, “Don’t pretend you can’t see me—I know you can.”

Tian Xu and Zhou Chao watched, drenched in cold sweat; one wanted to speak but held back, the other crawled on the ground, keeping far away from where Sun Master had passed.

Tian Xu’s movements caught Sun Master’s attention; Sun Master turned and squinted at him, “I’d forgotten about you, ungrateful brat. Come here—your father-in-law has a word with you.”

Tian Xu immediately wailed like a demon, “Immortal Master, save me, save me! Wife, wife…”

Tian Xu crawled toward Sun Huiniang, begging her to save him.

A flicker of satisfaction crossed Sun Huiniang’s face; she quickly put on an expression of fear and hesitation, as if wanting to move closer but daring not to.

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

It seems Sun Huiniang isn’t entirely submissive—she doesn’t truly obey Tian Xu from the heart.

There’s so much that can be done now.

Wang Feiyin stopped and waved his hand; Sun Master was instantly restrained.

He said kindly, “Good men Tian and Zhou, Sun Master’s funeral is tomorrow—you should both go to the wake and show your filial piety. That will resolve everything.”

Seeing his father-in-law under Wang Feiyin’s control, Tian Xu nodded quickly, “I’ll go, I’ll go…”

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

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

Seeing her senior brothers leave, Pan Yun rose and said, “Good elder, rest for now. I’ll go to the funeral hall—I may be needed for the rites.”

But Sun Laotai 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 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 itchy talisman earlier—do you have other similar talismans?”

Pan Yun’s eyes flickered, and she lowered her voice, “There’s also the Misfortune Talisman. Both the itchy and misfortune talismans work extremely well—unnoticeable, non-lethal, yet deeply 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 sheer misfortune?”

Sun Laotai nodded vigorously.

Pan Yun said, “Such things seem trivial and harmless, yet they wear a person down utterly. But this misfortune talisman isn’t effective on everyone—it only works on those who deserve it.”

Sun Laotai eagerly asked, “What do you mean?”

“My misfortune talisman awakens the host’s own inherent misfortune, not misfortune drawn from outside,” Pan Yun said. “For example, if you paste this talisman on your eldest son-in-law, it concentrates all his remaining misfortune of the year into one month. The heavier his personal misfortune, the worse his luck becomes.”

Sun Laotai: “That brute who beats his wife must carry heavy misfortune.”

Pan Yun: “Extremely heavy.”

She shook her head thoughtfully, “A person carries righteous qi, malevolent qi, and decaying qi. Righteous qi nourishes body and soul; the opposite harms both. Tian’s body is thick with malevolent qi, displacing righteous qi and fueling decay. If this continues, Heaven will not grant him long life—and…”

Seeing Sun Laotai watching her expectantly,

Pan Yun lowered her voice further: “He will invite accidents and calamities.”

Sun Laotai sighed and held Pan Yun’s hand, “Little Immortal, please have mercy—I wish to request several misfortune talismans.”

Pan Yun generously counted out six misfortune talismans for her—the most attack talismans she’d drawn, second only to the thunder talismans.

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

Clearly, the misfortune talisman remained as disliked as ever.

Pan Yun drew it and classified it as an attack talisman precisely so she could throw it during fights to make her opponent unlucky.

She couldn’t expect them to jump onto her sword—but she could make them slip while jumping, 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 great burst of fortune for herself, she’d summon a great burst of misfortune for them—then they’d be on equal footing.

“How do you use this talisman?” Sun Laotai 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’s eyes widened. “Eat?”

“Yes. Burn it, mix the ash into water or food—any way you ingest it, the effect will activate naturally.”

Sun Laotai’s mind opened up—now she saw countless uses for this talisman water.

In the end, Pan Yun left carrying a sack full of silver.

Outside, she saw Sun Xianniang sitting on the veranda with the child; she walked over and patted the child’s head. “Good woman Sun, have the nurse bring the child to me later—I’ll perform a rite for her.”

Sun Xianniang blinked. “Perform a rite for her? Won’t that frighten the child?”

Pan Yun said, “The rite is to bless and ward off calamity—it won’t frighten her. If a rite frightens people, it’s not a blessing rite. If you’re uneasy, you may watch.”

Sun Xianniang quickly agreed.

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

!. Read

After dividing the estate, Sun Laotai was especially generous—she paid swiftly and generously. Six misfortune talismans, two itchy talismans, and two thunder talismans—all paid in banknotes.

Probably feeling guilty for favoring her eldest daughter, she wanted to compensate her second daughter too. After spending two hundred taels on Sun Huiniang, she handed Pan Yun another hundred taels as payment for treating Zhou Meiniang, adding that if the child recovered, another hundred taels would follow.

Pan Yun readily agreed on behalf of her two 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 worthwhile—ha ha ha—she’d made so much money.

Pan Yun took out yellow paper, cinnabar, and brush from the Spirit Realm, preparing to meditate before drawing more talismans.

Such a golden opportunity—she didn’t know when she’d get another.

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

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

Pan Yun, who had been meditating, opened her eyes and looked at it. “Finally back?”

Whether due to feline nature or the Spirit Realm’s influence, Pan Xiaohei had been craving freedom these days—vanished for entire days, then appearing out of nowhere.

Pan Xiaohei: “Miao, I saw you making money.”

Pan Yun closed her eyes and continued meditating.

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 your money soon.”

Pan Yun tensed. “Why?”

Pan Xiaohei’s feline face twisted into a smirk. “I thought after all you’ve been through, you’d have noticed—you have great destiny, yet terrible luck. After good fortune, disaster always follows. Especially with wealth: since you became my disciple, your wealth palace has been leaking air—nearly as bad as your senior brother’s.”

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

Her senior brother’s wealth…

Just thinking of it made Pan Yun feel sorrow for him—and now she was nearly matching him?

Pan Yun’s spiritual sense swept over the money in the Spirit Realm, hoping for a loophole: “The money’s stored in your domain—Heaven may not count it as mine.”

Hearing this, Pan Xiaohei hesitated. “If it’s counted as mine, maybe it can be avoided. I’m a Spirit Realm entity—artifacts that become sentient already possess great fortune. My luck must be excellent.”

Pan Yun studied the cat’s black face carefully, then shook her head. “My skill isn’t refined enough—I can’t read your fortune from your face.”

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

Pan Yun found this reasonable. She still hadn’t figured out how to spend the money and didn’t want to waste it carelessly.

She needed to send more to her father and brothers for emergencies;

She needed to save for a temple for her Master;

Her body refinement was effective—she should reserve some money to buy medicinal herbs for it;

This batch of talismans sold extremely well; she believed that with the Sun and Zhou families’ promotion, her talisman business could grow steadily. She could make her own yellow paper, but cinnabar and other talisman materials had to be bought.

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

Of these four necessary expenditures, only the third and fourth could be stockpiled—the first two required saving.

Since herb and cinnabar prices fluctuated, Pan Yun, who had spent her life budgeting carefully, preferred to save first and buy only when timing was right.

After careful consideration, she decided to keep the money—maximizing profit required patience.

To prevent Heaven from mistaking it, Pan Yun said clearly to Pan Xiaohei: “The money in the Spirit Realm belongs to you.”

Pan Xiaohei meowed, thinking inwardly: [You say it’s mine, but why don’t you open more of the seals? I can only watch—I can’t even touch anything inside. I’m a cat—how am I supposed to spend it?]

Pan Yun remained unmoved, closing her eyes again. “Stop talking—I’m about to draw talismans.”

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)