Chapter 18: Engraved Talismans and Divine Sense

Chapter 18: Woodblock Talismans and Spiritual Sense

"What did you say?"

Li Jun froze for a moment, uncertain for a time whether he had misheard.

Wu Ya Duoduo lifted her head, her delicate face wearing an exceptionally serious expression. She spoke word by deliberate word: "I say, the Martial Path is the strongest Sequence in the Great Ming Empire!"

"Duoduo, don't talk nonsense."

Wu Ya Hua rebuked lightly, halting her movements of packing away instruments. She turned to Li Jun with an apologetic look: "Don't mind her. This girl has liked wielding swords and spears since childhood. Who knows if it's from reading too many of those inexplicable books."

Li Jun sneered inwardly. Those books didn't teach people to play with weapons; they taught people 'grappling'.

Still, this Wu Ya Duoduo's personality was truly fierce. Reading banned books, playing with a long saber, opening her mouth only to speak of stabbing people.

She even dared to draw her blade and hack at Kuang Qingyun, not caring in the slightest that the other party was a Bag Brother who was the Second Sage Brother.

Where was the girl in this? She was simply more tigerish than a man.

But there was one thing Li Jun saw clearly: Wu Ya Duoduo's concern for Wu Ya Hua was not feigned.

The rarity of such affection in the Chicken-and-Goose District was no less than that of an ordinary person, powerless to truss a chicken, wandering Sinfolk Street with a hundred thousand Great Ming Treasure Notes in their bosom.

Filial piety was not lacking, just a bit manic. Who knew how Wu Ya Hua had raised his granddaughter into this temperament.

Li Jun waved his hand, indicating he wouldn't take offense. Then, looking at the stubborn-faced girl, he smiled: "But the reality now is that the Martial Path is merely a bottom-rung existence among the Nine Streams."

Wu Ya Duoduo retorted: "That's because those people are all cowards, afraid to face the danger of developing the flesh! Mechanics are just the weak's escape; flesh and blood are the strong's weapon!"

Li Jun smiled indifferently. In his view, this was merely the fantasy of a girl who liked the Martial Path Sequence.

"What about the Three Teachings, then?" Li Jun asked with interest: "Are they cowards too?"

Wu Ya Duoduo resembled an enraged wolf cub, snarling viciously: "A bunch of insatiable parasites fattening themselves on the people. They only know how to enjoy the fruits of others' labor, yet delude themselves with dreams of becoming Buddhas and Ancestors, leaving their names in history..."

Wu Ya Hua suddenly shouted: "Shut up!"

"If not for them, how would the Martial Path have withered? How would the world have fallen to such a state..."

"Wu Ya Duoduo, I told you to shut up!"

Wu Ya Hua slammed the instruments in her hand onto the ground, a rare look of furious rage appearing on her face.

Wu Ya Duoduo let out a cold huff, her face full of indignation, but she still closed her mouth, turning her face away to ignore her grandfather.

"You're only what age, yet you dare prattle on about the ways of the world. Truly ignorant of the heights of heaven and depths of earth. It's all my fault for spoiling you usually, letting you develop this arrogant, domineering nature..."

Wu Ya Hua angrily lectured the girl. This was the first time Li Jun had seen this Ghost Street Doctor lose her composure so thoroughly.

However...

Li Jun glanced left and right at the sulking grandfather and granddaughter, raising his own arm where the flesh was still roiling, and said helplessly: "Do you want to finish fixing me up first, and then continue arguing?"

*Beep!!!*

The moment Li Jun's words fell, a piercing alarm suddenly rang out in the clinic.

The mechanisms on the ceiling rapidly reversed. Weapon matrices controlled by automated mechanical arms descended, dense red dots locking onto the clinic entrance.

Soundlessly, a massive human figure appeared in the clinic's dim corridor.

Wu Ya Hua strode to Wu Ya Duoduo's side, yanking the girl behind her, and shouted sternly: "Who are you?!"

The old man's expression was exceptionally horrified. All the defense mechanisms in this clinic were laid out by his own hand, and they used quite advanced early-warning equipment.

Yet now, the alarm only sounded after someone had already entered. This represented that the comer's strength was extraordinary.

*Snap!*

The figure did not speak; only the crisp sound of snapping fingers rang out from the shadows.

The sound entered Li Jun's ears, and a feeling of irritation instantly arose in his heart, but beyond that, there was no other sensation.

Yet, in Li Jun's shocked gaze, the weapon matrix suspended in the clinic ceiling, like obedient hounds, retracted uniformly into the ceiling. No matter how Wu Ya Hua operated the controls, they would not descend again.

At the same time, a faint sound of tearing air rang out. A palm-sized, elongated wooden plaque shot in, hovering eerily before the three of them.

The plaque bore dark red lines, coiling like dragons and snakes, forming complex, inscrutable symbols.

*Hum!*

The plaque trembled, emitting visible dark red ripples that spread outward in circles through the air.

"Spirit Sense?! Woodblock Talisman?!"

Wu Ya Hua cried out in successive shock. But no sooner had the words left her mouth than her pupils turned lax. Her whole body stiffened and she toppled straight backward.

Even Wu Ya Duoduo, protected behind her, was not spared. She too lost consciousness, falling backward.

Li Jun's eyes were quick, his hands faster. He caught the girl in one arm, holding her to his chest, his eyes fixed on that gradually clarifying figure.

Corpulent build, eyes like slits.

Even if this face turned to ash, Li Jun would recognize it. It was precisely the General Banner of the Second Division of the Chengdu Prefecture Embroidered Uniform Guard, Yu Kou!

Yu Kou wore a silk short coat with fancy patterns. A faint smile hung on his fat-covered face as he praised: "Just entered the Sequence and already possessing such strong physical resistance, able to even offset the influence of the Soul-Driving Talisman. Truly worthy of the Martial Path Sequence."

From the moment Yu Kou appeared, Li Jun's expression had turned extremely grave. This showed he had been under the Embroidered Uniform Guard's surveillance from start to finish.

The feeling was like bathing naked, only to find a greasy, disgusting fat man squatting in the corner, staring at you unblinkingly.

It made one exceptionally nauseous.

"Kill Yu Kou. I've already entered the Sequence. In a frontal fight, I can beat him!"

A voice rang out in Li Jun's mind. The killing intent in his heart suddenly surged uncontrollably.

At this moment, he desperately wanted to tear open Yu Kou's body, to see just how much fat was inside, how greasy the organs were.

"Rein in the killing intent on you. If we really fight, you're still no match for me."

Yu Kou still wore that smiling expression, but his eyes leaked a bone-chilling coldness.

"Don't let the genes carried by the Wu Nine Rioters affect your mind. Otherwise, it won't be long before you suffer Qi deviation and become a Martial Maniac."

Yu Kou's words were like a basin of cold water poured over him. Li Jun's consciousness instantly cleared. His face turned extremely ugly.

Since becoming a Wu Nine Rioter, this was already the second time he had failed to control his own murderous heart.

Loss of control was a precursor to collapse.

Thinking to this point, Li Jun instantly broke into a layer of fine cold sweat, his eyes full of lingering fear.

Yu Kou seemed not to notice Li Jun's change in expression. He looked with interest at the unconscious Wu Ya Duoduo, smacking his lips, muttering to himself: "Hates the Three Teachings, a body full of rebellious bones. This girl might be a good seedling."

Li Jun, barely suppressing his roiling emotions, stood up, cupping his fists toward Yu Kou: "Many thanks for the reminder, General Banner. I wonder what orders the Sir has for coming today?"

"Orders is too strong a word. I came today to deliver a gift."

Yu Kou fished a plaque from his trouser pocket and tossed it over. Li Jun raised a hand to catch it. It felt icy cold to the touch, like metal. On it were written eight small seal characters:

Chengdu Prefecture Embroidered Uniform Guard Captain.