Chen Huaian carefully picked up the faded amulet.
The writing on it had already blurred, like ink smudged by water. One could only barely make out the characters.
Previously, he had always treated this amulet as a simple game prop and never connected it with what had happened in his real life.
But now — since he’d confirmed the Thunder and Fire Talisman was real, then wasn’t it possible this amulet was too?
Chen Huaian narrowed his eyes.
The amulet had faded after his trip to Mount Lu.
Back then, quite a few accidents happened — first he broke his leg, then there was a landslide.
Either one of those could have easily put him in serious danger.
But in reality?
Not only did he make it back from Mount Lu in one piece, he even received a reward from a truly powerful figure, earning enough starting capital for himself.
“So this amulet actually worked… and it faded after activating?”
Chen Huaian turned the amulet over in his hands, even bringing it to his nose for a sniff.
He’d washed it once already, but the faint fragrance remained — and it definitely wasn’t the smell of detergent.
He felt increasingly convinced of his guess.
“It’d be great if I had another one to test this… or maybe I can go ask Li Qingran for one later in the game?”
He wasn’t sure if that would work — but if it did, wouldn’t that mean he could just get endless free items in the future?
A little expectation rose in his heart.
“Oh right, and there was also that Lushan Honor Guard… That was probably another phenomenon caused by the revival of spiritual energy.
Back then, I thought that emperor was pretty strange, but the specific situation at Mount Lu probably only the Demon Slayer Division knows…
Since they sound like a very official organization, their intelligence network should be decent too.”
On the sofa, Ba Ji silently listened to Chen Huaian’s ramblings.
Its weak little body shrank deeper into the corner.
It’s over.
Disaster is coming.
The boss has fully realized something’s wrong with this world.
Could this be the opportunity for his memories to awaken?
And when that happens — could it, this poor little gluttonous spirit beast, still hide its identity?
There was no way to stop the boss from coming into contact with the strange events of this world now.
No — I have to run. I need to figure out how to escape!
Ba Ji glanced at the spiritual plant sitting on the windowsill, making silent calculations.
At the rate it was absorbing spiritual energy now, in about a week, it’d probably be equivalent to a two-hundred-year-old monster.
By then, breaking through the window to escape wouldn’t be a problem — though it would be seriously injured by the talismans, but a little injury was better than staying here waiting to die!
As Ba Ji plotted its escape seriously, Chen Huaian was checking through his other items one by one.
The spiritual stone bracelet was mostly genuine — half the beads had turned cloudy, probably because their spiritual energy had been used up.
As for how and when that had happened, he’d need to test it.
The pot of grass on the windowsill was strange too.
He’d tried cutting its leaves before but couldn’t cut through it.
For now, he’d keep it and see what changes might happen — like, maybe one day it’d grow a mouth or something.
As for the Black Scale Sword — he had plans for that.
He was going to sleep with it.
Hanging a magic weapon on the bedside would be a waste — it should stay close, soaked in his personal scent!
Hehehe.
The orange glow of the sunset fell across the coffee table, the glass reflecting the dazzling light.
Chen Huaian was momentarily dazzled, and then he realized it was already dinnertime.
On the armrest of the sofa, his phone vibrated with a notification — it was fully charged.
After a long and hectic day, Chen Huaian was exhausted.
He unplugged the charger, turned on his phone, and opened the electronic girlfriend game.
He had quite a few ideas he wanted to test.
But when the game loaded, he realized — Li Qingran wasn’t in her usual room.
She was standing on the summit of Luoxia Peak, bathed in the glow of the setting sun.
In front of her stood Senior Sister Yue Qianchi and Pavilion Master Su Qinian.
The three of them wore solemn expressions, deep in conversation.
“What are you guys doing?”
Chen Huaian turned the volume up to maximum.
The three people’s conversation immediately became much clearer.
“Li Qingran,” Su Qinian was saying, “your journey will be long and your cultivation is still shallow.
This time, I’m assigning your senior sister to accompany you so the two of you can take care of each other along the way.”
“But… wouldn’t that be too much trouble for Senior Sister?”
Li Qingran glanced back and forth between Su Qinian and Yue Qianchi, her lips pressed into a thin line, face filled with hesitation.
“Oh, it’s no trouble at all.” Yue Qianchi waved her hand casually.
“My cultivation’s already hit a bottleneck. Master’s been wanting me to go travel for a while.
It’ll broaden my horizons — might even help me break through.”
She gave Li Qingran a mischievous smile, stepping over to hook an arm around her shoulder.
“Hehe~ Junior Sister, I’m not doing this for free, you know. You’ll have to pay for the drinks along the way!”
“Hmph! Drinking again! I swear, one of these days I’m going to kill you!”
Su Qinian lifted his hand, ready to give Yue Qianchi a knock on the head — but Yue Qianchi just laughed and dodged away.
Looking at his mischievous disciple, Su Qinian could only sigh with a headache.
He turned to Li Qingran helplessly and said, “Your senior sister is addicted to alcohol.
Keep an eye on her on the road — if not, she might get drunk and cause trouble!”
At this point, Li Qingran could only nod and bow earnestly.
“Disciple understands. Please rest assured, Master — I’ll make sure to urge Senior Sister to drink less along the way.”
“Tsk~ Old Su, do you really think Junior Sister can keep me in check?”
Not far behind Li Qingran, Yue Qianchi was hanging upside down from a tree branch, making faces at Su Qinian.
Su Qinian pretended not to see her.
“Alright — you two get ready. You’ll set off soon.”
He took out two small pouches of spirit stones and stuffed them into Li Qingran’s hands.
“Although Jiange is short on resources right now, as your master, I can’t have you leaving empty-handed.
Here — twenty low-grade spirit stones, ten for each of you.”
Li Qingran: “…”
Yue Qianchi: “…”
“What’s wrong? You think it’s not enough?”
Su Qinian’s face darkened slightly as he extended his hand further, his expression leaving no room for argument.
Li Qingran had no choice but to accept it.
“Thank you, Master.”
But when she tried to take the pouch, it wouldn’t budge.
The Pavilion Master’s fingers were clenching so tightly.
In the end, Yue Qianchi stepped over, pried open Su Qinian’s fingers one by one, and only then did the two pouches finally fall into Li Qingran’s hands.
“Master, if you’re so reluctant, you don’t have to give it to me,” Yue Qianchi teased, rolling her eyes.
Su Qinian, having been seen through, coughed twice awkwardly, then flicked out his flying sword.
Stepping onto it, he snorted coldly,
“Hmph! Take care of yourselves — I’m off!”
He made a grand exit, the sword beneath his feet slicing through the clouds, his figure fading into the sky with effortless grace.
The man and the sword blended into one, weaving through the clouds.
Leaving only Li Qingran and Yue Qianchi standing atop Luoxia Peak, bathed in the golden afterglow of the setting sun.
The scent of sun-dried grass lingered in the air.
It was a warm, pleasant smell — one that made people think of summer nights.
Li Qingran looked toward Yue Qianchi.
Under the glow of the sunset, Senior Sister’s face seemed to be lit with a soft, gentle radiance.
Yue Qianchi withdrew her gaze from the distant streaks of clouds Su Qinian had left behind.
She slung an arm around Li Qingran’s shoulders, grinning brightly.
“Let’s go, Junior Sister — let’s go down the mountain!”
…
Atop Luoxia Peak, the crimson clouds stretched for miles.
A great swordsman took the clouds as his ink and the sword as his pen,
writing upon the sky:
“Have a good trip.”
