When they first entered Yanjian County, Mang Gu suggested informing the local authorities about the situation with the Yanjian Guild to help find Qin Yuanhao. However, Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou rejected the idea, saying that the authorities couldn't be trusted.
Now it seemed their concerns were justified. The Yanjian Guild had planted an undercover agent within the authorities, and that person held a significant position!
Guild Leader Chu said slowly, "Lu Yang, among the higher-ups of the Yanjian Guild, I have the most faith in you. After the Spring Festival, the higher-ups will send people to inspect the Yanjian Guild. This inspection is different from before; with you, Meng Jingzhou, and Mang Gu, three seeds of the demonic path, the evaluation from above will be much better."
"I have a great chance of getting promoted, and if that happens, the position of Guild Leader will be open."
"According to tradition, the new Guild Leader will be chosen from the high ranks of the guild. Although you are still inexperienced, considering the leader's opinion of you, it’s possible you could be appointed as the new Guild Leader."
"Your competitors are still locked up in prison and won't be released for three days. Their foolish actions will not earn them high regard from above."
"The Spring Festival is a major holiday for several nearby counties, and it has a big impact. If something happens during this festival, they will look at you more favorably," Guild Leader Chu hinted to Lu Yang.
…
Lu Yang shared Guild Leader Chu's words with Meng Jingzhou and Mang Gu. Both were glad they had chosen to stir up trouble for Qin Yuanhao instead of seeking help from the authorities. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have such a thriving barbecue shop.
Lu Yang felt something was off about their focus. "I just don’t know who the undercover agent arranged by Guild Leader Chu is." The four of them were troubled; they didn’t know who in the authorities had the right to know about the yellow talismans.
"Don’t worry. Once you become Guild Leader, you’ll find out who the undercover is. Guild Leader Chu values you so much, he will definitely tell you before he leaves!" Meng Jingzhou laughed, not expecting Lu Yang to get promoted so quickly.
If Lu Yang got promoted, he and Mang Gu could do whatever they wanted in Yanjian County. Having someone backing them was great.
While the four were discussing excitedly, there was a knock at the door from Captain Wei.
"Little Lu, I brought you another banner."
Lu Yang opened the door and warmly welcomed Captain Wei inside.
"Oh, everyone is here. It’s lively," Captain Wei casually remarked.
"We're discussing yesterday's case."
Hearing this, Captain Wei warned seriously, "Little Lu, you must keep the details of last night’s case confidential. Don’t talk about it with anyone else."
"I know you all aren’t ordinary people; you’re cultivators here to experience life and sometimes act heroically."
"But this time is different. This involves ruthless demonic cultivators, and any mistake could be life-threatening. You must not seek out the owner of the talisman."
Lu Yang couldn’t help but smile; both the demonic side and the righteous side were warning him not to get involved.
"Don’t laugh. This is a very serious matter!" Captain Wei thought Lu Yang wasn’t taking it seriously.
Lu Yang straightened his face and promised not to get involved, which finally eased Captain Wei's worries.
"Have some tea before you go."
Captain Wei waved his hand, "No, the higher-ups are urging me. I need to take people to look for other talismans."
After sending Captain Wei off, Lu Yang and the others worried that the authorities didn’t have enough manpower and might not catch the hidden person. If something went wrong, many lives could be lost.
Lu Yang pondered, "We’ve learned how to conceal our presence, but just using that method might not be safe."
He looked at Lan Ting, who was learning to skewer meat with the ghostly figures, and had an idea.
"Lan Ting, I have a request."
Lan Ting smiled, "We’re all disciples of the Immortal Sect, fighting demons together. You don’t need to be so formal; just call me Lan Ting."
Lu Yang readily agreed, "Lan Ting, can you teach us the invisibility talisman?"
Lan Ting understood Lu Yang’s intention, "You mean you want to use the invisibility talisman to hide and secretly help Captain Wei?"
Lu Yang nodded.
"Of course, no problem. The invisibility talisman isn’t too difficult to learn; as long as your talent isn’t terrible, you can learn it in half a day."
Meng Jingzhou and Mang Gu were excited to learn something new, especially since it wasn’t Lu Yang teaching them.
"Have you three learned about talismans before?"
The three shook their heads in unison.
Lan Ting wasn’t surprised, "Then I’ll teach you from the beginning."
Lan Ting was also excited; this was her first time teaching others. Back at the Moon Laurel Immortal Palace, it was always her seniors teaching her, and now it was finally her turn to be the teacher.
"The essence of talismans is to manifest spells in a pictorial form on paper. You three come from the Wenda Sect, and you all have good talent in spells, so it should be easy for you to learn."
"…The talisman core is the soul of a talisman. Whether a talisman can fully exert its effect largely depends on whether the core is properly guarded…"
"…The most commonly used pattern in talismans is the cloud talisman, which imitates the changing shapes of clouds in the sky, derived from nature…"
"Specifically for the invisibility talisman, it uses 'gang' as the core and a misty cloud pattern as the design."
Lan Ting dipped her finger in some clear water, drew a few strokes, and quickly sketched an invisibility talisman on the table. With a breath, the talisman lifted off the table and adhered to her palm.
Lan Ting patted herself, and in front of the three, she vanished without a trace.
A few breaths later, Lan Ting reappeared, smiling lightly, "This is the most basic invisibility talisman. It only hides your body from sight; you should still be able to sense my position through breathing and heartbeat."
The three nodded; even so, it was still quite impressive.
"Now you try."
After half a day of learning, the three had a basic understanding of talismans. They took out their writing tools and began to try drawing the invisibility talisman, though they couldn’t yet manage to use water as the medium.
Meng Jingzhou, who had practiced calligraphy for years, wrote beautifully and held the brush with a steady hand.
He channeled his spiritual energy into the brush and quickly completed an invisibility talisman that looked about eighty percent like Lan Ting's.
After drawing a few more times, his version was almost identical to Lan Ting's.
Meng Jingzhou excitedly stuck it on himself and indeed disappeared.
Mang Gu had a bit less talent in this area and struggled with the control of his spiritual energy, succeeding only once after many attempts. But as he practiced more, his success rate improved.
Lan Ting admired them silently; they were indeed disciples of the Wenda Sect, naturally gifted with talismans.
What about Lu Yang?
Lan Ting looked at Lu Yang.
Lu Yang quickly finished drawing an invisibility talisman, and he succeeded on the first try, showing incredible talent.
Lu Yang stuck the invisibility talisman on himself, and he disappeared completely.
However, only his body disappeared; his clothes remained.
It looked like a ghost!
"What the heck!" A strange thing happened; his clothes seemed to be talking.
Since he was in an invisible state, Lu Yang thought he might as well take off his clothes.
Then he desperately realized that the invisibility talisman paper was still visible.
What kind of invisibility was this!
He almost ripped the talisman off in frustration.
Fortunately, his reason prevailed, and he didn’t go through with it.
(End of Chapter)