Chapter 43: A Big Shot Is a Big Shot

Chapter 43: A Big Shot Is a Big Shot

“Stayed up all night yesterday?”

A colleague who had just returned from a mission arrived at the office and immediately saw Zhu Chun’an raising a hand to stick a Clear Mind Talisman onto his forehead.

“I just finished a mission. I spent all night writing reports and accidentally stayed up.”

The colleague was a middle-aged Celestial Master in his forties.

Seeing the Clear Mind Talisman pasted on Zhu Chun’an’s forehead, he could not help laughing.

“Young people may have good health, but you can’t rely on Clear Mind Talismans to stay up every night. Your body is your capital. Hurry up and go get some rest.”

As he spoke, the Clear Mind Talisman took effect, and the exhaustion and drowsiness vanished completely.

Zhu Chun’an instantly looked full of energy.

Although no one knew which senior had invented the ingenious combination of the Clear Mind Talisman and staying up all night, it had indeed saved many night-owl Celestial Masters from death by overwork.

“In the world of Celestial Masters, there is no such thing as staying up late. There is only pulling an all-nighter.”

Besides, this mission had accidentally uncovered a major clue. Even if Zhu Chun’an wanted to sleep, he could not.

After capturing the fierce ghost overnight and handing it over to the underworld messengers stationed at the branch office for interrogation, they had indeed stripped another fragment of bone from its soul body.

However, this bone fragment was much smaller than the finger bone taken from Lan Ying.

It should have come from a little finger.

The same thing happened during the interrogation of the fierce ghost. It too had no memory of swallowing the bone fragment.

So far, the Special Investigation Department had collected two fragments.

Who was the mastermind behind this?

What exactly was their objective?

Where were the remaining parts of the arm bone?

Into how many pieces had the arm bone been divided?

Were the fragments still in the mastermind’s possession, or had they been deliberately scattered?

Not a single one of these questions had an answer.

Based on the limited clues currently available, all the Special Investigation Department could do was keep an eye on similar cases.

Whenever a similar incident was discovered, they had to deal with it immediately to minimize harm.

However,

Those bones were simply too sinister.

Ordinary ghosts that devoured them could erupt with tremendous combat power and destructive capability. Any Celestial Master of average strength who accepted such a mission would merely be delivering themselves to death.

Even more troublesome was the possibility of those fragments falling into the hands of powerful old ghosts.

For example, fierce ghosts that had escaped during the great prison riot in the underworld years ago and had never been recaptured.

Heh.

That would be a real problem.

“I’m not thinking about it anymore. Otherwise my nightmare might come true!”

Zhu Chun’an deeply understood the terrifying nature of raising flags.

Perhaps the blood shed while fighting enemies in the future would be the tears caused by recklessly planting flags today.

He submitted the detailed report he had written to his superiors and applied for the mission bonus subsidy as well as the generous payment from Mr. Lu.

According to the original agreement, he, Xiao Pangzi, and Pei Ye would receive forty percent, ten percent, and fifty percent respectively.

Originally, Pei Ye had wanted to give Xiao Pangzi twenty percent.

But how could Xiao Pangzi dare accept it?

He did not dare take that extra ten percent belonging to the big shot. His plump hamster face shook so hard that his cheeks quivered.

When Pei Ye received the bank notification, she sent a WeChat message.

“Thanks. If there are similar missions in the future, please remember me. [Sending you a little heart.JPG]”

Zhu Chun’an could not help laughing when he saw the message.

The reason he had encountered the mysterious arm bone fragments twice and completed the missions without a scratch was because he had latched onto this big shot’s thigh.

In a certain sense, Pei Ye was the lucky star of both him and the Special Investigation Department.

Without her, the Special Investigation Department could not possibly have reacted so quickly.

“By the way, Senior, you mentioned earlier that a new neighbor had moved into the apartment opposite mine and told me to be careful... Is there something wrong with that neighbor?”

Pei Ye revealed a little information.

“Her name is Lei Yating. She’s my dormitory roommate. She seems to have some connection with the world of Celestial Masters... Maybe she inherited some sort of legacy. I’m worried she’ll take the wrong path. Since you’re her neighbor, please keep an eye on her from time to time. You don’t need to take special care of her for my sake. Just don’t let her cause any major trouble.”

Zhu Chun’an replied, “Someone with ties to the Celestial Masters? The Celestial Master community is currently lacking new blood. If a talented newcomer appears, naturally I will look after them to some extent.”

Seeing this reply, Pei Ye was satisfied.

According to the synopsis of this novel, Lei Yating only truly became involved with Zhu Chun’an and entered the world of Celestial Masters after her strength had stabilized.

Right now she was only just beginning.

If she caused any trouble, it would probably alert the Celestial Master community.

When Zhu Chun’an returned home, he deliberately glanced at the apartment across the hall.

The door was closed.

“I remember the people living opposite were an elderly couple. I didn’t expect them to move away so suddenly...”

The elderly couple had left a rather deep impression on Zhu Chun’an.

They did not enjoy interacting much with their neighbors.

Out of 365 days in a year, they spent 360 traveling around the world.

They had remained childfree their entire lives despite social pressure.

“It’s not that we dislike children. We simply feel that life only lasts a few short decades. Taking responsibility for our own lives is already enough of a challenge, so how could we bear the responsibility of raising children?”

“Haha, living well in the present is the most important thing. Young people like you should understand that, right?”

Zhu Chun’an had only learned they were childfree because of a chance conversation during which the elderly couple brought it up themselves.

Their open-minded attitude toward life surpassed that of many young people.

For such interesting elders to move away without a word left him feeling somewhat regretful.

He wondered whether they would ever have a chance to meet again.

Opening the door, he found the living room unchanged from when he had left.

Zhu Chun’an placed the newly purchased fruit and snacks before the Patriarch as offerings and, as usual, lit three sticks of incense before beginning his daily routine.

“Hm?”

After completing his morning prayers and doing a little cleaning, he was astonished to discover a complete Dispelling Gloom Talisman drawn on the tea table.

The Dispelling Gloom Talisman was one of the most common talismans.

Every Celestial Master carried it when going out.

Not only could it dispel the bad luck caused by accidentally coming into contact with evil objects, it could also disperse yin energy.

Many of the “good luck talismans” that believers sought from Daoist temples were actually Dispelling Gloom Talismans.

Because demand for Dispelling Gloom Talismans was so high, many novice Celestial Masters supported themselves by drawing them for Daoist temples to sell to visitors.

(:з」∠)

Naturally, Zhu Chun’an had drawn many of them as well.

However, the Dispelling Gloom Talismans he drew all used yellow paper as the medium and cinnabar as the ink.

Both were excellent materials for stabilizing primordial qi.

The talisman before him was different.

Without yellow paper and cinnabar, successfully forming the talisman was more than ten times as difficult as drawing an ordinary one.

“Senior, did you draw the Dispelling Gloom Talisman on the tea table?”

After a short delay, Pei Ye replied.

“Yes, I drew it. What’s wrong? Did I draw it incorrectly, or did I cause you some trouble?”

Looking at her casual response, Zhu Chun’an suddenly felt as though a mouthful of blood was lodged in his throat.

“No. Not at all. Senior drew it perfectly.”

He was an ordinary mortal.

There was no need to compare himself with some senior expert who had appeared from who knew which mountain.

That was not striving for self-improvement.

That was asking to be abused.

Pei Ye: “???”

Looking at the message Zhu Chun’an had sent, she felt completely baffled and could not understand why he had specifically asked such a question.

Besides the Dispelling Gloom Talisman, the other four basic talismans were the Clear Mind Talisman, the Summon Yin Talisman, the Ghost-Repelling Talisman, and the Protection Talisman.

They were called basic not because they were weak, but because they were relatively easy to draw among talismans and highly practical.

They were fundamental skills that every Celestial Master had to master.

Of course, the effectiveness varied from person to person.

“These are... talismans used by Celestial Masters?”

The young man’s breath was as cold as ice.

It was clearly a bright sunny day, yet as the young man approached, the surrounding temperature suddenly plummeted.