Found a Treasure

"Went to the Gathering of Beauties Pavilion last night, did you?"

Seeing Wang Chen open his courtyard gate, Old Sun was taken aback at first.

Then he flashed a lecherous grin. "Young people need to show some restraint, hehe..."

Wang Chen remained expressionless—did he think he was funny?

Receiving no response, Old Sun's smile gradually froze, ultimately turning into awkwardness written in capital letters.

"Ahem!"

He coughed twice to salvage his dignity. "Wang Chen, let's go. I've already prepared breakfast."

"Not going today."

Wang Chen shook his head. "Grandpa Sun, please turn down those families for me."

"What?"

Old Sun was instantly shocked, scarcely believing his own ears.

If Wang Chen stopped working, how was he supposed to earn that twenty-percent kickback? Where would he get the Spirit Stones to probe the depths of the Joyous Union Sect's female cultivators?

The old man panicked. "I've already made arrangements with them and taken their deposits!"

"Return them."

Wang Chen smiled bitterly. "It's not that I don't want to earn Spirit Stones. I just can't anymore."

He held up two injured fingers. "I used the Gengjin Finger too much. My meridians can't take it."

What Wang Chen said was not really a lie.

With injured meridians, going out to clear Earth Rhinoceroses would be the same as severing his own path to immortality.

Old Sun had no reply.

Nor did he think Wang Chen was brushing him off.

Wang Chen's face was deathly pale, and at a glance he looked like he had suffered internal injuries.

He really had been working desperately these past two days.

"Then... then focus on recovering."

Old Sun said glumly, "I'll explain it to them. They'll understand."

After a pause, he added sheepishly, "I'm very busy today, so I won't have time to tend your Spirit Field."

For the past two days, Old Sun had been helping Wang Chen manage his ten mu of Spirit Fields.

Now that Wang Chen was injured, why would he be willing to work for nothing?

Wang Chen smiled. "It's fine."

He knew this old man's ways all too well.

After sending Old Sun away, Wang Chen shut the courtyard gate and returned to his room.

He began circulating his technique to heal his injuries.

The Five Elements Technique was not a healing cultivation art, and its effects on internal injuries were poor.

But after he catalyzed the medicinal power of the Healing Pill, the damaged meridians within Wang Chen's body were immediately nourished.

The burning pain eased considerably.

For the entire day, he stayed indoors, doing everything he could to recover from his injuries.

Meridian damage was no minor matter.

Without prompt and thorough treatment, it could easily become a hidden injury that would be difficult to heal.

Although Wang Chen's cultivation was not high, he was young and vigorous, his injuries were not severe, and the Healing Pill's effects were quite exceptional. By sunset, his meridian injuries had already recovered by more than half.

They would likely be mostly healed by tomorrow.

Wang Chen then went out and cast the Cloud Rain Art over his Spirit Fields.

The weather had been scorching lately, with very little rain. It was not a major problem if the weeds in the Spirit Fields were cleared every day or two.

But if the Spirit Rice was not replenished with water in time, he might very well end up with no harvest at all!

After making it rain, he returned home, lit the fire, and began preparing dinner.

"Squeak, squeak!"

When it was time to eat, the Big White Rat emerged again.

"Xiao Bai!"

Wang Chen joyfully scooped it into his palm and could not resist giving it a kiss. "I have you to thank for saving me!"

If Xiao Bai had not desperately bitten his ear last night, waking him up so he could gather mana...

Wang Chen would have been sent to the afterlife long ago.

"Squeak, squeak."

The Big White Rat squeaked twice more and flicked its tail, somehow conveying a hint of shyness.

Wang Chen said solemnly, "Xiao Bai, great kindness needs no words of thanks. From now on, as long as I, Wang Chen, have a bite to eat, I guarantee that the two of you won't go hungry!"

He said it with utter sincerity.

The Big White Rat seemed to understand and rubbed its nose against Wang Chen's wrist.

Wang Chen gave the little fellow a couple of strokes, then set it on the table.

He went to the kitchen and brought over the cooked Spirit Rice and fragrant pan-fried Insect Meat, sharing them with the Big White Rat.

The Brocade Mouse was still nowhere to be seen.

Wang Chen paid it no mind and, as usual, wrapped up a rice ball for Xiao Bai to take back.

That evening, he took the second Healing Pill.

After another round of treatment, his internal injuries were mostly healed.

But it was still early, and after surviving a brush with death, Wang Chen had no desire to sleep.

He took the Human Skin Mask he had peeled from the traveling merchant's face out of his Storage Bag.

Wang Chen had not examined this trophy carefully before.

The Human Skin Mask was grayish white, showing only the rough outlines of eyes, a nose, and a mouth.

Other than that, it was simply a sheet of pale skin.

It was exceedingly thin and light, as though it weighed nothing in his hand.

Yet it also felt remarkably tough.

Out of curiosity, Wang Chen took out a dagger and lightly poked the edge of the mask with its tip.

This dagger had also been seized from the traveling merchant, and its blade was extremely sharp.

Yet it would not pierce the mask at all.

Wang Chen changed from poking to slashing, but failed to leave even a single mark on it.

Its material was tougher than imagination!

Wang Chen was immediately intrigued.

He steadily increased his strength, stabbing, poking, slashing, and cutting at the mask with the dagger.

By the end, he had even used the Mighty Strength Art, yet he still failed to damage the mask in the slightest!

Wang Chen realized that this thing was probably far from ordinary.

If his meridians had not yet fully recovered, he truly would have liked to test the mask's defenses with the Gengjin Finger.

This discovery also left Wang Chen with a lingering shudder of fear.

If he had thrust the Gengjin Finger at the traveling merchant's face last night—

With this mask blocking it, he might not have been able to kill the other man!

After thinking for a moment, Wang Chen suddenly pressed the mask against his own face.

It felt cool to the touch.

The next instant, the Human Skin Mask silently spread open and perfectly adhered to his skin.

Wang Chen felt no discomfort whatsoever.

His vision and breathing were completely normal, unaffected in the least.

What would he look like wearing the mask?

Wang Chen immediately ran into the bedroom and dug out a bronze mirror from beside his bed.

In the mirror, Wang Chen's face was utterly blank.

He looked very much like the Faceless Man he had once seen in one of Star Lord's movies!

How was he supposed to go out and meet people looking like this?

Wang Chen frowned.

When the traveling merchant had worn the mask to break in and commit murder last night, this was clearly not what Wang Chen had seen.

Or was there some other hidden mystery?

Wang Chen stared into the mirror, racking his brains.

Then his features began to change. His eyebrows, nose, and mouth gradually became clear and vivid.

The color and texture of his skin emerged along with them.

In just a few moments, a devil-may-care face appeared before Wang Chen.

Wang Chen was dumbstruck.

The face in the mirror was unmistakably that of Star Lord, his favorite.

And a young Star Lord at that.

Exactly the same as Wang Chen remembered!

After the initial shock, Wang Chen felt as though clouds had parted to reveal the sun, and everything suddenly became clear.

He understood.

Facing the mirror again, Wang Chen began imagining a different appearance.

In the blink of an eye, Star Lord in the mirror turned into Yan Zu!

This time, he had struck it rich!

Wang Chen nearly laughed out loud.

This thing was far too miraculous—it could perfectly replicate the appearance of anyone in his mind.

Although Wang Chen did not know much about Magic Tools and Magic Treasures.

He could be certain of one thing.

This was absolutely a rare treasure!

He had found treasure.

Second update delivered.

PS: I set up an automatic update, then just realized it hadn't posted. After checking, I found that I'd set the time for tomorrow. What a fog.