Stealing Heavenly Secrets

"Boss Li, you're a lucky man."

As soon as he stepped out, Ye Fan's voice came from across the counter. He was sitting on a high stool in front of the counter, flipping through Li Zhi's Huangdi Neijing.

"Why haven't you left yet?" Li Zhi asked.

"Boss Li, I don't have a peeping habit. On the contrary, I've been keeping away customers who might have interrupted your fun. You should be thanking me." Ye Fan grinned.

Li Zhi paused for a moment, then looked at Ye Fan with a strange expression.

No wonder Ye Fan would one day be called Ye Hei.

This thick-skinned ability to spout nonsense without batting an eye wasn't something he'd developed after stepping into the cultivation world.

No wonder he'd achieve financial freedom within three years of graduating college.

"Student Ye, you came back. You're not here to buy something, are you?" Li Zhi pulled a chair from behind the counter and sat down across from Ye Fan.

Ye Fan nodded. "Boss Li, you're truly sharp."

Then his eyes lit up. "I want to buy that Oracle Bone Script calligraphy piece from you."

His instincts told him that piece was important, as if it held some magical power.

Since childhood, Ye Fan had loved books on "strange discoveries," and he was deeply fascinated by the Huangdi Neijing's description of "ancient people living over a hundred years in good health."

But due to his age and experience, he hadn't yet come into contact with the circle of cultivators. Still, that didn't stop him from paying attention to such matters.

Earlier, the Oracle Bone Script Li Zhi had taken out stirred an unusual feeling in his heart.

He'd only glanced at it, but that single glance had moved him.

Those incomprehensible characters seemed to transform into bizarre and dazzling worlds, crashing into his mind.

After wandering around with Li Xiaoman and the others for about ten minutes, Ye Fan couldn't hold back his curiosity any longer. He slipped away and returned alone to Li Zhi's shop.

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At the Antique Style Jewelry Shop, Two grown men stared at each other across the counter, eyes wide.

"Student Ye Fan, I think I mentioned before—that's a Priceless Treasure, not to be shared." Li Zhi cleared his throat.

"Doesn't Boss Li want to figure out the true meaning of those Oracle Bone Script characters as soon as possible?" Ye Fan seemed determined to get his hands on that piece.

"You recognize those Oracle Bone Script characters?" Li Zhi looked at Ye Fan with surprise. Even archaeology professors specializing in Inscriptions couldn't identify them—could he?

Ye Fan said, "To be honest, Boss Li, my neighbor when I was a kid was a Taoist priest. I saw books written in Bronze Script at his place. I don't recognize them myself, but I can ask my neighbor for help."

Whether it was true or false, seeing Ye Fan's confident expression, Li Zhi instinctively felt that Ye Fan might actually have a way to decipher that piece.

As the absolute protagonist of the Shrouded World, it wasn't strange for Ye Fan to have connections Li Zhi didn't know about.

Still, Li Zhi wasn't about to hand over the piece easily.

Instead, he said, "Student Ye Fan, if you really have the ability to interpret the meaning of those Oracle Bone Script characters, I wouldn't mind giving you that calligraphy piece. But words are cheap—don't you think you should leave something behind?"

Ye Fan flashed a bright smile. "Boss Li, you're quite the character. How about I keep what I just saw to myself—does that count?"

Li Zhi smiled back. "What do you think?"

Ye Fan then put on a serious face. "Boss Li, maybe I should remind you of something. When you're enjoying yourself, make sure you pick the right person. Isn't the shop owner's wife next door a married woman? I never thought you'd have a taste for that sort of thing, Boss Li."

Li Zhi's expression shifted. He'd been so focused on dealing with Zhou Mei's advances that he'd completely forgotten she had a husband.

Now that Ye Fan brought it up, a headache hit him.

He'd kept his distance from Zhou Mei precisely to avoid this kind of situation.

But these past few days, his mind had been unsettled, and Zhou Mei had managed to slip through his defenses.

And now this seemingly kind but black-hearted Ye Fan had leverage to threaten him.

"Haha, Brother Ye, let's talk this out. A man's romantic escapades are like passing clouds—what matters is the journey, not the destination." Li Zhi put on a nonchalant air, even acting as if it were something to be proud of.

Ye Fan silently sneered in his heart: "Is he just pulling up his pants and pretending nothing happened, or am I already out of touch? Do people in society really play this wild?"

But he didn't echo Li Zhi. Instead, he fixed his clear, naive college-student gaze on Li Zhi.

Li Zhi felt a chill under Ye Fan's stare.

With a quiet sigh, he pulled a blank sheet of paper from under the counter in front of Ye Fan and wrote two sentences in Oracle Bone Script, totaling fifteen characters.

"I'll give you half a month. If you can decipher these two sentences, I'll give you that piece." He pushed the paper with the fifteen Oracle Bone Script characters toward Ye Fan and spoke seriously.

Ye Fan picked up the paper and studied it intently, even furrowing his brow, but he still couldn't make heads or tails of it.

Still, his instincts told him that piece was important—if he missed it, he might lose a priceless treasure.

Ye Fan tore off the bottom half of the paper, wrote down his phone number, and handed it to Li Zhi. "Boss Li, here's my number. I'll let you know as soon as I have news."

Li Zhi took the number. "Ye Fan, I have to warn you. That piece really is a Priceless Treasure. You'd better keep it confidential and not leak it carelessly. If you bring disaster on yourself by spilling the secret, don't say I didn't warn you."

"Don't worry, Boss Li. I know what's at stake." Ye Fan nodded.

"Then I'll wait for your good news," Li Zhi said.

Watching Ye Fan leave with the note, Li Zhi sat behind the counter, chin resting on his hands, lost in thought.

Ye Fan was truly extraordinary—able to seize an opportunity at a single glance.

At the very least, Pang Bo, Li Xiaoman, and Xia Siyu, who had come with him and clamored to see the article, hadn't grasped its true value.

Yet Ye Fan had turned back and didn't hesitate to use a "threatening" approach to force Li Zhi's hand.

In truth, even without Ye Fan's "pressure," Li Zhi had planned to find a chance to reveal the article to him.

He also hoped to use Ye Fan's help to decipher it.

After all, Ye Fan's fate was tough enough—this little trouble shouldn't be too much for him.

Then, Li Zhi spent ten days in a mix of anticipation and anxiety.

During that time, Ye Fan never called him.

It left Li Zhi without the mood to even study.

That afternoon, the sun blazed fiercely, and the pedestrian street was nearly empty of customers.

Shops on both sides of the street sat hollow and deserted.

Some had even drawn sunshades inside to ward off the heat.

Li Zhi's Antique Style Jewelry Shop was directly hit by the afternoon sun, so he simply pulled down the rolling shutter door for now.

Inside, the air conditioner provided a comfortably cool temperature.

But Li Zhi wasn't lounging on the lazy chair behind the counter.

Instead, he was hard at work in the Storage Room.

Ever since Zhou Mei had taken advantage of the moment to slip in, that Storage Room had become their private playground.

Whenever she got the chance, Zhou Mei would drop by.

The two, having tasted the sweetness, naturally never missed an opportunity to spar and connect.

At that moment, a blissful Zhou Mei sat up from Li Zhi, her face full of affection, and asked, "Li Lang, have you been taking some kind of pill these past two days? My legs are a bit weak."

Li Zhi patted his sturdy chest and said, "Mei'er, who do you take me for? With a build like mine, I don't need any pills."

In truth, Li Zhi knew his own situation. His growing frenzy was just a way to mask the rising restlessness in his heart, seeking fleeting comfort from Zhou Mei.

Zhou Mei reached out and touched Li Zhi's abs, saying, "I'm afraid you'll hurt yourself."

Li Zhi pulled her into his arms and whispered in her ear, "Actually, I—"

Just then, his phone on the nearby table suddenly rang.

Seeing it was Ye Fan calling, Li Zhi immediately let go of Zhou Mei, grabbed the phone, and answered.

His voice even trembled slightly. "Hello?"

"Boss Li, those two lines have been translated. The meaning is: The way of holding Heaven lies in sacrifice; the way of sacrifice lies in understanding principle; the way of understanding principle lies in breathing. It's an opening summary of some kind of Breathing Technique."

On the phone, Ye Fan's voice was also a bit excited, wasting no words and directly telling Li Zhi what he most wanted to know.

Li Zhi could tell from Ye Fan's tone that he was equally curious about this breathing technique recorded in Oracle Bone Script.

"Are you at school? I'll bring the article to you right now." Li Zhi then forced down his excitement, his legs trembling slightly as he spoke.

He didn't notice at all that Zhou Mei, left aside, had a flicker of worry in her eyes.

"I'm not at school right now. Boss Li, I'll be back tomorrow and come to your shop to pick up the article," Ye Fan continued.

"Good, I'll wait for you." Li Zhi said, his face beaming with excitement.

After hanging up, Li Zhi grabbed Zhou Mei and gave her a big, joyful kiss.

Then he said, "Mei'er, you know what? Today is the happiest day I've had in years."

Zhou Mei had never seen Li Zhi so genuinely happy, so she said, "Then let's celebrate properly today. We'll head to Bright Moon City by the Sea later."

Bright Moon City by the Sea was a newly opened super entertainment complex in the city, combining dining, leisure, and entertainment.