Family Visitors

In the blink of an eye, it was July. The dormitory had already grown somewhat stifling, but thankfully, cool sea breeze poured in whenever the windows were opened.

One Saturday morning, Yang Wenqing rose early as usual to wash up. However, he did not cultivate with White Dragon Ginseng, since he had used it all up last month. Even so, he still properly entered meditation and cultivated for an hour.

After dawn, he got up and pulled out the talisman papers he had made. There were a hundred Immobilization Spells and another hundred Golden Light Bodyguard Spells. A low-grade talisman like this could fetch fifteen yuan at most, while poor-quality ones could only sell for eight. The cost of making one talisman paper was already five yuan, leaving less profit than the cost of breakfast.

Yet people still persisted in cultivating and meditating for an hour every day for their sake, resulting in an enormous monthly output that kept their prices from rising.

The City Defense Bureau had channels for buying them internally. Although the prices were a little higher than those offered outside, they only accepted a minimum of one hundred talismans of each type at a time.

Yang Wenqing planned to sell these talismans and add a little money to buy a White Dragon Ginseng root. As for his merit points, he intended to exchange them all at once for a Dragon Ginseng Pill two years later.

Finished talismans could be bought back at the East City Public Security Station. The collection point was the logistics room behind the inner courtyard, an independent, long single-story building with plain grayish-white outer walls. Its heavy ironwood doors stood open all year round. There were no guards at the entrance, only the faintly flickering spiritual light of a simple Monitoring Formation at the threshold.

Yang Wenqing stepped inside, and an old, stale smell rushed at him. The interior was more spacious and lofty than he had imagined. The ceiling was high, supported by thick wooden beams, while several chandeliers inlaid with illumination pearls provided steady light.

At the very front stood a heavy wooden counter. Behind it sat an elderly guard in a Police Sergeant uniform, leisurely leafing through a thick ledger.

Hearing footsteps, the elderly guard lifted his eyelids from the ledger, looked at Yang Wenqing, and asked, "Selling talismans?"

Yang Wenqing nodded and placed his sorted finished talismans on the wooden counter. "Sorry to trouble you, Section Chief Chen."

The elderly guard set down the ledger, skillfully opened the paper package, and casually drew out an Immobilization Spell talisman. His fingers lightly brushed over the talisman's lines, sensing the lingering spiritual energy fluctuations and the completeness of its inscriptions.

"Mm, the quality is as stable as ever." The elderly guard nodded. Though his tone was polite, he still carefully inspected the quality of every talisman in the package.

"They're all quite good. Sixteen yuan each." The elderly guard named the price. "That's 3,200 yuan total. Do you need more blank talisman papers?"

The price he offered was already the highest rate, proving that the spells Yang Wenqing inscribed were of fine quality.

"Two hundred sheets. And I'd also like to buy a White Dragon Ginseng root," Yang Wenqing replied softly.

"Wait here."

The elderly guard turned and went to a shelf in the storeroom, where he picked up two paper packages. Then he headed deeper into the storeroom. There was a large safe there, with a middle-aged man in a senior guard uniform standing before it.

The two exchanged a few brief words. The middle-aged man opened the safe and took out a White Dragon Ginseng root. The elderly guard accepted it, returned to the wooden counter, sat down, and carefully wrote out two delivery slips.

"You still need to pay me 2,800 yuan."

After writing the delivery slips, the elderly guard looked at Yang Wenqing.

Yang Wenqing nodded. A White Dragon Ginseng root cost five thousand yuan, which was already considered cheap because it was now cultivated on a large scale. Yang Wenqing could afford 2,800 yuan. Apart from lunch, he spent almost none of his monthly wages, and together with the talismans he had sold before, he had nearly four thousand yuan in savings.

After putting away the White Dragon Ginseng, Yang Wenqing headed straight out of the Public Security Station. Suddenly, a deep drumbeat bored into his ears. Following the sound, he saw a group of people in magnificent opera costumes parading through the streets. They were promoting tomorrow's stage play in the central district.

For this stage play, every Public Security Office in the county town had to assign personnel for duty. Although it was the weekend, many still competed for the position, because they could watch the performance for free. The East City Public Security Station seemed to have only one slot, and it had gone to Zhao Qin.

"Wen Qing!"

Just as Yang Wenqing was about to return to the dormitory, a familiar voice suddenly rang out. He turned around, a hint of a smile appearing on his face as the words slipped from his mouth. "Second Uncle!"

The newcomer was Yang Wenqing's second uncle, Yang Jianye. He wore a gray coarse-cloth short jacket that had been washed somewhat pale, along with loose trousers of the same color. His pant legs were rolled up to his knees, revealing sturdy calves tanned dark by the sun. He wore a pair of half-worn straw sandals and carried a bulging burlap sack over his shoulder, his face bearing a simple, warm smile.

"Second Uncle? What brings you here?" Yang Wenqing hurried forward.

"I came to bring you some rice." Yang Jianye grinned, revealing teeth yellowed slightly by tobacco. He lowered the sack from his shoulder with a dull thud. "Besides the rice, there are freshly harvested taros and dried fish. Your dad went into the mountains a while back and found some wild honey, so I brought you a small jar too."

As he spoke, he wiped the sweat from his face with a rough palm. He curiously glanced at the noisy parade in the distance and casually asked, "Did another opera troupe come to town?"

Yang Wenqing took the burlap sack and asked, "Where's my dad?"

Usually, the one who brought these things was his father, Yang Jianmu.

Yang Jianye sighed and answered, "Your eldest uncle accidentally fell and injured his leg in the mountains five days ago. The old doctor said he needs to stay in bed for half a month."

Yang Wenqing froze, then quickly said, "Why didn't you come find me? What if it leaves behind a chronic problem?"

As he spoke, he took out a packet of talismans and drew one from inside. He said to Yang Jianye, "This is a talisman containing a Healing Spell. Take it back and have the old doctor use it on my dad."

Yang Wenqing had prepared this talisman for himself. Since Healing Spells could only be made by specific wood- or water-element Qi Refinement Practitioners, one talisman cost at least three hundred yuan.

In this world, so long as one had money, illness would basically never be a concern.

"Big Brother is blessed indeed." Yang Jianye accepted the talisman and carefully put it away. Then he said to Yang Wenqing, "The things have been delivered, so I should head back."

"Stay for lunch first."

"No, I came on the village grocery shop's horse cart. Once they finish stocking up, they'll head back. They won't wait for me."

Hearing this, Yang Wenqing did not try to persuade him further. Carrying the burlap sack, he escorted his second uncle to the South City Wholesale Market. Only after finding the grocery shop's horse cart did he return to the dormitory. He then carefully sliced off a small piece of the newly acquired White Dragon Ginseng, dissolved it in water, and drank it, feeling the familiar medicinal strength spread through his body as he guided spiritual energy through its circuit.

Time flew, and several more months passed. Throughout that period, Yang Wenqing repeated the same routine: patrolling, cultivating, and making talismans.

The summer heat gradually faded after several autumn rains, and the sea breeze brought a chill with it.

In the blink of an eye, it was already year's end.

Biting sea winds howled through the county town. One afternoon, Yang Wenqing had just finished his patrol and returned to the Public Security Station. As he was preparing to hand over his shift, Captain Xiao Liang approached with a grave expression, holding a document stamped with the red seal of the sub-bureau.

"Everyone, bring your full equipment and assemble at the training grounds!" Xiao Liang's voice allowed no room for doubt.

Yang Wenqing felt little change in his state of mind. He also knew the purpose of this assembly: before Spring Festival arrived, they would clear out the demonic beasts and evil things lurking in several great mountains outside the city, ensuring that this Spring Festival would pass in peace and safety.

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