Heart-to-Heart

The twins' memorial service went smoothly, just like the other memorial services Chen Miao had presided over.

Nothing unexpected happened, even after the cremation was over and the twins' family took their ashes away.

Chen Miao breathed a sigh of relief.

But Triangle Eyes was still a threat. Chen Miao had no idea why he was doing all this, nor did he know when he might attack again.

He couldn't let his guard down!

That evening, Chen Miao carved the remaining two Peach Wood Swords, producing another fifteen Small Wooden Plaques in the process.

And so, one piece of century-old peach wood became three rough Peach Wood Sword blanks, twenty Small Wooden Plaques, and a pile of century-old peach wood scraps.

Only then did Chen Miao feel a little more at ease.

He checked the time. It was almost midnight.

He opened the book, but nothing had changed. It was as though last night's terrifying ordeal had been nothing more than a dream.

"Has he given up, or is he getting ready?"

Chen Miao pondered.

He wondered whether he should go take a look at that shop in the north of the city.

But he quickly rejected the idea.

If the other man spotted him, he would lose the advantage of remaining hidden.

With Notes on Achieving Divinity in the Mortal World, Chen Miao could handle Triangle Eyes' tricks.

But if the man grew desperate, flew into a rage, and disregarded the law, switching from supernatural attacks to physical ones, Chen Miao's safety would become uncertain.

After all, Chen Miao didn't know whether his copy of Notes on Achieving Divinity in the Mortal World would react to physical threats.

There was no need to take that risk.

At least, not now.

After midnight, once he had confirmed that the book still hadn't changed, Chen Miao set it on the desk. He hung the two small Peach Wood Sword blanks on the door and window, then fell asleep holding the last, larger blank.

Over the next few days, Chen Miao settled into a regular routine.

Every day, he was either in his office or on his way to the cremation room, cold storage, or ashes room, always with a book in his hand.

After several days of this, everyone at the funeral home knew Chen Miao was reading a book called If Eyes Deceive You.

Several days passed without incident, making Chen Miao wonder whether his opponent really had given up.

After thinking it over carefully these past few days, Chen Miao decided it was entirely possible.

That night, he had used two incantations in succession and burned eight sticks of Jiangzhen Incense!

Perhaps his methods had frightened the man into abandoning his attacks?

That was the only possibility Chen Miao could think of.

Of course, it was only a guess. Chen Miao remained vigilant and didn't neglect a single part of his daily preparations.

On the fourth day after the incident with the twins, in Chen Miao's office.

"Whew..."

Chen Miao slowly exhaled and lifted his head from the desk.

On the desk, a Rune drawn with a talisman brush dipped in ink lay quietly on a notebook page.

Rune was the rune for a Spirit-Sealing Talisman.

This was the homework Chen Miao had assigned himself.

Besides Talisman Drawing, he was also practicing carving.

Nothing supernatural had happened over the past few days, but Chen Miao hadn't let himself sit idle.

After finishing the Peach Wood Sword blanks, Chen Miao bought carving knives and began learning to carve Peachwood Talismans.

Making Peachwood Talismans was somewhat more complicated than making Peach Wood Swords.

It required tools such as carving knives, chisels, and sandpaper. More elaborate work even called for relief carving or openwork techniques.

Naturally, Chen Miao wasn't trying to become a master carver, so he learned only the simplest method: sketching the desired design onto a Peachwood Talisman blank, then carving its outline.

After searching online, Chen Miao ultimately gave up on carving door gods such as Zhong Kui, Shentu, and Yulei.

Figures were too complicated for him to draw by hand. Buying stickers wouldn't help either, since he would still have to carve the designs afterward.

So Chen Miao chose simpler designs.

One bore the two characters for "Edict," while the other bore an auspicious cloud pattern. He carved only one side of each.

After two days of practice, Chen Miao had carved two Peachwood Talismans. They were a little rough, but at least the designs were recognizable.

He now carried both Peachwood Talismans with him.

Aside from the Peachwood Talismans, there was also talisman drawing to practice.

In the exchange list in Notes on Achieving Divinity in the Mortal World, Chen Miao had seen everything needed to make talismans, including cinnabar, rooster blood, and Talisman Paper.

Chen Miao believed that anything supplied by Notes on Achieving Divinity in the Mortal World was bound to be top quality.

But he didn't have enough yin virtue to redeem all the materials he needed.

[One qian of cinnabar] required one qian of yin virtue.

[One bowl of rooster blood] required one qian of yin virtue.

[One large sheet of yellow Talisman Paper] required one qian of yin virtue!

None of them was expensive individually, but together they cost three qian of yin virtue, which Chen Miao couldn't afford right now. Besides, he didn't have the right environment to draw them in.

Yet to Chen Miao, the Spirit-Sealing Talisman and Yin-Dispelling Talisman in Zhong Family Talismans were methods on par with a century-old Peach Wood Sword and the Six Jiangzhen Secrets.

Even if he couldn't make them yet, he still needed to familiarize himself with the drawing process.

So he bought himself a Wolf-Hair Talisman Brush and practiced the designs in Zhong Family Talismans whenever he had free time.

After several days, he still couldn't draw them quickly, but he could at least finish each one in a single uninterrupted attempt.

He put down the talisman brush and closed the notebook.

Chen Miao picked up Notes on Achieving Divinity in the Mortal World, glanced through it, and tucked it into his bag.

With nothing to do that afternoon, Chen Miao planned to visit North City Pedestrian Street to buy some ordinary Jiangzhen Incense and see whether anyone sold Talisman Paper or cinnabar.

Of course, his main purpose was to find out where the middle-aged Triangle Eyes' shop was.

His opponent hadn't made a move, but Chen Miao was starting to grow impatient.

After a moment's thought, he dug out a hat he rarely wore and pocketed a pair of sunglasses before leaving the office.

This time, Chen Miao didn't drive. He planned to cycle there instead.

But just after scanning the code on a shared bicycle and getting ready to ride north, Chen Miao unexpectedly heard an engine revving behind him.

Frowning, Chen Miao turned to see what inconsiderate jerk was making such a racket on a motorcycle.

Then he saw a helmeted rider pull up beside him.

"Hey, buddy, want to race?"

Heh heh, that bastard San Shui definitely won't recognize me!

Chen Miao froze for a moment. Once he realized the second sentence hadn't come out of the rider's mouth, everything clicked.

Rolling his eyes, he hurried to lock the shared bicycle by the roadside before a minute had elapsed.

Only after his phone showed that he hadn't been charged did he climb contentedly onto the motorcycle's back seat and put on the helmet hanging there.

"North City Pedestrian Street!"

"Damn! How did you know it was me? I just bought this bike!"

Xiang Shang raised his helmet visor, his face full of surprise.

Naturally, Chen Miao couldn't tell him that he had Heart-to-Heart and could hear his thoughts.

Come to think of it, Xiang Shang was the second person whose thoughts he had heard.

The first was Elder Uncle.

But whenever he met Elder Uncle, the man's thoughts tended to consist of the same few lines.

Things like, San Shui's all grown up, Should I find San Shui a girlfriend? and I can finally go on vacation with my wife.

Only after acquiring Heart-to-Heart did Chen Miao learn that Elder Uncle's most pressing reason for wanting to step down as director wasn't his daughter's marriage. He wanted to retire and go have fun!

After all, over all the times he had run into Elder Uncle these past several days, Chen Miao had heard him think about his cousin's marriage only two or three times.

Most of the other times Elder Uncle saw Chen Miao, he was thinking about retirement.

"Quit talking and get moving!"

With a smack, Chen Miao slapped his childhood friend's helmet visor shut.

Helpless, Xiang Shang started the motorcycle.

Vroom...