"When your luck turns bad, every step is a hurdle, every path a barrier-a whole chain of misfortune."
Lin Fan counted on his fingers again and said calmly, "Your bad luck started last month, right?"
At his question...
Xiao Tuantuan froze for a moment, then hurriedly nodded. "That's right. Since last month, things have kept going wrong with my streams."
Normally, a streamer making a mistake once or twice wouldn't have much impact.
But within a single month, she had made ten mistakes, and her channel had even been suspended twice, causing her popularity to plummet.
If her popularity hadn't dropped, Xiao Tuantuan thought, she wouldn't have switched to outdoor streaming and come here specifically to ride the hype.
[Number One Hater: Is this master a fan of Xiao Tuantuan? Only her fans would know this much.]
[Chen the Dog: What bullshit master? He's just a con artist. You can find all this online. Even I could tell you that!]
[Ultimate Stalker Fan: Xiao Tuantuan, make the master reveal your deepest secret. If he can't, he's a fraud!]
"Don't mind them."
Noticing that the chat was affecting Xiao Tuantuan's mood, Lin Fan immediately reassured her.
He used the Qi-Observing Technique and could faintly see a cloud of black energy lingering between Xiao Tuantuan's brows.
And that cloud of black energy was slowly growing.
If it went unchecked, Lin Fan believed that the cute streamer standing before him would soon end up dead or disabled.
"Master, please help me."
Xiao Tuantuan's expression grew solemn. The viewers didn't know what had happened to her last month.
Apart from the problems with her streams, her personal life had also become a complete mess.
She had never argued with her family before, but last month, she had started fighting with them every few days. She had even nearly angered her elderly father into having a heart attack.
As an upstanding young woman of the new era, Xiao Tuantuan still put considerable stock in things like the bad luck associated with one's zodiac year.
"It's simple. I'll draw you a Natal Tai Sui Protective Talisman in a moment. Just keep it on you from now on."
"A Natal Tai Sui Protective Talisman? How much?"
"Fate brought you here, so I'll only charge you a hundred thousand yuan."
The moment he finished speaking...
The livestream chat exploded.
[Number One Hater: Awesome. I thought he was some kind of master, but he just wants to sell talismans!]
[Western Myanmar Scammer: So this is the pinnacle of scamming. I bow to your superior skills!]
[Wants to Eat Tuantuan's Apple Flavor: A hundred thousand??? Why don't you just rob someone!]
[Chu Yi: Tuantuan, don't believe him! A hundred thousand yuan for one talisman is such a rip-off!]
Reading the chat, Xiao Tuantuan couldn't help hesitating. What kind of talisman could be worth a hundred thousand yuan?
"Master, isn't that a little expensive?"
"Whether it's expensive is up to you. You can choose not to buy it."
Lin Fan shrugged. Although saving a life was worth more than building a seven-story pagoda, he knew some things couldn't be forced.
[Chu Yi: Whatever you do, don't buy it. This guy is obviously a scammer.]
[Riding a Donkey Through Guanxi: Surely nobody would actually spend a hundred thousand yuan on a piece of paper?]
[Chu Conqueror: Hmph, what a bunch of ignorant viewers. You haven't seen Master Lin's talismans. Otherwise, you wouldn't say that!]
[Number One Hater: Didn't expect this fraud to have a shill!]
[Western Myanmar Scammer: The shill's here! Run!]
Xiao Tuantuan was still unsure, but after thinking it over, she realized that a hundred thousand yuan wasn't much for a major streamer like her.
Besides, if she spent a hundred thousand yuan on a talisman, she might make the trending searches tomorrow.
Trending searches!
Xiao Tuantuan's eyes lit up. Hadn't she come here to ride the hype and regain her popularity?
Once she started trending, would she really have to worry about viewers?
"I'll take it!"
Xiao Tuantuan immediately took out her phone and scanned the code to pay.
[Ding! One hundred thousand yuan received in your Zhibao account.]
Lin Fan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He hadn't even given her the talisman yet, and Xiao Tuantuan had already paid.
"I don't have a Natal Tai Sui Protective Talisman ready. Give me a moment."
Lin Fan turned around and pulled out a sheet of talisman paper, then brought over an inkstone, cinnabar, and a brush.
These were all left over from last time, so he could put them to use now.
Drawing a talisman on the spot?
Xiao Tuantuan looked startled. She had assumed Lin Fan would simply hand her a talisman, not draw a Natal Tai Sui Protective Talisman from scratch.
She glanced at her livestream. The longer she stayed in the shop, the higher her viewer count climbed.
"Livestreaming a master drawing a talisman should make a pretty good hook."
Without hesitation, Xiao Tuantuan changed the stream's title, then held up the phone mount and aimed the camera at the yellow paper on the wooden table.
Lin Fan picked up the brush. In the next instant, his entire bearing changed.
Standing right beside him, Xiao Tuantuan immediately noticed the difference. At that moment, she felt as though Lin Fan had become sacred and inviolable.
"The Natal Tai Sui Protective Talisman is also known as the Yin-Yang Tai Sui Talisman. It comes in two forms: the Yin Talisman and the Yang Talisman."
"Men wear the Yin Talisman, and women wear the Yang Talisman. I'll draw you a Yang Talisman now. As long as your faith is sincere, it will be enough to keep you safe throughout the second half of the year."
A talisman united human and divine energies, transforming energy into a talisman. The divine had no form, and energy had no form, yet together they ultimately formed a talisman.
Lin Fan recalled everything in the Great Accomplishment Codex concerning the Natal Tai Sui Protective Talisman.
This type of talisman wasn't particularly difficult to draw, roughly on par with the Wealth-Opening Talisman.
A moment later...
Lin Fan held the brush upright and dipped it into the cinnabar mixture. The tip immediately soaked up the red cinnabar, turning from gray to red.
The most important thing when drawing talismans was to unify essence, energy, and spirit. His mind had to remain free of distractions.
He banished every stray thought. Only after a quarter of an hour had passed did he finally raise the brush and begin drawing.
His strokes flowed with divine precision, the whole talisman completed in one unbroken motion.
Ever since attaining great accomplishment of the Talisman Canon, Lin Fan had practiced every day. He knew very well that the drawing process couldn't be interrupted for even an instant.
The slightest pause would ruin the talisman.
[Number One Hater: Holy shit! Did you see that? The paper's giving off a faint golden glow!]
[Chu Yi: What's going on? Why does light flash with every stroke he makes?]
[Fifty-Year Veteran Charlatan: Heh, I've used all these tricks before. You're too naive. Just add fluorescent powder to the ink, and you can get a similar effect.]
[Here for the Drama: Hey, charlatan above, sounds like you've got plenty of experience. You think Master Lin is like you?]
[Fifty-Year Veteran Charlatan: Exactly. What master? He's just a charlatan who's better at fooling people.]
Lin Fan had no idea what was happening in the chat. He was completely focused on drawing the Natal Tai Sui Protective Talisman, infusing every strand of spiritual energy into it.
Drawing talismans took an enormous toll on his energy.
Before an incense stick could burn down...
Lin Fan finally put on the finishing touches. As he lifted his brush, he staggered backward and nearly fell.
Chapter 29: You're in Trouble Again!
The talisman was complete!
Xiao Tuantuan's eyes widened. She noticed that when Master Lin lifted his brush, the strokes on the talisman paper came alive like a roaming dragon.
"Are my eyes playing tricks on me?"
When she looked again, the talisman paper had returned to normal.
Xiao Tuantuan murmured, "Was I so tense that I imagined it?"
One glance at the chat immediately told her that her eyes hadn't deceived her. Every viewer in the stream had seen it too!
[Here for the Drama: Hey, fifty-year veteran charlatan, how do you explain that? The talisman turned into a dragon!]
[Number One Hater: That's it. I'm changing my name to Diehard Fan. This is a real master!]
[Chu Yi: Awesome! So I wasn't seeing things. The talisman really moved like a living dragon just now!]
[Fifty-Year Veteran Charlatan: Give me the address. I'm going there to become his disciple!]
At that moment, the veteran charlatan conceded defeat.
He had assumed that Master Lin, who had become wildly popular over the past few days, was just like him-a charlatan who lived by cheating people.
He had never expected the man to possess genuine abilities.
This was a real master!
Countless viewers were stunned. At first, they had thought their eyes were playing tricks on them. Only after discovering that everyone else had seen the talisman change did they finally confirm that it had truly happened!
"I sold it too cheap!"
Lin Fan let out a long breath. He hadn't expected a single Natal Tai Sui Protective Talisman to consume as much energy as drawing ten Peace Talismans!
It wasn't difficult, but the energy expenditure was enormous.
Even a million yuan wouldn't have been too much to ask for this talisman.
Before you continue