First Strike in the Modern World

Gu Zhao had not originally planned to use Mana.

Come on—so far, he had only ever used Palm Thunder once. Whether this Five Thunder Talisman would even work was still up in the air.

What if the Five Thunder Talisman worked and some strange phenomenon occurred after he infused it with Mana?

What if the Five Thunder Talisman did not work, and recklessly infusing it with Mana made it explode halfway through?

No matter what, infusing Mana into a talisman the first time he drew one in front of a crowd was not a good idea. He had originally planned to take the cinnabar and Yellow Talismans to another world for testing.

But drawing it had felt far too good!

Without once lifting his brush from start to finish, his strokes surged like rivers and mountains, completed in a single breath. His entire body felt utterly refreshed, and the Mana within him began to churn as well, moving of its own accord. Rising from his Dantian, one stream flowed downward through the three yang meridians of the feet, strength flooding both legs; another rose through the Thoroughfare Vessel and turned into the three yang meridians of the hands, power piercing through his fingertips.

"Whoosh!"

Mana flowed through the brush into the cinnabar, fused into the yellow paper, and then...

Most of the Mana rapidly dissipated into the air. Only a small portion seeped into the cinnabar and yellow paper, though even that was still slowly leaking away.

Feeling the Mana dispersing into the air, Gu Zhao could not help but sigh in relief. The talisman drawing failing was within his expectations, but at least no strange phenomenon had appeared, and the talisman had neither ignited nor exploded.

Thus, he still successfully drew a Five Thunder Talisman that had no effect.

Only Daoist Priest Hui Bin, standing nearby, felt his lower abdomen suddenly twitch and his heart palpitate for a moment. Yet he merely looked baffled. "Did I eat something bad this morning?"

No one else sensed that trace of dissipating Mana, but they were all extremely interested in the rather good-looking Five Thunder Talisman Gu Zhao had drawn. Quite a few people took out their phones to snap pictures and record videos.

Gu Zhao picked up the Five Thunder Talisman, gave it a shake, examined it for a moment, then handed it to Hui Bin.

Hui Bin glanced at the Five Thunder Talisman, which differed slightly from the Celestial Masters' Way version, but did not mind. "Thank you, junior brother."

The young man beside them suddenly said, "Can you use the Five Thunder Method with that Five Thunder Talisman? Why not give everyone a demonstration?"

"Are you done yet?"

Gu Zhao and Hui Bin both looked toward the young man, but it was Miss Shuoguo who spoke. "This is between him and Yuanfa Palace. The Daoist priests here have not said a thing—what are you trying to show off for?"

The young man raised his voice by half an octave. "I'm saying what I want. What does it have to do with you? Why are you butting in? What are you trying to show off for?"

"I think he's handsome, and I think it's impressive that he can draw Five Thunder Talismans!" Miss Shuoguo was just as straightforward. "And I can't stand your snide sarcasm."

The young man snapped, "He said himself that he ran into a Female Ghost and that he knows how to use Five Thunder Talismans!"

Miss Shuoguo immediately shot back, "He told a joke and you took it seriously? If someone told you to eat shit, would you do it?"

"I fucking—"

"This is a place of peace and purity for the Daoist faith. No shouting allowed!" Hui Bin stepped forward and barked, crushing every voice into silence.

Holding the Five Thunder Talisman in his hand, he said to the young man, "Five Thunder Talismans resolve misfortune and calamity, guard homes and ward off evil, bring peace and invite blessings. They are not tools for competing in strength and settling scores."

His girlfriend frantically tugged at his sleeve. The young man said nothing more, merely snorted, glared at Gu Zhao once again, and turned to leave. He did not even want the talisman he had chosen earlier.

Only after seeing the young man stalk away in anger did Gu Zhao turn to Miss Shuoguo. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. He was being annoying all by himself." Miss Shuoguo waved her hand, setting off a ripple of swaying curves.

"Even so, thank you for speaking up for me." Gu Zhao smiled as well. "Otherwise, if he had truly angered me, I might really have given him a Palm Thunder and let him know that thunder methods are not something to joke about."

"Then the Security Officers would have taken you away." Miss Shuoguo laughed so hard she shook like a flower branch in the wind, then said solemnly, "Now that you have a Five Thunder Talisman, you'll have a weapon if you run into a Female Ghost next time. I wish you smooth sailing in subduing demons and exterminating devils from now on."

Gu Zhao cupped his hands in equally solemn reply. "Thank you for your auspicious words, miss. For now, I have only seen ghosts. I do not know whether demons and devils even exist. I just hope the Five Thunder Talisman proves useful."

Both women laughed at that, finding Gu Zhao far too amusing.

Of course, they were merely strangers who had crossed paths by chance, not close enough to exchange contact information. After a few words, Miss Shuoguo waved at Gu Zhao, then took Long-legged Miss by the hand and headed for Lüzu Hall to draw fortune sticks.

Watching the two women leave, Gu Zhao no longer had any desire to continue touring Yuanfa Palace. He thanked Hui Bin once more, bade him farewell, and walked toward the gate to leave.

Looking at Gu Zhao's tall, straight back, a flicker of puzzlement appeared in Hui Bin's eyes. He kept feeling that something was not quite right.

A moment later, after seeing Gu Zhao leave, Hui Bin's eyes flashed. He clapped his hands and muttered to himself, "Right—started like a tiger, ended like a snake!"

Taken as a whole, the matter had indeed started like a tiger and ended like a snake. At first, the Female Ghost and thunder methods had whetted everyone's appetite, yet in the end, Gu Zhao had simply drawn a Five Thunder Talisman and walked away as coolly as he had come.

If he had been some chuunibyou teenager who had learned a few tricks and come here to show off, he should have behaved far more flamboyantly, whether by discussing Daoist arts with him or displaying more of his abilities.

Yet aside from the fact that what this young man said sounded wildly unreliable, his bearing was exceptionally steady, and everything he did seemed perfectly natural. He even carried something of a Daoist air.

Hui Bin thought back again and suddenly realized that although this matter had begun because the young man before him wanted to buy cinnabar and yellow paper, Gu Zhao had not been the one driving the events. Whether it was the Five Thunder Talisman or the Female Ghost, Hui Bin himself had asked about them. Even the later argument had been started by that young man picking a fight.

In other words, whether Hui Bin had refused him without asking why or simply given him the cinnabar and Yellow Talismans, none of what followed would have happened.

Since that was the case...

"Why did he say those things that would make people misunderstand?" Hui Bin furrowed his brow deeply, utterly unable to understand.

Hui Bin thought about it for a long time without figuring it out. He could only shake his head. Seeing that the Five Thunder Talisman in his hand had dried, he folded it into a triangle in two or three motions, tucked it into his robes, and turned away.

Meanwhile, Gu Zhao walked out through the gate and rubbed the stack of yellow paper. There were more than twenty sheets in all—probably enough for his needs over the next couple of days.

"Get home quickly, travel to another world, and test Daoist arts!" Gu Zhao's excitement rose again as he prepared to take the subway home.

Then he saw the young man not far away.

The young man and his girlfriend were walking toward a BMW 3 Series parked by the roadside. He slipped his hand into his pocket, and the car emitted the sound of unlocking.

"Fucking lunatic, coming to a Daoist temple to act tough. What a dumbass. He doesn't even—"

"Boom!"

A thunderclap suddenly exploded before him, making the young man jerk violently and nearly fling his girlfriend away.

The blast also drew the attention of the passersby nearby, and they all turned to look in that direction.

"What happened?"

"Did it thunder?"

"The weather didn't change, did it?"

"Thunder out of a clear blue sky?"

Then everyone, including the young man, noticed thick smoke billowing from the BMW 3 Series parked by the road. Its entire body was visibly damaged and charred black. The engine at the front crackled and popped, while faint sparks rose from the rear.

"Did the engine catch fire by itself?"

"No, it looks like it got struck by lightning. What rotten luck..."

"Careful! The car might explode!"

The surrounding pedestrians hurriedly backed away. Only the young man stood there dumbstruck, shrieking as if his heart had been torn apart, "My car!"