Fireworks rise and fall in just a moment. After the glow, the night is still dark and the sky is still gloomy.
There was no mirror outside, and Shi Jingzhi didn't know what he was thinking, with a strange smile on his face. Yin Ci dipped his sleeve in snow water and began to rub Shi Jingzhi's face that was stained by black smoke.
Today is New Year's Eve after all. My cheap master doesn't have any new clothes to wear, but he looks like a peach blossom fairy, and his fairy spirit overshadows his tattered clothes. If I were to walk into the house with a Bao Gong face, I don't know if I would be kicked out as the god of poverty.
It doesn't feel good to be someone's elder. After just a few days, Yin Ci's heart was in turmoil more times than in the past fifty years.
If he wasn't immortal, he would have shortened his lifespan by several years just by that incident.
Yin Ci thought to himself, and put a little more force on his hands, rubbing Shi Jingzhi until he was literally blushing. After finally styling Shi Master into a human form, the two returned to the house.
Who knew that the leader's addiction to fun was not over yet.
After everyone had finished eating dumplings noisily, Shi Jingzhi first sorted out a pile of fireworks, and then mysteriously prepared three red envelopes.
"Su Si, serve Master Bai well from now on and don't cause any trouble for me, the Sect Leader."
Shi Jingzhi handed over the red envelope and then gently stroked Su Si's dog's head. He had a spring breeze-like smile on his face, but his words were not very polite.
Su Si was about to swallow his last dumpling and nearly choked to death on the spot.
But thinking about it carefully, he really didn't seem to be of much use during this journey. The young leader of the Chi Gou Sect agreed with grievance, opened the red envelope, and poured out a penny.
Su Si: “…”
Although he was of no use, Sect Leader Shi was not a straightforward person.
You're just treating beggars like this!
"Yan Qing, take this money first. When I break the restriction, I will take some back. If I don't... Then you can take this money and take Su Si back to Lianshan. The masters will not make it too difficult for you for the sake of this sword."
Hearing this entrusting tone, Yan Qing opened his mouth and his eyes turned red.
He carefully opened the red envelope and took out two silver notes, one for one tael of silver and one for two taels of silver.
How much was the monthly salary and bonus agreed upon? Do you still want to take some back
Yan Qing's feeling of being touched was immediately reduced. He said "Oh" in a subtle tone, turned around slowly, and decided to eat a bowl of dumplings.
He suspected that the Kushan Sect had really come here to eat for free. When they left here, they might have to sleep in the open air and couldn't even afford to stay in a low-end inn.
Afterwards, Shi Jingzhi walked up to Yin Ci and said, "Ah Ci, this is for you. Take it. I am your master after all, so I should give you what you deserve."
With the tragic events of Su Si and Yan Qing in mind, Yin Ci took the red envelope with suspicion.
Judging from the feel of it, there is not a penny in it. Who knows what this fox is up to.
Well, just treat it as some fun accompanying my cheap master.
Yin Ci tore off the red paper expressionlessly. As expected, there was no money inside, only a square monster skin.
He raised his eyebrows and turned the monster skin over. The monster skin was dark brown, and there was a line of beautiful small characters engraved on it. The strokes of the characters were filled with cinnabar, and they were very clear.
Yidu Lantern Festival, a lantern. You can choose any one with this receipt.
"Aci, please take it carefully." Shi Jingzhi said seriously, "If you lose it, I won't pay for it."
A faint feeling of sourness surged in his heart, and Yin Ci put the small piece of demon skin into his arms.
"That's natural."
Although it was a sudden preparation, by midnight, the festival was becoming more and more decent. Shi Jingzhi took some cheap materials from Chen Qianfan's collection, made some fireworks and firecrackers, and set them off outside the door.
Amid the crackling sound of firecrackers, brilliant fireworks exploded all over the sky, adding many fleeting stars to the gloomy sky.
Yan Qing held his Mercy Sword, and raised his head until his neck was sore. Master Bai was frightened by the firecrackers and ran around screaming. Su Si had no choice but to chase him with a bitter face.
Shi Jingzhi happily piled up two snow stools, pulled Yin Ci to sit on them, and watched the fireworks flickering in the sky.
Shi Zhongyu was worried about her master and couldn't cheer up. She didn't want to disturb other people's interest, so she found a corner to meditate.
The smell of smoke in the air became stronger and stronger. Chen Qianfan sneezed and shook his head helplessly. Granny Wei put on an extra coat and watched the fireworks with the Kushan Sect.
The old woman leaned against the door, the fireworks flickering in her cloudy eyes.
“The warm spring brings love and the peach branches are pretty… The spring river is quiet, but whose house is full of spring…”
She began to sing the festive tune again. However, her singing style was a little strange compared to the previous one. The further she sang, the sharper her voice became. It was as if she had forgotten her age and was forcing herself to sing louder.
The old woman's voice couldn't stand this torture, and the tune was about to be sung as a funeral song. Shi Jingzhi turned his head and asked, "Grandma Wei?"
Granny Wei looked a little dazed. She looked at the fireworks in the sky and a hint of fear gradually appeared on her face.
"It's over, it's over." She pinched her throat and screamed like a little girl. "My voice is broken, I can't sing. It's New Year's Day, and I'm going to be beaten by the master again!"
Shi Jingzhi hesitated for a while and was about to step forward to take the pulse when Granny Wei came to her senses herself.
She was stunned for a moment, then gradually lowered her head, a bit of embarrassment on her round face: "I'm getting old and confused, I'm getting old and confused. Did I scare you just now? I'll go in and make some tea..."
Before Shi Jingzhi could speak, she walked in first, as if she was going to escape.
With Chen Qianfan, a master of treatment, around, Shi Jingzhi was afraid of overstepping the boundaries by treating patients without authorization, so he finally sat back down. When the last bit of fireworks finished burning, everyone entered the house wrapped in the cold, and Granny Wei was already sitting in her old seat embroidering.
She returned to her leisurely self and smiled apologetically at everyone.
Shi Jingzhi returned to the busy Chen Qianfan and watched him study magic. As it was almost time for a break, he mentioned Granny Wei's condition.
"Yeah, I know." Chen Qianfan said nonchalantly, "She has been a little forgetful and confused lately. I'm trying to find a solution."
Apart from this incident, this New Year's Eve was quite perfect.
The battle on New Year's Day was equally perfect.
The secret book seemed to be even slower than yesterday. Chen Qianfan didn't even use any magic, but only asked Shi Jingzhi to try it out and personally directed it. The three of them worked together, and by sunset, they successfully cut off the hands of an ancient corpse.
Chen Qianfan started to deal with the body that night, claiming that he would be able to make a disaster-preventing talisman by noon on the second day of the Chinese New Year. While Old Man Chen was concentrating on making the disaster-preventing talisman, Granny Wei also came to help, clearing a large area in the house and setting up a large magic array to break the ban.
The new year started off so smoothly that Shi Jingzhi became more energetic.
The magic circle in the room was gradually completed. Besides being nervous, he even felt a little bit of anticipation.
Everything was almost ready to break the restriction, except for the three ancient corpses to activate the magic circle. The next plan was stable and steady, and only needed to be carried out step by step, which was rare and reassuring.
… Unfortunately, this peace ended the next morning.
The next morning, the master and the apprentice were shaken awake by the frightened Yan Qing. Yan Qing was usually steady, but now his red eyes were full of fear. Shi Jingzhi rubbed his eyes and stood up: "It's not even Yin hour yet, what's going on?"
"Outside! Outside!"
Yan Qing gestured desperately, wishing he could show his memory to others. He talked for a long time, but his tongue was tied, so he had to drag his master with one hand and his apprentice with the other, and dragged the master and apprentice to the door.
In winter, the sun rises late, and there is only a little light around. But this little light is enough for them to find something strange.
The vast and boring snowfield disappeared, and the house was surrounded by dark things, forming a standard circle around the house. In the dim light, countless green or red spots trembled slightly and flashed from time to time. The cold wind brought with it the gloomy air, making people feel uncomfortable all over.
Yin Ci narrowed his eyes slightly and saw it clearly.
The dark mass was filled with monsters. Most of them were small monsters, but they were still scary enough. Looking at this scene, it would not be an exaggeration to say that all the monsters in Milan's hometown gathered here.
Monsters are rare to see, let alone gathering together like this regardless of type and in love. Yin Ci quickly scanned the area and found the "king" leading the group.
The secret book was indeed among them.
It was about a hundred meters away from the house, kneeling at the edge of the encirclement. Its creepy head was slightly lowered, facing the door of the house. Unlike the battle in the previous two days, the eyes of the corpse on the head of the secret book were wide open. From a distance, it looked like thousands of green pupils were embedded in the huge head.
There was probably some magic protection around Chen Qianfan's house, which kept them all out. The monsters could not move forward and remained silent.
It is hard to imagine what kind of shock Yan Qing suffered when he went out to practice sword early in the morning.
The three people made a lot of noise, and Old Man Chen, who was sleeping at the table, also woke up. He muttered a few words and pushed the three people blocking the door to the side: "Get out of the way, let me take a look."
Seeing the grand scene outside the door and the secret book kneeling not far away, Chen Qianfan raised his eyelids: "I didn't expect that we have lived in such a barren place, and there are still people rushing to pay New Year's greetings?"
Three people from Kushan Sect: “…”
This old man is really bold. He must have been quite wild when he was young.
After Chen Qianfan finished his weird talk, he stretched his body lazily: "Call everyone here, remember to close the windows, don't let Xiaochun see. Don't panic, I have a lot of magic arrays here, they can't get in for a while."
The people in the house quickly gathered together. Granny Wei did not join in the fun and prepared breakfast as usual. Shi Zhongyu saw the scene outside the door and frowned so much that he could kill a fly.
Yan Qing soon discovered something unusual—
"Where's Su Si?"
"That teardrop kid? His goose beat him up in the middle of the night and then ran away. He went out to chase him and even said hello to me before leaving." Chen Qianfan said, "Now it seems like a blessing in disguise."
It seemed that maybe Mr. Bai sensed something, and time was limited, so he only had time to save Su Si.
"Senior, may I ask what's going on?" Shi Zhongyu was in a hurry and the nervousness in his voice was about to overflow.
"Someone was careless and 'awakened' the secret book."
Chen Qianfan snorted coldly.
"Don't worry, I'm not referring to you. Even that kid who drives the geese can't do it. The only one who can do this is definitely one of my senior brothers and sisters. My junior brothers and sisters don't have this ability."
Yin Ci: “Wake up?”
"When the secret book was still 'Queen's Funeral', it was much more ferocious than it is now. Mishan Sect put hundreds of restrictions on it to suppress it to its previous state... Now it seems that someone deliberately closed the restrictions and turned it back into the mad dog it was back then."
It turns out that what they fought against a few days ago was a weakened version of the secret book.
Shi Jingzhi broke out in a cold sweat: "Since you have put down the ban, why do you specifically leave a solution?"
"Are you stupid? This is Queen Milan's magic weapon. If foreign enemies invade, awakening the secret book to fight them is always easier than doing it yourself."
This is indeed a good move, Yin Ci thought. It would be even better if they were not "enemies".
Yin Ci spoke before Shi Jingzhi: "Yan Qing was not there that day, so I asked him to send you and Grandma Wei away first."
Old man Chen is old and not very strong in combat, but he is indispensable in lifting the ban. If the secret book is coming for them, it is better to send the old man away first.
Chen Qianfan snorted: "'Queen's Funeral' will not stop until death, and it is unreasonable. Forget it. Anyone who is surrounded will not be able to escape."
Yin Ci remained silent.
"But it's not impossible to escape."
Chen Qianfan didn't seem to be upset about being implicated. He just had a sneer on his face.
"Using those two dead hands as materials, I can make a temporary magic weapon to take all of us away. But there are disadvantages too - even if the secret book is sealed, it will not give up its target. As long as the target sets foot on the land of Milan, it will hunt it down day and night. From now on, our group of people will not be able to get close to Mishan Sect."
"In this case, the girl's talisman for warding off disasters will be useless, and this boy's restriction can't be lifted. I'm afraid my thirty years of research will have to come to an end here."