"Thank you, my lord, for your generosity." Zhang Chen respectfully bowed, then, pulling Xiaodouding along, expressed their gratitude before kneeling down in front of the table, taking a small bite of the pastry but stopping there, waiting for Xie Lingyun to speak.
Xie Lingyun pointed to a corner nearby, "You may sit wherever you like. You only need to attend to me while I practice, and during other times you may do your own things, whether it’s cultivating or reading scriptures, it doesn’t matter."
The two exchanged glances, obediently holding their pastries and sitting down, though there was a hint of awkwardness, making them feel quite uneasy.
Xie Lingyun understood their restraint but did not offer further comfort. At this moment, she was fiddling with a scripture, her eyes falling on Zhang Chen, "Where are you from? When did you join the Daoist Temple?"
Zhang Chen quickly replied, "I am a hunter from the mountains, and due to a severe drought, I fled and joined the Daoist Temple a few months ago."
His response was skillful, appearing to answer but only telling what he wanted, such as having joined the Daoist Temple not long ago and having little entanglement with Huangli Temple.
As for his origins, he brushed them off entirely.
Xie Lingyun glanced at Zhang Chen, a smile playing on her lips, seemingly unfazed by Zhang Chen’s little ruse, "In the future, when I need your assistance, I will call for you. Once you complete your tasks, you can naturally rest assured; you will not be without rewards!"
At this point, Xie Lingyun’s smile carried a mysterious hint.
Did she lack maids?
Certainly not; as long as she opened her mouth, countless maids would be brought up from the mountain’s foot. What she lacked was someone who could suppress the strange power within her body.
Apparently, she found it now!
Hearing Xie Lingyun’s words, Zhang Chen was thoughtful. It seemed Xie Lingyun had targeted him, and he now understood her intentions—to use the Golden Light within him to eliminate the Celestial Demon.
Xie Lingyun’s eyes shifted to Xiaodouding, who was hungrily eyeing the pastries on the table, her throat moving up and down, "Look at you, so tense. Why don’t you take the pastries downstairs? Your senior brother and I have something to discuss."
She mistook Zhang Chen for the senior brother and Xiaodouding for the junior sister.
"My lord, you’ve mistaken! I’m the senior sister, and he’s the junior brother!" Xiaodouding corrected seriously, as this distinction mattered greatly to her.
Xie Lingyun was momentarily stunned, looking at the small Xiaodouding who barely reached Zhang Chen’s waist, then at Zhang Chen, realizing Xiaodouding wasn’t joking, she was surprised, "Well, that’s curious. How did you become the senior sister being so little?"
Xiaodouding hung her head, feeling aggrieved, unable to vent to the lord or break the lord’s leg.
"Senior sister, you should return." Zhang Chen patted Xiaodouding’s head, and with gloom, Xiaodouding picked up the pastries and walked downstairs.
Looking at the pastries in hand, Xiaodouding turned the thought in her head, "Never mind, considering she treated me to something nice, I won’t hold a grudge."
After Xiaodouding left, the room fell silent. Xie Lingyun gazed at Zhang Chen, tentatively speaking, "I have to thank you for today in the temple."
Zhang Chen was taken aback: ’Here it comes! As expected.’
Now he had two choices: the first was to deny everything, assuming Xie Lingyun wouldn’t make things difficult for him. The second choice was to admit it, possibly to build connections with Xie Lingyun, or even leverage Xie Xuan’s influence.
However, Zhang Chen was uncertain whether Xie Lingyun was incidentally at the Daoist Temple or if Xie Xuan was behind it.
Either way, he seemed to have stumbled into a troublesome affair.
Moreover, two crucial points stood out: first, Xie Lingyun had helped him, though he didn’t really need it. From the standpoint of an average person, Xie Lingyun was undeniably a pure-hearted good person. She was the first noble he’d seen willing to aid common folk.
Second, the Celestial Demon was a great menace. Now that he knew he could restrain it, once it retaliated, that damn spirit wouldn’t spare him.
Helping Xie Lingyun was, in essence, helping himself.
Only by eliminating the threat while the Celestial Demon hadn’t fully infiltrated the Material Realm could he prevent future troubles. If he waited until it invaded Grand Celestial Masters, it would be too late to counterattack.
"My lord jests. It was merely a fateful coincidence; being able to assist you is a blessing for a humble Daoist like myself." After a brief pause, Zhang Chen directly and openly admitted.
"What technique is this Golden Light of yours? Even my father is helpless against the peculiarities afflicting me." Xie Lingyun’s interest was piqued.
Zhang Chen shook his head in response, "I am not sure. It was by chance that I mastered Talisman Drawing, and one day I accidentally drew a rune and gained exorcism abilities."
His answer was essential, as although he wished to help Xie Lingyun resolve her troubles, he needed to guard against the possibility of her killing him for it, which would bring disaster upon himself.
The human heart is fickle, and Zhang Chen could never rely on it for his safety.
If he claimed it came from some Mysterious source, what if Xie Lingyun demanded he relinquish the mystery? If he claimed it was acquired through cultivation, his post-acquired ability would be impossible for her to seize. Moreover, if she coveted his secret manual... Zhang Chen already had a strategy to counter that.
Thus, Zhang Chen attributed everything to the art of Talisman Drawing, thinking if Xie Lingyun took an interest, he could just pass it on, and without magical power, her mastery would be useless. If she failed to learn it, she couldn’t blame him.
"Talisman Drawing?" Xie Lingyun was flabbergasted, her eyes wide as she looked at Zhang Chen, "Talismanic Techniques are said to be legendary arts, were they not just ancient people’s mystification?"
"I’m not sure, back then I found runes amusing and started imitating them, which strangely enough endowed me with odd abilities." Zhang Chen looked at Xie Lingyun, whose eyes glittered with the Golden Light, while mysterious fiery red aura mingled but was veiled by a black haze—it was apparent that she was still troubled by the Celestial Demon.
"Can you draw one for me to see?" Xie Lingyun, now intrigued, asked, "What materials do you need for Talisman Drawing?"
"Yellow paper and cinnabar will do," Zhang Chen replied.
"Fetch some yellow paper and cinnabar," Xie Lingyun ordered.
Quickly, the guard brought yellow paper and cinnabar, and Zhang Chen mixed the cinnabar, effortlessly drawing a Body-Stabilizing Rune on the yellow paper.
However, he secretly imbued the rune with the Light of the True God, storing a copious amount of the Golden Light within it.
"It doesn’t seem extraordinary," Xie Lingyun scrutinized the talisman, yet it appeared as ordinary paper without any peculiarities.
"But it can temporarily resolve your plight," Zhang Chen said.
Xie Lingyun held the talisman Zhang Chen just created, pondering deeply: No wonder several times when I went to the courtyard, I couldn’t detect the mysterious source. Little did I know the so-called mystery in my eyes came from a legendary talismanic technique?
As Xie Lingyun fiddled with the talisman, a touch of contemplation showed in her eyes. Had she not experienced the talisman’s intriguing efficacy, she might have thought Zhang Chen was fooling her.
Zhang Chen crafted the talisman right under her nose, and to verify this, and whether the talisman was indeed the mystery she had sensed, required her personal validation.
"How do you use this talisman?" Xie Lingyun, her bright eyes gazing at Zhang Chen, asked.
"Simply attach it to yourself to use it, though it’s only effective for one day. Once a day has passed without using it, the method will vanish," Zhang Chen referred to the Light of the True God, which could only be stored in objects for twenty-four hours before dissipating.