BPIFC -Volume 1 – Chapter 54 The Taoist Talisman

Acting as if nothing was wrong, Che Qianzi casually walked toward Meng Qiqi and Zhang Zhiyan. As he walked, he dialed Fatty Sun’s number. Once the call connected, he switched the phone to speaker mode.

A moment later, Sun Desheng heard his little brother’s voice through the phone.

“Excuse me, do you have a light?”

Sun thought to himself, Didn’t expect it—the kid actually knows how to be polite.

Looking over carefully, he saw Che Qianzi had already reached the arguing pair and was asking Zhang Zhiyan for a light.

Somewhat annoyed, Zhang Zhiyan pulled out a lighter and handed it over, all while stammering desperately to Meng Qiqi:

“N-no… th-th-that’s n-not wh-what happened… y-you… y-you…”

His speech impediment became even worse whenever he got excited, making it nearly impossible for him to speak clearly.

“What do you mean ‘not like that’? What is it like?” Meng Qiqi glared at him, then slapped the lighter out of his hand before turning to Che Qianzi.

“How old are you? Are you even sixteen? What are you looking at? Am I wrong? At your age, instead of learning something useful, you’re learning to smoke? Get lost!”

Although Che Qianzi had the temperament of a mad dog, he never fought with women. After being pushed around by Meng Qiqi, he simply tucked the cigarette behind his ear and squatted down on the ground.

“Fine, don’t lend me one then. Why such a bad temper…”

Pretending to make another call, he turned off the speaker and spoke into the phone:

“Where are you? I’m already here… It’s so late, hurry up. Why is getting a midnight snack such a hassle?”

To anyone watching, it looked as though the young man was simply waiting for a friend.

Without waiting for Sun Desheng’s response, Che Qianzi pretended to hang up, but secretly turned the speaker back on and remained squatting nearby.

As expected, neither Meng Qiqi nor Zhang Zhiyan paid him any attention.

Seeing that he couldn’t calm Meng Qiqi down, Zhang Zhiyan tried to put an arm around her shoulders, only to have his hand slapped away.

“Show some respect, mister. Right now we’re only colleagues. If you want to get handsy, go home and find your little fox spirit. Touch me again and I’ll chop off your paws.”

“N-no… n-not l-like th-that…” Sweat poured down Zhang Zhiyan’s face.

“She’s H-Huang… H-Huang… that person’s cousin. Sh-she only b-brought me th-the Hehuan Sect t-talisman. Y-you s-saw it yourself…”

Mentioning the talisman only made Meng Qiqi angrier.

“Bah! You still have the nerve to mention the Hehuan Sect? Just listen to the name—Hehuan! You two go have your happy reunion together. I wish you a hundred years of happiness and lots of children! Go find your Miss Huang. Don’t stop me from pursuing our Wu Rendi. Then we’ll see whose family has a son first!”

“H-here y-you g-go ag-again…” Zhang Zhiyan said desperately, looking around. Seeing only the half-grown boy nearby, he lowered his voice.

“H-Huang… th-that person s-said this matter i-is serious. It’s the Hehuan Sect’s Lu family’s joint burial. The Big Monk p-personally copied the talisman. H-he said th-there’s s-something dangerous inside…”

The moment Zhang Zhiyan mentioned the Big Monk, Meng Qiqi exploded again.

“Don’t mention that big monk to me! The way he looked at me—he practically saw through my skin! Were you blind? Why didn’t you slap him? And you still have the nerve to act cute with me…”

Then she suddenly turned.

“Kid, what are you laughing at?”

Che Qianzi had been pretending not to listen, but the more he heard, the funnier it became. In the end, he couldn’t hold back.

“Pfft…”

That laugh immediately annoyed Meng Qiqi.

Already frustrated from failing to appease her, Zhang Zhiyan naturally seized the opportunity to save face.

Walking up to Che Qianzi, he pointed at his nose.

“Y-you… y-you laughing at what?”

“I-I-I’m your father!”

Che Qianzi might not hit women, but he certainly had no intention of being polite to Zhang Zhiyan.

Still squatting, he suddenly grabbed Zhang Zhiyan’s finger and yanked him forward. Using the momentum, he sprang to his feet and slapped Zhang Zhiyan across the face.

The man was completely unprepared.

Before he could react, Che Qianzi kicked him squarely in the crotch. Then, in one smooth motion, he snatched away the shoulder bag hanging from Zhang Zhiyan and began swinging it like a club, raining blows down upon the man.

Before he had struck more than a few times, someone kicked him hard from behind.

The kick landed directly on his kidney area, and Che Qianzi fell to the ground in pain.

Meng Qiqi had rushed over, swinging her oversized handbag and beating him while cursing in a mixture of Chinese and foreign languages.

Che Qianzi didn’t fight back.

Curled up on the ground, he let her hit him. After enduring several blows, he suddenly cried out, jumped up, covered his head, and fled at top speed.

Meng Qiqi chased him for a short distance before returning to the still doubled-over Zhang Zhiyan.

“Are you even a man? You got beaten up by a middle school student, you useless—where’s your bag?”

Only then did she realize the shoulder bag was gone.

Inside was the Hehuan Sect talisman delivered by Miss Huang. Losing that was unacceptable.

Forgetting all about Zhang Zhiyan’s injured groin, she immediately sprinted after Che Qianzi.

She chased him for two whole streets but never found the boy again.

Meanwhile, Che Qianzi had already returned to Sun Desheng’s car.

Handing over the bag, he grinned painfully.

“That woman hits hard. A little more force and she’d have shattered my kidney. Fatty, how was that?”

Seeing him fight Zhang Zhiyan, Sun Desheng had already guessed his intentions. He had instructed the driver to wait at the next intersection, and sure enough, the little Taoist came running over.

Sun opened the door and pulled him into the car.

“Of course! Who else’s brother would be this capable?”

As he spoke, Sun opened the bag and rummaged through it. After searching for a while, he took out a document envelope and handed it to Yang Xiao.

“Old Yang, this one’s for you. Out of the three of us, you’re the only one who can understand it.”

Yang Xiao opened the envelope and poured out an odd-looking talisman.

Most talismans were long strips of paper, but this one was square. And instead of the usual characters invoking wind, rain, thunder, and divine commands, it was covered in chaotic scribbles that resembled tangled threads.

After studying it for a long while, Yang Xiao finally shook his head and handed it back.

“So this is the talisman personally drawn by the Big Monk? I can’t make heads or tails of it. No wonder he’s known as the Twin-Bodied Buddha. Compared to the Great Buddha Lord, my cultivation is nowhere near his…”

Before he could finish speaking, Che Qianzi snatched the talisman away.

After just one glance, he immediately spotted something strange.

“This is a talisman? Don’t fool me. Isn’t this just a map? Look—two lines. One way in, one way out…”

Before he could continue, Sun Desheng’s phone suddenly rang.

The moment he answered, his expression became strange.

“Mm… I hear you…”

Then, after a pause, he said:

“Huang Ran has arrived.”