Chapter Fifteen: Drawing the Talismans

Xiao Hua was more familiar with the county town. After confirming that Pan Yun would indeed take Qie’er away, he hid a steamed bun in the woodpile and ate one himself.

When Pan Yun looked at him, he smiled awkwardly and said, “I’ll leave one behind. If anyone else hasn’t been caught and manages to run back, they’ll have something to eat too.”

Pan Yun nodded, showing rare kindness, and said, “We’ll take you to the Zhang family.”

Xiao Hua hesitated. “Now? What if the government officers see us...”

If they were caught and driven out on the way, it would be terribly unfair. He wanted to wait until nightfall to leave.

Pan Yun looked at his face and said, “Trust me, it’s safer to go now. You lead the way; I’ll escort you.”

With Pan Yun’s presence, they smoothly avoided the patrols, the officers who were rounding up beggars and vagrants, and the hangers-on. They turned through three alleys and two streets until they reached the alley where the Zhang family lived.

Pan Yun held the child’s hand and stopped, nodding at Xiao Hua. “You go ahead.”

Xiao Hua walked to the Zhang family’s door, couldn’t help but look back at them, his eyes reddening, but still reached out and knocked.

The door opened to reveal an older woman standing there.

Seeing her, Xiao Hua immediately knelt down with a thud, bowing his head while choking out, “Mother—”

The woman was startled, then overjoyed. She quickly reached out to help him up and happily called inside, “Master, come quickly! We have a son now!”

A middle-aged man hurried out. Seeing Xiao Hua’s ragged clothes and tear-streaked face, he was both surprised and delighted. He embraced him tightly, saying, “Good, good, come inside quickly. From now on, we are your father and mother, and you are our son.”

Xiao Hua nodded and called out, “Father.” He couldn’t help but look back toward the alley entrance, only to find it empty—both of them had vanished.

Tears streamed down Xiao Hua’s face, but before they could reach his cheeks, a gentle hand wiped them away.

He looked up with watery eyes at Mrs. Zhang. This was the first time in his memory someone had wiped his tears.

His fear and sorrow faded significantly. The young boy finally felt a glimmer of genuine comfort and joy.

Pan Yun led the child to the main street and this time no longer tried to avoid the officers.

Strangely, by not avoiding them, they never encountered any.

It seemed they were not fated to cross paths with the soldiers.

So Pan Yun deliberately took the child to the county government office and silently repeated to herself several times that she wanted to leave the child there and then check his face.

The child stood there, confused, completely unable to understand why they stopped there.

Pan Xiaohei meowed beside her, mocking, “Because some people’s skills are poor, even top students at the National School are laughable. Their face-reading technique is so crude...”

“Shut up,” Pan Yun thought sharply. “Say another word and I’ll drop you off to fend for yourself.”

Pan Xiaohei moved its injured leg, meowed, then obediently lay still.

Pan Yun stepped forward, holding the child’s hand, leaving the county office without any intention of handing him over, trusting that the officials would find his family on their own.

“Do you know where the bookstore is?” Pan Yun asked.

“Yes!” The child answered happily, finally able to help his sister.

Pan Yun led him to find the bookstore.

It was not surprising that the child knew her gender; children have a peculiar intuition unaffected by external factors.

Adults, however, were different.

The bookstore clerk immediately assumed Pan Yun was a boy based on his male attire. Seeing their dirty and disheveled appearance—Qie’er’s clothes even had a torn patch like a rag—he classified them as beggars.

As soon as they approached, the clerk waved them off impatiently. “Go away, this isn’t a place for you. Leave quickly.”

Pan Yun was not offended by being looked down upon and directly pulled out a small silver coin. “I want to buy something.”

The clerk’s face reddened when he saw the money but didn’t change his attitude, frowning. “What do you want to buy?”

Pan Yun led the child into the shop and asked, “Do you have talisman paper and cinnabar?”

These things were indeed sold at bookstores.

The clerk frowned deeply. “Yes, but very expensive. How much do you want?”

Pan Yun said, “Show me first.”

After a pause, she added, “I want to see all qualities.”

The clerk replied impatiently, “There’s only one kind. Cinnabar is precious, and we only have a little.”

He quickly brought out a stack of talisman paper, scrutinizing Pan Yun’s face.

Pan Yun frowned. The talisman paper came in three grades: this two-foot-nine-inch size was called grade C paper, but she wanted the three-foot-six-inch grade A paper. Seeing the clerk’s expression, she swallowed her words.

After asking the price, she settled on a bundle of grade C paper. She didn’t absolutely need talisman paper—many things could serve as talisman mediums: bamboo slips, jade pieces, metal sheets…

But cinnabar was essential.

She didn’t have enough spiritual power to form talismans in the air.

“How much for the cinnabar?”

The clerk raised his eyelids and said, “One tael per tael.”

Pan Yun frowned at the quality but still chose it. “Then give me one tael.”

She had her brush and inkstone stored in her spiritual realm, only lacking cinnabar and talisman paper because she never practiced drawing talismans before.

Pan Yun found the silver coin and handed it over. The clerk weighed it, and it was exactly one tael. He raised his eyelids and said, “Thank you. The talisman paper costs eighty wen.”

Pan Yun searched her bundle and counted out eighty wen.

Pan Xiaohei couldn’t help itself and scratched forward with its paw just as the clerk took the money, but Pan Yun caught its paw firmly and gave it a warning look.

Pan Xiaohei meowed, “You can tolerate that?”

Pan Yun thought, *My temper isn’t that bad. No need to be affected by those who don’t matter. I just need to achieve my goal.*

“It looks down on you and insults you like that…”

Pan Yun calmly put away the purchased items and led the child out. *You’re wrong. He just looked down on me, didn’t insult me.*

Pan Xiaohei said, “Looking down is insulting! That’s unfair. You’re so harsh and narrow-minded with me...”

*That’s because you bullied me!*

Pan Xiaohei fell silent.

It witnessed Pan Yun’s emotional stability once again. Except when it came to the safety of the Pan family, she rarely let external things disturb her mood.

It felt... a bit happy.

A companion with such strong mental resilience would surely succeed in cultivation.

The path to lifting the seal seemed near.

Pan Yun disliked trouble, so unless absolutely necessary, she wouldn’t provoke it.

If she could quickly buy what she needed, there was no reason to create extra complications.

The same went for buying clothes and lodging.

During these days with Tao Ji Xuan, she had learned quite a bit.

After asking the child where the pawnshop was, she led him there to buy suitable old clothes.

Pawnshop clothes were much cheaper than those in ready-made clothing shops. Families of modest means preferred to choose from pawnshops, which offered a wide variety of goods—like a secondhand market in the previous world.

The pawnshop clerk was much more polite and didn’t look down on them for their youth or shabby clothes. He thoughtfully helped them pick secondhand clothes.

These secondhand clothes had all been washed and neatly folded. Apart from being a bit worn, they had no other defects.

Pan Yun bought two sets for the child and two suitable sets of male clothing for herself.

They changed right in the pawnshop, tidied their hair and faces before leaving.

From there, she went straight to the inn the child mentioned—a place known for being kind and always giving leftover food to them.

The innkeeper frowned slightly when seeing their age and asked in detail, “Where are you from? What about your parents and family?”

Pan Yun lied smoothly, “Our ancestral home is Kaifeng. My father was a steward at a merchant firm in the capital. Last year, he went missing after an encounter with bandits while leading a caravan. My mother died of illness last year. We couldn’t survive in the capital, so we decided to return to Kaifeng to seek relatives.”

The innkeeper sympathized immediately and arranged a quiet and safe room for them.

Once inside, Pan Yun checked the doors and windows. After confirming everything was secure, she placed the black cat on the table and said, “You keep watch tonight.”

Pan Xiaohei lay on the table, as if to say it had already kept watch last night.

The child’s eyes sparkled as he stared at the black cat. “Sister, can cats really keep watch?”

“It’s called Xiaohei. When we’re outside, you have to call me ‘brother’,” Pan Yun instructed, then added, “All things have spirits, especially cats. Not only can they keep watch, they can fight too.”

The child’s eyes gleamed as he carefully reached out to touch the cat. Seeing it didn’t resist, he placed his hand gently on its back.

Pan Xiaohei glanced at him indifferently, raising its head with an air of supreme disdain.

It was just about to meow graciously when the child suddenly scooped it into his arms.

The child was surprisingly quick.

Pan Yun had already packed up and retrieved her brush and inkstone from the spiritual realm.

Seeing the cat held in the child’s arms, she nodded approvingly. Perfect, now the table was free.

She laid out her materials on the table, then looked across at the satisfied child. “Do you still remember your surname?”

The child replied, “My name is Qie’er.”

Well, he didn’t know his surname.

Pan Yun was no good at face-reading, but she excelled at talisman and formation arts.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been chosen to study the sealed Three Jade Spiritual Realm.

Talismans used one’s own energy to draw in the energy of the world, gathering it on talisman paper, manifesting divine will, and aiding the bearer’s wishes in the unseen.

No talisman was more suitable for their current situation than the Safety Charm.

Throughout life, people face many accidents; the Safety Charm helps one avoid misfortune, which requires immense luck.

Thus, the Safety Charm brings good fortune.

Pan Yun was very familiar with this charm. In her previous life, after starting cultivation, her extra income came mostly from talismans.

The most frequent talismans she drew were the Safety Charm and Wealth Charm.

Now, sitting at the table, she calmed her mind and, with one stroke of the brush, completed a Safety Charm that appeared right before her nose.

The surrounding energy was drawn to the brush tip. As she lifted the brush, a spiritual light flickered across the talisman, the symbols seeming to come alive, then settling firmly on the paper.

Pan Yun was surprised. This talisman... was excessively good.

Could she be even more talented than in her past life?

A pleased smile curved her lips.