Chapter 25

The air was filled with powerful fluctuations of primordial energy, visible bolts of lightning dancing and converging at the tip of Ding Ning's brush.

Whenever one first comprehends the essence of writing talismans, this phenomenon occurs, just like when Ding Ning wrote the character "Spring."

Ding Ning's heart was calm, the intense hatred he had just felt now condensed onto the talisman paper with each stroke of his brush.

He was determined to transform his hatred for those two scoundrels into divine lightning, obliterating them into ashes!

"Zzzz!"

Lightning flickered at the tip of the brush, landing on the talisman paper, silver snakes of light flowing across the surface.

This process lasted only a brief moment. As Ding Ning finished the final stroke, everything changed!

Ding Ning was absolutely certain that he would succeed this time. The primordial energy in his body was rapidly depleting, after all, this was a talisman that required the second level of Qi Induction, and he had not yet reached the peak of the first level, so it was quite a stretch.

But success was success, and it would definitely work!

A bolt of lightning appeared out of nowhere, and a loud "Boom" echoed in his ears as the lightning connected the wolf-hair brush to the yellow talisman paper.

The room suddenly brightened, followed by a smell of burning.

The yellow talisman paper first flashed with a golden light, a sign that it was about to become a talisman, but then it burst into flames and turned to ashes in an instant.

Ding Ning stood there in a daze. What was going on? Was this low-grade yellow paper unable to carry the power of lightning?

"Crack!"

The wolf-hair brush in his hand snapped into pieces, the handle charred, becoming a pile of waste in Ding Ning's hand.

"This... This is the wolf-hair brush Master left me, and it couldn't even withstand the power of lightning, now it's ruined!"

Ding Ning felt a bit heartbroken. The brush Master had given him had been used to write so many talismans, but today it was destroyed because he tried to use power beyond his capabilities.

"The power of lightning is indeed not easy to control."

Although he felt heartbroken, Ding Ning also felt a bit of joy. No matter what, he had already mastered the method of writing lightning talismans. Next time, as long as he obtained the right medium and brush, he would definitely be able to write a lightning talisman.

"It's a bit of a pity, without the help of the lightning talisman, I can't go after those two beasts tonight. Well, let you live one more day!"

At that moment, the door outside suddenly opened, and Lin Xuan, the fat guy, rushed in recklessly, holding a stick and shouting, "Brother Ding, don't be afraid, I'm here!"

Ding Ning was carefully savoring the essence of writing the lightning talisman at that moment. Lin Xuan's reckless interruption didn't prevent him from writing lightning talismans in the future, but it did make him a bit unhappy, so he turned and glared at Lin Xuan.

Unexpectedly, this simple glare made Lin Xuan drop the stick in his hand, take a few steps back, and stumble to the ground.

Seeing Lin Xuan's reaction, Ding Ning couldn't help but laugh, "What are you doing? Am I a monster?"

"Ah! No, no... You're not a monster, but you look scary. Your eyes seem to... be emitting electricity."

"Are you saying I'm emitting electricity at you? What's wrong with your brain?"

Ding Ning was a bit helpless with this guy who always went off-topic.

Lin Xuan rubbed his buttocks and sat up, looking at Ding Ning carefully and explained, "Brother Ding, am I hallucinating? When you looked at me just now, I felt like there was a flash of lightning in front of my eyes. If I hadn't dodged in time, I would have been struck by your gaze."

Ding Ning understood. It was a side effect of writing the lightning talisman. His body had become a conductor, and the power of lightning had not completely dissipated, so it was being emitted through his eyes.

"Alright, stop fantasizing. If my eyes could produce lightning, your body wouldn't be able to run away."

Lin Xuan was just an ordinary person, and Ding Ning didn't want him to know too much.

Fortunately, Lin Xuan didn't dwell on this issue and said mysteriously, "Brother Ding, I know where that garbage dump is. Do you want to go there? I can lead the way and take care of those two bastards."

Ding Ning's heart stirred, but he still shook his head slightly.

"It was already quite difficult to drive them away just now. If we go after them now, we might not have the upper hand. After all, they are in the dark, and we are in the open. But they won't be able to come back and cause trouble for a while."

"Are you going to let this go?"

Although Lin Xuan was fat, he had a strong sense of justice and was reluctant to let those who tried to kill him off so easily.

"Of course not. Let's get some rest after all the commotion tonight. In a few hours, it will be daylight. I'll go out tomorrow to make some preparations, and we'll go to that garbage dump tomorrow night."

Ding Ning already had a plan. The other party was hiding in the garbage dump, and it would be difficult to deal with them now. But if Ding Ning found a medium that could carry the lightning talisman and made a few lightning talismans, he would have a good chance of dealing with these martial artists who weren't very strong.

So he planned to go to the market during the day to look for something suitable.

"Alright, I'll follow Brother Ding's lead."

Lin Xuan nodded loyally and then suddenly asked, "Brother Ding, which school do you go to?"

"After the semester starts, I'll go to Binhai No. 1 High School."

"Great!"

Lin Xuan cheered, "Brother Ding, I also go to Binhai No. 1 High School, and I'm a freshman too. I'll follow you then. We'll be the Binhai duo, and we'll definitely make a name for ourselves at Binhai No. 1 High School."

"Get lost, who said I'd team up with you? I need to lose weight. Alright, I'm going to sleep."

Ding Ning was about to return to the east room, but Lin Xuan stopped him with a pained expression, "Brother Ding, let me have the east room. I can't stay in the west room for a day. If another centipede crawls out, it will eat me at night."

Lin Xuan's words suited Ding Ning's intentions, so he didn't refuse and agreed directly.

Lin Xuan immediately ran happily to the east room with his belongings.

Looking at the trembling fat body, Ding Ning felt the importance of losing weight even more deeply. A slimmer body would put less strain on the heart.

"Looks like I need to get up early tomorrow morning to exercise. I hope the rain will stop by then."

Closing the window to block out the wind and rain, Ding Ning fell into a deep sleep.

*****

The next morning, the clouds cleared and the rain stopped. The sun shone warmly, illuminating the land of Binhai.

There weren't many people exercising in Binhai Park. The heavy rain last night had made many people give up on their morning exercise plans. Only those who took exercise very seriously would get up early to come out.

On the small field where Ding Ning had practiced Tai Chi before, Secretary Feng and Old Chen were slowly practicing their boxing.

"Secretary, I heard that Old Meng's insomnia was cured?"

"Yes, your information is quite reliable."

"Haha, it can't be unreliable. This news has spread throughout the upper echelons of Binhai. Old Meng is a big figure in Binhai. Although he's old, his family has become even more powerful. Who wouldn't pay attention?"

After a few words, Old Chen asked furtively, "Secretary, I heard that this time, Meng Xiaowen, the little girl from the Meng family, did a good deed by finding a magical talisman for her grandfather, which cured him."

"Yes, the municipal party committee and government have been keeping quiet about this matter because it involves some feudal superstitions, which can only be ignored. But the matter is true, and I saw that talisman myself."

"What kind of talisman?"

"A simple yellow paper with just one character 'Calm' written on it. It's quite miraculous. Just by looking at this talisman, one feels an unusual sense of peace, as if all worries fly away. Old Meng only looked at it for a few minutes and immediately started snoring. Hey! I've lived for so many years, and it's the first time I've seen such a thing."

Secretary Feng shook his head frequently, finding the matter quite unbelievable.

"Really that powerful! I thought it was an exaggeration."

Old Chen sighed and then asked Secretary Feng, "Secretary, have they found the person who sold the talisman?"

"Not yet, but it's almost there. It's said that the person who sold the talisman is a little fat guy, and Meng Xiaosong had someone take a picture of him. They thought he was a fraud, but he turned out to be a master, or at least a master's apprentice. The Meng family has received a favor and naturally wants to repay it. They are mobilizing their forces to search everywhere. With the Meng family's power, they should have results in a day or two."

"Little fat guy..."

Old Chen pondered for a moment, then his eyes lit up, "Secretary Feng, could it be...?"

Before he could finish his sentence, a clear female voice sounded from the side, "Uncle Feng, Uncle Chen, is it true that the little fat guy cured Old Meng?"