"Little girl, here are the various styles of talisman paper in our store. Take a look at whichever one you want."
The old man handed the notebook to Liu Yu, then dusted off his black Tang suit, sat down opposite her, and carefully poured tea.
The small teapot was tapped three times, and a stream of fragrant light green tea poured into the cup.
The old man picked up the small cup and took a sip, looking relaxed and contented. His eyes glanced at Liu Yu who was flipping through a book. He didn't seem to care about the young guest who had just arrived.
In fact, the people who would come to his old shop at the corner of the street were all old customers he knew well. When Liu Yu came to the store today on an electric bike, the old man just thought she was a young person who had accidentally entered the store and was curious.
When Liu Yu asked to see the talisman pattern, he showed it to her as usual, but she couldn't understand it either.
Unexpectedly, while the old man was sipping tea, Liu Yu placed the notebook in front of him and pointed at the page with the khaki talisman paper.
"I want this one. How much is it?"
The old man's gaze paused on the black book, his back straightened slightly, and his pair of sharp old eyes looked straight into Liu Yu's light brown eyes.
"Little girl, if you're just buying for fun, pick the ones on the first page. It's a waste to buy this one."
Liu Yu couldn't help but feel a little puzzled. She simply saw that this piece of paper looked very similar to the talisman paper Zhuang Moxing had given her. Since she was buying a souvenir, of course she had to buy the most satisfying one. Would it be a waste to give it to Zhuang Moxing?
"I want this one. How much do you have?"
The old man was quite angry at Liu Yu's brazen attitude of wanting to buy the teapot. He continued to fiddle with the teapot and no longer looked at her. "Hmph, you amateur. I won't sell this. Look at something else."
Liu Yu, who had been doing well in shopping these days, frowned in surprise. He was still pushing away business that came to his door?
Liu Yu was pressed for time, so she came to this unassuming old shop because she had a good impression of it. Since they wouldn't sell it to her, why would she force them? This whole street was full of people selling these things, so why would she be afraid someone wouldn't sell her talisman paper?
As soon as the old man showed his attitude, Liu Yu put down his teacup and stood up. As he moved, the talisman tied to his wrist and folded into a hexagon fell naturally, revealing his cuffs.
The moment the sixty-year-old man accidentally glanced at the talisman on Liu Yu's wrist, his eyes widened. The next moment, he jumped up from his seat and stretched out his wrinkled hands to grab Liu Yu's hands.
How could Liu Yu, who was much stronger physically, be caught by him? He dodged to the side, pressed the old man's shoulder with his palm, turned it, and pushed the old man back to his seat.
The old man was dazed when Liu Yu skillfully sent him back to his seat. His slightly yellow eyes suddenly lit up. This girl is not simple!
He now realized his own recklessness and, controlling his temper, asked Liu Yu in a low voice, "Miss, who gave you this talisman?"
Liu Yu glanced at the talisman on her wrist given by Zhuang Moxing. It was a talisman bracelet she made after learning from the lesson of death in her previous life.
I carry a talisman close to me to prevent any unexpected incidents. Why is this old man so excited? Could he also be...
"A friend gave it to me. What do you want?"
Liu Yu looked at the old man with dangerous and vigilant eyes, and took two steps back. The old man saw Liu Yu's vigilance, touched his white hair, and spoke as kindly as possible.
"Young lady, the magic power of the talisman in your hand is extremely high. I have only seen a few of them in my life. It is truly rare!"
The world is polluted, the law has ended, and Taoist talismans have become cultural remnants in the world due to the deception of many charlatans, and are criticized by everyone.
Only those few who truly inherited the Taoist techniques truly loved it.
The drawing of a real talisman is not like that of a Taoist priest who can just casually draw a few strokes and it will take shape. A talisman drawn by someone without magical powers is useless. As the saying goes, if you don't know the trick to drawing a talisman, you will only make ghosts and gods laugh.
If you know how to draw talismans, even ghosts and gods will be frightened and scream.
Therefore, there are many fake talismans on the market, and talismans have been stigmatized as a scam.
The difficulty of drawing talismans is unimaginable; not just anyone can pull it off. But the one in Liu Yu's hand is full of magical power, and the traces of cinnabar are radiant and colorful. It is obvious that the talisman drawer is extremely talented and has profound magical powers.
Although this talisman is not as powerful as the ancient talismans described in ancient books, it also has its own unique power.
This is the first time today that he has seen talismans of such pure and profound quality in his entire life!
Seeing the lingering wariness in Liu Yu's eyes, the old man withdrew his envious gaze, stood up sincerely and went into the inner room of the shop.
In less than a minute, the old man brought a black box the size of a shoebox, placed it on the counter, and waved mysteriously to Liu Yu.
Liu Yu hesitated for a moment, but still walked over. She wanted to see what this old man was up to.
When they walked to the counter, the old man took out a box which was filled with the kind of talisman paper that Liu Yu had just specified.
The khaki talisman paper was neatly stacked in the black box. Unlike the bright yellow talisman paper on the market, this kind of talisman paper had a hint of red mixed in with the yellow, and the combination of the two gave it a slightly orange khaki color if you didn't look closely.
The sixty-year-old man twirled his snow-white beard and said, "These are the last of our store's stock. If you want more, you'll have to wait six months. Do you want them all, little girl?"
Liu Yusi thought that in the end times, Zhuang Moxing's talismans were extremely life-saving, but they were consumables, so he had to prepare more.
This thing is rare in daily life, and it is even more difficult to find one in the end times.
After thinking it over, Liu Yu nodded firmly: "Both."
The old man nodded with a smile, and quickly dialed the abacus beside him: "Talisman paper is not sold by the sheet, but in a stack of 100 sheets. This batch of high-quality talisman paper is 1,000 yuan per stack. There are 10,000 sheets here, totaling 100,000 yuan;
Since the young lady bought so much talisman paper, she must have also needed cinnabar and brushes. Based on the amount of talisman paper, she would also need 100 boxes of cinnabar for 40,000 yuan, and 50 wolf-hair ink brushes for 5,000 yuan. Since the young lady bought a lot, today's wolf-hair brush is a gift, so the total is 140,000 yuan. What do you think, young lady?"
The 140,000 words exploded into Liu Yu's ears, and Liu Yu's heart went numb.
She had spent most of the money she had on hand preparing supplies these days, and only reserved 20,000 yuan to buy gifts for Zhuang Moxing and Lingbao. After the old man calculated it, she found that even if she added up all the money she had on hand, she still couldn't get the rest.
The old man's weathered eyes caught the fleeting embarrassment between Liu Yu's brows. He smiled softly and said, "Don't worry, little girl. I have a way to help you."
Liu Yu immediately raised her pensive eyes and looked at him deeply. There is no kindness without reason in the world. He has other intentions towards her. Liu Yu's face couldn't help but darken.
As expected, the sixty-year-old man said softly, "Little girl, if you sell me the talisman on your wrist, it will be half the price. If you have two, it would be even better. I will give you all these things in exchange!"
When the old man thought about getting two talismans of this quality, he stroked his beard with joy, and the joy in his eyes could not be suppressed.
Seeing Liu Yumo looking at him silently, the old man paused while stroking his beard, his heart beating a little. It was true, it was rare to get one, who would easily give it away, especially two at a time...
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