Qin Gu prepared to draw some calming talismans.
He prepared the talisman paper and mixed the talisman ink, and Ruan Bei came to watch excitedly.
Draw a talisman!
He had only seen it on television.
"Is this enough?" Ruan Bei asked, looking at the talisman-drawing tools he had spread out on his desk.
"That's enough, it's not that complicated." Qin Gu said with an air of nonchalant superiority.
Actually, that's not the case. Most people, not to mention bathing and burning incense, at the very least, choose a time when they are in the best state of mind, sit quietly, concentrate their energy and spirit, and then start drawing.
Qin Gu is different. He is truly exceptionally talented in this area. Once he learns how to draw talismans, he is born knowing how to make the best strokes, where to apply the most ink, and how to infuse spiritual energy into the talisman through the talisman brush.
Therefore, his success rate in drawing talismans is higher than that of talisman masters, and the talismans he draws are even of higher quality. However, he doesn't take it seriously, which makes people both envious and jealous.
Qin Gu got into position, and Ruan Bei didn't dare to disturb him, so she stood obediently to the side and watched eagerly.
Qin Gu paused. Drawing talismans wasn't anything special; it wasn't flashy at all. In Xiao Bei's words, it was probably just not cool.
This won't do.
Qin Gu quickly came up with an idea.
“You can’t see anything like this,” Qin Gu said, taking out an eye-opening talisman and slapping it on Ruan Bei: “This will do.”
Ruan Bei touched the eye-opening talisman on his arm, which strengthened his resolve to study hard.
If he works hard for this month, he can get into university ahead of schedule, and during the summer vacation he can go to Kunkun's place to learn from a master, learn to read qi sooner, and waste fewer talismans.
Kunkun used many of the eye-opening talismans he drew on Zhou Linlin. Ruan Bei knew it was because of him, but he didn't want Kunkun to be so tired.
After using the Eye-Opening Talisman and gaining the Yin-Yang Eyes, Ruan Bei was able to see some different things.
He saw that as Qin Gu dipped the tip of his talisman brush in ink and touched the talisman paper, a thin layer of light gradually enveloped the originally plain, almost rough yellow paper.
The light was very faint and dim, somewhat like what he had seen on those Five Emperors Coins, but also a little different.
He couldn't describe it, but if he had to, the talisman's light was thinner but sharper, while the Five Emperors' Coins were thicker but more restrained.
Ruan Bei watched without blinking. It was incredible how an ordinary piece of yellow paper could be transformed into a treasure under the pen of his childhood friend. It was a wonderful feeling of turning something rotten into something magical.
Qin Gu finished drawing one and put down his brush: "How is it?"
With Ruan Bei watching over him, he was highly focused and performed exceptionally well, producing a top-quality result on his first attempt.
"Absolutely amazing!" Ruan Bei praised generously, giving a big thumbs up: "Very interesting, Kun Kun, you're fantastic."
Qin Gu couldn't help but smile, and said with feigned modesty, "It's alright. I'll draw any talisman you want in the future."
“Okay.” Ruan Bei readily agreed, secretly thinking to himself that since Kun Kun could draw talismans, he wouldn’t need to spend a lot of time learning it in the future.
He didn't like writing calligraphy much when he was a child. Grandpa He said that his hands were unsteady because he was young. But Kunkun is about the same age as him and writes better than him, which means it's a matter of talent.
However, his handiwork is quite good; he remembered the knots he used to make the Five Emperors Coins last time.
He had made up his mind. In the future, he could study magic artifacts as a secondary skill. Kunkun said that most celestial masters had this skill as a secondary skill. He would then make magic artifacts for Kunkun, and Kunkun would draw talismans for him. Perfect.
Encouraged by Ruan Bei, Qin Gu drew more than a dozen Qingxin talismans in one go until he felt that the spiritual energy in his body was no longer enough to support him to continue drawing.
Of the seventeen talismans, only three were of medium grade, the rest were of high grade, and there wasn't a single low grade one. Even for Qin Gu, this was an extraordinary result.
"What's the use of this talisman?" Ruan Bei asked curiously as he took one and examined it closely with Qin Gu's permission.
"Let me give it a try."
Qin Gu took a picture of him, and Ruan Bei immediately felt a cool sensation on his forehead, a bit like applying cooling balm on a hot summer day. But instead of feeling cool on his skin, he gradually calmed down and his mind became exceptionally clear. It was a very strange feeling.
"This is interesting!" Ruan Bei finally understood why Qin Gu had drawn this talisman. He felt that if he studied it in his current state, he would definitely achieve twice the result with half the effort and the effect would be particularly good.
He was so interested that he simply took a reference book from Qin Gu's desk, flipped to an example problem, and understood it in less than ten seconds. His mind worked very quickly while reading the problem, and he could easily understand why it was solved that way.
"This talisman is so useful!" After finishing one question, Ruan Bei resisted the urge to look at the next one, his eyes shining as he gazed at the stack of calming talismans.
This isn't just a talisman for calming the mind; it should be called a study talisman! It's an amazing tool for students, far more useful than any other talisman!
Even if it's useful, you can't use it all the time.
Qin Gu patted his forehead and took his schoolbag: "While the calming talisman is still effective, don't waste it. I'll tell you when the effect wears off."
Ruan Bei knew that Kun Kun would benefit from this and wouldn't hide it from him. Moreover, he had just experienced the effect of the Mind-Clearing Talisman, which made it very easy for him to concentrate on studying and made him extremely happy.
He pulled out the study outline that Wang Bufan had given him that night. When Ruan Bei burned the test papers for him over the weekend, he remembered that he had forgotten to burn some draft paper for him last time, so this time he specially burned two whole stacks of white paper for him to use as draft paper.
As it turned out, Senior Wang was very honest. After receiving the materials, he didn't start working on the practice tests himself. Instead, he spent a whole day and night organizing a high school math study outline for Ruan Bei.
He told Ruan Bei to first review the outline he provided to identify and fill in any gaps in his knowledge. Then, Ruan Bei should create his own study outline. If everything went well, then the entire high school math curriculum would be connected.
He will work on other subjects when he gets back, so let Ruan Bei look at math first.
Ruan Bei didn't know how to thank him enough. Although Wang Bufan was a ghost, he was a very kind and compassionate one.
The stack of papers filled with writing that he gave to Ruan Bei was only visible and touchable by Ruan Bei. If Qin Gu had a talisman that opened his eyes, he could see it too, but he couldn't touch it.
Ruan Bei originally planned to go through the knowledge points along with the outline that Wang Bufan had made for him, and then copy the outline to read slowly. However, now that he had used the Mind-Clearing Talisman, his writing speed could not keep up with his understanding and learning speed.
The little bits of knowledge that I hadn't noticed before were all revealed this time, and I remembered them vividly after reading them; it's as if even my memory has improved.
Ruan Bei finished reading most of the required chapters in one go. The cool feeling in his mind gradually faded. Ruan Bei let out a long sigh and looked at the remaining content that he hadn't had time to read yet.
"Learning this way is so enjoyable."
Qin Gu put down his vocabulary book. He had just taken a picture of himself with a calming talisman and was silently memorizing English words.
Hearing Ruan Bei say that, he laughed and said, "You won't say that in a moment."
Ruan Bei was puzzled when he suddenly felt his head start to feel stuffy and swollen, and even had a dull ache, as if he had been using his brain too much without rest for too long.
"What's wrong?" Ruan Bei asked, holding his head. "My head hurts."
Qin Gu walked behind him and massaged him for a while, explaining, "This is a side effect of the Heart-Clearing Talisman. The Heart-Clearing Talisman is different from the Eye-Opening Talisman. Its grade determines not the duration, but the effect."
I just used a top-grade Tranquilizing Talisman on you, which is the most effective. However, you will experience this uncomfortable reaction for about an hour after using it, and you cannot continue to use the Tranquilizing Talisman.
Ruan Bei understood. No wonder Kun Kun hadn't thought of using this on him before; it turned out there were such side effects.
If you study for an hour and get a headache for an hour, then it's equivalent to two hours. If he studied for two hours on his own, he could learn just as much, but probably not with the same level of detail.
"I feel like my memory has improved just now." Ruan Bei was still very curious about the Cleansing Talisman. If this talisman didn't have any side effects, it would be truly miraculous.
"It's not that your memory has improved, but that you've fully utilized your memory."
Qin Gu said, "To be precise, the Mind-Clearing Talisman enhances concentration, making it less likely for you to get distracted during that hour. When you memorize knowledge, because you are focused enough, your memory will perform better, making you feel that your memory has also improved."
Ruan Bei thought about it and realized that it made sense. But this was also good. No wonder Kun Kun wanted to draw talismans. He didn't have to memorize words all day long. He could memorize for an hour and then rest and do other things.
"The superior-grade one is so effective, what about the other Tranquilizing Talismans?" Ruan Bei had a lot of questions, one after another.
Fortunately, Qin Gu didn't find him annoying and answered all his questions: "I'll try it again when your headache is gone. The effects of the medium and low grade are not as good, but the side effects are also less."
Especially the lower-grade ones. When I was a child, many of my fellow students were young and couldn't calm their minds, so the elders would use lower-grade calming talismans to quiet them down. After the effect wore off, they would become restless and irritable, and then they would be assigned martial arts lessons. The roughhousing and fighting would then make everything better.
Ruan Bei found it quite interesting. A group of little Taoist priests sitting cross-legged chanting scriptures, then clenching their little fists and practicing martial arts—it all sounded adorable.
Because of the miraculous effects of the Heart-Cleansing Talisman, Ruan Bei was even more eager to become an apprentice and enter the Xuanmen sect. It was a magical world completely different from what people knew now, and even just a glimpse of it was enough to make people yearn for it.
Taking advantage of the fact that he was too dizzy to study, Ruan Bei took a shower. When he came out, Qin Gu's calming talisman had worn off, and he was listless and leaning against the bed, clearly not feeling well either.
Ruan Bei experienced it himself. The worst time was when the aftereffects first appeared. His head felt stuffy, swollen, and painful. Later, the pain would lessen and the discomfort would gradually decrease. It wasn't like he was in such pain for a whole hour.
He's feeling better now, but Kunkun is still feeling unwell.
Ruan Bei thought for a moment, then turned around and wrung out a cool towel. She sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled Kunkun to lie on her lap—it was fleshy here, so it wouldn't feel uncomfortable.
He placed a cool towel on Kunkun's forehead, his fingers, which had just been soaked in cold water, were also icy cold. He rested his hand on Kunkun's forehead and began to massage his head, mimicking the massage technique Kunkun had used earlier.
"Will this work? Is it any better?"
Qin Gu was so comfortable that he didn't want to move. His heart was filled with sweetness, and he tried his best to purse his lips to stop himself from laughing out loud. He mumbled, "Okay."
That's great.
Ruan Bei massaged him for a while and even rubbed him with a cool towel again. When she felt it was enough and wanted to leave, Qin Gu lingered, saying, "It still hurts."
Ruan Bei couldn't help but chuckle; it was rare to see Kunkun acting so cute.
He immediately softened and massaged him for a while longer, like coaxing a child. Qin Gu reluctantly sat up and said, "Give me massages again in the future."
Ruan Bei smiled, her eyes crinkling: "Okay, I'll give you the massage again."
After discussing the matter of taking the college entrance examination early, Ruan's mother and father asked Ruan Bei's opinion again, asking him if he had thought it through.
Ruan Bei explained his plans to his parents in a clear and organized manner. Seeing that he had even made a study plan and considered the consequences, and that it was not a spur-of-the-moment decision, Ruan's parents decided to respect his opinion and help him apply to the school.
For a long-established key high school like Jincheng High School, it is not uncommon for second-year students to take the college entrance examination. This year, for example, three out of the top ten students in the second year will take the college entrance examination.
However, they were not approaching the exam with the mindset of simply passing it; rather, they intended it as a real-world test, recognizing that no matter how many mock exams they took, they were fundamentally different from the actual college entrance examination.
Of course, if you get really good grades, the school won't stop you from leaving.
Although Ruan Bei registered a little late, his parents had applied, and he had indeed done well in the midterm exams, so the school did not object and approved it directly.
Since the second-year high school students did not intend to transfer, they continued to follow the pace of their original class, since they would have to come back to class after the college entrance examination.
Ruan Bei was the same; his participation in the college entrance examination was not made public, and only the academic affairs office and his substitute teacher knew about it.
They had all seen how hard Ruan Bei had worked during this time. While other boys would run to the basketball court ten minutes after class, Ruan Bei kept writing without stopping.
So when Ruan Bei achieved good results, the teachers privately said that hard work pays off, and that Ruan Bei was both talented and hardworking, and that he had really been dragged down by English in the past.
Now that their English scores have caught up, as long as Ruan Bei can maintain this momentum, who knows, the top scorer in the college entrance examination might come from their non-key class a year from now.
With things settled at the school, Ruan Bei and Qin Gu could focus wholeheartedly on their studies.
Ruan Bei was alright; he was already diligent, and now he was just even more so. He was even memorizing knowledge points on the way to work, which scared Dong Yangyang so much that she didn't dare to gossip. She was unconsciously drawn into studying with him and felt that being with such a diligent classmate made her feel like she was committing a sin if she slacked off.
Qin Gu's teacher was utterly astonished. When he first received Qin Gu's paper, which was filled with writing, he almost thought he had misread the name.
After that, he was so happy he didn't know what to do. He taught him for two years, but no matter what, he did what he wanted. He got so angry that he didn't give him any points on the big questions and didn't care if he failed.
Such a promising talent, even if he doesn't aim for the top score in the college entrance exam, he should at least get into a top university, right? But he doesn't care, which really infuriates his teacher.
Now he's finally figured it out, and although they don't know why, the teachers hope that Qin Gu will keep it up.
In the final year of high school, there were exams every day. Qin Gu was fine if he didn't take it seriously, but when he did, the results were remarkable. Just like Ruan Bei, his ranking jumped by dozens of places.
Looking at his perfect score in math and then at his 30-50 points in English, the English teacher was devastated.
There's only a little over a month left. How can we save this child? He used to not even care about his strongest subjects, and his English teacher was even less interested in him. Now he clearly has the ability to compete for a good ranking, but English is holding him back, and there's not enough time!
The English teacher spoke with Qin Gu privately, mentioning Ruan Bei, and said, "I heard you two grew up together? You must be close. Ask him how he learned English!"
Qin Gu liked it when people said he and Xiao Bei had a good relationship, and to be honest, most of his teachers were quite good. Although his English teacher didn't pay much attention to him, she was never like Ruan Bei's previous English teacher. At most, she would notice that the students themselves didn't want to learn, so she would put less effort into them.
If they are willing to learn something, the English teacher is very willing to teach them, and she will not say anything unpleasant even if their grades are poor.
So Qin Gu thanked the teacher very politely, thinking to himself that this was a good excuse. His English improved quickly because of Xiao Bei, and had nothing to do with any strange talismans.
Wang Bufan also learned from Ruan Bei that he was going to take the college entrance examination early. Although he was a little disappointed, he still sincerely wished Ruan Bei good results.
Afterwards, I did my best to tutor him. At the same time, in order to save time, I sped up the process. I didn't have to do practice tests. I just made up the review outlines for math and science for Ruan Bei.
After finishing the outline, he created practice tests for Ruan Bei to address the gaps in his practice questions. These special test papers initially caused Ruan Bei a lot of headaches, as most of the questions on the entire paper were uncertain and difficult to solve.
But the results were indeed good. After doing it and revising it, and then doing it again, Ruan Bei was trained to the point that he could remember even the smallest details of knowledge perfectly.
From mid-April to early June, for more than a month, Ruan Bei and Qin Gu studied day and night. Qin Gu even wore out one of his vocabulary notebooks.
Ruan Bei never rested during that time. He even stayed at home on weekends to study, or found an empty classroom at school for Wang Bufan to tutor him. The student was willing to learn, and the teacher was also willing to make things convenient for him.
Qin Gu was summoned by the authorities once to assist the Jincheng police in handling the case of Niu Niu's murder.
As he instructed, Zhou Linlin first took the teddy bear recording to the police and accused Tong Hanming of murdering her mother.
Because of the evidence she had, the police quickly opened a case and began an investigation. As the case gradually became clear, Zhou Linlin suppressed her anxiety and chose Shen Linpeng, the criminal police officer in charge of the case.
Shen Linpeng is the deputy captain of the criminal investigation team. While Tong Hanming was in custody, Lu Minghai tried to get him out for various reasons. Shen Linpeng always maintained a tough attitude and never compromised because of the Lu family's power.
In the end, Lu Minghai probably realized there was no hope, so he simply gave up. After all, the crime of killing one's mother was not a good thing, and Tong Hanming hadn't committed the crime because of work.
After Zhou Linlin selected Shen Linpeng, she accused Grandma Sun of killing her daughter Niu Niu. In her haste to collect her daughter's remains, she led the police to dig out Niu Niu's remains, which had been buried by fallen leaves, in a tree pit in a small park. The police immediately took the matter seriously.
Following Qin Gu's instructions, Zhou Linlin told Shen Linpeng the name of the Special Affairs Bureau. Shen Linpeng sensed something was amiss and reported it. Sure enough, his superiors sent someone else to assist him with his work.
That person was a field agent from the Special Affairs Bureau, specializing in liaison work. He was responsible for contacting members of the Xuanmen sect who could handle such special cases. Since Qin Gu's code name was also submitted, the field agent contacted him directly.
When Qin Gu was called over, the police officers who had been asked to keep it a secret saw that it was a young boy, even wearing a school uniform, and they almost wondered if they were being joked with.
The field agents were very polite to Qin Gu. They had a lot of contact with him, knew more secrets, and knew how terrifying a true Xuanmen master could be.
Although Qin Gu was young and had never been in contact with anyone before, there's a saying that goes something like this: there are no wrong nicknames, only wrong names.
While codenames within the Special Affairs Bureau aren't nicknames, they're not chosen arbitrarily either. A capable person may not necessarily have an imposing codename, but a truly impressive codename is definitely not simple.
The mere mention of the code name "Candle Dragon" was enough to make the field agents bow down to Qin Gu with utmost politeness.
Qin Gu was eager to go back to his studies and couldn't let Xiao Bei fall behind. He would get straight to work once he arrived.
He first took the police to Zhou Linlin's house. Niu Niu's ghost had been staying at the house. Qin Gu had told her that she couldn't stay with her mother too often, or her mother would get sick.
Although the little girl was very sad, she was obedient and stayed in her room well. She was afraid of getting lost again, so she stayed at home and didn't go out.
Sometimes, when Zhou Linlin missed her child terribly, she would come to Qin Gu and ask him to take a picture of her eyes to open so she could go back and see her daughter.
Outside the door, Qin Gu told the police to take off their hats and uniforms, and go inside wearing only a shirt and trousers.
The police officers were baffled. Shen Linpeng took off his coat without saying a word, and the rest of the officers had no choice but to follow suit, while secretly wondering what tricks this kid was up to.
Without her police uniform, Niu Niu could at least get a little closer to the police officers. Qin Gu called her out, and everyone present opened their eyes with a talisman.
He didn't need to worry about the rest; he simply took out his vocabulary book, sat down calmly, and started memorizing words.
He became a hands-off manager, which shocked several police officers. After all these years, this was the first time they had ever interrogated a ghost.
The victims recounted their experiences firsthand, leaving them no choice but to believe them. In particular, when the police questioned Niu Niu in detail about "how her grandmother used magic to transform her," bruises reappeared on her face, and the police fell silent.
Zhou Linlin cried uncontrollably; every time she heard it, it felt like a knife was being plunged into her heart as a mother.
Niu Niu was very happy to see the police, answering all their questions. Then she looked up and asked, "Uncle Policeman, are you going to arrest the old witch? Can she turn me back to normal?"
The adults present fell silent, and Qin Gu could no longer memorize the words.
He looked at the little girl. She was wearing a pretty new hair tie, which Ruan Bei had burned for her. Her braids were tied high and low, indicating that the little girl wasn't very good at tying her hair.
He suddenly understood why his sect members weren't enthusiastic about exterminating ghosts.
He thought to himself, "Luckily, Xiao Bei didn't come today, otherwise I would have felt terrible."
After looking after Niu Niu, he found another place for the police to look after Grandma Sun.
In order to solve this case, and to prevent Grandma Sun from becoming desperate and harming others after discovering that her son had been arrested, he captured Grandma Sun's ghost in advance using a magic weapon called the Soul-Capturing Banner, which was given to him by his senior brother.
He placed the soul-binding banner in his maternal grandfather's room without telling Xiao Bei, fearing it would frighten him.
Several policemen who had amulets on their foreheads saw him wave an inconspicuous little flag, and suddenly an old woman appeared in front of them, blood gushing from the back of her head, her face contorted in a ferocious expression. They were all startled and almost drew their guns.
Since the ghost couldn't get into the police station, the police officers had to make do and interrogate the suspect ghost in a private room at a restaurant.
At first, Grandma Sun naturally denied it. She cried, lamenting her miserable life and begging the police to intervene. After learning that her son had been arrested, she cried and made a scene, acting out and cursing because the police couldn't reach her.
Qin Gu sneered, formed a hand seal and chanted an incantation. Immediately, white flames ignited around Granny Sun's body, causing her to wail in agony and no longer dare to cause trouble.
The police watched helplessly as Qin Gu used "vigilance," exchanging bewildered glances, and ultimately dared not say anything.
As for human rights, ghosts don't even know if they exist, and they can't control ghosts anyway.
After subduing the cunning old hag Granny Sun, Qin Gu was no longer in charge of the interrogation. He was only responsible for taking another picture of them after the eye-opening talisman expired.
No matter how cunning Grandma Sun was, she couldn't lie to the criminal police, and in the end, the police uncovered the truth behind both cases.
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