Chapter 65 The Easiest Way to Cross the River
Chang Xile and Anping went to the same animal hospital to see Duobao again.
"He's much more energetic today," the doctor said to Chang Xile, having just changed his dressing. "He'll probably be able to be taken out in a few days. You guys just watch over him for now; I have other things to do."
Duobao had indeed recovered a lot, but he raised his head, his eyes rolling around to look at Chang Xile and then at Anping. Unlike his usual chatty image, he kept his mouth shut and said nothing. Chang Xile folded his arms.
After a few seconds of stalemate, An Ping sighed, "Alright, you don't have to pretend you don't know me. She knows everything."
"Eh?" Duobao exclaimed exaggeratedly. It was the first time Chang Xile saw a look of disgust on a cat's face. "I've always been such a big mouth, but I haven't even told anyone about this. You're such an unreliable cat!"
Anping caressed Duobao's head without hesitation, practically pushing him back onto the blanket. "Tell me what happened last night."
Duobao's mood became a little depressed. He buried his head in his arms, as if he could feel more secure this way. "It's a long story..."
It's actually quite simple to put it simply: Duobao has always been a little star at Shancheng University. He's both a voracious eater and a very affectionate person. Videos of him bowing after a snack have gone viral online, and students even go out of their way to feed him.
In this situation, Chen Moxin brought better-tasting and finer cat food to coax it to eat, and Duobao was naturally dazzled by this sugar-coated bullet.
But before it could take a few bites, Chen Moxin, who had taken advantage of the situation, grabbed it. Perhaps the food wasn't right, as it was drowsy the entire journey. When it woke up, it was in a mountain where trees so tall they blocked out the sun. The man didn't hurt it at first, simply trying to get it to talk, but of course, Duobao only meowed. Chen Moxin's patience gradually wore thin, and his true nature revealed itself, torturing it in various ways, hoping that its desperate and painful state would inspire it to display some special ability.
"Duobao is very scared... Duobao can feel that there is more than one cat in that place." Duobao started to tremble as he spoke, as if he didn't want to recall the past.
If Chang Xile and the others had not arrived in time that day, Duobao would probably have died.
Chang Xile stroked Duobao's back without asking for details. He simply soothed him softly, "It's okay. It's all over."
When the two walked out of the hospital, Chang Xile was still thinking about tomorrow's plan: "The location at the foot of Changle Mountain, it takes ordinary people at least half a day to reach the destination from school. But the time interval between it being taken away and arriving as Duobao mentioned just now was very short, how did he do it?" If Chen Moxin took Anping away by then, they would have to arrive in time, but this time they could no longer rely on Weatherill.
"We'll know tomorrow." An Ping said that if it weren't for the need to leave video evidence, he actually didn't want Chang Xile to get involved.
But Chang Xile's next words surprised him. She suddenly said, "Can I be the bait with you?"
"What do you mean?" Anping looked back at her, not reacting for a moment.
"Just having evidence of cat abuse isn't enough; current rules don't allow him to go to jail for that," Chang Xile said. "But he wanted to hurt me, and that's enough to put him in jail, provided we have evidence."
"No." An Ping refused decisively, just like Chang Xile had just done. "I'm not sure I can protect you from getting hurt."
Chang Xile hadn't expected to argue with him on this issue again: "He's targeting me, so of course I have to deal with it. You also said that there's no such thing as a thief on guard against thieves. You protected me once, but you can't protect me forever..."
Anping's expression was as if this was a matter of course. He said, "I can do it."
"But I don't need it! I don't need to be rescued from danger again and again. The only one who can truly protect me in the most critical moment is myself." Chang Xile pushed him away. She was not arguing with Anping, but just hoped that he could understand her thoughts.
Last night, when Chen Moxin threatened her, she first tried to rely on Wessel's power but failed, and then her own mediocre talisman-drawing skills proved impossible to save herself. If An Ping hadn't appeared, one could imagine what would have happened to her.
But she couldn't always expect Anping to show up in time.
Chang Xile understood that it was impossible to return to the peaceful life she had before she was eighteen. In this case, she should learn how to protect herself.
"I still have some questions to ask Gui Si, you go back first." After Chang Xile said this, he remembered that Anping did not have a place to "go back" to.
Although it seemed common for stray cats to sleep outdoors, Chang Xile had never considered where the kittens she encountered might roost at night. But after meeting and talking with Anping, she couldn't help but think of him alone at night.
Anping thought for a moment and said, "Actually, yes."
Before he met Chang Xile, he would occasionally stay in the place that humans called "residence", but later he rarely went back.
"Really?" Chang Xile looked at him with some suspicion. It was no wonder she didn't trust Anping. It was just that in this world, it was already very difficult for a person to buy a house, let alone a cat.
When Chang Xile returned to the dormitory, the first thing she did was look for Yang Guisi. It was rare that Fang Xinai and Ren Qing were not there, and Yang Guisi, who was always elusive, was actually staying in the dormitory. Chang Xile slammed her hand on her desk and said in a long tone, "Guisi—"
"You scared me." Yang Guisi raised his head and met her bright eyes for the first time. He stuttered unconsciously, "You...what do you want to do?"
Chang Xile smiled sweetly at her and called out 100% willingly, "Master! Please teach me. I really need to master the technique of drawing talismans now."
If Yang Guisi hadn't been sitting, she would have almost knelt down before Chang Xile. She pointed at Chang Xile and said loudly, "Hey!" and said seriously, "Be careful what you say and do!"
"What's wrong?" Chang Xile looked at Yang Guisi counting over and over again with her fingers, feeling inexplicably frustrated. He thought to himself that he was considered one of those people who had a talent for drawing talismans. Was it so difficult to accept her as his apprentice?
Yang Guisi thought about it again and again and still felt that something was wrong. She asked Chang Xile with a bitter face: "Don't you think it would be more reasonable to ask your aunt to be your disciple? She is much, much better than me!"
"She's quite impressive." Chang Xile pulled out her phone and showed Yang Guisi the number of missed calls she'd made to her aunt over the past few days. "She's just a little elusive."
During this demonstration, Chang Xile's finger accidentally touched the edge of the screen, and the call went out again. She flipped the phone back over and was about to hang up, but after three beeps, the call was connected.
"Hello?" The female voice on the other end of the phone was so familiar that Chang Xile almost burst into tears.
"Aunt! Aunt, are you free now? I have a few questions to ask you!" Chang Xile held the phone and earnestly begged her not to hang up.
"Ask ahead." Tang You was about to hang up, but after hearing her bark, she decided not to. "But don't ask anything too difficult."
Chang Xile asked the first question: "If I want to get in touch with a ghost, is there any way?"
Tang You asked, "Are you sure that ghost is wandering between the three realms?"
Chang Xile said, "Sure."
"That's very simple. You find an open place to burn some paper money and recite the other person's name in your heart while burning. Usually they will come." Tang You replied.
"Okay!" Chang Xile was overjoyed, but after a while her rationality returned, she hesitated and said, "But I don't know the other person's full name."
"I told you to ask me something simple." Tang You said with a wry smile, "You don't want me to tell you the name of an unknown ghost, do you?"
"That's not the case." Chang Xile knew she was in the wrong, so she continued, "Among the talismans you gave me, is there any that can move quickly within a short period of time?"
"Why don't you just ask Yang Guisi about this?" Tang You didn't know if she was bothered by something, her words became a little hurried. "Move quickly? I only know about the Mountain Moving Talisman. A simple movement or an earthquake should have similar effects, right?"
"I also want to take Yang Guisi as my master, but she doesn't agree!" Chang Xile didn't have time to think about the familiarity contained in Tang You's words. She wanted to ask Yang Guisi.
When Yang Guisi heard that the call also involved her, she immediately straightened her back.
"Want to become her disciple?" Tang You's tone was a little more amused. "Sure. Go ahead and become her disciple and see if she's really good at her craft."
"Niece, I have something else to do, so I'll hang up first."
Before Chang Xile could say goodbye, the only sound on the other end of the line was the system notification tone of "beep, beep, beep". She turned to look at the stiff Yang Guisi and asked, "Did you hear that?"
Yang Guisi originally looked a bit troubled, but now she was no longer troubled. She said dryly, "As long as you and she don't mind."
"What's there to mind?" Chang Xile was confused and followed up on Tang You's question, asking, "What was that mountain-moving talisman she just mentioned?"
"That kind of spell consumes a lot of mana. Just listen to her lies. She might not even have used it herself." Yang Guisi's tone became much more casual. "We need to analyze the specific situation. First, tell me what you want the fast-moving spell for."
There was nothing to hide from Yang Guisi, and since they had originally wanted her help, Anping had already agreed. Chang Xile then outlined their plan.
"If you want to cross the river, there are many ways." Yang Guisi suppressed his disgust at Chen Moxin and answered her question, "The Ice-Freezing Talisman freezes the river; the Wind-Controlling Talisman allows you to ride the wind; the Woodcutter Talisman allows you to chop down trees to build a bridge..."
Chang Xile listened intently. She asked, "So there's no way to directly affect me and make me move faster?"
The moving mountains mentioned by Tang You and the ice, wind and wood mentioned by Yang Guisi are all the most common elements in nature.
"Right. You have to understand that the talismans you drew are essentially borrowing power. These are the things that gods can most easily call upon. Humans are the most difficult to control," Yang Guisi said, but she quickly ruled out everything she had just mentioned. "But these are all extremely powerful talismans. They can't be quickly mastered. Even if you borrow them, you definitely won't be able to pay them back. I advise you to give up."
Chang Xile pondered: "Is there a talisman that consumes the least energy?"
Yang Guisi pondered for a moment, then pulled out a piece of talisman paper from the pile and handed it to her: "This is it."
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