Chapter 5

After the lunch break, the two went to the application office to fill out the forms.

The duty officer reviewing applications was a member of the Student Aid Society, a freshman just admitted this year, who had yet to experience the infamous mix-up scandal that had rocked their school the previous year.

“Due to a sudden traffic accident resulting in enormous medical expenses, debt exceeding one million...”

Having been on duty for several days, the member had never seen such a tragic case and cast a sympathetic glance at Chu Ning.

Meeting the member’s eyes, Chu Ning asked, “Am I qualified?”

The member replied, “Qualified, definitely.”

After reviewing the materials, he quickly confirmed that the young man before him indeed met the application criteria.

With a kind heart, he promptly assigned Chu Ning a prime spot on the right side of Area A at the Creative Market, and kindly informed him that the market would open in seven days, urging him to prepare his personal stall promptly.

Thanking the Student Aid member, Chu Ning stared thoughtfully at the stamped application form. After careful consideration, he decided to set up a fortune-telling stall at the Creative Market.

He made plans and acted swiftly. Taking advantage of the free afternoon, he separated from Chu Mingming and made two trips to the local flea markets of Tongcheng. From a blind fortune-teller, he procured a black-and-white cloth banner printed with the Bagua diagram, then headed to an incense and candle shop, haggling with the owner to buy a batch of cinnabar and yellow talisman paper.

By the time he finished shopping, dusk was approaching. Back home, he set up his incense altar, retrieved an old split-tip brush unused by Chu Mingming for some time, dipped it in cinnabar, and began drawing talismans.

It was his first time writing talismans since his rebirth. His hands, long unused to this craft, itched to move, and without realizing it, an hour slipped by. Soon, dozens of fresh talismans, their ink still wet, covered the table.

Having finished all the talisman paper at hand in one go, Chu Ning felt refreshed. Relaxing his shoulders, he casually snapped a photo and sent it to Zhao Kexin, with a message: “The Six Jia divine talismans are ready. I can bring them to you tomorrow.”

At that moment, Zhao Kexin was applying a facial mask in her dorm.

She received the message, opened the image, and saw dozens of indecipherable scribbles spread over the table.

Zhao Kexin: …

She felt a bit dizzy from all these talismans.

Swallowing hard, she typed: “How do I use these talismans once I get them?”

Chu Ning replied: “Just carry them with you. Avoid getting them wet.”

Staring at the talisman papers that looked like meaningless scrawls, Zhao Kexin stared for a long while before asking again, “Are all of these the Six Jia divine talismans? Can’t I pick the prettiest one?”

Chu Ning’s expression turned blank through the screen: “…”

Classmate, do you think talismans are like QQ emoticons, coming in multiple skins and backgrounds for you to choose from?

Still, he was curious about which talisman Zhao Kexin preferred, so he asked: “Which one do you think looks best?”

She quickly replied: “The second one from the left.”

Chu Ning found the corresponding talisman and looked at it thoughtfully. “This is the Clear Heart Talisman. It helps with concentration and calming the mind. If you have exams or thesis defenses coming up, it might be useful.”

“If you like,” he typed slowly, “I can give you some.”

Before he finished, Zhao Kexin quickly replied, “No need for that.”

Chu Ning: “...Alright.”

Having been burned once, Zhao Kexin’s psychological defenses were high.

Raised under mainstream materialist education, though she had encountered the ghostly bus experience that shook her worldview, she fainted halfway through the ordeal. She only learned the details of the escape through Chu Mingming’s retelling.

She might be willing to believe that Chu Ning had some extraordinary abilities, but she wouldn’t be certain about the extent of his powers.

Moreover, having just been swindled by a fortune-teller herself, she remained skeptical of mystics in the folk, only buying Chu Ning’s “divine talismans” for peace of mind.

Anything more than that?

Definitely impossible.

Unable to give away the Clear Heart Talismans, Chu Ning did not insist. After confirming the time with Zhao Kexin to pick up the talismans the next day, he picked up the brush again and continued producing talismans in batches, utterly unaffected.

…

After receiving the talismans from Chu Mingming, Zhao Kexin’s life gradually returned to normal.

A few days later, she arranged to go to the night market with her roommate and close friend, Su Xiaoqing. Halfway through their stroll, Su Xiaoqing mentioned a newly opened trendy milk tea shop in a small alley and wanted to take photos and check in.

The two followed the map, circling around the night market several times before finally stopping in front of a pitch-black narrow old alley.

The alley was narrow, wedged between two low walls, with dim light casting faint illumination at the edges. Uneven bluestone slabs paved the ground.

Still haunted by her recent experiences, Zhao Kexin hurriedly grabbed her friend’s arm: “This alley is too dark. Maybe we should come back in the daytime to check in?”

Su Xiaoqing brushed her off, thinking Zhao Kexin was just scared. Slung her arm around her and said, “Come on, we’re almost at the shop. What’s a few steps in the dark?”

She shone her phone’s flashlight ahead, and they could see a shop glowing at the alley’s end — the milk tea shop they sought.

“Let’s go,” Su Xiaoqing urged, pulling Zhao Kexin forward, chatting about how she had already boasted to her boyfriend about visiting this place and planned to take photos of the drinks for him. She teased Zhao Kexin about being single too long, lacking the security of a boyfriend’s protection, hence her nervousness walking through the dark alley.

Zhao Kexin: …That stings, girl.

Unable to resist her friend’s strong desire to check in, she reluctantly followed.

They walked along the silent, secluded alley, initially chatting and laughing. After more than a minute, darkness still enveloped them. A bad feeling crept over Zhao Kexin.

Suddenly, Su Xiaoqing stopped, anxiety rising: “Why is this alley so long? Choosing such a remote spot for a milk tea shop is odd.”

Hearing her complaint, Zhao Kexin dared not stop, tugged Su Xiaoqing’s sleeve and whispered, “Stop talking, let’s hurry.”

They nearly ran forward in silence, but when Su Xiaoqing looked up, horror struck her — they still hadn’t exited the alley!

“What’s going on?”

“Is this alley really this long?”

“Are we going in circles...?”

Staring at the uneven bluestone beneath her feet, Su Xiaoqing’s face drained of color. Her mind fogged, tears threatening.

“I told you to come during the day, but you wouldn’t listen. Now we’re cursed, right?” Zhao Kexin sniffled, overwhelmed with despair, “Why am I so unlucky? That’s the second time this month! When will I ever win the lottery…”

Su Xiaoqing, terrified, was utterly confused.

…

In the silent darkness, their legs weak, unable to move, Zhao Kexin fiddled hopelessly with her phone, her expression growing more desperate.

“No signal.”

“No internet, can’t send messages…”

After forcing herself calm for a moment, Su Xiaoqing was about to suggest retracing their steps when her phone suddenly lit up: a call from her boyfriend.

Eyes wide with hope, she answered immediately.

Static and crackling filled the earpiece before her boyfriend’s familiar gentle voice came through: “Qingqing, where are you?”

Like clutching a lifeline, Su Xiaoqing replied hopefully, “Ayang, Keke and I are lost in a small alley in the south district of the night market, we can’t get out! What do we do?”

“I see. Stay put, don’t move. I’m coming to find you, alright?” His soothing voice was as gentle as ever. “Stay still.”

Choking on her words, she nodded repeatedly to say yes, but then hesitated, fingers tightening on the phone, voice trembling with doubt and fear: “But you’re out of town now... how can you find me?”

The line crackled and hissed endlessly, until only a chilling breath and faint whisper came through.

“Baby, I’m in Tongcheng now.”

“Downtown’s really close.”

“I’ve arrived at the night market street.”

“The alley entrance is—”

“Ah, I found you.”

Suddenly, a cold wind swept through the pitch-black alley. Su Xiaoqing and Zhao Kexin were chilled to the bone, horrified as a pale, withered hand suddenly reached out from the darkness, lunging fiercely at Su Xiaoqing!

Seeing her friend about to be seized by an evil spirit, Zhao Kexin, in a panic, summoned a sudden surge of courage and reached out to pull her away.

At that moment, she felt she had grasped something even colder than ice!

What the hell!

Zhao Kexin screamed silently inside.

But then, a sudden warmth blossomed in her chest, a faint white light flickered before her eyes, and the bustling noise of the night market echoed in her ears again...

She blinked, looked around, and realized she had returned to the alley entrance.

One step forward and the uneven bluestone path lay before her.

Startled, Zhao Kexin stepped back two paces and turned to her still shaken friend: “Qingqing, are you okay?”

Su Xiaoqing, stunned by the sudden reversal, thought she was doomed but had somehow survived. Excited, she asked, “What was that white light on you just now?”

White light?

In a flash, Zhao Kexin recalled the talisman hung around her neck with a red string. She pulled it out and unfolded it. The once blood-red cinnabar had faded, and with a gentle pinch, the golden-yellow paper crumbled into powder on the floor.

This...

Zhao Kexin was dazed.

…So Chu really is a master!!

·

The Tongcheng University Creative Market was held under the overpass outside the university town. Thanks to pre-opening promotions, it was incredibly popular from day one, with large crowds. On a good day, busy stalls could recoup their costs by closing time.

In front of the fortune-telling stall, Chu Mingming once again eyed enviously as a neighboring nail salon sent off a big spender, then looked gloomily at their own empty stall.

“Why does no one recognize the value here? Our readings aren’t expensive.”

“I don’t get it either,” Chu Ning mused, propping his chin with one hand while flipping a coin with the other, staring at the tarot stall across the way, where a long queue had formed.

“Is tarot really that effective?” he wondered.

“Probably?” Chu Mingming admitted ignorance.

The brothers exchanged a helpless glance. Half an hour later, the nail salon was packed, and the tarot line had only grown longer.

Watching a stream of students enter the tarot house and leave clutching lucky crystals, Chu Mingming sighed enviously: “Bro, those crystals sell like crazy.”

At 121 yuan each! Just what he had seen, the tarot master had sold no fewer than ten.

“When will we ever open for business?” Chu Mingming, bored, suggested that Chu Ning might have to lower his talisman prices to attract customers. After all…

“A thousand yuan per talisman is tough for ordinary students to afford,” he pointed out.

In a university creative market run by students, who would spend so much on what looked like haphazard scribbles on yellow paper?

Buyers aren’t idiots.

Besides, isn’t it easier to get a free one at a temple?

Chu Mingming believed in his brother’s abilities but considered Chu Ning’s pricing utterly unrealistic.

Chu Ning said, “Talismans are for those who truly need them. Let’s wait a bit longer.”

Dejected, Chu Mingming was about to get some water when suddenly two female students swept past him like a whirlwind, heading straight to their empty stall as if famished wolves pouncing.

“Master Chu! Do you still have ‘divine talismans’ for sale?”

The newcomers asked urgently.

Chu Ning stopped flipping the coin, glanced at them with slight confusion: “You want to buy talismans again?”

“Yes, yes!”

“I want ten!”

“Wait, I want some too!”

“I’ll buy a hundred!”

Chu Mingming: “???”