Chapter 33

"Snap!"

It felt like a fleeting instant, yet also like a long time had passed.

Opening his eyes, Li Zhuyuan found himself lying in bed.

Sitting up, he carefully scanned his surroundings, needing to confirm not only if this was his room, but also if he was currently in a dream.

After a long while, Li Zhuyuan confirmed it: this was reality.

Yet, in his ears, there seemed to linger the crisp sound of his great-grandfather’s palm striking the tiles with a talisman.

Then, everything went black.

What happened next, Li Zhuyuan could not remember.

He didn't even remember when the luck-shifting ritual ended, nor did he remember how he had walked out of his great-grandfather's room and back into his own bedroom.

Looking down at the quilt on his knees, he noted that every night when he slept, the quilt was pulled up to his stomach, and he had his own specific way of folding it.

In other words, it wasn't his great-grandfather who had carried his unconscious self back to bed, because this quilt was folded in his own style.

Stepping out of bed, he glanced at the clock: five in the morning. Ah Li usually arrived around six.

Having performed so many "Shadow Walks," in that dazed state immediately upon waking, it was inevitable that a slight sense of palpitations and unease would stir in his heart, an instinctive urge to verify reality from illusion.

It was like walking a distance after leaving the house, only to suddenly stop, gripped by anxiety over whether he had locked the door.

And every time he woke up to see Ah Li sitting in the chair, he could skip that step.

His mouth felt dry. Li Zhuyuan walked to his desk to grab his water cup, only to find it filled with paper ash.

He immediately began checking his notebooks. Although they had been cleaned thoroughly, traces of torn pages were still visible.

But what had been torn away was not something he had written.

His gaze shifted to the pen holder on the desk. There were four pens, arranged according to his habits, but the ink in his most frequently used pen had dropped significantly.

An image surfaced in Li Zhuyuan's mind

In the dead of night, while he lay in deep sleep in his bed, a stranger sat at his desk, using his pen to write in his notebook.

Finally, this person tore out the written pages, lit them, and threw them into the cup.

Li Zhuyuan opened his drawer; his remaining spare change was there, not a single cent missing.

His books, workbooks, and pen holder were all arranged according to his habits. Combined with his lost memory of last night's ritual, Li Zhuyuan couldn't help but wonder

Was the person sitting here writing last night... himself?

But if it were him, why would he need to burn what he wrote?

Was there something about himself that he wasn't allowed to see?

Furthermore, the act of burning it suggested that his self from last night seemed to foresee that this memory would be missing.

Li Zhuyuan flipped through the books on the desk, not expecting to find clues, as he had no habit of scribbling in books.

But when he picked up the second volume of *The Record of the Righteous Path Subduing Demons* and turned to the last page, he noticed a change. A character had been crossed out, and a new one written beside it.

—Written by Wei Zhengdao.

Changed to

—Written by Pseudo-Zhengdao.

Li Zhuyuan frowned. He was now almost certain that the person sitting at the desk last night was himself.

Because neither family members, thieves, perverts, nor malevolent entities would engage in such a pointless act.

Only he would have such a twisted, dark sense of humor regarding the previous phrase, "Destroyed by the Righteous Path."

"What exactly did I do?"

Li Zhuyuan walked to the wardrobe; his face was reflected in the mirror on the door.

The moment his eyes met his own in the mirror, Li Zhuyuan felt a sudden, violent surge of panic and immediately averted his gaze.

That cold, sense of detachment surfaced from the depths of his heart once more, and this time, it came with extraordinary ferocity.

He clutched his head with both hands, incessantly muttering the names of those in his social circle. This time, he muttered Ah Li and his great-grandfather the most; as for the others, including his parents, he only mentioned them briefly at the end.

Finally, the sensation receded.

Li Zhuyuan lowered his hands. Crouching on the floor, he turned to look at himself in the mirror; "the two of them" were both panting.

Once completely composed, Li Zhuyuan stood up and picked up a basin, intending to wash up to clear his head.

As he pushed the door open, the door next to him was pushed open at the same time.

Li Zhuyuan and Li Sanjiang emerged almost simultaneously.

"Cough..."

The chilly morning breeze blew against his face, and Li Zhuyuan couldn't help but stop to cough.

*Splat! Splat!*

"Dammit!"

In the air, two birds happened to fly past in parallel, and simultaneously dropped nature's "gifts."

Li Zhuyuan looked at the bird droppings on the ground in front of him. Had he not stopped to cough, they would have landed right on his head.

Li Sanjiang rubbed his head, looked at the white residue on his finger, sniffed it, and grimaced in nausea.

He instinctively wanted to wipe it on the wall, but remembering he was at his own bedroom door, he could only walk to the water vat on the terrace to wash his hands and then scoop water to wash his hair.

"Great-grandfather, I'll go get you some hot water. You'll catch a cold washing your hair with cold water."

"Little Marquis, go get me some laundry detergent and a dry towel."

Li Zhuyuan brought the items first, then lifted the thermos to pour hot water into Li Sanjiang's basin, before starting to brush his own teeth beside him.

"Damn it, what a rotten, unlucky day."

"Great-grandfather, just think of it as a magpie bringing you good news."

"I've realized, you're the only one in this family who knows how to talk sweet."

"Great-grandfather, what time did you go to sleep last night?"

"I went to sleep right after the ritual ended. I slept early, which is why I woke up early today."

"Great-grandfather, do you remember what happened after the ritual?"

"What else could have happened? I went to bed, of course."

"I mean, after you struck the talisman against the floor. Do you remember that?"

"Of course I remember. How could I not? I wasn't drinking last night; I don't get blackouts."

"You really remember?"

"Little Marquis, what's wrong with you?"

"Great-grandfather, did I say anything to you after the ritual ended last night?"

"You said goodnight and went back to your room. What's wrong? Did you have another nightmare?"

"No, nothing. Maybe I just slept too well and can't remember some things."

"That's normal. Never mind that you're just a kid; even adults get like that. Sleeping well is a good sign; it means the ritual worked."

As they spoke, Li Zhuyuan saw Ah Li walking up the stairs. Today, she was dressed in a lady's attire, looking dignified and lovely.

Li Sanjiang smacked his lips while drying his hair. "I'll tell you, Little Marquis, this girl is truly beautiful. I used to think 'a beauty in the making' was just empty flattery, until I saw her."

Li Zhuyuan nodded. "Ah Li is indeed beautiful."

In the past, one of the great joys of the elders was to watch the young boys and girls playing together and try to play matchmaker.

But Li Sanjiang merely shook his head and sighed, "If only she weren't sick."

The old man still remembered the scene of the little girl erupting in anger after he had stuffed candy into her hand.

"Great-grandfather, Ah Li isn't sick."

"Fine, she's not sick, but you are. Happy?"

"Mm."

Li Zhuyuan knew he truly was "sick," and it had just flared up this morning.

"By the way, Great-grandfather, Brother Runsheng is going back to Xiting today to see Grandpa Shan. I want to go with him."

"Then go ahead. Oh, right, wait here. I'll go to my room and get some money for you to buy things to bring him."

"Great-grandfather, you're so good to Grandpa Shan."

"I'm just afraid that dimwit will gamble all the money away and starve to death."

Li Sanjiang went inside to get the money for Li Zhuyuan, then came back downstairs, calling out, "Tinghou! Make breakfast early today, I'm hungry!"

Li Zhuyuan looked at the money in his hand, added his own remaining pocket money to it, and smiled. He had enough capital.

Ah Li looked at the boy, then at the money in his hand, her eyelashes fluttering slightly.

On the courtyard, Liu Yumei was brewing tea.

Li Sanjiang walked downstairs, stretching, and remarked, "Yo, the weather should be nice today. It'll be a bright, sunny day."

Liu Yumei responded, "Then aren't you going out for a stroll?"

"What's there to stroll for? In such good weather, it's better to lie on a rattan chair and nap in the sun."

Liu Yumei smiled and said no more, instead using her right index and middle fingers to lift her teacup.

Just as she lifted it halfway, the cup suddenly wobbled, and some tea spilled out.

Ignoring her reddened fingertips, Liu Yumei stared at the teacup in disbelief—or more accurately, at the tea that had suddenly dropped to half its volume.

"How did so much spill all at once?"

Though the moon waxes and wanes and the tides ebb and flow, there is usually a pattern; stability can be found within change. Therefore, such a violent fluctuation should not occur.

What on earth happened?

At that moment, Li Zhuyuan and Qin Li walked down.

Liu Yumei's gaze naturally fell upon the boy. While carefully observing his face, her left hand, tucked inside her sleeve, began to tap her fingertips rhythmically.

As if trying to make the girl happy, Li Zhuyuan made a funny face at Ah Li.

Liu Yumei's finger-tapping had to stop, because his physiognomy had changed.

Li Zhuyuan turned toward Liu Yumei and greeted her politely, "Good morning, Grandma Liu."

"Morning, Xiao Yuan."

Li Zhuyuan walked to the kitchen to help Auntie Liu with the porridge and pickles.

He noticed a lot of newly made incense drying in the northwest corner of the yard and asked, "Auntie Liu, could I trouble you to make some short incense sticks for me?"

"Of course. How short?"

"About the size of a cigarette in a pack."

"But what can you do with such short incense? It'll burn out in a second."

"It doesn't need to burn long. Just long enough for the duration of a cigarette."

"Alright, I'll make them for you."

"Thank you, Auntie Liu."

After breakfast, Li Zhuyuan set off with Runsheng.

Runsheng was excited to be going home, singing songs with his hands in the air from time to time.

He sang many songs, but mostly just the classic lines from a few, making Li Zhuyuan, sitting in the back, feel like he was listening to a medley.

Xiting Town wasn't too far, and Runsheng's singing didn't slow his pedaling. It didn't take long before they arrived at the doorstep.

Looking at this house, Li Zhuyuan thought it was truly dilapidated compared to the other houses in the village.

Runsheng went inside and called out several times without response. He then came back out to tell Li Zhuyuan

"Xiao Yuan, my grandpa isn't home. He's probably out playing cards. But there's still rice and flour in the house, so we'll have lunch, hehe."

"Then let's go find Grandpa Shan."

"Come on, I'll take you."

There were several "gambling dens" in the village, all operating out of private homes. Small ones had three or four tables, while large ones had over twenty.

The unwritten rule was that you had to pay a tea fee to play, and if you won a big hand, the owner would take a cut of the winnings.

Besides providing tea, sunflower seeds, and peanuts, the owner's job was to act as a middleman to gather players; this ability determined whether a den could grow large.

It was currently summer, not the peak season for gambling dens; the real peak was around the Lunar New Year.

Those who worked away from home would return to the village for the holidays.

Many people who lived frugally while working away would return with a year's worth of hard-earned money, immediately put on new clothes, sit at the gambling table with expensive cigarettes in their mouths, and prepare to sweep the floor.

Of course, most of the time, they were the ones being swept.

One must realize that almost every village had a small group of people who didn't have regular jobs and spent their days gambling to pass the time. They relied on the New Year season to make enough to cover their living expenses for the coming year.

Those working away didn't have many chances to play, so their skill level couldn't match these local regulars, and they were also prone to being set up in rigged games.

Consequently, it was common for people to return to the village and lose a year's worth of wages within days. Some lost everything and ended up in debt; the most tragic were those who had to pack their bags and head back to work before the New Year was even over.

Runsheng explained all this to Li Zhuyuan on the way.

Because Runsheng had heard Xiao Yuan mention wanting to play cards, he shared this to discourage him.

Li Zhuyuan found Runsheng to be a very curious person. He was naturally honest and simple, yet he possessed a subtle side; otherwise, he wouldn't understand these nuances. Of course, the side of him that fought was even more shocking.

"Brother Runsheng, you know Grandpa Shan loses at cards often, why don't you advise him?"

"He's my grandpa. I have to listen to him, just like I have to listen to you because you're my little brother."

"You're the older brother."

"My grandpa says I'm stupid, and that in this life, I can only listen to two kinds of people."

"Which two?"

"One is my grandpa himself. He says he's actually stupid too, and that listening to him might mean I suffer alongside him, but at least he won't harm me. The other is listening to smart people. Smart people might harm me, but before they do, they'll let me enjoy some fortune first."

Grandpa Shan was playing cards at a small den at the west end of the village. There weren't many people, just one table playing a four-player game of *Dou Dizhu*.

When Li Zhuyuan and Runsheng entered, Grandpa Shan had just laid down his cards and was distributing the money.

"Yo, Runsheng Marquis is back."

"Runsheng Marquis, long time no see."

"Your grandpa just mentioned you."

The players clearly knew Runsheng and greeted him warmly.

Grandpa Shan also stood up, patted Runsheng's arm, and laughed, "Good, as expected, you've been eating well at Li Sanjiang's place. You look sturdier."

He looked like a sensible ox or sheep that had been well-fed at a neighbor's field.

"Grandpa, Xiao Yuan is here too."

"Grandpa Shan."

"Mm-hmm, Runsheng Marquis." Grandpa Shan reached for the money on the table, hesitated, and then said, "It's bad luck to handle money while playing. Wait until tonight, and I'll buy you some cooked food."

"Okay, Grandpa Shan."

Li Zhuyuan glanced at the stack of money in front of Grandpa Shan... well, it was so thin it could no longer be called a "stack."

The game began. Grandpa Shan sat there with a cigarette in his mouth, drawing cards while chatting idly with Runsheng.

Li Zhuyuan stood by quietly, watching.

Before long, Grandpa Shan lost three hands—two as the landlord and one as a peasant.

With such a small sample size, Li Zhuyuan wasn't sure if Grandpa Shan's luck was truly bad, but he was certain of one thing: Grandpa Shan's skill was mediocre at best.

Players with poor skills who loved to play were welcomed anywhere.

However, Li Zhuyuan had no intention of joining in. *Dou Dizhu* was too slow, and it required coordination, making the efficiency of winning money too low.

Li Zhuyuan tugged on Runsheng's arm, and Runsheng understood. "Grandpa, I'm taking Xiao Yuan back first."

"Mm, alright." Grandpa Shan waved without looking back; he was already caught up in the excitement of losing.

Riding the tricycle, Runsheng took Li Zhuyuan to a large gambling den. A canopy had been set up outside a residential building, where eight tables were playing. Some were playing *Dou Dizhu*, some were playing Bridge, and at the largest round table, nine people were playing *Zha Jin Hua* (Three Card Poker).

*Zha Jin Hua* is more fun with more people, as it allows for more "bluffing."

"Brother Runsheng, do you remember what I told you earlier?"

"Yeah, I remember." Runsheng patted his chest, then walked to an empty seat at the round table and sat down. "Count me in."

The others at the table froze, eyeing Runsheng.

Xiting Town was well-connected, so small dens were mostly for locals, while large dens attracted outsiders. Thus, many people didn't recognize Runsheng.

Mainly, Runsheng's age was awkward. You couldn't call him a child given his build and age, but you couldn't call him an adult either, as he still had a youthful air.

People at the table didn't like playing with kids—partly because it looked bad if word got out, and partly because kids rarely had much money in their pockets.

The owner of the den was a short, stout man. He waved at Runsheng. "Runsheng Marquis, don't mess around. Your grandpa isn't here. Go look elsewhere."

"I said, I want to play!"

Runsheng deliberately put on a cold face and slammed the money Li Zhuyuan had given him onto the table.

Seeing Runsheng's attitude and the amount of money, the people at the table nodded silently. The owner stopped arguing and turned to pour tea, muttering, "The beam is crooked, so the rafters are crooked."

Runsheng was nervous, but he kept his face stern.

The current round wasn't over; three players were still playing "blind" (without looking at their cards).

Li Zhuyuan's gaze swept over the nine people at the round table, memorizing all their physiognomies.

*Zha Jin Hua* uses only three cards; its technical depth is much lower than *Dou Dizhu*, and luck is the primary factor.

Logically, playing this to win money steadily is unwise.

But Li Zhuyuan had his own method. After memorizing their faces, any micro-expression they made while looking at or taking their cards would not escape his eyes.

Shrewd old gamblers are good at hiding or even deceiving, but that didn't matter. In the *Exegesis of Yin-Yang Physiognomy*, the massive catalog of facial features acted as a vast database in Li Zhuyuan's mind.

No matter how good the disguise, no one is without flaws. There might be masters in the world who can hide everything, but Li Zhuyuan believed he wouldn't encounter them in a village, as they wouldn't be as bored as him, coming to a village den to make money.

When the round ended, Runsheng had placed the ante.

For three consecutive rounds, Runsheng looked at his cards and immediately folded without even playing blind. Moreover, when he folded, he intentionally flipped his cards over, showing them to everyone.

This was at Li Zhuyuan's request; he needed to enrich his sample size—for example, seeing which micro-expressions corresponded to which card combinations.

Of course, Runsheng's hands were terrible; none were worth calling.

Fine, the sample data collection was complete and very detailed, because the people at the table also liked to show their cards rather than hide them when folding.

Li Zhuyuan silently moved closer to Runsheng, and Runsheng shifted his seat.

When the next round was dealt, the cards were dealt almost directly in front of Li Zhuyuan.

This caught the attention of many at the table. They were somewhat dissatisfied; Runsheng could be considered a young man, but the child beside him was far too young.

However, since they were sitting together, it wasn't convenient to say anything. After all, there were plenty of fathers who held their sons in their laps to let them touch the cards while they played.

Li Zhuyuan picked up the money, tossed it in, and played a blind hand.

"Whose kid is this? He's so fair and tender-looking."

"His clothes are nice too, quite fashionable."

The people at the table began to comment on Li Zhuyuan.

A shy smile appeared on Li Zhuyuan's face.

What these people didn't know was that from this moment on, everyone at the table was in a state of "open cards" to the little boy.

This wasn't cheating, because "reading the room" is a fundamental part of playing *Zha Jin Hua*.

After a round of blind playing, some looked and folded, while others looked and called.

Li Zhuyuan flipped his cards: a pair of 5s. An awkward hand, but of the two who called, one was bluffing with a small hand, and the other's hand wasn't bigger than his.

With three people calling, the rest stopped playing blind and began to look at their cards.

Li Zhuyuan felt relieved because he "saw" that he had the largest hand at the table.

In the end, the only remaining player tried to increase the stakes to intimidate a child, but failed. When the cards were revealed, he lost. Runsheng stood up, swept the money back, then asked the person before him to shuffle and the person after him to cut and deal.

Because Li Zhuyuan was small and Runsheng was clumsy with his hands, even dealing was a struggle.

This was also to avoid potential trouble after winning money.

Next round.

After playing blind, Li Zhuyuan looked at his cards: a pair of Aces.

Then, the expressions of every subsequent player fell into his eyes. After four rounds, five players remained.

To Li Zhuyuan's surprise, those four players all had large pairs of 10 or higher. But he didn't panic; after all, pairs were his domain.

Because the hands were good, they went through several more rounds of revealing. Finally, Li Zhuyuan won everything with his pair of Aces against the other pairs.

The pot was quite substantial. When Runsheng stood up to collect the money, his breathing trembled with excitement.

Third round, the same routine: play blind, then look.

A flush. And a straight flush at that.

What was there left to say about such a hand?

But after a few rounds, Li Zhuyuan found there was indeed something to say, because excluding himself, among the remaining five, two had straights and three had flushes.

Li Zhuyuan couldn't help but wonder: *Are they coordinating this?*

In this round, everyone bet more and played longer. Ultimately, as expected, Li Zhuyuan won.

When the cards were revealed, Li Zhuyuan feigned innocence and asked

"Is there also a 'joy money' bonus?"

Runsheng stood up, screaming internally: *So much money, so much money!*

In this game, having a big hand doesn't always mean you win a lot; sometimes, if no one calls, you just take the ante.

Only when several players have good hands does the pot get thick, allowing the winner to feast after the bloody battle.

Next round, play blind, then look.

Li Zhuyuan's expression remained shy, but his heart was racing.

666—a triplet.

His luck today was quite good.

Then, as everyone began to look at their cards, Li Zhuyuan "confirmed" it: among the five remaining players, two had straight flushes, two had flushes, and one had a straight.

This...

A bloodbath was inevitable.

Finally, Li Zhuyuan revealed his cards against the last person who had actively called him. Everyone at the table was stunned, and even people at nearby tables stood up to watch.

While triplets weren't extremely rare, a combination like this was truly exceptional.

"The newcomer has a lot of fire in him, it seems."

"This kid's luck is incredible today."

"Whoa, how much has he won already?"

People began to chatter incessantly.

Li Zhuyuan himself found it strange; his luck really did seem exceptionally good today.

Runsheng had already emptied the bag of sunflower seeds and was using the bag to hold the money.

He suddenly felt a sense of doubt: *Is Xiao Yuan gambling the same kind of game as my grandpa?*

Since he had been old enough to understand, he had rarely experienced the feeling of winning, let alone winning like this.

Next round, continue playing blind, then look.

Li Zhuyuan realized something was wrong, because he drew: AAA.

Then, after three rounds of looking, not a single person folded.

Li Zhuyuan "looked" at their cards and confirmed it was very suspicious.

Among the nine people excluding himself, five had triplets and four had straight flushes.

Li Zhuyuan suspected he was possessed.

He felt his hand go to the talisman paper he had drawn in his pocket, wanting to stick one on his forehead to see if it changed color.

At this point, the table was no longer a bloodbath; it was a catastrophe.

Since most of them had already bled money to Li Zhuyuan in previous rounds, holding these hands gave them a sense of "divine destiny."

No one held back, no one showed mercy, and no one kindly advised others to quit while they were ahead.

The highest stakes were thrown in round after round without hesitation.

A few people didn't have enough money themselves, so they showed their cards to the spectators standing behind them, allowing them to join in and share the dividends.

Li Zhuyuan felt his arms getting sore from constantly pushing money forward. It was only after this round that it finally came to an end.

After being called by several players in succession, only to have them all fold, the atmosphere at the table became quite oppressive.

In the end, when the three Aces were revealed, the last player nearly collapsed to the floor in a tremor.

Someone wanted to mutter about cheating, but couldn't find the words, because neither of these two had shuffled the cards themselves; they had been assisted by the players before and after them—the very people who had lost the most.

However, the reason the scene remained relatively quiet was that Runsheng had stood up.

Runsheng sensed the threat, and winning so much money had also put him into an excited state. His eyes were already turning red, and he was emitting the same aura he had used against those possessed thugs the night before.

The only reason Li Zhuyuan dared to win money here was because Runsheng was by his side.

However, he hadn't expected it to escalate like this, because all the measures he had prepared were, in hindsight, completely useless.

Li Zhuyuan asked, "Do you want to keep playing?"

He intended to lose some money back on purpose. If he lost too slowly, he would return half of it later.

"Play, keep playing! But these cards are old, let's change to a new deck." A middle-aged man with a large beard at the table signaled everyone to sit down, then gave a meaningful look to the person sitting next to Li Zhuyuan.

They wouldn't normally cooperate while playing, only during the New Year, but today, they had no choice.

A new deck was brought out. The person below shuffled, the person above cut, and then they dealt on their behalf.

As usual, Li Zhuyuan played blind, then looked: three Queens, a triplet.

But his opponent's expression told him that the man was holding the largest hand.

They were cheating.

They didn't realize that the "watertight" exchange of glances they thought they were making was, to Li Zhuyuan, as loud as a shout.

"I'm done."

Li Zhuyuan flipped his cards face down and tossed them directly into the pile, scattering them in the process.

"What?" The bearded man stood up abruptly, pointing at Li Zhuyuan and shouting, "You're cheating!"

He was using his own cheating as proof that Li Zhuyuan was indeed cheating; otherwise, who would just throw away a triplet like that?

"Brother Runsheng, take out the table fee, the tea fee, and the cleaning fee."

"Huh?" Runsheng was confused, but he obeyed. After estimating the amount, he took the money from the bag and placed it on the table.

Li Zhuyuan stood up, left the table, and said

"Smash the table."

*BANG!*

A fist descended, and the table shattered.

This wasn't a common person flipping a table, nor was it a mere emotional outburst. The sight of a large round table being directly pulverized by a single blow stunned everyone present.

Li Zhuyuan looked calmly at the wreckage on the floor. He wasn't the one cheating, but did he need to explain?

He didn't.

"Let's go, Brother Runsheng."

"Yeah!"

A grim smile appeared on Runsheng's face, and he reached out, pointing at everyone present.

He had learned this from the movie *God of Gamblers* they had watched on the local station the night before. It was a pity Xiao Yuan didn't use hair gel, otherwise, he would have been his personal Chow Yun-fat.

The bearded man didn't dare step forward, but stood his ground, his voice trembling, "We're calling the police!"

It was ridiculous. In these gambling dens, the people didn't report and the officials didn't prosecute, but if they actually did, it would certainly be illegal, and all the gambling funds would be confiscated.

Li Zhuyuan stopped in his tracks and turned back to look at him

"Tan Yunlong from the Town Police Station is my uncle."

Having said that, he continued walking out.

Carrying the bag of money, Runsheng skipped along, his shoes dragging on the ground in a manner reminiscent of a young girl.

Li Zhuyuan, however, appeared very calm, even somewhat solemn.

Once seated on the tricycle, he immediately pulled out his talismans and stuck them on his forehead, shoulders, arms, and thighs, as if he were a corpse prepared for self-immolation.

After a moment, he checked them all; not a single one had changed color.

Putting the talismans away, Li Zhuyuan let out a sigh. He knew. He murmured

"The luck-shifting ritual."