Put away your magical powers now!.

Chapter 255 [Returning Home]

Chapter 249 [Returning Home]

The next day, after Chen Yan got up, he packed his things, leaving two jars of wine for Old Wang, several dozen kilograms of dried game meat, and two large bags of spices such as Sichuan peppercorns.

Old Wang's room door was still closed. I don't know if he got up and went out or if he hadn't gotten up yet—this guy lives like a complete couch potato, with a chaotic schedule, even more of a shut-in than a typical shut-in.

Chen Yan thought for a moment, wrote down a bunch of notes, and nailed them one by one next to the dried game meat—Old Wang should be able to see this place at a glance.

"She wasn't spoiled by your excessive devotion; she was a bad person at heart when she met you."

"Give up the idea of ​​helping others and respect their fate."

"Reject internal strife; the fault lies with others!"

"Old Wang, let yourself go!"

After finishing these tasks, Chen Yan looked at the colorful pile of sticky notes pinned to the wall with satisfaction, smiled, turned around, left the room, and walked out of the yard.

·
After requesting an audience with Elder Qian at Jing'an Hall and explaining his purpose, Elder Qian readily issued a token for entering and exiting the sect's grand formation.

"The Gu family hasn't said they'll look for you again, and the questioning is over. The aftermath of this matter is no longer your concern. You are a disciple of my sect, and it's your duty as a disciple to travel. Go!"

Chen Yan thanked them, accepted the token, and swaggered away from Jing'an Hall.

Upon arriving at the mountain gate, Chen Yan tossed out his token, which opened a passage in the protective array. He smoothly exited the gate, which resembled a magnificent palace. He then slowly walked down the steps leading down the mountain.

Looking up at the sky, the inner immortal mountain still floated, as if it were gilded with a layer of gold under the sunlight. The mist created by the waterfall was hazy, and the cranes could be vaguely seen flying and circling around. It was truly a magnificent scene of immortals!
Hmm, crane meat is quite delicious!
Just as I looked up, I saw Old Wang, dressed in an apricot-yellow robe, standing lazily in front of the mountain gate, holding a wine jar that I had left behind, and smiling at me.

Chen Yan waved and quickly went down the mountain.

·
At the foot of the mountain of the Heavenly Demon Yin Yang Harmony Sect, the crowds of mortals burning incense and making offerings have almost formed a small market.

Some of the smarter mortals would set up stalls here to do some business. The things they sold were so diverse that Chen Yan was utterly astonished.

There's a whole cart full of wine jars behind the stall halfway up the mountain outside the mountain gate, made from peach blossoms that bloomed last year...

Chen Yan said that he had seen the peach blossoms under the mountain gate. He had passed by them on his way down the mountain and counted only a few dozen trees.

It's also said that there was mud left on the soles of the shoes of immortals from the sect when they performed spells. These were later dug up by curious individuals, who then divided them into small bags and made them into protective sachets…

Chen Yan sighed, wondering which senior brother had scraped so much mud off the soles of his shoes that he could actually make a whole box of protective sachets.

And...shoe sole mud used to make sachets? That's... tasteless.

He came down from the mountain and entered the world of mortals. Wherever he went, people bowed and worshipped him. Some bowed respectfully, while others knelt down with a thud, pleading loudly, "I beg the immortal to guide me into the path of Tao! I beg the immortal to take me as your disciple..."

Or perhaps someone in the family is suffering from some illness or disaster, and they kneel by the roadside, begging a deity for medicine.

Chen Yan walked by casually. He had the ability to observe qi, and with a single glance, he felt a surge of lust!

Even those who claim to have a sick family member and are seeking miraculous medicine to save their life are mostly lying; they just want to swindle some pills to exchange for money.

He was truly consumed by lust!
Chen Yan was already a third-realm cultivator with keen spiritual senses. After sensing these auras, he couldn't help but feel irritated—it was a kind of physiological aversion.

However, these people only dared to kneel and worship from a distance and did not dare to get close to him. Although this small market for worship was noisy, the order was still relatively good.

After taking a few steps, Chen Yan realized that there were people maintaining order.

Two men dressed in the uniforms of servants from the sect walked towards them, coldly ordering the crowd to disperse and forbidding them from making any unauthorized movements.

Upon approaching Chen Yan, the two men recognized his apricot-yellow robe and bowed deeply, saying, "Your Excellency, we are from the Foreign Affairs Hall, here on duty and patrol."

Chen Yan knew that the Foreign Affairs Hall was the lowest-ranking hall in the entire outer sect, mainly responsible for managing ordinary servants.

"Were you sent here to maintain order at the foot of the mountain?"

The two servants nodded repeatedly.

Chen Yan glanced at the two of them and realized that they had both entered the cultivation realm, the early stage of the Inner Realm, but their Yuan Qi affinity looked very low, so they probably didn't have much potential in their lifetime.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Yan said, "Many of the things being sold here are exaggerated, and those seeking medicine or the Dao are mostly lying. Aren't you going to do anything about it?"

One disciple whispered, “Your Excellency, the sect has always said that the principles of Heaven and the demons of the heart are both part of the world. It is impossible for there to be only white without black, only yang without yin. Therefore, the sect’s intention is that we will not interfere in such matters unless they cause a major disturbance, in which case they will suffer the consequences of their own actions and be punished by Heaven. Otherwise, we will let it be.”

Chen Yan nodded; this was indeed in line with the consistent style of the Heavenly Demon Yin Yang Harmony Sect.

He then continued walking forward, with the two servant disciples following behind him, their hands clasped in fear.

Along the way, vendors hawked their wares, and people came in droves, seeking medicine and enlightenment. As Chen Yan, dressed in the formal robes of a sect disciple, approached, their voices grew even louder. However, despite the surging crowd, no one dared to get too close.

Chen Yan walked several dozen meters and found a slender and frail figure kneeling in an inconspicuous corner by the roadside. She was wearing a hemp robe and there was a white banner on the ground in front of her with a few lines of words written on it.

The girl looked to be no more than fourteen or fifteen years old. She had an ordinary physique and no fluctuations of vital energy. Her face was clean and pretty, but that was all.

There were probably too many stalls offering prayers for immortality, medicine, and enlightenment, so she, a weak woman, couldn't get a good spot and could only kneel in a corner. If Chen Yan hadn't had sharp eyes and seen her through the surging crowd kneeling before him, he probably would have missed her.

However, Chen Yan had a sudden thought and slowly walked over. As he walked past, the crowd immediately parted in an orderly manner.

Reaching the girl, Chen Yan stood there, looking down at her. The girl was trembling with excitement, but dared not look up at Chen Yan. She simply knelt there, bowing her head and kowtowing repeatedly, pleading in a soft voice, "Immortal, have mercy! Immortal, have mercy!"

Chen Yan glanced at the words on the white banner in front of her and said calmly, "Is there a sick person in the family?"

“My father is seriously injured, beyond medical help, and we have no money left for his treatment. I have nowhere else to go but to try my luck here…”

Chen Yan said calmly, "If I save your father, how will I repay him?"

The girl trembled violently and said timidly, "I am willing to be your slave, to serve you like a beast of burden..."

Chen Yan nodded and asked a couple more questions. The girl stammered in response, explaining that her father was a woodcutter in the mountains. One day, he and his companions went into the mountains to look for wild animals. They chased after wild beasts and in their haste, they fell off a cliff and broke their waists.

After being carried back by his colleagues, he had been bedridden for over a month and was on the verge of death, with only a few days left to live.

"Alright, I'll serve you like a beast of burden, repaying kindness with my life, you agree, right?"

"I swear to heaven!" The girl's eyes reddened, and she raised her head, looking resolutely at Chen Yan.

"There's no need to go to such extremes as being a beast of burden. Serving someone for me doesn't mean you have to sacrifice yourself. Hmm, being a servant, taking care of his food and clothing, his daily needs, doing laundry and cooking, and so on, until he's old, are you willing?"

The girl, her eyes red, kowtowed and said, "I am willing! I have no regrets!"

Chen Yan nodded, took out a White Bone Pill and tossed it to the girl: "Take this and give it to your father. His broken back will naturally heal."

Then, he took out a few jade coins and tossed them to a handyman disciple beside him: "Do me a favor."

"Please give your orders, Your Excellency!"

“Take the money and exchange it for gold and silver from ordinary people, then rent a small courtyard in a village at the foot of the mountain and settle her in there.”

Then, go to the southwest cemetery within the sect and find Manager Wang Guishan. Tell him about the matter, including the address of the small courtyard, and tell him that I sent you there, and whether he takes action or not is up to him.

Yes, Old Wang treats me well.

In order to help him truly move on and truly let go of his past, we'll find him a substitute, a literary figure, as a way of giving him a helping hand.

As for whether Lao Wang likes to play with substitute literature or not, Chen Yan doesn't care.

For this girl, both sides were incredibly lucky. They were able to save her critically injured and dying family members and might even have the opportunity to develop a relationship with a cultivator.

The two disciples accepted Chen Yan's instructions and respectfully stepped aside. Then, Chen Yan flicked his sleeve and used the Escape Technique to leap away, leaving behind a chorus of exclamations.

A disciple watched Chen Yan's departing figure with complicated emotions, then looked down at the girl kneeling on the ground with a blank expression, and sighed: "Get up, you've turned your luck around."

·
Ten miles away from the Heavenly Demon Yin Yang Harmony Sect is a village.

And a hundred miles is a city.

The name of this city is Hehuan City...

When Chen Yan arrived outside the city, he couldn't help but grin when he saw the city's name.

This name is borderline!

In my own world, that name would probably be the sign of some nightclub, attracting the attention of anti-prostitution and anti-illegal publication campaigns.

The city wasn't large, but it was the closest large-scale city to the Heavenly Demon Yin Yang Harmony Sect.

The population is small, and it is divided into inner and outer cities. The outer city is for ordinary people, and the inner city is for cultivators.

Because it is adjacent to a first-class sect like the Heavenly Demon Yin Yang Harmony Sect, there are quite a few cultivators in the city, as well as several cultivation families that are said to be quite powerful. They all rely on the sect for survival, and the families themselves have intricate connections with the Heavenly Demon Yin Yang Harmony Sect.

One-third of the properties within the inner city of the city belong to the Heavenly Demon Yin Yang Harmony Sect. Even the city lord is an outer sect elder of the Heavenly Demon Yin Yang Harmony Sect.

Before entering the city, Chen Yan changed out of his apricot-yellow robe and put on a gray robe. Then he swaggered into Hehuan City and went straight into the inner city.

After asking around at a restaurant, we arrived at a guild hall.

This hall is one of the few properties in the city that is not owned by the Heavenly Demon Yin Yang Harmony Sect, but it is also owned by a cultivation family in the city.

In a sense, they are all peripheral forces of the Heavenly Demon Yin Yang Harmony Sect.

Chen Yan entered the guild hall and asked for a superior room—after all, it was a guild hall for cultivators to enjoy, and the so-called superior room also included a small training room.

Chen Yan paid and returned to his room. The room was spacious, and although the utensils were ordinary, most of them were made of jade. For some reason, cultivators in this world often disliked gold and silver, but preferred jade.

Even the universal currency of the realm is made of jade.

The upper room has an isolation array, which is equivalent to a door lock. To cultivators, the doors and windows used by mortals are nothing but paper and have no meaning.

The room is equipped with a magic array, which serves as both an access control and a lock, while also isolating sound signals.

Chen Yan paid the room fee for a month in one go, which was only fifty jade coins. He then instructed the servant that he needed to go into seclusion to cultivate his inner energy and should not be disturbed.

He then activated the magic circle and immediately took out the thumb ring.

The next instant, as the feeling of falling washed over him, Chen Yan opened his eyes and was back in the real world.

Inside the basement practice room of his own villa.

·
This trip to the realm has taken far too long, longer than Chen Yan had anticipated before leaving.

The main reason was that a battle occurred at Xueya Pass, which caused some delays.

Later, they traveled to the Southern Frontier, waited for a boat in Xitai City for a long time, were ambushed halfway, and were trapped in the Heavenly Demon Yin Yang Hehuan Sect for too long.

Inside the Hehuan Sect, Chen Yan dared not use the thumb ring to leave.

Because each time the ring leaves, the point it crosses when it returns is fixed at the location it left last time.

If someone suddenly disappears within a sect of saints and is discovered, it will inevitably arouse suspicion.

If I come to the realm again next time, the crossing point will still be within the sect...

If it suddenly appears and is discovered, then things become even more complicated!

The sect has a protective array; how did you leave and return so silently?!

Today I finally came down the mountain and arrived in this city.

Chen Yan did not intend to immediately find a boat to travel to the Southern Frontier. Otherwise, once he found a flying boat to take him there, the journey might take many more days, and he might not be able to return.

·
Stepping out of the basement, Chen Yan pushed open the door and found the house quiet and peaceful. However, the living room was neat and tidy, spotless.

The kitchen and living room were both clean and tidy, and there was food inside the refrigerator.

Chen Yan let out a breath, opened a can of iced cola and gulped it down in one go, thoroughly indulging in the pleasure of drinking soda.

Hmm, next time I go to the Realm, I'll have to bring a few boxes!
He went back to his room, took off the robe he had worn in the realm, took out his phone, and sent a message to Lu Sisi to tell his girlfriend that he was back.

When Chen Yan finished showering and came out of the bathroom, he saw a missed voice call from Lu Sisi on his phone, as well as a WeChat message.

Chen Yan picked it up and glanced at the message, his eyes narrowing slightly.

He quickly got dressed, grabbed his car keys, and went out.

·
Half an hour later, Chen Yan drove to a well-known top-tier general hospital in Jinling Prefecture.

On the tenth floor of the inpatient department, Chen Yan stepped out of the elevator, asked a few questions at the nurses' station, and then identified the room number and found a private room.

Pushing open the door, I saw Lu Sisi sitting on a chair by the bed, leaning back, her eyes full of exhaustion.

Lying on the bed was Lu Sisi's mother, Lu Xiuting.

When Lu Sisi raised her eyelids and saw Chen Yan, her tired and dry eyes suddenly regained their light. She stood up from the chair with a slight sway and walked quickly towards Chen Yan.

Chen Yan sighed and hugged her tightly. He heard Lu Sisi's voice in his arms, low and tinged with tears, "Chen Yan, you, you're back."

"Yeah, I'm back. It's okay." Chen Yan patted Lu Sisi's head. The girl's hair was a bit oily, and he didn't know how many days it had been since she had washed it—she used to be very clean.

Chen Yan took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "I'm back, so don't worry about anything. I'll take care of everything."

Lu Xiuting was unconscious on the bed, with an oxygen tube hanging from her nose, an indwelling needle in her wrist connected to an IV drip, and an IV bag hanging beside the bed.

Lu Sisi felt a little light, so Chen Yan practically carried her back to the sofa in the room. The single room was quite well-equipped, with a sofa, a refrigerator, a TV, and a separate bathroom with a shower.

However, the price is naturally not cheap, costing around two thousand yuan per day, and it is not covered by medical insurance, so it is purely a fee.

After sitting down, Chen Yan gently touched her forehead and brow with one hand, and took out a Nourishing Spirit Pill with the other, gently feeding it to Lu Sisi's lips.

Lu Sisi didn't ask any questions, she just opened her mouth and ate it.

Before long, the nourishing effect of the Spirit Nourishing Pill took hold, and Lu Sisi's exhausted spirit began to slowly recover.

Then, Lu Sisi recounted what had happened during the time Chen Yan was away.

·
Lu Sisi told Chen Yan that her mother, Lu Xiuting, suddenly came to see her some time ago, seemingly to show her goodwill and try to ease the tension between mother and daughter.

Lu Sisi is kind-hearted. Although she has endured her mother's coldness for many years since childhood, she couldn't bear to refuse Lu Xiuting's overtures at first and silently accepted them.

Furthermore, with the help of the old turtle butler Gui Geng, Lu Xiuting's health problems were discovered.

After staying in the villa for two days, Lu Xiuting was nourished by the spiritual energy gathered by the villa's spirit-gathering array, and her spirit seemed to be much more vigorous.

But soon, she made some "inappropriate suggestions" to Lu Sisi in a self-righteous manner. Her blatant selfishness and utilitarianism chilled Lu Sisi's heart.

After that incident, Lu Sisi hardened her heart and sent Lu Xiuting back to her own home.

But after some time, Lu Xiuting came to visit again, once again trying to ease the tension between mother and daughter.

Lu Sisi could tell that her mother's sudden change of heart was not due to a sudden pang of conscience, nor was it a sudden outpouring of affection for her daughter who had been treated coldly since childhood.

Instead, she herself encountered a predicament, and seeing everything she had in control about to slip away, she panicked.

In his panic, he clung to his daughter as his only lifeline and his only tool.

To put it simply, it's like being a backup option in a family relationship.

Lu Sisi didn't want to continue pretending to be a loving mother with this kind of mother, so she could only respond coldly to Lu Xiuting's overtures.

Lu Xiuting made a lot of movements.

They bought some snacks that Lu Sisi loved to eat when she was a child—but Lu Sisi had no recollection of ever liking these things. She only remembered that as a child, due to her unfortunate fate and misfortunes, she dared not eat any snacks at all, because the risk of food poisoning and even choking on food scraps was always around her.

Lu Xiuting also personally cooked some home-style dishes, saying it was to make up for her daughter's neglect over the years, which meant her daughter had rarely eaten home-cooked meals prepared by her mother.

In reality, Lu Xiuting lived the life of a pampered housewife after marrying Yang Jiaming. She didn't cook for more than ten years, and had a full-time nanny to take care of her.

She has no idea how to cook. The lotus root soup she makes is sour, and the braised pork ribs are bitter.

Then Lu Xiuting bought clothes for Lu Sisi, saying that she regretted that she had neglected to buy clothes for her daughter a few times during the changing seasons and when her daughter was going to school.

But the clothes she bought were either too big or too small, and she didn't even know Lu Sisi's shoe size...

After a while, Lu Sisi was exhausted both physically and mentally from all the disturbances. She was kind and gentle by nature and didn't like to speak ill of others. Besides, this person was, after all, her biological mother. Given Lu Sisi's personality, she simply couldn't bring herself to be too harsh or heartless.

After being harassed for a while, Lu Sisi finally ran out of patience. Facing Lu Xiuting, who came to her door with a face full of "kindness," she asked a question directly.

"Tell me, Mom, what exactly do you want from me?"

"I want to...live with you. I'll move in with you from now on, and Mom will take care of you, okay?"

Although Lu Sisi is soft-hearted, she is not stupid.

Despite feeling nauseous at her mother's heartfelt words, she coldly uttered a single sentence.

"Mom, is it because Dad doesn't want you anymore?"

Lu Xiuting's face turned deathly pale instantly.

(End of this chapter)