Yanfu: Starting with the Six-Eared Macaque

Shanghai Railway Station, ticket office.

Travelers from all directions hurried by, dragging their suitcases, the air filled with the aroma of instant noodles and a faint smell of disinfectant.

"Hello, I need a hard seat ticket to Lucheng."

At the ticket window, Chen Xing bent slightly, leaned close to the small glass window, and handed his documents and money through the groove below the window.

The ticket seller glanced at the ID, tapped a few times on the keyboard, and the printer clicked twice, producing a ticket.

"Lucheng West Station, departure in forty minutes, wait at platform 7 on the left."

As she spoke, she handed over the ticket and change.

"Okay, thank you."

Chen Xing took the ticket, carefully checked the departure time, carefully put his ID and change into his wallet, and walked slowly toward platform seven.

After the Yanfu incident, Chen Xing turned down all new performance orders, completed the few magic shows he had previously booked, and then contacted his landlord to cancel the lease.

His thoughts drifted back to what the tapir had said to him after the last incident at Yanfu.

At the time, the tapir remained calm, speaking as if it were a trivial matter: "Let's get down to business. The Jambudvipa event happens every two months. Remember to find a secluded spot then, so you don't scare the kids."

Although Chen Xing was somewhat shocked at the time, he quickly accepted the fact.

Since I might have to leave suddenly every two months in the future, it's really not worth continuing to rent such an expensive apartment in Shanghai.

So Chen Xing contacted the landlord to cancel the lease and decided to go back to his hometown village in Lucheng for a while, and also to spend some time with his master whom he hadn't seen in a long time.

Everything was arranged before departure; most of my luggage had already been packed and shipped, and I only carried a not-too-heavy backpack with me.

Besides a few changes of clothes and essential documents, the most precious item in the bag was a portrait of the master, carefully wrapped in red cloth.

"Sizzle!"

A long, drawn-out metallic scraping sound pulled Chen Xing's wandering thoughts back to reality.

"Ticket checking for the train heading towards Lucheng has begun. Passengers in the back should prepare their tickets and identification documents in advance and line up for ticket checking in turn," the train attendant announced loudly through a megaphone.

"I'm home!"

Looking at the familiar train in front of him, Chen Xing felt an indescribable surge of excitement.

Master's hometown is in a mountainous area in the south of Lucheng. After Chen Xing was taken in by Master, he lived in this village for a long time.

Back then, when nearby villages held weddings or temple fairs, they would specially invite the master to perform.

When Chen Xing grew a little older, his master took him around the streets and alleys to perform for money. Chen Xing became his master's assistant. His master imparted all his knowledge to him without reservation, and he studied very hard.

Later, his master passed away, and Chen Xing ventured to Shanghai alone. He relied on his magic tricks and stunts to take on various commercial performances and managed to settle down.

Until a few years ago, magic became an overnight sensation in the country, and Chen Xing's performance orders also skyrocketed.

Fewer and fewer people are watching traditional magic tricks; almost all the customers who come to the store are looking for modern magic shows.

However, Chen Xing didn't care. The customer is God. As long as he gets paid, he will perform well. He also took this opportunity to learn a lot of modern magic techniques, and his skills became more and more comprehensive.

The train swayed and rattled along, from day to night, and then from night to day, finally arriving at Lucheng West Station.

After exiting the train station, Chen Xing found a long-distance bus bound for the mountains in the station square.

The mountain road was rugged, and the car swayed and bumped for two or three hours. By the time he finally got off at the village entrance, it was already afternoon.

As per the rules, Chen Xing first went to the village committee to report and inquire about the village's recent situation before heading straight to the small courtyard left by his master.

Because the courtyard had been uninhabited for a long time, a layer of dust had accumulated on the blue brick ground, and several clumps of weeds had grown in the corners of the walls.

Chen Xing pushed open the door. Despite it being September, the room was still somewhat cool.

Chen Xing put down his backpack, went to the village store to buy a broom and a rag, and then carefully cleaned the yard and the house.

Wiping tables, sweeping the floor, and clearing weeds, it took most of the day to tidy up the small courtyard.

For the next month or so, Chen Xing lived a very regular life.

He first took out most of his savings and went to his master's grave to repair it.

The loose bricks and stones around the tomb were repaired, a new stone tablet with the master's name and photo was made, and several evergreen pines and cypresses were transplanted around the cemetery, making the whole cemetery look neat and solemn.

During the rest of the time, Chen Xing didn't rest. He insisted on daily training, following the boxing manual left by his master, and polished the basics of ancient martial arts again and again.

However, due to the lack of life-or-death battles, the mastery of ancient martial arts remains stuck at a bottleneck of 69%.

In his spare time, Chen Xing would sit under the old locust tree in the yard, stroking the pair of smooth, round walnuts in his hands.

As the walnuts tumbled nimbly in my palm, my chaotic thoughts gradually calmed down, and my soul slowly settled, yielding a considerable reward.

In terms of magic tricks, thanks to the enhancement of his six senses brought by the inheritance of the Six-Eared Macaque, he has a clear understanding of the intricacies of most magic tricks, and his skills have steadily improved, successfully breaking through the previous bottleneck, and now he has reached 83%.

Unfortunately, even though he met the required level of expertise, he still failed to awaken any new talents, which left Chen Xing with some regret.

In addition, he has made considerable progress in his psychology specialization by self-studying online courses and professional books he bought, and has now reached 59%. However, he is also stuck at a bottleneck and can hardly move forward any further.

As the days passed, Chen Xing kept track of the time, and Ninja's reminder indeed rang in his mind as expected.

At this moment, he was squatting in front of his master's grave, holding a bottle of his master's favorite loose liquor, with a simple dish of peanuts beside him.

He lowered his head and softly recounted his past experiences in a gentle and intimate tone.

"Walking Master, you are about to initiate the Jambudvipa Incident!"

"You can choose to sacrifice the Jambudvipa token to gain a higher status (more assistance) in this Jambudvipa event, or you can use the Jambudvipa token to replace this Jambudvipa event."

The cold notification sound from Yan Fu echoed in his mind, and Chen Xing stopped rambling and said no more.

He unscrewed the bottle cap and slowly poured the old wine inside onto the grass in front of the grave. The wine seeped into the soil, emitting a faint aroma.

Then, he knelt down and respectfully kowtowed three times to the tombstone, his forehead gently touching the cool ground, every movement filled with utmost piety.

After kowtowing, Chen Xing slowly stood up, patted the dust off his knees, and his eyes became determined.

"Sacrifice!"