The two of them got out of the car and walked into the villa. Meng Feng happened to glance in their direction and saw Qin Yu and Mo Yongxing entering together, his face filled with confusion.
"Hello, Uncle Meng!" Mo Yongxing approached and politely greeted Meng Feng.
"Xiao Xing, what's going on? Do you know Qin Master?" Meng Feng felt like his brain wasn't working properly. If Qin Yu and his daughter were really involved, judging by their enthusiasm and the attitude of a prospective son-in-law visiting, and considering the fact that the Mo family wanted Mo Yongxing to engage with his daughter, it seemed like these two should be competitors. How did they end up together?
"I've known Qin Yu for some time now," Mo Yongxing's words informed Meng Feng that he and Qin Yu had a personal relationship unrelated to the Mo family.
"You two go ahead and talk. I'll go to the study," Qin Yu greeted them and quickly headed towards the study with the wooden box. Time was of the essence, and he had to seize the opportunity.
"Hey, why are you going to the study?" Mo Yongxing wanted to follow, but Meng Feng grabbed him, holding his hand and said, "Qin Master has important matters to attend to. Come, accompany me for a game of chess."
There was no need for Meng Feng to personally handle the construction of the elevated platform. It would be boring to just wait around for it. Since Mo Yongxing had come, it would be a good opportunity to play chess and pass the time.
"Uncle Meng, please don't pull me. Can't I accompany you for a game of chess?" Mo Yongxing's face showed a helpless expression. Meng Feng and his father had a good relationship and often played chess together. Sometimes Mo Yongxing would be dragged into playing a few rounds as well. However, both of them were like seasoned old foxes when it came to chess. Mo Yongxing's moves felt like punches landing on a cotton ball, lacking strength.
In the end of each chess game, he would often be defeated, losing all his pieces. Moreover, these two were quite ruthless. They refused to end the game until they captured all of his pieces, claiming it was a strategic move to prevent a comeback.
How could anyone make a comeback with only two advisors or one elephant left on the board? They couldn't even cross the river boundary. What could they use to stage a comeback? These two seemed to have a tendency for sadism. Every time Mo Yongxing was completely defeated, he would curse inwardly. And now, whenever he encountered these two with free time, he would try to stay as far away as possible. It was truly frustrating to watch his own pieces being gradually consumed move by move.
Once, Mo Yongxing's temper flared up. They wanted to capture all my pieces before giving checkmate, right? Well, I won't let them. I don't care about checkmate. Let them give checkmate. I just want to protect my other pieces.
Mo Yongxing's gameplay was quite clever, but he encountered two skilled chess players, and the outcome was destined to be cruel. With the placement of the rook, horse, and cannon, all the paths were directly blocked, and he watched helplessly as each chess piece was gradually consumed, while the general remained unharmed. It was a blatant humiliation!
Qin Yu had no interest in the abuse that Mo Yongxing would face. After entering the study and locking the door, he took out Zuiying and asked, "Zuiying, I can't keep up with the consumption of this Sky Stealing Talisman with my telekinesis. Do you have any solutions to this problem?"
"Yiya!" Zuiying's voice echoed in Qin Yu's mind, and immediately he felt a tremendous energy flowing into his body from Zuiying's hilt, replenishing the depleted telekinesis caused by drawing the talisman.
Qin Yu's eyes sparkled. It turned out that Zuiying could provide him with energy and directly convert it into his telekinesis. This was something not mentioned in the Zhuge Neijing. With Zuiying's help, Qin Yu's success rate in drawing the Sky Stealing Talisman would greatly increase.
Placing Zuiying on the left side of the desk, Qin Yu pressed his left hand on it and held the wolf hair brush with his right hand. Once again, he focused his mind and calmly began to draw. Swish! Swish! Swish!
He drew the pattern of the Sky Stealing Talisman in one breath.
Without the limitation of insufficient telekinesis, Qin Yu felt that the brush was divinely guided, smoothly moving without any hindrance. Finally, he lifted the brush and observed. A yellow glow flashed on the talisman, but it only appeared momentarily before disappearing. It was another failure.
Qin Yu wasn't disappointed by the failure. As long as he solved the issue with his telekinesis, drawing the Sky Stealing Talisman would be similar to drawing the Demon Suppressing Talisman. He just needed to try a few more times, and there would be opportunities for success.
If one talisman didn't work, he would switch to another. The stack of blank yellow papers on the desk gradually diminished, while on the other side, the pile of failed talismans had already reached an inch in height. Despite the enhancement of the Tranquil Mind Talisman, drops of sweat continued to fall from Qin Yu's face.
Moreover, the energy provided by Zuiying began to slowly weaken. Drawing so many talismans consumed not only Qin Yu but also Zuiying. The amount of energy flowing into Qin Yu's body was no longer as abundant as before.
"Hold on a little longer. I've found the feeling." Qin Yu encouraged Zuiying, boosting his own confidence.
"When people have a clear mind, disturbances arise; when people have a calm mind, desires emerge. By constantly quelling desires, the mind naturally becomes calm. Clearing the mind leads to clarity of spirit, and by observing internally, the mind becomes absent; by observing externally, forms become formless; by observing at a distance, objects become objectless. When the three cease to exist, only emptiness remains. Even observing emptiness is empty, as emptiness has no particular emptiness. When emptiness ceases to exist, tranquility becomes constant. In the absence of tranquility, how can desires arise? When desires cease to arise, true tranquility is attained."
As the last word "tranquility" left his mouth, the Tranquil Mind Talisman on Qin Yu's back emitted a brilliant light once again. A cool aura rushed to his mind, dispelling all exhaustion.
The incantation Qin Yu just recited came from the Daoist scripture "Qingjing Jing," which had the effect of calming and focusing the mind. It also had the function of catalyzing the Tranquil Mind Talisman, releasing all the energy contained within it at once.
Qin Yu remained still, closing his eyes and silently contemplating the pattern of the Sky Stealing Talisman in his mind. The third-level talisman already possessed a hint of divine charm, but its form was not yet complete. It seemed impossible to successfully draw it.
"The Great Dao consists of fifty, with one being the path of escape. As time cycles, borrow the power of heaven, seize the opportunity, and return with one. Steal the fortune of time, and regain one's own."
Qin Yu delineated every stroke of the Sky Stealing Talisman in his mind. Streams of yellow light flashed in his thoughts, and as Qin Yu completed the final stroke in his mind, the entire pattern of the talisman aligned perfectly with the one depicted in the Zhuge Neijing.
"Swish!"
Simultaneously, Qin Yu opened his eyes and decisively raised the wolf hair brush in his right hand. With one stroke, the yellow light flowed and a sense of harmony emerged on the yellow paper.
"The Sky Stealing Talisman is complete!"
As the final stroke landed, Qin Yu exclaimed, his gaze fixed on the paper. The yellow light on the yellow paper rose one inch, forming the character "Dao" in the air. It lingered for a full three seconds before slowly dissipating.
"The third-level talisman is also known as a Dao Talisman. So, that's why."
As he observed the fading character, Qin Yu suddenly realized that the symbol "Dao" was appended to the names of all third-level talismans in the Zhuge Neijing. For example, the Sky Stealing Talisman was also called the Sky Stealing Dao Talisman. This discovery indicated that the criteria for determining the success of a third-level talisman was whether the character "Dao" appeared at the end.
"Yiya!"
While Qin Yu was still pondering, the youthful voice of Zuiying echoed in his mind. There was a hint of delight in the voice. Having followed Mr. Zhuge for many years, Zuiying could naturally see whether a third-level talisman was successful or not. Seeing the emergence of the character "Dao," Zuiying knew that Qin Yu had succeeded in drawing it.
"I truly have to thank you this time."
Qin Yu caressed the hilt of Zuiying's sword and expressed his gratitude softly. Without the energy provided by Zuiying, he would never have been able to succeed on his own. It seemed that he had taken some things for granted, assuming that the third-level talisman was similar to the second-level talisman. He had narrowly avoided a major mistake. From this, Qin Yu could be certain that the higher-level talismans would be even more challenging, and without the corresponding cultivation, there was no point in even considering them.
"Yiya, yi."
When Qin Yu descended from the study, he saw his cousin Zhang Hua and his future father-in-law playing chess on the coffee table in the living room. Mo Yongxing, on the other hand, looked mentally and physically drained, lying on the sofa and staring at the ceiling as if he had suffered a major blow.
"Qin Yu, you finally came down." Since Mo Yongxing was looking upwards, he was the first to notice Qin Yu coming down from the second floor. He spoke weakly and without energy.
"Xiaoyu, you did it!"
Upon hearing Mo Yongxing's words, Zhang Hua's face brightened. He quickly took the opportunity to stand up and walk towards Qin Yu. He had no desire to continue the chess game. While Mo Yongxing and Secretary Meng were playing, Zhang Hua had been watching, finding great enjoyment in seeing Mo Yongxing's lousy moves. He had been repeatedly defeated in every game, and he thought he could at least avoid such a terrible loss.
When Mo Yongxing lost another round and caught a glimpse of the expression on Zhang Hua's face, his eyes rolled, and he cheerfully vacated his seat. He said to Zhang Hua, "You play a few rounds with Secretary Meng. I'll take a break."
Secretary Meng, who had no objections, simply smiled and looked at Zhang Hua. Zhang Hua was delighted and wasted no time, directly taking Mo Yongxing's place. Chess was something that every Chinese person knew how to play, and Zhang Hua had been honing his skills in matches with his father since he was young. He considered himself a decent player and couldn't bear to watch Mo Yongxing's terrible chess skills any longer. Furthermore, playing chess with the Provincial Party Secretary was an opportunity to greatly enhance his reputation in the future.
In the first game, Zhang Hua intended to hold back and focus on defense, resisting for a while before pretending to make a mistake and letting Secretary Meng win. However, reality often deviates from expectations. In less than ten minutes, Secretary Meng had captured all of Zhang Hua's pieces except for a single horse that had crossed the river. Zhang Hua ended up suffering the same fate as Mo Yongxing, defeated completely.
In the second game, Zhang Hua took the initiative to attack but fell into a trap carefully set by Secretary Meng. It took exchanging two rooks and two cannons to capture one of Secretary Meng's rooks and a horse. The result was no different from the previous game, except that it lasted five minutes longer.
The third game persisted for twenty minutes, and so did the fourth. By the fifth game, Zhang Hua's hands trembled whenever he picked up a chess piece. Every time he raised a piece and looked up to see Secretary Meng's smiling face, his heart trembled. He finally understood why Mo Yongxing would show a relieved and gloating expression when he finished playing.
He was simply seeking his own torment. Every time he planned to say he couldn't continue, Secretary Meng would encourage him with a smile and say, "Not bad, you've improved from the last game. Come on, let's play another round," blocking everything he wanted to say.
Now, seeing his younger cousin coming down, Zhang Hua almost felt like he had seen a savior. For the first time, he felt such closeness towards his cousin. He almost wanted to hug Qin Yu and give him a couple of kisses, hold his hand tightly, and affectionately say:
"I've been longing for you, like wishing upon a star and waiting for the moon. Finally, you've arrived."