Lin Mo, the Master of Yin and Yang

Back at his own home.

Lin Mo had a handful of yellow weasel tail hairs in his hand.

These were the materials used to make a wolf-hair brush.

All the materials were at home.

After all, drawing talismans wasn’t something he could easily do in his rented room.

So Lin Mo simply returned home.

He poured cinnabar into a small dish, then added some Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor) to dissolve it.

Because cinnabar doesn’t dissolve in water, but it does dissolve in alcohol.

He plucked all the hairs from an ordinary brush, then replaced them with yellow weasel hairs that had been treated with spiritual energy.

Lin Mo didn’t even hold the brush; he just raised his hand.

The brush stood upright on its own, dipped itself in the cinnabar mixture, and began drawing something on the carefully cut yellow paper.

“Infuse spiritual power, infuse spirit… Talisman! Complete!”

It was done. Damn it, I did it!

Lin Mo grabbed the freshly made talisman and slapped it onto his chest.

Then he walked into the kitchen, casually picked up a kitchen knife, and tried to chop at his wrist.

But just as the knife came down, it suddenly veered off and landed in the sink beside him.

“This protective talisman really is something.”

Lin Mo picked up the talisman stuck to his body. The spiritual energy on it had been partially consumed, but not much.

That meant the talisman’s effect wasn’t limited to a single use.

Besides the protective talisman, there were also the Five Thunder talisman, the Metal-Iron talisman, and the Calming talisman.

Most importantly, there was the Ghost-Repelling talisman.

If there were yellow-skinned creatures, then ghosts might very well exist too.

No need to practice—what the system gave him was good enough and worked immediately.

Lin Mo stacked the Ghost-Repelling talisman and the protective talisman together. Later, he’d give one to his grandmother, one to his cousin, one to Auntie Zheng…

After finishing all the talismans, Lin Mo went back to his rented room to rest.

……

The next morning, Lin Mo opened his eyes, and someone knocked on the door.

As expected, it was Xie Yuling.

But today, Xie Yuling came bearing breakfast.

“Eat first, then we’ll go get the broadband set up.”

You could tell she was anxious.

Though it was unclear if it was because of her phone, the broadband, or both.

Breakfast was simple—a bowl of egg fried noodles.

Considering Lin Mo’s appetite, there were at least three servings of noodles in that bowl.

But Lin Mo still ate quickly.

Then he took Xie Yuling to get the broadband installed.

Basically, Lin Mo half-guided, half-negotiated on Xie Yuling’s behalf.

In this era, broadband salespeople had plenty of discounts in hand, but if you didn’t ask for them, they wouldn’t offer.

For example, phone plans, free call credits and data, even phone models.

After they finished, Xie Yuling generously said, “Come on, lunch is on me today!”

Probably because Auntie Zheng had given her quite a bit of money.

Lin Mo didn’t refuse.

……

Two weeks later.

“Lin Mo, you’re the sports monitor, so you’ve got to set a good example. The 5000-meter run—no problem for you, right?”

During P.E. class, Jiang Daming sat under the shade of a tree and reminded Lin Mo.

“That’s not the teacher, are you the P.E. teacher for several classes or what? Why are you even concerned about our class’s sign-ups?”

Jiang Daming scratched his head awkwardly.

“Hey, if the class I’m leading performs well, that’ll really boost my reputation. You’re such a strong long-distance runner, the 5000 meters is definitely yours to claim.”

No way around it—time to force him into it.

The school sports meet is scheduled for mid-November.

By then, the weather has started to cool down a bit—not too hot anymore—making it a perfect time for the event.

The athletes will naturally represent their own classes, and Jiang Daming took the initiative to talk with students who excelled in sports about the upcoming meet.

When Lin Mo was approached, it was for long-distance running.

Long-distance running is the most exhausting event, so it usually has the fewest participants.

“Also, I hope you can take part in shot put and javelin.”

Wow, the teachers knew Lin Mo was strong, so they assigned all these events to him.

Since every class must have at least one participant in each event, what started as voluntary sign-ups gradually turned into a conscription of sorts.

Running events were manageable, but shot put and javelin were tougher since most only practiced them once or twice during gym class.

Fortunately, Lin Mo had looked up world records and national athlete stats.

As long as he didn’t exceed the level of a second-tier athlete, he wouldn’t be forced into the sports track.

A moderate amount of competition was actually good for students’ physical and mental development.

So Lin Mo ended up taking on three events: long-distance running, shot put, and javelin.

After all, he usually controlled his running pace carefully.

Just as Lin Mo was about to get up and leave, Jiang Yunlu suddenly appeared, holding her badminton racket.

“Teacher, I want Lin Mo to be my partner for the mixed doubles badminton match at the sports meet.”

Huh?

Lin Mo turned his head to look at Jiang Yunlu.

Jiang Daming immediately saw Lin Mo’s reluctance. This kid, as the sports committee member, was like a puppet on a string—move him a bit and he’d twitch.

He could only say, “As long as you can get him to do it, no need to tell me.”

Lin Mo was decisively preparing to make a break for it!

“Lin Mo!” Jiang Yunlu grabbed the hem of his shirt.

Knowing he was trapped, Lin Mo reluctantly turned to face her.

“Aren’t you playing women’s singles and mixed doubles? Isn’t that exhausting?”

Jiang Yunlu sighed, “So you don’t want to help me? If I lose the women’s singles and fail to win the championship, at least we can win the mixed doubles. You absolutely have the skill.”

In truth, Jiang Yunlu was confident about the singles as well.

But more than anything, she wanted to fight side by side with Lin Mo on the court.

She had even tried to recruit Lin Mo into the school team before, but since he was busy with math training classes, there was no way to persuade him.

The most important point was that whenever she mentioned Lin Mo’s badminton skills, the boys on the school team would just scoff.

They probably thought that any average guy could easily beat the girls on the school team.

So Jiang Yunlu hoped even more that Lin Mo would step up.

Lin Mo could tell she genuinely wanted him to compete.

Mixed doubles didn’t really matter to him—after all, badminton scores weren’t as obvious as track results, and winning wouldn’t change much.

Just as he was about to agree, an untimely voice rang out nearby.

“Jiang Yunlu, are you trying to persuade Lin Mo, who’s really good at badminton, to play men’s singles?”

So annoying. Seriously annoying.

And from the tone, Lin Mo knew this guy definitely liked Jiang Yunlu.

Already a sophomore, and still resorting to bullying to get girls’ attention? Seriously?

Lin Mo turned his head and saw a guy holding a personal badminton racket, staring right at him.

The jealousy in his eyes was so thick it was almost suffocating.

Just as expected, a classic case of “one look, one needle.”

But Lin Mo remained unfazed. “So if I team up with you for doubles, do I have to play against this guy?”

He pointed directly at the other boy without a hint of hesitation.

Jiang Yunlu shook her head, “No, that’s not necessary.”

Hearing this, Lin Mo feigned surprise and covered his mouth.

“No way, no way. Could it be that this guy can’t find a girl to be his doubles partner? Wow, that’s really unfortunate.”

As if he wasn’t being sarcastic at all.