Arriving at the guest room, Sun Changfu didn't intend to take out the money right away. He planned to stall for a while, waiting until his mother-in-law boiled the ash of the talisman into water and gave it to his wife to drink, just to see the effect first.
Then, he saw his son follow him into the room.
"Father, that Spirit Medium is obviously a swindler just after our money. Don't believe her."
Sun Changfu gave a bitter smile.
"It's not that I believe her, but your mother's current condition makes me extremely anxious. Even the old doctor in the county town couldn't figure out what's wrong with her. I'm... I'm just terrified that if we delay any longer, she'll be gone. Sigh..."
Although he often bickered with his wife on ordinary days, Sun Changfu absolutely did not want to lose his first wife, with whom he had walked hand in hand for decades.
Sun Yigao didn't hesitate and immediately revealed all of Lin Xiao's abilities.
"This, this... Gao'er, is what you're saying true?" Hearing this suddenly, Sun Changfu was greatly astonished.
Sun Yigao nodded and gestured for Sun Changfu to look at his clothes.
"Father, look, can you find a single stain on me? When fetching water, I didn't hold the bucket steady and splashed it all over myself. Moreover, the stream bank was muddy, and my shoes were soaked through. But look at me now, is there even a speck of dirt?"
Sun Changfu looked at the long gown his son was wearing and was speechless for a moment.
Not to mention those mud stains, even the ink marks on his cuffs, which were always there due to his son's year-round writing, had completely disappeared.
If it were an ordinary person, even if they stripped the clothes off his son and washed them meticulously, they wouldn't be able to get them this clean.
For a moment, Sun Changfu already believed it seventy to eighty percent.
Sun Yigao continued,
"Furthermore, Jiang Youfu and Lin Xiao are both from families in our village whose roots and backgrounds we know well. Even if something happens, we can still find them. As for that Spirit Medium, Granny Sun only heard about her through someone else's introduction, and her origins are murky. I fear nothing else but that Mother might be delayed and harmed by someone, and we wouldn't even be able to find them..."
Sun Changfu nodded repeatedly. "My son is right. It was your father who was momentarily muddled. In a moment, I will find an excuse to lure Granny Sun and that Spirit Medium away. You take the Lin family boy and his friend inside to take a look. If they need anything, as long as we have it at home, you make the call. If we don't have it, take some silver and go to the town to buy it.
Either way, we have to spend money to treat your mother's illness. Rather than giving it to that Spirit Medium, it's better to take a gamble on the Lin family boy."
Where their family's silver was kept had been told to Sun Yigao ever since he turned thirteen.
Sun Yigao then said,
"Father, rest assured. I will definitely protect Mother's safety."
Sun Changfu nodded gratifyingly and said,
"Good, my son has grown up..."
Having agreed on the plan, Sun Changfu left the guest room and walked towards the main house.
"Oh my, Mother-in-law, we don't have that much silver left at home. How about you go rest in the guest room for a while? And Spirit Medium, would you mind taking a trip with me to the bank in town?"
The Spirit Medium thought that this way, she could just take the money and leave, saving herself from having to stay and let them see the effects of the talisman ash.
Thus, she immediately nodded and said,
"I think that works."
However, Granny Sun waved her hand and said,
"You two go ahead. I'll stay here and take care of my daughter."
Outside the room, Sun Yigao hurried in and said,
"Granny Sun, you've been working hard all morning. You should hurry and get some rest. Let your grandson fulfill his filial duties to his mother."
Sun Changfu also chimed in from the side,
"Yes, Mother-in-law. Gao'er is not young anymore. Now that his own mother is unwell, it's only right to let him show his filial piety as a son."
Hearing her eldest grandson being so sensible and filial, Granny Sun felt very comforted in her heart.
"Alright then, these old bones of mine will go rest for a while, giving my good grandson a chance to fulfill his filial duty to his own mother."
Thus, after seeing Sun Changfu and the Spirit Medium out the door, Granny Sun, supported by Sun Yigao, went to rest in a guest room further away from the main house.
Not long after, Sun Yigao returned to his room and brought Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu into the main house.
Lin Xiao looked at the heated brick bed and saw Aunt Sun lying there with a pale face and slightly purplish lips. Her eyes were hazy and half-open, and her mouth opened and closed slightly, as if she was breathing, or perhaps silently muttering something.
And all around her, that unfamiliar aura that Lin Xiao sensed was slowly devouring Aunt Sun's human aura.
That's right, human aura.
Everyone's body is surrounded by a human aura uniquely their own.
Recently, after Lin Xiao advanced to the second level of Qi Condensation, he found that he could sense everyone's human aura.
Those who are physically weak have a thinner human aura, while those who are healthy have a vigorous human aura. However, as long as there are no major illnesses or injuries, basically everyone's human aura is maintained at a certain concentration.
But at this moment, Aunt Sun's human aura was already far thinner than that of a normal person.
As for that unfamiliar aura, completely different from a human aura, Lin Xiao guessed that it must be demonic aura.
If this demonic aura was allowed to continue devouring Aunt Sun's human aura like this, Aunt Sun would undoubtedly die before the night was over.
Lin Xiao truthfully informed Sun Yigao of this situation.
Upon learning this, Sun Yigao immediately bowed deeply to Lin Xiao.
"I beg Young Friend Lin to save my mother! I, Yigao, am willing to serve as a beast of burden for Young Friend Lin, I will not hesitate to do anything!"
Lin Xiao immediately helped him up and said with a solemn expression,
"Of course I want to save your mother. It's just that I have only recently started cultivating, and my cultivation base is truly not high. A spell I've been practicing recently might be able to purify the demonic aura that is devouring Aunt Sun's human aura. However, due to my low cultivation level, I still don't know if I can successfully cast this spell..."
The spell Lin Xiao mentioned was the second-tier spell of the Purification Spell, the Aura Cleansing Spell.
Because the system had made him directly learn the Purification Spell, even though his spiritual power cultivation was insufficient, he knew the contents of these spells like the back of his hand.
Sun Yigao was somewhat at a loss.
"This... what should we do? Is my mother really beyond saving...?"
Seeing Sun Yigao, whom he had known for over a decade and who was always calm and composed, looking so lost, Jiang Youfu only hated himself for cultivating too slowly. He hadn't yet successfully drawn qi into his body, so he had no way to help.
Lin Xiao estimated that with his current spiritual power, using the Aura Cleansing Spell would still be somewhat forced. If he failed and the spiritual power in his body was depleted, Aunt Sun would truly be beyond saving.
But he could feel that if he could advance to the third level of Qi Condensation, his spiritual power might be able to support the use of one purification spell.
However, the speed of his idle cultivation was fixed. The only plan for now was...
Lin Xiao immediately said to Sun Yigao,
"Brother Sun, if you trust me, please wait for me for a few hours. I will break through to the third level of Qi Condensation as quickly as possible. That way, my cultivation might be enough to save Aunt Sun."
How could Sun Yigao refuse? He immediately bowed deeply again and said,
"I will trouble you then, Brother Lin!"
Thus, Lin Xiao reached out and pulled the simplified version of the Taoyuan Myriad Void Art from Jiang Youfu's robes, sat cross-legged on the ground, and began to comprehend the cultivation method.
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
transmigrates into the role of a villainous rich second-generation kid in an urban fantasy novel, and gets bound to a god-tier choice system. Right at the start, he catches the female lead stealing exam papers! This triggers the villain's choice options! [Choice 1: Pretend you didn't see anything] [Choice 2: Loudly call her out, drawing everyone's attention] [Choice 3: ...] And thus, a twisted villain is born. To avoid getting killed by the protagonist, he has no choice but to take down all the protagonists first. Jiang Che: Nobody understands being twisted better than me!
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
