The courage of the tiger demon was extraordinary. Li Mu could not refine the anger in his body. When it met the pure courage of the tiger demon, it melted instantly.
After the sun had set, Li Mu sat cross-legged on the bed with his five hearts facing the sky. He said in a low voice, "The Nine Cycles of Plain Qi, the Soul Controlling Evil, the Heavenly Beast Guarding the Door, the Delicate Girl Guarding the Pass, the Seven Souls and Softness are at peace with me, do not act rashly …"
After a few minutes, he suddenly opened his eyes and said, "Concealed Arrow, condense!"
Within Li Mu's body, the grey light that represented anger flashed. It disappeared from the surface of his body into the depths of his flesh.
At the same time, Li Mu once again felt the familiar feeling when he condensed the first soul. When the second soul was condensed, the instantaneous increase in his mana was equivalent to a month of cultivation.
Li Mu sighed in relief. Although he had only condensed two of the seven souls, it had only taken him a month.
If he could condense two more souls in the next four months, he would be able to break through the half-year limit that the Taoist priest said.
After condensing the second soul, Li Mu tried to use the dao techniques that he could not use before. He found that although his mana had increased, he could only master the first two words of the Nine Syllables Mantra. The only thing was that the casting time was longer than before.
Endurance was always a good thing. What he needed to do next was to prepare for the third soul of the Sparrow Shade.
Condensing the Sparrow Shade required a large amount of grief. Li Mu had already found the method to collect grief. However, Liu Hanyan had not finished arranging the script of "Butterfly Transformation". No matter how anxious Li Mu was, it was useless.
He wanted to ask Liu Hanyan, but she did not come yesterday. However, today was the day that her Youth-Retaining Talisman lost its effect. Li Mu finished the Youth-Retaining Talisman and prepared to ask her when she came to collect it.
However, Li Mu waited until night time, but Liu Hanyan did not appear.
Li Mu lit a charcoal fire in the courtyard and placed the skewers of meat on it. Not long after, Wanwan ran over from next door and squatted beside Li Mu to watch.
Li Mu handed her a skewer of barbecued streaky pork and asked, "Where is your Miss?"
Wanwan said while eating, "Miss is in the shop. She hasn't come back yet."
Li Mu asked, "Is the shop very busy these days?"
Wanwan nodded and said, "The teahouses and bookstores have a lot of customers, especially the bookstores. As soon as the new books are printed, they will be sold out. A few bookstores asked about the author of Strange Stories from Liao Zhai, but Young Mistress didn't tell them. There was also a bookstore that wanted to buy Strange Stories from Liao Zhai, but Young Mistress didn't agree …"
Liu Hanyan was a woman, but she dared to wander around in an unfamiliar place with a servant girl. She had to resist pressure from all sides. It was indeed not easy.
Li Mu had Wanwan bring the Youth-Retaining Talisman back to her. Ever since his mana increased, the effectiveness of the Youth-Retaining Talisman increased from three days to more than six days.
The effectiveness of Fu-lu was mainly related to two factors.
One was the quality of the materials used. Ordinary cinnabar and yellow paper could only carry a limited amount of mana. No matter how powerful the talisman writer was, he would not be able to draw a Fu-lu that exceeded the limits of the materials.
The second was the cultivation of the talisman writer. When the quality of the Fu-lu materials was extremely high, the greater the mana of the talisman writer, the longer the power and effectiveness of the Fu-lu.
Of course, this was for ordinary cultivators. Some of the more powerful cultivators could even condense talismans out of thin air. Of course, this was not something that Li Mu could come into contact with at his current level.
After condensing the second essence, he returned to the yamen to cancel his injury leave and patrolled Weiyang Street daily.
The Yunyan Pavilion was located on Weiyang Street. Li Mu was wearing his official uniform. When he strolled into the teahouse, he heard a commotion coming from inside.
"Where's that scumbag who always ends chapters? Why hasn't he come out today?"
"Hurry up and call him out. We've been waiting here for more than an hour."
"We still haven't finished the story of the fox's repayment yesterday. What did the hunter see when he opened the door?"
The waiter of the teahouse looked at the crowd and said helplessly, "That storyteller has already left the teahouse. We don't know where he went either …"
"What!"
"Left?"
"Why would he leave? Did you guys embezzle his wages?"
"Hurry up and call him out. If he doesn't come out today, I'm not leaving!"
…
Li Mu stood at the door and listened for a while. Then, he shook his head and left.
Now that the second essence had been condensed, he no longer needed to collect their anger by breaking chapters. His identity as a storyteller had naturally come to an end. He had returned to his original job as a constable.
Walking out of the teahouse and passing by the bookstore, Li Mu heard a familiar voice coming from inside. His footsteps paused.
In the bookstore, Liu Hanyan's pretty face was frosty. She said to a middle-aged man, "Shopkeeper Ren, what you said is impossible. Please go back."
The middle-aged man smiled and said, "Shopkeeper Liu, why do you have to do this? We can all do business together. You're just a weak woman. Don't you feel tired running such a big store? I'm just helping you out of kindness …"
Liu Hanyan said with a cold face, "Shopkeeper Ren, you don't have to worry."
The middle-aged man shook his head and said, "Since Shopkeeper Liu is unwilling, I won't force you. Goodbye."
Li Mu walked in from outside and turned to take a look. Then, he turned back and asked, "Who was that?"
"The shopkeeper of the Four Seas Bookstore." Liu Hanyan walked to the table and said, "He wanted to buy the rest of Strange Stories from Liao Zhai and publish it with the Yunyan Pavilion. I rejected him."
There was no copyright protection law in this world. The Yunyan Pavilion's books could be printed by other bookstores. Similarly, the Yunyan Pavilion could also print their books.
However, without the original manuscripts, they had to wait until the Yunyan Pavilion sold the books. Then, they would buy the printed books back and reprint them. Reprinting took a lot of time and effort. In the middle of this, a lot of time would be wasted. Others would have already bought the books from the Yunyan Pavilion. The ones they worked so hard to print could only be destroyed in their hands.
Only by having the original manuscripts could they dominate the market and obtain the greatest profits.
Liu Hanyan was a little angry. She said, "Strange Stories from Liao Zhai is now the Yunyan Pavilion's top book. New customers rely on it to attract them. How can we sell it to them? Moreover, the price they offered was clearly robbery … They're bullying me because I'm new here and don't have anyone above me."
Li Mu glanced at her and said, "Who said you don't have anyone above you?"
Liu Hanyan said, "Wanwan and I have only been here for less than two months. We don't have time to make arrangements. How can there be anyone above me?"
"Don't say that a bailiff is not an official." Li Mu looked at her with dissatisfaction and said, "Don't forget, this is my jurisdiction. Everything that happens on Weiyang Street is under my jurisdiction. The person above you is me …"
Liu Hanyan glanced at him and asked, "Is a bailiff an official?"
"No." Li Mu turned and walked outside. He said, "Since a bailiff is not an official, if you get bullied in the future, don't come looking for me …"
Liu Hanyan hurriedly pulled him and said, "It's fine, it's fine. Lord Li, I'm new here. I'll rely on you to take care of me in the future. Lord, please sit. I'll make tea for you …"
Strictly speaking, a bailiff was not an official, but an official.
However, an official in Great Zhou received a salary from the state and was not just an errand boy. Any case that happened on Weiyang Street, whether it was theft, robbery, bullying, molesting, or swindling, Li Mu had the right to manage it. After the event, he only needed to submit an official document to the Zhang County Magistrates.
If there was a serious case in his jurisdiction, Li Mu also had to take responsibility.
Li Mu finished his tea and went out to continue patrolling. Liu Hanyan personally saw him out.
Watching the figure in official uniform disappear into the crowd, Liu Hanyan looked away. Her eyes were still a little absent-minded.
When she was seven years old, she was sold to the music house by her parents. She could only eat one meal a day. The rest of her time was spent practicing the zither. When her fingers were cut by the zither strings, she had to bandage them herself. When she was bullied by the older musicians, she could only endure it …
She practiced with all her might and learned all the instruments in the music house. She played for more than twelve hours a day and refused the help of countless men who had ulterior motives. After she saved enough money to redeem herself, she played even harder and earned enough money to open a shop.
All of this was her own hard work. When she was hungry, she would cook for herself. When her clothes were torn, she would mend them herself. Alone, she brought a servant girl and traveled thousands of miles from Zhongjun to here. She bought four shops and recruited people from everywhere to open the Yunyan Pavilion.
For more than ten years, she had never relied on anyone.
She also never knew what it felt like to have someone to rely on.
Now, she seemed to know.
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