Liu Hanyan seemed to have realized that Weiyang Street was under Li Mu's protection. She had treated him exceptionally well these past two days.
Not only did she personally cook for lunch, the dishes she made were all Li Mu's favorites.
If not for the fact that she did not take any further action, Li Mu would have reason to suspect that she had some thoughts about him after seeing his body that day.
After eating and drinking to their fill, Liu Hanyan went to work on the shop. Li Mu went to the study and took out a brush, ink, and talisman paper to practice a few of the new Fu-lu that he had learned.
Other than Daoist techniques, many of the Daoist spells and Fu-lu techniques were open and transparent. Li Mu was not a disciple of the Fu-lu School and could not learn the unique Fu-lu techniques of the Fu-lu School. However, he could obtain some of the basic Fu-lu techniques through other means.
After condensing the second essence, Li Mu asked Old Wang to search his library. He actually found a complete collection of the basic Fu-lu techniques of Daoism.
Other than the Soul-Locking Talisman and the Youth-Retaining Talisman, Li Mu also found a few other Fu-lu techniques that he could draw at his current level.
The Ghost-Seeking Talisman had a similar effect as the Immortal Shows the Way. However, it was not as comprehensive as the Immortal Shows the Way. It could only search for ghosts by sensing Yin Qi. Of course, with the incomplete effect, the restriction on mana was much less. With Li Mu's current insignificant cultivation, he could easily draw it.
The opposite of the Ghost-Seeking Talisman was the Demon-Seeking Talisman. It worked on a similar principle.
Those with profound cultivation could use these two types of Fu-lu to search for demons and ghosts within a radius of dozens of miles. Li Mu's mana was limited. The Fu-lu's sensing range was only a few dozen feet.
In addition, he had also learned an Evil-Warding Talisman and a Ghost-Slaying Talisman. As for divine abilities, with his current cultivation, he could not learn a single one. He had only learned two or three small auxiliary spells.
In fact, what Li Mu wanted to learn the most was the Soul Searching Talisman, which was the Fu-lu that he used to search his past memories. However, this Fu-lu was not of the lowest level and required a cultivator of the Soul Condensation Realm to write it.
Fortunately, he had gotten a few from Li Qing last time, which was enough for him to use for a while.
Li Mu picked up a piece of Fu-lu paper, stuck it to his forehead, and began to copy the rest of the content. He had to make some slight changes to the names of the places and the names of the officials to make it fit the geography of the Ten Continents and Three Islands.
On the way back to the county office, Li Mu passed by the Yunyan Pavilion. He took a look and realized that there were more customers than the previous two days.
Yangqiu County was not big and there were even fewer people who were literate. However, in the North County, Yangqiu County was located on the main road and was the hub that connected all the counties. Usually, there would be a lot of people and it could guarantee a steady flow of customers. This was probably the reason why Liu Hanyan chose to set up her shop in Yangqiu County.
Indeed, Strange Stories did not disappoint Li Mu. On one hand, he could earn a steady income from it. On the other hand, as a new shop, the Yunyan Pavilion could attract customers and stand firm against the competition of other bookstores. This was Li Mu's way of repaying Liu Hanyan.
In a teahouse not far from the Yunyan Pavilion.
Seeing the steady flow of customers, a young man said, "Shopkeeper, that Liu woman is quite capable. She's only been in Yangqiu County for a little more than a month, but her business has grown to this extent. She's even snatched away many of our customers."
The middle-aged man sitting next to him smiled and said, "She's still too young and doesn't know how to do business. She's a woman who's new here and doesn't have any background. Doing this will anger a lot of people."
The young man asked, "Should we teach her a lesson?"
"No need." The middle-aged man waved his hand and said, "Yesterday, I saw that Ren from the Four Seas Bookstore went to the Yunyan Pavilion. He seemed to want to discuss some terms with Shopkeeper Liu. In the end, it didn't seem like they came to an agreement. Ren isn't a good person.
The young man hesitated and said, "But if we don't do anything now, the Four Seas Bookstore will take all the benefits …"
"What's the hurry?" The middle-aged man said, "Let's wait and see. If a woman dares to make a living outside, who knows if she has any background? Let the Four Seas Bookstore test the waters first …"
The young man thought for a while and saluted the middle-aged man with admiration. "Shopkeeper, you're really thoughtful …"
…
While eating with Wanwan, Li Mu suddenly remembered that he hadn't seen Liu Hanyan for two or three days.
The Yunyan Pavilion had four shops in Yangqiu County. Among them, the bookstore's business was the best. After Li Mu left, the teahouse's business declined. Liu Hanyan discussed with Li Mu and asked him to go to the teahouse as a storyteller once every seven days. Li Mu agreed without hesitation.
He had a lot of stories and didn't have to worry about finishing them. Once every seven days wasn't a lot. There was no harm in collecting more stories of the seven emotions.
A Chinese Strange Stories from a Strange Story allowed the bookstore to gain a foothold in Yangqiu County. As for the music and opera house, they were just getting started. Coincidentally, the music and opera for "Transforming into Butterflies" were being arranged. Liu Hanyan was busy with these and had been resting in the shop for the past two days.
After Wanwan finished eating, she looked at Li Mu pitifully and asked, "Can you cook another bowl of noodles? I'll send it to Miss later …"
Li Mu nodded and said, "I'll be going to the county office later. I'll send it to her on the way."
He looked at Wanwan and asked, "How old is your Miss this year?"
The young girl thought for a while and said, "Twenty-one."
Liu Hanyan was three years older than Li Mu. Women in Great Zhou didn't get married so early. However, when they were eighteen or nineteen years old, they usually considered getting married. It was rare for them to not get married at twenty-one years old.
Li Mu asked in a gossipy manner, "Hasn't she thought about getting married?"
Wanwan was puzzled and asked, "Why would she want to get married?"
Li Mu said, "When she gets married, she'll have someone to rely on …"
Wanwan said, "Miss said that she doesn't rely on men. She only relies on herself. Men are unreliable."
After thinking for a while, she realized something. She immediately looked at Li Mu and said, "I'm not talking about Young Master. Young Master is not a thing …"
Li Mu roughly knew why Liu Hanyan had developed such a personality. Her parents' betrayal had caused great harm to her heart. After she became an adult, she wouldn't easily trust anyone.
Of course, another important reason was that she was originally a rich woman. In this world, there weren't many things that couldn't be bought with money. She didn't need to rely on others. It was more likely that others relied on her.
When Li Mu sent the food to Yunyan Pavilion, Liu Hanyan was arranging a song in the music workshop.
Li Mu didn't understand music and could only rely on his memory. Liu Hanyan needed to keep the main structure of "The Lovers of Liang" and recompose it. This wasn't an easy task.
Li Mu saw that her complexion was somewhat haggard. He put the food box on the table and said, "Eat and rest. If you continue like this, the Youth-Retaining Talisman won't have any effect."
Liu Hanyan nodded, but her gaze didn't leave the score.
Li Mu waved his hand and said, "Remember to eat. I'm going to patrol …"
A moment later, Liu Hanyan put down the score and leaned back on the chair. She stretched her body and suddenly heard a sound from her stomach.
She then remembered that she had been changing the tune of "Transforming into a Butterfly" since early morning and hadn't eaten anything.
She opened the food box on the table. The bowl of Yangchun noodles was still steaming. A poached egg lay in the bowl, exuding a tempting fragrance.
Liu Hanyan's appetite was greatly stimulated. She picked up the chopsticks and quickly finished the bowl of noodles. She even drank the soup. It had to be said that Wanwan didn't like to eat the noodles he cooked for no reason.
After eating, she rubbed her sore eyebrows. She remembered Li Mu's advice and wanted to rest. However, she remembered that as long as she slept for the next two days, she would have terrible nightmares. After hesitating for a moment, she picked up the score again …
…
The night was quiet. Li Mu sat cross-legged on the bed, guiding her cultivation as usual.
At a certain moment, his closed eyes suddenly opened.
Just a moment ago, Li Mu suddenly felt a trace of vigilance in his heart. This vigilance was very subtle. If he hadn't been concentrating on his cultivation, he might not have noticed it.
After a cultivator refined the first soul, the Corpse Dog, he could develop spiritual awareness outside of the five senses. He could keenly sense the impending danger.
This sense of vigilance was so subtle that it meant that the danger was not directed at Li Mu. Or perhaps, the thing that triggered this sense of vigilance was too weak to pose much of a threat to him.
Perhaps he was too sensitive. Li Mu closed his eyes again. However, not long after, his eyes opened again. He suddenly stood up and looked in a certain direction.
Just a moment ago, he felt a trace of vigilance in his heart. The source of this feeling was the house of Liu Hanyan and Wanwan!
At the same time, the Ghost-hunting Talisman on the table also emitted a faint fluctuation of mana …
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