Chapter 18
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Chapter 18: Found a Treasure
“Did you visit the Fragrant Pavilion last night?”
As Wang Chen opened the courtyard gate, Old Sun paused momentarily.
Then, a sly grin spread across his face, “Young man, you should practice some restraint, hehe…”
Wang Chen’s expression remained stoic—did Old Sun really think he was being humorous?
Receiving no response, Old Sun’s grin gradually stiffened, eventually morphing into an awkward silence.
“Ahem, ahem!”
He cleared his throat a couple of times to regain some dignity, “Wang Chen, let’s go. I’ve already prepared breakfast.”
“Not today.”
Wang Chen shook his head, “Old Sun, could you inform those people for me?”
“What?”
Old Sun was taken aback, hardly believing what he had just heard.
Without Wang Chen’s participation, how could he secure his two-percent commission? How could he gather the spirit stones needed to probe the depths of the female cultivators from the Harmony Sect?
Old Sun was frantic, “I’ve already informed them and collected a deposit!”
“Return it.”
Wang Chen gave a bitter smile, “It’s not that I don’t want to earn spirit stones, but I simply can’t anymore.”
He held up two injured fingers, “I’ve overused the Metal Finger Technique, and my meridians can’t take it anymore.”
Wang Chen wasn’t lying.
With his meridians damaged, pursuing the land rhinoceros would be akin to severing his path to immortality.
Old Sun was at a loss for words.
He didn’t believe Wang Chen was just making excuses.
Wang Chen’s face was ashen, clearly indicating he had suffered internal injuries.
He had indeed been pushing himself to the limit these past few days.
“Well, take good care of your injuries then.”
Old Sun said reluctantly, “I’ll explain the situation to them; they should understand.”
After a pause, he added sheepishly, “I’m quite busy today; I won’t have time to tend to your spirit fields.”
For the past few days, Old Sun had been assisting with the management of Wang Chen’s ten acres of spirit fields.
Now that Wang Chen was injured, he wasn’t about to work for nothing!
Wang Chen smiled, “That’s alright.”
He truly understood Old Sun’s character well.
After seeing Old Sun off, Wang Chen closed the courtyard gate and retreated to his room.
He began to practice his technique to heal his injuries.
The Five Element Technique was not specifically designed for healing, and its effectiveness for internal injuries was limited.
However, after activating the medicinal properties of the Healing Pill, the damaged meridians within Wang Chen’s body were immediately nourished.
The searing pain lessened considerably.
For an entire day, he remained indoors, fully dedicated to his recovery.
Injured meridians were no trivial matter.
Without timely and adequate treatment, they could easily become lingering, hard-to-heal injuries.
Although Wang Chen’s cultivation level was not high, his youth and vitality worked in his favor, and his injuries were not too severe. Combined with the remarkable effects of the Healing Pill, by dusk, his meridian injuries had mostly healed.
He estimated that he would be almost fully recovered by the next day.
Afterward, Wang Chen went out to cast the Rain Summoning Technique on his spirit fields.
The weather had been scorching with little rain recently, so clearing the weeds in the spirit fields every couple of days was manageable.
However, if he failed to provide timely moisture to the spirit rice, there was a risk of ending up empty-handed!
Once he finished summoning the rain, he returned home to light the stove and prepare dinner.
“Chirp, chirp!”
At mealtime, the big white mouse appeared again.
“Little White!”
Wang Chen joyfully cupped it in his hands and couldn’t resist giving it a kiss. “I owe you my life!”
If it hadn’t been for Little White desperately biting his ear last night, waking him up to gather his magic power, Wang Chen would have already been sent to the afterlife by now.
“Chirp, chirp.”
The big white mouse chirped twice and wagged its tail, exuding a hint of shyness.
Wang Chen spoke earnestly, “Little White, such a great kindness cannot be repaid with mere words. From now on, as long as I, Wang Chen, have food to eat, I promise you and your partner will never go hungry!”
He spoke with utmost sincerity.
The big white mouse seemed to understand, nuzzling its nose against Wang Chen’s wrist.
Wang Chen gave the little guy a couple of affectionate strokes before placing it on the table.
He went to the kitchen to bring out the cooked spiritual rice and pan-fried worm meat, sharing the meal with the big white mouse.
The golden-haired mouse was still nowhere to be seen.
Wang Chen didn’t mind; as usual, he wrapped a rice ball for Little White to take back.
That night, he took his second Healing Pill.
After another round of treatment, his internal injuries were nearly healed.
But it was still early, and after narrowly escaping death, Wang Chen felt no inclination to sleep.
He retrieved the human skin mask, which he had peeled off the face of the traveling merchant, from his storage bag.
This trophy had not been closely examined by Wang Chen before.
The human skin mask was a pale gray, displaying only the vague outlines of the eyes, nose, and mouth.
Beyond that, it was merely a sheet of white skin.
It was incredibly thin, almost weightless in his hand, yet it felt remarkably durable.
Curiosity piqued, Wang Chen drew a dagger and lightly prodded the edge of the mask with its tip.
This dagger, also seized from the traveling merchant, had an exceptionally sharp blade.
Yet, it failed to pierce the mask.
Switching tactics, Wang Chen attempted to scrape it, but not even a scratch was left.
The mask’s resilience was beyond anything he had imagined!
Wang Chen’s interest deepened.
He began to apply more force, poking, scraping, and slicing at the mask with the dagger.
Eventually, he even employed the Great Strength Technique, but the mask remained unscathed!
Wang Chen realized that this item was no ordinary find.
If only his meridians were fully healed, he would have tested the mask’s Defense with the Metal Finger Technique.
This realization also brought a wave of apprehension.
Had he used the Metal Finger Technique to strike the traveling merchant’s face last night, the mask might have thwarted his lethal intent!
After a moment’s thought, Wang Chen pressed the mask against his own face.
It felt cool to the touch.
Instantly, the human skin mask expanded silently, adhering perfectly to his skin.
Wang Chen felt no discomfort whatsoever.
His vision and breathing remained completely unaffected.
What would he look like wearing the mask?
Wang Chen hurried to the bedroom and fetched a brass mirror from beside his bed.
In the mirror, his face was blank, reminiscent of the faceless person he had seen in a Stephen Chow movie!
How could he possibly go out looking like this?
Wang Chen frowned.
The traveling merchant had worn a mask when he invaded last night, but it surely didn’t look like this.
Or was there more to it?
Wang Chen pondered deeply in front of the mirror.
Then, his face began to change; his eyebrows, nose, and mouth gradually became distinct and lively.
The color and texture of his skin started to emerge.
In mere moments, a face of nonchalant charm appeared before Wang Chen.
Wang Chen was stunned.
The face in the mirror was none other than his favorite, Stephen Chow!
And it was Stephen Chow in his younger years.
It was exactly as Wang Chen remembered!
After the initial shock, a sense of enlightenment washed over Wang Chen.
He understood.
Once more, he gazed into the mirror and began to envision another face.
In an instant, Stephen Chow’s visage transformed into that of Yan Zu!
This was an incredible find!
Wang Chen nearly laughed out loud.
This object was truly marvelous; it could flawlessly replicate the appearance of any character he imagined!
Though Wang Chen was not well-versed in precious tools for weapon refining, he was certain of one thing.
This was undoubtedly a rare treasure!
He had truly struck gold.
