Chapter 9: Old Tan Xi (Part 1)

Guo Shier asked, “Who wants to fight?” He peeked over. It turned out to be two ordinary people arguing—clearly the family members of inner-circle professionals: an old man in his teens and a thin, scrawny youth. They were tangled together in a chaotic mess, shouting insults at each other.
After hearing a few words, Guo Shier burst into laughter.
“…”
“…If you can’t kill me… my brother will kill you!”
“What’s your brother worth? If my son shows up… and can’t kill your brother…”
“Let go… Aaaah… my hair… my hair’s falling out! You brat, let go!”
“I won’t let go… Anyway, you don’t have much hair left. If it falls out, so be it!”
“I’ll fight you to the end!”
“Waaah, old man… you’re grabbing me… Ugh, my testicles are about to break…”
“Let go!”
“Let go too!”
“Old man, I’ll count to three—let go all at once!”
“Okay!”
“One! Two! Three!”
“You wretched old thing… you cheated! Ah… it hurts so much… I give up…”
Haha! Hahaha!
Everyone watching was delighted. The old man and the youth were both bruised and battered, but the onlookers were experts who could tell right away there was no real danger. In the end, the old man’s cunning won out, and the youth had no choice but to surrender. If he kept grabbing harder, the youth wouldn’t survive.
The old man returned to his stall proudly, combed through the few strands of hair on his head, and said disdainfully, “Fighting an old man like me? Hmph…” The youth, with a sad face, went back to his own stall.
It turned out they were two stall vendors fighting, and everyone happily dispersed. Guo Shier said, “Well, there’s no more fun to watch.”
Huo Bao laughed, “It was really fun!”
Guo Shier said, “Ordinary people are just like professionals—they’re still humans. Hehe. But when it comes to fighting, ordinary people are far inferior. Usually, no one dies.”
Walking along the main road, Guo Shier saw silver fox fur again. He had liked this kind of fox fur in his past life, and in this life, he still couldn’t help but like it. So whenever he saw beautiful fox fur, he couldn’t resist buying it. Ying Mo found it interesting and asked, “Shier, why do you like fox fur so much?”
Guo Shier replied seriously, “It has soft fur, thick skin, and beautiful colors. Why shouldn’t I like it?”

Eagle Demon said, “What you bought are all ordinary fox furs. There’s actually another type of fox fur with natural talismans on it, but it’s not from a talisman beast. We call it a patterned fox. The fur of a patterned fox is more precious because of those natural talismans—it’s waterproof, snowproof, and can withstand the coldest winds.”
Guo Shierqi said, “I’ve checked so many stalls and haven’t seen any patterned fox furs.”
The fox fur seller laughed and said, “That kind of fur is only sold by professionals. We only have furs from ordinary wild animals here. Hehe, although my fox furs aren’t as good as patterned fox furs, they’re still better than those from other stalls.”
Guo Shierqi didn’t care and bought a few silver fox furs and some pure black fox furs before leaving satisfied. He said, “Let’s go look for patterned fox furs!”
Eagle Demon said gloomily, “I’ve killed countless patterned foxes before, and I gave all their furs to my friends.”
Guo Shierqi smirked and said, “That’s just sarcasm…”
Luo Zhan said to Eagle Demon, “Don’t tease Shierqi; be careful he plays tricks on you.”
Guo Shierqi replied, “Uncle Luo, how could I?”
The three of them joked around as they headed to the next stall, all in high spirits. Huo Bao and the others went to different stalls to buy what they liked. Before leaving, Guo Shierqi gave each of them some pocket money.
By the time they had halfway through their shopping trip, it was already getting dark, and they returned home with lots of goods.
…
Back in their courtyard, Guo Shierqi was called over to his master.
Luo Jie laughed and asked, “Shierqi, you bought quite a lot today. Did you find any treasures?” He asked jokingly. Guo Shierqi’s good luck seemed unbelievable to him.
Guo Shierqi replied, “No treasures. I just bought some furs and a few trinkets.”
Luo Jie nodded and said, “The beast furs produced by the West Talisman Sect are very famous, while the silk fabrics from the South Talisman Sect are the best. Hehe, our North Talisman Sect also produces furs, but they’re not as good as those from the West Talisman Sect—unless it’s the furs from wild animals in the extreme north, which can reach such high quality.”
Guo Shierqi asked, “Master, where were you today?”
Luo Jie replied, “I went to see some old friends.”
Qi Nanshan said, “Shierqi, have dinner here tonight. In a bit, one of your master’s friends is coming…” He said this with a dismissive smirk.
Guo Shierqi laughed and said, “Are you planning to make me cook talisman food?”
Luo Jie said, “Smart kid! Go get ready. That person will be here soon.”

Guo Shier turned to Chen Hong and said, “Xiao Hong, bring out the ingredients. Let’s start cooking… Hehe, I didn’t expect my cooking skills to be so popular.” Chen Hong nodded and went to the kitchen with the other members; some ingredients needed to be prepared in advance. Luo Jie added, “Shier, prepare some meat from the Earth Dragon, hehe.”

The meat from the Earth Dragon was usually reserved for honored guests and not typically served to others. It was very beneficial to health, so Guo Shier wasn’t willing to serve it casually; it was mostly for his own people.

Guo Shier agreed and headed to the kitchen.

Watching Guo Shier leave, Luo Jie asked, “Dashan, what do you think about their invitation to the Wild Beasts Secret Realm?”

Qi Nanshan said, “The Wild Beasts Secret Realm… We should go. Shier needs to broaden his horizons. Although there are powerful talisman beasts there, with us around… it’s nothing too scary. Besides, Shier’s combat skills are on par with those of a master. Now that he’s obtained the Ancient Worm Talisman, his strength has increased even further. I think… we should accept their invitation.”

Luo Jie said, “Hehe, I originally planned to have a brief exchange and then leave. You know… with the Secret Realm of Communication and the Altar Secret Realm, other secret realms hold little appeal for us anymore… But we reaped great rewards last time in the Wild Beasts Secret Realm. Though we encountered some dangers, going back again isn’t a bad idea.”

Qi Nanshan said, “Yes, after advancing in the Altar Secret Realm this time, I too was confused about how to move forward. Li Ran was right—maybe we’re just frogs in a well.”

A servant came in to report that the guests had arrived.

Luo Jie called for Guo Shier before leading Qi Nanshan and the others out to greet them.

“Tan Laoxi, haha, I didn’t expect to see you again. You’re still alive? That really surprises me…”

Guo Shier was shocked—his master’s words weren’t kind at all.

Tan Laoxi looked much older than Luo Jie. He said in disbelief, “Huh? How the hell… did you become so young? Ah, I can’t go on… What good stuff did you eat? Huh, isn’t that Dashan? Damn, you’ve also become so young… What the hell!”

Qi Nanshan smiled and said, “Laoxi, don’t be discouraged. I’ve advanced again!”

Tan Laoxi was puzzled. “You advanced? Weren’t you already advanced? What more advancement? Are you trying to fool me?”

Guo Shier was stunned. The old man was full of vulgar language, speaking recklessly, and even his master and Grandpa Qinan joined in the nonsense. He watched curiously. The man seemed very old, with white hair and beard, but he was in excellent spirits, his back straight, though he had a pair of shifty eyes that kept rolling around.

Qi Nanshan said, “Why would I deceive you?”

Tan Laoxi didn’t believe it at all. He said, “You’re talking nonsense… Damn it, if you could advance, the wild beasts in the grasslands wouldn’t need to eat meat. Bullshit!” His gaze shifted to Guo Shier and he asked, “Lao Luo, is this… the much-talked-about Guo Shier these past few days? Your master-level disciple?” He looked unconvinced.

Luo Jie said proudly, “Shier, meet your Grandpa Tan. He’s a famous loner from the West Talisman Sect, a great beast talisman master.”

Guo Shier said respectfully, “It’s an honor to meet Grandpa Tan. I’m Guo Shier.”

Tan Laoxi said, “I know, I know… These past few days, I’ve heard people talking about you every day. Your name is quite famous now, kid. Heh, are you really a master? I’m really surprised… With your master’s poor skills, how could he teach a master-level disciple? That’s bullshit!”

This was originally a pain point for Luo Jie. He had taken many disciples, but none of them had advanced to master level. It wasn’t until he took Guo Shier that Qin Han advanced to master level. He said irritably, “Tan Laoxi! I now have two master-level disciples, twice as many as you have… That’s twice as strong!”

Tan Laoxi looked unconvinced and said, “Blow your own trumpet! Last time we met, you were still complaining that no disciples of yours had advanced. So fast… Uh, it seems like we haven’t seen each other for many years, maybe even decades…”

Qi Nanshan said, “If you two want to argue, go argue in the room! Lao Xi, all these years later, your mouth is still just as vile! Shier even went out of his way to burn talisman ingredients for you… Let’s go in.”

Guo Shier said, “I’ll go to the kitchen first.”

Tan Laoxi entered the living room cursing, accompanied by Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan. The three of them argued, basically two against one. Tan Laoxi didn’t care at all. He was full of vulgar language, constantly saying “damn it” and “bullshit.”

Luo Jie and the others sat down and exchanged a few pleasantries.

Tan Laoxi sighed, “Sigh, damn it… Lao Luo, tell me, how did you become so young? Let me, Lao Xi, get younger too… I mean it, not bullshit!”

Luo Jie said, “Lao Xi, I’ve really advanced, but… here, even after advancing, there’s no way forward. Really! It’s bullshit!”
Guo Shieru happened to walk in and, hearing his master say “bullshit,” almost fell over. Since when did his master say such things? Yet it felt quite familiar to him. In his past life in the army, he too had used a lot of vulgar language, even more so than Tan Lao Xi.
Tan Lao Xi already believed it and said, “I tell you… Lao Luo, at your age, what the hell are you advancing for? You’re really trying to drive me crazy…”
Luo Jie replied, “That’s right! I’m trying to drive you, old bastard, crazy! Can’t you stop using vulgar language? Bullshit!”
Tan Lao Xi laughed heartily and clapped, “Right! Right… I like it when you use vulgar language!”
Everyone was speechless for a moment.
Luo Jie shook his head helplessly and said, “You old rascal… Forget it, I won’t say more! Shieru, is it ready?”
Guo Shieru replied, “Master, it’s ready. I’ll have them bring it over.”