"Whew, thank goodness it didn't break."
Turning the Tiger Talisman over in his hand—fresh from an hour-long cleaning by the Shadow Ninjas—Su Tang felt deeply relieved.
Heaven knew—when it had plopped out and hit the bathroom floor, his heart had almost leaped into his throat. He was terrified Positive's tsundere streak would act up again and spring some new mishap on him.
Luckily, it landed safe and sound.
Of course, he hadn't reached straight into the mess to fish it out. He left the bathroom to the Shadow Corps.
Power could be an eight-to-nine-out-of-ten beauty by human standards, but even a beautiful woman's droppings still have a smell. Someone out there might be thrilled; Su Tang's purity was too low—he really couldn't.
Speaking of Power—
Through the kitchen's sliding door, Su Tang looked out. The horned woman was whispering with Denji-ko, plotting some mischief again, who knew what.
Every so often she touched her own butt, breathing "shaa" through the corner of her mouth. Clearly, for first-timer Power, the talisman had been a bit too big.
Pain was normal. Given a fiend's constitution, she'd probably be fine after a night's rest.
Shutting the door, Su Tang studied the Tiger Talisman for another half minute but still couldn't sense any so-called "balancing force." He clasped the talisman in his palm and began calling the Holy Lord's name in his mind.
"Boy, you've succeeded."
The Holy Lord's hoarse voice came, and unlike before, this time Su Tang could clearly hear the delight in it.
"I did not disgrace the mission," Su Tang bowed with a smile.
"But how do I hand it to you? Fly back to San Francisco? Or have Valon send someone to pick it up?"
The talisman would never remain with him. Once found, it had to be delivered to the Holy Lord at the first moment—otherwise he'd be violating the contract. Correspondingly, after the Holy Lord inlaid the new talisman, Su Tang would gain that new half of the power.
"No need. I'll take it myself."
On a key matter like this, the habitually faithless Holy Lord obviously trusted no one. As soon as he said that, Su Tang saw a plume of fire suddenly blossom in his hand!
"Boy, I'll borrow your fire-qi for three days. During these three days, you won't be able to use fire-qi."
The Holy Lord spoke slowly. His voice sounded even weaker—worse than half a month ago when he'd split off the remnant: "After three days, the talisman will vanish on its own and be inlaid into my body."
No fire-qi for three days.
That was fine. Su Tang thought—tomorrow was his exam; the day after he'd probably go back to the clinic to see how renovations were going. In theory, he wouldn't need fire-qi these few days.
What truly made his heart skip was the Holy Lord's mysterious technique just now.
He ventured, "Your Excellency Holy Lord… can you cast spells again?"
That wasn't exactly good news.
"The body cannot yet. But this remnant, being free of the seal, has gradually recovered a bit of memory of magic. Pity there is no demon-qi within you—I can only rely on fire-qi to perform a few special tricks."
"However, balance exists in all things. The price for casting is that this remnant has become extremely weak. I must sleep more. The next few days will be up to you… boy…"
The more he spoke, the smaller his voice became, until it disappeared midway through.
Asleep again?
Su Tang called softly twice. When the Holy Lord didn't answer, he looked down at his hand.
So… what about this fire?
The Tiger Talisman hovered quietly within the flames, like a figurine, motionless.
Hmm… figurine?
Su Tang mused and reached out his other hand to grab the fire itself.
A miracle: the flame seemed to solidify—he could pick it up!
With the talisman inside, it lay quietly in Su Tang's palm.
"What a… marvelous magic."
He didn't understand the principle. He felt the flame's temperature—it was actually a bit lower than body temperature. He found a little cube-sized box and put the fire inside.
Alright—call it a temporary figurine for three days.
After that, his nose twitched.
Oh no! The food's burning!
—
Considering today Power had "worked hard and achieved much," to reward her butt a little, Su Tang went out of his way to buy duck blood, pig liver, and other meats.
For him and Denji-ko he kept it simple—ordinary home-style dishes. Mainly because when he asked what Denji-ko wanted to eat, she said "whatever," so he cooked to his own taste.
"Super delicious!"
Light seemed to shine in Denji-ko's eyes. She wouldn't spare a single dish—her hand reached for everything.
She still clearly wasn't used to chopsticks, but Su Tang said nothing. The kid had suffered enough before. She'd probably improve slowly from now on.
As for Power…
She had no spare time to talk. Her mouth was stuffed full, and her hands never left the meat dishes in front of her—like a kitten guarding food.
Unsurprisingly, the bickering with Denji-ko started up again because of that.
Su Tang ate quietly in the middle, smiling.
Mid-quarrel, the two seemed to stop.
"Um…"
Following the voice, Su Tang saw Denji-ko looking at him, face flushed, as if she wanted to say something but didn't dare.
Su Tang was baffled. Was he that scary?
He gave her an encouraging smile.
It worked—Denji-ko swallowed and finally blurted out what she wanted to say:
"Um… what kind of girl does Mr. Su Tang like?"
Uh.
The question caught Su Tang off guard.
Looking at Denji-ko's anxious unease, he knew the longer he kept silent, the more her mind would spiral.
So he thought a moment and said, "I like… girls who can get into the Imperial Seven (note 1)."
"Eh—eh?!" Denji-ko froze. "Imperial Seven… what's that? Some kind of food?"
"Haha, you can think of it as a group of universities ranked near the top."
University…
Denji-ko lowered her head, a little crestfallen.
She'd never even been to elementary school—what university?
Su Tang watched quietly, saying nothing more. What he'd just said was only to sow a seed. He could feel that since leaving the yakuza, this blonde girl carried a lingering air of confusion.
It didn't show much now, but the slightest incident could make that confusion swallow her whole—turning Denji-ko into a beast roaming the steel jungle.
All he needed to do was stimulate a bit of her own initiative. Once she had a goal she could stick with—even if it was "earn enough money and slack off every day"—he'd have achieved his purpose.
This process couldn't be rushed. It depended on Denji-ko herself.
From his observation, this girl seemed dumb on the surface but actually had good comprehension.
Sure enough, the next moment Denji-ko seemed to think of something; she lifted her head, once again full of fighting spirit.
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