My Arms Can Turn into Blades

Chapter 378 - 229: Ballpoint Pen Dipped in Vermillion—The Pinnacle of Half-Heartedness

"How about checking it out?"

Lin Ying looked at Chen Lusi, who was suddenly stunned, thought for a moment, and made a suggestion.

Hearing this, Chen Lusi snapped back to reality, thought about it, felt it made sense, and took out his phone to search on a search engine.

The two sisters leaned over to look at his phone together.

"There are many factions of talismans, each venerating its own founder, and each talisman head is different. The commonly seen ’Three Hooks’ on numerous talisman symbols represents The Three Pristine Ones or the mark of Lord of the Three Realms (City God, Earth God, Founder).

The talisman heads also have Imperial Decree, Thunder Command... and so on as talisman heads. There are many types, and due to different sects there are significant differences. Generally, for summoning God, mobilizing troops, ’Imperial Decree’ is often used as talisman head..."

Lin Ying softly read out the encyclopedia result Chen Lusi found, then looked at him.

Chen Lusi had a blank expression.

"Brother-in-law, it seems it also requires stepping on the stars and treading the dipper, chanting spells..."

Lin Wan added: "It also mentions meticulous preparation like laying paper, grinding ink, and applying brush strokes."

Chen Lusi still had a blank expression, just picked up his phone to search for Shrinking Earth Talisman.

And when the related information on Shrinking Earth Talisman appeared, he was slightly surprised.

Shrinking Earth Talisman... also known as Long House Shrinking Earth Technique.

It originates from the legend of Fei Changfang — the house possesses skills, can shrink ground veins, remaining existent for miles, currently intact, release it to resume as before.

...The origin is consistent with the story of the hanging pot to help the world.

This means, Shrinking Earth Talisman and the gourd placed by Celestial Strategy Trading are of the same origin.

"What’s wrong?"

Lin Ying noticed Chen Lusi’s odd expression and asked.

"A bit unexpected."

Chen Lusi shifted his gaze from the phone, glanced at the talisman placed beside him, and whispered: "The world feels pretty small."

Lin Ying tilted her head: "Oh, can you draw it now?"

Chen Lusi was silent for a moment, pointing at the Shrinking Earth Talisman on the screen: "Yes, let’s assume the talisman head are the characters for ’mountain’ and ’water’."

"It’s clearly joined together, isn’t it?"

Lin Wan whispered: "No matter how you look at it, it doesn’t resemble the characters for mountain and water."

"Then I’ll join them together."

Chen Lusi explained: "Anyway, I don’t plan to step on the stars and tread the dipper or chant spells... so I might as well go with my own understanding."

Lin Wan: "Brother-in-law, I thought these mysterious things were very rigorous... How’s it different from whatever you find useful?"

Chen Lusi expressionlessly spoke: "Does this thing have to be materialist?"

Lin Wan had nothing to say, only replied: "Alright, go ahead and draw, just don’t leave us two sisters behind... do you need me to grind ink?"

"No, just dip the ballpoint pen in some vermillion..."

Lin Wan couldn’t help but remark: "Brother-in-law... this isn’t even idealism, you’re downright fooling around."

"Modern times call for modern methods."

Chen Lusi explained: "It’s the current era, no more grinding ink, stepping on the stars and treading the dipper, chanting spells... If Zhang Xiufeng’s words are correct, talismans are merely tools to communicate with God, the most important thing is the covenant between the creator of the Daoist lineage and the Gods, not the dispensable sense of ceremony.

Just imagine, if you wanted me to do something, would you circle around me, chant a spell, and then request me to do it? You probably wouldn’t, you’d likely just act cute for a bit and then get straight to the point.

If over a chat software, you might even skip the cute part, going straight to business.

If my understanding is correct, it’s probably the same reasoning... Ultimately, talismans are just ’bridges’, no matter how ugly the bridge is, as long as it lets people cross, as long as it can convey the message, that’s enough."

Lin Ying giggled, beautifully asked: "So the talisman head is the other party’s micro signal?"

"Hmm."

"Still hmm, it’s the first time I’ve seen anyone interpret talismans this way."

Lin Wan was a bit helpless: "Fine, anything’s good... brother-in-law, go ahead and draw, after you explained, I’m quite interested in how you’ll send a message to God."

"..."

Chen Lusi also knew his approach was rather peculiar, but he really didn’t favor those inexplicable rituals.

...Any religion, after long development, would eventually give rise to many rituals.

In his view, this happens simply because religion wants its followers to invest more, thereby solidifying the foundation of faith.

After all, the more a person invests in something, the less likely they are to allow the creation they invested in to be overturned.

But this mindset isn’t actually healthy.

Since that’s the case, let’s abandon those inexplicable rituals.

After all... what if it works?

With this thought.

Chen Lusi truly stood up, went to the nearby desk, and picked up a ballpoint pen.

Then.

He returned to the sisters’ side, unfolded the talisman Zhang Xiufeng gave him, clicked out the ballpoint pen, dipped the tip in vermillion, took a deep breath.

...Actually, putting aside the highly questionable ballpoint pen dipped in vermillion, it looked quite professional, rather cool.

Lin Wan gently rested her chin, watched Chen Lusi pick up the pen, couldn’t help but smile.

Meanwhile.

Chen Lusi didn’t notice Lin Wan’s gaze; he was trying to awaken the talisman in his palm.

However, there was no effect, no reaction at all.

He thought about it, decided to ignore... just draw.

With that thought.

Chen Lusi directly picked up the pen to draw... actually, calling it drawing might be closer to writing.

And his handwriting wasn’t exactly pretty, coupled with the entire talisman’s size limitation, so the final result... wasn’t quite aesthetically pleasing.

One could say.

The lower half, dragons flying and phoenixes dancing, characters moving like dragons and snakes, done in a single stretch, fully displaying a sense of freedom and boldness.

The upper half, dreadfully messy, chaotic and disorganized, unbearable to look at, embodying a child’s scribble.

It’s notably mismatched.

"..."

Chen Lusi put down the pen, looking at the talisman on the table which suddenly lost its prestige, feeling somewhat helpless.