Chapter 268: Mooncakes are here~ Mooncakes are gone~

Words : 1395 Updated : Sep 29th, 2025

..... He pointed at Yunhai: "This place was part of a formation this old Daoist laid down five hundred years ago!" Then he pointed toward the Min Clan Funeral Home: "That spell corpse—I buried it three hundred years ago!!!" Then pointed at Jinshan: "This one's the youngest, not even two hundred years old." "Each one of them is separated by at least a hundred years. Last year when this old Daoist woke up, everything was fine. And now it’s all gone!?" "You dug up everything within a year—if that’s not targeted, what is!?" "Clearly targeting me! Who's gonna speak up for me?! Who's gonna speak up for me!?" "What did this old Daoist ever do to deserve this? Refining essence, energy, and spirit into three corpses—I was just trying to learn the ancestral way, why are you targeting me like this?!" "Fine, fine, so you're targeting this old Daoist, huh? Just wait! Just wait till I calculate it all out—if I don't ruin you, my name's not Daoist!" "Neither of us is gonna have it good!!" The old Daoist cursed and cursed, then sat cross-legged on the back of the crane. He took out a turtle shell, loaded it with coins, and chanted under his breath. "First see emptiness, second see clash, third see punishment, union, and rise and fall, fourth see transformation and progress or death, fifth see whether spirits are ominous, sixth see position of the primary line, seventh see the hidden spirit leaving the cage." "Eighth see the reversed hidden spirit weep, ninth see external signs, tenth observe appearance... show me!" The Daoist let go of his hand, flinging out the coins. Shattered!!! Crooked-Mouthed Slanted-Eyed Daoist: "Ah!?" Then looked again at the turtle shell used for the Six Yao divination—one shake and the scutes started falling off the shell. The Daoist looked a bit dumbfounded. "Can’t calculate? Why not? There's no emperor in today’s world, no Son of Heaven—why can't I calculate!?" He used his fingers to nudge at the broken coins, vaguely saw a "one." The slant-eyed Daoist looked confused: "One? What does that mean?" No clue. He tossed the ruined turtle shell away. "If Six Yao doesn't work, then this old Daoist will try something else." He flipped his hand and took out pen and paper, scribbling and scrawling. "Yang-yang, double horses, yin-yin flows smoothly in, yin and yang exchange positions, hardness and softness yield and forsake..." With the final stroke down. The Daoist frowned. In his crooked scrawl, there was nothing—only a barely legible "two." Smack! He slammed down the paper and pen. The Daoist pointed and cursed! "Two your f**king legs!!" "Shoo shoo shoo, get the hell out of here!!!" He kicked the paper and pen flying from midair. Crooked-Mouthed Slanted-Eyed Daoist channeled Qi into his hands and formed a seal—this time, he really pulled out his trump card. If he couldn't get specifics— Then he’d get a rough picture! He moved his fingers: "The way to enter the form is mysteriously profound, the moon general rises as time ascends, observe which spirit aligns with which position, the heavenly stem must use the five son origins, conquer..." "Conquer... Conquer!!!" Mid-chant, the old Daoist couldn’t go on. The next characters felt like they weighed a thousand pounds—he couldn’t lift them. His fingers forming the seal suddenly stuck together inexplicably. A glance— Three!!! In that instant, alarm bells went off in the Daoist’s mind. He looked up to the sky. Boom— Thunder in broad daylight. "Aiyooo!!!" On the ground, many people looked up to the sky—cloudless for miles. A little kid muttered: "Why is there thunder in the daytime? Is the Heavenly Grandpa’s stomach upset?" "If thunder means his stomach’s upset, then is rain because he drank too much water?" "Snow would be diarrhea? And wind is him breathing hard?" "You get sent home for bad grades every time it rains or blows—let’s go, back home now! Even if the Jade Emperor himself showed up today, he couldn't save you!" "Wuwuwuwuwuwu...." Back to the sky—no sign of the old Daoist, no telling where he got blasted to. Boom— Outside Yunhai. A sheer cliff face had been cleaved in half. The Crooked-Mouthed Slanted-Eyed Daoist was scorched black, embedded in the cliff. Ah, so that’s where he ended up. "Aiyoo... my arms and legs, my kneecaps, my hip joints—they're all busted, aiyoo...." He was in so much pain his voice trembled. "This ain’t over, not by a long shot!!" ..... Just like that, three days passed. The Mid-Autumn Festival arrived! In these three days— Yan Feifan took Hua Qing through every street and alley of Bao Fan District. He also introduced her to all the local bosses of Bao Fan District. So that she could better keep an eye on things when Lu Ding wasn’t around. Hua Qing, for her part, took everything seriously and studied hard. Everything she saw and heard— Only deepened her admiration for Lu Ding. So many feats, so extraordinary. That someone like him would mentor her? Thinking of that— Her respect for Lu Ding surged like the endless Yangtze River. Yan Feifan echoed Lu Ding’s words to warn her: "Talented people are common, but those who recognize talent are rare. You’ve got potential—but Yunhai has no shortage of talent." "Don’t mind me being blunt. Let’s lay it out clear so it doesn’t get messy later." "Brother Lu sees something in us. So we damn well better get the job done, and do it beautifully—we can’t waste his recognition." Lu Ding doesn’t bring this up—that’s his business. But as the assistant supervisor, Yan Feifan had to say it. Only giving carrots without the stick doesn’t work. You won’t get people to move. Hua Qing responded firmly: "I will never let Lord Taishui down!" The two continued their patrol. By night, eight o’clock. In Elder Deng’s own little courtyard— Lu Ding wore an apron, hands moving so fast they blurred. One person manning two stoves. Dish after dish—sautéed, hearty, served hot. Bai Hemen ran back and forth with a tray. Up above, the full moon hung high. Elder Deng just sat there, smiling kindly as he watched it all unfold. No sign of his usual Heaven Observer Realm authority. Look at him up close—just a totally ordinary little old man. Back in the day— Elder Deng’s courtyard was quiet and cold during holidays. But today, the added liveliness truly gave it the feel of home. The older one gets— The more they long for this kind of warmth. He never showed it—but that’s only because he kept it hidden deep. Strip away the Heaven Observer Realm cultivation— And he was just an ordinary old man. He’d seen too much joy and sorrow, life and death. In the end, he was alone, no family, no children. Pull a stunt like this on him— How could it not hit him right in the heart? All his emotions came flooding out. With no one around, he quietly wiped away a tear. And of course, that’s when Lu Ding came out with the last hearty dish—caught it all. You think Lu Ding would comfort him? Nope! "What’s this, huh? I saw that. I really saw it with my own eyes..." The once-sentimental mood was instantly wrecked. Elder Deng chuckled: "You got sharp eyes. Don’t you dare tell anyone—I’m a big-shot department head, gotta save face." Lu Ding set the dish down. Wiped his hands on the apron: "Then I’ll need some payoff." Respectfulness is just manners. Elder Deng wasn’t short on people who were polite—what made him care about Lu Ding and Bai Hemen, Was that under the surface of politeness— They had something others didn’t. It’s a holiday—not the Bureau. A little goofiness actually made things warmer. In this moment— Lu Ding and Bai Hemen weren’t subordinates, but Elder Deng’s juniors. Like an ordinary family. Celebrating the holiday together with the elder at home. The moon on the fifteenth is fullest on the sixteenth. Today was August 15th—after midnight would be the real tense moment, all the way until dawn. So Lu Ding chose to eat first, then work. "Mooncakes are here~" Bai Hemen shouted. Lu Ding chimed in a beat later: "We haven’t even eaten yet—what are you bringing the mooncakes out for?" "Oh oh oh—mooncakes are gone~"

Chapter 268: Mooncakes are here~ Mooncakes are gone~

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