"That damned swindler, I've been had..." Zhao Dongfang grumbled non-stop as he trudged towards Crescent Village.
In his hand, he held a jade pendant, broken and now only half its original size, the source of his curses.
Zhao Dongfang went to the city today for some errands. At a corner, a wily old charlatan unexpectedly grabbed him, force-feeding him with a half-pendant scam.
He claimed that although half was left, the pendant was still precious, holding immense value. He was short on money, thus offering to sell the half pendant to Zhao Dongfang at a low price. Only 1,000 yuan, such an opportunity was rare, if you missed this village, there won't be another shop alike!
Duped by the old trickster, Zhao Dongfang was spun around and ended up buying the half jade pendant in a muddle.
In the beginning, Zhao Dongfang was over the moon, thinking that he had struck a great bargain. However, his unease later led him to Lincity's Antique Street for an appraisal. To his dismay, everyone said while the jade pendant was not bad, because it was broken, it simply wasn't worth much.
In other words, Zhao Dongfang was tricked!
The more he thought about it, the more stifled Zhao Dongfang felt. Looking at the pendant in his hand was enough to make him want to weep but fail to shed a tear. 1,000 yuan might not be a big deal to others, but for a country lad like Zhao Dongfang, it was a "huge sum". And now, it was just taken away by some trickster!
After much thinking, Zhao Dongfang’s mood slightly stabilized, taking this incident as a harsh lesson to grow wiser from his mistake.
"Help, help..."
Zhao Dongfang was gazing idly at the jade pendant in his hand when he suddenly heard cries for help around him.
Zhao Dongfang was startled. Why are there cries for help in broad daylight?
He then looked around and noticed a lake nearby, the cries seemed to originate from there.
Without a second thought, Zhao Dongfang sprinted towards the direction of the lake.
"Xiaoya!”
When Zhao Dongfang arrived at the lakeside, he discovered that someone had fallen into the lake. To his surprise, the person in the lake turned out to be Fang Xiaoya, the belle of their village.
Fang Xiaoya was not only the most beautiful girl in Yueya village but she was also the only university student, making her the town’s pride and joy.
Fang Xiaoya had countless admirers, so much so that if you lined them all up, they could easily stretch from the east to the west of the village.
Amongst these admirers was naturally Zhao Dongfang. Banks closer to the river reap faster benefits; Zhao Dongfang was constantly showing his kindness towards Fang Xiaoya. Yet, she was not only beautiful but also a university student, her standards were high, and she saw no interest in Zhao Dongfang, a mere peasant.
Struggling in the lake, Fang Xiaoya also noticed Zhao Dongfang. Like grasping at her final lifeline, she kept waving frantically at Zhao Dongfang.
"Zhao Dongfang, save me, save me..." she cried.
Zhao Dongfang became excited, knowing his chance to become a hero and save the damsel had finally arrived. He knew he had to seize it. At this moment, Fang Xiaoya was in danger of drowning, and if he were to save her, perhaps she would fall in love with him.
With that in mind, Zhao Dongfang shouted filled with excitement, "Xiaoya, do not be scared, I will save you!"
Without even removing his clothes, he jumped into the water and swam towards Fang Xiaoya.
As a child who grew up in the countryside, Zhao Dongfang often swam in rivers, making his swimming skills quite advanced. In no time, he reached Fang Xiaoya and wrapped his arms around her to swim back to shore.
Fang Xiaoya's body was soft, emanating a faint fragrance of a young girl, but at this moment, Zhao Dongfang was not interested in these subtle feelings, he only wanted to bring her to shore as quickly as possible.
Upon reaching shore, Zhao Dongfang pushed Fang Xiaoya upwards until she was safe on dry land; only then, did he breathe a sigh of relief.
He then prepared himself to climb out of the water.
However, at that moment, both of Zhao Dongfang's legs began to cramp severely.
Cursing under his breath, Zhao Dongfang knew he was in trouble; he had a leg cramp!
Normally, a little warm-up is necessary before swimming, but with Xiaoya Fang's critical situation at the moment, Dongfang Zhao naturally didn't have the time to do so.
Dongfang Zhao attempted to crawl ashore, but his legs kept cramping and wouldn't obey him. Meanwhile, his body was also sinking continuously.
"It's over, I'm definitely gonna die this time," Dongfang Zhao despaired.
His body kept drifting to the river bottom while his consciousness blurred.
At this time, the half-piece of jade kept in Dongfang Zhao's pocket floated out, revealing itself around him.
Then, a magical scene took place - the half-piece of jade emitted a dim green light, extremely dazzling in the murky depths of the river.
Dongfang Zhao, in his hazy state, stretched out his hand, trying to grasp the jade piece. Suddenly, a ray of light bolted from the jade straight into Dongfang Zhao's mind.
Bang!
A majestic figure emerged in Dongfang Zhao's mind. It was an old man in a white Taoist robe, who looked young despite his silver hair and had kind eyes. But his eyebrows suggested a kind of insurmountable authority.
Dongfang Zhao really wanted to ask the old man who he was and what was happening, but he couldn't speak in his current state.
The old man smiled and said, "I am the Tianji Taoist. The jade piece you have is a token of our Tianxuan Sect, holding my life's legacy. Since you only have half a piece, you can only receive half of the legacy. However, it was fate that brought us together, so I'll give you a blessing!"
After saying this, the old man disappeared, and a surge of information suddenly poured into Dongfang Zhao's mind. This was half of the Tianji Taoist's legacy, encompassing a wide variety of knowledge.
Techniques on Fengshui geography, acupuncture, talismans, ghost trapping methods...
Dongfang Zhao didn't even get a chance to digest all of this as he fell into a coma.
