Looking at the jade pendant lying on the bed like a lord, I was stunned.
"Sun, it's not supposed to be like this, is it? Although I've been a bit lazy these years and haven't practiced the Tiangang Seal, my Xuanyang Qi has improved a lot. It shouldn't be like this!"
"I don't believe it, I still can't get you to move."
With my left hand turned over, thumb down, and my right thumb up, palm facing inward, both hands embracing yin and yang, index and ring fingers outward, I used the Tiansu Seal again.
"Lift!"
As I shouted, the jade pendant on the bed suddenly rose to eye level.
"Go!"
Then I pointed the Tiansu Seal at the dressing table, and the jade pendant, like a drunkard, swayed back and forth in mid-air. As soon as it flew to the dressing table, it fell with a thud.
My face immediately darkened.
"Damn, what's going on?"
With such speed, not only could I not deal with the evil Fifth Princess, but even a five or six-year-old child could easily catch the jade pendant in mid-air. Using the Tiansu Seal against the Fifth Princess would be suicidal!
I was annoyed with myself for being lazy these years. If I had known it would be useful, I shouldn't have slacked off. But regretting it now was useless. I could only practice a few more times while there was still time. If it really didn't work, I would have to think of other ways.
Fearing that I might break the jade pendant, I switched to a teacup that was about the same size as the jade pendant and turned it.
Thinking about the general principle of the Tiangang Seal: based on the stars, using the seal as a bridge, and the Xuanyang Qi as power, the three combined to form the seal...
I formed the seals with both hands, chanted the Tiansu incantation, and as the last word "敕" (chì) left my lips, I heard a crisp snap.
I rushed to the dressing table and looked at the teacup, which had turned into a pile of fragments after hitting the door. I couldn't help but feel happy.
"Haha... Master called me an idiot, a congenital cripple. But I can still handle it at critical moments."
After laughing twice, I quieted down. One reason was that I was afraid of the situation that occurred after using the Tiantui Seal for the first time, "extreme joy leads to sorrow." The other reason was that I was afraid of being heard by the evil Fifth Princess outside the door. If she knew that I was going to use this method to deal with her, this method might not work anymore.
I used the Tiansu Seal a few more times until I could control the teacup to stop at any desired position before I stopped.
Then I practiced the other two seals, Tiantui Seal and Tianqiao Seal, a few more times. I don't know if it was because I was in danger and my potential exploded, or because my Xuanyang Qi had improved over the years. In any case, these three seals felt exceptionally smooth to use, without the initial stiffness.
Only when I had almost depleted the Xuanyang Qi in my body did I stop. This practice took me nearly three hours. It was about two hours before noon, and then I sat on the bed and meditated.
Following an unknown mental technique taught by my master, the Xuanyang Qi in my body surged out from all over my body, which surprised and delighted me. I was surprised that I had so much Xuanyang Qi in my body. I was delighted because the Xuanyang Qi that was usually depleted would take three to four days to recover completely, but now it seemed that it would only take less than half the time to recover.
In the blink of an eye, two hours had passed, and I opened my eyes. The Xuanyang Qi in my body had recovered more than half. The yin energy here was too dense. If I hadn't wasted some, I estimated it should have recovered about three-quarters. However, now it had only recovered two-thirds, which should be enough.
Actually, I wanted to wait until the Xuanyang Qi was fully recovered before going out. But I thought that Zhang Dabiao had waited for me all night and was worried when he didn't see me return. If I didn't come back by night, he would probably risk coming to find me again. Although our brotherhood was deep, I couldn't always let him take risks.
I moved the dressing table halfway from the door and looked out through the gap in the door.
Just as the good Fifth Princess had said, the sky outside was not as dark as when I first arrived. Although the sky was still gloomy, there was a hint of white showing, looking like the hazy color of the earth when the sun is about to rise.
I took a few deep breaths and secretly cheered myself on, "I can do it, I definitely can."
After reconfirming that the dressing table was still holding the half-open door, I unlatched it.
I first opened a crack, to prevent the evil Fifth Princess from lurking at the door. Seeing that she was not there, I then opened the half-door completely.
The area in front of the door was empty. A few meters behind the door, the bone-piercing nail that Zhang Dabiao had given me lay on the ground. It was already covered with dense holes, and now it had even more. It looked like it couldn't be used more than a few times even without effort.
I coughed to clear my throat and said loudly, "Fifth Princess, I've slept enough. I'm returning the bamboo building to you now. I'm leaving. Please don't stop me."
While speaking, I stayed inside the bamboo building, cautiously observing the situation outside. My right hand, which was holding the jade pendant, was wet with sweat from nervousness.
After a while, I didn't get any response from the evil Fifth Princess. The surroundings were quiet. I could even hear my own heartbeat from nervousness.
This made me wonder. Logically, the evil Fifth Princess should be nearby. And I heard from the good Fifth Princess that she would not easily leave the bamboo forest for fear of being captured by the villain Zuo Quan.
"Could it be that because I'm in the bamboo building, she's afraid I'll hide again and is unwilling to come out?"
Thinking of this, I straightened my back and took a step forward.
"Fifth Princess?"
No response.
I took another step, and still no response.
I muttered to myself, "Could she have really left?"
Thinking of this, I took a few more steps. By the time I reached the bone-piercing nail, I still hadn't heard any response from the evil Fifth Princess.
I picked up the bone-piercing nail, which was about to break into two pieces, and felt a pang of pain in my heart. This was Zhang Dabiao's ancestral treasure, and I had ruined it like this. How could I explain it to him when I went out?
After tucking the bone-piercing nail to my waist, I was about to turn back into the bamboo building to get some sleep and tell the good Fifth Princess about the evil Fifth Princess not coming out, so she could find a solution.
But as soon as I turned around, I froze.
"Fifth... Princess."
At this moment, the evil Fifth Princess was standing at the entrance of the bamboo building, her eyes filled with a chilling gaze. Although I couldn't see her face under the veil, I guessed it wouldn't be a smiling welcome.
"You're finally willing to come out?"
I gave an awkward smile to ease my tension. "This... I'm hungry. I want to come out and find something to eat. Since you have nothing else, Fifth Princess, I'll be leaving now..."
As I retreated, pretending to leave, I placed my hand behind my back and secretly formed the Tiansu Seal, preparing to throw the jade pendant at her when she wasn't paying attention.
The Fifth Princess chuckled, then turned around and closed the door of the bamboo building. She took out a lock from somewhere and locked the bamboo building.
"You're really interesting. You don't even change your expression when you lie." The evil Fifth Princess patted the lock on the bamboo building and walked towards me step by step. "How did you negotiate with her? How are you planning to deal with me?"
When I saw the evil Fifth Princess turn to close the door, I knew things might change. As soon as she finished speaking, I felt like I had fallen into an ice cave. The half-formed Tiansu Seal was stopped by her words.
How did she know that I had met with the good Fifth Princess, and that I had discussed dealing with the evil Fifth Princess with her?
Did the good Fifth Princess tell her?
Thinking of this, I couldn't help but ask, "Fifth Princess, what are you talking about? I don't understand. I have no enmity with you. Why would I deal with you? Your joke is not funny at all."
"Haha..."
The evil Fifth Princess laughed heartily, like a crying child who had received her favorite toy.
"This is getting more and more fun. She said you were an idiot, but I don't think you are. If you didn't have those little movements in your hands, I might have really believed you. But now, you'd better die."