Chapter 609: Internal Alchemy

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Returning to the second floor, Zhang Zian said to Old Time Tea, “I think this phenomena is occurring because of Pi’s novel.”

Old Time Tea was shocked. “How so?”

Zhang Zian told Old Time Tea his theory. Since Pi had introduced Old Time Tea in its novel, many people had begun to know and like Old Time Tea, the Benevolent and Righteous Cat, and its popularity raised its Strength of Faith.

According to this assumption, the readers attracted by Pi’s novel could bring Strength of Faith to Pi and the other elves. It was unclear how the Strength of Faith was distributed to each elfin, but this was a good thing.

It was also possible that Richard and Snowy Lionet would be upgraded when Pi introduced them in the novel.

After a moment’s thought, Old Time Tea accepted this theory. After all, it was the best explanation. It smiled, stopped worrying, and went back downstairs to watch TV.

Zhang Zian took out his cell phone. Instead of asking the Navigation Elfin, he opened his browser and searched an excerpt from the Taoism doctrine that Old Time Tea had mentioned, “Those who introspect their vital organs constantly and possess no evil thoughts, eventually reach longevity.”

Of course, the so-called longevity may not necessarily refer to unlimited life span, but a prolonged life. However, it was also possible that the ‘longevity’ meant infinite lifetime since it was a philosophy from Taoism. Many Taoists had been pursuing to cultivate Inner Alchemy and immortality.

Even the most sophisticated theory must be tested. After many years, no Taoist had successfully gained Inner Alchemy.

Why could ignorant animals gain Inner Alchemy, when intelligent humans couldn’t? Taoism believed it was because people could be tempted by distractions like fame and fortune, so they couldn’t fulfill the aspect of “possessing no evil thoughts.”

As an elfin, Old Time Tea introspected its vital organs daily. Could it attain the realm of “possessing no evil thoughts?”

Zhang Zian couldn’t guess the answer. He put his phone back into his pocket and continued managing his pet shop.

It was nearly noon, usually Uncle Li would’ve delivered lunch on an electric tricycle by now. However, Uncle Li hadn’t yet arrived. As Fina was getting upset, Zhang Zian decided to visit Uncle Li’s snack bar to see if he was delayed.

He told Lu Yiyun where he was going and left the shop. So many puzzling events had happened today, so while he was walking, he lowered his head to think about them. He was so familiar with the route that he could walk to Uncle Li’s snack bar with his eyes closed.

There were two girls walking side by side in front of him. When they stopped abruptly, Zhang Zian almost bumped into them.

“Is this the place?” asked the taller girl, pointing to the side.

“I think so,” the shorter girl said with uncertainty. She looked around and saw Zhang Zian. She asked him, “Excuse me, do you live nearby? Is this a Snack Bar for Cats Fanciers?”

Zhang Zian didn’t realize what the girl referred to until he noticed that she was holding a small colored card that he recognized. “Yes, this is the place.”

“Great! We found it!” said the shorter girl excitedly. “This place isn’t on the map. It was so difficult for us to find it!”

“Yeah, it’s a pity that we’ve come a bit late. There are so many people waiting in line.” The taller girl looked at the front and sighed regretfully.

Zhang Zian also looked ahead. Holy cow!

Uncle Li’s snack bar used to attract few customers. Currently, over a dozen people waited in line to be seated. Among these people, 80% were girls, and the 20% of boys were probably here to accompany their girlfriends. Several people were holding small colored cards in their hands. Even the cold couldn’t curb the enthusiasm of these cat fanciers.

Some curious passersby asked what the long line was for, then they also joined.

For some distinctive snack bars in Binhai City, it was common to see customers line up in front of the entrance. Nevertheless, this was the first time such a phenomenon occurred to Uncle Li’s snack bar.

No wonder Uncle Li had no time to deliver lunch to Zhang Zian. Uncle Li was very busy.

Zhang Zian sighed. I’ve never seen such a long queue in front of my pet shop!

Someone patted Zhang Zian’s shoulder from behind and said, “Is the wallet on the ground yours?”

Zhang Zian turned around, widened his eyes to search on the ground and instinctively replied, “Yes, it’s mine!”

He saw three cigarette butts, two crumpled pieces of paper, and a dog dropping, but no wallet on the ground. “Where’s the wallet?”

“It’s right there!” The man behind Zhang Zian pointed to the corner.

There was indeed a brown wallet lying in the corner. From the style and logo, it seemed to be a very high-end, designer wallet for women.

Ha-ha! Zhang Zian really wanted to laugh. I’ve heard stories of lucky people finding wallets. It’s finally my turn!

However, he didn’t have time to laugh, he just rushed to the corner. He was afraid that if he ran slowly, the wallet would be taken by someone else.

No one competed with Zhang Zian for ownership of the wallet. He bent down to pick up the wallet when something bizarre happened, the wallet moved!

What?

The wallet moved swiftly one foot to the side. Zhang Zian failed to grab it. Damn it!

Zhang Zian felt his heart being wounded terribly. Even if the sky fell, he’d never be as shocked as he was now. How could the wallet move?

The first possibility that came to Zhang Zian’s mind was that the wallet was an elfin.

No, the wallet wasn’t a pet, so how could it become an elfin? How could it even move without legs?

Just in case, he took out his cell phone, opened the Pet Hunter game, and entered the capture interface. Aiming at the wallet on the ground, he pressed the “Capture” button, looking forward to a prompt popping up to tell him that he had captured the wallet.

Unfortunately, he was immediately disappointed.

[Game Tips]: No capturable elves or pets have been found. Please try again by pointing the camera at the target.

Since the game didn’t work, Zhang Zian put his cell phone back in his pocket and opened his arms to pounce on the wallet. He thought that he’d succeed this time. However, the wallet moved again! The wallet moved one more foot in the same direction.

I don’t believe this!

Zhang Zian demonstrated resilience by constantly chasing the wallet. The wallet dodged him every time.

Before he knew it, Zhang Zian had been led to a shop nearby.

The wallet seemed to slow down, and the distance it moved was getting shorter each time.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Zhang Zian was overjoyed. You can’t escape now!

He swiftly picked up the wallet. Huh? Why is this wallet tied to a clear plastic rope?

Zhang Zian stared at the rope and had a bad feeling.

A figure emerged, holding a cell phone, the camera aimed at Zhang Zian’s face.

“You should see your face!” Snowy pointed to his face and laughed.