Chapter 181: Playing Around? Messing Around? Performing An Ancient Technique!
Xiao Mi and the girls were all stunned when they saw Chen Han’s sudden move. They had just come in and he pulled this stunt; it was so awkward.
But who were they? All of them were seasoned internet veterans, and they immediately realized the Chen Family Head was filming an abstract video.
The only question was what was going on with the talisman he kept holding. How could it float like that?
However, they also reacted: the female demon Chen Family Head was looking for was among them.
Lobster suddenly looked at the other girls in sudden realization. “Oh, I asked before if Chen Family Head had invited any of you to film a video, and you all said no. Guess we’re not real good sisters; you’ve learned to lie.”
The other girls looked at one another, then each spoke up in turn.
“Stop hiding it. Whoever is the demon, come out, now.”
“Yeah, being a female demon and still mixing in with us sisters.”
“Female demon, come out quickly.” Lobster also snorted and, seeing no reaction, directly said to Chen Han, “Chen Family Head, stop keeping us in suspense and hurry up and drag the demon out!”
Chen Han smiled at Lobster, used the sword control technique, and the manifestation talisman in his hand floated away from his palm, flying straight toward Lobster.
The girls were all shocked at the talisman floating in midair.
The talisman flew on its own?
And Lobster saw it flying at her; by the time she reacted, it was already stuck to the center of her forehead.
She froze, her mind going blank for a moment.
Had she become the demon?
A game prompt appeared in Chen Han’s mind.
【Congratulations, you used the manifestation talisman to find the impostor Hundred Flowers Palace Fairy and the demon who infiltrated the Chen Clan. It turns out she is a Lobster Demon who has cultivated a human form. Current search progress is （1/2）.】
Almost at the same time, the manifestation talisman stuck to Lobster’s forehead quickly turned to ash and scattered. A hazy mist drifted out from her clothes.
It looked like floating dry ice fog, and within it appeared a faint glow, like light shining through mist.
Like swirling vapors, it looked very trippy. The key point was that the lights actually formed the outline of a huge lobster.
The Crooked Mouth Dragon King and the other national style girls stared wide-eyed at this scene in surprise.
Only Xiao Mi remained calm. After all, being by Chen Han’s side, she had already seen too many miraculous things.
“Damn, that’s one big lobster!” the Crooked Mouth Dragon King could not help shouting, then asked, “Chen Family Head, what kind of tech is this?”
Chen Han had not expected the manifestation talisman to reveal things this way. He hurriedly pointed his mobile phone at Lobster and filmed. “What a fine Lobster Demon, daring to infiltrate the Chen Clan’s Demon Suppression Assembly.”
After the talisman turned to ash, the ashes fell onto Lobster’s face, giving her something like an evil smoky eye makeup.
Lobster herself was confused. It was one thing for Chen Family Head to play abstract, but why was he doing special effects in public?
No, these were not special effects.
She touched the mist on her clothes, and wherever she brushed, it drifted.
The Crooked Mouth Dragon King was the first to react. “Lobster, you’re really good at acting. You planned this with Chen Family Head long ago, right? Sneaking this in to give us a scare, and you even played it so well.”
Lobster was speechless and could only protest, “Can I say that before this, even I didn’t know I was a demon?”
“Hmph, I’d sooner believe in ghosts than in you.” The Crooked Mouth Dragon King immediately showed her signature crooked-mouth expression. “Sisters, I propose we kick Lobster out of our group for this event.”
But as soon as she finished speaking, they saw another manifestation talisman appear in Chen Family Head’s hand. Then, mysteriously, it slipped free of his palm and floated through the air toward her.
“???” The Crooked Mouth Dragon King was stunned, and in the next moment the talisman stuck to the center of her forehead before she could react.
Then they saw that talisman start turning to ash as well. A faint mist appeared around the Crooked Mouth Dragon King, with special lights emerging on it, forming the coiling shadow of a crooked-mouthed flood dragon.
The Little Celestial, the Innate Unwidowed Saint Body, and the Sun Saint Body all stared at the Crooked Mouth Dragon King in shock.
Chen Han promptly lifted his phone and filmed the Crooked Mouth Dragon King. “Very good, another Flood Dragon Demon. Let’s see where you two demons can hide now.”
【Congratulations, you used the manifestation talisman to find the impostor Hundred Flowers Palace Fairy and the demon who infiltrated the Chen Clan. It turns out she is a Flood Dragon Demon who has cultivated a human form. Current search progress is （2/2）.】
Seeing this, he finally let out a breath.
This should count as completing one part of the task, right?
“Yaxi, I didn’t expect you to act so convincingly,” the Little Celestial said at once, hands on her hips, playing up being angry at being tricked.
The Crooked Mouth Dragon King quickly asked, “If I say I don’t know anything, would you believe me?”
“Yaxi, you’re still pretending? Isn’t this something you and I discussed, to act like you didn’t know on purpose?” Lobster’s voice suddenly rang out, with a mischievous smile at the corner of her mouth.
This girl had just taken the lead in mocking her; now it was time to show her what mutual destruction meant.
“???” Now the Crooked Mouth Dragon King’s mouth was about to be crooked for real from anger.
When had she ever discussed anything with her?
Then she realized and quickly said, “Everyone, don’t believe Lobster. She’s terrible. This must be something she and Chen Family Head planned together to drag me down with her.”
As she spoke, she turned pleading, watery eyes toward the Little Celestial and the others. “Sisters, you have to believe me.”
But the three of them stepped back to Xiao Mi’s side, declaring righteously, “We are from the Hundred Flowers Palace. How could we be sisters with demons like you?”
They were really getting into character.
Naturally, Chen Han filmed this whole scene.
Seeing this, the Crooked Mouth Dragon King glared viciously at Lobster and lunged at her with bared teeth and claws. “Lobster, I’m going to fight you.”
In her mind, Lobster had teamed up with Chen Family Head to frame her.
The two girls immediately started scuffling, and the glowing mist around them billowed and thinned out.
Chen Han was stunned by the new prompt that appeared in the game system.
【You have identified the Lobster Demon and the Flood Dragon Demon who were lurking among the Hundred Flowers Palace Fairies. Just as you prepare to lead the righteous path experts to strike, you are shocked to discover that the two demons have started fighting each other.
They seem like two fools. For a time, demonic energy rages as they collide, and the impact of their power destroys the surrounding houses and trees.
Each demon believes she was exposed because of the other. You lead the righteous path to subdue both demons and obtain new information.
These two demons come from the Thousand Illusions Marsh not far from the Chen Clan. The Hundred Flowers Palace Fairy was not attacked or harmed by them, but by a demonic cultivator. The demons only impersonated the Hundred Flowers Palace Fairy out of curiosity and mischief.
Therefore, the culprit may be that remnant from Ci Yun Temple. However, you must first drive these two playful female demons back to the Thousand Illusions Marsh.】
Chen Han stared blankly at the light screen in his mind, because another mission map appeared there, just like the range map he had received when he first got the game system for driving away the Dog Demon.
He was still the white dot, and the two overlapping red dots were definitely the demons Lobster and the Crooked Mouth Dragon King.
Not far away there was a halo, which should be the Thousand Illusions Marsh. He had to drive Lobster and the Crooked Mouth Dragon King into it.
Seeing this, he hurriedly left the backstage area, looked off in that direction, and finally confirmed where the Thousand Illusions Marsh should be. It was actually the mud puddle snail-digging project the village had just set up, with loaches in it too, right next to the fishing project’s pond.
So, he had to get Lobster and the Crooked Mouth Dragon King to go play in the mud to complete the task?
Good grief, making two girls go play in the mud; this task was tough.
At this time, backstage, Lobster and the Crooked Mouth Dragon King had finished their tussle. The glowing mist around them had dissipated, and when they saw the ash still on each other’s faces, they both burst out laughing.
They wanted to go find Chen Family Head, the mastermind behind it all, but discovered he was nowhere to be seen.
So Lobster turned directly to Xiao Mi. “Xiao Mi Jie, what exactly was that just now? Why was there mist coming out of my clothes, and why did it glow like that?”
This made the Little Celestial and the others all look at Xiao Mi, full of curiosity.
Xiao Mi subconsciously asked, “Can I say I don’t know?”
The Crooked Mouth Dragon King immediately said, “Xiao Mi Jie, you’re not being honest either. These outfits were provided by you. You must have done something to them. Just tell us what’s going on.”
“…” Xiao Mi opened her mouth, wanting to say she really hadn’t done anything, that this was probably some method of Chen Han’s.
But looking at the girls’ scrutinizing gazes, she could only make something up. “Well, this is… dry ice. You know dry ice, right? When it comes into contact with air it sublimates quickly and creates lots of white mist. There’s dry ice powder in your clothes, plus some special techniques. If you control the timing, the mist will come out through the seams of the clothes.”
“Also, at specific spots in the dry ice, we placed phosphorescent materials. Once the dry ice reacts, the phosphorescent materials are triggered too, so the mist shows a faint glow and can form special shapes, just like what you saw just now…”
Xiao Mi spun this tale, and the girls listening just thought it sounded amazing.
Lobster hurriedly asked, “Xiao Mi Jie, this tech is awesome. Teach us, so we can use it in future events. Wouldn’t that blow everyone away?”
Hearing that, Xiao Mi came clean. “You actually believed me? I made it up. Didn’t you think about how Chen Han’s talismans also flew on their own?”
“…” Lobster was stunned.
The other girls did not react for a moment either. Xiao Mi had just described something so awesome, and then in the next second told them she had made it up?
The key point was that the talismans in Chen Family Head’s hand had indeed flown by themselves. That was absolutely not normal. Thinking about it that way, it really did seem like…
Just then, the girls saw Chen Han coming in again from outside, and their eyes instinctively went to Lobster and the Crooked Mouth Dragon King.
After all, he needed to figure out a way to trick those two into playing in the mud to complete his task.
Lobster did not know this. When she saw him return, she instead asked curiously, “Chen Family Head, just now… was that you using some kind of spell?”
Chen Han smiled at this and said, “What spell? It’s just dry ice and such that make mist. You go on stage a lot; don’t you know? You have to believe in science.”
“???” Lobster was dumbfounded again. What the hell?
They were messing with her: one moment it was technology, then it was spells, then suddenly it was science again.
She was just about to ask how a flying talisman fit with science when Xiao Yu’s announcing voice rang out outside. “Everyone, I’m sure you all really want to see my senior brother’s performance, right? And you’re all very curious about his ancient technique, right? Next up is my senior brother, the Chen Family Head, performing his ancient technique. Let’s welcome my senior brother to the stage.”
Hearing this, Chen Han walked toward the stage with a big smile, leaving behind a few completely confused girls whose minds were in a jumble.
Once outside at the stage, Chen Han already had a cloth bag for assisting the performance hanging from him.
Outside, each of the tourists was holding up a phone, filming him. From their expressions, it was clear everyone was satisfied with the Chen Clan national style event.
They were also full of anticipation for his performance.
The applause, after all, was loud enough.
Chen Han took the microphone his junior sister handed him, and said to the tourists, “Hello everyone, I am the Chen Family Head. Welcome to the Chen Clan. Now I am going to show you an ancient technique, which is that this cloth bag of mine contains many gifts for our tourist friends.”
As he spoke, he opened the cloth bag and even turned it over to show the tourists below, but the bag was clearly empty.
Chen Han continued, “Of course, you cannot see anything right now, because I have cast a spell on it. Inside, it actually holds unimaginable things.”
His words made the tourists stare fixedly at the cloth bag. They could see straight to the bottom.
There really was nothing inside.
And many tourists realized that this so-called ancient technique should be similar to those magic tricks.
So how had he gimmicked this cloth bag?
Also, it was just a cloth bag; it could not hold that much. Even though he was wearing hanfu, this Li Xiaoyao outfit could not hide much either.
At this moment, a voice sounded. “Chen Family Head, I am a magician and very curious about your ancient technique. If I spot any flaws, would you mind me coming up to demonstrate as well?”
Chen Han looked over and saw a young man with a smile on his face.
He instantly understood. This guy wanted to piggyback on his popularity. If Chen Han’s act really were just an ancient technique in the ordinary sense and the guy exposed it, that would be embarrassing.
Meanwhile, the guy could become famous off the current popularity of the Chen Clan national style event.
People like this were pretty annoying. He really wished the Minor Punishment as a Warning effect could give the man a bit of punishment, but unfortunately it did not trigger.
Either the man had not done the kind of bad deeds that would trigger Minor Punishment as a Warning, or this kind of clout-chasing was more like a challenge: if Chen Han really got exposed, it would mean his skills were inferior.
So the Minor Punishment as a Warning attribute did not trigger. That was also why most tourists who came to the Chen Clan could leave safe and sound.
In some respects, or for some matters, it would not trigger. Or if someone had made mistakes long ago, after enough time, Minor Punishment as a Warning would not trigger anymore.
Sometimes when it did trigger for small things, the punishment was just a sneeze or choking on a sip of water.
Guan Yi did indeed want to use this to get famous. He had practiced magic for a long time and was very confident in his skill, but he had never had a chance to become well known.
He had even won the Southern Magic Competition, but not many people had paid attention to that contest.
If he had a stage, he felt he could perform better than the two magicians on the Spring Festival Gala.
So exposing this Chen Family Head’s ancient technique was one method. The Chen Clan national style event was so popular right now.
And so-called ancient techniques were basically ancient magic tricks; the principles were the same.
He simply did not realize that Chen Han’s ancient technique was not what he thought it was.
Understanding his intention, Chen Han smiled and asked, “Sir, you are a magician?”
Guan Yi did not hesitate. “I am indeed a magician, and I am also the champion of the Southern Magic Competition.”
Chen Han laughed. So he even had credentials. A Southern Magic Competition champion was perfect to use as a stepping stone to set off his “ancient technique.”
So he said, “Mr. Champion Magician, if you can see through my ancient technique, I will be happy to let you replicate it, as that would also help promote and pass on the technique.”
“Of course, so you can observe better, I can invite you onto the stage to watch from up close.”
At this, the tourists around them all grew excited. None of them had expected the Chen Family Head’s ancient technique performance to bring about such a segment.
The tourists were not stupid. They could basically guess what this Southern Magic Competition champion was after: he was trying to seek attention by challenging Chen Family Head.
If he exposed Chen Family Head’s ancient technique, with the current popularity, he would definitely gain a lot of attention.
But Chen Family Head seemed very confident and not afraid of being exposed at all, even inviting him directly on stage to watch up close.
This made everyone even more eager to see what would happen.
Hearing this, Guan Yi could not help but laugh. Chen Family Head was far too confident. He had no idea how strong Guan Yi was, yet was letting him come on stage.
This cloth bag trick was the same sort of thing as their magic hat. No matter how clever the method, he could see through it from the audience. On stage, the other man would have nowhere to hide.
(The chapter ends.)
