{"id":18193,"date":"2026-07-07T09:00:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T13:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/betwixtedbutterfly.com\/translations\/?p=18193"},"modified":"2026-06-27T12:00:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T16:00:14","slug":"teld009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/betwixtedbutterfly.com\/translations\/teld009\/","title":{"rendered":"Two or Three Events in the Last Days 009"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Chapter 9: Drawing Talismans<\/span><\/h1>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Jing Lin had grown up without ever seeing a horse in real life. Aside from seeing them on television, this was his first encounter with one.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Some of the village children, now free from school, found the sight fascinating. They stood at a distance, pointing excitedly and chatting among themselves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Zhao Zhiwen was equally intrigued and said to Jing Lin, “Look at that horse. Its coat is so black and shiny, and the muscles in its legs are incredible.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Jing Lin nodded. He also thought the horses were beautiful.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

As Jing Lin and the others remained blocked on the road, the middle-aged man noticed them. Smiling, he walked over, extended his hand to Zhao Chenghuai, and said merrily to him, “Brother Zhao, it’s been years since we last met. You still look so young!”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Zhao Chenghuai suddenly recognized him. Climbing down from the three-wheeler, he shook the man’s hand enthusiastically.<\/span><\/p>

“I knew you looked familiar! You’re Yan Ruifeng\u2014Brother Yan! You’re the one who looks so young\u2014you haven\u2019t aged a bit!”<\/span><\/p>

It turned out that Yan Ruifeng was originally from their village as well. When he was young, he had left to make a name for himself and eventually married a woman from the city. After that, he had lived away from the village permanently. Later, he even brought his elderly father, who had been living alone, to the city. He had not returned for more than a decade. A few years earlier, after his father passed away, he had honored the old man’s wishes by burying him on the village grave slope. He had also demolished the old family home and built a new small house in its place. However, because he was busy with business, he had left the construction to others and rarely appeared in the village himself. People like Jing Lin, who also spent most of their time away, had never met him before and naturally found him unfamiliar.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

After chatting with Zhao Chenghuai for a while, Yan Ruifeng exchanged a few words with Jing Lin and Zhao Zhiwen. Then he turned toward the wagons and called out, “Yan Fei, move the horses aside and let the village uncles through.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Jing Lin then saw a tall man\u2014at least six feet tall\u2014lift the curtain of one of the covered wagons and jump down. The man was handsome, with close-cropped hair and a black short-sleeved shirt that revealed strong, muscular arms. His jeans emphasized his long, straight legs. He glanced briefly in their direction before leading the horses toward a nearby building, clearing the road.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Two or Three Events in the Last Days (TELD)\u00a0 is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Zhao Zhiwen whispered to Jing Lin, “Everything below his neck is legs.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Jing Lin nodded in complete agreement. The man was tall, well-built, and handsome enough to look like a celebrity or a professional model.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Yan Fei had been helping unload supplies. After moving the horses aside, he walked over and greeted several of the village elders. When it came time to greet Jing Lin, he paused for a brief moment. However, he recovered so quickly that no one noticed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

With the road finally clear, everyone said goodbye to Yan Ruifeng and continued on their way in their three-wheelers. Jing Lin also parted ways with Zhao Zhiwen and headed home. He planned to unload his purchases first and then go pick up Le Le.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Yan Fei watched Jing Lin’s departing figure for quite some time. Then someone suddenly shoved him lightly, snapping him back to reality.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

His younger sister, Yan Lu, had appeared beside him. She wore a mischievous grin and waggled her eyebrows.<\/span><\/p>

“Big brother, who would’ve thought there’d be such a refined and handsome guy in a tiny village like this?”<\/span><\/p>

Yan Fei ruffled her hair roughly a couple of times, then turned and headed toward the small house. “What nonsense are you thinking about now?”<\/span><\/p>

Yan Lu hurried after him and protested, “Your little sister is perfectly innocent, okay!”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Their mother, Zhou Feifei, stepped out through the open doorway of the house and called to them. “You two, stop fooling around and come help me organize these things.”<\/span><\/p>

Yan Fei answered, “Coming.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Yan Lu immediately bumped her shoulder into her brother, making him stagger sideways. Then she stuck out her tongue, made a face at him, and ran off laughing toward her mother.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Yan Fei watched his sister’s skipping figure and shook his head helplessly. Then his thoughts drifted back to Jing Lin. As his sister had said, Jing Lin had a refined and gentle appearance, a clean and pleasant temperament, and carried a strong scholarly air about him.<\/span><\/p>

Meanwhile, Jing Lin had no idea that someone was thinking about him. He rode home and, before he even had time to organize the things he had bought, headed straight to Zhao Zhiwen’s house.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

It was nearly lunchtime by then. When Jing Lin arrived, Zhou Yu had just returned from the vegetable garden with freshly picked vegetables. Zhao Zhiwen and his father were sorting through the supplies they had purchased in the main hall. Zhou Yu invited Jing Lin to stay for lunch, but he politely declined. However, he accepted the handful of water spinach she offered him and then carried Le Le home. <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Two or Three Events in the Last Days (TELD) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Since Zhou Yu had already given Le Le some water earlier, Le Le refused to drink when Jing Lin tried to give him more after they returned home.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

At noon, Jing Lin cooked a packet of instant noodles with the water spinach Zhou Yu had given him, making do with a simple meal. Afterwards, he unpacked and organized everything he had brought back.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Returning to his room, Jing Lin took out a notebook and the three books. He then searched through his grandfather’s room and found the brush, ink, and inkstone that his grandfather had carefully maintained during his lifetime. He carried everything to the tea table in the main hall.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

After grinding the ink, Jing Lin opened the notebook and turned the <\/span>Heavenly Talisman Arts <\/span><\/i>to its first page. Holding the brush above the paper, he mentally reviewed the strokes of the most basic and simplest talisman. Once he felt ready, he calmed himself and began drawing carefully on the blank sheet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

The brush moved across the paper, sometimes light, sometimes heavy, following a natural rhythm of beginning, progression, transition, and completion. In less than a minute, the talisman was finished. In the past, under Grandpa Zhang’s supervision, he had drawn countless talismans, but they had always been nothing more than ordinary symbols on paper, discarded after completion. This time, however, the moment he lifted his brush, he heard a faint <\/span>pop<\/span><\/i> in the air, as though something had suddenly burst beside his ear.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

As a child, Jing Lin had drawn thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands, of talismans, yet he had never heard such a sound. Today, however, he immediately understood what it was: the sound of spiritual qi dissipating. Grandpa Zhang had once explained that a talisman served as a medium through which people communicated with spiritual qi. The act of drawing one was essentially the process of gathering spiritual power and storing it within the paper. Since a talisman contained spiritual power, the paper used to hold it could not be ordinary paper. The sheet Jing Lin had just used was nothing more than common white paper, incapable of containing that power. Therefore, the moment the talisman was completed, the spiritual power that should have been stored within it immediately dispersed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Afterward, he drew several more talismans in succession. Each time, the same faint <\/span>pop<\/span><\/i> sounded the instant he finished the final stroke. It seemed he would need to buy proper yellow talisman paper after all, Jing Lin thought to himself.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Setting down the brush, Jing Lin leaned back against the sofa and opened <\/span>Lesser Vast Heaven Heart Method<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>

The book was written in traditional Chinese and classical prose. Jing Lin found it difficult to understand. After reading only a few lines, he felt dizzy. Yet he had a strong intuition that the book would be extremely important to him. Rather than becoming impatient, he studied it even more carefully, examining every word and sentence repeatedly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Jing Lin spent the entire afternoon sitting in the living room researching the cultivation manual. By evening, Zhao Zhiwen came to find him and told him that the village leader was calling a meeting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

“A meeting? What kind of meeting?” Jing Lin asked. Rubbing his aching forehead, he picked up Le Le and followed Zhao Zhiwen toward the leader’s house. <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Two or Three Events in the Last Days (TELD) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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“It’s probably about all the strange things that have been happening lately, especially with the vehicles,” Zhao Zhiwen said. “Not long after lunch, Uncle Yan came to my house. His family had been living quite comfortably in the city, but one of his son’s well-connected friends told them something. After that, the entire family sold off all their property and bought several horses so they could move back to the countryside.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

As Zhao Zhiwen spoke, his expression was unusually serious. Until now, he had still clung to the hope that they were simply worrying over nothing. But judging by everything that had happened, it seemed increasingly likely that the future really would be difficult.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Words from the Translation Crew<\/strong><\/h3>

Miiya: 1 of two for the week. Hope US friends had a good 4th of July weekend.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Translator: Miiya<\/em>
Editor:\u00a0<\/em>MushroomKnight73
<\/em>Proofreader:\u00a0<\/em>Yume<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Avid BL reader, editor, and translator with 1 story completed (CLWP) and 1 story in progress (TELD). Support this translation with a Ko-fi. Three Ko-fis will add an extra chapter from the stockpile to the next weekly release.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":15070,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[92,35,93],"class_list":["post-18193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-teld","tag-apocalypse","tag-bl","tag-farming"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/betwixtedbutterfly.com\/translations\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/clwp.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/betwixtedbutterfly.com\/translations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/betwixtedbutterfly.com\/translations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/betwixtedbutterfly.com\/translations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betwixtedbutterfly.com\/translations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betwixtedbutterfly.com\/translations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18193"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/betwixtedbutterfly.com\/translations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18197,"href":"https:\/\/betwixtedbutterfly.com\/translations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18193\/revisions\/18197"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betwixtedbutterfly.com\/translations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/betwixtedbutterfly.com\/translations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betwixtedbutterfly.com\/translations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betwixtedbutterfly.com\/translations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}