Su Liyan was quite open about this.

Aunt Zhao and Aunt Song didn’t know that she could draw Talismans.

But her man knew.

He had known about it for a long time.

Back then, when the Talismans left by Daoist Longchuan were posted incorrectly, wasn’t it Su Liyan who fixed them?

Of course, Aunt Zhao didn’t know about this.

Because at the time, the official story was that her man had been the one to fix the Talismans.

But that didn’t matter. Her man already knew anyway.

So, Su Liyan had no need to hide it.

The moment she got out of bed, Su Liyan knew what was happening outside.

She also knew what the people outside wanted to do.

During the commotion, she had immediately gotten out of bed to draw Talismans.

As Aunt Zhao took the Talismans from Su Liyan, she said, stunned:

"Liyan... you..."

Su Liyan immediately replied:

"I’ll explain this to you later.

For now, take these Talismans and post them outside.

Just putting them up will be enough."

Aunt Zhao nodded repeatedly, knowing this wasn’t the time for more questions.

She immediately dispatched the family’s Nursing Home and Travelers to quickly go post the Talismans Su Liyan had given them.

And the effect of these Talismans was immense.

They were on a completely different level from the ones Daoist Longchuan had left behind.

One was like heaven, the other like earth.

Take the central courtyard, for example.

Originally, it had been filled with gusts of sinister wind, and the doors and windows were slamming shut with loud BANGS.

But after the Talismans from Su Liyan were posted,

the sinister wind in the courtyard vanished in an instant.

The windows, doors, and everything else fell silent.

The effect was immediate.

Moreover, once all the Talismans were in place,

no one could hear the sounds of the opera from outside anymore.

This alone was a testament to their power.

At that moment, Su Liyan looked at the people crowded into the central courtyard and said:

"The women and the elderly, take your bedding and make pallets on the floor in the main house and the West Wing. The men will stand guard."

For a moment, Su Liyan truly had the air of the matriarch of a great family.

Everyone acted as if they had found their backbone. Without waiting for Aunt Zhao to say anything, they quickly agreed.

Soon, at Su Liyan’s command, the Zhao Family became a hive of orderly and swift activity.

Just as the elderly and the women had gone inside,

Aunt Zhao and Aunt Song had just breathed a huge sigh of relief and were about to ask Su Liyan what was going on.

After all, Su Liyan seemed to be very knowledgeable about these matters.

They wanted to ask not only about the Talismans but also about the situation outside.

There was still a whole night to get through, and they didn’t know what would happen next.

But at that very moment,

a series of CRUNCHING sounds, like shattering tiles, could be heard.

The series of crunches moved from far to near,

finally coming from the rooftop.

Everyone looked up at the roofs surrounding the central courtyard.

There were people dressed in Night Travel Clothes, their faces covered.

In their hands were long sabers, one after another, gleaming with a cold light under the moon.

Just one glance was enough to tell that their skills were extraordinary.

If it were only this group, it might have been manageable.

In a direct fight against the Zhao Family’s nursing home, the outcome would be uncertain.

After all, the Zhao Family’s nursing home was nothing to scoff at.

Especially since they were all Travelers who knew Techniques.

If they truly clashed, it was hard to say who would win.

Of course, even if the Zhao Family’s nursing home was inferior to those on the roof,

they could at least put up a fight.

At the very least, they could hold out until dawn, right?

But then, another group appeared behind them.

These people held longbows, the arrowheads burning with Flames.

Seeing this,

everyone’s heart sank.

They felt that...

it was over!!

...

「Meanwhile.」

In an inconspicuous farmhouse in a village near Taiping City.

A single candle burned, casting a dim, yellow light throughout the room.

"Master, here are Song Meiqin’s birth characters, along with some things she has used before.

I’ve brought them all for you. Do you need anything else?"

A middle-aged man in rich clothes placed a bundle on the table.

On the other side of the table,

sat an old woman who looked to be in her sixties or seventies, her back hunched over.

Her face was a mass of wrinkles and chapped skin.

The old crone had a large, hooked nose and held a long-stemmed pipe.

She was taking one puff after another of dry tobacco.

"Not needed...

I don’t need anything."

Looking at the bundle, the old woman rasped out the words in a hoarse voice as she puffed on her pipe.

The old woman’s words left the middle-aged man stunned.

’What does she mean by that?’

’I rode like mad for a day and a night from the Provincial City just to deliver this bundle.’

’The journey nearly rattled my bones to pieces.’

’And now that I’ve delivered it, she says it’s not needed?’

But the old woman just waved her hand faintly, a sinister, cunning smile spreading across her face.

Being stared at and smiled at by this old woman

made the middle-aged man feel uneasy all over.

Or rather, he had felt uneasy all over ever since he first stepped into the room.

The old crone was hideous and gave off a strange odor.

It was like she had pissed her pants and not washed them for three days.

A rank, pungent stench.

With only a single candle lighting the room,

it made the old woman’s face seem even more bizarre.

In the corner of the room, in particular, was a small wooden box.

The box was covered with a red cloth, and he had no idea what was being enshrined inside.

It made his skin crawl.

The middle-aged man couldn’t help but swallow and say:

"Master, what exactly is going on? Please tell me so I can report back to the madam..."