“I'll be damned, you're awesome, I give up.” The big man quickly pulled up the young woman and ran off. Nonetheless, today was definitely the happiest day for Xiao Kai since he started working. Even after winning ten thousand, and buying a hundred more tickets, he didn’t win anything, but he felt quite satisfied.
Xiao Kai returned to his room, locked the door, secured the latch, took out the book without words, carefully spread it out on the desk, and began to study it carefully.
Initially, he hadn't really taken this book seriously, but the old man's "turnaround theory" had turned out to be so accurate that Xiao Kai started to believe the other things the old man had said. If he wasn't mistaken, he seemed to have truly encountered an extraordinary experience. Perhaps not long from now, he would be able to command the wind and rain, much like the fantasy novel protagonists, and the most anticipated thing was that he would probably be able to enjoy various kinds of romantic encounters. Even if it was just for this reason, he knew he should put effort into studying the book without words.
The book appeared to have a yellowish tint throughout, similar to those thread-bound ancient books from the Republic of China period. What’s more, the unknown symbols on the cover were arranged vertically, and felt cool and smooth to the touch, resembling silk, but much harder than silk. All the pages seemed to have been tightly glued together, forming a solid block. Xiao Kai moistened his finger, dampened a corner of the paper, but there was no reaction. He furrowed his brow, then decided to take a sewing needle from the drawer, and bit his finger to draw a drop of blood, which immediately seeped onto the cover of the book.
Admittedly, reading novels on the internet for years had an influence on Xiao Kai, as his first thought was that "blood" should be involved, as all legendary objects in those fantasy novels required some blood to activate their powers. As normal blood wouldn’t work, it required the blood of the “chosen one.”
Obviously, that happened to be Xiao Kai himself. When the drop of blood fell onto the book, the book immediately reacted, emitting a very faint dim yellow light.
Xiao Kai's heartbeat quickened as he nervously turned to the first page of the book, only to find that the main body of the book was completely blank.
"Damn, it really is a book without words!" Xiao Kai muttered to himself, then suddenly, ripples appeared on the blank page, and several lines of text emerged. This time, it wasn’t the bizarre symbols he couldn’t understand, but rather proper Chinese characters.
“Steal the title of heaven, practice the essence of selection, open the door to cultivate the truth, pass through countless calamities, all there in the book without words.” Xiao Kai read out softly, “Chapter one, Demon Sealing.”
The text ended there. Xiao Kai stared at the book, seeing only those few words, with nothing more to follow. “Damn, what a waste of words. The front was so mysterious, just to find out there’s no way to practice!”
“Hey, what are you saying?” Xiao Kai had just cursed, when a very childlike voice, even with a bit of babyish tone, sounded next to him, startling him. He quickly turned around and saw a strange man.
The man indeed looked very peculiar, about 1.5 meters tall, and seemed to have the face of a child, rosy cheeks, and shining eyes, although his eyebrows and eyes seemed not fully developed. However, he had no hair on his head, but was wearing a grass ring, and a long robe made of an unknown material, which was about 1.67 meters long, longer than his height, so his whole body was covered in it, making him look like a round ball.
“Who are you?” Xiao Kai took a step back carefully, taking on a guarded posture.
“Hehe, I came out from inside, you know,” the child pointed at the book, “I haven't been out for a long time!”
In an instant, Xiao Kai's mind wandered through countless ideas: "Seal... seal... Wow! Could he be a great figure sealed within the Book without Words by the ancestors through generations? Since the title of the book is Demon Sealing, he must be a demon, but... why is he suddenly able to come out? What does he intend to do?"
The child had apparently not spoken for a long time, as he suddenly spoke freely: "It’s so boring in there, can’t do anything, no food to eat, nothing to drink. Every day I either sleep or stare blankly, when I finish staring, I go to sleep again. Hmm, I don't even know how long I’ve been asleep. It’s made me want to die, but I can’t even kill myself in there, I can't even use my true energy. My gosh! It's been nothing but a dark and hopeless time! Big brother, I’m really grateful to you, you released me, you're really a good person."
Seeing his reaction, Xiao Kai’s fear diminished somewhat, and he asked carefully, “So… who are you? How old are you?”
“I don't know,” the child looked at Xiao Kai innocently, with a bewildered expression. “I’ve probably been locked up too long, I don't remember anything, I don't even remember who I am.”
“Oh man,” Xiao Kai rubbed his forehead in frustration, and sighed, “Another amnesiac playing. Given that you let me release you, let's stick together,” the child's attitude seemed pretty agreeable to the idea, “Oh, by the way, what's your name?”
“I’m called Yan Xiaoguan,” Xiao Kai suggested, “Outside, you can say you're my cousin.” Xiao Kai couldn’t be bothered to think too much, and he was more concerned about another issue, “Since you're also a cultivator, what level are you? Oh, I mean the stages like the Opening Light Period, the Spinning Reflection Period, and so on."
"Opening light? Spinning reflection? What are those?" The child wrinkled his brow, thinking for a long time, "Big brother, I don't seem to understand what you're saying.”
Xiao Kai rolled his eyes, "Then, at what rank are you? You should know that much at least, right?”
“Hehe, that I remember. I’m at the Demon General level,” the child immediately became proud, “Let me show you.”
“Alright, alright.” Xiao Kai's interest was aroused immediately.
The child looked around the room and finally picked up a dumbbell placed in the corner of the room: “Big brother, watch me turn this iron ball into an iron biscuit.”
“Fine, fine,” Xiao Kai’s interest was piqued.
The child rolled up his sleeves and concentrated, muttering to himself. Xiao Kai waited with anticipation.
"Uh...Iron Ball...Okay," nodded Little Kai.
So the child walked over confidently and grabbed the dumbbell with one hand, trying to lift it up... but it didn't budge.
The child, surprised, exclaimed "Huh," and then tried again, but still, it didn't move.
"Xiaoguan, just forget it," Little Kai seemed to understand, "You must have been out of practice for too long and become weak, right?"
"Impossible," the child tilted his head in thought for a while, then suddenly realized, "I know! Big brother, I was released by you, as you're the owner of this book. I can only unleash my power with your permission!"
"Get over it," Little Kai gave him a stern look, "Can you still go into the book?"
"But... but I'm really powerful... flying, moving mountains, controlling the wind and rain, hmm, I remember I know how to do all that," the child tried to justify, looking at Little Kai's impatient expression, quickly nodded, "I can go in, and I'll live inside. Big brother, whenever you want to call me out, just think about it, and I can help you with anything."
Little Kai acknowledged reluctantly, paying little attention to his words. In his view, the so-called "sealed demon" in front of him was, at best, a little monster caught mistakenly by some ancestor, who could at most engage in minor mischief and bully children.
"I am really powerful," the poor child emphasized weakly, "Back in the day..."
As the child was just about to continue, the doorbell rang.
"Oops, the delivery's here," Little Kai jolted up and grabbed the book, then thought about urging Xiaoguan to go inside, but with a "whoosh," the child turned into a beam of light and shot into the book, its faint yellow glow diminishing.
"Wow, it's still mind control, quite advanced!" Little Kai thought happily. Then he heard Xiaoguan's voice from within his mind, "Hehe, big brother, we can telepathically connect, you know."
"Too bad, it would be great if you were a beautiful woman," Little Kai sighed with regret.
The next day, as soon as Little Kai arrived at the office, he heard a lot of discussions going on. It turned out that Manager Jia was hospitalized after breaking his leg yesterday, and it was still uncertain who would take over the department. Little Kai glanced at Xiaozhu, who was sitting quietly. She was bathed in sunlight from the window, her snow-white face almost translucent, with a few strands of golden light in her hair, exuding an indescribable sense of sacredness. Amidst everyone's restlessness, she seemed like a tranquil pool unaffected by worldly influences, serene, transparent, harmonious, and calm.
Little Kai stared at her face, and the feeling of admiration began to grow secretly in his heart.
"Big brother, you're peeking at a beautiful woman!" suddenly a voice sounded in his mind, "Hehe, it's working hours now."
"Hey, how did you come out?" Little Kai was startled, realizing it was Xiaoguan, "Behave and go to sleep, don't disturb me at work."
"I'm not sleeping. I've been asleep for ten thousand years. It almost killed me, and you're asking me to sleep?" Xiaoguan retorted, "Big brother, don't pretend to be decent with me. Everyone knows you like that lady!"
Little Kai sighed and didn't say anything more. He did like Xiaozhu, but Xiaozhu didn't like him. It was just like falling flowers bearing goodwill but meeting a callous stream—male-female relationships in the world have always been a matter of misplaced affections. Xiaoguan knew he was just a small person, without the confidence or ability to change his fate.
"Don't lose heart," Xiaoguan, being connected to him, immediately sensed his desolation, "In fact, you and she are very fated."
"Huh?" Little Kai suddenly felt happy, "Why?"
"Well, I've calculated it," Xiaoguan said, "You were born twenty-one years ago yesterday, she is exactly three years and three months younger than you. There are many 'threes' in your age difference. According to my understanding of the art of divining relationships, your horoscopes match well, and you should soon come together."
"Geez, you even know her birthdate?" Little Kai felt inexplicably jealous, "Does that mean her birthday is the day after tomorrow?"
"Hahaha," Xiaoguan laughed heartily, "Big brother, there's no need to be jealous. I can see the horoscope of almost everyone. You match her horoscope, and being close to each other bodes well for your relationship. You should be happy about it."