ryethenovel Chapter 1 The sun is bleeding!
Chapter 1 The sun is bleeding!
【sun】
Vitality: 99.99%
On the balcony, Zhou Zheng, wearing sunglasses, lay on a deck chair, looking at the sun in the sky.
"So, seeing the health bar isn't really that useful."
I'm just an ordinary young man unemployed at home, living in a place without gunfights or monsters. I can see other people's health bars, but I just look and that's it.
【sun】
Vitality: 99.989%
Zhou Zheng's heart skipped a beat, his whole body trembled, and his eyes widened as he stared in disbelief at the sun's blood bar in the sky.
"Dude! How could you lose health like that?!"
The Sun is a yellow dwarf, a G2V type star, with a lifespan of approximately 100 billion years. It is currently 46 billion years old and has 50 billion years left before it reaches its old age.
If the sun were to bleed even a single drop, an entire civilization on Earth would be wiped out.
This 0.001% may seem insignificant, but it is actually equivalent to the loss of 50,000 years of lifespan.
Fifty thousand years...that's five or six thousand years of human civilization. That's equivalent to ten times the history of human civilization falling out of reach.
Zhou Zheng clutched his chest, trying to compose himself: "It's also possible that I just happened to be there at that time. Let's observe for a while longer, and maybe everything will be fine."
A month later.
【sun】
Vitality: 99.988%
This fall will cost another 50,000 years of my lifespan.
Zhou Zheng watched the sun steadily losing health and roughly calculated that the sun had over eight thousand years left to live. Theoretically, he might not even live to see the sun die. But realistically, with the sun's health bar dropping like this, he might not live to see it die a natural death.
Although I don't know why it's not having an impact now, it doesn't mean it won't have an impact in the future.
"We have to do something."
Zhou Zheng got up, intending to go for a walk to clear his mind. He'd spent the past month cramming on celestial knowledge and arguing online about the sun, only to be attacked by a bunch of people. In their eyes, he was just an idiot who didn't even know basic facts.
However, there is one advantage: many enthusiastic netizens are keen to provide science education for the mentally challenged, which saves a lot of time in collecting key information.
Zhou Zheng lives alone in his hometown, on the sixth floor of a school district apartment. His hometown is an underdeveloped area, with a farmers' market nearby where elderly farmers come to buy almost anything.
Zhou Zheng planned to stroll around the market and buy some eggs to replenish his energy. For the past month, apart from observing the sun, he had spent his days arguing with silly netizens, and he was exhausted.
Because it was 10 a.m., the market was relatively quiet. Everyone was enjoying their leisure time under the awnings. When they saw Zhou Zheng coming over, several enthusiastic aunties and uncles greeted him.
Zhou Zheng smiled and waved his hand, looking for a stall to buy eggs. As he looked around, a special health bar appeared in his field of vision.
[Taoist Priest (Tier 1 Qi Refiner)]
[Health Bar: 80% (Chronic Ailment - Spiritual Energy Disorder)]
Zhou Zheng was stunned for a moment, and looked over. He saw a middle-aged Taoist priest setting up a fortune-telling stall and scrolling through Douyin on his phone.
The chronic disease is easy to understand.
What's going on with the spiritual energy being disordered? Wasn't it said that spirits weren't allowed after the founding of the People's Republic of China?
Zhou Zheng did have a vague recollection of this old Taoist priest, because there was a Baiyun Temple near the town, and the Taoist priests there would take on jobs, including but not limited to: funerals, prayers, medical treatment, and fortune telling.
I don't know about the situation in other places, but the Taoist priests at Baiyun Temple are the kind who practice medicine alongside Taoism, and they have medical licenses. Some poor guys who go in not only have to learn Taoism, but also have to take medical school exams and memorize Taoist scriptures and medical books taller than a person. Anyway, it's pretty tough.
It's one thing that a medical practitioner's license is hard to obtain, but I've heard that a Taoist priest's license is also very difficult to obtain.
Zhou Zheng pondered for a moment, then walked over to the stall and sat down.
"Hmm? Does the believer want his fortune told?"
Zhou Zheng waved his hand: "I don't tell fortunes, I just came over to take a look."
The old Taoist priest sat up straight and chuckled, "What are you looking at? This is all I have. What do you want to see?"
Zhou Zheng pointed to the talisman paper weighed down by a wooden board in the corner of the table: "Let me see if this will work?"
The old Taoist priest perked up: "Buying talismans? What kind of talisman does the believer want? For exorcising evil spirits? For calming the mind? For changing one's luck?"
Zhou Zheng reached out and picked up the talisman paper, starting to flip through it: "I'll just take a look at it casually first."
【Exorcism Talisman (Lower Grade 1): Capable of suppressing some weak evil spirits】
[Inferior Talisman: Talisman paper that is practically useless]
[Exorcism Talisman (Rank 1, Low): For a period of time, you will not have to worry about evil spirits getting close.]
[Inferior Talisman: Talisman paper that is practically useless]
[Inferior Talisman: Talisman paper that is practically useless]
[Tranquilizing Talisman (Lower Grade 1): Can slightly improve one's mental state]
[Inferior Talisman: Talisman paper that is practically useless]
It seems that the world is not as calm and peaceful as I used to think, but rather possesses some supernatural forces.
but.
That old Taoist priest is no good; how can he sell genuine and fake goods together?
Zhou Zheng remained silent, simply picking out the genuine talismans and pressing them down with a wooden board, then handing back the inferior ones, while looking at the old Taoist priest.
The old Taoist priest blushed and put the inferior talisman into the drawer: "So it's you, fellow Taoist. What kind of talisman do you want to buy? I'll give you a 20% discount."
Zhou Zheng: "I wouldn't call myself a fellow Daoist, but I've suddenly become interested in drawing talismans. Daoist Master, do you have any talisman drawing textbooks? I'd like to buy one to take home and study."
The old Taoist priest laughed heartily and took out a book titled "Complete Collection of Talismans" from his drawer: "Buying this? That's great! I'll sell it to you for five hundred. This is from our Baiyun Temple..."
Zhou Zheng: "Twenty."
She has mastered the art of bargaining, just like her mother.
The old Taoist priest's smile froze slightly: "Brother, what's the difference between this and robbery?"
Zhou Zheng glanced at the book cover, took out his phone and started searching on Juxin Reading. He found the same book, and it was even free to read.
The old Taoist priest craned his neck to look, then exclaimed anxiously, "No, brother, how can an electronic one compare to a paper one? Buying it will even ward off evil spirits and protect your home!"
Zhou Zheng: "Twenty, I'll become a member here. I'll ask you for advice on talisman drawing."
The old Taoist priest's eyes widened: "You son of a bitch! You think you can treat me like a donkey?! You think you can fool me with twenty yuan?!"
Zhou Zheng: "It's the weekend today, and I happen to have some free time, so I'll go to Baiyun Temple to inquire about selling fake talismans..."
The old Taoist priest hurriedly pushed the payment QR code in front of Zhou Zheng: "Twenty it is!"
Zhou Zheng chuckled as he paid, casually tucking the complete collection of talismans into his pocket: "By the way, can I ask you something? Are there any talismans that can restore a person to their original state?"
The old Taoist priest, suffering from a toothache, said, "Rejuvenation Talisman, Medicine King Talisman, Merit Talisman. What, you want to cure someone's illness? Then you might as well write a prescription, or simply send them to the hospital for an IV drip. That would be much more convenient."
Zhou Zheng nodded and pressed on, "Then what kind of talisman can restore the sun to its original state?"
The old Taoist priest was stunned: "What kind of talk is that? What kind of talisman can cure sunburn? Even immortals wouldn't dare say something like that."
Zhou Zheng was slightly disappointed, but he had no choice but to get up: "By the way, what kind of talisman can cure disordered spiritual energy?"
The old Taoist priest shrank back suspiciously: "You can cure it?"
Zhou Zheng: "That's exactly what I was asking you."
The old Taoist priest simply crossed his legs: "It's incurable. At least a second-grade Medicine King Talisman would be needed, but I'm not destined for that. I'd rather accumulate some merit and see if I can exchange a merit talisman for my life."
Zhou Zheng seemed to understand but not quite: "By the way, Daoist, let's add each other as friends, I almost forgot, we can't let these twenty dollars go to waste."
The old Taoist priest twitched his nose in anger, reluctantly pulled out his phone, and opened the QR code: "What a rip-off, you little brat, making me do manual labor."
Zhou Zheng added him as a friend and asked curiously, "Taoist Master, if we can't save the sun, is there any way to mend the sky?"
The old Taoist priest smiled and pointed to his nose: "Do I look like Pangu to you?"
"It doesn't look like it."
"Do I look like Nuwa to you?"
"It doesn't look like it."
The old Taoist priest shrugged and said, "Then you've asked for nothing. But the ozone hole has indeed been healed by everyone working together."
Zhou Zheng: "Alright, see you later, Taoist priest."
After saying that, he turned around and left to continue buying eggs.
The old Taoist priest hurriedly waved his hand: "Hey, hey, what's your name again? You have to tell me your name."
"Zhou Zheng"
"The old Taoist's name is Xuan Yizi! Don't forget it!"
Zhou Zheng waved his hand, indicating that he had made a note of it.
Xuan Yizi sat in his chair, watching the young man run to a nearby stall to buy eggs. He touched his earlobe and said, "Who came from here? Quite impressive, he diagnosed the illness at a glance. But his speech is a bit strange... Did some deity descend from heaven?"
They're patching up the sun and the sky.