394: Chapter 395: Kanou Ayama!

"Not bad." Ye Changge nodded in satisfaction and returned the Talisman paper to its place.

"Mountain Master!"

"The Mountain Master is here!"

"Greetings, Mountain Master!"

The Cultivators nearest the door noticed him first, setting aside their work and standing up respectfully to salute.

They were all Talisman Masters recruited and trained by the Family over the years; some were originally skilled Loose Cultivator Talisman Masters, while others were promising talents selected from the Family descendants. After years of training and occasional guidance from Ye Changge, they could now independently handle mass production tasks.

"Mountain Master!"

A middle-aged Talisman Master hurried over, smiling broadly. "Why did you come yourself? If you have any orders, just send someone to pass the word; there's no need for you to make the trip yourself!"

Ye Changge waved his hand to signal that there was no need for formalities, then pressed his palm down towards the other Cultivators who had also stood up and were about to salute, saying gently, "Sit, everyone sit. Continue with what you were doing; don't mind me. I'm just here because I had nothing to do, just taking a look."

Hearing this, everyone sat back down, but they were clearly more energized than before, and their movements became extra diligent.

Ye Changge walked slowly along the aisle between the long tables with his hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping over the finished Talismans. Occasionally, he would stop, pick one up to examine it carefully for a moment, then without a word, simply nod slightly or set it down gently.

Walking to a row of long tables near a window at the back of the great hall, he paused slightly.

Behind the table stood a slender woman, head lowered, concentrating on injecting the prepared Spiritual Qi ink into a specially made Talisman brush.

She was wearing a pale green dress, with her sleeves rolled up to her forearms, revealing a section of wrist as fair as jade; her movements were skillful and gentle.

Beside the woman stood a little girl of about seven or eight, also wearing a pale green dress, standing on tiptoe, stretching her neck, trying hard to peer into the big pot on the table that was bubbling and steaming.

What was boiling in the pot was the spiritual Materials paste used for making second-tier Talisman paper; the cyan paste was churning, emitting a fresh fragrance unique to Wood.

"Husband! Why are you here?"

The woman seemed to sense something and suddenly looked up; an exquisite and beautiful face came into Ye Changge's view.

With curved willow eyebrows, clear apricot eyes, and skin that was fair with a rosy tint and delicate enough to be broken by a blow, at first glance, she looked exactly the same as when they first met over a decade ago. Time seemed to have left little mark on her. She was Liu Yiyi.

Looking at her face, still as bright and youthful as a young girl's, Ye Changge couldn't help but feel a touch of softness in his heart.

Although he had more wives and concubines over the years, he had always been extra doting on Liu Yiyi. Firstly, because of her pure and non-competitive nature, and secondly, because he remembered the rarity of her Wood, as well as her hard work in bearing descendants for the Family and managing the household over the years.

Adding to that, he would refine beauty pills for her to take every few days, and she was nourished daily in this Spiritual Land dense with Spiritual Qi; it was no wonder her appearance remained unchanged, with no traces of time.

"I came to see how the Talisman factory is running." Ye Changge smiled and walked forward, naturally reaching out to gently take Liu Yiyi's soft, boneless jade hand, his fingertips stroking the back of her hand. "You've worked hard, Yiyi. Let the people below do this kind of work; why do you need to do it yourself?"

"Husband, what are you saying? I'm just idle anyway." Liu Yiyi felt her cheeks redden as he held her hand, and she cast him a reproachful glance, her voice soft and sweet. "Besides, the techniques of these new apprentices are still clumsy. If I don't supervise them personally, I'm afraid they'll waste the good Materials."

Ye Changge smiled, his gaze then falling on the little girl standing on tiptoe beside them, peering into the pot. This was his and Liu Yiyi's second child, named Ye Caizhen, who had just turned seven this year.

The little girl had inherited her mother's good features, with a face like carved jade, curved eyebrows, red lips, and white teeth. At this moment, she was focusing intently on the churning spiritual Materials paste in the pot, her small brows slightly furrowed, looking extremely serious.

"Caizhen." Ye Changge called out.

Ye Caizhen seemed not to hear him, still focusing intently on the big pot, muttering to herself, seemingly counting down some time nodes. On the table in front of her lay a small wooden spoon, and next to it was a stack of cut blank Talisman paper, clearly learning the process of making Talisman paper.

Ye Changge waited a while longer, and seeing she was still immersed in her own world, he couldn't help but chuckle and raised his voice slightly: "Caizhen, alright, that's enough."

Only then did Ye Caizhen suddenly snap back to reality, glancing at him before quickly turning back to stare at the paste in the pot. Pouting, she said without turning her head: "Daddy! I'm refining Talisman paper! Don't talk!"

The tone carried a bit of impatience, a bit of spoiled playfulness, and a bit of the focus and stubbornness unique to a child.

Liu Yiyi covered her mouth and chuckled on the side, not interjecting, just shaking her head helplessly at Ye Changge, her eyes clearly saying, "See, this child is just like you; once she starts doing something, she forgets everything else."

Ye Changge was also amused and stopped disturbing her, standing quietly to the side with his hands behind his back, watching her operate.

Although the little girl was not old, she had clearly been learning for some time. Her movements were quite professional; stirring the paste with the wooden spoon, observing the color changes, controlling the heat, every step was done meticulously.

Her serious profile, under the sunlight streaming in from the window, looked just like a small pearl that had just started to glow.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Ye Caizhen finally let out a breath, put down the wooden spoon, and reached out a small hand, somewhat clumsily wiping the fine beads of sweat from her forehead.

She looked down at the formed cyan paste in the pot, then picked up a piece of the cut blank Talisman paper next to it to compare, a look of satisfaction appearing on her small face.

"It's done!" She clapped her hands, her tone full of small pride.

Only then did Ye Changge step forward, bending down with a grin, reaching out his arms to lift her up from the ground.

The little girl was light, and he held her steadily in the crook of his arm; her carved-jade face moved close to his, with a trace of Spiritual Qi ink still on the tip of her nose.

"How was it, Caizhen?" Ye Changge gently rubbed his chin against her forehead and asked with a smile, "How does it feel to try making Talisman paper for the first time?"

Hearing this, Ye Caizhen first looked at her own small hands stained with the paste, then at the finished Talisman paper on the table, and finally pouted, saying somewhat unhappily: "Hmm... it's not fun, it's not interesting at all."

She tilted her head and added: "It's hot and tiring, and I have to keep watching the heat; it's much harder than drawing. And Mother insists on bringing me here to learn."