The Ability To Make Wishes

To put it simply and directly, Samuel’s explanation seemed increasingly suspicious under the circumstances. Either Samuel was a fool who couldn’t even come up with a logical lie, or he simply didn’t care about inciting the suspicions of Ran Jiu and Meng Shan.

Looking at the current situation, the latter seemed far more likely. It remained unclear whether Samuel was acting out of pure kindness or harbored a hidden motive.

Meng Shan spoke up tentatively, “Does it have to be somewhere secluded? The weather is quite sweltering; we’d rather rest here where it’s a bit cooler.”

“Is that so? You have a point. Let it be here, then.” Without further entanglement, Samuel readily agreed to Meng Shan’s request. “Do you have anything on you that can provide direction? Something like a compass?”

“Something to guide the way?” Ran Jiu patted his pockets. Aside from his phone and keys, there seemed to be nothing. “In this day and age, everyone uses GPS. Who carries a compass around?”

Samuel asked again, “Then do you have anything… long and thin?”

Meng Shan pulled a ballpoint pen from his pocket and handed it to Samuel. “Will this work? This is all I have on me.”

“Of course. Please wait a moment.”

Samuel gripped the pen in his palm. After a brief pause, he opened his hand and returned the pen to Meng Shan, instructing: “There. As long as you silently recite your requirements in your heart, this pen will guide you to the place you wish to go.”

Having said his piece, Samuel took up his cane and turned to leave. From his limping gait, it wasn’t hard to see that his right leg seemed incapable of bending.

“Wait a second, let’s exchange phone numbers,” Meng Shan said just as Samuel was about to depart. “As thanks for your help, we’d like to treat you to a meal when you have the time.”

“I see. No problem. My number is…”

After exchanging numbers, Samuel said nothing more and left without looking back.

What an oddball. The thought occurred simultaneously to both Meng Shan and Ran Jiu.

The two didn’t linger at the bus station. After resting for a moment and ensuring no other suspicious figures were around, they moved to a secluded corner.

Looking at the pen in his hand, Meng Shan asked, “Well, Ah Jiu? Can you see anything off about it?”

“He injected a small amount of mana into this pen, then used that mana to imprint something like a magic circle on it.” Ran Jiu scrutinized the pen closely. “What’s certain is that this should be some kind of ability triggered by the user’s will. As for the actual effect… I can’t tell.”

“Well—let’s just try it then,” Meng Shan said.

“Your sense of precaution is really something,” Ran Jiu teased.

After the retort, Ran Jiu followed the instructions, placing the pen flat in his palm and silently reciting the criteria for the gift he wanted to give Yi Fuling. Instantly, the residual mana on the pen began to drain rapidly. Even as the mana neared exhaustion, there was no sign of the consumption stopping.

Seeing this, Ran Jiu did nothing, calmly observing the changes in the pen.

Just as the mana was completely spent and the ritual seemed poised to fail, a massive surge of mana erupted from the direction Samuel had gone.

At that exact moment, Samuel fell painfully to his knees, blood seeping through his clothes. Drops of blood fell from his mask; perhaps due to some special material, the mask itself remained unstained. A moment later, the agony faded. Straining his weakened body, Samuel moved toward a nearby shop. His priority now was to tend to his new wounds and change his blood-soaked clothes.

Back with Ran Jiu, as the ritual ended, the pen spun wildly, pointing in a specific direction before reverting to an ordinary pen.

Following the pen’s guidance, Meng Shan and Ran Jiu drove to their destination: a mundane-looking handicraft shop. Confused, the two shared a look and entered.

They were greeted by a middle-aged man in his forties, somewhat stout.

“Welcome, guests. Are you looking to buy something in our shop? I am the owner. If you need anything, just let me know.”

Meng Shan got straight to the point. “We want to pick a suitable birthday gift for a sixteen-year-old girl. Any recommendations?”

“Certainly, certainly. But before that, I must ask: what price range are you looking for?”

Hearing this, Ran Jiu grew interested. “What ranges do you have?”

“From single digits… to seven digits.”

Ran Jiu followed up, “Seven digits? This shop isn’t even that big; you have items worth millions?”

“Normally, I wouldn’t reveal this to customers. However, the aura of you two suggests you aren’t ordinary people. That faint scent of blood clinging to you simply won’t dissipate.”

Meng Shan spoke up, “What are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying that this shop often hosts ‘special’ guests. They bring colorful currencies or priceless treasures to purchase my goods.” As he spoke, a nearly invisible white mist rose from beneath their feet. The owner continued, “However, not every guest has the right to buy from me. Which kind are you?”

“Which kind? The kind you can’t afford to provoke.”

With a simple stomp, the rising mist vanished without a trace. Ran Jiu slowly approached the owner. “Furthermore, that stunt just now was very rude. I think I need to teach you a lesson.”

A dense mana radiated from Ran Jiu’s body. This made the owner realize he had kicked a steel plate today.

“Wait a moment, Ah Qi. I think after your ‘reminder,’ this gentleman knows how to receive us now, right?” Meng Shan’s voice came from behind, halting Ran Jiu’s advance. “And… Ah Qi?”

Ran Jiu caught Meng Shan’s drift and immediately said respectfully, “Master, this lowly fellow was quite insolent. I don’t believe there is any necessity for him to stay alive.”

“No! No! No!” the owner cried out. “I have realized my mistake deeply and offer my most sincere apologies. Please, stay your hand!”

Meng Shan gave a thin, cold smile. “Is that so? But an apology isn’t something said with the mouth; it’s shown through action.”

After a “friendly communication” with the owner, Meng Shan and Ran Jiu left the shop satisfied, carrying an exquisitely wrapped gift box.

In a quiet corner, they opened the box to reveal a plain, even slightly worn green jade ring.

Looking at this unremarkable ring, Ran Jiu asked skeptically, “He didn’t scam us, did he? This thing can sell for seven digits?”

“I can’t see anything special about this bracelet, other than a tiny bit of residual mana inside.”

“Unlikely.” Meng Shan picked up the ring, observing it closely. “I only know a little about antiques, but I can tell this jade ring is at least a century old. That alone makes it valuable. I’ll have someone appraise its actual value later and investigate what’s going on with that bit of mana. Once confirmed, we’ll pack it up as Yi Fuling’s birthday gift.”

“I hope that owner was telling the truth, or I’m definitely coming back for him,” Ran Jiu said. “So, that shop is a fence for stolen goods, right? An awakened with so little power… it’s a bit pathetic.”

Meng Shan replied, “Looks like it. He’s weak—probably couldn’t even beat the low-level monsters that pop up in this city. But it’s enough to scare ordinary people or short-sighted thugs. He probably made a killing fencing goods.”

Ran Jiu shook his head. “That lifestyle is high risk. Making money with supernatural abilities without the strength to protect it… sooner or later, he’ll end up dead in a gutter. But that has nothing to do with us. We got what we wanted.”

At this point, Ran Jiu asked, “How did you come up with calling me ‘Ah Qi’? That was a bit too cringe.”

“Just a random thought. $9 – 1 – 1 = 7$. Simple as that.” Meng Shan countered, “I should be asking you—why did you call me ‘Master’?”

“Wasn’t your persona ‘The Urban Soldier King playing the pig to eat the tiger’? As your lackey-slash-harem-member-slash-thug-slash-cook-slash-butler, of course I have to call you ‘Master’.”

“…You still remember that night? And why are your roles increasing?”

“We’re short-staffed.”

“I give up on you.”

After the brief banter, Meng Shan turned to business. “So, what did Samuel do? How did he make a pen lead us here?”

Hearing the serious topic, Ran Jiu’s expression turned solemn. “I think he used an ability similar to a ‘Wishing Technique’ on that pen. Specifically, it seems to involve designating a target with an object, injecting mana to trigger the ability, and then the object changes according to the original intent. For example, when I wanted to find a gift that fit my criteria, the pen briefly gained the ability of a detector, guiding us to what we sought.”

After hearing Ran Jiu’s guess, Meng Shan remarked, “Sounds like a very powerful ability.”

“In terms of effect, yes. But according to my observation, the mana consumption is astronomical. It works as a utility, but it wouldn’t hold up in a direct fight.”