"The Tiger Talisman?!"
Su Tang didn't know whether to feel disappointed or relieved.
If a talisman wasn't too strong, it should be correspondingly easier to obtain…
But…
Sigh. Why the Tiger?
He'd thought about which talisman might be first.
In his heart, best would be the Dog—making him immortal in this perilous world.
Of course, others would work too: the Horse's healing, the Ox's strength, the Rabbit's speed… all would greatly boost his power and survivability. Worst case, even the Pig's laser eyes—at least it's unexpected.
But what good was the Tiger?
His deepest impression of it was: two Jackies.
He couldn't very well split himself and make two Su Tangs.
"What is it—boy, you sound disappointed?"
The Holy Lord's voice drifted. "Do you know what the Tiger does?"
"I once read in some ancient text—it's the split of good and evil?" Su Tang replied.
He certainly couldn't say he'd watched Jackie Chan Adventures; with ancient texts so numerous, who could know which one he'd seen.
"Heh. I've been sealed so many years that anybody can write a book, it seems." The Holy Lord let out a bland sneer, paused a beat, then said, "Good-and-evil split is only one manifestation of the Tiger Talisman. What it truly represents is the balancing force within me."
"Balancing force?" Su Tang left the alley, moving in the direction indicated by the dragon head. With the Holy Lord's words, he seemed to recall that was indeed the lore.
"Mm. It can balance the various forces within me—balance a living being's flesh, qi flow, and soul; balance the yin and yang in a body… it is of crucial importance."
"I am enlightened." Gripping the locator, Su Tang walked. With the miniature's search range, the talisman had to be within a thousand meters—i.e., within a circle of that radius.
After contracting with the Holy Lord, even without invoking power, his body had been strengthened in many ways—otherwise he couldn't have, yesterday, with just an electric sword, one-shot the Leg Devil that had eaten the Gun's flesh. Though it had only eaten 0.02 kg.
At his current fitness, in an all-out run without power, a thousand meters would take barely over a minute. But right now, constantly micro-adjusting course to search, he had to slow down, and listen to the Holy Lord's advice on the way.
"Boy, you still don't understand. The Twelve Talismans are the sealed, stripped fragments of my divine power—none of them are weak."
"Think carefully. Last night, you fought using both fire-qi and the Shadow Corps. Could you control both at the same time?"
When it came to himself, Su Tang listened even more closely.
He replayed it and found it was true.
When he used fire-qi, he couldn't directly manipulate the Shadow Corps—they could only act on pre-set orders; and when he controlled the Corps, he couldn't wield fire-qi.
There was some heavy drag between the two. He could compress the handoff to a minimum with proficient micro, but he still couldn't use them simultaneously.
"Heh, seems you remember." The Holy Lord's tone was as ever. "What you inherited from me is hardly just those two. With the Tiger Talisman, you could control them at the same time—and as deftly as your own limbs. Your understanding of the powers would deepen."
"Also, your… devil hunters, is it? It seems you aren't limited to contracting only one devil. Though you likely won't make other contracts, if you did contract a second, the Tiger would prevent the two powers from clashing."
The corner of Su Tang's mouth twitched.
Anyone else he could accept, but even from your mouth I have to hear I'm a devil hunter?
You watched me build the clinic step by step!
Forget it—I'm tired. Let it all burn.
Exhaling, Su Tang said, "Thank you for the guidance, Holy Lord. But it seems I won't use that second function—contracting other devils would only distract from finding the talismans."
Whether the Holy Lord believed him or not, it was time to show loyalty.
Didn't cost anything—just a sentence.
But he got no reply.
Seemed he'd gone back to resting.
That was fine, too.
Su Tang gripped the talisman locator and looked up at a street sign.
He'd come to a food street in the city center; after circling once, he found that per the red beam, the talisman was inside.
It was lively within, like there was some event.
Su Tang frowned, weaving through the crowd until he arrived before a deli that seemed newly opened.
A red banner hung over the door, with big, flamboyant characters.
[Big-Eater Contest Now in Full Swing!]
A big-eater contest?
His heart gave a thump—the déjà vu instantly brought to mind the Tiger Talisman's emergence in the cartoon.
Seemed like a food-eating contest too.
He looked down at the four-sided dragon head in his hand. The red light flickered, pointing squarely at that mountain of cooked meats.
Trouble.
Glancing back at the eager faces behind him, Su Tang stepped forward to look for the owner.
Just then he heard a familiar voice.
"Hahahaha! Cooked-meat big-eater contest! The great me came to the right place!"
Power? Why would she be here?
His puzzled gaze swung over; as if sensing something, the green-haired, green-eyed Himeno also turned at the same time.
Their eyes met.
"Oh, it's… Mr. Su Tang, right? What are you doing here?"
Himeno walked over, an easy smile on her face.
Su Tang didn't know how she recognized him—after all, they hadn't formally met. On a normal day he'd be more gentlemanly and exchange pleasantries, but right now he only wanted to find the boss.
"Hello. I've got an urgent matter. Let's talk later."
With that, he stepped around her to go.
Himeno blocked him at once.
That single green eye held a mysterious smile. "Please forgive me—I'll only take one sentence of Mr. Su Tang's time. Mm… would Mr. Su Tang be interested in swapping rooms with me?"
"Swap rooms?" Su Tang blinked.
"Yes—Mr. Su Tang would stay at my place for the next couple of days, and I would go cohab—stay at Aki's place in your stead…"
Uh.
An admirer of Aki Hayakawa?
But that didn't sound like a crush either—they were already talking cohabitation…
Su Tang was a bit confused, but he didn't want to meddle in others' private lives. Plus, he was in a hurry, so he simply nodded yes.
Sidestepping Himeno, he headed for the owner.
There was no way he was entering the big-eater contest—he had a more efficient method.
—The power of money!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you so much for reading until the end.
If you'd like to read more, you can Joining to my Patreon.
My Patreon: p*treon*com/Hydran_Tea
Chainsaw Man: The Covenant of Flame Demon [ 113 Chapter ]
Uma Musume: Wait—you want me to pop my Christmas Hat Ultimate? [ 102 Chapter ]