Han Lin was stunned for a moment, an expression of disbelief on his face.
"Master Zhao… Master Zhao, are you really willing to give me the century-old wild Ganoderma?"
He had come for the century-old wild Ganoderma, and now that Zhao Yan was giving it to him, he felt a little touched.
Zhao Yan said, "When I first saw Brother Han, I knew he wasn't the type to take advantage of others."
"I really want to give it to you, but I'm worried Brother Han will feel indebted to me. As the saying goes, money is easy to repay, but favors are hard to repay."
"Therefore, I've decided to reluctantly part with it and make an exchange with Brother Han."
As she spoke, Zhao Yan took out the century-old wild Ganoderma.
The moment the century-old wild Ganoderma was brought out, Han Lin finally understood that Zhao Yan was serious.
He had intended to offer two hundred thousand, but then he thought of Zhao Yan's magnanimity. If he truly offered such a small amount, he might come across as petty and displease Zhao Yan, especially since her master and two disciples were still under her control.
With this in mind, Han Lin stood up and paced around the room.
Zhao Yan drank her tea, unhurried, and waited patiently.
Two minutes later, Han Lin sat down and said, "Ten years ago, I bought an Ice Spirit Jade Brush. I am willing to exchange it with Master Zhao."
His two disciples behind him exclaimed, "Master, you can't! You cherish that brush so much, how can you exchange it?"
Han Lin glared and said, "Master Zhao is reluctantly parting with it, so why can't I make an exchange?"
"Besides, I'm not a talisman master. What's the use of it, even if it's good? It's not as useful as a pen in my hands."
Zhao Yan suddenly slammed the table and said, "Good! Then it's settled."
Han Lin said, "Master Zhao, could I borrow your phone?"
Zhao Yan handed him the phone.
Han Lin called his disciples and asked them to bring the brush over.
The previously tense atmosphere disappeared, and the hall was now filled with laughter and conversation.
Zhao Yan, in the posture of a junior, asked Han Lin many questions.
This momentarily satisfied Han Lin's vanity to an unprecedented degree.
Zhao Yan spoke so pleasantly that Han Lin burst into laughter.
If one didn't know better, they would think Zhao Yan had been Han Lin's close friend for over ten years.
"Master, someone is approaching,"
About ten minutes later, Wang Xianzhi whispered into Zhao Yan's ear.
"Let them in."
Han Lin's disciples entered the room, holding an exquisite box in their hands.
They handed the box towards Zhao Yan and said, "Master Zhao, this is the Ice Spirit Jade Brush I mentioned."
Zhao Yan took the box and opened it to reveal a brush.
The brush was like white jade, flawless and pure.
When she picked it up, she could feel the flow of yang energy, which made her heart rejoice. This was indeed a treasure.
As a talisman master, a brush was an indispensable item. The better the brush, the more it would cost, let alone a brush imbued with such gentle yang energy.
"Here, Brother Han, take this wild Ganoderma." Zhao Yan handed the century-old wild Ganoderma over.
Han Lin received the century-old wild Ganoderma, unable to put it down. He carefully inspected it and found no flaws.
He took a deep breath of it and immediately exclaimed, "Good! Good! Good!"
Zhao Yan took a sip of tea. She had already examined the wild Ganoderma and found that its malevolent energy was extremely well-hidden. It would take hundreds of inspections to even detect the poisonous energy within it.
She wondered how Elder Long had managed it.
Han Lin took another sniff of the wild Ganoderma and sighed, "If I had known Master Zhao was so easy to talk to, I wouldn't have been foolish enough to try and rob you. My mind was truly clouded."
Zhao Yan said, "Master Han, you don't need to blame yourself. It's precisely because of this incident that I got to know you, Brother Han, through conflict."
She inwardly scoffed. Han Lin's regret wasn't for the robbery last night, but for his lack of strength that prevented him from succeeding.
He had thought her yang energy was depleted and intended to take advantage of her.
Seeing Han Lin so familiar with this routine, Zhao Yan suspected this wasn't a one-off event but something that happened frequently.
Such a brush was rarely found at auctions; it was likely snatched from some unfortunate soul.
Han Lin laughed heartily, and Zhao Yan joined him.
"I'll come by again another day to apologize to Master Zhao. I'll be going now." Han Lin said.
Zhao Yan rose from her seat and said, "I'll see Brother Han out."
After seeing Han Lin into his car, Zhao Yan's gentle expression vanished. She let out a cold snort and began to play with the brush in her hand.
Inside the car, a disciple draped a coat over Han Lin.
"Master, Zhao Yan not only took the Seven Water Soul Bottle and your Soul Summoning Bell, but she even stripped you of your Thousand Strands Silk Robe. We cannot forget this revenge."
Han Lin's expression was grim as he looked at the century-old wild Ganoderma in his hand. "Do you think I don't know that?"
"This woman's abilities are considerable. We've already suffered a great loss. Do we want to suffer another?"
"As the saying goes, a gentleman's revenge is never too late, even after ten years."
"Once I absorb this century-old wild Ganoderma and boost my yang energy, and then raise ten fierce ghosts, I can avenge this."
"She must have been naive to think that by exchanging the wild Ganoderma, we would let this matter go!"
The disciples understood immediately upon hearing this.
Han Lin looked out the car window with a sinister gaze. "From today onwards, do not have any conflict with Zhao Yan. Once I increase my yang energy, she will have her reckoning!"
Upon hearing this, the disciples in the car burst into laughter.
"Zhao Yan is such a stupid pig, she doesn't understand the principle of letting the tiger return to the mountain!"
"I don't think she's stupid. As Master said, she's too naive, truly believing we could put aside our grievances and reconcile."
"Little does she know, her great calamity is imminent."
"I'll make sure to torture this woman properly then."
As they spoke, lewd laughter filled the car.
...
Zhao Yan, holding the Ice Snow Jade Brush, sneezed. She thought someone was cursing her.
She rubbed her nose and gently stroked the Ice Snow Jade Brush. The brush was truly excellent, increasing her talisman-drawing success rate by ten percent and the power of her talismans by another ten percent.
After drawing a talisman, Zhao Yan threw it. With a hum, the talisman emitted a golden light, which quickly dissipated, leaving a lingering trace of yang energy in the air.
"Excellent! Excellent!" Zhao Yan exclaimed.
With this brush, drawing talismans would be much easier from now on.
"Master, your methods are truly brilliant," Wang Xianzhi said with genuine admiration, picking up the talisman from the ground and handing it to Zhao Yan.
He was now immensely impressed with Zhao Yan. Zhao Yan had traded the poisonous Ganoderma for a treasure from Han Lin, without having to dirty her own hands.
As long as Han Lin absorbed the century-old wild Ganoderma completely, the mixture of malevolent and yin energy within him would naturally cause him to die of poisoning.
On the surface, Zhao Yan had appeared to back down and was in a panic, but in reality, she was as calm as a rock.