Xiao Qi had received the "Breeze Brushing Willow Sword Art" gifted by his Eldest Senior Brother, and for several days he immersed himself in studying and practicing this new sword art. The sword art was indeed exquisite, demanding extremely high coordination of spiritual energy circulation and body movement techniques. He found it quite challenging to practice, yet he delighted in it, able to clearly feel each bit of his progress.
One afternoon, having just finished a round of sword art practice and pondering a particular turning and force-dispersing technique, he heard a familiar yet somewhat mysterious voice sound behind him.
"Junior Brother Xiao Qi! Junior Brother Xiao Qi! Quick, come here! I've got something good to show you!"
Xiao Qi turned to see Second Senior Brother Luo Feng crouching down, peeking his head out from behind a dense bush, his face brimming with barely suppressed excitement and pride, mixed with a trace of thief-like nervousness. Within the sect, Luo Feng was known for his obsession with various "unorthodox methods" and clever gadgets. Though his cultivation wasn't top-top-tier, his mind was always full of strange and peculiar ideas, often causing laughable mishaps.
"Second Senior Brother? What good thing?" Xiao Qi put away the tree branch and walked over curiously.
Luo Feng grabbed his arm and lowered his voice, saying, "Come with me, I guarantee it'll open your eyes! This research of mine is absolutely epoch-making!" Without further explanation, he pulled Xiao Qi towards his cluttered storage room cum laboratory, located in a corner of the disciple dormitory area, jokingly called the "Hundred Crafts Workshop" by other disciples.
Pushing open the creaky wooden door that seemed ready to fall apart at any moment, a strange smell assaulted them—a mix of talisman paper, cinnabar, metal scraps, and something burnt. The room was even more chaotic inside; all sorts of unnameable materials, half-finished magical artifacts, and discarded talismans were piled everywhere, leaving almost no place to step.
Luo Feng carefully skirted a few peculiar devices emitting faint electric sparks, then dragged out from under a pile of clutter a roughly human-shaped wooden "doll" about half a person's height. The doll's limbs were made of simple wooden sticks, its torso a square box, and its head a sphere with crudely drawn facial features in cinnabar, looking rather comical. On its back was attached a complex, shimmering yellow talisman, clearly its core.
"Look! This is my latest creation—the 'Auto-sweeping Talisman Puppet'!" Luo Feng puffed out his chest, introducing with pride. "Just inject a trace of spiritual energy to activate it, and it can automatically recognize its surroundings, sweep away dust and debris, freeing your hands! It's practically a must-have for cultivation and chores!"
Xiao Qi looked at the oddly shaped wooden doll that seemed ready to fall apart any moment, then at Second Senior Brother's expectant eyes, feeling somewhat apprehensive. Of Second Senior Brother's inventions, eight out of ten times the results were unsatisfactory, and the remaining two times... often brought unexpected "surprises."
"This... Second Senior Brother, will it really work?" Xiao Qi tentatively asked.
"Of course!" Luo Feng thumped his chest. "The theory is absolutely sound! I've done preliminary tests. It's just... its direction recognition occasionally has minor deviations; needs optimization of the algorithm... ah no, the talisman pattern structure." He vaguely explained, then abruptly changed the subject, shoving the talisman puppet into Xiao Qi's hands. "Come on, Junior Brother Xiao Qi, you're heading to the kitchen to help, right? Take it for a trial run! Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth! Help your senior brother collect some usage data!"
Xiao Qi couldn't withstand the enthusiastic Second Senior Brother's insistence, and seeing his eager, hopeful gaze, his heart softened, and he accepted the heavy "Auto-sweeping Talisman Puppet."
"Then... I'll give it a try?"
"Go, go! Remember, just inject a trace of spiritual energy, definitely not more!" Luo Feng excitedly pushed him out the door.
Carrying this strange talisman puppet, Xiao Qi drew curious glances from many disciples along the way, arriving at the kitchen. The busiest hours had passed, and only two chore-duty disciples were cleaning up.
"Senior Brother Xiao Qi, what's this?" a chore disciple asked, eyeing the wooden doll in his hands with puzzlement.
"Uh... this is Second Senior Brother's new... sweeping helper." Xiao Qi vaguely explained, finding a relatively spacious corner. Following Second Senior Brother's instructions, he cautiously injected a trace of weak spiritual energy into the talisman on the puppet's back.
The cinnabar patterns on the talisman instantly lit up, emitting faint spiritual light. The wooden doll gave a sudden shudder, emitting "creaking" sounds, then its spherical head's "eye" areas lit up with two tiny dots of light. Clumsily moving its stick-legs, it began to move.
Initially, it seemed fairly normal, waving its similarly stick-like arms, sweeping together some vegetable leaves and dust on the ground. Its movements were stiff, but it was indeed sweeping. Xiao Qi and the other two chore disciples breathed a sigh of relief, even finding it somewhat novel.
However, the good times didn't last long. When the talisman puppet swept near a wall, it didn't turn; instead, it marched straight toward the wall.
"Thud!"
A dull thump—the puppet's round head solidly collided with the wall. It paused briefly, as if "thinking," then... began repeatedly banging its head against the wall, emitting rhythmic "thud-thud" sounds, as if holding a grudge against that wall.
"Eh? What's it..." Xiao Qi was stunned, quickly stepping forward to pull it away.
Just then, the puppet seemed triggered by Xiao Qi's approach. It abruptly turned, no longer banging the wall, but instead waving its "broom" arms, charging toward Xiao Qi at a surprisingly brisk speed.
Xiao Qi jumped in fright, hastily sidestepping to dodge. Missing its strike, the puppet charged straight toward a wooden shelf nearby holding a stack of washed bowls and plates!
"Watch out!" another chore disciple exclaimed.
Seeing the puppet about to crash into the shelf, Xiao Qi, in desperation, disregarded everything, darting forward to try and grab the puppet. Unexpectedly, the puppet reacted swiftly, its stick-arm swinging out, precisely hitting Xiao Qi's outstretched hand.
"Smack!" Pain shot through Xiao Qi's hand, reflexively making him retract it. Meanwhile, the puppet, due to the recoil, changed direction again, charging toward the stove!
On the stove sat a large pot of spiritual rice porridge that a senior brother had just finished cooking, not yet cleared away!
"No!" Xiao Qi's eyes widened in horror.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye. With a loud "crash," the puppet solidly collided with the stove, the impact so strong the whole stove shook. The pot of steaming hot spiritual rice porridge on top tilted, spilling out sticky porridge, drenching the puppet and splattering everywhere. Doused by the hot porridge, the talisman on its back flickered violently several times, then "poof," emitted a puff of blue smoke before dimming. The wooden doll stiffened in place, motionless.
The kitchen was a complete mess. Marks from the collision marred the wall; scattered debris and porridge water covered the floor; the bowl shelf teetered precariously; the stove was especially disastrous. The "culprit" puppet stood amidst the porridge puddle, emitting faint steam.
The two chore disciples stared, dumbfounded.
Xiao Qi gazed at the chaotic scene before him, feeling his vision darken.
Indeed... Second Senior Brother's inventions never failed to "impress."
Soon, the deacon disciple in charge of kitchen affairs arrived upon hearing the news. Seeing the kitchen looking as if rampaged by a small demon beast, his face turned ashen. After clarifying the cause, he grew even more furious, his beard bristling.
The outcome was utterly predictable. Moments later, Second Senior Brother Luo Feng, who had rushed over upon hearing, and Xiao Qi stood together, heads bowed before the livid-faced deacon disciple.
"Luo Feng! Tang Xiao Qi!" the deacon disciple's voice was stern. "Damaging public property, disrupting kitchen order! You two are punished to thoroughly clean the kitchen, restore it to its original state! All soiled utensils are your responsibility to wash! Additionally, deduct this month's ration of spirit stones!"
Luo Feng hung his head, muttering softly, "My talisman puppet... the data collection isn't finished yet..."
Xiao Qi, however, was full of shame, repeatedly admitting fault, "Deacon Senior Brother, we know we're wrong, we'll definitely clean it up properly."
Thus, for the entire afternoon that followed, one could see the rather famous "inventor" among Qingxu Temple's outer sect disciples, Luo Feng, and the "rising star" Tang Xiao Qi, who had just broken through to Qi Refining Fifth Layer, both covered in dust and looking disheveled, busily working in the kitchen. One vigorously scrubbed stains and congealed rice porridge off the wall with a rag; the other carried buckets of water, repeatedly washing the floor, plus cleaning the pile of affected bowls and plates.
While wiping the stove, Luo Feng still couldn't resist studying the already scrapped talisman puppet, muttering, "Strange, the obstacle avoidance talisman pattern is clearly fine. Could it be interference between the spiritual energy circuit and the movement talisman array? Needs revision, major revision..."
Xiao Qi, watching Second Senior Brother's absorbed research demeanor, completely forgetting where he was, sighed helplessly, shook his head, and continued laboring diligently. He secretly vowed that next time Second Senior Brother had any "epoch-making invention," he must... be cautious, extremely cautious!
The setting sun's afterglow filtered through the kitchen window, illuminating the two busy figures, casting a layer of bittersweetly amusing color over this little episode. The path of cultivation seemed not always dull meditation and sword practice; occasionally, such mundane "accidents" dotted it. Only the cost was somewhat... heavy on the kitchen.