For Jade, life in America was quite satisfactory. Not only did she get to travel all over the world, but gangs, ninjas, superpowers, and martial arts—things originally only found in movies—had all been brought into reality.
Of course, there was an unsatisfactory part, and that was going to school.
At school, Jade's relationship with her teachers and classmates wasn't actually very good. She was a transfer student, and she spent most of her free time outside participating in various magical incidents, leaving her with little opportunity to interact with kids her own age.
Coupled with her penchant for telling wild tales of her adventures and her lack of focus on her studies, her classmates didn't really like her.
Some even liked to tease her.
At school, Jade was lonely. She always hoped that her boring school life would end quickly, or that something novel would happen.
Now, her wish had come true, but she found it a bit hard to accept.
"Hello, students. Your original social studies teacher had a little problem and temporarily cannot come to class. For the next period of time, I will be your substitute teacher."
Zenith had specially prepared a pair of plain glasses to make himself look more like a respectable educator.
"Oh my god!"
Jade slapped her desk and stood up, her reaction exactly the same as when she had seen Zenith not too long ago.
"It seems student Jade Chan is very welcoming of me. Then, could you please tell us where we currently are in the curriculum?"
How was Jade supposed to know? During class, she was always daydreaming. Paying attention was simply impossible.
Zenith and Jade stared blankly at each other. He had overlooked this; Zenith hadn't realized that Jade was actually a terrible student. Waving his hand to let her sit down, Zenith pulled out a DVD.
"Since it's my first day of class and I don't know everyone too well yet, I'll play a movie for you all. Just remember to write a review afterward so I can get an initial impression of you."
Students never liked teachers who assigned homework, and Jade was no exception.
But students absolutely loved teachers who played movies during class, especially this bunch of middle schoolers. The atmosphere in the classroom instantly became jubilant.
The movie Zenith played was the classic 1998 Jackie Chan film, *Rush Hour*.
Of course, this Jackie Chan wasn't the Jackie Chan from the animated adventures, but the international martial arts superstar, Big Brother Jackie Chan.
In terms of appearance, the two were identical—parallel universe counterparts.
In this world, the last martial arts star to achieve mainstream global fame was Bruce Lee. This was a world without Jackie Chan, but clearly, he might just become famous soon.
"It's Uncle Jackie!"
Jade's eyes instantly widened. How did she not know that her Uncle Jackie had acted in movies? As long as kids had something to watch, they would be very quiet. For these eleven- and twelve-year-olds, cartoons were no longer a necessity.
Without a doubt, Jade watched the most intently. Even after school ended, she pestered Zenith and stayed until the movie was completely finished.
This made Uncle so anxious that he called the school directly.
However, upon learning that Jade was watching a movie with Zenith, Uncle seemed even more frantic than before. He immediately dragged Jackie Chan along and stormed the school.
This time, Uncle even brought his dried pufferfish.
Zenith and Jade were sitting side by side. By now, *Rush Hour* had finished, and the projector was playing one of Jackie Chan's more traditional kung fu comedies, *Drunken Master*.
Then, with a loud bang, the front door of the classroom was kicked open by Uncle. The pufferfish led the way, the green light of chi magic flashing at its mouth. "Jade, don't be afraid, Uncle is here to save you! Where is the child-eating elf!"
Heh, it was a good thing Serie wasn't here, otherwise they could have witnessed a grand battle between the old geezer and the old goat.
After Uncle cautiously stepped into the classroom and looked around, he finally relaxed his guard. Following Zenith and Jade's gazes, he looked at the large screen.
"Aiya—Jackie, when did you go film a movie? Why didn't Uncle know?"
Jackie Chan looked at himself on the screen, chugging wine and performing Drunken Fist, and was equally dumbfounded. "When did I ever go film a movie? Why don't I know?"
Of course, these were minor issues. The Talismans were the major issue.
Uncle spoke up, "Zenith, the Talismans are not simple magical props. They are connected to an ancient, powerful demon. Uncle doesn't know if you understand the importance of the Talismans, but Uncle wants you to know that this is not something to joke about."
Uncle pulled out the Ox Talisman sticker Zenith had made from his pocket, followed by the Snake Talisman and the Sheep Talisman...
The inscriptions and the power matched the ancient texts, but these were obviously high-quality knockoffs, and knockoffs made in Zenith's own unique style at that.
Furthermore, there was a problem here. Both Shendu and the Dark Hand currently believed that the ones Jackie and the others had risked their lives to bring back were the real deal.
"I actually have a plan." Zenith stood up, slung an arm over Uncle's shoulder, and walked with him to the back of the classroom. "Look at it this way. On the surface, everyone knows that Jackie took the Talismans and that they are all stored in Section 13. This way, all of Shendu's future schemes and tricks will be directed at Section 13."
Uncle raised an eyebrow. "And so? You've shifted all the danger onto Jackie!"
"But this way, when they finally succeed, all they'll steal are fake Talismans! Tell me, what do you think will happen if Shendu's twelve slots are filled with Grade-A knockoffs?"
Following Zenith's train of thought, Uncle thought about it carefully and found that he really couldn't imagine it.
"Exactly, you can't imagine it. I can't imagine it either, which makes it all the more worth trying, doesn't it?"
Uncle and Zenith reached a consensus at the speed of light, and Zenith casually extended an invitation for a magic exchange conference. This would be an exchange between Western magic and pseudo-Chinese spells. The leap to immortal cultivation was too big, so using the Western-skinned Chinese magic of *Jackie Chan Adventures* as a buffer was just right.
Having reached a preliminary cooperation, Uncle provided a piece of intel: an antique porcelain lamp inlaid with the Rat Talisman would be sold at an auction next week. The agents of Section 13 had discovered this by monitoring internet information in real-time.
It was just past the millennium, a period of rapid network development where the internet was gradually beginning to exert its power.
The power of the Rat Talisman was to give motion to the motionless, and the animated objects would possess the superpowers they were designed to have.
For example, if the power of the Rat Talisman was applied to a Shinkocchou Seihou Ultraman figure, not only would the action figure instantly come to life, but this miniature Ultraman could also fly and even shoot light beams.
It was practically an otaku's dream come true.
Before leaving, Jade borrowed the *Rush Hour* DVD. Zenith watched her departing figure thoughtfully.
Of course, he didn't have any weird thoughts about a little girl who hadn't even reached a meter in height yet. Rather, he keenly noticed that Jade was carrying his modded Rabbit Talisman.
The status of this Rabbit Talisman was a bit strange at the moment. He could see a limited-time buff hanging over it: [Energy Activation: 25m: 46s].
*If I remember correctly, there's a plotline in the original story where Jade is about to be late, uses the Rabbit Talisman to get to school, and accidentally travels through time.*
Pinching his chin, Zenith struggled to recall. *I think it was hit by some kind of ray from Section 13, which amplified the Rabbit Talisman's power, giving it a limited-time time-travel function.*
Interesting. Zenith decided to find time to visit Section 13. There weren't many things that could affect modded items.