After a breakfast that was nearly silent for the latter half, Ji Yuenian glanced at the calendar where four days had already been crossed off. She then looked at her own National Day holiday plan. Following a brief bit of planning, she decided on today’s activity—worshiping the gods.
The Shenxiao Sect originated as one of the branches of the Three Talismans. It emerged at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty and spread from the Southern Song through the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. The name “Shenxiao” came from the Lingbao Infinite Salvation Supreme Sutra.
Its teachings held that there were nine heavens: Shenxiao, Qingxiao, Bixiao, Danxiao, Jingxiao, Yuxiao, Langxiao, Zixiao, and Taixiao. Among them, Shenxiao was the highest, the so-called “Supreme Shenxiao, a million miles from the earth!”
Ji Yuenian indeed did not believe in gods, but she believed gods existed, especially after her gender swap.
During the days Jiang Chi had been unconscious, she hadn’t just stayed by his side to care for him; she had also gained a deep understanding of the Taoist temple they were currently in—Shenxiao Temple.
The head of this temple was Hu Li’s father. Relying on tourism and brand effects, the daily net profit reached as high as several million, significantly boosting the local GDP.
Ji Yuenian pulled Jiang Chi to line up, then splurged 1,998 yuan to buy a giant incense stick. Under the guidance of the staff, she inserted the incense into the plaza of Shenxiao Temple.
Once the people praying in front had left, she pulled Jiang Chi into the temple.
The temple was solemn and dignified. The vermillion gates stood wide open as if welcoming devout believers. Exquisite patterns were carved onto the lintel, with lifelike divine beasts and mysterious talismans exuding an ancient and mystical aura.
Stepping into the temple, a faint scent of high-grade sandalwood wafted toward them. Ji Yuenian’s gaze was drawn to the nine tall and majestic divine statues in the center. The statues were carved from an unknown wood, looking grave and solemn. Various offerings were placed beneath the divine seats: vibrant flowers, fresh and plump fruits, and burning incense candles with wisps of blue smoke slowly rising.
Ji Yuenian knelt on a prayer mat and made a silent wish in her heart.
“My wish is simple: let me change back. If you really exist, can you give me some sign? Once I inherit my company’s shares, I promise to plate every one of you great gods in gold.”
Ji Yuenian wasn’t sure if the nine great gods worshipped by the Shenxiao Sect truly existed, but she couldn’t be certain they didn’t either. So… with the mindset of “casting a wide net” and “using metaphysics to counter metaphysics,” whenever she encountered such a temple, she would worship first and ask questions later.
On the way out, unlike the solemn and dignified atmosphere of their surroundings, the vibe between the two was quite cold. They walked one after the other, with Ji Yuenian in front, her hands in her pockets.
“By the way, Jiang Chi, what wish did you make when you were praying just now?” Ji Yuenian turned her head to look at the boy behind her who had been silent since the morning. Before he could speak, she tucked a strand of short hair behind her ear and continued talking to herself.
“My wish is simple: just to have everything return to the way it was. This kind of life right now is annoying to death. I have to hide it from my parents and dodge my group of underlings. Sigh, life really isn’t easy.”
“If God gave me a chance to do it over, I definitely wouldn’t have gone to buy that marshmallow that day. As for romance and stuff, it can stay as far away as possible.”
Hearing this, Jiang Chi’s eyes dimmed, and several sentences that were on the tip of his tongue were swallowed back down. He shook his head slightly, revealing a self-deprecating smile. Without replying to Ji Yuenian, he quickened his pace and walked toward another direction.
“Hey, Jiang Chi…” Seeing this, Ji Yuenian hurriedly called out to him. Jiang Chi’s footsteps paused for a moment, but then he resumed his pace and continued walking forward.
Watching his receding back, Ji Yuenian lost interest in chasing after him. She rubbed her smooth chin and murmured.
“Leaving just like that? Did I hit a sore spot?”
“No way, does this kid really want to pursue me?”
She could accept intimate contact between the two of them in bed, treating it as friends with benefits helping each other out. But “pursuit” and “liking”—those were out of the question. Just like the guys on the forums said: “Sex only requires physical strength, but love requires a response.”
Ji Yuenian didn’t plan to respond, nor did she want to. If nothing else, just the aspect of her identity alone—thinking about coming clean to her parents and dating a man—made her feel like her vision was going black.
Unless she truly succumbed to womanhood like in those novels, such a thing was absolutely impossible.
After coming out of the temple, Jiang Chi wandered around the nearby snack street for a while. He walked numbly, aimlessly, without a destination. He didn’t know what was wrong with him, but the only thing he understood was Ji Yuenian’s silent rejection.
After experiencing that dream and understanding the biggest knot in his heart, he was just about to suggest they could give it a try, only to be ruthlessly rejected and warned by Ji Yuenian.
There was a common saying in love: between two people, whoever falls in love first loses.
Right now, he was undoubtedly that loser, whether facing “Ji Qingchan” or Ji Yuenian.
Perhaps in Ji Yuenian’s eyes, a smart person like him just thought too much, which made it too easy to fall into the trap of “emotion” and fail to see through it.
As he walked, Jiang Chi unknowingly arrived in front of a fortune-telling stall. The stall owner was a female Daoist in purple robes who was extremely beautiful. Her long black hair was tied into a bunch with a red string, draped casually over her shoulders. A purple-gold lightning mark was tattooed on her forehead, making her look extraordinary and detached from the mortal world.
“This seeker, have you encountered something troubling and need a fortune read?” the female Daoist asked with a smile.
“…A relationship fortune.”
Jiang Chi didn’t believe in these superstitious things, but thinking about everything he had encountered, just because he hadn’t seen certain things didn’t mean they didn’t exist. Maybe there really were extraordinary people in this world, so he chose to get a reading to resolve the frustration in his heart.
Purple robes held an extraordinary status in Taoism. He didn’t know if this person was just cosplaying or if she actually had real skills.
A few minutes later, after receiving two comments—”a winding path ahead” and “success depends on human effort”—Jiang Chi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. What kind of nonsense was this?
How was this any different from a consolation prize in a lucky draw? No, a consolation prize was at least less perfunctory than this.
However, Jiang Chi didn’t make things difficult for her. Regarding “relationships,” even he didn’t know where the future between him and Ji Yuenian would go. He scanned the code to pay for the fortune and then turned to leave in a hurry.
Seeing this, the female Daoist in purple narrowed her eyes slightly. She looked at the bamboo slip in her hand, shook her head, and put it back into the cylinder. Just as she was waiting for the next person destined to come, a little green-haired boy suddenly ran out from the nearby bushes and threw himself at her.
“Sister Lingshu, why are you here? Are you here to find Mianmian again?” The little boy tilted his head up with a face full of smiles. His bright green eyes sparkled like stars, looking very endearing and cute. Lin Lingshu’s heart warmed as she watched him, and she couldn’t help but pinch his fair little cheek.
“I’m here to find that person from your family, and also to see you. The one from my family is here too.”
After saying that, Lin Lingshu set the boy down and looked up. At this moment, the sky was cloudless and azure, with a crimson sun hanging high in the air!