Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Xie Qingling tore her gaze away from the glass bottle containing the white liquid, but her heart continued to beat faster despite herself.

She doubted she had been this nervous even while sitting the national college entrance examination.

Like an exemplary student, she obediently folded her hands on the table and assumed a posture of rapt attention.

“Before we begin, I’ll first explain the concepts of Innate Spirits and Acquired Spirits.”

“First, Acquired Spirits. They all start as ordinary people without any special ability or talent. To become Spirit Wielders, they need the substance in this bottle.” Ling Fang pointed to the glass bottle. “After drinking it, there are generally two possible outcomes – life or death.”

“If they live, their sinews and bones are remade and they receive a new lease on life. They become capable of controlling Spirit and killing ghosts.”

“But that’s all.” Ling Fang continued, “Acquired Spirits generally display greater strength than ordinary people, more endurance, and sturdier constitutions. Unfortunately, compared with Innate Spirits, Acquired Spirits are merely ordinary humans with stronger bodies.”

Xie Qingling was so nervous her mouth had gone dry. “Innate Spirits are stronger because they can obtain divine blessings?”

“Correct.”

“Innate Spirits can obtain divine blessings through a Blessing Ritual. If a deity responds, they will bestow a portion of a divine ability, allowing the Spirit Wielder to wield it.”

“Obtaining a divine blessing requires a certain ritual and an offering.” Ling Fang pushed the bottle of white liquid toward Xie Qingling. “This is the offering I prepared for you.”

[Humans, ah, humans. Arrogant humans. You cast aside your former companions and closed your ears, no longer hearing their calls, forgetting how to communicate with them.]

[Humans, ah, humans. Clever humans. Your descendants grew up in comfort, yet some among you still keenly perceived the danger. No one knows what price they paid or how many generations passed, but they actually regained the complex means of communicating with the gods.]

[Offerings and rituals. These seem capable of granting you the right to obtain power from the gods. The only question is whether you are fortunate enough to win a deity’s favor.]

Hearing the voice in her mind, Xie Qingling abruptly came back to herself.

She looked up at Ling Fang and asked, “What do I need to do to conduct the ritual?”

She was as decisive as ever, without the slightest hesitation.

She hadn’t even stopped to think.

Or perhaps she had thought only briefly before swiftly making her decision.

Ling Fang couldn’t help freezing at Xie Qingling’s ruthless decisiveness. He reminded her, “Don’t you want to think about it a little longer? Even Innate Spirits face risks when conducting a Blessing Ritual to a deity.”

“I know.” Xie Qingling remained straightforward and decisive.

There wasn’t a trace of fear in her, and her voice sounded perfectly calm.

Xie Qingling said, “Everything has two sides. If you gain something, you inevitably lose something in return. Everyone else has to risk their lives to become an Acquired Spirit. Naturally, I’m no exception.”

“That’s why, before I begin, I need to understand every taboo. Then I can be as careful as possible when the time comes. Besides…”

Xie Qingling paused. “I think you’ll protect me. You wouldn’t let me die that easily, would you?”

A department with only six people couldn’t possibly let her die one step before the finish line, no matter how she looked at it.

This man was far too cautious.

First the life-and-death waiver, and now all this long-winded emphasis on every possible risk.

He overthought everything and worried about far too much.

Xie Qingling, by contrast, was the sort of person who dared to take risks.

She preferred a direct approach. If she shared Ling Fang’s personality and had to think through every cause and consequence, along with every future possibility, before acting in a life-or-death crisis, then the Shanxiao and Rakshasa would have killed her more times than she could count.

Ling Fang nodded and silently studied her, his thoughts unreadable. After a while, he spoke.

In that case…

“There are two taboos. First, do not be greedy. Second, do not linger.”

“Do not accept divine blessings from two or more deities at once. They are all possessive when it comes to granting blessings.”
“Even if no deity grants you a divine blessing, don’t linger or feel unwilling to let go. If they show no intention of blessing you, leave that world immediately. Come back as fast as you can.”

“If you manage those two things, you’ll be completely safe.”

After listening, Xie Qingling nodded and asked, “Is there anything else I should know?”

“One last thing,” Ling Fang said. “This potion is more precious than you can imagine. If you fail because you make a mistake… you’ll have to work for a very long time to pay off the debt.”

Xie Qingling: “…”

“I understand. I’ll be careful.”

Damn it.

She hadn’t even begun collecting a salary, yet she already felt as though she was about to owe the company money.

Would one little mistake leave her in debt, working to pay it off?

Ling Fang gave her several more instructions. Afterward, Xie Qingling left the office.

She departed carrying the offering Ling Fang had prepared for her.

–

Night fell.

Xie Qingling didn’t return to her school dormitory.

She booked a room at a hotel downtown.

Finding a quiet place where no one would disturb her had taken considerable effort.

Ling Fang could have arranged such a place, but it wouldn’t be available until the following day. Xie Qingling had chosen to make her own arrangements instead.

Ling Fang had said a Blessing Ritual required a quiet place where no one would interrupt her. The school dormitory clearly failed that condition. The office lounge always needed to remain ready for emergencies involving wounded personnel, so as a precaution, it was unsuitable for a Blessing Ritual as well.

After finding a location, Xie Qingling spent much more time rushing around to fulfill the ritual requirements. She worked until now before finally finishing her preparations.

A bowl of uncooked millet with three burning incense sticks planted in it, accompanied by an offering.

This was Xie Qingling’s altar.

Next, she cut her index finger and squeezed out a little blood, then drew a strange symbol upon the “altar.”

The symbol resembled two snakes with intertwined tails, possessing a warped and uncanny beauty.

It looked somewhat like the emblem of Ling Fang’s department.

Xie Qingling had asked about it. This was the totem of the ancestral gods Fuxi and Nüwa.

She knelt before the altar, closed her eyes, and pressed her palms together. Following Ling Fang’s instructions, she repeatedly checked every step with utmost care.

Only after confirming that she had made no mistakes did she softly recite the incantation she had learned that very day.

“Within the Three Realms, through eternal primeval wilds.”

“Containing all creation, nurturing yin and yang.”

“Receive the myriad gods; make demons and ghosts lose form.”

“Divine ability shines over all; yin and yang turn, revealing light…”

In an instant, Xie Qingling felt a rush of sudden enlightenment pour down from the crown of her head.

Though her eyes were tightly shut, images appeared in her mind.

Though the city streets outside were noisy and crowded with traffic, the silence beside her ears was so complete she could have heard a pin drop.

She felt her body – or perhaps her soul – drawn into a place of unfathomable mystery.

Every part of her seemed to separate from the mortal realm.

She seemed to remain within the mortal realm, yet also to stand outside it.

[After untold ages of sweeping change, the vanished shaman-priestess steps onto the altar once more. She prays to the gods and Buddhas filling the heavens, to every celestial deity, presenting a hard-won offering in exchange for a divine blessing.]

[Your sincerity and offering open this long-sealed gate. You enter another world. Gods and Buddhas newly awakened from chaos study you, casting inquisitive gazes upon you.]

Xie Qingling opened her eyes.

And when she did, she saw a…

Bizarre and fantastical world.

Xie Qingling’s body seemed to stiffen as she stood rooted in place like a block of wood. Or perhaps the very concepts of body and mind no longer existed. Self and world fell away, leaving only an intense, nearly instinctive sensation to govern her actions.

Xie Qingling stared fixedly at the world before her.

Here, the very concepts of heaven and earth seemed no longer to exist, nor was there any distinction between day and night.

It defied all description.
As she curiously examined this world, one heavy gaze after another pressed down on her, so solid they felt almost tangible.

“They” were scrutinizing her.

Her eyes beheld dreamlike visions; her ears heard immortal music and Buddhist chants. Immersed within it all, she could not speak.

Xie Qingling reined in her wandering gaze.

Ling Fang had told her that after entering that world, waiting was the only thing she could do.

So Xie Qingling waited quietly.

She waited either for the deity who would grant her a divine ability, or for the moment when, unchosen, she would have to turn and leave.

Suddenly, amid the gods and Buddhas filling the heavens, a brilliant sphere of light slowly drifted toward her.

It came closer and closer, gradually transforming into a figure with their head below and feet above.

[Zhang Wulang, overturner of altars and toppler of temples. Beasts retreat at their sight, and snakes hide away. With the first flip, heaven and earth tremble; with the second, the earth turns every blade of grass yellow. Hands braced on the ground, feet raised to the sky, subduing dragons and tigers, overturning altars and smashing temples. Zhang Wulang, a latter-day incarnation of Chiyou, races toward you on their hands. As the founder of the Meishan shamanic arts, they cast a scrutinizing gaze upon you from their inverted eyes.]

Zhang Wulang?

Xie Qingling thought for a moment. She knew absolutely nothing about this deity.

Well, her knowledge of gods was pitifully scarce to begin with. The world was vast; there would always be things she didn’t know.

Had Zhang Wulang chosen her?

She knew nothing about shamanic arts, but simply entering this world without failing was already good enough.

Since a deity had chosen her, she didn’t need to leave just yet.

She slowly raised her head, preparing to accept the deity’s blessing. But at that moment, another red figure appeared in the distance.

As the figure drew closer, Xie Qingling gradually made out their face.

[Clad in bearskin, with four golden eyes, a black robe and crimson garments, wielding a dagger-axe and raising a shield, leading a hundred attendants in the seasonal exorcism and searching every room to drive out pestilence. Fangxiangshi races toward you crying, “Nuo! Nuo!” They lead a hundred attendants and young acolytes, destroying evil and banishing ghosts to suppress the calamities of the season.]

The upside-down Zhang Wulang kept moving on their hands, neither slowing nor altering their course.

The fierce and terrifying Fangxiangshi likewise brandished a dagger-axe and shield, bellowing rebukes as they charged straight toward her.

This was…

Had they both chosen her?

Xie Qingling bit the tip of her tongue. The faint pain cleared her mind a little.

Ling Fang had said she must not be greedy.

She couldn’t accept divine blessings from two or more deities at the same time.

So which one was she supposed to refuse?

Or rather, could she refuse a deity at all?

As Xie Qingling considered what to do, a low chant suddenly rolled across this world, as though it had existed since the primeval wilds of antiquity.

It was neither loud nor piercing, yet it stretched distant and long, shaking the mind and leaving her frozen where she stood.

That vast, far-reaching song washed through her, from body to soul.

Then Zhang Wulang vanished. Fangxiangshi vanished too.

They appeared to have been driven away by that low, lingering call.

In their place, an enormous humanlike figure emerged, blurred at first and then gradually sharpening into focus.

…No. She should call the figure a deity.

Seven hands spread behind her. Two other hands held a pair of white flying serpents. Her upper body was human, while her lower body ended in a serpent’s tail. As she moved, golden scales shimmered with a faint radiance that seemed alive.

The deity sat upright upon her coiled tail, her torso perfectly still. Her serpentine tail glided slowly forward and wound around Xie Qingling’s wrist little by little.

It wasn’t as cold as Xie Qingling had imagined. Instead, she felt a warm power flow from the tail throughout her body.

The deity looked at Xie Qingling. Her eyes seemed compassionate, yet also without feeling. Fleeting lights and shadows crossed them, along with the shimmer of tears.

Xie Qingling couldn’t help holding her breath.

[Houtu, Mother of Mountains, Rivers, and the Great Earth, opens her eyes within the chaos and chooses her agent at first sight. As the Goddess of the Earth, governing yin and yang and birth, transforming herself into the Six Paths and wielding authority over reincarnation, Houtu is about to grant you one of her divine abilities.]