chapter 8

My uncle really was a self-taught scholar of Taoist arts.

As his twin daughters, Lin Dayao and Lin Xiaomei had absorbed a few rudimentary skills while growing up around him.

He had calculated that I would face a deadly calamity this year.

“You have to understand my father’s standing in the Taoist world,” Xiaomei said with a sigh. “It’s about the same as my middle-school classmate’s standing in Chinese literature. Once, our teacher told us to write about Xin Qiji, and my desk mate asked me which day of the week ‘Qiji’ was.”

She continued, “I wanted Dad to find a few accomplished priests to resolve Qingqing’s calamity. But he cast a divination and insisted only Dayao and I could do it. We had no choice but to come here and try.

“The first half of the year passed without incident. Then this morning, I calculated that a water monkey in our apartment was preparing to change skins. Zheng Rou was my first suspect, but I tested her hair several times and got no reaction.”

Anger colored Dayao’s gentle voice. “And because Zheng Rou passed, you immediately suspected me?”

Xiaomei looked embarrassed. “Zheng Rou showered twice, and then you showered twice right after her. When I poured garlic juice into the drain, some hair really did turn into waterweed. So I assumed it was you.”

Dayao clenched her teeth. “So you pretended to be Lingfengzi and told Qingqing to use her blood against me?”

Xiaomei nodded guiltily. “To convince Qingqing that you were the water monkey, I even disguised myself as you. I bent over in front of her and soaked the top of the drying cap. I had hidden a small plastic container of water in my hair.

“But why didn’t Zheng Rou’s hair react to the garlic?”

I told them what I had seen in his room.

Dayao still had a question. “The silicone skin kept his feet from turning webbed. But he had no hair, so what changed into waterweed in the drain?”

The reminder that Zheng Rou was a man in disguise made Xiaomei retch again.

“I just asked Dad. It isn’t only the hair on a water monkey’s head. Its body hair, armpit hair, and… ugh… all turn into waterweed.”

Her voice became tearful.

“That disgusting kappa dressed as a woman and pretended to be a lesbian! He kept confessing his love to me, and I always ignored him. If I hadn’t seen your livestream and realized you might be trapped in his room, I never would have… I sacrificed so much to save you!”

I looked at her guiltily. “I’m sorry, Xiaomei.”

Mist shimmered in her eyes. She bit her lip.

“Qingqing, I kissed that kappa’s cheek. You won’t be disgusted with me, will you?”

I shook my head at once. “Of course not!”

Pink colored her cheeks as she looked up at me. “There’s something I’ve never told you. Dayao and I were both adopted by our father.”

I thumped my chest in promise. “Don’t worry, Xiaomei. Adopted or not, I’ll always treat you two like my own sisters!”

For some reason, her expression became complicated.

“By the way, why did Zheng Rou message me that you were going to kill him when I knocked on your door?”

Xiaomei chuckled. “I was afraid Zheng Rou would come out and interfere when it was time to kill the water monkey, so I slipped him a sleeping pill. He thought I was trying to murder him. Somehow, through sheer force of will, he managed to send you those messages before passing out.

“Luckily, a water monkey is no different from an ordinary person until it begins shedding its skin. Otherwise, he might have killed me instead.”

After Xiaomei finished, Dayao told her side. It was much simpler.

That morning, she had read my face and seen darkness gathered between my brows. Her first divination showed that she could still protect me, so she decided to watch and wait.

After I emerged from Zheng Rou’s room carrying the cactus, the darkness in my face deepened. Dayao cast another divination, and this time the result changed.

She could no longer protect me. That was why she suggested taking me to the police station.

“Dayao, would the earth I threw at you really have destroyed your Water fate?” I asked anxiously.

Her lips curved into a smile. “It’s all right. If it saved you, a little damage means nothing.”

I was so upset I nearly cried.

Xiaomei snorted. “Don’t listen to her, Qingqing. She’ll recover in three days.

“We’re all foxes from the same old tale. Stop pretending you’re the only one who knows how the story goes.”

The twins fell into their usual bickering.

Priest Yulian rose, a ripple of laughter at the corners of her mouth.

“Congratulations, Lin Qingqing. You’ll pass the civil service exam soon.”

Then she turned to Dayao and Xiaomei with a mischievous look.

“As for you two, keep working at it.”