Chapter 100

Chapter 100

Not only had the incense ash failed to solve the problem, it had actually made things worse.

Why? I was a child of Tafeng Village too.

Then I immediately thought of all the things my grandmother had cursed me with.

She said my mother had won the first incense offering three years in a row, yet the Qilin Deity had never entered her dreams-not until my mother miraculously became pregnant with me.

So I wasn’t a child bestowed by the Qilin Deity. That was why I was being punished by him, why I couldn’t receive his protection.

Could that really be true?

Because I wasn’t under his protection, I couldn’t use the incense ash from Qilin Temple?

Just then, there was a knock at the door, and Tang Tang pushed it open and came in.

She had showered too. She slipped straight under my covers and whined, “Junior Sister, I’m sleeping with you tonight. I had them make up another guest room for your husband.”

I knew she must have a lot of things she wanted to whisper to me, so I burrowed under the covers too.

Tang Tang wrapped her arms around me and asked, “I still haven’t asked you-what’s your husband’s name? And he… what is he again?”

“His name is Liu Junyan,” I said. “His true form should be a white jiao.”

“A jiao?” Tang Tang’s reaction was even calmer than I had imagined. She asked, “Doesn’t that mean he has a chance to ascend and become a Dragon?”

I made a sound of agreement. “More than a hundred years ago, he had a chance once, but unfortunately, he failed for certain reasons. Otherwise, I never would’ve met him.”

“Silly girl!” Tang Tang reached out and poked me on the forehead. “So you’re actually sitting here feeling lucky you got to meet him? Have you thought about what you’ll do when he really does ascend into a Dragon and goes off to the Heavenly Court to become an immortal?”

I froze. I had never thought about that question before.

But then I shrugged, not too bothered. “A human life is only a few short decades. I can’t keep him company for that long anyway, so why get hung up on it?”

Tang Tang rubbed her chin and thought about it seriously. “True. I was being narrow-minded. Life is short. We really should live in the moment.”

Then she suddenly leaned closer, looking downright sneaky. “Um… Junior Sister, let me ask you a pretty private question.”

I looked at her in confusion. “What?”

“I heard people say that a Snake has…”

She trailed off, then held up two fingers and wiggled them in front of my eyes. “You know, that. Is a jiao the same?”

For a moment, I didn’t react. I grabbed her two fingers and stared at them again and again.

Then all at once, I realized what she meant. Flushed with embarrassment and irritation, I reached out to tickle her armpits. “Have you no shame? You dare ask anything! If you’ve got the guts, go ask him yourself.”

Tang Tang laughed so hard she nearly doubled over. “You really are my best friend!”

The two of us fooled around for quite a while. After we finally quieted down, Tang Tang rested her head on my shoulder and said wistfully, “If only Qingqing were here too.”

Then she added, “My dad called just now and said the Song Family was anonymously reported. An investigation team will be going to Song Corporation for an inspection very soon. Junior Sister, Huicheng is about to change.”

The Song Family was the foremost family in Huicheng. Once the Song Family fell, all of Huicheng’s economic powers would be reshuffled.

I said, “We watched their tower rise, and now we’re watching it collapse. The Song Family’s rise and fall are both connected to Wangting Mountain.”

“I actually hope the Song Family completely falls this time,” Tang Tang said. “That way, Qingqing might have a chance to break free on her own. She’s so talented. One art gallery would be enough to support her for the rest of her life.”

I nodded. “I hope so.”

That night, we talked for a long time.

Liu Junyan didn’t come back all night.

Early the next morning, every major news headline in Huicheng was fighting to report the Song Family’s explosive news-the head of the Song Family had gotten into a car accident the previous night while taking his youngest son to the hospital. Father and son both died on the spot!
I stared at the message, finding it hard to believe. “Didn’t they say Bai Jingmo had been staying with the Song Family to treat Young Master Song? Why does Young Master Song suddenly need to be sent to the hospital?”

Tang Tang was just as confused. “Could my information have been wrong?”

She had already sent people out to gather intel. Once the reports came in, they more or less matched what the news was saying.

Around noon, Liu Junyan finally arrived.

He handed Tang Tang a protective talisman and said, “Miss Song is at Huicheng Central Hospital now. Her injuries are rather serious. When you visit her, have her keep this on her at all times, then burn it after a week.”

Tang Tang accepted the talisman and agreed at once.

“Have the Tang Family withdraw their people,” Liu Junyan continued. “And don’t investigate Wangting Mountain anymore. It won’t do you any good.”

Tang Tang nodded. “All right.”

Liu Junyan then said, “Thank you for looking after Xiao Jiu. You’re welcome to visit the Wufu Town Pawnshop anytime.”

Tang Tang looked at me reluctantly. “You’re leaving already?”

I actually wanted to go see Song Ruoqing, but then I remembered we’d already been out for two days, and the Hexagonal Palace Lantern could only support Liu Junyan being away for three. So I said, “Senior Sister, take good care of Miss Song. If I get the chance, I’ll definitely come support her gallery.”

Tang Tang reached out and hugged me. “Okay. It’s a deal.”

I drove on the way back. Liu Junyan might have been tired; his complexion looked poor, and he leaned against the seat with his eyes closed the entire time, resting.

Only when we entered the borders of Wufu Town did he open his eyes.

After weighing my words, I asked, “What exactly happened with the Song Family?”

“The Song Family made offerings to something they never should have worshipped, and suffered the backlash,” Liu Junyan said. “Everything is within reason, and the Song Family brought it upon themselves.”

That vague answer wasn’t what I wanted.

So I cut straight to the heart of the matter. “Who was the Song Family worshipping on Wangting Mountain? Was he also the one pulling the strings behind Qilin Temple?”

Liu Junyan answered very decisively. “Wangting Mountain is vast, and the Spirit Creature population there is large. What the Song Family worshipped wasn’t the Snake Clan. The crux of it lies in that pavilion.”

I didn’t understand. “You mean that pavilion doesn’t belong to the Snake Clan?”

Liu Junyan nodded.

But I still felt something didn’t add up. “But that night, when the Song Family sent Song Ruoqing up the mountain, they were clearly sending her to the Snake Clan.”

Liu Junyan replied, “That was because the Snake Clan got greedy and wanted a piece of the pie, that’s all. I’ve already taught them a lesson. I also destroyed the pavilion’s Child-seeking Formation. This matter ends here.”

“Child-seeking Formation?” I said in surprise. “So the function of that pavilion on Wangting Mountain is the same as Qilin Temple’s?”

“Yes,” Liu Junyan said. “If my guess is right, there can’t be only these two places with this kind of Formation. So, Xiao Jiu, for now we can only stay still and keep watching.”

My palms grew slick with cold sweat against the steering wheel, and panic stirred in my chest.

I knew Liu Junyan was right.

Li Qingying knew the two of us were coming back and had prepared a meal.

During dinner, she only shoveled rice into her mouth without touching the dishes, looking completely weighed down by worry.

So I asked with concern, “Sister Qingying, did something happen?”

“Xiao Jiu, last night…” Li Qingying said with difficulty. “Last night, a very strange person was standing at the West Street Entrance. He kept staring toward the western corridor and didn’t leave until the latter half of the night.”

My chopsticks paused. “How was he strange?”

Li Qingying described him. “He was tall and burly, wearing a monk’s robe, with a fat head and large ears. He was barefoot, and around his neck hung a string of Prayer Beads, each bead the size of an egg. But if I wasn’t seeing things, every one of those Prayer Beads had been carved into the shape of a skull…”