I paid no attention to Boss Yang’s excitement and instead helped Bai Xue up from where she lay sprawled on the ground.
“I’m okay. I’m okay?”
Bai Xue couldn’t quite believe it. She murmured in a daze.
“Xiaoxue!”
The middle-aged woman rushed over at that moment too, and together we helped Bai Xue to her feet.
Bai Xue turned to look at the woman in a daze. Tears burst from her eyes like a breached dam. “Mom, I’m all right! It’s gone!”
“It’s really gone?”
For a moment, the middle-aged woman could hardly believe it.
“It’s really gone!” Bai Xue nodded.
The middle-aged woman could no longer hold back her emotions. She hugged Bai Xue and began to cry.
I didn’t try to comfort them, letting the mother and daughter give vent to their feelings.
I turned around. Boss Yang’s face was flushed, while Boss Ou looked somewhat dazed. It seemed he still hadn’t recovered and couldn’t quite believe what had just happened.
When he saw me looking at him, Boss Ou asked, “Master Feng, what I just saw… was that a Fox Immortal?”
Unlike when he’d called me “Master Feng” earlier in a teasing tone, this time Boss Ou said it with sincere respect.
“It wasn’t a Fox Immortal. It was a Fox Spirit!” I corrected him.
“So those things really exist…” Boss Ou murmured.
“Old Ou, tell me—wasn’t that thrilling?”
Boss Yang threw an arm around Boss Ou and asked excitedly.
“Thrilling!”
Boss Ou nodded, looking at me with a hint of fervor in his eyes.
“Master Feng, thank you for saving my Xiaoxue!”
The middle-aged woman had finished crying by now and came over to thank me.
“I only did what was convenient!”
I said calmly, though inside I was hurting badly. I wouldn’t be able to use my Beifeng Ghost-Slaying Seal for quite some time.
I was hurting, but I still had to keep up appearances.
“May I ask how that fox came to be attached to you?”
I looked at Bai Xue.
At my question, Boss Yang and Boss Ou came over too. The two of them were even more curious than I was.
“I invited it myself!”
Bai Xue said after a moment’s hesitation.
“You invited it yourself?”
Before I could ask, Boss Yang spoke up first.
“Mm!”
Bai Xue nodded.
“What made you think of inviting a Fox Immortal?”
Boss Yang asked curiously.
“Come, sit down and tell us.”
Bai Xue was just about to speak when Boss Ou gestured toward the sofa.
“Right, right. Sit down and tell us!” Boss Yang chimed in.
Bai Xue exchanged a glance with her mother, then followed us to the sofa and sat down.
“Boss Yang, Boss Ou, you know our circle. Without a powerful background or a Human Meridian, rising to the top is incredibly difficult!”
Once seated, Bai Xue began to speak slowly.
“That’s true enough,” Boss Ou nodded.
“I debuted early, so I know how cruel this circle can be. I’ve given it everything I have, trying to climb higher all these years, but the company has limited resources and can only give me minor roles. If I wanted to be a lead and become famous, I had no choice but to offer myself!”
As Bai Xue spoke of offering herself, she clenched her fists unconsciously. “I didn’t want to, but in this circle, some things are beyond your control. If you refuse, the pressure comes from everywhere—from the company to your Manager to the investors!”
“While I was torn over what to do, I met Qing’er!”
“By then, Qing’er had become a popular actress thanks to that big Qing palace drama. I thought she was ambitious, but after spending time with her, I realized she was different from me. She had no real interest in her acting career; all she cared about was her wealthy businessman boyfriend!”
“We spent time together, and eventually became friends!”
“After she learned about my predicament, she told me there was a powerful Shamaness in the Capital who was very effective at helping people with both romance and their careers. She said she’d gotten together with her boyfriend because she’d had a Ritual to attract romance performed by that Shamaness!”
“What was this Shamaness called?” Boss Yang interrupted.
“I don’t know her exact name. Qing’er called her Dragon Granny!” Bai Xue said.
“Did you go to see this Dragon Granny?” I asked.
“Mm!”
Bai Xue nodded and said, “After Qing’er told me about Dragon Granny, I wanted to give it a try. If Dragon Granny was effective, I could become famous without offering myself. If it didn’t work, it wouldn’t matter much; I’d only have wasted some time!”
“And then?” I asked.
“When I went to see her, I only wanted a Ritual to boost my career. But Dragon Granny said it wouldn’t do me much good. At most, when choosing roles, it might move me up from a fifth- or sixth-billed actress to a third- or fourth-billed one—and even then, I might not become famous!”
“Besides, a Fortune Acceleration Ritual couldn’t change my fate. It would only bring forward the Fortune I was supposed to have in the second half of my life!”
“I was a little disappointed, so I asked Dragon Granny if there was anything else she could do.”
“Dragon Granny told me there was. She said she could perform a Fate Chart Alteration Ritual!”
“She said Fate Chart Alteration was different from Fortune Acceleration. Fortune Acceleration brings forward the Fortune you’re supposed to have in the second half of your life. Once you’ve used it up, you’re destined to live in poverty for the rest of your life!”
“Fate Chart Alteration was different. It created something out of nothing, adding something to my fate!”
“You went through with it?” I interrupted.
Your Fate Chart isn’t something that can be changed casually. It comes at a price.
I’d helped so many people in the Yin Trade, and not one of them had dared to alter their Fate Chart.
The implications were too great.
“I did!”
Bai Xue smiled bitterly and said, “I’d lost my head back then. I didn’t want to offer myself, but I also wanted to become famous. I couldn’t think of any other way!”
I shook my head inwardly. She wanted to have it both ways. There was no such thing as getting something for nothing.
“But that has nothing to do with the Fox Immortal, does it?” Boss Yang asked, sounding confused.
“It really doesn’t!”
Bai Xue nodded and said, “But if I hadn’t undergone the Fate Chart Alteration Ritual, the Fox Immortal wouldn’t have come into the picture later!”
“Tell us what happened, then,” Boss Yang said.
“Before performing the Fate Chart Alteration Ritual, Dragon Granny told me that changing my Fate Chart would make me wildly famous, but it had a side effect: I’d become prone to Yin Attraction!”
“I didn’t think much about it at the time, and I didn’t take Dragon Granny’s warning about Yin Attraction seriously. I wanted so badly to become famous!”
Bai Xue slowly let out a breath and said with a bitter smile.
“So you became famous a couple of years ago because of the Fate Chart Alteration, not because of the Fox Immortal?” Boss Ou asked thoughtfully.
“That’s right!”
Bai Xue nodded and said, “Not long after my Fate Chart was altered, I worked on a drama with Tong Beile, and gained some recognition in the industry!”
“I was very happy then. I saw hope that I could become hugely popular without offering myself, but the side effects soon followed!”
At that, Bai Xue unconsciously glanced at her fingers and said hoarsely, “I started attracting yin and encountering ghosts all the time. It was especially bad while filming. Sometimes, I could feel that I wasn’t myself at all!”
“The worst time, I used a nail clipper to cut through my nails bit by bit, then cut away the flesh underneath them bit by bit!”
“After that, I knew I couldn’t go on like this. If I did, I would die!”