I ignored the excited Mr. Yang and helped Bai Xue, who was collapsed on the ground, to her feet.
"I'm okay, really okay?"
Bai Xue murmured in disbelief, dazed.
"Xiao Xue!"
At this moment, a middle-aged woman rushed over and helped me support Bai Xue.
Bai Xue turned her head in a daze, looked at the woman, and tears flowed like a breached dam, surging out. "Mom, I'm fine now, it's gone!"
"Is it really gone?"
The middle-aged woman was momentarily incredulous.
"It's really gone!" Bai Xue nodded.
The middle-aged woman couldn't contain her excitement either and hugged Bai Xue, crying.
I didn't intervene, letting the mother and daughter vent their emotions.
Turning around, Mr. Yang's face was flushed, while Mr. Ou looked a bit stunned, seemingly not yet recovered and unable to believe what had just happened.
Seeing me look at him, Mr. Ou asked, "Mr. Feng, what I just saw, was it a fox spirit?"
Compared to the previously playful "Mr. Feng," this time Mr. Ou called me sincerely.
"It wasn't a fox immortal, it was a fox spirit!" I corrected.
"These things really exist!" Mr. Ou murmured.
"Old Ou, wasn't it thrilling?" Mr. Yang excitedly asked, hugging Mr. Ou.
"Thrilling!"
Mr. Ou nodded, looking at me with a hint of admiration.
"Mr. Feng, thank you for saving my Xiao Xue!"
The middle-aged woman, having finished crying, came over to express her gratitude.
"It was just a small effort!"
I said lightly, though I was actually quite distressed. My Beifeng Ghost-Slaying Seal would be unusable for a while.
Though I was pained, I had to maintain my composure.
"Can I ask how that fox spirit came to you?"
I looked at Bai Xue and asked.
With my question, Mr. Yang and Mr. Ou also leaned in, more curious than I was.
"I invited it myself!"
"You invited it yourself?"
Before I could ask, Mr. Yang spoke up.
"Yes!"
Bai Xue nodded.
"What made you think of inviting a fox immortal?"
Mr. Yang asked curiously.
"Come, sit down and tell us slowly!"
Just as Bai Xue was about to speak, Mr. Ou pointed to the sofa.
"Yes, yes, sit down and talk!" Mr. Yang echoed.
Bai Xue exchanged a glance with her mother and followed us to sit down in front of the sofa.
"Mr. Yang, Mr. Ou, you both know how our industry works. Without connections or background, it's incredibly difficult to rise up!"
After sitting down, Bai Xue began to speak slowly.
"That's true!" Mr. Ou nodded.
"I started my career early and know how brutal this industry can be. I've tried my hardest to climb up over the years, but the company's resources are limited, only giving me minor roles. I want to be a lead, to become famous, but that requires sacrifices!"
As Bai Xue mentioned sacrifices, she instinctively clenched her fists. "I don't want to sacrifice, but in this industry, some things are beyond your control. If you don't sacrifice, there's pressure from the company, the agent, and the investors!"
"While I was struggling, I met Qing Er!"
"At that time, Qing Er was already a popular actress because of a major palace drama. I thought she was ambitious, but as we got to know each other, I realized she was different from me. She had no real interest in her acting career; her focus was entirely on her wealthy businessman boyfriend!"
"As we spent time together, we became friends!"
"When she learned about my predicament, she told me about a powerful shaman in the capital who was very effective in matters of love and career. She said she was able to be with her boyfriend because she performed a love-attracting ritual with that shaman!"
"What was the shaman's name?" Mr. Yang interrupted upon hearing this.
"I don't know the exact name, but Qing Er called her Long Po!" Bai Xue replied.
"You went to see this Long Po?" I asked.
"Yes!"
Bai Xue nodded and said, "After Qing Er told me about Long Po, I wanted to give it a try. If Long Po was effective, I could become famous without sacrificing anything. If not, it would just be a waste of time!"
"And then?" I asked. This story is hosted at novelping.com.
"When I went there, I initially just wanted to perform a ritual to boost my career, but Long Po said that such a ritual wouldn't be very useful for me. At most, it would upgrade me from a minor role to a supporting role, and it wasn't guaranteed to make me famous!"
"Moreover, a fortune-boosting ritual couldn't change my destiny; it would only bring forward the luck of my later years!"
"I was a bit disappointed and asked Long Po if there was another way."
"Long Po told me there was. She said she could perform a ritual to change my destiny!"
"She explained that changing destiny was different from boosting fortune. Boosting fortune brings forward the luck of later years, and once used, you're destined to be poor in the latter half of your life!"
"Changing destiny, however, is different. It's about creating something from nothing, adding things to my fate!"
"You did it?" I interrupted.
Destiny isn't something that can be changed casually; it comes at a cost.
I've dealt with many in the supernatural trade, and none of them dared to change their destiny.
The implications are too significant.
"I did!"
Bai Xue smiled bitterly and said, "I was out of my mind at the time. I didn't want to sacrifice, but I wanted to be famous and successful. I couldn't think of any other way!"
I shook my head silently. This was wanting to have it both ways. There's no such easy thing in this world.
"But this has nothing to do with the fox immortal, right?" Mr. Yang asked, puzzled.
"Indeed, it has nothing to do with it!"
Bai Xue nodded and said, "But if I hadn't performed the ritual to change my destiny, the fox immortal incident wouldn't have happened later!"
"Tell us, what exactly happened!" Mr. Yang urged.
"Before performing the ritual to change my destiny, Long Po told me that after the change, I would become very famous, but there would be a side effect: I would attract spirits!"
"I didn't think much of it at the time, nor did I take Long Po's warning about attracting spirits seriously. I was too eager to become famous!"
Bai Xue exhaled slowly and said with a bitter smile.
"So your rise to fame in the past two years was due to changing your destiny, not because of the fox immortal?" Mr. Ou asked thoughtfully.
"Yes!"
Bai Xue nodded and said, "Not long after changing my destiny, I collaborated with Tong Beile on a drama and gained some fame in the industry!"
"I was very happy at that time, seeing hope for becoming famous without sacrificing anything, but the side effects soon followed!"
As she spoke, Bai Xue instinctively glanced at her fingers and said dryly, "I started to frequently attract spirits and encounter ghosts, especially while filming. Sometimes, I could feel that I wasn't myself at all!"
"The most severe incident was when I used nail clippers to cut my nails bit by bit, and then cut the flesh under my nails bit by bit!"
"After that incident, I knew I couldn't go on like this. If I continued, I would die!"