Su Baoxia had been thrown by her into the midst of a pack of men and, in an instant, devoured clean by those brutes who, wanting one last full meal before death, turned no one away. Could she have survived?
Impossible.
In the past life, however Su Baoxia had treated her, she’d paid it all back in full.
In this life, she would never see them again.
“Grandpa, the past life’s debts are settled in the past life. In this one, all I have left is the grudge over my mother.”
Before she left, she’d already made arrangements.
It just remained to see whether her fine father could escape Heaven’s will.
Jiuxiao admired people who did things cleanly and decisively, and he praised Chen Jia’er to no end, which made Chen Jia’er blush.
“This was all taught to me by Sister Zengyue.”
Yang Zengyue looked up at the heavens. In her master’s mind she was pure and unsullied as a lotus, and Chen Jia’er’s words instantly showed her true colors in front of him…
The atmosphere turned a bit awkward, and Chen Jia’er knew she’d let something slip.
Sister Zengyue really did care about her image in her venerable master’s heart. A little flustered, Chen Jia’er looked at Yang Zengyue and mouthed silently, “Sorry, Sister Zengyue, I got carried away and spoke without thinking, boo hoo~”
Jiuxiao had been chuckling to himself the whole time. He understood his granddaughter’s character well enough.
She could play the pig to eat the tiger [1]act weak to catch the enemy off guard jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_2943113_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_2943113_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, and she could also be kind enough to want to save the whole world.
She had cunning, and she had gentleness too.
His Zengyue, in his eyes, was the best girl in this world.
To break the awkwardness, Yang Zengyue laid out the vision she’d worked up before for Jiuxiao and Chen Jia’er.
Her plan was to build Sikun Mountain into an enclosed, self-sufficient farm.
So the projects were many, and the time needed was long—Fan Jinggang’s side would probably take five-odd months to complete it all.
Once the roads were sealed off, then when the apocalypse came, she, Master, Chen Jia’er, and the surviving villagers wouldn’t even need to leave Sikun Mountain, they could achieve a true reclusion.
That meant the seeds to keep should be the kind that could be sown directly, without needing to be bred for seed.
But buying so many seeds and necessities now could only be done by drawing on the funds Chen Jia’er had brought.
Jiuxiao, however, had another idea. “I’ll figure out the funding problem. Keep Jia’er’s money for now, in case of emergencies.”
It seemed once they were down the mountain he’d have to make a call home—Zengyue’s dowry would have to be drawn on early too.
Seeing Jiuxiao’s thoughtful look, Yang Zengyue arched a brow and asked, “Master, what relation are you to the Shi family of Nanyuan?”
“I am of the Shi family, direct line,” Jiuxiao answered offhandedly.
No wonder…
his confidence ran so deep.
Chen Jia’er knew of the Nanyuan Shi family too, a clan with genuine heritage.
Not like her own family, which was nouveau riche,
having merely caught the right era.
Yang Zengyue asked tentatively, “You plan to ask the Shi family for money?”
Jiuxiao nodded. “This is the property the family head, that is, my elder brother, agreed to give me when I left the Shi family. After all these years, with interest, it should be quite a sum. So you needn’t worry about money, there’s plenty.”
Chen Jia’er’s face was full of admiration.
Now this was a true tycoon.
With the money problem settled, the three sat quietly, savoring the peace of the room.
Following along with Yang Zengyue’s account, Jiuxiao had glimpsed an apocalypse like a slaughterhouse of asura.
And having spoken it all out, Yang Zengyue felt much lighter inside, that oppression had already left her.
Gazing at the distant mountains, she took a sip of tea and let out a long, slow breath. “Master, I think this was a chance given to me by the founding patriarch.”
Jiuxiao took the words in, turned to look at the standing statue, and softly answered, “Mm. You saved so many people. If the patriarch didn’t grant the fortune to you, then to whom?”
Zengyue was the only heir of Xingyun Temple.
If everything the former temple master, Master Tianyuan, had said was true, then there was surely a reason Zengyue could come back.
Hearing her master affirm her too, Yang Zengyue felt her past life’s death hadn’t been in vain.
The lovely girl broke into a smile. “Master, in this life Zengyue isn’t going anywhere. I’ll just guard Xingyun Temple, guard Master, and live out my days. From now on, Zengyue will be the keeper of Xingyun Temple.”
Jiuxiao didn’t doubt Zengyue’s resolve, but with a disaster that great destined to come, wanting to keep herself out of it wouldn’t be so easy.
She’d still be caught up in the turmoil to some degree.
“Alright, follow your own heart. First, take good care of things here at Sikun Mountain.” Jiuxiao didn’t pour cold water on her.
In her past life she’d given her all, and that was enough, in this life, let her decide for herself whether she still wished to protect others.
“Okay.” Yang Zengyue smiled until her eyes disappeared, dimples deep, and paired with her otherworldly air, she looked exceptionally beautiful.
Then Jiuxiao steered the conversation in a new direction. He pointed at Zengyue’s wrist. “These three beads, I remember I never gave them to you, yet now they’re on your hand. My guess is that they’re the reason you were able to come back.”
Yang Zengyue and Chen Jia’er were both startled.
Having said this, Jiuxiao rose and went to the side of Lu Xingyun’s statue, where he pressed a hidden mechanism.
When it opened, a small box appeared inside, a box both Yang Zengyue and Chen Jia’er knew very well.
In the past life, Yang Zengyue had often stared blankly at this box, because it was something Jiuxiao had left her, forbidding anyone to touch it.
But what was inside, no one knew, and Yang Zengyue couldn’t open it either.
Jiuxiao carried the box over to his seat and opened it with the key hung at his chest.
Inside was nothing at all.
Looking at the empty box, then at the black beads on Zengyue’s wrist, Jiuxiao asked, “How did the beads come to be on your hand?”
This could well be called a supernatural occurrence.
After returning to Sikun Mountain, Yang Zengyue had found nothing, she’d only dug this box out from a heap of scattered things.
And she’d carried it on her ever since.
This little box had been with her for seven years.
Only now did she learn that what it held were these three beads.
In the past, Chen Jia’er had told her that, judging by the box’s carving craftsmanship, it was very likely some rare treasure. Now Yang Zengyue believed it.
Jiuxiao, too, only knew the beads’ names, mentioned in the handwritten notes left by his own master, Temple Master Tianyuan. “These three beads are called the Rebirth Vermilion Lotus, and each has a name. The first is called the Hundred-Year Lotus, the second the Thousand-Cloud Fungus, the third the Myriad-Waters Bloom.”
He knew only their names, not their material, nor their use.
Judging from the names, it might truly have the power of rebirth.
Yang Zengyue stared at her wrist. Vermilion Lotus, yet these were plainly black!
The three decided not to dwell on it for now, and began planning how to build up this place once they were down the mountain.
They talked for a full six-odd hours, drank four pots of tea, and poured out all their bitterness.
Yang Zengyue glanced at the sky and, while there was still time, gathered up their things to head down.
Having put everything back in its place, Yang Zengyue took Chen Jia’er to kowtow once more before the shrine, checked that the candle flames and incense had burned out, confirmed there were no oversights, and closed the hall doors.
Jiuxiao waited for them at the great hall’s entrance, watching the two girls do it all with such order, his heart full of tenderness for them.
And just as Yang Zengyue closed the hall doors, up on the dais the bamboo fortune-stick tube, the one Xingyun Temple used for divination, fell to the ground.
The bamboo tube gave a dull thud, and the fortune sticks scattered across the floor with a clatter.
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