Having successfully promoted herself, Bai Xianxian left the office building feeling satisfied.
There weren't that many people born with natural Yin-Yang Eyes in this world.
How miserable would that be? Being able to see ghosts from birth, scared out of your wits your whole life—how could you still be as enthusiastic as Xianren, eagerly sharing with netizens?
Bai Xianxian was right.
Xianren indeed didn't have Yin-Yang Eyes; he was just a skilled storyteller. He had never seen a ghost, and didn't even believe ghosts truly existed in this world.
After Bai Xianxian left, he stood in the women's restroom for quite a while, until a girl pushed the door open, startled to find a man inside.
Xianren apologized as he backed out, glancing at the phone still clutched in his hand.
The livestream had even more viewers than before, with bullet comments all asking why he had stayed silent and not refuted when the expert questioned him earlier—whether he really wasn't some Yin-Yang Eye user, and whether all his previous posts had been lies.
Xianren hastily exited the livestream.
Soon, posts flooded the paranormal forum.
Quite a few netizens had screen-recorded today's livestream, originally intending to expose a fraud, but now it was the original poster himself who got exposed instead.
After watching the recording, some netizens felt that Bai Xianxian's hand seals and incantations were highly professional, her voice was clear and confident, and she had sincerely promoted herself during the livestream—she didn't seem like a fraud at all, and was probably a genuine member of the Taoist Sect.
Others thought she was just a con artist who had done her homework well enough to look professional.
Still others believed this was actually a staged act between Bai Xianxian and Xianren, all for fame. After all, she'd already opened a livestream—maybe she was about to go the influencer route!
It was an anonymous forum, after all—all sorts of people, all sorts of opinions.
However, the ID "Xianxianzi" gained over a thousand followers in a short time. Netizens even spontaneously started spreading the word across various forums for this hardworking self-promoting Xianxianzi, tagging her on any post about personal ghost encounters: Xianxianzi! Come expose this fraud!
Bai Xianxian didn't know about any of this online buzz yet. After leaving the office building, she was about to head back to the hospital.
As she stood by the roadside waiting for a ride, a BMW suddenly pulled up in front of her. The window rolled down, and the young man in the driver's seat greeted her with surprise and enthusiasm: "Big shot! It really is you! I thought I was seeing things!"
Bai Xianxian tilted her head to look inside, thinking to herself, with my status, there are people who drive BMWs who know me?
Looking more carefully, she realized it was Yang Haotian, whom she'd met before at the mass grave.
Bai Xianxian recognized him: "Oh, it's you."
Yang Haotian was extremely enthusiastic: "Big shot, are you waiting for a ride? Get in, get in! I'll drive you!"
Bai Xianxian glanced at the ride-hailing app still queuing for a car, thought for a moment, canceled the order, and got into the passenger seat. Yang Haotian was thrilled and asked, "Big shot, it's so hot out—what are you doing here?"
Bai Xianxian said, "Someone said there was something unclean here, so I came to check it out."
Yang Haotian's eyes went wide: "Really? This building? Damn! My family's company is in this building! Which floor?"
Bai Xianxian didn't go into detail: "False alarm. He was just being paranoid."
Yang Haotian breathed a sigh of relief, then stole a couple of glances at her and said with some regret, "Big shot, I added you on WeChat last time—why didn't you accept?"
Bai Xianxian took out her phone and scrolled through it: "You added me? I didn't notice. I just started working recently, been a bit busy."
The friend request had already expired. Yang Haotian sent another one, and only when he saw Bai Xianxian accept did his face light up with joy. He said eagerly, "Big shot, are you hungry? Let me treat you to a meal!"
Bai Xianxian shook her head: "No thanks, I still need to get back to work."
Yang Haotian was puzzled: "You need to work? Where?"
Bai Xianxian said, "The city hospital."
Yang Haotian was even more surprised: "The hospital? Not only can you exorcise ghosts, but you can also treat illnesses?! That's amazing!"
Bai Xianxian couldn't keep up her aloof act under his barrage of praise: "No, no, I'm not a doctor. I just work in the morgue."
Yang Haotian: "!!!" He looked at her with profound respect: "As expected of a big shot!"
This was the first time Bai Xianxian had ridden in such an expensive car. She thought, no wonder it's a luxury car—it's way more comfortable than her dad's beat-up old Santana. Once she made a name for herself and earned some money, she'd buy one for her dad too!
She glanced at Yang Haotian driving, suddenly thinking of something, and asked him, "Do you guys usually burn incense and worship Buddha?"
Yang Haotian said, "Yeah, my dad even has a statue of Lord Guan enshrined at home. During holidays, we worship at all kinds of temples and Taoist shrines. My mom even got the first incense at Lingyun Temple last year."
Bai Xianxian asked again, "So when you encounter problems, where do you go to find someone to solve them?"
Yang Haotian let out a thoughtful sound: "Usually Lingyun Temple or Taixuan Temple, and also Zhenwu Temple!"
Lingyun Temple and Taixuan Temple were the largest Buddhist temple and Taoist temple in Yunchang City, with particularly thriving incense offerings. They were also nationally renowned 5A-level tourist attractions, and Bai Xianxian had visited them a few times herself.
The True Martial Temple had a slightly lesser reputation, but in Yunchang City, it was still a Taoist temple that people would definitely visit during festivals. The old Taoist Chu Zhengming that Bai Xianxian had encountered back in her hometown was a priest at the True Martial Temple.
Yang Haotian glanced at her twice. This rich second-generation kid wasn't stupid by any means—he could tell at a glance what she was thinking, and immediately said, "Don't worry, Boss! From now on, if anything comes up, I'll definitely recommend you!"
Bai Xianxian maintained her Boss persona without breaking character, giving a subtle nod. "Okay, thanks."
Yang Haotian waved his hand. "No need for thanks, no need for thanks. Don't worry, I won't bother you with small matters! I'll definitely keep an eye out for big cases that match your status!"
Bai Xianxian: "…?"
She quickly said, "Within the Taoist Sect, there is no distinction between big and small matters. Righting the Order and Expelling Evil is our duty!"
Yang Haotian said, "Right, right, right. Boss really has the highest level of awareness!"
They drove all the way to the city hospital and parked at the entrance. Bai Xianxian said thanks and was about to open the car door when Yang Haotian shouted, "Don't move!"
Startled, Bai Xianxian flinched and stared at him in shock.
Yang Haotian zipped out of the driver's seat, dashed around the front of the car to the passenger side, and pulled the door open for her before grinning and saying, "How could I let the Boss open her own door!"
Bai Xianxian: "…"
This guy definitely had something wrong with him.
Yang Haotian followed her like an eager lackey. "Go slowly, Boss! Keep in touch!"
Bai Xianxian clutched her bag and ran off.
When she returned to the office, she saw Chen Lin holding a rag and wiping dust off the top of the door frame. He was tall, so he could reach the very top of the frame with just a stretch. Bai Xianxian called out to him from the end of the hallway, "Chen Lin, I'm back!"
His movements paused slightly. He seemed to feel that not responding to her would be rude, so he gave a low "Mm."
Bai Xianxian put her bag down, picked up the basin of water at his feet, and went to the restroom to dump it out, then filled it with fresh water and brought it back. Chen Lin remained silent, finishing the door before moving on to wipe the windows. Bai Xianxian just stood behind him playing with her phone, and whenever the water got dirty, she'd go change it for a fresh basin.
The afternoon sunlight made one drowsy.
Chen Lin crouched down to wipe the row of tiles along the base of the wall. At some moment when he turned his head, Bai Xianxian, who was also crouching behind him, suddenly leaned right up to his face.
With a look of distress, she asked him, "Chen Lin, do you think my dark circles are worse than they were a couple days ago?"
Bright, scorching light slanted through the glass window onto her face, making even the fine fuzz on her skin clearly visible. The thin lips beneath Chen Lin's mask pressed tightly into a line, and even his breathing stopped.
His dilated pupils reflected her vexed expression. Just for a moment, then she quickly backed away. "Sorry, sorry! I forgot about your social anxiety. I'll definitely remember not to get too close to you from now on!"
Chen Lin remained frozen in place. Just as Bai Xianxian thought he'd been scared senseless by her, he suddenly spoke up and asked, "What is social anxiety?"
Bai Xianxian: "?"
She nearly collapsed to the ground laughing.
Chen Lin frowned, looking at her in confusion, yet still remembered to reach out a hand to steady her in case she fell.
After she finished laughing, Bai Xianxian clutched her stomach and said, "How can you not even know what social anxiety is?"
She pulled out her phone, opened a web page, and searched for "social anxiety" to show him.
After Chen Lin read Baidu Encyclopedia's explanation of social anxiety disorder, he seemed to feel quite bad about it. He looked at her several times as if wanting to say something, then finally muttered in a low voice in his defense, "I don't have a mental illness."
Bai Xianxian took the phone back and looked at it, only to find that the encyclopedia defined social anxiety as a type of mental disorder.
She quickly said, "Baidu has never been reliable—it could explain a nosebleed as a terminal illness! Anyway, social anxiety is actually just a very common way of describing things. People who don't like interacting or communicating with others are generally called socially anxious."
Chen Lin lowered his eyes.
His eyelashes were long. When they lowered and lifted, it was like butterfly wings fluttering. After a pause, he said, "It's not that I don't like it."
Bai Xianxian tilted her head. "Hm?"
His voice dropped lower. "I just don't know how to communicate with people." The corners of his eyes tilted slightly upward, carrying a hint of loneliness. "It's been many years since I last communicated with anyone."
Bai Xianxian remembered Yu Anding saying that he'd been working in the morgue for many years.
No colleagues, and apparently no friends either. The thing that had accompanied him the longest… was probably just the corpses.
Bai Xianxian felt a strange ache in her heart. She pressed her lips together, then patted his shoulder with grand determination. "It's fine! From now on, I'm here. I'll talk to you every day, and you'll pick it up in no time!"
He stared at her blankly for a long moment, as if he'd finally figured out how to respond. "…You should be off work now."
Bai Xianxian's eyes curved into a smile. "What do you want for breakfast tomorrow morning?"
…
When she saw the Patriarch again in her dreams that night, Bai Xianxian was no longer surprised at all.
Facing the beaming Patriarch, Bai Xianxian asked in a wistful tone, "Patriarch, have you noticed any difference between me today and the past few days?"
The Patriarch looked her over kindly. "I have not. You are still as clever and sharp as ever."
Bai Xianxian hinted delicately, "Patriarch, I've been sleep-deprived for several days straight now. My dark circles are practically about to fall off my face. Can you see them?"
The Patriarch nodded knowingly. "Don't worry, I'll now teach you the Void-Replenishing Beauty Technique. It may not grant eternal youth, but it will surely free you from your worries about your appearance."
Bai Xianxian: "…?"
Did the old man genuinely not understand, or was he just messing with her?
Good thing she worked in the morgue and had such a wonderful colleague as Chen Lin—otherwise, with her dozing off every morning, she'd have been fired long ago!
By the fifth night, Bai Xianxian couldn't take it anymore. She knelt and begged, "Patriarch, could you please not come tomorrow night? I know you're eager, but you can't force things to grow by pulling them up!"
The Patriarch nodded agreeably. "Alright, I'll come again next week."
Bai Xianxian: "Thank you for your understanding, Patriarch!"
The next evening, Bai Xianxian devoutly lit three sticks of incense for the Patriarch, took a nice, relaxing hot bath, drew the curtains, turned off her phone, and prepared to enjoy a good night's sleep.
Then, in her dream, she saw the smiling white-bearded old man.
Bai Xianxian nearly broke down. "Patriarch, why are you here again?!"
The white-bearded old man, with six little gourds on his head, said in surprise, "This is my first time here."
Bai Xianxian: "?"
Wait a minute…
These little gourds…
From one on the first night to six now—could they represent six different Patriarchs?
But since they all appeared to her in the same form, she'd never realized that each night was a different Patriarch!
No wonder the Patriarch last night had agreed so readily! Of course—he wasn't due back until next week!
Bai Xianxian was on the verge of tears. "Don't you guys have any sense of human rights? You won't even let me rest?"
The Patriarch with six little gourds said very kindly, "You young people nowadays only get one day off a week, right? The six of us fit perfectly—you can rest tomorrow."
Bai Xianxian: "??"
So she had to be a corporate slave even in her dreams?!