Yu Ziyu escorted Xiao Jin to the entrance of the road down the mountain, then turned back to the outside of the Taoist temple, where she finally saw Li Jiyan. Today, he was unusually not wearing white, but rather a dark-patterned black robe, which made him look rather aloof.
Yu Ziyu was unhappy because Li Jiyan didn’t listen to her. She told him to stay in the house, but he insisted on coming out, causing her to be scolded by her family.
She went into the Taoist temple without paying any attention to Li Jiyan. Li Jiyan quietly followed her, and only after they entered the front courtyard of the temple did he ask casually, “Do you still exorcise ghosts?”
“I cannot get rid of such a wicked creature myself. I must consult with my ancestral master.”
Li Jiyan followed behind her, the setting sun casting long shadows on the gray brick floor, step by step, until they reached the corridor. He then spoke again: “I only went out because your brother came in… I wasn’t disobeying.”
He looked at her, his eyes filled with unbearable grievance.
He always seemed to mess things up, never quite meeting her expectations. His heart pounded in his chest, and a wave of inferiority washed over him. He wasn’t as eloquent as Xiao Jin, his status wasn’t as noble, and he wasn’t her childhood sweetheart.
His only advantage now seems to be the other personality within him. Yu Ziyu sees this other personality as a demon, and to exorcise it, she must keep a close eye on him.
“Disobedience is disobedience, why make excuses?” Yu Ziyu muttered, entered the side hall, and found Ling Xuzi who was offering incense. “Master, Li Jiyan has arrived.”
Ling Xuzi didn’t reply, but focused on lighting incense and bowing three times to the Medicine King enshrined in the hall. Then she handed the three sticks of incense with wisps of smoke to Yu Ziyu and said, “You should also bow.”
”oh.”
Yu Ziyu took the incense, knelt on the prayer mat and bowed three times before placing the yellow incense into the incense burner on the altar.
Ling Xuzi turned to look at Li Jiyan and asked Yu Ziyu, “Disciple, you said he’s possessed by a ghost?”
Yu Ziyu stood beside her and nodded seriously: “Yes, he was possessed by an evil spirit named Li Feng. Li Feng is also a lecherous scoundrel. He even kissed me and licked my hand. Ancestor, please find a way to get rid of him.”
Lingxuzi then asked, “Did you choose the name Li Feng yourself?”
”No, no,” Yu Ziyu denied repeatedly. “Grandmaster, this time it’s true. I did give those demons a lot of names before, but this time it really wasn’t me. That evil spirit said it himself, his name is Li Feng.”
Ling Xuzi naturally didn’t believe it, but she still pretended to deceive her.
She stepped forward and circled around Li Jiyan, feigning a frown: “Oh, there is indeed an eerie aura.”
Upon receiving Ling Xuzi’s affirmation, Yu Ziyu was overjoyed and ran forward to grab Li Jiyan’s collar: “Quick, quick, take off your clothes. Ancestor, I’ve drawn so many talismans on him, please look and see if I’ve drawn them well.”
Ling Xuzi was at her wit’s end. She tapped her arm with her whisk and said, “No need to look anymore. I know your abilities.”
Yu Ziyu could only straighten Li Jiyan’s clothes and turn around to ask, “Then, Master, what should we do to subdue this evil spirit?”
Lingxuzi paced back and forth, pretending to be deep in thought.
”Ziyu, this is an excellent opportunity for training. You will have to do this exorcism yourself. You will have to figure it out on your own and find a way to get rid of this evil spirit. This will be a great deed.”
Yu Ziyu’s face fell: “Grandmaster, I am willing but unable to do so. I am afraid I cannot eliminate the ghost by myself. How about we exorcise the ghost together, and accumulate great merit together?”
Ling Xuzi shook her head, feigning profundity: “This great merit is beyond my ability to receive. As you know, I have already entered the Golden Core stage. Subduing such a little devil would only lower my status. It is better to leave this little devil to you to subdue, so that you can make the best use of him.”
After listening, Yu Ziyu felt that it made a lot of sense.
She immediately agreed: “Okay, then I’ll find a way to get rid of it myself.”
Ling Xuzi finally smiled and affectionately patted Yu Ziyu’s head: “Good child, cultivate diligently, and you will soon attain immortality.”
”Yes, Ancestral Master, this disciple has remembered.”
Lingxuzi retrieved a copy of the “Dongling Zhenjing” from the hall and handed it to her: “Once you have thoroughly understood this book, you will be able to subdue that evil spirit. Study it carefully, and if you have any questions, come and ask your master again.”
”Thank you, Ancestral Master! I am deeply grateful for your kindness to me.” Yu Ziyu untied the money pouch at his waist and took out all the loose silver. “Ancestral Master, how much is this book? If it’s not enough, I’ll go home and get more.”
Just as Ling Xuzi was about to take the money, she noticed Li Jiyan’s strange gaze.
She withdrew her hand, waved the whisk in her hand, and coughed lightly, saying, “What’s with all this talk about money? Your master gave you the book to help you cultivate. Don’t keep mentioning money in the future, or it will hurt our master-disciple relationship.”
Before Yu Ziyu could say anything more, Ling Xuzi had already walked towards the side hall.
Li Jiyan asked with a complicated expression, “Do you often give Lingxuzi money?”
”What Lingxuzi? Show some respect! You can’t just call the Ancestral’s title like that. You have no manners!” Yu Ziyu put away the money, picked up the book in her hand, and went out.
Li Jiyan followed her: “You gave your ancestor money before she would teach you how to cultivate immortality?”
”Otherwise what? Do you think just anyone can cultivate immortality? Cultivating immortality requires talent, the ability to endure hardship, and money. It’s all about the right timing, location, and people. Otherwise, if any dog or cat came to cultivate immortality, would that still be called cultivating immortality? What a joke!”
Yu Ziyu ran to the front yard, jumped onto the millstone in the center of the yard, and opened the “Dongling True Scripture” to read it with great interest.
Li Jiyan jumped up and sat next to her: “Can you understand this?”
”How can I not understand? I’m exceptionally gifted, what can’t I understand? You’re not allowed to talk anymore, you’re talking nonsense and disturbing my mind.”
”You’re the one who’s always talking nonsense.” Li Jiyan looked at the setting sun, which had become a line in the distance. When the afterglow completely disappeared, he turned to look at Yu Ziyu. “He told you his name is Li Feng?”
”Who?”
”The evil spirit inside me.”
Yu Ziyu became interested, put down the book, and gestured with both hands: “It is called Li Feng. This time, I really didn’t choose the name myself. It was that evil spirit who said it.”
She suddenly remembered something, grabbed Li Jiyan’s collar and shook him: “Hurry up and let Li Feng out, I need to talk to him. I need to ask him how he cultivated himself.”
”There’s nothing I can do.”
Yu Ziyu was angry. Even though Li Feng was a lecher, she still wanted to see him. She shook Li Jiyan even harder: “Give Li Feng back to me, give him back to me now! Make him come out.”
”Did he kiss you last night? What happened between you two?”
Yu Ziyu let go of his hand, turned around and refused to look at him: “What’s it to you?”
Li Jiyan’s fingers, which were resting on the millstone, moved slightly, his index finger resting on Yu Ziyu’s little finger. He felt a sharp pain in his heart. He had never even properly held her hand, yet Li Feng had already kissed her.
He was the one who fell for her first, the one who proposed to the Yu family, the one who confessed his feelings to her first, and the one who braved the rain to go up the mountain to find her. In the end, Yu Ziyu seems to be more interested in Li Feng. This is not fair.
His voice was extremely deep: “Yu Ziyu, if you still let him kiss you, I will never let him out again.”
Yu Ziyu moved to the edge of the millstone, not getting close to Li Jiyan, and said in a muffled voice, “If you’re so capable, then don’t let him out for the rest of your life. Otherwise, every time he comes out, I’ll beat him up. Anyway, it’s your body that will suffer in the end.”
Li Jiyan lowered his head, unsure of what to say.
The two sat in silence for a while. Yu Ziyu got hungry and jumped off the millstone to go to the dining hall to find something to eat.
Li Jiyan grabbed her sleeve: “Yu Ziyu, you can’t like Li Feng, he’s not a good person.”
“He’s not even human, he’s a lecherous monster.” Yu Ziyu pulled back her sleeve. “Don’t always talk to me about these romantic entanglements. My ambitions lie elsewhere. I’m single-mindedly pursuing the Dao, and nothing can stop me from cultivating immortality.”
”If that’s the case, why didn’t you just refuse me when I came to propose marriage?”
Yu Ziyu stood tall and proud, exuding righteousness: “Back then, I was thinking of using bedroom arts to help me cultivate. But your thing is too ugly, it scared me, and now I don’t want to use bedroom arts to cultivate anymore.”
“I’ve applied medicine, I don’t look so bad anymore. You said you wanted to see me at the palace that day, but you didn’t. You see me again now.” He strode forward, blocking her path.
”No need. I have made up my mind to become a nun and will never be able to enjoy the pleasures of men and women in this life. You don’t need to bother me anymore, or I might kill my husband to prove my enlightenment.” Yu Ziyu was very hungry, so she bypassed him and ran towards the dining hall.