Wasn't he supposed to be beaten to death? Why did this powerful cousin love him so much?

Inside a meditation room at Jingxin Temple, Master Liaowu was speaking with Xie Jue.

Master Liaowu had white hair and beard, a gaunt face, and slightly closed eyes, exuding a Zen-like detachment from worldly affairs.

Xie Jue said solemnly, "I'm sorry to have troubled you with your words last time, Master."

Monks do not lie.

However, Master Liaowu wrote a false prophecy for Jiang Sese.

Master Liaowu slowly opened his eyes, his gaze settling peacefully on Xie Jue opposite him: "Lord Xie, you flatter me. It's just a small matter. The Xie family has accumulated good deeds and virtues, and they will naturally be blessed with good fortune."

Blessings?

Xie Jue smiled.

The two chatted for a few more minutes about Zen principles, then Xie Jue got up to take his leave: "I have other matters to attend to, so I won't bother you any longer, Master."

Master Liaowu nodded and personally rose to see him off, saying, "Thank you for your kindness, sir."

As they spoke, the two left the meditation room.

At the entrance of the courtyard, the elderly monk who had been waiting earlier was approaching. Upon seeing the two of them come out, he quickly stepped forward and explained that guests had come to have their fortunes interpreted.

The older monk bowed and said, "That young lady drew a divination slip and came here specifically to ask the master to interpret it. Since the master is currently meeting with Young Master Xie, she was asked to wait in the tea room."

Master Liaowu nodded and instructed the monk to bring the young lady over.

Upon hearing the divination slip, Xie Jue paused slightly and asked, "What is the meaning of this divination slip?"

Upon hearing this, Master Liaowu raised his hand to stroke his white beard, closed his eyes slightly, and a faint, Zen-like smile played on his lips. He then uttered a Buddhist chant: "Amitabha. Thank you, sir. The mystery within this divination slip cannot be spoken, cannot be spoken."

Xie Jue's eyes flickered slightly, a faint hint of surprise flashing across his deep eyes before returning to calm.

He had always known that Master Liaowu acted with restraint, and that if something could not be said, then there must be a reason for it.

Xie Jue did not press the matter further, but simply nodded slightly before turning and slowly walking away. His purple figure gradually disappeared into the swaying bamboo shadows, displaying an extraordinary demeanor and an aura of cold majesty that kept strangers at bay.

At the other end of the corridor leading to the tea room, Jiang Sese was slowly walking towards them, holding the cryptic fortune stick.

The dense bamboo shadows under the eaves, with their dappled light and shadows, barely separated the two figures.

The two followed the curve of the corridor, coming and going, and suddenly brushed past each other at the most dappled corner of the light and shadow.

The corridor was quiet, with bamboo shadows swaying in the breeze.

Jiang Sese held the mysterious fortune slip and entered the meditation room alone. Bamboo shadows under the eaves cast golden light all over the ground. Green Calyx and Red Bean stood tactfully outside the door, waiting quietly.

The air in the meditation room was filled with the gentle fragrance of sandalwood incense. Master Liaowu gestured for Jiang Sese to sit down, his voice as calm as spring water: "Miss, please don't be so formal, have a seat."

Jiang Sese sat down as instructed, and like an honest student, respectfully handed over the bamboo skewer with both hands.

Master Liaowu took the bamboo slip, glanced at it, and a smile slowly bloomed on his lips. His gaze fell on Jiang Sese's face, and his tone was seemingly casual: "This slip is extraordinary. Ordinary people cannot obtain it, only those with the right destiny can see it. Do you know, young lady, that everyone who draws this slip has a hidden past and an unusual experience?"

Jiang Sese was startled and suspicious, but her expression remained respectful as she softly said, "I don't understand what you mean by that, Master. I don't get it."

Master Liaowu remained noncommittal, simply setting the bamboo stick aside before slowly beginning to recount an old story.

Five years ago, a wealthy family surnamed Zou from Jiangnan brought his wife and daughter on a long journey to Panlong Temple to worship Buddha.

"The Zou family is one of the top silk-producing families in Jiangnan. They are wealthy and kind-hearted, building bridges and roads and doing good deeds in the area. They came to the temple to pray for a good marriage for their young lady."

The master paused, as if recalling the scene from years ago: "The young lady of the Zou family was fifteen years old. She was beautiful with delicate features, but her temperament was calm and insightful, unlike the naive and innocent girls of ordinary young ladies. On that day, the temple was bustling with incense offerings. After she and her parents had worshipped the Buddhas, she drew this mysterious fortune stick from a tube full of bamboo sticks."

Jiang Sese found the beginning uninteresting; the monk's story was rather hypnotic.

Master Liaowu glanced at Jiang Sese, smiled slightly, and continued, "Later, that family left Panlong Temple and traveled a long and arduous journey back to their hometown in Jiangnan. Unexpectedly, less than half a month later, Miss Zou accidentally fell into the water. When Miss Zou woke up, she was like a completely different person; her personality changed drastically, and she didn't even recognize her parents or the maids who served her. The first thing she said upon waking was to ask her mother with a puzzled look, 'Who are you?'"

Jiang Sese: ...

Suddenly I couldn't laugh anymore, and a chill ran down my spine.

Could this be someone from our hometown?

Time travel? Transmigrating into a book?

Jiang Sese quickly pressed, "And then?"

Master Liaowu said, "When the girl's parents saw her like this, they were immediately terrified and turned pale. They thought she had lost her mind after falling into the water and had caught a cold from evil spirits. They hurriedly invited the best doctor in the city to come and see her."

"But the girl showed no improvement whatsoever. She not only didn't recognize people, but she didn't even recognize herself. When the maid brought her a bronze mirror to do her makeup, she glanced at her own face in the mirror and cried out in terror as if she had seen some monster, saying that this was not her face."

"She kept clamoring to run away every day, saying she wanted to go back to the modern world, and no one in the manor could stop her."

Seeing Jiang Sese's stiff expression, Master Liaowu smiled and asked, "Miss, what do you think happened to Miss Zou afterward?"

how is it?

What can be done?

Jiang Sese glanced at the cryptic fortune stick on the table, then shook her head with a somber expression.

Master Liaowu said, "Later, the Zou family had no choice but to invite a Taoist priest from Longhu Mountain to perform a ritual. The priest performed the ritual for three days and three nights, and finally concluded that Miss Zou had already drowned when she fell into the water. The body in her body was now occupied by a wandering ghost that had come from nowhere and had been resurrected by the body of a living person."

"The Taoist priest said that if this female ghost is left alive, she will eventually turn on the Zou family. In order to prevent future troubles, the only option is to burn her alive to restore order to the yin and yang."

"Resurrected through a corpse..." Jiang Sese murmured, her voice trembling slightly without her realizing it.

Jiang Sese couldn't help but ask in a trembling voice, "Then, did the Zou family really burn her to death?"