IMMFBCG Chapter 74

Chapter 74: Offering Lights

Going to the temple to burn incense was not going to work.

I’m afraid Bai Liu wouldn’t even make it to the Bai Niao Temple before Bai Zi’ang breaks his legs.

Bai Liu’s impulsive thoughts were quickly suppressed, and he had no choice but to temporarily abandon the idea of using a shortcut to wealth through prayers.

Zhuang Wenxing and the others happened to come to Xuan Zhen Guan on the weekend.

Since they were all students, Ye Xue didn’t charge much, just a small incense offering.

Bai Liu watched as they respectfully stood before the ancestor statue, then lit incense, and he couldn’t help but comment, “Master Uncle is almost turning people from your school into ‘downlines,’ one by one…”

First, it was Ruan Xinghua, then Ye Xue’s roommates, and now people from other departments at the school.

Ye Xue pretended to hit him, “I’m a serious Heavenly Master, I don’t do illegal things like pyramid schemes.”

Bai Liu tried to dodge, but accidentally bumped into a nearby pillar, causing his head to spin with stars from the pain.

Ye Xue shot him a glance, “Serves you right!”

Bai Liu rubbed his head in pain, but when Zhuang Wenxing and the others finished burning incense and came over, he quickly straightened up and assumed a lofty, otherworldly demeanor.

No one would have guessed that the back of his head was swollen.

Zhuang Wenxing asked, “By the way, Ye Xue, doesn’t your temple have a VIP registration? Can we sign up for one too?”

Ye Xue naturally didn’t refuse, “Sure.”

She gestured for Bai Liu to get the registration form and had Zhuang Wenxing and the others fill it out.

After they finished their forms, they were about to say goodbye to Ye Xue.

Bai Liu casually said, “So soon? It’s still early, why not stay for some tea?”

“It’s not that early,” Ren Xing’an quickly said, “We’re heading to Tianyi Guan later.”

Cheng Qing immediately stepped on Ren Xing’an’s foot, and everyone gave him warning looks.

How could you mention going to another temple while inside Xuan Zhen Guan? That would be insulting!

Ye Xue laughed, “It’s fine, Tianyi Guan and we are sister temples. Go ahead.”

Zhuang Wenxing and the others had originally hired Taoist priests from Tianyi Guan, so they were naturally going there to burn incense as well.

After sending off her classmates, Ye Xue went to the backyard.

Soon, Yu Minghe came to burn incense as well.

Bai Liu saw him place a thick stack of red bills into the merit box after burning incense, looking like there were a dozen or twenty bills, almost not fitting into the box.

Bai Liu had never seen Yu Minghe before and thought, who is this big spender? He’s so generous right off the bat.

Then Xu Zhou came over with some paper money, and upon seeing Yu Minghe, he greeted him, “Mr. Yu, how have you been recently?”

Yu Minghe smiled gently, “Not bad, just been busy with company matters, which is why I’ve only had time to come now.”

Bai Liu observed Yu Minghe, noticing his smiling eyes, and felt something was familiar.

He always thought Yu Minghe looked somewhat familiar.

Later, when Yu Minghe went to the backyard, Bai Liu turned to Xu Zhou and asked, “Brother, do you think Mr. Yu looks familiar?”

Xu Zhou paused, thought carefully, but couldn’t place it, shaking his head slightly, “Really?”

Bai Liu continued, “Yeah, at first I didn’t notice, but when he smiles, his eyes… oh, wait!”

“I know now!” Bai Liu snapped his fingers, realizing, “His eyes are a bit like Master Ye Xue’s!”

He nodded thoughtfully, “It seems that beautiful people have some similarities. Even I share a trait with Master Xue.”

Xu Zhou was stunned for a moment, then couldn’t help but laugh at Bai Liu’s follow-up comment, “You and Master Xue? How are you similar?”

Bai Liu said with righteous conviction, “We both love learning!”

Xu Zhou was left speechless and amused.

…

As Yu Minghe walked to the backyard, he passed by a pavilion where nearby students were studying. When a breeze blew by, the faint sound of reading could be heard.

Yu Minghe admired the scenery for a moment before continuing forward.

Suddenly, he felt something odd underfoot, his step halted, and a soft voice drifted by, “You stepped on my clothes!”

The voice was faint and intermittent.

Instinctively, Yu Minghe moved his foot, looked down, and saw some paper ash at his feet, but couldn’t figure out what he had stepped on.

He looked around but saw nothing.

“Mr. Yu?” Ye Xue, holding a book, walked over and noticed Yu Minghe standing still, asking, “What’s wrong? Was there something strange about the last incident?”

Yu Minghe came to his senses, “No.”

Yu Minghe’s uncle had several practitioners in his house, and the ghost bride from before had been summoned by them.

In wealthy families, it was common for people to take drastic measures against their kin in the power struggle, so the Yu family had its ways of dealing with such matters. Only after resolving the issue was Yu Minghe able to visit Xuan Zhen Guan.

Ye Xue noticed Yu Minghe handing her a red envelope again, and was a bit confused, “Didn’t you already pay me for the last service?”

Yu Minghe explained, “I want to offer a lamp at Xuan Zhen Guan.”

Offering a lamp is a common Taoist ritual. There are many types of Taoist rituals, and some texts mention using lamp offerings to communicate with the divine, helping to release souls or remove misfortune.

Ye Xue smiled when she heard this, “I see. But you don’t need to offer so much money. Just give what you think is right.”

Yu Minghe reluctantly took back the red envelope, planning to donate it later in the merit box.

He remembered the earlier incident and asked Ye Xue, “When I came in, I stepped on something, and noticed some paper ash on the ground.”

Ye Xue glanced at the ground, recognizing it as the mark left by paper clothes being stepped on.

There were only three ghosts at Xuan Zhen Guan, one of whom was a temporary resident, and from the ashes left behind, Ye Xue immediately guessed whose clothes they were.

She said, “It’s nothing, just a small matter. I’ll take you to the main hall to register. When the abbot returns, we can ask him to help offer the lamp.”

After finishing her work, Ye Xue came back and swept up the paper ash.

She put down the broom and dustpan, looking towards the distance, and said, “Yan Nianzhen, how many times have I told you? When you play games, go hide, don’t scare people.”

A little girl dressed in a pink rabbit outfit came out from a corner, holding a game console. The long skirt she wore had a small piece torn off, and one of her rabbit ears was missing.

In the past few days, Chen Su and An Zhi had already gotten used to her presence, occasionally offering things to feed the little ghost. Meanwhile, Bai Zi’ang, to keep Bai Liu from becoming distracted, confiscated his Switch and gave it to Yan Nianzhen to play with instead. As long as she finished her assignments each day, she could play games for an hour.

Ye Xue felt like she might just end up getting completely absorbed in playing here.

Yan Nianzhen, with her pale little face, weakly said, “I wanted to hide, but I accidentally stepped on him.”

Usually, people couldn’t hear her voice, but Yu Minghe probably had bad luck recently, which was why he could hear Yan Nianzhen speaking.

Ye Xue gestured for her to come over.

Yan Nianzhen waited by the door. When Ye Xue brought out a bronze basin and then went back to her room for a piece of paper clothing, she said, “I’ll burn you a new outfit.”

Ye Xue lit the fire with a lighter and placed the paper clothing in the basin, writing Yan Nianzhen’s name with a talisman.

The paper clothing was quickly consumed by the flames, and reduced to ashes.

A delicate little skirt appeared on Yan Nianzhen’s body.

She looked down at it a few times, curiously examining her new clothes, and her pale face broke into a smile. “Thank you, Master Ye Xue!”

Ye Xue’s phone rang, and she glanced at it before turning to Yan Nianzhen and saying, “Go play in my room, but only for half an hour.”

Yan Nianzhen nodded obediently.

Ye Xue picked up her phone and left.

As soon as Yan Nianzhen stepped into Ye Xue’s room, she heard a tiny voice, “Who are you? Why are you here?”

Normally, Yan Nianzhen only wandered around the front yard and occasionally visited Bai Liu’s room for lessons. This was her first time entering Ye Xue’s room.

Curiously, she looked around and saw a cotton doll speaking.

The little girl, who liked beautiful things, immediately brightened at the sight and was about to reach out to grab it. But the cotton doll said, “Don’t touch me! Only Ye Xue can touch me!”

Yan Nianzhen had a natural sense of fear toward Ye Xue and quickly stopped.

The cotton doll was pleased by her compliance and hummed, “You still haven’t answered my question.”

Yan Nianzhen quietly explained, “Master Ye Xue told me to come.”

The cotton doll huffed and said, “Fine.” Seeing the sun still bright outside, it urged, “Turn me over, I’m done drying on this side.”

Yan Nianzhen: “…?”

Didn’t it just say I couldn’t touch it?

She muttered to herself, carefully flipping the doll over.

The cotton doll’s blushed face turned towards her, and it happened to catch a glimpse of Yan Nianzhen’s face.

Its gaze slowly fell on the outfit she was wearing. “Where did you get that outfit? It’s quite nice.”

Yan Nianzhen answered, “Master Ye Xue gave it to me.”

The cotton doll was stunned, incredulous.

Yan Nianzhen looked at it in confusion. “Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Half a second later, the room was filled with the cotton doll’s loud crying.

It wailed, “Ye Xue made clothes for you!”

“No…” Yan Nianzhen replied, “She burned them for me.”

“Oh, okay.” The cotton doll sniffed, instantly stopping its crying. “You should have said that earlier!”

It eyed the little girl and reluctantly said, “Fine, I’ll accept you as my little brother.”

Yan Nianzhen: “No…”

The cotton doll seemed not to have heard her words and continued, “I’ll be first, and you’ll be second.”

After that, it remembered to ask Yan Nianzhen, “What do you think?”

“…” Yan Nianzhen asked, “Does my opinion matter?”

When Ye Xue returned, she was surprised to find that Yan Nianzhen wasn’t playing games but instead had a serious look on her face.

Ye Xue glanced at the sky and was about to flip the cotton doll over when she saw it was damp. She asked in surprise, “What happened to you, baby?”

Yan Nianzhen saw the cotton doll, which had been so proud earlier, now speaking in a soft, embarrassed voice, “It started raining outside, and I got wet.”

Yan Nianzhen was even more confused about life.

…

As Ye Xue was sending Yan Nianzhen back to her room to study, a pair of pale little hands tugged at her clothes.

Ye Xue turned her head, and the little girl, looking at her seriously, said, “Master Ye Xue, you should send me to be reincarnated.”

Ye Xue: “Hm?”

Just a moment ago, she was enjoying herself, and now she wanted to go back to the underworld.

Yan Nianzhen just sighed deeply.

The mortal world was too terrifying.