Lianxi Taoist Temple was once one of the four great Taoist temples in the world. After Master fell ill, those incompetent senior brothers and sisters began looking for greener pastures, unwilling to endure the hardships of mountain life. Over time, the incense dwindled, and the temple began to decline.
When Master was terminally ill, she acted like she was possessed, raving and striking out at anyone she saw. Not one of those senior brothers and sisters was willing to attend to her bedside. They had all despised her while she was alive, yet they all scrambled to snatch up her belongings once she was gone—a reality that made Yuyin see them for exactly who they were.
"No words? You served Master for three years, whispering behind our backs to turn us against each other just to scam your way into the inheritance. How utterly sinister!" Xu Meirong spat at Yuyin in disgust before stepping into her car in her expensive high heels.
Yuyin let out a derisive laugh. She had no intention of taking the fall for their behavior. "After Master fell ill, none of you wanted to suffer on the mountain, so you dumped her on me to care for alone. Later, when she was dying, she chose her successor based on ability. You only have yourselves to blame for being less capable."
"Who are you calling less capable? A fool like you doesn't even deserve to be compared to me!"
"Senior Sister, self-awareness is a virtue."
Xu Meirong’s face flushed with embarrassment, her grip tightening on the steering wheel. She could not deny that Yuyin had become a rising star, surpassing her in just a few days what had taken her over a decade to achieve! She couldn't for the life of her understand how a fool she had bullied for years had suddenly become so formidable.
Yuyin blocked the path of the car, refusing to let Xu Meirong leave just yet. "Senior Sister, I just cast a hex for you. You may encounter a collision with malevolent energy on the road. Give me the box and the Taoist robe, and take the southern route instead. That will resolve it."
"In your dreams! You think your little bit of cultivation can scare me? If you dare to block my car again, I’ll burn that wooden box of yours." Xu Meirong gripped the wheel viciously, her foot hovering over the gas pedal.
Yuyin narrowed her eyes at the front tires of the car. "Then let’s see. If you don't hand it over, you aren't going anywhere."
She kicked a small stone forward. It emitted a golden light visible only to her, binding the front tires of the car as if with chains. Xu Meirong sneered and slammed on the gas, only to find that the car wouldn't start no matter what she tried.
She looked back to see Yuyin standing by the car with a cold smirk, and she suddenly understood. Yuyin had been the last to reach enlightenment, but her cultivation had been a steady accumulation that had long since surpassed everyone else's. Before long, she would overshadow Xu Meirong entirely. Yuyin had only used a simple trick, yet Xu Meirong was already trapped, sitting in the car and fuming.
Afraid that the other junior disciples would see her and mock her, Xu Meirong unwillingly fished the wooden box out of her briefcase and tossed it out the window.
"The Taoist robe, too." Yuyin stooped to pick up the box, wiping the dust off it tenderly.
Xu Meirong hesitated, unwilling to let go. Of all the Master’s belongings, the robe had the highest auction value. "Don't push your luck. Master died under mysterious circumstances; it could very well be that you used dark arts to kill her. If I reveal the state of her corpse, you won't be able to stay in the Xuanmen."
"If you don't want to give it up, so be it, but you won't be able to keep it anyway. Sooner or later, it will be burned..." Yuyin looked at her with pity. She had said her piece; if the other woman was blinded by greed, she had no one else to blame.
Xu Meirong suddenly found that the car could move again, and a smug, unrestrained smile returned to her face. "Little Junior Sister, I’ve already been accepted as a disciple by a master of great power. I advise you not to leave this mountain, or I won't let you off!"
The car sped down the mountain, disappearing into the distance. Yuyin looked up to see a branch snap off a large tree by the roadside—the very tree planted the year Xu Meirong joined the Xuanmen. She had once been the disciple Master valued most. Xu Meirong had ignored her warning and chosen the northern path; Yuyin wondered if she would share the same fate as the "assassin" lurking there.
Yuyin carried the box back into the temple and opened it to find a small peach-wood pendant. The front was carved with a fruit of longevity, and the back featured the character "Sheng" inscribed in cinnabar. There were countless families with the surname Sheng in Pingcheng, but only one had ties to the Xuanmen—and it was the most prestigious one. She hung the pendant around her neck, touching it fondly. It seemed she would have to make a trip down the mountain.
After Yuyin finished offering incense to Master, she went to the courtyard to sweep up the fallen ginkgo leaves, intending to return and restore the glory of the Lianxi Taoist Temple once her chores were finished.
"Little Taoist, we’re looking for Master Huian. She promised to cast a hex for me half a year ago."
Hearing the familiar voice behind her, Yuyin’s hand froze on the broom. "I'm sorry, but my master has already ascended."
"Ascended where? She still owes me a reading, and I already paid the deposit."
Yuyin looked up, meeting the gaze of Cheng Fangnan with a cold sneer. Beside him stood a woman dressed gaudily, her figure curvaceous and her demeanor soft and coquettish. Yuyin realized this must be the reason Cheng Fangnan was so desperate to break their engagement. Behind them were two bodyguards in black suits, their hands full of luxury shopping bags.
"Oh, still alive? You really have nine lives, don't you? I heard the car you were in ended up in a river, and the driver died on the spot," Cheng Fangnan said in a mocking tone, making no effort to hide his loathing for Yuyin.
The woman leaned against his shoulder and asked, "Who is this little Taoist nun?"
"My ex-fiancée. My old man lost his mind and had me engaged to this fool. Thankfully, my mother helped me out of it."
"Oh, just a fool then," the woman said with a giggle, her eyes sweeping over Yuyin with utter contempt.
"Master Huian has strict standards for taking disciples. How did a blind fool like you manage to sneak in? Hurry up and lead the way; we're here to see her closing disciple." Cheng Fangnan put on his sunglasses and pushed past her, wrapping an arm around the woman. Since the master was dead, there was still the closing disciple—someone he had heard was quite powerful.
Yuyin was left standing aside, her anger growing. She knew it—the car accident had definitely been Cheng Fangnan’s doing.
Cheng Fangnan wandered the temple with the woman, but finding only Yuyin there, he grew impatient. He tossed a few hundred-yuan bills over Yuyin’s head. "Hey, are you deaf? Get your Master’s closing disciple out here right now! We want a reading."
Just as Cheng Fangnan was about to insult her further, his phone rang. The person on the other end informed him that Master Huian had indeed passed away and that the temple was now run by her closing disciple. The disciple’s secular name was Yuyin, and they had sent him a photo.
Cheng Fangnan looked at the person in the photo, then back at Yuyin. His mouth hung open in shock, as if he’d been struck by a club. "You… you are Master Huian’s closing disciple?"
"The current head of the temple?"
Cheng Fangnan’s face turned ghastly. He couldn't believe that the fool he’d looked down on all morning had suddenly transformed into a master of the Taoist arts and the heir to one of the four great temples. Rumor had it this young disciple was even more gifted than Master Huian. *Fake*, he thought. *It must be fake. A woman I discarded can only be a useless piece of trash.*
"To think you’d lie even in a Taoist temple. How shameless," Cheng Fangnan said, his face pale and his voice lacking conviction. He didn't believe it, yet he was slowly being forced to accept it.
The woman beside him, dressed in a purple hiking outfit with a sun hat covering her face, heard that Yuyin was the renowned disciple and immediately pulled off her hat, clinging to Yuyin’s arm with flattering sycophancy. "Master Yu, don't mind him. I’m the one here for a reading today—Chen Shujing. He has nothing to do with it." As she spoke, she snatched an expensive bag from the bodyguard and shoved it into Yuyin’s arms.
Though poor, Yuyin knew that wealth should be acquired through proper means; she didn't want anything tainted. She took one glance at Chen Shujing and saw the flushed complexion and wide earlobes—signs of pregnancy. However, the woman’s waist was wrapped in black mist; the child might not live long.
"You are carrying a child. Even if an immortal came down today, they couldn't read your fortune," Yuyin said, thinking Chen Shujing was foolish for trying to gamble her life on becoming a wealthy socialite. What age was this? There was no such thing as using a child to marry into a wealthy family anymore. Besides, with her common destiny pattern, she wouldn't even be accepted as a servant in the Cheng Family. Only Cheng Fangnan’s father could decide who his son married, and that man was an extremist who only believed in the Xuanmen and those with "noble" destiny patterns.
"No way, is it really that accurate? You can even tell I’m pregnant?" Chen Shujing’s eyes widened, and she proudly puffed out her less-than-three-month-old belly.
Yuyin didn't respond. Though she had only achieved enlightenment a few days ago, she was already a prodigy of the Xuanmen; such small matters didn't even require checking a birth chart.
Chen Shujing pulled out a set of gold jewelry, grabbing Yuyin’s arm to bribe her. "As long as you help me marry into the Cheng Family, I’ll pay whatever price you ask."
Yuyin hadn't expected that others would be lining up to jump into the fire pit she was trying to crawl out of. The Cheng Family was full of evil; their generation was destined to end without heirs. No woman, not even Chen Shujing, had the power to change that.
"You want to jump into a fire pit?"
"It’s the wealthiest family! Even if it is a fire pit, I can turn it into a nest of fortune."
"Fool," Yuyin muttered under her breath.
"You think you’re something, don't you? Do you dare disobey your Master’s order?" Cheng Fangnan produced a note left by her Master and threw it into Yuyin’s face.
Yuyin looked at it coldly and tossed the note into the incense burner to be consumed by flames. A debt owed by a master had to be paid by the disciple—she couldn't escape it.
She asked for Chen Shujing’s birth date, examined her features, and finally pulled three copper coins from the drawer, casting them onto the table. After a long silence, Yuyin glanced at Chen Shujing’s belly. "The Cheng Family—you will never marry into it."