At that moment, Bai Ci felt her hand briefly lose sensation, only to see it move on its own.
After a simple lift and wave of the hand, control of her arm was handed back to her.
Bai Ci realized that Ming Yi had briefly taken back control just now to perform a necessary action.
As it turned out, she was right.
Beneath the incense altar, an old wooden tablet tied with a bright red silk ribbon rose into the air after Ming Yi's wave and flew toward Wu Daoqing below.
It was the token certifying that the tribute ritual was complete.
Seeing this, Wu Daoqing hurriedly raised his hands to catch it, his movements flurried and urgent, terrified of dropping it.
He held the wooden tablet securely in both hands, subconsciously tracing the faded patterns on its surface over and over.
“Thank you for your grace, Lady! This disciple will strictly abide by the contract and never fail you!”
Once his excitement subsided slightly, Wu Daoqing calmed down and realized he should inform his senior brother and master of this outcome to share the joy of his narrow escape.
He unslung his backpack and pulled out his phone.
The screen lit up, packed with dozens of missed calls and unread messages, all from his senior brothers, senior sisters, and his master.
Wu Daoqing was both puzzled and nervous. What on earth had happened?
He quickly redialed the senior brother who had called most recently. The call was picked up almost instantly.
The phone's speaker was on by default, and the volume was quite loud. An anxious, hurried, and lingeringly terrified male voice rang out from the other end.
“Junior Brother! You finally picked up!”
The voice on the other end was practically roaring.
“Me, your other senior brothers and sisters, and Master—we've all been going out of our minds with worry! We haven't seen you back at the dojo all morning, and your phone was unreachable. We almost thought something happened to you!”
Wu Daoqing held his phone, slightly startled. He hurriedly said, “Senior Brother, I—”
Before he could finish even half a sentence of explanation, his senior brother cut him off at breakneck speed, his tone frantic and panicked.
“Do not go to the Lady Ming Shrine, do you hear me?”
“That bastard talks out of his ass; barely a word he says is true.”
“He was just mocking you for being too rigid in your cultivation and lacking flexibility, saying you'd be kicked out of the Heavenly Master Association sooner or later. You should've just ignored that! He told you to go to the Lady Ming Shrine for a tribute trial to prove yourself, but how could you actually take him seriously?”
“That place is incredibly eerie, and she's notoriously difficult to deal with even among Ghost Immortals. You couldn't possibly be that gullible, right?”
“You really scared the life out of me!”
The rapid-fire words poured out continuously, every syllable laced with panic and lingering dread.
Wu Daoqing stood there awkwardly, utterly at a loss for words. Finally, urged by the frantic prompts of “Why aren't you saying anything? Say something!” from the other end, he squeezed out a sentence.
“Senior Brother, I'm already inside the Lady Ming Shrine.”
“Gack—” His senior brother let out a sound akin to a dying wail.
Talk about a direct hit.
Also, keeping a phone call on speaker really was a terrible, hazardous habit.
In her heart, Bai Ci felt incredibly embarrassed for the person on the other end of the line and began to offer him her silent condolences.
Before she could even finish her silent prayers, she felt a sudden surge of cold, hostile energy rise in her chest. Great, the true owner of the body was so angry he was about to log back in.
At a time like this, what else could she do? Politely log off, of course.
Ming Yi couldn't be bothered to waste his breath on these junior heavenly masters. If Bai Ci hadn't been using his physical body right now, he would never have tolerated such incessant, noisy disruptions.
“How clamorous.”
The scolding was accompanied by a cold snort, but that was it; he didn't pursue the matter any further.
Normally, if anyone dared to make such a racket inside Ming Yi's shrine and gossip about him behind his back, they wouldn't have escaped unscathed—even if they were from the Heavenly Master Association.
Although Bai Ci didn't know these minor details that hadn't been recorded in Rain's Message, she possessed a keen intuition when it came to interpersonal dynamics.
After a moment of reflection, she realized that Ming Yi seemed to be showing her some consideration.
Her benevolent soul was pure and good. On the very first day she woke up, would he really make her witness a slaughter?
No matter what others might think, he personally felt it would be inappropriate, perhaps even a bit offensive.
Wu Daoqing held his dead silent phone. Only after a long while did he tremblingly power it off and slip it back into his pocket.
He kept his head bowed the entire time, not daring to take a single loud breath. His face flushed various shades of red, white, and green in turn, a mix of sheer embarrassment and lingering terror.
“La... Lady Ming... This disciple will take his leave now. In the future, I will strictly abide by our contract, cultivate diligently, and never fail the trust you have placed in me.”
Wu Daoqing bowed respectfully. Cupping the old tribute wooden tablet in both hands, he carefully tucked it into his other inner pocket, away from his phone.
Inside the shrine, silence finally reigned once more.
Over the next few days, Bai Ci completely settled into a leisurely, idle life.
This ancient shrine, nestled in Xiuxian County, was surrounded by beautiful scenery. The occasional birds sweeping through the mountains and the rustling of leaves in the wind provided the most excellent white noise.
Day after day passed, so monotonous it made one drowsy.
The locals rarely came to burn incense at this Lady Ming Shrine unless they had a specific request or during major holidays.
Occasionally, some casual tourists would stop by, but they only burned incense for good luck and rarely made any genuine wishes.
And even if they did, those wishes didn't necessarily have to be granted.
Of course, this wasn't because he wanted to enjoy the tributes without taking responsibility, but rather because everyone had their own specialty.
As a protective Ghost Immortal—to emphasize, a Ghost Immortal who protected women and children.
Did those who wished to pass exams or strike it rich really think things through? No matter how you looked at it, those weren't things he could make happen.
Ming Yi also seemed completely at a loss as to how to accommodate Bai Ci's unique benevolent soul.
For the past hundreds of years, he had guarded the shrine alone, enjoying the local incense offerings in carefree solitude. He had never experienced coexisting with a split soul, let alone teaching or accommodating one.
Since the two souls shared a single body, if one wanted to act, the other would inevitably be rendered completely helpless.
Reflecting on the fact that he had lived for hundreds of years, seen countless people, sights, and events, and had accumulated plenty of active time over his existence...
Meanwhile, his Ming Ci had only just been born. Keeping her trapped in one place would be too cruel to her.
Ming Yi might not have experienced many other things firsthand, but the suffocating feeling of being trapped in a confined space, unable to break free or obtain freedom, was something he remembered all too well.
Thus, most of the time, Ming Yi would remain dormant in the depths of his consciousness, too lazy to bother with external matters, leaving Bai Ci in control of the body to do as she pleased.
Growing thoroughly bored, Ming Yi finally relented and allowed Bai Ci to head down the mountain on her own to wander around Xiuxian County, which he had protected for hundreds of years.
“This region is protected by my incense, so evil spirits dare not run amok here. You may wander about as you please without worry.”
This was a rare, gentle admonition from Ming Yi, a gesture of pure indulgence.
Bai Ci was more than happy to enjoy her freedom, drifting back and forth between the ancient mountain shrine and the small town of Xiuxian County every day.
Since she was using the body of Ming Yi, the guardian Ghost Immortal of this region, she could go absolutely anywhere. Even the door gods pasted on the doors never blocked her path.
Though, they couldn't help but mutter to themselves: Was this Ghost Immortal going through menopause lately? Why had he suddenly taken such a liking to drifting all over the place?
Rate on N.U.
