"I almost thought you got arrested at a foot massage parlor last night!" Zhang Hang's voice came through the phone. "I knocked on your door at noon and you weren't there. I was just about to go bail you out of the police station!"
Gu Zhao had slept in the Otherworld Village the previous night and hadn't seen the messages Zhang Hang sent him. Since he hadn't replied all morning or afternoon today, Zhang Hang had naturally gotten worried.
Gu Zhao was scrolling through his phone, in no mood for Zhang Hang's banter, so he just made up an excuse. "I couldn't beat Erlang God no matter what. I played until almost dawn before sleeping and haven't looked at my phone."
'Good thing I just called my mom yesterday morning. She hasn't tried to reach me today. My relationships with other classmates are just average, so no one would even notice if I disappeared for a day.'
Only Zhang Hang, that good-for-nothing friend of his, would ask him to go film a restaurant review video with him tonight.
"You're so rich, can't you just hire someone to go with you?" Gu Zhao asked.
"Aren't I hiring you right now? You help me film, and I'll cover your meal," Zhang Hang replied. "I'm sending you the address. Get over here, quick."
He added one last temptation, "I've invented a new style of restaurant review. There are perks today~"
Gu Zhao stared at the disconnected call, sighed, and got ready to leave. However, he casually snapped his fingers, and a flicker of purple light appeared at his fingertips. 'If there are no "perks" today, I'll let you experience the thrill of being electrocuted.'
「An hour later...」
"What's up, fam! A master read my fortune and told me it's a good time to start a business. I'm suited for new-media food vlogging, and I can build a career and find love in the process!"
"I have to say, the quality at this hot pot place is top-notch. The guys are handsome and the girls are gorgeous. Could it be that I'll find my soulmate on my very first day?"
"Hey beautiful, do you believe in love at first sight?"
"You don't? In that case, please give me a spicy red oil base. A half-and-half pot isn't for me."
"Fortune telling? Of course I believe in it! One of my childhood friends is a legitimate heir of a Taoist Family. Not only are his Martial Arts good, but his fortune-telling is incredibly accurate."
"He said if I got rich my grades would be bad, and my grades really are bad. He said I'd never find true love in a nightclub, and I really can't."
"Which master? Why, it's [@Light Shines on Sun and Moon], of course! He practices some kind of Three Lights Technique from a Taoist Sect, and he can do it all: draw lots, tell fortunes, interpret dreams, practice feng shui, Ziwei Doushu, physiognomy... Okay, okay, I'll stop..."
"The red oil pot is here. Miss, do you know why I ordered the red oil pot? It's because I'm hot and sizzling, and I need a clear spring to—hey, miss, why'd you suddenly break out a Shu Province dialect? Don't think I don't know you're basically cussing me out."
Gu Zhao would have never dreamed that Zhang Hang's "new path" was actually flirting with girls in the restaurant.
But he had to admit, Zhang Hang was young, about seventy percent as handsome as himself, and rich with too much time on his hands. He'd clearly practiced his smooth-talking in nightclubs. Flirting with girls after getting the restaurant's permission, only to be ruthlessly rejected, actually made for some good content.
...
Meanwhile, as evening approached, Silk Embroideress He once again came to the village entrance that led to the back mountain, looking expectantly into the depths of the forest.
However, even as the sun neared the horizon, the figure she longed to see never appeared.
"But Young Master said he would be back tonight," the Silk Embroideress muttered to herself.
She frowned in thought, then couldn't help but bite her lower lip. After a hesitant glance back at the village, she started into the forest with small, quick steps.
Usually, as long as one didn't go too deep, the woods behind the village weren't dangerous. The hunter, Li Erping, used this path to enter the mountains, and the village women used it to gather wild fruits and mushrooms. The Silk Embroideress herself had even gone into the mountains to pick flowers in the spring.
However, the villagers always entered the mountains during the day and came out by dusk. They never spent the night in the forest.
The Silk Embroideress stuck to the paths and short grass, avoiding any potential snakes or insects. She soon walked deep into the forest. When she looked back, the village she came from was completely obscured by the dense trees.
The Silk Embroideress looked up at a small hilltop in the distance. 'If I go there, maybe I can see Gu Zhao's returning figure from afar?'
She recalled picking a large, red mountain flower on that very hill in the spring. 'I wonder if Young Master Gu will stay here until next spring?'
A strange sense of anticipation flashed through the Silk Embroideress's mind. Just then, she heard a shout from not too far away. The voice wasn't loud, but it carried a great distance without fading.
"You can't escape! Hand over the Divine Statue!"
"Don't you just want to achieve Transformation? I can take you to see the Sect Leader. Maybe the Sect Leader can even help you with your Transformation and reward you with the position of a Divine Consort in the sect."
"YIP! YIP! YIP!"
The Silk Embroideress jumped in fright. She whipped her head around and saw a white shadow darting through the trees, rapidly approaching her.
"YIIIP—"
A sharp cry rang out. The white shadow seemed to have only just noticed the Silk Embroideress and, from several dozen feet away, slammed into a large tree.
"BANG!"
The large tree suddenly exploded, and the white shadow shot out from the splintering wood, clearly changing direction to move away from the Silk Embroideress's side.
"Hm? Where did this little girl come from? Get the hell out of my way!"
Right behind the white shadow, a mass of black energy came rolling in. Because of the tree cover, the forest grew dark earlier than the outside, and the Silk Embroideress hadn't seen it at all before.
Now, facing the surging black energy, the Silk Embroideress was frozen stiff. She couldn't move, let alone scream.
All she could feel was an icy chill as her entire field of vision was about to be consumed by black.
"Yip yip..."
The white shadow let out a sorrowful cry but showed no intention of turning back.
But just as the black energy came within three feet of the Silk Embroideress, about to swallow her whole, she suddenly felt a warmth spread from her chest.
The next moment, a warm aura enveloped her, instantly dispelling the cold, calming her heart, soothing her fear, and restoring her vitality.
"Hm?"
At that exact moment, a surge of Gang Qi containing the Celestial Light of the sun and moon erupted from the Silk Embroideress. It shot toward the oncoming black energy with lightning speed.
The black energy was only three feet from the Silk Embroideress. It hadn't even had time to follow the white shadow's sudden turn, so how could it possibly dodge this oncoming Gang Qi?
"SWOOSH!"
The Gang Qi and the black energy collided in absolute silence.
The black energy was instantly scattered into pieces by the Gang Qi.
"Aaargh!"
A bloodcurdling scream echoed out. The Silk Embroideress, who had been frozen stiff just moments before, shuddered in fright. She looked up and saw a faint, black human figure revealed within the dissipating black energy.
"Ah!" the Silk Embroideress screamed.
"Aaaaargh!" the black shadow screamed as well.
The Gang Qi continued its assault, and the black energy enveloping the figure kept dissipating. It had clearly struck the black shadow, which had been moving at full speed.
The black shadow used all its strength to halt its forward momentum and switch to a full-speed retreat. Then, to its horror, it discovered that the Gang Qi, not yet depleted, was following it and continuing the attack.
"What is this thing?"
The black shadow, both terrified and enraged, could only gather its black energy once more to charge at the gust of Gang Qi.