Song Ciwan hid from the rain in the corner grocery for a while, and she finally figured it out. The thing that had appeared before her was, in fact, a Heaven and Earth Scale!
She was the only one who could see this scale, and the only one who could touch it.
Don't ask how she knew. It was simply an inexplicable feeling, a sense that told her she had entered into a unique and binding contract with the Heaven and Earth Scale.
After the contract was formed, Song Ciwan could use this scale to weigh the Marvels of the world and sell them.
How would she sell them?
For example, the mass of Malice that had appeared on the Balance Plate earlier was something Song Ciwan had been tainted with over the last several days. The Heaven and Earth Scale extracted it, and after she sold it, she received thirty years of Lifespan.
That's right—thirty years of Lifespan!
At that moment, Song Ciwan was stunned. The instant the Lifespan flowed into her, she suddenly felt her mind clear and her spirits lift. Her entire Life Force seemed to surge, and the exhaustion from her work and the rain was swept away completely.
Huddled in the corner, Song Ciwan straightened up slightly. 'Ordinary people who Wash Demons do have their lives shortened, but when I do it, I can actually gain more lifespan!'
'Just from working in the Washing Room for a few days, the Malice I've picked up can be sold for thirty years of Lifespan. Who could possibly say that's a bad deal?'
The path to eternal life seemed to be right before her eyes.
'Of course, if I had the choice, I wouldn't seek eternal life. I just want to go home.'
'But what could I do? Transmigration is a one-way ticket. I can't go back.'
'Since I'm here, I should make peace with it and just live a good life. Whether it's for three years, five years, a hundred, or a thousand, life has to be lived, doesn't it?'
The Heaven and Earth Scale faded back into some unseen dimension. Outside, the rain had stopped.
In the world after the storm, the sky was washed clean and blue, and the clamor on the streets gradually began to rise again.
A junior official from the City Patrol Department arrived with an Assistant to carry away the body on the ground. People were laughing, saying, "After that rain, this autumn heat isn't so bad anymore."
Under the crisp, clear sky, Song Ciwan, once again carrying the Pork Demon intestines and clutching her bundle of gray clothes, headed toward Jishan Square—her home in this world.
Jishan Square was in the southern part of the city. The Demon Refining Platform was also in the south, separated from Jishan Square by only three streets, so it wasn't very far.
Upon entering Jishan Square, she found herself among mostly familiar neighbors.
One person saw Song Ciwan's sorry state and immediately grabbed their little grandson, who was splashing in the street puddles. "Oh, my dear Bao'Er!" they said urgently. "The jinx is here! Get away from her, quickly!"
But others felt pity for Song Ciwan. Aunt Jin Hua, from Constable Yu's family, asked with concern, "Lady Yue, dear, did you get caught in the rain without an umbrella? You must hurry home and take a hot bath! Do you have enough firewood?"
Lady Yue was Song Ciwan's nickname; most of the neighbors who knew her called her that.
Song Ciwan smiled in response. "Thank you, Auntie. I have enough firewood."
Seeing her smile, Aunt Jin Hua was overjoyed. "Heh, you're finally cracking a smile! That's wonderful. You've got to learn to look on the bright side. Brooding all day and wallowing in misery... not only does it make you unhappy, but your parents can't rest easy in the afterlife, right?"
Aunt Jin Hua took Song Ciwan's hand and rambled on for a good while, and Song Ciwan listened attentively the entire time.
When they parted ways, Song Ciwan found herself with two warm buns in her hands. She tried to give the intestines to Aunt Jin Hua in return, but Aunt Jin Hua would not accept them.
With a look of both disgust and pity, she said, "Good child, how can a young lady like you eat something like this? Quickly now, throw it out for the stray dogs!"
Song Ciwan didn't throw them away. Gathering the warm buns and the intestines, she hurried off.
The intestines had been cleaned by her body's previous owner, and the Malice had already been removed. Though they didn't look appetizing, they were in fact edible.
The great figures of the Demon Refining Platform looked down on this kind of Demon Beast offal, and the Stewards of the Washing Room wouldn't stoop to eating it. So, the menial workers would divide it among themselves after their shifts. This was likely one of their few "work perks."
When she got back to her front door, Song Ciwan had the intestines in one hand, the buns in the other, a wadded-up gray robe tucked under her arm, and her hair was still dripping wet. She fumbled clumsily as she tried to open the door.
Just then, someone emerged from behind her courtyard wall.
The newcomer was a tall, slender youth with refined features. His gaze was somber, and his normally neat hair was slightly disheveled. His expression carried an indescribable melancholy.
Song Ciwan's eyes met his. The young man's mouth fell open, and he spoke in a tone of shocked bitterness. "Lady Yue... how... how did you end up like this?" The Song Ciwan of the past had been graceful and lovely, a young woman as vibrant as a mountain stream in spring. When had she ever looked so wretched?
'Ha. This youth, asking how I'd changed, was none other than my original body's ex-fiancé who had so conveniently broken off our engagement—Wang Yi!'
'I ask you, when faced with a scumbag's classic line, "How did you end up like this?" what's the most satisfying, face-slapping comeback to get my sweet revenge?'
Song Ciwan thought for a moment and decided to give him a taste of his own medicine.
She immediately adopted a somber tone of her own. "I went to the Washing Room. How could I not change, keeping company with Demon Fiend Malice? But haven't you changed as well, Wang Yi?"
Wang Yi shuddered, and a pained look filled his eyes. "I'm sorry, Lady Yue. It's my fault for being so useless. My mother insisted on breaking off the engagement. I tried to stop her, but she threatened to kill herself! I had no choice! I really had no choice!"
Song Ciwan spoke gently. "Then you could have threatened your mother with your own death. A hunger strike, jumping in a river, hanging yourself... If you're looking to die, there are plenty of ways to do it, aren't there?"
As she spoke, Song Ciwan slowly advanced on Wang Yi. "She's your mother. Her heart would ache for you in the end. How could she really watch you die? That way, we could still be together. Even if I'm tainted from working in the Washing Room, so what? Whether in life or in death, we would be together."
Wang Yi: "..."
Wang Yi's face went white. For every step Song Ciwan took forward, he took one back. By the time she finished speaking, his back slammed hard against the adjacent courtyard wall.
"AH!" Wang Yi shrieked in panic, practically jumping out of his skin. "No! Don't come any closer!"
The words were barely out of his mouth before he turned and fled. Judging by his speed and posture, anyone watching would have thought he was being chased by a vicious ghost.
Song Ciwan laughed softly to herself.
The Heaven and Earth Scale materialized before her eyes again. Resting on its Balance Plate was a fist-sized, blue-gray mass of energy.
As she focused on it, a stream of information flooded her mind: [Human Desires—greed, hatred, delusion, love, sorrow, fear. Weight: one catty, three taels, and seven mace. Available for trade.]
'How interesting. So Wang Yi's feelings for me were this complicated. And such complicated feelings could actually be weighed and sold on the Heaven and Earth Scale.'
'So the Heaven and Earth Scale can sell not only Malice, but also a person's seven emotions and six desires!'
Song Ciwan didn't rush to sell this mass of human desires. Instead, she pushed open her door, went inside, and shut the courtyard gate before initiating the trade.
After the sale, she received a passage of scripture.
The scripture flowed into her mind like a stream of water. Song Ciwan quickly focused on memorizing it, reciting it carefully. After a moment, she realized it was actually a Cultivation Technique: the Sutra of Sitting and Forgetting!
The content she had just received contained the general principles of the Sutra of Sitting and Forgetting, as well as the specific cultivation method for its First Layer.
What was Sitting and Forgetting?
To shed one's form and dismiss one's intellect, becoming one with the Great Dao—that is Sitting and Forgetting!
This Heart Method was profound yet concise, exceedingly mysterious, and contained the ultimate principles of life itself. It cultivated the mind internally and True Qi externally; it was ethereal, boundless, and infinite.
The most wonderful part was that it was traceless, formless, ever-changing, and completely unfathomable.
Simply put, this was a Cultivation Technique for an Old Liu. After mastering it, one could not only simulate other forms of Magical Power and True Qi and adapt to most of the world's Techniques, but also perfectly conceal oneself.
'Heh, Wang Yi, Wang Yi... you truly are a treasure trove!'
Song Ciwan stood in the courtyard, the corners of her lips curling into a smile.
As she smiled, a loud "HONK!" suddenly came from a goose cage in the corner of the courtyard.
The cage door opened. First, a proud head emerged, followed by a long, snow-white neck, and finally a portly, dignified body.
White feathers and red webbed feet, it swaggered forward.
Well now, what a magnificent Big White Goose!