Fortune-bringing and treasure-spitting rat

Shuyi finally collapsed to the ground, looking in the direction where Shen Zhizhou had fainted. She slowly crawled over to see Shen Zhizhou again.

The pebbles scratched Shuyi's skin, but she didn't care at all. She just wanted to see the person she loved again. The black dragon looked at the couple below and snorted coldly. He broke off a fingernail and threw it at Shuyi.

Shu Yi's spine was pierced by the black dragon's fingernails, pinning him firmly to the ground; he was just a hair's breadth away from being pinned down.

She was just a hair's breadth away from holding her lover's hand and feeling his body temperature and pulse.

But she had already given it her all... she really had no strength left.

Shuyi collapsed just a fist's distance from Shen Zhizhou, a tear rolling down her cheek as she stared wide-eyed at him.

When Ji Yao saw Shu Yi die beside Shen Zhizhou, she went completely mad. Driven by the thought of dying together with him, her attacks became even more ruthless.

"Why did you do this to Xiaozhou! Don't you have any feelings? Don't you know how he treated you and me? Why did you do this to them!" Ji Yao choked up, "They were about to be happy, they clearly said that if they got married and had children, I would continue to help them take care of their children, and you could become their uncle, why..."

"Ji Yao, you're always so soft-hearted. Have you been assimilated by humans after spending so much time with them? You weren't this foolish before."

"That's because... I've never experienced love before!"

Ji Yao's sharp claws tore through the black dragon's hard, iron-like scales, leaving a deep, bone-revealing bloodstain. The black dragon gasped and rammed into Ji Yao, using its horns to carve a large gash in her abdomen.

Unwilling to linger with Ji Yao, the black dragon summoned thunder from the sky and used its own magic power to unleash a ball of lightning towards Shen Zhizhou.

"No!" Ji Yao roared, ignoring the pain from her wounds as she rushed towards Shen Zhizhou.

Shen Zhizhou opened his eyes in a daze and saw a bright light rushing towards him. His fingers twitched as he tried to get up, but the next second Ji Yao stood in front of him.

He took the lightning strike with his own body.

Ji Yao regained her human form and looked at Shen Zhizhou with the same loving expression. Shen Zhizhou could now clearly see Shu Yi lying beside him and Ji Yao with a huge bloody hole in her chest.

"Sister Ji..." Shen Zhizhou struggled to get up and supported Ji Yao's back. He looked at the big hole in Ji Yao's chest and wanted to fix it, but he didn't know what to do. His hand was frozen in mid-air.

Ji Yao wanted to reach out and touch the face of the child she had raised since he was a child, but she found that her hands were covered with dust and mud. She wiped them hard on her clothes to make sure they were clean before raising her hand to touch Shen Zhizhou's cheek.

Shen Zhizhou grabbed Ji Yao's hand, pressed his face against Ji Yao's palm, and watched as Ji Yao's body dissipated. Shen Zhizhou's eyes reddened with tears.

"You said you'd continue to help take care of your children, but maybe I'm not destined for that... Xiaozhou, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ruin your life..."

"I just... really want to be your mother..."

These were Ji Yao's last words to Shen Zhizhou before she vanished into thin air in his arms.

Shen Zhizhou screamed his emotions, grabbing at the air, trying to capture a wisp of Ji Yao's soul, but Ji Yao was real, vanishing into thin air before Shen Zhizhou's eyes.

Shen Zhizhou vaguely remembered Shu Yi, and crawled a few steps to push Shu Yi's body. Although it was still warm, it lay there quietly, announcing to Shen Zhizhou.

The death of a loved one.

Shen Zhizhou held Shuyi's still warm body, rubbing her hands incessantly, praying for her to wake up.

Shuyi's consciousness found itself in a vast, white expanse, at the end of which stood a temple. Shuyi drifted over there in a daze.

When a kind old man holding a whisk saw Shuyi's ghost, he did not speak ill of him but gently asked, "Shuyi, the treasure-spitting rat, have you not yet remembered your mission in the human world?"

"My mission?" Shu Yi repeated the question, puzzled.

The old man handed over a bronze mirror, which Shuyi accepted, and he saw his past and present lives.

A thousand years ago, Shuyi also descended to the mortal world. She was unfortunately injured at that time, and it was a passing shepherd boy who bandaged her wounds, took her home, and took good care of her.

Shuyi owed the little shepherd boy a debt of gratitude for saving her life, which is why they met and became friends now.

"Although humans are the most intelligent of all creatures, they have wantonly invaded territory and slaughtered living beings. Many kinds of creatures have been harmed by humans, and now it can be said that this is the cycle of cause and effect... But whether the living beings of the world can be spared from this calamity is still up to your decision..."

My decision in a split second?

Shuyi held the bronze mirror and saw herself standing on the bustling street, curiously watching the passersby. She was genuinely happy to see others receiving her blessings with great joy.

As she watched, the memories that Shuyi had lost surged back like a vast ocean.

She remembered her purpose in coming to the human world.

She came to bring hope and prosperity to the world; she absorbed the greed and evil of humanity and restored blessings and fortune to the world.

"Thank you for answering my riddle, Divine Lord. I will certainly live up to your expectations!" Shu Yi bowed and expressed her gratitude.

The kind old man, holding a whisk, stroked his white beard and nodded repeatedly, smiling as he said, "In that case, go back to where you came from."

Having said that, he waved his whisk at Shuyi, and when he opened his eyes again, Shuyi had returned to the human world.

Shen Zhizhou wept with joy upon seeing Shuyi awake. Shuyi patted Shen Zhizhou to reassure him. Looking up at the black dragon hovering in the sky, witnessing the carnage, Shuyi said in a chilling tone, "You have committed numerous atrocities and cannot be spared. If you return to the world now and sincerely repent, I may spare your life."

"Overestimating one's abilities."

Shuyi, seeing that the black dragon ignored her advice, transformed into her true form as a treasure-spitting rat and began to fight the black dragon.

Shuyi bit through the black dragon's hard scales and threw it away, pressing its front paws against the black dragon's face and saying, "Hand over the antidote and release those you turned into demons, and I'll spare your life."

"Dream on! Even if I die, the entire human world will be buried with me!"

The black dragon's target shifted to Shen Zhizhou, but Shu Yi easily deflected the attack. Shen Zhizhou, wielding his sword, coordinated with Shu Yi to launch an attack on the black dragon.

After Shu Yi knocked the black dragon down with a single palm strike, Shen Zhizhou immediately plunged the copper coin and peach wood sword into the black dragon's seven-inch spot, firmly pinning him to the ground.

The black dragon shouted at the demons who were helping the humans, "Kill them! Kill those humans! I'm doing this for your own good. Don't you want to live an upright life in the human world? As long as all humans become demons like us, this world will still be our domain!"

The monsters looked at each other, then each flapped its wings and threw a pebble at the black dragon, spitting out, "Don't drag all the monsters down with you just to satisfy your own desires. We want to live uprightly among humans, but we don't necessarily have to become monsters. I can live a normal life without harming or playing tricks on people, and coexist peacefully with humans. Shu Yi and Boss Shen established a Monster Management Bureau so that monsters can have jobs and lives. Can't you see that?"

"Yes! I think it's good to live in peace with humans. Not all humans are bad."

With Zhizhi leading the way, the monsters started talking all at once. They were willing to help humans only because humans weren't as bad as they thought, and as long as they were treated well, they could live in peace.

"Goodbye Sheyang, oh no, I should say snake-man." Shen Zhizhou forcefully plunged the peach wood sword completely into the black dragon's body.

Killing Sheyang would cause Shen Zhizhou pain, but killing the monster Snake Man would not.

The black dragon's eyes looked at the chattering group of monsters, then turned to Shen Zhizhou, seemingly not understanding why the monsters would help humans instead of their own kind.

"I just... want the demon race to have a chance to stand in the sunlight..." A murky tear rolled down the corner of the black dragon's eye.

Then, just like Ji Yao, he vanished into thin air.

Shen Zhizhou and Shuyi exchanged a glance and smiled knowingly.

Shuyi looked at the humans on the ground who had been turned into monsters by the black dragon, absorbed all the greed, evil, sin and punishment of the world into his body, and then returned a breath of fresh air to the world, bringing blessings, prosperity and peace.

Shuyi spat out many precious pearls, which both demons and humans ate to ensure their safety. The thunder disappeared, but a golden light appeared in the sky, and a Buddhist chant was heard.

"The Treasure-Spitting Rat Shuyi has rendered meritorious service in protecting the human world, and has been granted permission to ascend to heaven to listen to the Buddha's teachings and cultivate. Shuyi is hereby reinstated to his post and will continue his cultivation under the command of the Yellow God of Wealth."

Shen Zhizhou stared at Shuyi in astonishment, wanting to persuade her to stay but worried that he would hinder her future, so he silently swallowed his words.

“I beg to repay the kindness before returning, and ask Buddha to grant my request.”

"You may return to the Heavenly Realm after repaying your debt of gratitude in a hundred years."

Some demons happily bid farewell to Shuyi and Shen Zhizhou, and went to the Heavenly Court to continue their cultivation, hoping to one day attain immortality and enjoy the incense offerings of the mortal world.

"Why don't you go back?" Shen Zhizhou asked Shuyi expectantly.

"Because someone might shed tears and attempt suicide after I'm gone, for the sake of merit, I'd better stay by his side and watch over him for now."

The two smiled at each other and hugged.

Looking ahead, Shu Yi thought she had to walk the road ahead with Shen Zhizhou; she had promised him.

I want to stay with him forever.

Until death do us part, until we grow old, we will never be apart...

Bonus Mini-Drama:

Shen Zhizhou dragged Shuyi to the familiar lottery shop, slapped a wad of cash on the table, and asked the owner to give each of them a stack of scratch-off lottery tickets.

Shu Yi took the scratch-off lottery ticket and began playing with complete focus. Shen Zhizhou was not to be outdone.

They made a bet today: whoever scratches the least will not only have to treat everyone to dinner tonight, but also do all the housework for a week.

Shuyi, who didn't want to do housework, naturally focused all her attention. She thought to herself, "I am the treasure-spitting rat under the command of the God of Wealth. My luck must be explosive and invincible."

After scratching all the lottery tickets, Shu Yi exclaimed in surprise and quickly called over Shen Zhizhou: "Shen Zhizhou, look, did I scratch out five million?"

People around gathered to watch the excitement. Shen Zhizhou looked at each scratch card and nodded, saying, "Shuyi, your luck this time is just too good. It's really different to have your true form restored."

Shu Yi crossed her arms and said smugly, "Of course, I'm a treasure-spitting rat!" Remembering that Shen Zhizhou also had scratch-off lottery tickets, she quickly asked, "And you?"

"Sigh, I'm a little bit worse than you. It seems my good luck has almost run out since I met you..."

Shuyi snatched the scratch-off lottery ticket from Shen Zhizhou's hand, glanced at it, and excitedly went to the shopkeeper to claim her prize.

The boss looked at it and exclaimed, "Seven million!"

He hurriedly pulled the two of them to take a photo together, saying he wanted to print it out to use as a signboard.

After Shuyi and Shen Zhizhou left hand in hand, the shop owner, holding a scratch-off lottery ticket, scratched his bald head, completely baffled.

"Why are so many people winning the lottery lately? Has the God of Wealth descended upon us?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Zhizhou nudged Shu Yi and grinned mischievously, "Lord God of Wealth, tonight... could you give me some extra lessons? I'm really eager to improve!"

"Shen Zhizhou, you have no shame, doing this in broad daylight..."

Shuyi kicked Shen Zhizhou in the leg, and the two of them played around in the street.

A gentle breeze was blowing, and the sun was shining brightly.

Human life unfolds, with the four seasons changing.