Chapter 55
The big rat led the way and turned back to ask Baozhu, "We just finished up something this afternoon, what's going on now?"
Baozhu didn't say anything, but glanced at the dog demon abacus and replied, "This matter should be discussed between the abacus and Granny Rat himself."
The big rat went to look at the abacus again.
The dog demon's face was scratched all over by the pearl, and when the big rat looked over, it avoided his gaze, unwilling to meet his eyes.
The big rat had a good idea of what was going on; the person involved in today's matter was none other than the honest and reliable Calculator.
He recalled the expression on Granny Rat's face just now, covered his mouth and chuckled to himself. He led the four monsters to the study door with light steps, stepped forward and knocked on the door, saying, "Granny, I've brought all the monsters."
After a moment of silence, Granny Mouse spoke up, "Come in."
Four monsters filed into the study and all looked up at Granny Mouse.
Good heavens! The four monsters, with their lanterns and colorful decorations, gave Granny Mouse a big fright.
Xiaoman's head was covered in bumps, her eyes were swollen shut, and her face and body were covered in scratches. Blood from her nose hung from her mouth like two little mustaches. Baozhu held onto Xiaoman and barely managed to stand, her legs swaying like noodles.
Only Sai Xue's eyes were unfocused, but she still looked like a whole monster.
Granny Mouse's lips twitched, and she leaned back in her chair, saying weakly, "Speak."
"These three monsters broke into my house and beat me up without asking any questions!" Suanpan was the first to speak, pointing at Baozhu and the others as he spoke rapidly.
“This dog demon steals mortal children and exchanges them for mortal children!” Baozhu retorted.
"The abacus struck first! It beat Sai Xue!" Xiao Man pointed at the abacus and continued to argue.
"You bastard, you've ruined my reputation!" Sai Xue shouted, jumping up and down.
After Sai Xue finished speaking, the study fell silent instantly. The other four demons in the room, plus the big rat outside, all ten eyes widened at once, first looking at Sai Xue, and then at the abacus.
Suanpan nearly fainted, his fingers trembling as he pointed at Saixue, each word dripping with blood as he cried out, "You...you're spouting nonsense! I've lived for over a hundred years and have always been a virgin! I've only ever loved using an abacus! You little monster spouting utter rubbish!"
Sai Xue jumped three feet high, still wanting to argue with the abacus, but Bao Zhu forcibly pulled her down and covered her mouth. She explained to Granny Mouse, "This is what happened."
Baozhu recounted how they went to the Zhu residence to investigate. First, they discovered that the newborn baby had been switched, and then they discovered the demonic aura emanating from the abacus. She then explained how they found the abacus and why it helped Miss Yuan switch the baby.
After listening, Granny Mouse scratched her head, looking utterly dejected, and turned to ask the abacus, "Is what Baozhu said true?"
With his neck stiffened, Suanpan replied, "Yes!"
"What do you plan to do about this?" Granny Mouse asked, standing up with her cane.
"Mother-in-law! I did well, I did nothing wrong!" Suanpan said loudly, drawing on his inner strength.
Upon hearing this, Granny Rat burst into laughter. She laughed so hard that she bent over backwards, and her body emitted a chaotic and powerful demonic aura, stirring up a strong wind in the study. The wind whipped up teacups and books, causing them to swirl in the air.
The four monsters were so frightened by the demonic wind that they trembled and stood frozen in place, too afraid to move.
The old woman in front of them had her hair, which had been scratched and was flying in all directions. Her figure grew larger and larger with her laughter, and soon filled the entire study, turning into a huge, crazy old woman.
The enormous, deranged old woman crashed into the ceiling. She stopped laughing, grabbed her cane, and slammed it against the abacus dog's head, yelling, "You!"
"without!"
"wrong!"
The abacus was hammered three times on the spot, like nails, and half of its body was hammered into the ground by Granny Rat. Its tongue stuck out and its eyes rolled back.
Seeing the abacus in such a sorry state, the three little monsters fell silent, not daring to look at Granny Mouse for long. They all kept their eyes down and behaved obediently like quails.
After Granny Mouse vented her anger, the strong wind in the study stopped, and teacups and books crashed to the floor. The disheveled Granny Mouse returned to her original appearance, stepped on the broken pieces on the floor, lay down on a chair, and waved to Baozhu and the others, saying, "I need to think about what to do about this. He stays, you guys go back first."
Sai Xue, having forgotten the pain of her previous injury, was about to ask something when Baozhu covered her mouth, Xiaoman lifted her leg, and the two little monsters gave Granny Rat a fawning smile and said respectfully, "Then you should rest well, we'll go back now."
After saying that, he picked up Sai Xue and went out the door.
The big rat escorted them all the way to the gate before laughing and saying, "Goodbye, come visit us again sometime!"
Then he turned around and closed the door.
Baozhu looked at the dilapidated state of the gate in front of her and said to Xiaoman with awe, "Grandma is really scary."
Xiaoman nodded repeatedly and said, "Truly worthy of being called a great demon."
Only Sai Xue remained worried, murmuring, "Grandma shouldn't be biased towards Suanpan, right?"
They had a very fulfilling afternoon. They finished everything before it got dark, so Xiaoman transformed back into her original form, carrying Baozhu Saixue on her back, and jogged towards the city, intending to get home before the city gates closed.
“Without the abacus, there’s plenty of room on your back.” Baozhu swayed back and forth on Xiaoman’s back. “That dog demon is smelly and big, I really don’t want to get too close to him.”
"That's right, I've made up my mind. I will hate the dog demon for the rest of my life!" Sai Xue said, baring her teeth as she sat on Bao Zhu's back.
"I need to get some water to rinse it when I get back. Can you guys help me scrub it?" Xiaoman said in a muffled voice.
He was naturally willing to carry the two little demons on his back.
By the time they returned to Sai Xue's courtyard, it was already quite dark.
The three little demons ate half of the remaining pig's head meat with wine, then fetched well water to wash Xiaoman thoroughly. Only then did Baozhu realize that her hands and feet were shaking, and she was exhausted and needed to fall asleep immediately.
Without a word, she turned around, grabbed Xiaoman's cowshed, lay down on the thick layer of hay, and immediately fell into a deep sleep.
Baozhu slept soundly through the night without any dreams. The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, the hardworking Xiaoman was about to go out to the dock to carry heavy loads. He specially bought some pancakes from outside and placed them on the table to wake Baozhu up.
In her hazy state, Baozhu seemed to hear him say something about eating with Saixue. She mumbled a reply, turned over, and went back to sleep.
When she woke up again, it was already broad daylight. The cowshed was drafty on three sides and had excellent lighting. The sun was so bright that Baozhu couldn't fall back asleep, and she finally got up from the haystack.
Sai Xue was sitting in the courtyard eating a pancake when she heard the noise. She squinted and turned to her, saying, "You're awake."
"Hmm." Baozhu responded, unwilling to open her eyes, and groped her way out of the cowshed, then groped her way onto the stool, snatched the biscuit from Saixue's hand, and stuffed it haphazardly into her mouth.
Sai Xue simply took two more pieces and stuffed them into Baozhu's mouth, muttering, "There are plenty of them, and you're still taking mine."
Baozhu chewed for a while before swallowing the cakes, and sighed, "That monster Xiaoman, it's not even dawn yet, and he seems to have already gone out to work. How can he be so diligent?"
“That’s right, he has to carry heavy loads every day. If he doesn’t carry them for a day, he says he feels itchy all over,” Sai Xue said, puzzled.
Baozhu couldn't understand it. After finishing the pancake, she sat opposite Saixue with her eyes closed and stared blankly for a while. When she opened her eyes again, she saw a paper crane fluttering its wings on the tip of her nose.
Baozhu's eyes widened instantly. She suddenly realized that she had been so busy in the past two days since arriving in the capital that she hadn't even remembered to contact Li Zhi and the others.
She quickly reached out and took the paper crane, watching it transform into a small letter in her hand.
The letter contained only two short lines, written by Li Zhi to her:
Baozhu, the roses at the entrance of the official residence are in bloom. The flowers are beautiful and the fragrance is rich. I wish I could let you see them.
After reading it, Baozhu was overjoyed. She held the letter and sniffed it carefully, and sure enough, she could smell a faint floral fragrance. Suddenly, she missed Li Zhi very much. She stood up abruptly and said to the dazed Sai Xue, "I'm going to find Li Zhi now. I'll come to see you again when I have time."
Before Sai Xue could react to what she had just said, Bao Zhu had already vanished.
“It’s Li Zhi…” Sai Xue shook her head and muttered to herself in the chair, “It’s been so long, how come Baozhu is still with him?”
As Baozhu skipped along, she took out the paper crane that Li Zhi had given her.
She blew a puff of demonic energy at the paper crane, which stretched in her hand before slowly floating in the air and then flying off in a certain direction.
Baozhu hurriedly followed behind the paper crane.
She followed the paper crane all the way from the south of the city to the east, and came to a quiet and clean neighborhood. Baozhu looked closely and saw that the entire neighborhood was full of neat and uniform houses.
Baozhu sighed with emotion when she realized that Li Zhi had moved back to this place.
This place is familiar to Baozhu; it is the official residence built by the current dynasty for low-ranking officials. When Li Zhi was very young, they also lived here briefly.
She watched as the paper crane flew forward and stopped in front of an official's residence. A large clump of blooming roses grew in front of the residence, and she knew that this was Li Zhi's current residence.
Baozhu couldn't help but smile, and was about to go up and knock on the door when she suddenly stopped.
Before parting ways with Li Zhi, she had told him that she would bring him a gift when she returned.
Baozhu scratched her head; she was empty-handed and hadn't prepared anything.
Thinking of this, Baozhu recalled her previous life. Ever since she got together with Li Zhi, she would receive gifts from him every few days, from her favorite snacks to priceless gemstone bonsai. Li Zhi was never stingy with her and always cherished her dearly.
But when it came to Baozhu, she rarely gave Li Zhi anything. This time, she even completely forgot about the gift she had promised to give him.
Baozhu felt guilty and ashamed, and was extremely regretful.
She quickly turned around and went to the market next to the official residence, hoping to find something that would make Li Zhi happy.
She walked the whole street, and as the sun rose higher and higher, Baozhu still hadn't found a gift that satisfied her.
She became frustrated and turned to walk back.
Just then, an old woman selling vegetables saw that Baozhu had already walked back and forth twice and wanted to sell the vegetables she couldn't sell, so she said, "Miss, this is the last batch of pumpkin blossoms this year, would you like some?"
Baozhu looked down and saw the old woman holding a cluster of vibrant, bright orange pumpkin flowers, looking at her expectantly.
What a unique flower! Baozhu thought to herself, didn't Li Zhi also mention roses in his letter? This is it.
“I’ve bought them all!” Baozhu took out some copper coins, counted them out as the old woman had instructed, and handed them to her.
And so, the excited fox spirit, holding a bunch of wildly blooming pumpkin flowers, knocked on Li Zhi's door.
As soon as Li Zhi opened the door and saw Baozhu, he was about to say something when she immediately held the flowers high in front of him and said with a smile, "A gift!"
Li Zhi was taken aback, then smiled. He took the flowers Baozhu gave him, stepped aside to let her into the house, and asked after closing the door, "How would you like to eat?"
"Huh?" Baozhu turned to look at Li Zhi, puzzled. "I've already eaten breakfast!"
As she spoke, she swaggered out of Li Zhi's room and pulled out a vase. Holding the vase up, she turned to Li Zhi and said, "Hurry up and put the flowers in here."
Li Zhi then realized what was happening and smiled brightly, "Coming right away."
He placed the wildly growing pumpkin blossoms into a vase, then put the vase on the octagonal table in the center of the main room. Turning back to say something to Baozhu, he unexpectedly met her expectant eyes.
Baozhu carefully observed Li Zhi's expression and asked, "Do you like it? The flower?"
Li Zhi chuckled and said, "I love it."
"Haha, I knew you'd like it." Baozhu was overjoyed and tugged at Li Zhi's sleeve, wanting to sit down next to him. "I've been so busy these past two days, doing so much."
Baozhu started by telling Li Zhi about what had happened in the past two days after they parted ways, and said proudly, "Alas, although we have both grown since we parted ways with Saixue and the others, when we met yesterday, I was still the better one."
Li Zhi naturally agreed. After they talked for a while, Baozhu started to feel sleepy again. Just then, Li Zhi also had some business to attend to at the Yiren Temple. He laid out the bedding he had prepared for Baozhu in the inner room so that she could rest well, and then hurriedly left.
Baozhu slept comfortably on the bed that smelled of Li Zhi. It was much more comfortable than Xiaoman's cowshed. She had been fighting too hard yesterday and desperately needed to rest to recover her strength. So she did not resist the urge to sleep at all and fell asleep as soon as she lay down.
She didn't wake up until it was almost dark, surrounded by the rich aroma of food.
Upon waking up, Baozhu felt that something in the world had changed.
Without her noticing, the voices of men speaking from several government offices clearly reached her ears. In the dimly lit room, a small insect perched on the ceiling, its wing patterns clearly visible to Baozhu.
Baozhu entered a profound state. She watched the little insect flap its wings and fly, and vaguely knew in her heart that she had become stronger.
But the feeling of everything around her becoming clearer only lasted for a moment, and then Baozhu returned to her original form. She blinked, sat up from the bed, and tried to return to the state she had just been in.
This time, she sensed Li Zhi in the main room. He was busy arranging the eight-treasure duck he had bought and serving Baozhu rice.
With everything ready, Li Zhi turned and walked towards the inner room.
Baozhu opened her eyes wide.
She sensed something that originally belonged to her moving within Li Zhi's body, flowing through him with every breath he took.
Those were the missing fragments of her soul.
Why?
In a flash, countless memories flashed through Baozhu's mind: on the boat, Li Zhi casually explained the kite festival in Wanping Prefecture; in Yushan County, the Zhou family, who were used to thievery, could tell at a glance that Li Zhi, who had never been an official, was a wealthy young master; in Jiangbei Prefecture, Li Zhi discussed the ways of being an official with Zhang He.
Further ahead was the last day of her previous life. With tears streaming down her face, Baozhu bent down and continuously transferred her fox demon energy to the dying Li Zhi.
In order to save him, she personally shared a part of herself with her lover.
Baozhu sat blankly on the bed, watching as the young, eighteen-year-old Li Zhi pushed open the door and smiled at her, saying, "I've heard there's a Du Wuniang in the capital who's best at making Eight Treasure Duck..."
Baozhu couldn't hear what Li Zhi said next.
Du Wuniang was not the most famous chef in the capital who was skilled at making Eight Treasure Duck, but Baozhu loved her Eight Treasure Duck the most.
So that's how it is. It turns out that it wasn't just Baozhu who returned to twenty years ago.
In an instant, Baozhu seemed to return to the day she died in her previous life. The fear of Li Zhi's impending death haunted her again, and she was a caged canary, helpless except to share herself to save her lover.
She sat motionless, her body growing cold, her hands beginning to tremble.
The Li Zhi before her now overlapped with the old Li Zhi. Baozhu saw him walking quickly towards her, looking into her eyes in fear, and saying something.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Baozhu's eyes were red, as if she had just woken up from a beautiful dream. "You've started over, why didn't you tell me?"
Upon hearing this, Li Zhi, the young Li Zhi standing in front of her, suddenly fell silent.
His eyes were like a deep, cold pool, which Baozhu could not see through or bottom out.
The days of harmonious coexistence between them seemed to vanish in an instant, and Baozhu was back on the day she died, suffocating with fear that threatened to drown her.
Baozhu instinctively stood up, wanting to leave.
"Don't go!"
Li Zhi suddenly grabbed her arm, his eyes slightly red, and he trembled as he pulled out a lot of talismans.
The talismans covered the entire room, trapping the unsuspecting jewel in place, unable to move. She could only hear him say with difficulty, "I'm afraid it will be like this. After you find out, you will leave, you will leave me forever, you will make me search the heavens and the underworld, never to find you again, never to see you again!"
Li Zhi could barely hold the pearl in his hand.
Baozhu truly felt his immense and desperate emotions, which pulled her back from the painful memories of her past life.
He was young then, and as a celestial master, no one could easily harm him.
They've started over.
“I just didn’t come to my senses for a moment, but now I remember. I won’t leave, don’t be afraid…” Baozhu belatedly reached out to hold Li Zhi’s hand, “Why… what did I do?”
“You did nothing.” Li Zhi looked at her sadly, tears finally welling up in his eyes. “You just left me.”
“Baozhu, I must have done many wrong things to make you decide to leave me. No matter how I search for you or how much I repent, you don’t want to see me again, right?” Li Zhi accused her humbly.
Baozhu suddenly understood.
Li Zhi had no idea that she had died in her previous life.
He always thought he had been completely abandoned.
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