Chapter 16 is just right, to save all living beings.
Inside the room.
Shen Yuepo locked the door behind her, dropped all pretense, and fell back onto the soft bed, letting out a deep breath.
The day's unpredictable events and the significant depletion of her spiritual energy left her feeling deeply exhausted.
On her wrist, the silent white jade bracelet faintly shimmered with a dark red light.
Immediately afterwards, a lazy, cool voice, tinged with amusement, rang out: "Little Taoist priest,"
Feng Jin's voice carried a hint of barely perceptible inquiry, "Why are you meddling in such trivial matters?"
Shen Yuepo's body stiffened almost imperceptibly; she hadn't expected this person to take the initiative to start a casual conversation.
After a few moments of silence, she slowly spoke, "At first, I wanted the golden light of merit on her body."
Recalling Xiao Wanxing's last look, her tone softened unconsciously, carrying a rare hint of melancholy:
"But later we discovered that she was an extremely pure and kind person. Even in this state, she still didn't forget to protect her family's safety, preferring to let go of the overwhelming blood feud rather than let them be tainted by karma..."
Shen Yuepo closed her eyes, her voice as soft as a sigh: "...I couldn't help it, and my heart softened."
A cryptic chuckle came from within the bracelet, "Soft-hearted? Little Taoist, with a temperament like yours..."
He paused, his tone suddenly becoming more lazy:
"Why bother with the Tao? What are you trying to exorcise? You might as well just become a monk and switch to Buddhism."
"Perfect, to save all living beings."
Shen Yuepo: "..."
Early morning, the sky was just beginning to lighten.
Shen Yuepo wore a faded gray-blue Taoist robe, and her long hair was loosely tied up with a simple wooden hairpin.
A few stray hairs fell beside her cheeks, making her profile appear even more serene and refined.
She held a hundred-yuan bill between her fingers—
This was the "hard-earned money" she received the night she returned to the Shen family, in exchange for a peace charm and the housekeeper, Old Wang.
With a fate marked by five deficiencies and three lacks, she has to give away half of this money.
She descended the stairs quietly, where the butler, Old Wang, was already waiting respectfully in the hall. Upon seeing her, he immediately bowed.
"Good morning, Miss. Are you heading out? Breakfast is prepared in the kitchen. Would you like some before you go?"
Shen Yuepo paused in her steps. She was just wondering how to get out when someone delivered herself to her door.
"No need." Her voice was cool and concise. "I have some errands to run."
The butler immediately understood: "Yes, I'll arrange a car to take you right away."
Shen Yuepo asked the driver to take her to an inconspicuous corner of the central avenue of the capital.
She stood in front of the breakfast stall in the corner.
The steamer lid was lifted, and white steam billowed up, carrying the aroma of steamed buns that wafted down half the street.
His gaze swept over the hunched old beggar in the corner.
The old man, dressed in rags, was shivering as he drank a bowl of cold water. A few one-yuan bills lay scattered in a broken bowl at his feet.
She took a step forward.
"Yo ho!" A deliberately raised sneer rang out from behind, carrying a strong sense of roguishness.
"How novel! Which remote mountain village has this fake Taoist nun come from?"
Shen Yuepo did not stop walking, and not even her eyelashes trembled.
A thug with scorching yellow hair and a half-smoked cigarette dangling from his lips leaned against the wall, sizing up her incongruous Taoist robe while swearing:
"What? The dilapidated Taoist temple on the mountaintop is starving, so they sent you down the mountain to beg for food? This outfit looks quite convincing..."
Shen Yuepo didn't even bother to lift his eyelids and walked straight toward the old beggar.
Ignored, the blond-haired man became enraged and strode forward to block her path: "I'm talking to you!"
He reached out to shove her shoulder, "Stop pretending to be so high and mighty—"
Before he could finish speaking, Shen Yuepo suddenly turned to the side, and Huang Mao's hand missed its target, causing him to stumble and fall forward.
At the same time, she flicked her finger, and a copper coin "clinked" and hit the blond man's knee.
"Ouch!" Huang Mao cried out in pain and knelt down in front of the old beggar.
The old beggar trembled with fright, and the broken bowl in his hand crashed to the ground. He waved his hands in a panic.
"No, no, you mustn't! It will shorten your lifespan, young man!"
Shen Yuepo bent down to help the old man up, and then slipped the one hundred yuan note and the one thousand five hundred yuan he had received the day the Taoist temple was smashed into his hand:
"Grandpa, buy a bowl of hot porridge."
She withdrew the 1,500 yuan from the bank after she went down the mountain.
The old beggar's eyes widened, his withered hands trembling violently: "This...this...no, there's too much..."
Shen Yuepo gently patted the back of his hand, her gaze falling on his deeply lined face:
"In the first half of your life, you built bridges and paved roads, and your good intentions never ceased."
Her voice was like a gentle morning breeze, only the old man could hear it clearly: "It's time for the rest of your life to be healthy... someone will bring you a bowl of hot porridge."
The old beggar was shocked: "You...how did you know? This happened more than twenty years ago..."
Shen Yuepo smiled, turned and left.
The bluish-gray figure quickly disappeared into the crowd at the street corner.
Behind him, all that remained were the blond-haired man's furious curses and the jeers of onlookers.
The old beggar held the money, staring in the direction she disappeared, unable to come to his senses for a long time.
Shen Yuepo stopped only after turning into a secluded, deserted alley.
The morning light slanted across her cool profile. Silently, she took out her last five-yuan bill from the wide sleeve of her Taoist robe.
Looking at the pitiful bill, she sighed, a rare occurrence for her.
I couldn't help but regret it; I should have left a hundred yuan earlier.
Feng Jin is right, she should cultivate Buddhism or Taoism.
After descending the mountain, I became even more soft-hearted.
There are some people whose fates she cannot predict from their faces, such as Xiao Wanxing.
But she was able to roughly calculate the details of that old beggar.
Twenty years ago, the road from the village to the town was treacherous and difficult to travel, especially during the rainy season when flash floods often destroyed the only wooden bridge, claiming countless lives.
The old beggar sold his ancestral property and spent five years building a sturdy arch bridge across the turbulent river.
However, the construction of the bridge was not without its challenges.
During the quarrying, an inconspicuous fox den was accidentally collapsed, crushing a litter of newborn fox cubs.
Some knowledgeable elders privately sighed, saying that foxes hold grudges and might suffer retribution.
The old beggar didn't believe in ghosts or gods and didn't take it to heart.
But it wasn't until he lost his child and his home that he began to believe.
But at that time, he had completely lost everything.
Finally, he left his hometown and wandered aimlessly.
Just as Shen Yuepo was lost in thought, a cold wind suddenly arose.
Shen Yuepo squinted and looked into the depths of the alley—
There squatted a little girl, about seven or eight years old, wearing a bright red dress as red as blood.
She was backlit, her small face hidden in the darkness, only the wide smile at the corner of her mouth was clearly visible.
The smile extended all the way to his ears, revealing his stark white teeth, so eerie it sent chills down one's spine.
"Sister." The little girl's voice was sweet and innocent, yet it also carried an indescribable eeriness.
“You’ve given your money to the wrong person.” She held up her pale finger and pointed towards the alley entrance. “That old man will definitely use the money to buy alcohol.”
Shen Yuepo raised an eyebrow: "So?"
The little girl skipped closer, saying, "Why don't you give it to me? I'll help you spend it—"
"Smack!"
Shen Yuepo slapped a talisman on her forehead.
The little girl cried out in pain and fell to the ground with a thud.
"Wow!"
The little girl suddenly burst into tears.
But unlike the previous eerie cries, this one was filled with the child's terror.
The eerie atmosphere vanished instantly.
She slumped to the ground, a talisman stuck to her forehead, her little face smeared with tears, looking disheveled and pitiful.
"Waaah, sister, I was wrong." She cried and sobbed, her voice filled with fear and grievance.
"Waaaaah, I'm not a bad kid, I'm just so scared, I can't find my way home."
Shen Yuepo looked down at her, a piece of unused talisman still between his fingers. Hearing this, he raised an eyebrow slightly: "Oh?"
She raised her little hand to wipe her tears, but dared not touch the talisman on her forehead, and cried even harder:
"I...I don't know how I ended up here. I've been squatting here every day trying to scare people. I just want to see who can see me..."
She secretly looked up, her dark eyes glistening with tears. "Sister, you are the first person who can see me and hear me speak."
Shen Yuepo quietly put away the second talisman she was holding between her fingers.
Her cool, aloof brows furrowed slightly. "The soul has left the body?"
She slowly squatted down, pulled off the talisman from the little girl's forehead, and looked at the little girl at eye level. "What's your name?"
The little girl's eyes lit up suddenly, as if she had grasped a lifeline. She quickly stopped crying and replied eagerly:
"My name is Xiao Xiaoman, and my name is Xiao Xiaoman too!"
She seemed eager to prove her origins, adding with a hint of urgency:
"My family is very rich. We live in a big house! We have lots and lots of toys."
Her voice gradually lowered, replaced by confusion: "But I can't find my way home, sob sob sob... I don't know how to get back."
Shen Yuepo: "..."
Xiao Xiaoman? The Xiao family again?
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