Chapter 139: Do You Really Have To Go?
This time was exactly when Daoist Master Qin was doing fortune telling and business operations at the temple.
Xuan Xia slowly edited the message, treating it as if she were leaving her last words.
The term Mirage Fiend had only appeared twice in all the notebooks she had read.
In Great Grandfather’s words, the Mirage Fiend was extremely ominous.
Even he himself was reluctant to touch it, because it was dangerously complex inside and extremely easy to fall victim to.
And in his lifetime, he had only truly exorcised one, and it wasn’t a Mountain Mirage Fiend, but one in the city.
He had also noted in the notebook that if ranked by degree of danger, the most difficult was the water Mirage Fiend, followed by the Mountain Mirage Fiend, and the one in the city couldn’t compare to the first two.
However, in his master’s sect, a predecessor had exorcised a Mountain Mirage Fiend once.
But that time was also a matter of nine deaths and one life.
Thinking of these things, Xuan Xia’s emotions surged uncontrollably for a moment, causing the driver in the front seat to frequently glance back through the rearview mirror.
After hesitating for a while, he couldn’t hold back and asked, “Miss, are you okay?”
“……I’m fine.”
“Really fine?” The driver glanced back a couple more times.
Xuan Xia spoke from the heart, “I thought life was getting better, but tomorrow and disaster, you never know which will come first. Is it really that hard for me to live a long life?”
Driver: “Ah…”
He suddenly understood.
The driver began to rack his brains, “Um, miss, although tomorrow and disaster really aren’t things we can control ourselves, we still need to face them positively. Believe in miracles!”
“Look at the newspapers now, online news, so many miracles, right? The most important thing is mindset.”
“This mindset… it’s like when you advance it retreats, when you retreat it advances, so you have to steady your mindset and overcome it!”
“Overcome it!!” The driver even raised one hand in a fist-pumping gesture to cheer Xuan Xia on.
Xuan Xia blinked: “Ah…”
Before she finished her “ah,” Daoist Master Qin, who had received the last words message, actually called.
Xuan Xia hesitated whether to answer the phone.
Sending a message to explain was one thing, but explaining again in a call might not work.
But the driver was particularly enthusiastic and reminded her, “Miss, your phone is ringing, pick it up quick, maybe it’s good news.”
Because of the driver’s words “good news,” Xuan Xia decided to answer.
As soon as she picked up, the first thing she heard was Daoist Master Qin’s reproach.
“Heaven and Earth have spirits, do not speak recklessly.”
Xuan Xia didn’t speak.
Daoist Master Qin was silent for a second, then changed his tone, “Where are you?”
Xuan Xia hadn’t mentioned in her message that she was going to the mountain to find Qu Xingxuan. Now that Daoist Master Qin asked, she told him everything: from Ren Tongli harassing Hu Yue earlier, to Ren Tongli leaving Yanjing and coming back, and as soon as he returned, going to the mountain to hold a welcome feast.
She had sorted through the causes and effects many times last night. No matter how she thought about Qu Xingxuan’s trip to the mountain, she felt it was a trap set for him by Ren Tongli in league with Cui Cheng Zhi.
If Qu Xingxuan was just trapped in the mountain, that would be one thing, but if he had truly fallen to the Mirage Fiend, she would have to go in no matter what.
After hearing Xuan Xia’s account, both ends of the phone fell completely silent.
The driver frequently glanced at the rearview mirror again, but this time his thoughts were completely different.
Damn, so it’s not a terminal illness, but a mental case?!
He had thought this passenger was strange, taking a taxi to such a remote mountain—normal people wouldn’t go there, the roads were desolate.
If something really happened there, it probably wouldn’t be discovered right away.
The driver immediately felt like backing out.
The driver coughed twice and decisively pulled the car over to the side of the road. “Miss, sorry, I just remembered I have other important business. I won’t take this fare, why don’t you get off here.”
Xuan Xia: ???
“I, I won’t charge you, miss, please get off.”
Xuan Xia: “…”
Had the driver misunderstood something?
“Sir, I have urgent business. How about you stop the meter, I can pay extra.”
Although Xuan Xia wanted to say something to salvage the situation, the driver was determined and insistently got her out of the car.
As soon as Xuan Xia got out, the driver floored the gas and sped off, as if afraid of being entangled.
Xuan Xia: “…”
“Xuan Xia.” Daoist Master Qin, who had heard everything, suddenly called Xuan Xia’s name.
Xuan Xia: “Mm.”
“Do you really have to go?” Daoist Master Qin asked her.
“Mm!” Xuan Xia didn’t even think about it.
There was silence for a few seconds on the other end.
“If you’ve made up your mind, then go.” Daoist Master Qin paused, “Just remember, Changsheng Temple is yours now and will be in the future. Also, the temple still hasn’t recruited a Daoist Priest, and the Temple Master position is vacant. All these unfinished matters need you to complete them.”
“I know.” The Daoist Priest and Temple Master positions weren’t ones she didn’t want to fill, but applicants were either screened out by her or screened out by Daoist Master Qin during interviews at the temple. Recruiting people was really hard.
As for the unfinished matters of hers, the first thing Xuan Xia thought of was the contract for Worldly Fireworks.
“Did I tell you? I passed the audition, the film crew sent me a contract, and I was planning to go to the company tomorrow to sign the contract.”
Daoist Master Qin said “good,” but it was unclear if he was praising her for passing the audition or commenting on her plan to go to the company tomorrow to sign the contract.
After a breath, Daoist Master Qin suddenly asked again, “Are you crying?”
Xuan Xia: “…”
Actually, this question didn’t need to be asked.
The emotions from earlier had already mostly dissipated during their brief exchange.
But Xuan Xia still answered, “Oh, I just got emotional writing that little essay earlier. I’m calling a car now, Uncle Yuan is still waiting for me.”
“Good.” After a pause, Daoist Master Qin finally said, “Believe me, nothing will happen.”
“I believe.” Xuan Xia suddenly thought of something and said, “If it’s really as I think, when I come out, I’ll definitely tear down the Ren Family and the Cui Family!”
She didn’t even need to wait until she came out—Xuan Xia already wanted to tear down the Cui and Ren families right now.
After ending the call, she quickly opened the ride-hailing app and called another car.
Although the previous driver had ditched her, there were still some willing to take the order.
Xuan Xia readjusted her mindset. During this time, Daoist Master Qin sent her a lot of information about the Mountain Mirage Fiend.
She took notes on this information the whole way and unknowingly arrived at the destination soon.
Yuan Zhongshu was waiting for her at the mountain entrance, and with him was Ren Tongjin.
In addition, there were a few people inside and outside the mountain entrance, wearing raincoats.
“Uncle Yuan.” Xuan Xia quickly asked about the situation.
Yuan Zhongshu sighed repeatedly.
The mountain was different from the city. While the city was under blazing sun and people wished to hide in air-conditioned rooms, the mountain had experienced multiple rains front and back.
Some places even had landslides, so even though Ren Tongjin had brought people overnight, they only truly started searching the mountain at dawn.
The search had only been going on for a short time, and they could only confirm that Qu Xingxuan and the others had indeed entered this mountain.
Because not far from the mountain entrance, they found marks left behind by them.
