In the quiet bedroom, its curtains drawn, music suddenly began to play. The melody rose from gentle and soothing to bright and clear.
A beautiful arm, pale as tender lotus root, emerged from the covers. A plain gold ring circled its ring finger. Xia Yubing opened her bleary eyes, found her phone on the bedside table, turned off the alarm, and unlocked the screen to check the time.
September 23, 2018, 7:30 a.m.
Time to get up, time to get up—
Xia Yubing threw off the blanket and got out of bed wearing only panties and a snug white camisole. She padded barefoot into the bathroom and checked her phone while brushing her teeth. Her electric toothbrush flung a few flecks of toothpaste onto her stomach, and the mirror reflected the graceful lines of her abs.
She was going to shower in a moment, so she left them there. Her gaze stayed on the calendar widget on her phone, which showed an event she had set the week before:
[2 days until the next Gengshen Day]
That day was coming around again...
Xia Yubing put down her toothbrush, rinsed her mouth, spat out the foam, and raised her eyes to study herself in the mirror.
Since leaving Zanju Town, she had become a Bestowed One of the Four-Faced Buddha, Taiyi.
Because she had left the Four-Faced Buddha's range of observation, its impression of Xia Yubing remained fixed at the moment she left Zanju Town.
That impression had never been updated.
Whether she was injured or died out in the world—even if she simply ate too much and put on weight—if the Four-Faced Buddha did not see it happen, then it had not happened.
In its eyes, she would always be the Xia Yubing who had just left Zanju