There were few worshippers outside the Lady Temple early that morning, but stalls were already being set up one after another. There were vendors selling incense and candles, and naturally, fortune-tellers interpreting divination slips as well.
Carrying his banner and wooden chest, Qi Zhongbin ambled over to the Lady Temple and sat down in the same secluded corner, behind the same battered table.
He hung up his banner, opened the chest, and spread a few things over the table. Once closed, the wooden chest served as his stool.
The Lady Temple had only just opened. Granny Yu was still sweeping the floor, occasionally glancing toward Qi Zhongbin. Over the past two years, the old man's complexion had grown increasingly rosy, almost as though he were aging backward.
Seemingly sensing her gaze, Qi Zhongbin looked up toward the temple entrance, but Granny Yu had already gone back inside.
Some things had long since become ancient history, and some bygone days had already drifted far away. Even after making peace with them, one could hardly return to the past-but there was no need to return to it, either.
Qi Zhongbin still remembered his master saying that Granny Yu's path had changed. That meant she, too, had a future.
As Qi Zhongbin waited to see whether anyone brought by fate would come to have a divination slip interpreted today, a familiar voice suddenly came from the tree.
"Young Qi."
Joy stirred in Qi Zhongbin's heart. He immediately looked up at the tree beside him and, sure enough, saw a little marten looking down at him.
"Senior Gray!"
Only Senior Gray called him that. And if Senior Gray was here, did that mean his master had come as well?
"Hehe, forget the stall. Pack up and come with me to the Mo Residence. The