Once he confirmed that Lin Hanzhi was not stupid enough to give himself a cold, Qi Gu relaxed. After sprawling bonelessly for half an hour, he resigned himself to getting up and going to the side room to gather the incense pouches that needed consecrating so he could do them all at once.
Along the way, he encountered a few pilgrims itching to grab a handful of incense ash from the incense burner to take home. In the end, they gave up because they could not be sure whether it was from incense Qi Gu had burned.
After all, taking other people's desires and stray thoughts home was worse than taking nothing.
Qi Gu worked swiftly and soon finished the preparations, then left the incense pouches beneath the incense altar.
Just as he was about to return to the back courtyard, he spotted a familiar, short figure in the bustling crowd. It was Niu An. Today, she wore a rather brightly colored floral dress, which looked somewhat out of place on someone her age, so quite a few pilgrims were stealing glances at her.
Niu An herself also felt she had dressed too flamboyantly and kept her head lowered in embarrassment.
Qi Gu strode over and supported her arm with its loose skin. "Teacher Niu, why didn't you call me when you arrived? I could have welcomed you properly."
"I already troubled you all evening yesterday. How could I trouble you again today? You young people have your own careers to keep you busy. I know that." As Niu An spoke, she tried to pull free of Qi Gu's hold. "If you have things to do, go ahead. You really don't need to waste time keeping me company."
"I've already finished everything. Now I can focus on keeping you company."