At nine the next morning, Ji Nanshu arrived at Liang Ziqian's studio and was immediately grabbed and put through hair and makeup.
As she worked, the makeup artist marveled, "Teacher Ji, your skin is incredible! How do you usually take care of it?"
"Oh my god, it feels like anything I put on your face would be unnecessary..."
"Change the eyebrows. Yes, yes, and add a red beauty mark between them..."
There was no need for Ji Nanshu to talk to her at all.
Even so, the styling took almost two hours.
"Yes! This is exactly the Wen Yuchen I imagined!" The screenwriter was clearly beyond satisfied with both the styling and Ji Nanshu's appearance.
The photoshoot took only half an hour.
What was this? Two hours of charging for five minutes of battery life?
Only after the shoot did Liang Ziqian finally arrive. "Nanshu! Liang You showed you the script, right?"
Ji Nanshu nodded. "Yes, I've read it."
It was a fantasy wuxia story. It mainly followed the male lead as he set out to find the truth behind his master's murder. Along the way, he uncovered a demonic conspiracy and unexpectedly learned that these demons had also killed his master. In the end, he exposed the conspiracy, saved the world, and avenged his master.
Ji Nanshu would play the male lead's beautiful but short-lived master, a master who existed only in memories-the white moonlight master who pulled the male lead out of the mud, taught him martial arts, taught him to read and write, and taught him about righteousness and the greater good.
A clichéd, tacky story.
That was Ji Nanshu's assessment.
Liang Ziqian said, "Good, then. Liang You said you have a variety show to film in a couple of days. Once you finish filming the second episode, we'll focus on getting your scenes done first. Half a day at most!"
"All right. See you then, Director Liang."
After leaving the studio, Ji Nanshu went to the feng shui shopping street again-the same Si Clan shop, the same old man Zhang.
"Hello, Elder Zhang!" Ji Nanshu greeted him with a smile.
Elder Zhang's small eyes went wide as he huffed, "There's no top-grade cinnabar today!"
Ji Nanshu was entirely unbothered. "That's fine. I'm not buying top-grade cinnabar today. Ordinary cinnabar will do. Just find these other things for me too."
He handed over a list.
After reading it, Elder Zhang narrowed his eyes slightly. "Someone's had their luck borrowed again?"
"Again? It sounds like you know something about this, Elder Zhang?"
And apparently quite a lot.
Elder Zhang lowered his head and pondered for a few seconds, then looked up with a very serious expression. "Mr. Ji, would you allow me to make a phone call?"
"Of course."
A few minutes later, Elder Zhang emerged from the back room and said to Ji Nanshu, "Mr. Ji, could I trouble you to wait a little? The eldest young lady will be here shortly. No one knows more about this luck borrowing business than she does."
"I'll go get everything you need ready."
Ji Nanshu sat down. "Sorry for the trouble, Elder Zhang."
In less than ten minutes, Si Dai came rushing into the shop.
Si Dai looked very anxious. "Mr. Ji, I heard you encountered a case of luck borrowing?"
Luck borrowing could be a minor matter or a serious one. A mild case meant a few days of bad luck; a severe one meant a ruined family and deaths.
Starting nineteen years ago, cases of people having their luck borrowed had been discovered intermittently, and the numbers had only grown in recent years. She alone knew of forty or fifty cases and had personally broken three. Unfortunately, her cultivation was not advanced enough to give those responsible the punishment they deserved, nor had she found the people behind it.
"I did," Ji Nanshu answered softly, then extended an invitation. "Would you like to come take a look, Miss Si?"
Si Dai pressed her lips together. "If... it wouldn't be any trouble!"
"Then let's go. It's almost the time we agreed on."
Si Dai had driven there, which saved them the time of getting a taxi, and they soon arrived at Mei Liang's home.
Mei Liang hurried over to greet them. "Master Ji! You're finally here! I haven't touched anything in the house, just as you instructed. I've been waiting for you."
"And this is...?" Mei Liang looked at Si Dai.
Si Dai remained expressionless. "Si Dai, Celestial Masters Association, third-level Celestial Master."
I have to keep up appearances when I'm out. My current persona is a cool, aloof, mature-lady Celestial Master.
Mei Liang's family lived in a small villa. Once inside, Ji Nanshu led the two of them straight to the first room on the right on the second floor.
Mei Liang was stunned. "Master Ji, how did you know the wind chimes were in this room?"
"The yin energy is heavy," Ji Nanshu explained briefly. "This is your parents' bedroom?"
"Yes, yes, this is my parents' bedroom. The wind chimes are hanging right above their bed."
Ji Nanshu gave a dry laugh. "No wonder your parents died in such a short time. With it hanging right above their bed..."
How could they not have died suddenly?
Ji Nanshu took down the wind chimes and shook them in his hand. They gave off a crisp, pleasing sound.
"They sound quite nice." Ji Nanshu shook them twice more, then took a blood-red sheet of paper that reeked of blood and rot out of the wind chimes and held it out to Mei Liang. "Take a look."
Mei Liang swallowed shakily, a little afraid to take it. His hand hovered in midair for a moment before he asked, "M-Master Ji... nothing will happen to me if I touch this, right?"
"You'll be fine."
Only after Ji Nanshu confirmed that nothing would happen did Mei Liang take the bloodstained paper. He had had no idea until he looked; the moment he did, his face went white. "These... these are the birth dates and eight characters of my entire family!"
"What did I ever do?! Who could be vicious enough to want my whole family dead?!"
Mei Liang could not understand it. He had worked conscientiously and diligently all his life, been filial to his parents, loved his wife and daughter, and never done anything heinous. Why would someone be so unable to stand him that they insisted on wiping out his entire family?
Mei Liang was still overcome with grief, racking his brains to figure out whom he had offended, when Ji Nanshu abruptly handed him a knife. "Here, drip some blood onto this. Cut your middle finger."
He pointed at the paper figure standing on the floor.
Mei Liang obediently did as instructed.
After the blood dripped onto it, the little paper figure huffed and puffed as it climbed up, jumped into the circle of cinnabar, wiggled its bottom, and sat down.
Ji Nanshu looked at the little paper figure in amusement, tossed in the bloodstained paper bearing his family's birth dates and eight characters along with the wind chimes, then drew a talisman in midair with spiritual power and sent it toward them.
The bloodstained paper, wind chimes, little paper figure, and cinnabar all burst into flames.
Beside him, Si Dai's pupils contracted almost imperceptibly. Drawing talismans with spiritual power! Ji Nanshu had already reached the Innate Realm at such a young age?
Even her grandfather could not draw talismans with spiritual power at his current realm. This man... which family produced this monster?
Ji Nanshu, who had been labeled a "monster," said, "Done. The luck borrowing has been broken. From now on, your family will be fine."
Mei Liang asked, "Then... what about the person borrowing our luck?"
Ji Nanshu sneered. "Heh, don't worry. That talisman wasn't for nothing. Whoever borrowed your luck will get water stuck between his teeth when he drinks and could choke to death on a bite of food from now on. The same goes for the Celestial Master who helped him borrow it."
Unless the person behind it had higher cultivation than him, they could only suppress it, not break it. Even if they did break it, it would not affect Mei Liang or Ji Nanshu.
Mei Liang was just about to thank him when his phone rang. It was a call from the hospital-
"What?! I'll come to the hospital right away!"
Cuties, have you ever encountered anything science couldn't explain?
I did during my zodiac year!
Dreams within dreams. I'd never had one before my zodiac year, but I had four that year! In the dream, I knew I was asleep. I went from sleeping at the head of the bed to the foot, and then something slippery and cold, like tentacles, crawled from my feet toward my head, while I couldn't move at all.
It took an enormous effort to wake up from the dream, and then I went running and jumping off to find my dad. o(╥﹏╥)o