It was late at night.
The guests and production crew were all asleep.
The cameras had stopped rolling, too.
Ji Nanshu, who had been sound asleep, turned slightly and opened his eyes.
He was going to pay Fu Yu a visit.
Just as he sat up, he felt a tug at the hem of his clothes.
Chu Mo hugged Ji Nanshu from behind, resting his head on his shoulder. "Where are you going?"
Ji Nanshu put on his shoes, turned his head, and asked, "Want to come?"
Chu Mo answered with action instead of words, springing out of bed. From getting up to getting dressed, it took him less than three minutes.
"Let's go!"
Seriously, his wife was going out alone in the middle of the night. Of course he had to come along! What if something happened?! Who would he cry to then?!
Fu Yu's front door stood wide open.
Chu Mo was puzzled. "What are we doing here?"
Had he taken a fancy to that woman named Fu Yu?! At that thought, Chu Mo's gaze instantly sharpened.
She wanted to steal his wife?!
He'd like to see what this woman was capable of!!
"Oh~ bringing your little lover along even at a time like this?"
The voice came from the rooftop.
They looked up.
Fu Yu looked utterly different from how she had during the day.
By day, she was cool and aloof; by night, sultry and seductive.
Ji Nanshu replied offhandedly, "Is it that you don't want to bring yours? Or that you don't have one?"
Fu Yu: "..."
Now he was showing off?? Who did he think he was talking to!!
"Who do you think you're talking to?!" Fu Yu narrowed her eyes, a dangerous pressure radiating from her whole body, as though one more disrespectful word from Ji Nanshu would cost him his life.
Ji Nanshu yawned and leaned lazily against Chu Mo. "I know. A spirit."
His tone was relaxed and easy.
Fu Yu put away her pipe and flashed in front of them. "Who exactly are you?!"
Incense Ancient Town produced an abundance of raw materials for incense, and countless celestial masters came and went to trade. Not one had recognized what she was, yet this man had seen through her at a glance. Since when had the celestial masters produced such a genius?!
Ji Nanshu frowned and stepped back, looking thoroughly repulsed. "Don't get worked up. I'm not interested in you. I'm not here to kill you, either."
"I'm just a little curious."
"What exactly were you after, going to all that trouble to lure the production crew here?"
Fu Yu inwardly relaxed, but refused to show even a trace of fear. "What could I be after? I just felt sorry for Incense Ancient Town and wanted to do my part for them."
As long as he wasn't here to kill her without hearing her out, anything could be discussed. She had painstakingly cultivated for a hundred years without ever taking a life to attain her current cultivation. If she ran into some dumbass celestial master, that would truly be an injustice.
"Really? What a nice spirit you are! So it wasn't to keep that thing in the storeroom around a little longer?"
At those words, Fu Yu grew even more tense than when he had first identified her, killing intent spreading from her entire body.
Ji Nanshu waved a hand. "Relax. I've never liked beating around the bush, or fighting and killing. Considering the merit you carry, tell me what you're after. Maybe we can make a deal."
Fu Yu fell silent. After a long while, she took a deep breath and slowly said, "I want you to help me make God-Inviting Incense."
Ji Nanshu broke into a smile. "Have the materials ready. Once the God-Inviting Incense is finished, I want half your merit."
"All right. Come collect them tomorrow."
Ji Nanshu was not at all surprised by Fu Yu's answer. Still, cultivation was difficult for spirits, especially spirits who carried merit.
He couldn't help adding, "Even with God-Inviting Incense, that thing will only have its symptoms delayed and live a little longer. It'll even damage your cultivation."
"If someone with ulterior motives gets hold of it, it'll lead to disaster."
When that happened, never mind that thing-even all of Fu Yu's cultivation and merit would probably be stripped away.
"Would you two like to hear me tell a story again?" Fu Yu took a puff from her pipe and spoke slowly.
"Oh, then bring us a couple of chairs. Standing is tiring."
Fu Yu: "..."
This guy was so fucking demanding!
With a wave of her hand, two stools appeared in front of Ji Nanshu and Chu Mo.
Only after they sat down did Ji Nanshu say, "All right, you can start."
"...There's another version of the story I told during the day. Xianggu wasn't just an incense maker. She was also the only person who could make God-Inviting Incense without being a celestial master."
"Some people are always kind and generous when their own interests aren't at stake. Heh..."
"Xianggu taught the people here to make incense. It should have been an ending as lovely as a fairy tale. But someone wasn't satisfied and traded information about God-Inviting Incense for wealth. Only, retribution came too quickly. Not only did the evil cultivator give him no wealth, he killed the man after getting the information!"
Ji Nanshu offered a perfunctory comment. "Mm-hmm, that certainly was retribution."
Fu Yu hadn't expected Ji Nanshu to sympathize, but her expression was still indescribable. She rolled her eyes at the two of them and continued, "The poor, kind villagers of Incense Valley Town and my Xianggu were the ones who suffered. One day, an outsider suddenly arrived in the village. He threatened the villagers' lives to force Fu Yu to make God-Inviting Incense for him. If she refused, he would kill the villagers."
"Wait, let me interrupt. If the evil cultivator wanted it, couldn't you just make it?"
"Do you really not know what other uses God-Inviting Incense has?"
Ji Nanshu blinked, wearing an expression that said, "If you don't know, how would I?" It made Fu Yu want to punch him!
Fuck, how was this Ji Nanshu so infuriating!!
"God-Inviting Incense can help evil cultivators cultivate!"
At that, Chu Mo had a question. "Isn't God-Inviting Incense supposed to repel evil and suppress ghosts? How can it help evil cultivators cultivate?"
Only then did Ji Nanshu cut in with a grin. "Because that isn't God-Inviting Incense~"
"Impossible!" Fu Yu's expression changed, turning grim as her eyes widened in disbelief. "Xianggu would never lie to me!"
"The very first prerequisite for making God-Inviting Incense is that you must be a celestial master! If this Xianggu you're talking about wasn't a celestial master, then that so-called 'God-Inviting Incense' definitely wasn't God-Inviting Incense!"
Fu Yu tightened her grip on her pipe. With a snap, it broke in two.
Ooh~ now she was really angry!
What a waste of such a fine pipe~
Fu Yu hurled the two broken halves of the pipe onto the ground, wanting to confront Xianggu herself right then and there.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Young people are so impatient~ If Xianggu didn't lie to you, then someone lied to Xianggu." Ji Nanshu sighed, afraid that Fu Yu would go looking for Xianggu right now, cause trouble, and leave him to clean up the mess. "There's a type of incense very similar to God-Inviting Incense. So similar that unless you made it yourself, you couldn't tell them apart at all. Someone must have deliberately taught her how to make it."
"If I'm not mistaken, it was probably someone from the Blood God Cult."
"They named this incense God-Descending Incense. It's specifically meant to deal with righteous celestial masters and can suppress their magical arts and cultivation. Quite a few celestial masters suffered because of God-Descending Incense and died at the hands of the Blood God Cult."
"I think Xianggu probably found out later. That's why she refused to make this incense."
After he finished, Fu Yu suppressed the urge to go find Xianggu and get answers. Just as she was about to ask something else, a hoarse voice came from outside the door-
"He's right!"
Aaaaah, building up a chapter backlog makes me want to cry!!!