Qiguan Yuan, with one arm around Wang Shoumo, jumped down from the roof.
Her clothes billowed up slightly, a few strands of her hair were lifted by the wind, and her feet gently touched the hard earth of the yard.
Her body didn't sway at all, and even the baby in her arms didn't bounce.
He placed Wang Shoumo on the ground.
After the child regained his balance, he looked back at the fortune slip on the roof.
This time, the photographer held the equipment steady.
The camera didn't shake; the entire process was captured from beginning to end, without a single frame missing.
The live stream was silent for about three seconds.
Then the comments flooded out like a bursting floodgate.
[?????]
[No, wait, what did I just see?]
[Jump off the roof? Jump?]
[That roof must be at least three meters high, right? Holding a child? And she landed so lightly?]
[I watched it three times to confirm that it wasn't edited; it was a live broadcast.]
Where is science?
The Xiao Yuan Grains felt a jolt in their hearts.
broken.
Previously, Qiguan Yuan rarely appeared in front of the camera, and when he did, it was for very short periods.
Back then Xiao Yuan Grains could exaggerate however they wanted.
They say he's a deity descended to earth, a reclusive master, or that he's lived for over a thousand years—the more fantastical the story, the better. Anyway, nobody takes it seriously; everyone just enjoys it for fun.
Things are different now.
This episode of the variety show is all about Qiguan Yuan; the camera follows him whenever it's live.
Although they jokingly claimed that their Yuanyuan was a deity, it became problematic when this matter was brought into the open for everyone to discuss.
The Xiao Yuan Grains panicked.
Believe in science, believe in science, everyone should believe in science.
[The roof isn't actually that high; it's just a matter of angle.]
[ Yuanyuan exercises regularly, so it's normal for her to have good jumping ability, right?]
[Yes, yes, we're both sports students, Yuanyuan is a sports student.]
Even physical education students can't jump from three meters high without bending their knees!
[Shut up! It's clearly your eyes that are blurry, how come I didn't see it?]
The more the comments are explained, the more confusing it becomes.
The passersby didn't think much of it at first, but after the Xiao Yuan Grains explained it, they started to feel something was off.
[I initially thought it was just a matter of skill, but now that you guys have said it, I feel like there's something wrong with it.]
[Hilarious, the fans are making things worse by trying to explain.]
[Just one question: Have you ever seen a normal person jump down from a height of three meters as if it were a simple staircase?]
[I don't care, I want to cultivate immortality, this person must be a cultivator.]
[Seeking apprentices! Seeking apprentices!]
[ Yuanyuan is definitely a deity, I've said it before, but you didn't believe me.]
The Xiao Yuan Grains were almost crying.
No, don't believe us! We were just bragging!
The calls for cultivating immortality on the bullet screen are getting louder and louder, evolving from "asking to be taken as a disciple" to "asking to cultivate together", and then to "I am willing to give up my entire fortune just to get a magic pill", and it's getting more and more outrageous.
Meng Xu was backstage watching the live stream comments, feeling completely overwhelmed.
Will his show be reported for spreading metaphysics?
He sat in front of the monitor, one hand supporting his forehead, the other tapping on the table, his knuckles clicking faster and faster.
He hadn't expected Qiguan Yuan so strangely. When he saw Qiguan Yuan climbing a tree before, he simply assumed he was just good at it.
Sword dancing... that can also be explained; practicing swordsmanship is harmless.
As for the red line...
This could also be explained by the psychological effect of fans; it's just a coincidence.
Meng Xu gradually lost confidence in his self-comfort, feeling that the more he explained, the more wrong it seemed.
Meng Xu picked up the walkie-talkie, hesitated for a moment, and then put it down.
He picked it up again, put it down again. He repeated this three times, finally pressing the button. " Old Zhang, turn off the camera first."
Qiguan Yuan's live stream screen went black for a moment.
The chat was flooded with question marks again.
Meng Xu's voice came through the earphone to the photographer's ears. After listening, the photographer looked up at Qiguan Yuan, walked over and whispered a few words.
Qiguan Yuan was leading Wang Shoumo into the house when he heard this and paused.
He tilted his head to look at the photographer, raising his eyebrows slightly. "The comments circulating online?"
The photographer took out his phone to show him.
The screen was still filled with a dense barrage of comments, most of which were discussing his landing maneuver.
Some people extracted the replay and played it in slow motion, analyzing it frame by frame. The more they analyzed it, the more outrageous it became. Some even started drawing mechanical breakdown diagrams.
Qiguan Yuan looked at it for a while, then returned the phone to the photographer.
Only then did he belatedly realize that his actions seemed rather unconventional.
In Cloud-Hidden Town, where he lived, scaling walls and rooftops was commonplace for him, and no one would give him a second glance, since there was no one around.
Qiguan Yuan thought for a moment and said, "Tell him I'll handle it."
The photographer nodded and picked up the walkie-talkie to reply to Meng Xu.
Qiguan Yuan led Wang Shoumo into the house.
The room was filled with the aroma of stir-fried dishes, the smell of scallions and ginger being heated in oil, mixed with the pungent smell of mutton.
The sound of a spatula hitting a wok came from the kitchen. Wang Shoumo's mother, sitting in a wheelchair, was handing a bowl of washed vegetables to the stove.
She couldn't raise her hand very high, Wang Shoumo's father bent down to take it, and their hands touched briefly in the air.
Wang Shoumo let go of Qiguan Yuan's hand and ran into the kitchen. "Mom, let me help you."
The woman looked down at him, her eyes crinkling slightly, and touched his face with her movable hand. "Okay."
Only two people remained in the living room.
Pei Yubai and Wang Shoumo's grandfather sat facing each other, with a paper chessboard between them.
Many pieces have already been moved on the board, with red and black pieces alternating, and the situation is deadlocked.
Pei Yubai, while the old man held the black pen.
Red has one rook and one knight left, while Black has two cannons.
The old man frowned, tapping his fingers on his knee as he stared at the chessboard, pondering his next move.
Qiguan Yuan walked over and sat down next to Pei Yubai.
He usually plays Go, but he hasn't played much Chinese chess.
He looked at the chessboard for a while, his eyes following the red rook as it moved between the black cannons.
The old man made a move, Pei Yubai moved the car in front of him, thus checkmating him.
The old man gasped and quickly moved the object away.
Qiguan Yuan is an interesting story.
The old man noticed his focused gaze, looked up, and asked with a smile, "Young man, can you play?"
Qiguan Yuan: "No. I usually play Go; I only play chess occasionally."
"Go is good, but it's mentally taxing." The old man nodded, then made another move. "How about a game of chess? It's simple, I'll teach you."
"You can leave now, I'll stay here for a bit."
Qiguan Yuan withdrew his gaze and reached into Pei Yubai's pocket to take the phone out.
Pei Yubai was contemplating his next move when this action interrupted his train of thought, and he turned his head to glance at him.
Qiguan Yuan ignored him, looked down, swiped the screen, and entered his own live stream.
The live stream screen was still black, and the sound was off.
The comments were still scrolling, a little slower than before, but the content remained the same, with cultivation-related topics making up half of them.
He showed no expression after reading it; he never really cared about what others said.
The problem is that it's hard to explain to Meng Xu, and the show still needs to be filmed. We can't let these comments ruin the entire variety show.
He looked up at the photographer.
The photographer was standing by the door, his camera off, slung over his shoulder, looking somewhat troubled.
Qiguan Yuan waved to him.
The photographer quickly came over and put the camera down from his shoulder.
"Could you please open this large cylinder?" Qiguan Yuan asked.
The photographer turned the camera back on, and the screen lit up.
Qiguan Yuan looked at the camera, swiped his finger across the phone screen, and the comments scrolled by one by one.
He looked for a while, then asked, "Are my Xiao Yuan Grains there?"
The Xiao Yuan Grains responded enthusiastically:
[In In In In In In In In In In]
[Here! Yuanyuan, I'm here!]
[Ahhhhh, he called us Xiao Yuan Grains!]
[Yes! Yuanyuan are you saying?]
The whole screen of "Zai" rolled over and piled up layer by layer.
Qiguan Yuan waited a while before continuing with the next sentence.
"Don't make a fuss. It's just some very scientific movements. Just some very ordinary movements, right?"
The Xiao Yuan Grains, completely mesmerized by the close-up beauty filter, didn't care about anything else and just kept responding to Qiguan Yuan:
[ Yuanyuan is right!]
The Xiao Yuan Grains naturally didn't believe it, but since Qiguan Yuan had spoken up, they wouldn't deliberately bring this matter up in the open for discussion anymore.
This was an unspoken understanding between Xiao Yuan Grains and Qiguan Yuan. Qiguan Yuan didn't explain, they didn't press the matter.
Qiguan Yuan mentioned science, and they nodded in agreement, saying it was science.
Whether passersby believe it or not is beyond their control.
If we don't bring it out in the open, who cares? As long as it doesn't affect Yuanyuan, it's fine.
The old man listened from the side, not quite understanding what was happening.
After Qiguan Yuan put his phone away, he asked, "What's wrong?"
Qiguan Yuan: "A minor problem."
He suddenly remembered that Lu Zhao's need for Power of Marriage was still unfulfilled, and it wouldn't hurt to learn more about the local beliefs.
"Old man, do people in your area believe in any gods or deities?"
The old man was twirling a cannon in his hand when he heard this. He looked up and thought for a moment.
"Most young people these days don't believe in gods anymore." He placed the cannon on the chessboard, rubbing his fingers back and forth between the pieces. "But the older generation in our area does have a god they worship."
"Who is it?" Qiguan Yuan asked.
The old man smiled and said, "Speaking of which, many people may never have heard of the god we believe in. He's called the Moon Official."
Qiguan Yuan's fingers paused on his knee for a moment, and he hesitated.
The movement was so subtle that only Pei Yubai noticed it.
Pei Yubai paused for a moment as he reached for the chess piece, then casually moved his rook one step further.
Qiguan Yuan looked at the old man. "What do you mean?"
The old man thought he was just curious, so he continued his story.
"Let's talk about the Moon Official first," the old man said, resting his elbows on the table. His voice was slow and hoarse, typical of old age. "This is a god that most people don't know about, and even fewer people know exactly what he governs."
"The tradition passed down from above says that the Moon Official has a complementary partner. His partner is well-known to outsiders: the Old Man Under the Yue Lao."
Qiguan Yuan remained silent.
"Deserts are mostly barren lands, and they were even more so long ago." The old man tapped his fingers on the edge of the chessboard. "The legend goes that the Moon Official was passing through this area on his way to help the Old Man Under the Yue Lao find a match."
"At that time, there was a drought here. All the crops died, and people were on the verge of starvation. The Moon Official couldn't bear it, so he prayed to the Rain God, who saved the lives of everyone in this area. So from then on, our area has believed in the Moon Official."
He paused, then added, "But these are all stories passed down for hundreds or thousands of years. Now, it's just something the older generation talks about, and they occasionally make offerings. Whether such a god actually exists is another matter. However, making offerings to a god is just about faith, so there's no need to get hung up on whether the god actually exists."
Qiguan Yuan remained silent for a while after listening.
Sunlight streamed in through the window, falling on his knees. His eyelashes drooped, obscuring the expression in his eyes.
"It's rare that this saying still circulates after all this time."
He thought that with the disappearance of Yun Yin, no one but himself would remember Yun Yin.
He thought that the title of Moon Official had long been worn away by time, like sand dunes blown away by the wind, leaving nothing behind.
In the depths of this desert, in a small village that couldn't even be found on a map, an old man, whose chessboard was made of paper, uttered a few words that were related to Yun Yin.
Pei Yubai moved a chess piece beside him; the piece hit the board with a crisp snap.
"General," Pei Yubai said.
The old man looked down, exclaimed "Oh dear!", and quickly pulled it back.
Wang Shoumo's voice came from the kitchen. "Grandpa! Dad says dinner's ready!"
Wang Shoumo ran out of the kitchen carrying a large plate filled with sliced naan bread, stacked high and steaming hot.
His mother moved her wheelchair behind him, a bowl of hand-pulled rice on her lap, topped with a layer of glistening mutton.
Wang Shoumo's father came out last, still wearing his apron, carrying a pot of mutton soup with scallions and cilantro floating on top.
The table was filled with food.
The naan bread was baked until crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and steam escaped when it was torn open.
The pilaf had carrots and raisins added, making it sweet. The lamb was stewed until very tender, falling apart easily with chopsticks, and it was delicious with just a little salt.
Wang Shoumo sat next to his mother, helping her break the naan into small pieces and soak them in the soup, and then shredded the mutton and put it in her bowl.
The woman lowered her head and took a bite, and he watched her until she swallowed it before tearing off another piece.
Qiguan Yuan took a bite of the hand-grabbed rice. The rice grains were cooked to the perfect texture, and the mutton fat had seeped into them, making it incredibly fragrant.
However, Qiguan Yuan still couldn't quite accept mutton.
So he didn't eat much, but Pei Yubai ate a whole bowl.
While eating, the old man pulled Pei Yubai aside to review the game they had just played.
After finishing their meal, Qiguan Yuan and Pei Yubai sat for a while longer.
Wang Shoumo poured a cup of tea for everyone. It was the same cheap tea leaves, and the brewed tea was a bit pale in color; it was already the third infusion.
When he left, Wang Shoumo off at the gate of the courtyard.
The camel was lying next to the pen when it saw Qiguan Yuan out. It snorted, stood up and tried to walk over, but was pulled back by the rope.
Qiguan Yuan looked down at Wang Shoumo: "Keep an eye on the camel, don't let it run away again."
Wang Shoumo nodded vigorously. "I will definitely make sure the gate is closed properly."
Qiguan Yuan certainly knew why the camel had run away.
He rode that camel yesterday, and the camel carried his scent. That night, it followed the scent and came looking for him.
Camels have a much more sensitive sense of smell than humans, especially for sensing spiritual energy, so the camel will naturally follow him.
He didn't explain these things. It would be too complicated to explain, and Xiao Shoumo wouldn't understand anyway.
He gently patted Wang Shoumo on the head, then turned and left.
Pei Yubai followed beside him, and the two walked back along the path they had come from.
The photographer followed behind, carrying his equipment. The sand beneath his feet was so soft from the sun that his shoes sank in halfway down.
Pei Yubai, who was used to holding Qiguan Yuan's hand, suddenly spoke, " Yuanyuan."
Qiguan Yuan responded with a "Hmm?"
Pei Yubai: "The old friend you mentioned, is his name Yun Yin?"