Lu Zhao walked over from the east side hall, holding the Marriage Register in his hand.
His expression had improved considerably; the chaotic Power of Marriage was beginning to stabilize as the false statues were destroyed, but a trace of anger still lingered in his eyes.
"Senior, all the names have been verified. More than 46,000 people have been 'pulled by a thread,' had yellow paper written on, and drunk talisman water in this temple."
Qiguan Yuan took the Marriage Register and looked down at the page. Forty thousand names were written side by side on the paper, the ink a dark red.
For many people, the records of their romantic connections are completely blank.
After their marriage was deliberately severed, without any new connection, they simply vanished from the register.
Qiguan Yuan stared at the names for a moment, then returned the Marriage Register to Lu Zhao.
"Settle all marriage arrangements properly, prioritizing the correction of the Thread of Fate of those who are still alive."
Lu Zhao nodded.
He closed the Marriage Register and put it in his sleeve, then turned to talk to the police officers at the scene.
Because the police also need to understand people influenced by cults and have a list of those who receive them.
Therefore, Lu Zhao was able to provide very complete information.
The police officers' gazes, intentionally or unintentionally, fell on Qiguan Yuan and Lu Zhao.
It's really a bit surreal to be with the so-called Yue Lao.
After Meng Xu released a statement confirming that Qiguan Yuan would no longer intervene, the live stream resumed.
Meng Xu neither asked the cameraman to turn off the camera nor the editor to cut the shot.
The comments section went from shock to silence to a flood of discussion, and finally, after the live stream was cut off, most people tacitly refrained from making any comments.
As long as you know it in your heart, there's no need to bring it up in the open.
However, there are also stubborn people who insist on their own way.
One comment was copied more than a dozen times: When Qiguan Yuan raised his hand and smashed the clay statue, the red rope on his wrist was glowing. It wasn't a special effect; I watched it frame by frame, and the light was coming from inside the rope.
This comment was shared on Weibo, and it jumped two places in the Weibo trending topics list.
However, with the official statement, most people are just treating this as gossip.
Qiguan Yuan did not look at his phone.
He walked to the incense burner and glanced into the opening.
The ash inside the incense burner was very thick, with a new layer on the surface and compacted old ash underneath.
He reached into his sleeve, pulled out the half-piece of yellow paper, and gently placed it into the stove opening.
The piece of paper fell onto the ashes and burned.
The flame had a reddish tinge, completely different from the orange-yellow flames produced by ordinary incense ash in the stove. It burned without smoke, and after a few breaths, the paper was completely burned away, and the flame went out.
He withdrew his hand, stood facing the incense burner for a moment, then turned and walked to the pavilion on the east side of the courtyard.
Pei Yubai followed him the whole way, and the two sat down on a stone bench in the pavilion.
The stone benches were shaded by the pavilion, making them cooler than other places.
After sitting down, Qiguan Yuan leaned back against the tree trunk and closed his eyes for a while.
Pei Yubai sat down next to him, pulled his hand over and placed it on his knee, and continued to massage his wrist.
Press your thumb into the depression on the inside of your wrist bone and massage it gently.
"I used too much force when I pulled the red thread just now," Pei Yubai said, looking down as he pressed down with his thumb, feeling Qiguan Yuan's wrist tendon twitch slightly. "How many times have I told you to tone it down? Yuanyuan, you're not in a good mood today."
"I didn't think that much at the time." Qiguan Yuan didn't open his eyes, his voice carrying the weariness of having finished dealing with the matter. "Seeing that evil statue that supposedly swaps fates made me feel a little uncomfortable."
Pei Yubai looked up at him. Then he turned Qiguan Yuan's hand over, palm up, and clasped his fingers together.
Qiguan Yuan's fingertips were a little cold, but they gradually warmed up after Pei Yubai held them for a while.
He didn't pull his hand away, letting him hold it, his thumb lightly brushing against Pei Yubai's hand.
Shen Yuzhou and his group stood at the entrance of the Heavenly King Hall for a long time before slowly approaching, seeing that the situation in the courtyard had been brought under control by the police.
Shen Yuzhou walked in front, clutching an unopened bottle of mineral water. He walked to the stone bench, placed the water next to Qiguan Yuan, and without saying a word, took two steps back.
Cheng Yanqiu followed behind, glanced at Qiguan Yuan, and noticed that his face was a little paler than usual.
Jiang Wantang and Ji Shiyu exchanged a glance. Lin Yanru and Su He'an found several clean palm-leaf fans in the side hall and gave them to the others.
No one was saying much.
Public opinion online has been brought under control.
But they were there in person, and the impact of seeing it firsthand was far greater than seeing it on screen.
They were well aware that it wasn't something the production team had staged.
Teacher Qiguan, no, Senior Qiguan, he is the Yue Lao.
Therefore, they dared not say much when facing Qiguan Yuan.
Qiguan Yuan opened his eyes, saw the bottle of water beside him, and noticed Cheng Yanqiu's hesitant expression.
Shen Yuzhou pretended to be looking at the scenery, but his eyes kept glancing this way out of the corner of his eye.
Jiang Wantang folded a new silk scarf she had just bought and placed it on the stone bench to make him more comfortable.
He curled the corners of his mouth slightly, picked up the bottle of water, unscrewed it, took a sip, and said, "Why are you standing so far away? I'm not going to eat anyone."
Shen Yuzhou immediately breathed a sigh of relief, pulled up a chair and sat down under the tree, then began his traditional act. " Brother Yuan, you don't know, we were watching you demolishing the temple inside the Heavenly King Hall just now. Cheng Yanqiu said it looked like watching a fantasy drama on set. I said, fantasy dramas don't have such realistic special effects."
"Then, when you swiped the clay statue in half, Lin Yanru said she remembered that a distant relative of hers had been cheated out of money at a temple before, and that what you did was avenge that relative."
"By the way, Brother Yuan, does that red rope of yours always glow like that? Won't it burn your wrist when you put it in your sleeve? Do you have any other magical treasures? If it's convenient, could you show us...?"
Cheng Yanqiu kicked his chair from behind.
Shen Yuzhou immediately realized what he had said, but he had been talking too much! He was genuinely curious.
Qiguan Yuan chuckled softly, resting his chin on his hand on the table, his silver hair cascading over his shoulders.
Half of the fatigue on her face was hidden by her hair, and when her fox-like eyes narrowed, she reverted to her lazy, nonchalant demeanor.
Only the red string on her wrist was still faintly glowing.
The live stream started with Qiguan Yuan and Pei Yubai sitting under a tree and continued until the police took the abbot and several key monks involved in the case into a police car. Lu Zhao handed a USB drive to the officer in charge, saying it was a summary of information on missing persons. Then, the pilgrims left the mountain gate one after another.
As a middle-aged woman left, she turned back to look at the old locust tree in the courtyard and bowed respectfully to Qiguan Yuan beneath it.
The comments section froze on this moment.
Meng Xu nervously shut down the live stream.
The moment the live stream ended, the camera disappeared.
Everyone immediately turned to look at Qiguan Yuan eyes.