Volume One, Chapter 89: Light After the Deepest Dark

The young Taoist priest gave a mysterious smile. “Benefactor, are you joking with me? The deities enshrined in a Taoist temple are always more or less the same, aren’t they? However, our temple’s Lord Primordial Origin is quite different from the others!”

“How is it different?” Qin Yu followed his words with a question.

“Why, ours is especially efficacious!” The little Taoist leaned in conspiratorially, as though afraid of being overheard. “As long as the incense money is sufficient, there’s nothing you can't ask for!”

Qin Yu’s eyes grew deeper, as if pondering something. “Anything at all?”

The young priest looked heavenward with pride. “Life, death, wealth, fortune! There’s nothing impossible!”

Qin Yu also looked up, attempting to use her spiritual power to discern the face of this “Lord Primordial Origin,” but it was in vain.

The golden statue’s face seemed shrouded in a veil, misty and indistinct, impossible to see clearly.

Withdrawing her spiritual power, Qin Yu turned to the young priest and praised, “Your Clear Breeze Temple is truly remarkable!”

The priest cocked his head, barely able to contain his pride. “Of course! After all, we’re the number one temple in the world!”

He offered the burning incense to the two of them. Qin Yu’s fingertips had barely touched it when she quickly drew her hand back, an awkward expression on her face as she clutched her abdomen and whispered, “Lu Hualing, I think I ate something bad. I need to use the restroom.”

Her voice was soft, but loud enough for the priest to hear. “Turn right when you exit, the restroom is there.”

Qin Yu thanked him and promptly dragged Lu Hualing off at a run.

They dashed away as if a mad dog were chasing them, and our poor young master, with his long legs, could barely keep up.

Seeing Qin Yu’s grave expression, he dared not voice any complaints, hardly even daring to breathe, obediently following behind.

—

With a swish, as if wind, Rufeng felt a sudden sting on his face. He covered his cheek and turned to the other temple boy. “Did something just go by?”

The other boy glanced left and right. “I don’t think so! I didn’t see anything.”

Rufeng’s face burned with pain. He muttered suspiciously, “Was it just the wind?”

But then, had the wind become so temperamental? It felt as though someone had slapped his face.

—

Only after Lu Hualing’s car had driven two or three kilometers away from Clear Breeze Temple did Qin Yu’s expression finally improve a little.

“Master, is there something strange about Clear Breeze Temple?”

“I don’t know,” she replied.

Lu Hualing was shocked that Qin Yu would say this. “What?”

Qin Yu pressed her lips together and explained, “Clear Breeze Temple only gives me one impression: clean.”

Lu Hualing was even more confused. “Isn’t clean a good thing? If it’s clean, it means there must be a master in residence.”

Qin Yu frowned. “Have you ever heard this saying?”

“What saying?”

“After the utmost darkness comes the light.”

The young master was stunned.

Isn’t darkness the opposite of light? How could darkness become light?

Seeing his bewildered face, Qin Yu said no more, turning her head slightly to gaze at the scenery receding outside the window.

After the utmost darkness comes the light; but after the utmost light, what then? What would follow?

Amid the sunset clouds, a few dark ones drifted.

A change of weather was coming.

—

By the time they returned to the hotel, the “dead” Mu Ling had finally “come back to life.” “Xiaoyu, what just happened to me?”

This time, Mu Ling made no effort to hide his voice.

The young master, who had just sat down to steady his nerves, was so startled he leapt half a meter into the air, darting behind Qin Yu and peeking out with half his head. “M-master, did you just hear something?”

He looked around nervously, his voice shaking. “This hotel… could there be something unclean here?”

Qin Yu poured him a glass of water, her face calm and unperturbed. “Don’t be afraid, it’s one of our own.”

While the young master was still pondering what “one of our own” meant, a black marble with a nose and eyes appeared out of thin air before him. It even waved politely, “Hello, Young Master. I’m Mu Ling…”

Then, from its tiny body, a black hand extended, ready to shake hands politely.

In truth, when he first saw Mu Ling’s little marble form, the young master could still accept it—for the little thing looked rather cute.

But when he witnessed the marble produce a black human hand from within…

“Ghost!”

With a scream, the young master’s eyes rolled back and he fainted.

Mu Ling, bewildered, stared at the young master’s falling body, scratching his head with his black hand as he looked in confusion at Qin Yu. “Isn’t this how modern people greet each other?”

Qin Yu pressed her hand to her forehead.

She knew these two attention-seekers would meet eventually, but she hadn’t expected it to happen so soon.

“By the way, Xiaoyu, you still haven’t told me why all five of my senses were sealed just now?”

The memory of being utterly deprived of sensation, his body beyond his control, made Mu Ling shudder instinctively with fear.

“Absolute suppression,” Qin Yu replied.

The last time, in the livestream, the envoy from the Underworld had used absolute suppression too, but it hadn’t been as domineering as what she’d just experienced at Clear Breeze Temple.

However, one thing puzzled Qin Yu.

The Underworld envoy’s absolute suppression affected not only ghosts but also humans; yet in Clear Breeze Temple, she had felt no suppression at all, whereas Mu Ling had been completely subdued.

Could it be that Clear Breeze Temple’s restrictions were only set against ghosts?

That would explain why the temple felt so “clean.”

Thinking of the Underworld envoy, Qin Yu felt a surge of annoyance.

Hadn’t they promised to send her some help? How long had it been, and still not even a shadow of a ghostly helper had appeared?

—

Bzzz. Bzzz.

Lu Hualing was awakened by the vibration of a cell phone.

Half asleep, he answered the call, his usually unrestrained tone tinged with annoyance. “Hello? Who is it?”

Beeep… The call ended.

Sore and aching, Lu Hualing climbed up from the floor.

Thinking back to last night, he realized he didn’t feel afraid at all—just a chill deep in his bones.

So, was there really no one to care for him, to put him in bed at least?

Rubbing his aching back, he sat down.

Upon seeing the leftover takeout on the coffee table, his dismay deepened.

So, he wasn’t even worthy of a meal?

Bzzz. Bzzz.

The phone vibrated again, at an inopportune moment.

Now fully awake, Lu Hualing realized it wasn’t even his phone.

—

Bang, bang, bang.

The knocking on the door annoyed Qin Yu. She reached out, pulled the blanket over her head.

But the knocking persisted.

When she finally opened the door, her face so full of resentment it could revive an evil sword immortal, Lu Hualing was greeted by a glare as cold as death itself.

“What is it?”

Her voice was icy, as if addressing a corpse.

Lu Hualing swallowed nervously, stammering, “M-master, your phone…”

With a bang, the door slammed shut in his face, her phone taken along with it.

Qin Yu glanced at the incoming call, her fingernail tracing the answer button back and forth.

She took a deep breath—and answered.