Chapter 37: The Safety Knot

A moment of silence hung in the air. Then, Wen Ye’s indifferent voice came from behind me: “You did nothing wrong. You don’t need to apologize to me.”

I laughed self-deprecatingly, “Getting paid such a high salary, and yet I failed to take care of your daily life. I’ve been derelict in my duty as a nanny.”

“What do you want to eat tomorrow? I’ll prepare it in advance.”

Silence.

“Le Xiaomai, thank you for your…”

Before drifting off to sleep, I heard a sigh so soft it was almost imperceptible.

Thank me for what? Thank me for being magnanimous and giving you a way out?

Who told me to take your money? I deserve it, alright?

Yesterday’s unpleasantness vanished with a good night’s sleep, and I was resurrected as the carefree Le Xiaomai once again.

Great-Granny is right: earn every day you live. Instead of spending my old age regretting the past, I might as well enjoy good food, good drinks, and live well in the present.

Jiao Ling had damaged a lot of Great-Granny’s furniture in her room, but she couldn’t bear to throw it away, saying it could still be used if repaired.

I contacted a furniture restoration company online and took the opportunity to have all the worm-eaten, cracked, and furniture that needed maintenance repaired.

Several master craftsmen praised our furniture as being made of good materials and excellent craftsmanship, saying that if properly maintained, it could become antiques passed down for generations.

After tidying up for five or six days in a row, the house had undergone a small renovation.

The agency wired me a five-figure commission, and I generously paid the bill out of my own pocket. Then, I sharpened my knife and eagerly opened Great-Granny’s Zitan (red sandalwood) vanity case.

The four layers were full of various hairpins and jewelry, all colorful and dazzling.

I secretly grumbled that this old woman was quite vain when she was young and lived a truly refined life, unlike me, whose only accessory was a black hair tie on my wrist.

The third and fourth layers of the vanity case were filled with various jade items, white, green, and transparent. I was dazzled by the selection, and although I didn’t understand their value, I couldn’t help but drool.

“This one.” Wen Ye extended a slender finger and pointed to a plain, unremarkable transparent round piece.

“Why?” I asked, puzzled. I liked that green, oily gourd much better.

“This is Ru Yu (auspicious jade), a round object. The Safety Knot (平安扣) is taken from the ancient copper coins. The outer circle symbolizes the chaos of heaven and earth, and the inner circle represents inner peace. Le Xiaomai, your sharp edges are too exposed. You are suited to use a mellow object to harmonize yourself,” Wen Ye patiently explained.

“Also, Great-Granny has never worn this Safety Knot close to her body. You can use it to nurture yourself.”

I picked up the Safety Knot from the jewelry box and held it against my chest, asking curiously, “How do you know Great-Granny hasn’t worn it?”

“It doesn’t have her aura on it… Jade has a spirit and recognizes its owner. Casually wearing someone else’s jade, if the jade doesn’t recognize the later owner, it can lead to unwarranted disasters.”

“Didn’t those middle-aged couples who stole the deceased’s jade bracelet cause unrest in their family not long ago because of the jade?”

Great-Granny lazily squinted her eyes and chuckled, “Little Fox is right. I haven’t worn this Safety Knot much.”

“Although it’s not the most valuable one in there, its temperament matches yours. Moreover, wealth should not be flaunted, and its meaning is auspicious. The Safety Knot is most suitable for you. Take it and braid a rope for yourself to wear.”

I was secretly calculating in my heart and muttered, “You said you’d give them all to me. If these jade stones only recognize you, this old woman, how dare I take them?”

Before Great-Granny could speak, Wen Ye said indifferently, “The agency can handle these old objects. If she dies, you can take them to do a small ritual if you want to wear them. It’s not troublesome.”

“…”

Great-Granny and I were both silent.

In the past few days, I’ve been trying to persuade Great-Granny to come back to Xicheng with me to live together, but she stubbornly refuses. Finally, she got annoyed by my nagging and hit me with her smoking pipe.

“The aura here is prolonging her life. Taking her away is not a good thing. The old woman is much more capable than you, Le Xiaomai. You’re the burden,” Wen Ye interrupted my nagging, looking disgusted.

Alright, alright, I’m the burden, okay? It’s not my fault. Who told her not to tell me anything?

I sat grumpily on the chaise lounge, reviewing the surveillance video from that night. I didn’t know what to expect, but I got a shock.

Great-Granny usually totters around, occasionally using a cane, but when she fought the strong, black-clothed man and cast spells, she was like a different person—her back was straight as she stood under the corridor, the light shining on her like a grandmaster.

The black-clothed man also carried something with him, a dark, misty mass that made it impossible to see what it was.

The mist was entangled with the occasionally visible Jiao Ling, sometimes flying into the sky, sometimes in the courtyard.

The video was intermittent due to the magnetic field, with a lot of snowflake-like static.

Finally, the black mist disappeared, and Jiao Ling dragged the man and swallowed him. Great-Granny suddenly fainted, and Jiao Ling wrapped her up and carried her to bed.

That mass of black mist reminded me of the old guy who tore open the black hole in the elevator. His hand was also formed from mist.

“The old thing’s main body can’t come out of the Great Wilderness, so he has to tear open a gap through the space of the mirror,” Wen Ye said, frowning as he looked at the camera recording on the phone with me.

“He wants to catch me. Is it because I can help him open the passage between the Great Wilderness and the human world? Or do I have other uses for him?” I asked, tilting my head. As a result, the tip of my nose almost brushed against the side of his face.

When did we get so close together? Our lowered hair was tangled together without us even realizing it.

I awkwardly lowered my head, pretending to continue watching the phone in my hand, my heart pounding wildly, my face flushed.

Wen Ye didn’t notice my abnormality and calmly analyzed, “The person who stole my Spirit Pearl and seriously injured your mother should be the old thing’s agent in the human world.”

“If this agent is so powerful, then the old thing must be even more powerful.” I asked in a low voice, “You, the agent, and my scumbag mom were able to escape from the Great Wilderness. Why can’t he come out?”

Wen Ye frowned deeply. “Only your mother and the agent know the answer to this question. Whether he wants to come out of the Great Wilderness or has other purposes, everything will be clear when we find your mother.”

“Are you so sure my scumbag mom is still alive?”

“Le Xiaomai, you’re not allowed to slander your mother!” He said with a serious and firm tone, and then said, “I’m sure she’s still alive.”

I raised my head to meet Wen Ye’s eyes, deep and clear, with a hint of anger in the depths.

I chickened out in an instant, so I touched my nose, looked away, and complained while tapping on my phone, “She ruined other people’s families and abandoned me. Am I not allowed to complain? You’re so protective of her, why don’t you just recognize her as your mother…”

“Wait!” Wen Ye’s finger pressed on the screen. “Rewind it and take another look.”

I did as he said, watching it repeatedly, and finally stopped on the video recording that was half static and half image.

Because the tall, black-clothed man raised his hand, a section of his wrist was exposed, with winding tattoos on it.

Since the video couldn’t be enlarged, I had to take a screenshot, but it was blurry and I couldn’t make anything out of it.

“Send it to me. I’ll have the people at the agency investigate,” Wen Ye frowned and opened his phone.

I sent it to him, asking curiously, “How powerful is your network? You can even find this out?”

Wen Ye looked down and carefully pressed his phone. “I don’t know. The agency seems to have some connections with your human world’s public security and intelligence departments. Actually, it’s all her network.”

“Your master, that young lady?”

Wen Ye nodded.

I suddenly felt mixed emotions.

Beautiful, gentle, capable, and with such a powerful background. Le Xiaomai, what do you have to compare with her?

Wait, why should I compare myself to her…