38

Lin You didn’t expect Bo Chuan to drop such a heavy bombshell right out of the blue. Even though it was broad daylight, she couldn’t help but shiver.

“Wait… isn’t a ghost marriage supposed to require both sides… can a living person be involved in a ghost marriage?”

Bo Chuan placed the tabby cat by the lotus pond, watching it awkwardly take a few steps and then urinate into the pond.

“Of course, a living person can’t be involved.”

Ghost marriages have a long history, though the rituals were much more formal in the beginning compared to later developments. Most of the time, they involved young couples who had arranged their marriage but died young. Their families, believing that the ghosts of the deceased would be restless unless the marriage was fulfilled, would organize a ghost marriage.

Later, ghost marriages became more widespread, largely due to the influence of feng shui masters who made a living off it. They preached that lonely tombs could influence future generations’ prosperity, and for the sake of earning money from wealthy families, they encouraged families of deceased loved ones to perform a ghost marriage.

As time went on, ghost marriages took on even more disturbing customs. For men who died young, their families would even spend large sums of money to ensure a woman’s corpse was buried with them, and there were cases where women were made to sacrifice themselves in a ghost marriage.

Even decades after the founding of the new society, such practices could not be completely eradicated.

Bo Chuan: “Living people can’t be involved in a ghost marriage. That must mean someone used her belongings to cast a spell, forcing her to die young so she could be married to a ghost.”

“You tell her to come to the temple tomorrow at noon.”

Lin You nodded and picked up the tabby cat, which had finished peeing and now sprawled out again.

A gust of warm wind blew by, and after a brief hesitation, Lin You carefully asked, “How come… I thought you wouldn’t agree.”

Although they ate together every day and were considered friends, Lin You had always felt that her relationship with Bo Chuan was different from her casual relationship with Yao Jiu.

It was probably because Bo Chuan always wore a face that was hard to read, yet he often did things that surprised Lin You.

Like this time—he agreed to let someone come over without even knowing the person’s name.

Bo Chuan paused for a moment and then came up with a reason that sounded noble: “Managing the temple… it’s a bit difficult for me alone. Besides, once the temple is finished, it’ll need people to support it.”

It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought of this before—it was just that, when Lin You mentioned it, he subconsciously agreed.

Lin You let out a sigh of relief. “That’s great. Hongxia said, as long as you can take care of her cousin, the money is negotiable. Since you don’t lack money, how about asking her to donate something? Let me think… is there a missing altar in your temple? How about a new altar table?”

Bo Chuan’s temple was really in bad shape. Even though more people had come recently, the interior remained unchanged. Only the outer façade looked a little better. If Bo Chuan relied solely on himself, it would take years to repair it, but it would be better to let the believers pitch in.

“Good luck, young man. Once your half-immortal reputation spreads, it won’t be long before the temple gets repaired!”

“Mm.”

Yao Hongxia was overjoyed when she received the letter from Lin You and immediately called her cousin.

In a small loft apartment in Jingshui County, the decoration was simple, with milky white walls adorned with several paintings. The large floor-to-ceiling windows brightened up the room.

A young woman, with tangled dark hair and a tired expression, picked up the phone, her gaze still hazy. She had been tortured by nightmares for a long time, and in recent days, her mental state had deteriorated.

On the other end of the phone, the girl only briefly responded with a soft “Mm” as she listened to a long string of words.

After a long pause, she let out a bitter laugh and said, “Sis, please don’t worry about me…”

She had been troubled by nightmares for a while, and during that time, she went to the hospital, sought help from the psychiatry department, consulted various so-called spiritual people, and even visited every temple and monastery in the province.

Nothing worked.

When her mind was foggy, she could even hear a voice echoing in her ear, urging her to jump off the building.

If she just jumped, everything would end.

There would be no more dark nightmares, and she wouldn’t bring trouble to those around her.

“Just jump.”

While on the phone, it seemed that she heard that voice again.

Tears uncontrollably welled up in her eyes. “Sis, please take care of Mom and Dad for me. Thank you.”

She was about to hang up. Her family had been worried about her for a long time. Recently, her parents had been uneasy about her living alone, fearing something would happen to her.

The girl gazed nostalgically at her little apartment. It was a place she had bought with the money she earned from part-time jobs. After returning to her hometown from the big city, she had hoped to live a good life.

The sunflower seeds on her balcony had already sprouted and seemed ready to bloom soon.

“Xiao Zhi, you can’t do something stupid! Sis guarantees that this person can help you!”

Yao Hongxia could easily tell that her cousin’s state was off. She sent messages to her cousin’s parents while not daring to hang up the phone.

Suddenly, an idea struck her.

“Cousin, I remember you like Lin You, right?”

“Come here! Sis tells you, Lin You is up in the mountains!”

“Don’t you want to meet your idol?”

Yang Zhi paused before she could hang up the phone.

Yao Hongxia quickly continued, “Cousin, even if you don’t believe it, you can at least come up and meet her, right? I’m telling you, you probably don’t know because you haven’t been online much recently, but Lin You is doing great now, and she’s really beautiful. Don’t you want to meet her in person?”

Yang Zhi remained silent. Yao Hongxia kept her on the phone and kept talking, making sure to keep the conversation going until Yang Zhi’s parents arrived, finally breathing a sigh of relief.

Yang Zhi’s parents were terrified inside but didn’t dare to show it on the outside, worried that it would upset her further. They could only follow Yao Hongxia’s lead and try to persuade her.

Seeing the tears in her parents’ eyes and the forced calmness they put on, Yang Zhi nodded.

She didn’t believe that anyone could help her, but thinking about the heartbreak she would soon bring to her parents, she decided it was better not to make them too sad just yet.

Early the next morning, Yang Zhi’s family arrived at Yanxia Mountain.

Yao Hongxia put down her work at the store and came with Yang Zhi’s family to Lianhua Village.

From a distance, Yang Zhi was a little surprised to see Lin You. She had thought her cousin was just lying to her, but to her astonishment, Lin You was really here?

Standing next to Lin You was a young man, still wearing long sleeves and long pants in this kind of weather, holding a hand-woven straw bag.

“This is…”

Yang Zhi’s parents were nervous, wondering if this man was the one who would break the curse.

He was too young.

Yao Hongxia had seen Bo Chuan before. This young man had been picking up a big package every month since the end of last year, so how could he not be familiar?

Lin You introduced, “This is the… Taoist Master you were asking about.”

Calling him an old immortal felt strange, and calling him a great immortal could be ambiguous, so Taoist Master was the best choice.

Yang Zhi’s parents’ first reaction was that they had been deceived. Both of them visibly became disheartened.

But Yang Zhi had already prepared herself. Recently, she had seen enough scammers. Some scammers would immediately claim she was cursed and spread out a bunch of talismans for her to buy. Others even told her that her name was bad and advised her parents to have it changed. There were many more nonsense claims.

Yang Zhi didn’t care too much. At this point, she was already prepared.

Perhaps because she had lost all hope, Yang Zhi even smiled a little and turned to Lin You, asking, “I really like you. I wonder if we could take a photo together later?”

Lin You was caught off guard by the fact that she was still a fan of hers. She froze for a moment before responding, “Of course.”

The group of them felt as if their spirits had been crushed, and followed Bo Chuan and Lin You into the temple. Yang Zhi, on the other hand, seemed to feel much lighter, asking Lin You a few things she was curious about along the way.

Lin You selectively answered some of her questions, and the two of them had a pleasant conversation.

Bo Chuan walked ahead, not even glancing at the others. He neither defended himself nor pointed out that Yang Zhi had already made up her mind to die.

When they arrived at the temple, Yang Zhi’s parents were even more devastated. The shabby Taoist temple didn’t seem like a proper place at all!

Bo Chuan stepped forward and lit a few incense sticks. This time, he lit two sets, one for Bixia Yuanjun and one for Yanxia Yuanjun, placing incense in front of both.

“Give me the birth chart and the photo.”

Yang Zhi’s parents were still in shock, and Yao Hongxia scratched her head, hurriedly pulling the items out of Yang Zhi’s bag and handing them over.

Bo Chuan placed the birth chart and the photo into the incense burner and muttered some incantations.

“Respectfully addressing Yuanjun and the Earth Spirits, may this offering guide us to the right path and purify both the inner and outer realms.”

It’s strange to say, but the moment Bo Chuan burned the red paper with the birth chart and the photo, Yang Zhi suddenly felt much clearer, both in hearing and sight.

Recently, she had been feeling mentally drained, always separated from the world around her, as if there were a glass wall in front of her. No matter what she did, it all felt unreal.

But just now, that wall seemed to have thinned!

After burning the items, Bo Chuan turned to Yang Zhi and said, “For the time being, don’t go down the mountain. Stay in the town and come every day to burn incense for Yuanjun.”

Yang Zhi’s parents were about to say something, but they saw their daughter’s eyes suddenly shine with life. Without saying a word, she bowed a few times in front of the statue.

Then, she turned and respectfully said to Bo Chuan, “Thank you, Taoist Master!”

Considering that the other party was a fan of Lin You, Bo Chuan added a few more instructions, “It’s best to replace the items at home. You won’t need to burn incense for long, about a week or so. Afterward, I suggest you don’t leave the mountain for now, but live here for at least six months.”

Yang Zhi nodded in agreement, “Taoist Master, may I ask what exactly is wrong with me?”

Previously, she thought she might have a serious psychological issue, with symptoms like hallucinations and insomnia, which were similar to depression. But now, it was clearly something else.

Yang Zhi clutched the items in her hands and asked, “Can I know?”

Bo Chuan replied, “It’s not complicated. Someone around you has arranged a yin marriage for you.”

“What??!”

Yang Zhi’s parents and Yao Hongxia were shocked.

Yang Zhi herself held it together, and after thinking carefully, the nightmares she had indeed seemed like a sign of being involved in a yin marriage. A few feng shui masters had vaguely suggested this possibility before, but they ultimately dismissed it, because living people cannot be married in the afterlife.

“Of course living people cannot be married to the dead, but the other party used your birth chart and hair for dark rituals. Although you’re still alive, in the underworld, you’re already considered a candidate for death.”

Bo Chuan burned Yang Zhi’s birth chart for Yuanjun because Bixia Yuanjun presides over the underworld. Burning the birth chart was also a way to show the underworld that her life wasn’t over yet, and she still had years to live.

Yang Zhi’s teeth trembled, “Who is it?”

Bo Chuan replied, “You’ll have to ask yourself. Who knows your birth chart, has access to your hair and nails, holds ill will toward you, and is willing to go as far as to attempt to bring you to death…”

Yang Zhi’s heart sank as a figure suddenly appeared in her mind.

“It’s her!”

Yang Zhi was struck as if by lightning.

Yao Hongxia saw her cousin almost lose her balance and quickly went to support her, her face full of concern.

Yang Zhi mumbled, “No wonder… no wonder she said she wanted to go with me to do my hair. She also said she was being abused by her boyfriend and wanted to live with me…”