Tai Qing, although deceased, still possessed a living soul and a sense of shame.
Although Yan Conghe did indeed promise to marry her, she was already dead and such verbal agreements couldn’t be verified; she also didn’t have the status or face to claim such an old grandchild.
At present, she still wanted to find Yan Conghe.
"...Even if he has been reincarnated, I still want to look for him. If he has been reborn, according to you, he must be quite old now, if he’s still alive I’ll just wait for him to die, then we can reincarnate together!" Tai Qing’s eyes shone brightly.
Truly, what a passionately devoted woman!
"If he hasn’t reincarnated, perhaps he’s also waiting for me?"
Yan Qishan said: "Speaking of which, it’s nearly been a century, has our ancestor not reincarnated because he lost his soul?"
Tai Qing gave him a sharp glance.
Yan Qishan shuddered and hurriedly admitted his mistake: "I was wrong, grandson!"
Tai Qing huffed, then looked at Qin Liuxi: "Heavenly Master..."
"You’re putting me in a difficult position," Qin Liuxi sighed.
"I won’t have you busy yourself for nothing; just say how much fortune-telling fee you need," Tai Qing said, frowning.
Qin Liuxi’s heart stirred: "This... actually isn’t particularly troublesome."
Yan Qishan and the others looked at Qin Liuxi, hadn’t you just said differently?
Master Tang quietly shifted his gaze, touching his hot ears, and kindly explained for Qin Liuxi: "People from Mystic Sect also believe in karma, so for things like divination and face reading, one indeed cannot do it for free. Qingping Temple too has only been reopened for ten years, and there are many places in need of repair, everywhere requiring silver."
Qin Liuxi: Only he who knows me, Mountain Master, understands!
As long as the divination fee is sufficient, no task is too troublesome.
Tai Qing was delighted: "Then hurry and perform the divination."
Qin Liuxi remained unmoved, caressing his fingers.
Tai Qing, sensing the subtlety, looked at Yan Qishan: "Grandchild, what did you just call me?"
"Mm. Make an offering to your great-grandmother then, in real gold and silver, not the burned kind." Tai Qing pretended to be calm, inwardly muttering an apology for her sin.
All the thick-skinned acts were merely to locate Conghe; the physical possessions didn’t matter to me at all, when it’s necessary to take advantage of the grandchild then make full use of it.
Jiang Wenliu almost burst out laughing, the former appearance of this deeply lovesick elder desperately turning into an Evil Ghost seemed to evaporate suddenly.
All for the sake of some silver.
Yan Qishan pulled out a small stack of silver notes from his box and handed them to Qin Liuxi.
As Qin Liuxi received them, he said: "You see, I can’t bear to see a resentful soul with such clinging, let me help you with the divination."
"Do you know your uncle’s birth dates?" Qin Liuxi asked Yan Qishan.
Yan Qishan’s face turned red, saying: "I have seen the family tree, but I didn’t pay much attention, I’m old now, the memory isn’t so good."
"I know." Tai Qing stared at Yan Qishan with a look of ’what use are you, grandson’.
Yan Qishan touched his nose, his old age wasn’t his fault after all.
Qin Liuxi used the birth dates given by Tai Qing to cast a divination, calculating while explaining the divination result: "Born in the water sign of the spring month, avoided by the Five Elements, died in Mao, buried in Chen, your uncle’s birthdate is rather weak."
Jiang Wenliu looked at his teacher, whose face was filled with sorrow and astonishment, and couldn’t help but glance at Qin Liuxi twice, realizing that she had hit the mark.
Tai Qing also reminisced, sighing: "He once told me he met an alchemist, who warned him that his life clashes with water, urging him to stay away from it; else, he might fall ill or even lose his life, which turned out to be true."
Qin Liuxi looked at the few scholars present and said meaningfully: "A wise man does not discuss strange forces and gods, mere talk suffices; sometimes, it’s better to believe."
Everyone thought, after such an experience comparable to ghost stories in the study, they had no choice but to believe.
Qin Liuxi continued analyzing the divination, mainly focusing on the reincarnation after death, but after calculating for a while, she exclaimed in surprise.
"How is it, did you find it?" Tai Qing asked anxiously.
Qin Liuxi shook her head: "The divination result is a bit strange; it seems he hasn’t reincarnated yet."
"Hasn’t reincarnated after a hundred years, could there be a mistake?" Jiang Wenliu found it strange.
Qin Liuxi explained: "Some people, if they have lingering attachments, won’t willingly reincarnate. Another possibility, he drowned; as we often say, Water Ghosts seek substitutes, and if he hasn’t found one, he may not be able to reincarnate."
Tai Qing felt a pang in his heart.
Yan Qishan also grew anxious, saying, "If he never finds a substitute, does that mean he will remain at the bottom of the lake year after year?"
He would surely freeze to death.
Seeing both Yan Qishan and Tai Qing anxious to the point of tears, Qin Liuxi reassured: "Don’t worry, the Yan family is flourishing and he has descendants who worship him during festivals. Even if he hasn’t reincarnated, he wouldn’t be as pitiful and starved as the Wandering Ghosts. Perhaps with these offerings, he could become the Big Ghost of Green Lake, reaching the pinnacle of a ghostly existence."
Yan Qishan (Tai Qing): Thank you, but I am not comforted!
Master Tang asked, "How can we be sure whether he has reincarnated or not?"
"It’s not impossible..."
Yan Qishan then took out several silver notes and handed them over.
"This isn’t what I meant," Qin Liuxi said as she took them, adding, "As the saying goes, money can make the ghosts grind, if we really want to be sure, we should ask the Ghost Messenger responsible."
Everyone naturally thought of the name of a ghost.
"If the Judge who oversees reincarnation and life and death can be asked, we’ll know whether Mr. Yan has reincarnated," said Qin Liuxi, indeed mentioning the Judge’s name.
So now, not only had they encountered the century-old ghost, but they also had the chance to meet the legendary Judge?
The three scholars suddenly felt as if a door to broader horizons had opened; far from being afraid, they were excited and eager.
Meeting that dignitary would surely give them bragging rights for life, wouldn’t it?
Tai Qing, however, was somewhat skeptical, looking at Qin Liuxi and asking, "Can you really summon ghosts and gods?"
Are today’s Mystic Sects so powerful at such a young age?
Qingping Temple collective: No, only our Junior Temple Master is the best!
"It’s a little tricky, but I can indeed summon him..."
"Please, do it quickly, how much Silver is needed?" Yan Qishan stuffed all the silver notes he was holding into her hands, saying, "If it’s not enough, I can withdraw more from the bank."
As he spoke, he also took out his private seal.
Master Tang looked at the denomination of the silver notes, each worth a hundred taels, then at Qin Liuxi; when it came to squeezing money, she was unmatched!
"It’s enough." Qin Liuxi reluctantly pulled out one note, handing it to Jiang Wenliu: "Have the servant reserve a small banquet at Zuixian Building, order tofu and stewed beef, to be delivered to Feichang Dao on Shouxi Street by evening."
Jiang Wenliu grasped the light silver note passed to him and saw the small stack still in her hand, catching her pained expression, and he couldn’t help but lower his gaze.
She was indeed a female alchemist with great abilities who loved money yet was stingy.