For a moment, Xinyuan thought the catastrophe had passed and the Heaven-Reaching Road had opened. However, when he snapped back to reality, he was still that poor monk, destitute in every aspect.
He looked down at Chen Liu'Er again, who was still the little brat with a snot bubble holding a sugar figurine.
"It's really a sight to behold after living so long!"
Xinyuan instinctively raised his hand, making the gesture of divination calculation.
He was extremely curious about whose manifestation this was.
However, as soon as he set up his calculation gesture, the female Divination Master's face turned pale and she said, "Hold on! Wait until I run far away before you start!"
Bai Qiuyu had suffered the same sort of misfortune. Back when the Merit Giant Stele had shot skyward outside the Capital City, touching the throat of the heavens during a tribulation!
At that time, she was curious and tried to calculate it, and the next moment, the thunderbolt veered straight toward her!
Because of this previous experience, when she saw Xinyuan raising his hand, Bai Qiuyu reacted so dramatically.
Xinyuan watched in silence as she ran halfway out, turned back to pick up Chen Liu'Er, and then sprinted to the Funeral Shop, slamming the door shut behind her.
His gaze was hesitant, and he lifted and lowered his hand that was ready to calculate.
Meanwhile, inside the Funeral Shop.
Bai Qiuyu put Chen Liu'Er down, wiped non-existent sweat from her forehead, and said with relief, "Good thing I ran fast."
Chen Liu'Er wasn't afraid of the Divination Master who had taken him. He curiously looked at the Funeral Shop's interior setup and asked, "Does Big Sister know the Shopkeeper of the forensic doctor shop?"
Bai Qiuyu, leading the child toward the courtyard, replied, "Are you talking about Xu Qing? Of course, I know him; this Funeral Shop belongs to him."
"Then Big Sister must know where he's gone!"
"I don't know. He's been away for nearly a year, and even I don't know his whereabouts."
As they talked, they arrived at the backyard, where Daoist Yizhen stood looking at something under the peach tree.
Tao Sanmei was sitting on a branch of the peach tree, holding a scroll and looking down.
Bai Qiuyu, holding Chen Liu'Er's hand, said, "You play with Sister here for a while. Don't be in a rush to find that monk, or you'll bring bad luck with you."
Chen Liu'Er didn't understand what she meant by bad luck. His focus was entirely on the tea table under the peach tree.
On the tea table stood a little old lady, the size of a palm.
Master Jingxu's Primordial Spirit was imperceptible to ordinary people. Bai Qiuyu didn't pay attention to Chen Liu'Er's reaction but noticed the frowning little old lady moving her small hands, feeling that something was off.
Bai Qiuyu's heart pounded, and she asked Daoist Yizhen:
"What is Master Jingxu doing?"
Yizhen replied, "Master is performing divination."
"Why divination?"
"Earlier, a great cultivator drove back the Celestial Fire with immeasurable merit, and Master was curious about their origins, so divination was performed."
"..."
Bai Qiuyu's face changed dramatically. As she was about to speak, thunderclouds suddenly gathered above the Funeral Shop, and a bolt of lightning struck down!
It's over!
Bai Qiuyu's heart sank. She knew there was no escape from the divine punishment that came from a Primordial Spirit True Man peeking into the heavenly mysteries.
At this moment, Master Jingxu, the originator of this mess, also showed a drastic change in expression. The thunder came without warning; she wanted to flee but remembered the younger ones inside the Funeral Shop.
There's no retreat; she can only endure!
But at the critical moment, a giant peach tree manifestation suddenly shot up, its canopy opened like a grand umbrella, sheltering the entire Funeral Shop.
When the thunderclouds dispersed, Tao Sanmei, still shaken, glared angrily at the misguided Master Jingxu and said, "What are you doing! My hundred thousand incense offerings, two years' salary, gone!"
Feeling guilty and ashamed, Master Jingxu could only offer kind words and promises to properly compensate her in the future, not letting her suffer for nothing. Only then did Tao Sanmei relent.
But it wasn't that Tao Sanmei was really pacified, rather she suddenly remembered that the Master in front of her was a Primordial Spirit True Man...
On the streets.
Monk Xinyuan, unable to suppress his curiosity, raised his hand to calculate, and in the next moment, there were lightning flashes from the Funeral Shop.
His eyelids twitched as he saw the lightning that bore traces of anger and the giant peach tree formed by the Merit Golden Light.
He put away his hand meant for calculation and then walked over to the Funeral Shop.
Shortly after a knock on the door, the Divination Master opened it, and an excited Chen Liu'Er ran to the Mad Monk, gesturing and talking.
When the little one mentioned the old lady, Monk Xinyuan was taken aback, and Bai Qiuyu looked equally surprised.
The child seemed to have some gift, as he could apparently see the usually concealed Primordial Spirit of Master Jingxu.
Monk Xinyuan mused, that Chen Liu'Er's description sounded exactly like a Primordial Spirit True Man, but how could there be so many talented individuals in this small Jin Sect?
"About that lightning..."
The Mad Monk blinked curiously and asked.
"The little one calculated it, nothing to do with me."
When Bai Qiuyu mentioned the little one, her face was filled with lingering thoughts.
She had guarded against the monk, but she had not considered protecting against the old Daoist nun inside the shop!
"Does Master still want to calculate?"
Bai Qiuyu raised her eyebrows and asked.
"Ha! What skills do I have to calculate? I'm just a wandering poor monk. I was just joking with you earlier."
"That said, do you happen to have any food here, Big Sister? I don't shy away from anything, be it steamed buns and pickled vegetables or fish and meat."
Bai Qiuyu glanced at the nonsensical Mad Monk and said with exasperation, "There's no food, but there are plenty of coffins. Would Master like one?"
"Oh! This monk wouldn't stand for such fortune, not even a mouthful, let alone half a mouthful!"