Chapter 56

That night, Li Chengying saw her again.

It was upon an unnamed mountain peak. Looking down, one could see only a vast expanse of clouds and mist, with cliffs dropping off like deep abysses and fierce, biting gales.

The young girl from beneath the osmanthus tree during the day was right beside him.

Li Chengying realized he must be in a dream.

"What is the maiden's honorable name?" he asked her.

"Do you remember this place?" Instead of answering, she questioned him.

Li Chengying pondered for a moment and shook his head. "My parents told me that ever since I was born, I lacked consciousness and lived in a daze all day long. Although my wits have now returned, I don't remember much of the past. Where is this?"

She replied, "This is Chenghua Peak, the stargazing terrace of Chishuang Mountain."

Li Chengying said, "It's completely unfamiliar; I don't think I've ever been here. But you look very familiar to me—did we meet somewhere before today?"

She stated, "You killed me right here."

Li Chengying went along with it gracefully. "Then this sister and I certainly haven't met; I must have mistaken you for someone else."

The young girl sneered and suddenly seized him by the neck!

Caught off guard, Li Chengying stumbled backward, half of his body hanging over the edge of the cliff.

Struggling for breath, he instinctively grabbed her wrists, only to find them as cold as bone-chilling ice, as if he were grasping two blocks of frozen water.

He managed to ask, "Is there someone who looks a lot like me? Why did he want to kill you?"

She did not answer.

Li Chengying tried to guess based on conventional logic, "Was he your beloved? Did he betray you? Did his affections wander?"

The girl finally released her grip and looked at him as if he were a fool.

Li Chengying almost fell backward. He didn't know whether falling off a cliff in a dream would kill him, but the pain from her choking his neck had been distinct and real.

"Did I guess wrong?" He coughed twice and advised earnestly, "With such beauty, sister, men across the world can be had at will. Why tether your heart to a single person and trap yourself in a cocoon..."

Catching sight of a movement in her half-hidden sleeve out of the corner of his eye, he hurriedly changed his tune and conceded.

"Cough, cough! Did I guess wrong again? I won't say another word!"

"When you don't speak, you really look a lot like him," the woman remarked.

"And when I do speak?" Li Chengying asked with curiosity.

"That's the only reason I haven't killed you," she replied.

Li Chengying fell silent for a moment. "I suppose I should be happy about that, but it doesn't sound like a compliment."

"You were foolish since childhood. What was the catalyst for your awakening?"

Hearing her question, Li Chengying shook his head. "When I woke up, it felt as though everything was starting anew. Before that, I had no memories at all, feeling only as if I had just emerged from a great dream. Perhaps it was truly the heavens showing favor. But if I must name a catalyst, it might be that I suddenly mastered some minor tricks without a teacher."

Seeing her gaze turn toward him, Li Chengying casually formed a hand seal, and tiny flames emerged from his fingertips. When flicked away, they drifted upward, brighter than fireflies and even more agile. They lingered around them continuously, like starlight falling into the mortal realm, reluctant to leave a beauty behind.

The beauty seemed not to expect that Li Chengying's so-called "minor tricks" were actually such completely useless minor spells. For a moment, she was left speechless.

Li Chengying seemed to hear her inner thoughts, smiling as he clenched his fist to recall the flames.

All the flames gathered back into his palm, forming one large fireball that he tossed out. In an instant, it burst across the sky, transforming into brilliant fireworks.

"Is it pretty?"

He turned to ask the beauty. "If sister likes them, I have other minor spells. I knew all of these as soon as I woke up; perhaps this is innate wisdom from past lives."

The beauty's silence was deafening.

Li Chengying asked sincerely, "Does sister have some objection to my innate wisdom?"

The beauty said, "Do not call me sister."

Li Chengying looked surprised. "Then should I call you younger sister? Do we not count the years spent after becoming a ghost?"

The beauty: ......

"Who told you I am a ghost?" the beauty said slowly. "My surname is Xie."

***

Li Chengying did not address her as Lady Xie, but instead immediately said, "If Sister Xie is not a ghost, then you must be an immortal who has entered my dream. I have heard that immortals entering dreams always come to impart something. I wonder what Sister Xie wishes to teach me?"

The beauty asked, "What do you want?"

Li Chengying smiled. "If it is convenient for sister, please teach me a bit of talismanic arts for self-protection."

The beauty countered, "How did you know I can do that?"

Li Chengying explained, "During the day, my father wanted to ask Daoist Master Zhu for a talisman, but Master Zhu did not agree immediately and instead stalled for three days. At the time, I wondered if the person who could actually draw talismans wasn't him, but you?"

The beauty remarked, "Has anyone ever told you that clever people die the fastest?"

"No, but if sister kills me now, you won't be able to use this enemy's face to vent your anger in the future. Wouldn't that be a pity?" Li Chengying paused and smiled, "Besides, I won't take sister's things for free. In a couple of days, I will also send you a gift."

The beauty told him to stretch out his hand, then used her icy fingertips to trace a few strokes across his palm.

Before he could clearly see what it was, he caught a glimpse of a flash of golden light, and the beauty had already withdrawn her hand.

"This is a True Word Talisman."

Li Chengying asked, "What is a True Word Talisman?"

She replied, "If you tell me any lies or conceal anything from me, you will be struck by lightning and meet a miserable death."

It sounded blatantly and casually fabricated on the spot.

Li Chengying: ......

"Alright, get lost."

Without waiting for his reaction, she shoved him in the back, pushing him directly off the cliff!

Li Chengying opened his eyes.

Outside, birds were chirping melodiously, and dawn had just broken.

A'jin heard the movement inside, knocked on the door, and entered with hot water and a hand towel.

Seeing Li Chengying sitting by the bed and rubbing his neck, her eyes drifted over as well, and she was immediately startled.

"Young master, what happened to your neck?!"

A sudden intuition struck Li Chengying. He walked over to the bronze mirror and could faintly see the bruised marks of strangulation upon his skin.

A'jin had slept outside on night duty and hadn't heard any commotion at all. At this sight, her face turned pale with fright.

"Could it be, could it be that there is something unclean..."

"There's no need to make a fuss; I know what I'm doing," Li Chengying pacified her. "It was merely a beauty entering my dream last night, so captivating that I didn't want to wake up. The beauty choked my neck to make me wake up quickly and go find her."

A'jin: ......

No matter how she heard it, it sounded like pure nonsense.

She wanted to retort, but under Li Chengying's steady gaze, she had no choice but to swallow her words.

"Shouldn't this matter be reported to the master and the mistress?"

Li Chengying was calm and collected. "There's no need. Mentioning it will only cause them needless worry, and they might end up scolding you instead. The day after tomorrow, I will go see Daoist Master Zhu myself, and it won't be too late to ask him to take a look then. Rest assured, the ghost in the dream was killed by me; nothing more will happen. Go fetch me a fur-lined cloak."

A'jin discovered that ever since their young master had recovered from his illness, his logic and speech were no longer comparable to his former self. He was even sharper than the eldest young master of the Li family, who had left early on to take up a local official post. Defeated by his few concise words, she could raise no further objections.

Burdened with worry, she walked out and ran straight into Xiao Qiao, her expression turning somewhat unpleasant.

"Where have you been? You were nowhere to be seen yesterday."

Xiao Qiao hurriedly said, "Please forgive me, Sister A'jin! Yesterday, the mistress asked me to help tidy up the courtyard!"

A'jin had grown up in this household and had only ever cared for a foolish young master, so she lacked any experience in inner-courtyard maneuvering. Hearing Xiao Qiao invoke the mistress's name, she found it hard to say anything further.

"Go to the kitchen and fetch the young master's breakfast. The young master is up."

Xiao Qiao hastily acknowledged the command and turned to leave.

A pretty and charming young girl drew attention even just by walking. A'jin was only two years older than her, yet she inexplicably felt the sourness of aging prematurely.

Fortunately, she remembered she needed to find a suitable cloak to send to the young master, so this fleeting unpleasantness vanished.

When Xiao Qiao returned from the kitchen, she discovered that the young master was already in the study.

She had no choice but to bring the breakfast into the study. Her slender waist was already tired from walking, and she unconsciously swayed slightly, naturally radiating a seductive allure.

"Young master, Sister A'jin asked me to bring breakfast."

Her voice was not intentionally forced, but naturally delicate and soft, like a flower requiring careful nurturing.

However, the young master was currently busy flipping through ancient texts, with volumes like *Detailed Explanations of the Hundred Schools of Talismans* and *Orthodox Talismanic Arts* piled up across the desk. Hearing her, he didn't even raise his head.

"Understood, just set it down."

Xiao Qiao put down the meal, expecting that he might ask her to help out. Instead, after finishing his breakfast, Li Chengying buried his head once again in those incomprehensible and archaic texts.

Because he had been foolish since childhood and had finally recovered, the Daoist priests and Buddhist monks they encountered all said this was a rare and monumental stroke of good fortune. Neither Minister Li nor his wife had ever intended to push him toward an official career or scholarly pursuits; whatever Li Chengying wished to do, they left entirely to his own interests.

He tinkered away like this for an entire day, barely lifting his head except to eat.

Xiao Qiao knew she was blessed with good looks because, elsewhere, even women could not help staring at her. Yet, a living beauty like her had spent an entire day right here in the study at close proximity, and her young master hadn't even glanced at her once, at most having her bring food when he was hungry.

Feeling somewhat piqued, she simply refused to leave, wanting to see when the young master would finally remember her.

When the sky outside grew dim, Xiao Qiao saw Li Chengying stretch from amidst the piles of documents and look toward her, thinking to herself that the young master had finally remembered she was there.

"Why haven't you left yet?" Li Chengying asked, puzzled.

Xiao Qiao: ......

Twisting the corner of her dress, she felt somewhat aggrieved.

"The young master didn't tell me to leave. I thought the young master might have tasks to assign at any moment, so I didn't dare to leave."

Li Chengying looked at her and suddenly smiled.

"You are certainly dedicated. I haven't asked you before—with looks like yours, you could easily enter the imperial palace. Why did you come to our estate to be a maidservant?"

Seeing his smile, Xiao Qiao felt that her appearance didn't amount to much after all; at the very least, when she smiled, it wouldn't make people lose their composure as easily as he did.

"I come from a humble background; how could I be qualified to enter the palace? Being able to serve the young master in the Li residence is already a blessing cultivated over three lifetimes, and I am entirely content."

Her cheeks flushed slightly, and her eyes were brimming with moisture.

Li Chengying asked, "Even if you remain a maidservant who grinds ink and handles books here for the rest of your life, you are still content?"

"Yes..."

Xiao Qiao felt his words carried a hidden meaning, as if hinting at something, and could not help feeling somewhat at a loss.

Li Chengying observed, "I thought you stayed here from morning till night in order to add a touch of red sleeves for evening reading after the lamps are lit."

Extremely embarrassed, Xiao Qiao stammered, "I, I... the mistress gave instructions..."

The delicate and dainty young girl was at a loss, appearing as though she was naturally born to be pampered and cherished.

No normal man could see this and not be moved.

Li Chengying was a normal man now.

He beckoned to Xiao Qiao.

"Come closer."

With a slender waist and lotus-like steps, her face burning red, Xiao Qiao nevertheless obediently shuffled closer step by step.

Li Chengying grasped her delicate hand and pulled her straight into his embrace.

Though she often did chores, her fingers were completely free of calluses, remaining as smooth and tender as ever.

Xiao Qiao let out a soft cry, as if unable to bear such treatment, turning into a puddle of water melting in his palm while her hands naturally climbed up to wrap around his neck.

Li Chengying stroked her face and slowly moved downward.

Xiao Qiao revealed an expression of bewilderment and infatuation.

However, his next words suddenly froze her in place.

"You are very beautiful. I love beauties and couldn't bear to expose you, intending to look a little longer. But you were too impatient. Do you know where your flaw showed?"

Li Chengying sighed softly, and the hand resting on her neck pressed down abruptly. The talisman the dream-beauty had drawn in his palm instantly flared with searing heat.

With a miserable scream, Xiao Qiao arched backward, struggling desperately to tear off this disguise of a beautiful maidservant!