What’s going on?
Is it forbidden to speak English or to reveal that you’ve transmigrated into a book?
Wen Shuangbai wasn’t sure.
She considered testing it, but after seeing the small courtyard nearby that had been flattened by the heavenly laws, she decided against it.
Wen Shuangbai turned her head slightly, carefully observing Xie Ziyin’s reaction.
At the moment, the owner of the house stood expressionless, staring at the ruins of his home. Though he appeared calm, the faint furrow between his brows betrayed the storm beneath the serene surface.
Yet, beyond that, he showed no confusion about the string of censored English she had spoken, nor any shock at the sudden descent of heavenly lightning.
He knew exactly what was happening.
Damn it, she knew she wasn’t wrong—he was definitely a transmigrator too!
The only question was whether he was a fellow countryman or a foreigner.
After all, once they transmigrated, they automatically inherited the original host’s memories and language system.
But she didn’t dare ask further—the consequences were a bit too severe.
Wen Shuangbai’s gaze followed Xie Ziyin as he walked toward the pile of rubble.
Unlike the last time she had accidentally collapsed her own house, where most of the belongings had remained intact and the damage was minimal (just a hassle to rebuild), this time, the violet lightning summoned by the heavenly laws had obliterated everything.
All possessions had been reduced to dust—ashes to ashes, dirt to dirt.
Wen Shuangbai watched from a distance, her mind racing.
The house? Collapsing wasn’t a big deal. She was practically a professional at building houses now—rebuilding would only take a few days. Materials weren’t an issue either; the outer peaks of Qingling Mountain were full of timber and stone, so it wouldn’t cost much.
The real problem was Xie Ziyin’s furniture and personal belongings.
That… was a different story.
She regretted it a little.
She should’ve asked Shen Hefeng for a divination before coming.
Seeing Xie Ziyin standing silently before the ruins, Wen Shuangbai hesitated for a moment, steeling herself before mustering the courage to approach.
What else could she do now?
Run away from the scene of the crime?
“Ahem.” Wen Shuangbai cleared her throat as she stopped beside Xie Ziyin. “Well… that was unexpected.”
Xie Ziyin gave her a cold look. “I just fixed the roof half a month ago.”
“That’s nothing.” Wen Shuangbai met his gaze with utmost sincerity. “If the roof needed fixing, it means the house had problems. Now, it’s a blessing in disguise—out with the old, in with the new. Don’t worry, I’ll build you a new one.”
Xie Ziyin: “?”
Xie Ziyin: “What about the things inside?”
Wen Shuangbai neither promised compensation nor refused it. Instead, she cautiously replied, “Make me a list. I’ll do my best to restore everything.”
She’d personally handle what she could, and for the rest, she’d find the best replacements at the most reasonable prices—minimizing the losses as much as possible.
Xie Ziyin had nothing to say. He just wanted to give her a slow clap.
What had she done in the modern world? Accounting? Insurance claims?
The sky began to lighten at the horizon.
Wen Shuangbai still had things to attend to at home, so she extended an olive branch to the temporarily homeless Xie Ziyin: “I have a spare room. You can stay with me until your house is rebuilt.”
“No need.” Xie Ziyin refused without hesitation. “I’ll stay at the medical hall.”
“Fine.” Wen Shuangbai waved. “I’ll head back then. I’ll get your house done as soon as possible.”
Xie Ziyin: “You’d better.”
---
Wen Shuangbai sprinted through the morning breeze, but after a while, she suddenly realized something was wrong. She skidded to a halt and turned around.
Behind her, discarded materials and tools littered the path.
She hurriedly checked her storage ring—sure enough, the patch she’d carefully applied earlier had torn again.
For a moment, Wen Shuangbai stood there, utterly bewildered: “…”
She’d been meticulous when repairing the ring, reinforcing it multiple times to ensure it wouldn’t break. There was no way it should’ve failed.
What, just because she’d spoken a string of censored English, she was cursed with bad luck now?
With a sigh, Wen Shuangbai resigned herself to picking everything up.
After collecting the last item, she rearranged the contents of her storage ring, clearing space around the damaged area. Then, she carefully inspected the ring to confirm nothing was missing.
Everything was accounted for.
Relieved, she continued on her way—until something occurred to her, and she checked the storage space again.
The talisman-carving brush she’d bought just a few hours ago for four hundred spirit stones had been neatly stored in a small wooden box.
The box was still in place, seemingly undisturbed, but Wen Shuangbai had a gut feeling something was off—as if someone had tampered with it.
She opened it.
Empty.
Her four-hundred-spirit-stone brush was gone!!!
Wen Shuangbai recalled what the shopkeeper had said—the previous customer returned it because it kept “disappearing.”
Kept disappearing?
So this thing had legs and could run away?!
Had it sliced through her patch and escaped?!
Damn it!
Unbelievable!
Fuming, Wen Shuangbai rushed back, scanning the ground.
Luckily, she’d noticed quickly. Before long, she spotted a dusty brush wriggling and hopping frantically along the dirt path in the dim morning light.
It looked desperate, bouncing at an absurdly high frequency—but each hop was pitifully short, making its overall speed painfully slow.
Mid-hop, the four-hundred-spirit-stone brush seemed to sense something. It abruptly froze, then flopped onto the ground and rolled into the grass, wedging itself between two rocks. It lay completely still, as if the previous scene had been an illusion.
Wen Shuangbai smirked.
Still playing dead, huh?
But the torn storage ring in her hand was undeniable proof—she hadn’t imagined it.
This brush had legs!
She marched over, seized the fugitive brush, and was about to examine it when a glint of silver caught her eye from the grass.
Wen Shuangbai: “…”
Little Junior Sister often mentioned “accompanying Senior Brother back.” Wen Shuangbai had assumed it was just her being clingy.
But now… was this the real reason?
Hesitantly, she parted the grass.
Inside, Yin Xuan lay peacefully on a bed of soft grass, his silver hair a tangled mess.
And atop his head… sat a small yellow chick, apparently nesting there.
Startled by the sudden movement, the chick flapped its tiny wings and waddled away, its fluffy rear end swaying comically.
Wen Shuangbai didn’t dare catch it.
The only place on Qingling Mountain that raised spirit chickens was the dining hall.
And the penalty for stealing a chicken was tenfold.
…Better not.
In the end, Wen Shuangbai picked up her senior brother and took him home too.
---
Wen Xin was an early riser.
At the break of dawn, she had just opened her door when she saw her second sister supporting their unconscious eldest brother up the stairs.
She hurried down to help, her voice laced with concern: “Senior Sister, were you two soaking in the medicinal bath all night?”
"No, it was soaked yesterday afternoon." Wen Shuangbai and her junior sister had just placed their senior brother on the bed when he instinctively rolled to the inner side, grabbed the blanket to cover his stomach, turned his back, and mumbled a few more dreamy words before falling back asleep.
"I went to Qingzhou City to return some money, and Senior Brother..." Wen Shuangbai said, "slept in the grass all night."
"Ah, the patch of grass along that path," Wen Xin immediately understood. "Senior Brother loves sleeping there."
The two junior sisters chatted for a bit before Wen Xin headed out for her morning training, while Wen Shuangbai returned to her own room.
She had intended to sleep, but thoughts of Xie Ziyin's endless list of compensations, her broken storage ring, and that strange brush left her wide awake.
In her hands, the brush—dubbed "Four Hundred"—seemed no different from an ordinary writing tool.
Wen Shuangbai suspected the brush might have developed a spirit.
She had once read a book on artifact forging that mentioned how a sentient artifact wasn’t always a good thing.
Once a magical tool gained consciousness, it developed its own will. This meant it wouldn’t necessarily obey its master unconditionally—in fact, most of the time, it might even harbor resentment or defiance, putting its owner in danger.
Even with a master-servant contract in place, there was still plenty of room for manipulation.
After all, in battle, the slightest disturbance could sway the outcome.
Sometimes, when high-quality artifacts gained awareness, their owners would even seek out artificers to erase their spirits.
Wen Shuangbai studied the brush, weighing her options before deciding to observe it a little longer.
For now, all it seemed capable of was escaping? But it moved slowly and was cowardly—the moment it spotted someone, it would play dead.
She kept the brush within sight, first practicing the Yaoling Heart Technique a few times to replenish her energy. After repairing her storage ring, she picked out a few items from the scrap pile and got to work on her forging commissions.
She deliberately used Four Hundred to carve the runes.
Admittedly, the brush was incredibly smooth to use—so much so that Wen Shuangbai could hardly believe it.
Perhaps because she had caught it red-handed, Four Hundred now seemed overly eager to please, even guiding her hand to complete the remaining strokes of the runic arrays.
Like an automatic floor cleaner.
The unfinished commissions on hand were all simple artifacts left over from earlier.
With Four Hundred in hand, Wen Shuangbai barely needed to focus. She flipped open a forging manual, multitasking between circulating the Yaoling Heart Technique, crafting artifacts, and reading.
When the Mystic Heaven Mirror chimed, she even had a free hand to check the message.
She had expected it to be a customer urging her for their order, but it turned out to be a message from the "Today's Auspicious for Wealth" squad.
[Shen Hefeng: By the way, since we’re teaming up for the Mystic Heaven Grand Competition, should I invite Zhuohua-jie to join?]
[Forging Wen: Sure.]
[Lu Jiayao: Yes, hurry up!]
[Broke: Whatever.]
Soon after, Shen Hefeng added Li Zhuohua to the group.
[Shen Hefeng: Welcome, Zhuohua-jie!]
[Lu Jiayao: Welcome, Zhuohua-jie!]
[Forging Wen: Welcome, Zhuohua-jie!]
[Li Zhuohua: Thank you.]
[Lu Jiayao: Wow, why are you all up so early today?]
[Forging Wen: Haven’t slept yet.]
[Shen Hefeng: Same here.]
[Lu Jiayao: Well, you guys are night owls. Oh, Shuangbai, why did you change your name?]
[Forging Wen: Because I’m not cheap anymore.]
She had built up her reputation and was now moving into the high-end customization market!
[Broke: …]
Lu Jiayao, back in his hometown helping his mother feed the chickens, asked curiously: [What’s up with Senior Brother Xie?]
Xie Ziyin didn’t reply.
[Shen Hefeng: Not saying? Then I’ll divine it!]
Before Shen Hefeng could cast a divination, the Mystic Heaven Mirror suddenly buzzed—[Li Zhuohua] had left the group.
Everyone: ?
Shen Hefeng immediately re-invited her.
[Shen Hefeng: Jie, why’d you leave?]
[Li Zhuohua: You’re disturbing my cultivation.]
[Lu Jiayao: Jie, if we’re too noisy, you can just mute the Mystic Heaven Mirror!]
[Li Zhuohua: Oh, you can do that?]
Shen Hefeng and Lu Jiayao began explaining how to adjust the settings in the group chat. Wen Shuangbai, busy with her triple-tasking, only glanced occasionally.
Just as she finished her current commission, she saw Li Zhuohua send a message—[Too complicated]—before leaving the group again.
Shen Hefeng stubbornly re-added her and immediately declared:
[Shen Hefeng: Anyone who leaves the team owes everyone 100,000 spirit stones in compensation!!]
Li Zhuohua fell silent.
Wen Shuangbai chuckled.
Back in her modern life, she had known someone similar to Zhuohua-jie—exceptionally skilled in their field but utterly helpless in daily life. That senior couldn’t even operate a rice cooker, no matter how many times she was taught.
Perhaps when God opens one door, He closes another.
[Forging Wen: It’s alright, jie. I’ll come help you set it up later.]
[Li Zhuohua: Okay, thank you, shimei.]
Almost immediately after Wen Shuangbai sent this, the Mystic Heaven Mirror pinged with a friend request from [Broke].
Xie Ziyin?
Probably here to send her the compensation list and collect his debt.
Her heart sank. Taking a deep breath, she accepted.
[Forging Wen: Finished listing everything?]
[Broke: Yes.]
[Broke: 324 books, one set of ink and brush, 29 sheets of paper.]
Wen Shuangbai nervously read the message, waiting for more, but nothing else came.
[Forging Wen: And?]
[Broke: That’s it.]
[Forging Wen: Nothing else?]
[Broke: No.]
[Forging Wen: What kind of books?]
[Broke: Mostly medical texts.]
[Forging Wen: Send me the titles, ge.] How else was she supposed to hunt for secondhand copies?
[Broke: Never mind. I’ve memorized them. Just replace the ink set and paper.]
Wen Shuangbai: "?"
That would only cost a few dozen spirit stones—definitely under a hundred.
So he was this broke? Hahaha! She nearly laughed out loud in relief.
[Forging Wen: No problem, consider it done.]
[Broke: Free later?]
Wen Shuangbai assumed he was hinting at her rebuilding his house, so she replied: [No urgent tasks. After helping Zhuohua-jie with the mirror, I’ll come fix your place.]
[Broke: My suggestion? Go cancel the engagement first.]
As fellow transmigrators, Wen Shuangbai naturally wouldn’t stall his request anymore. They agreed to meet at the foot of the main peak before heading to the Sky-Questioning Pavilion to have Elder Zhou remove the curse.
Years ago, when their parents arranged their betrothal, they had sought out Elder Zhou—the most skilled curse master in the Sky-Questioning Pavilion—to bind them with a marriage vow.
Two people bound by a Fateful Vow of Matrimony must never engage in intimate contact with others, lest the oath-breaker suffer heart-devouring agony and bone-gnawing torment.
Elder Zhou resided on the Matrimony Peak of the Sky-Questioning Pavilion.
The peak was blanketed with vast groves of silk trees, their branches densely intertwined. When the wind blew, the pink blossoms swayed enchantingly, creating a dreamlike haze.
A few petals drifted down from the branches, landing on a young man and woman ascending the stone steps.
Noticing this, Wen Shuangbai caught one in her palm and brought it to her nose for a delicate sniff.
Seeing the Matrimony Hall just ahead, she was about to quicken her pace when the Mystic Heaven Mirror in her hand buzzed insistently. She glanced at it—and froze mid-step.
It was… him! The esteemed senior who had taught her the Yaoling Heart Technique—"Blossoming Wealth"!
After his long silence, she’d assumed he’d vanished for good. Yet here he was, reappearing without warning!
[Blossoming Wealth: How goes your mastery of the Yaoling Heart Technique?]
Suppressing her excitement, Wen Shuangbai kept one eye on Xie Ziyin’s retreating back while her fingers flew across the mirror’s surface.
Who knew when he’d vanish again? She had to seize this chance.
[Senior, greetings! I practice diligently—at least ten repetitions daily—and it’s been tremendously helpful. But lately, the technique’s effects have stagnated. Might you know why? Any guidance would be eternally appreciated!]
[Blossoming Wealth: Ah. You’ve only learned the first tier, suited for the Spirit Awakening stage. Now that you’ve reached Illuminated Meridians, its benefits have diminished.]
Before she could reply, another message arrived.
[Blossoming Wealth: Interested in the second tier?]
Ahead, Xie Ziyin halted before a tightly shut door.
Wen Shuangbai nearly collided with him, barely stopping in time before resuming her fervent typing: [Absolutely!]
[Blossoming Wealth: Good. Meet me at Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion’s main hall in one hour.]
Xie Ziyin glanced sideways at her, expressionless.
That idiotic grin probably meant some lucrative commission had come her way.
He turned away and knocked.
Soon, a smiling senior sister opened the door. "How may I assist you two?"
Xie Ziyin spoke first. "We seek Elder Zhou to dissolve a Fateful Vow."
The senior sister’s eyes flickered between them. "Certainly—if you’ve brought enough spirit stones."
Xie Ziyin: "?"
"??" Wen Shuangbai, still riding the high of her sudden fortune, snapped to attention. "It costs spirit stones to dissolve the vow?"
"Naturally." The senior sister beamed. "Ten thousand, to be precise."
Xie Ziyin: "…………"
Wen Shuangbai: "…………"
She immediately turned to him. "You’re paying."
His eyelid twitched. "Why?"
Her logic was impeccable. "I don’t need it dissolved. I’ve no plans for dual cultivation—no such physical urges at present."
Xie Ziyin: "?"
And he did?
"By that reasoning, neither do I," he said coldly.
The subject held zero interest for him.
Wen Shuangbai gave him a dubious look. "Weren’t you the one desperate to annul this?"
Just last night, he’d confirmed their shared origins—then promptly demanded the vow be broken.
Xie Ziyin’s voice turned icy. "I wasn’t aware of the cost."
Unfazed, the senior sister waited out their bickering before sweetly interjecting, "So? Proceeding?"
Wen Shuangbai: "Not me."
Xie Ziyin: "We’ll revisit this."
She seized the moment to reiterate: "Let me be clear—I won’t contribute a single stone. If you want it gone, you pay in full."
She’d sooner study vow dissolution herself than waste thousands on it. Abstinence was preferable to financial ruin!
Xie Ziyin offered no rebuttal, turning on his heel.
Wen Shuangbai couldn’t be bothered either.
And so, they parted ways—in mutual displeasure.
