It took me a moment to absorb the fact that Giang Úc could hear the Book of Heavenly Secrets and the Côn Luân Mirror. The Book of Heavenly Secrets explained that Giang Úc’s fortune was powerful and Heaven’s will favored him, so it wasn’t surprising that he could hear them.
“So, all those nights lately, when you two have been chirping away like nightingales, it was because of Giang Úc?”
The Book of Heavenly Secrets fell silent for a moment, then answered, “Yes.”
“Hee-hee, we reached a friendly agreement last night.” The Côn Luân Mirror chuckled, sounding smug.
Without hesitation, I swung my hand and slapped the mirror frame. The Côn Luân Mirror fell silent.
I looked at Giang Úc, my feelings complicated. For my sake, he had signed a contract of servitude and become the guardian of the spirit veins. His condition was that Giang Miên come with us, so the Book of Heavenly Secrets and the Côn Lôn Mirror could arrange identities for the siblings in the other world.
“Chosen One, the demonic seed fate has changed. The threat to the spirit veins still exists, but it is no longer here. Your mission is complete. You can go back now.”
The pages turned by themselves. Countless years sped past like a shuttle, finally stopping at the time I knew. “The Côn Lôn Mirror will take you back. When the time is right, we’ll meet again.”
The Côn Lôn Mirror in my hand suddenly grew enormous. Usually it could only transport one person, but now it had to carry three, so it hurried me along. “Quick! Chosen One, hold on tight to me. Don’t fall off.”
I cried, “But I haven’t said goodbye to Senior Brother, Junior Sister, Thẩm Độ… They don’t know I’m leaving…”
Before I could finish, Giang Úc pulled me into his arms and kissed my hair. “We’ll meet again.”
The car sped along the road, and a familiar voice sounded by my ear. “Good girl, we’re almost at the ancestral home.”
My phone kept buzzing with messages from my best friend, Lâm Vu.
“Have you read it yet? The story I sent you.”
“Don’t let the clunky title fool you. It’s really good!”
I picked up the book beside me. The eight glaring words on the cover read: “The CEO’s Wife Runs Away Clutching Her Belly.”
Rustle, rustle. I flipped through it again and again, confirming it wasn’t the Book of Heavenly Secrets, and suddenly went still. Everything that had just happened felt like a dream. The car hadn’t overturned, and Lâm Vu had given me a romance novel. I’d clearly been there for a long time, yet here, it seemed as though only an instant had passed.
I watched the scenery pass outside the car window, a vague unease rising in me. Could it all have been a dream? Had I only just dozed off? Even Giang Úc—was he just an illusion?
“Good girl, we’re here.” Dad smiled as he opened the car door for me. I got out and looked at the ancestral home before us. “Come on. The clan is waiting.”
The Shen family crowded into the ancestral hall, packed shoulder to shoulder. It was a truly imposing sight. Dad led me forward. Memorial tablets covered the walls, countless rows of them. But one had been placed apart at the very top, with none beside it.
Dad pointed to the tablet and said, “This is the founding ancestor of the Shen family in Linh Xuyên.”
“Tens of thousands of years ago, our ancestor happened upon a fortuitous encounter at Độ Sơn. An immortal bestowed a name upon him and taught him the art of alchemy. It truly was the blessing of the immortals—he lived forever, never growing old…”
“That’s how our ancestor set out on the path of cultivation.”
All the sounds around me seemed to fade away. I couldn’t hear another word Dad said; my eyes were fixed on the two characters “Thẩm Độ” carved into the memorial tablet. My whole body trembled, a shock rippling through me.
It wasn’t a dream. Everything I’d experienced was real. Giang Úc, too. He was real. The thought sent my heart pounding wildly, unable to slow down.
“Ngân Linh, go pay your respects to the ancestor.” Second Uncle smiled and handed me a kneeling cushion.
I stood rooted to the spot. Bow to Thẩm Độ? What if lightning struck and shattered his memorial tablet? Besides, in my memories, Thẩm Độ was only seven or eight years old! I couldn’t bow to him.
I turned and ran. Second Uncle chased after me, shouting, “Thẩm Ngân Linh, where do you think you’re going? You haven’t paid your respects to the ancestor!”
“Second Uncle, I just remembered I have something to do at school. I have to go right now!”
Second Uncle’s voice boomed like thunder. “What could possibly be more important than your ancestor?! Get back here right now!!”
The Shen family’s ancestral home was in Linh Xuyên Town, which lacked the bustle of a big city and still retained its old-fashioned architecture. The whole Shen clan was in an uproar, searching frantically to drag me back and make me pay my respects to the ancestor. I fled all over the place and finally ducked into someone’s house.
Inside, footsteps clattered and voices rang out in a commotion. “Hurry! The young master is awake!”
“Has the doctor arrived? Have the master of the house and his wife been notified?”
I climbed a tree to watch, holding my breath as I waited. A little while later, a cry of alarm came from the east room. “The young master’s been lying down for so long! The doctor said he still can’t move!”
I switched to a nearer tree and was just about to poke my head out for a look when I met the young master’s eyes as he pushed open the door. One glance was all it took for me to freeze. Giang Úc! It was Giang Úc! He looked exactly the same, though he was a little thinner and shorter.
He… he… he… I didn’t dare speak, afraid it was only an illusion, afraid he wasn’t my Giang Úc. But then he held out his hand to me. “Ngân Linh, come here with me.”