1.
The police officer looked at the tall man beside him in disbelief.
“Captain Li, did she call you?”
So he was my liaison in the mortal world, Li Chengyi.
Li Chengyi looked at me with his righteous eyes. A hint of suspicion seemed to cross his stern face.
I looked at Li Chengyi and quickly recited the password: “White clouds, white clouds, clouds drifting in the sky~”
Li Chengyi gave a fake cough. “Ahem... ahem... She’s a friend of mine. She’s a Taoist priest.”
I immediately took out my [Taoist Clergy ID] and handed it to the police officer.
The police officer had me sign my name, then let me go.
Li Chengyi came with me.
I was the 333rd abbess of White Cloud Temple.
My master, the 332nd abbess, said that if I wanted to take over as abbess of White Cloud Temple, I had to come down to the mortal world and gain some experience.
I had to complete ten divinations in thirty days, at five hundred yuan each—not a penny more or less.
At first, I planned to complete this task at the foot of White Cloud Mountain.
But while I was setting up my stall at the foot of the mountain, someone reported me and brought the police over.
Luckily, whenever one of us disciples from White Cloud Temple descended to the mortal world, the abbess always arranged for us to have a liaison.
And my liaison in the mortal world was none other than Officer Li Chengyi, who was driving right now.
“Hello, my name is Li Chengyi.”
“Hello, my name is Vũ Liên Thiên Tôn.”
Li Chengyi’s cool expression turned complicated for a moment before he finally settled down again.
2.
I followed Li Chengyi back to his place.
It had three bedrooms and a living room, and was spotlessly clean.
He pointed to the living room. “You can stay here for now. If you need any help, just let me know!”
“Where can I set up a fortune-telling stall nearby?”
Li Chengyi said seriously, “The pandemic restrictions have been pretty strict lately. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, you can’t take off your mask in public. So you won’t be able to set up a fortune-telling stall for the time being.”
I said dejectedly, “But I need to complete ten divinations in thirty days before I can take over as abbess.”
Li Chengyi thought for a moment. “You could do fortune-telling livestreams.”
“Livestreams?”
I suddenly remembered that once, when my master was watching a girl dance on his phone, he mentioned livestreaming.
My master said that although he didn’t live in the mortal world, he still needed to practice cultivating a mortal heart from time to time.
Seeing my confusion, Li Chengyi took out his phone and pointed to a leopard-themed app. “This is called Tiger Skin Live. You can use it to livestream fortune-telling.”
He showed me how to do it once, and I learned the steps very quickly.
But there was a problem: my phone was the old flip phone my master had thrown away. Apart from making calls, it lagged doing everything else.
Li Chengyi glanced at my pink flip phone, then took another phone from a drawer and handed it to me.
“This is my spare phone. You can use it for now.”
Li Chengyi helped me set up an account and asked what I wanted to call myself...
“Vũ Liên Thiên Tôn.”
Li Chengyi’s hand paused for a moment before he finally typed those characters.
3.
Li Chengyi helped me tidy up the study, then went back to the police station.
I sat down at the desk and tapped the button to start livestreaming.
Huh, why does it say I have zero viewers?
I called my master. “Master, I’m livestreaming, but nobody’s watching. Come give me a little publicity!”
After I hung up, sure enough, someone entered the livestream room.
[One Gorgeous Head of Hair entered the livestream room]
[One Gorgeous Head of Hair sent a tiger-skin gift]
Tiger skins were a free gift on the livestream platform. After it was sent, the room was back to showing zero viewers.
Ten minutes later, a second person entered the livestream room.
[Snow Wolf entered the livestream room]
[Snow Wolf sent a treasure map]
A treasure map was a premium gift worth one thousand yuan.
I was about to tell Snow Wolf to let me read their fortune, but to my surprise, they left as soon as they sent the gift.
I didn’t know if the treasure map had boosted my livestream’s popularity, but dozens of people started entering my room one after another.
4.
[There really is an online fortune-telling room!]
[Oh my gosh! The fortune-teller is so beautiful and otherworldly~]
[Oh~ Her name is Vũ Liên Thiên Tôn! Hahaha! That’s hilarious!]
[One treasure map for one reading? A little steep! I’m out!]
I needed five hundred, so if I received a thousand-yuan treasure map, I’d get half of it back. That was all I needed.
[Streamer, dance for us. I might consider sending you a treasure map.]
I looked at the comments on my phone and replied, “If I dance, it’ll rain. I prefer sunny days!”
[I love watching the streamer brag with such a straight face!]
Bragging? Calling the wind with one step and summoning rain with the next are basic techniques at our White Cloud Temple.
[Not Ashore, Not Changing My Name sent a treasure map]
Not Ashore, Not Changing My Name: [I’m really anxious to see my scores. Streamer, could you tell me if I’ll get into grad school this year?]
Me: “Sure, but I’ll need to video-call you. If you don’t want to show your face in the livestream, you can wear a mask and send me a high-resolution photo you’ve just taken in a private message.”
[I’ll wear a mask. I’ll send you the photo in a private message.]
A minute later, Not Ashore, Not Changing My Name replied: [All right.]
I tapped her profile picture and pressed “Invite to Video Call.”
A few seconds later, the video call connected.
A young woman wearing black-framed glasses and a face mask appeared on the screen.
She was sitting at a desk in her room, smiling at me through the screen.
“Hello, streamer! Did you get the photo?”
I frowned slightly as I looked at the photos Not Ashore, Not Changing My Name had sent.
“Has anything been going wrong for you lately?”
Not Ashore, Not Changing My Name looked a little disappointed. She shook her head firmly. “No.”
When she denied it, the comments started pouring in!
[Here we go, here we go! The usual routine! Skip the part where you lie and just tell us how much to transfer!]
[Poor sis, there goes her thousand yuan!]
Looking at the screen, I explained to Not Ashore, Not Changing My Name, “Don’t worry! There are no additional fees.”
Not Ashore, Not Changing My Name nodded. “Please tell me the results. I have something to do in a little while.”
“The bridge of your nose tilts slightly to the left, which means you’re not close to your biological father. Your mother probably remarried after the divorce.”
Not Ashore, Not Changing My Name perked up. “Yeah, my parents divorced when I was little. Mom didn’t find my stepdad until I got into college.”
I continued, “The father’s palace in your parental palace is red, so you and your stepfather must have a serious conflict.”
Not Ashore, Not Changing My Name’s expression suddenly changed!
She glared at the screen angrily. “My stepfather and I get along really well, so please don’t make things up! When I started college, my biological father refused to give me any money. It was my stepfather who paid for my education. Now I want to go to grad school, and he’s the first one to support me!”
“And my stepfather respects me a lot! If it’s just the two of us at home, he never comes into my room. Even in the living room, he always makes sure he’s fully dressed. I’m so grateful I found my current dad.”
I looked at the foul air filling the father’s palace above the left side of her forehead and said calmly, “There’s definitely something wrong with your stepfather!”
She was about to argue with me when I caught a faint whiff of garbage from the right side of the room, so I asked, “Is there a bathroom on your right?”
“Yes. My parents gave me the master bedroom, so it has its own bathroom.”
“Go into the bathroom and turn on your rear camera so I can take a look.”
Skeptical, Not Ashore, Not Changing My Name walked into the bathroom with her phone.
“Don’t turn on the lights. Draw the curtain.”
Once Not Ashore, Not Changing My Name had done that, I asked her to sweep the phone around the bathroom.
In the darkness, a red dot suddenly flashed on the mirror as the camera panned across it.
“This is bad! Lock the door right now! You have only ten seconds!”
Some people in the livestream chat also saw the blinking red dot.
The comments went wild.
[It’s a camera!]
[Oh my God, is that a hidden camera?]
[Is this staged?]
[I’d rather believe this is staged!]
Not Ashore, Not Changing My Name understood what had happened as soon as she saw everyone’s reactions.
Just then, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door…
Trembling, she stared at the door, her eyes filled with fear.
“A few days ago, the lock on my bedroom door suddenly broke…”