The following morning, Li Yun walked to the old temple with Rouxi. The air was chilly in the morning, but the warmth from Li Yun’s hand flowed to Rouxi’s as they walked along the winding path.

Even as she looked at him, there was an indescribable glow. The quality of the glow wasn’t measured by the intensity of the light emitting from it, but the sense of awe she felt in her heart. She often wondered if it was affecting her judgment when it came to Li Yun, or if she was really in love with him.

“Sorry… I’m making you miss your classes for this,” Li Yun pulled her hand closer to his side and tightened his grip.

“It’s all right, most of the lectures are recorded anyway,” Rouxi responded. The main purpose of going to most lectures was to hang out with friends.

Upon reaching the first expanse of the farmland, the sensation that Li Yun had felt before was gone. Everything looked the same, but there wasn’t a strange tickle in his belly. They walked into the old temple and surveyed the small room. In the middle of the temple, Li Yun used Spirit Detection again, but nothing happened. He was afraid of going back, but he was also disappointed that the array only triggered once.

The large stone statue and the columns were intact as though it was never disturbed or smashed into pieces by a giant walking stone statue. Within reaching distance of the statue, Li Yun touched the stone statue and activated Qivi. Nothing.

Li Yun felt like he was cheated. He had spent an unknown period of time running away from monsters, and he got nothing in return. He gained antibodies to the toxin, but he had to suffer a bit to gain the resistance. On impulse, he jumped up on top of the altar.

“Yun! What are you doing?” Rouxi was more concerned about him moving about recklessly than vandalizing the temple.

Li Yun looked around on the side, and then behind the statue, but nothing. Reaching for the heavy short candlestick, he pounded the stand into the back of the statue. He wasn’t crazy enough to smash the head, but the back was less visible. Although it wasn’t the main attraction, there were still tourists visiting the temple. With his physical strength, it was enough to crack open the back and shatter the brass candlestick in his hand. He let go of the candlestick, or what was formerly known as a candlestick, and focused his sight on a small statue hidden away in the hollow of the stone statue.

“It’s here!” Li Yun thought as his hands grabbed onto the statue and lifted it out of the cavity. With the statue in hand, it felt as heavy as he remembered it. The item count for his mission increased to six, three more remaining of the nine required. He used Qivi, and saw an ancient man pouring the melted metal into a cast.

“What century do you think this is from?” Li Yun held the statue up for Rouxi to inspect.

Rouxi took the statue, almost falling over by the sheer weight if Li Yun hadn’t supported her elbows, “Gee, it’s heavy.” Rouxi decided to let Li Yun hold it and she looked at it from all angles. She didn’t think it was possible for it to be hidden inside the stone statue. “It looks like a statue of Jingxiu, one of the eight immortals.”

“Do you know what time period?”

“I am not sure, but it’s in really good condition,” Rouxi shook her head. “How did you know there was something inside?”

“Gut feeling?” Li Yun didn’t know either, but he really wanted to smash the stone statue.

The temple was built around the Han dynasty, but the small icon statue looked like an earlier piece from the Shang or Xia dynasty, or possibly earlier. It was possible that Taoists had hidden it away in the stone statue and set up some sort of illusionary array. After another round of inspection, there was nothing else unusual.

Li Yun continued to stare at the statue on the way back. It was exactly the same as the statue he had seen in the woods, but was the statue always hidden inside the large stone statue? Or did it appear after he was in the woods? But if he didn't enter the array, would the statue still exist inside the stone statue? It was a bit of a paradox. He wasn’t likely to receive an answer, and the entire situation wasn’t something he could easily explain. In Taoism, there were many proposed structures of a person’s souls and realms. It was possible that Li Yun had appeared in any of the realms. Or, it was just a dream.

The only way to find out was to visit the temple once again and consult with the Taoist priest. Li Yun was always a bit hesitant to consult with Taoist priests. There were genuine Taoists who practiced Taoism, but to gain spiritual awareness was difficult. If there were real Taoists who gained awareness, they were more likely to be hidden than the celebrity Taoists, who were often on the news for being frauds.

Unfortunately, since being able to sense a person’s dantian, Li Yun had yet to encounter anyone whose dantian were above the average size or even close to matching his. It was his main method of sensing a person’s spiritual awareness.

“Yun! There’s a fortune teller, let’s go try that one,” Rouxi said excitedly as they were leaving the untrodden path and approaching the main portion of the Bronze Goat Temple.

Coincidence? No, there were always Taoist priests around the temples to cater the tourists, but Rouxi pointed to one particular stall.

“I thought you don’t believe in fortune telling,” Li Yun said.

“I never said I don’t believe in fortune telling.”

Li Yun thought about Rouxi’s ability. If she had lived with that ability all of her life, she probably had an easier time believing in spirits. When they visited the haunted house, the dark vibration had all avoided Rouxi. He initially thought it was because she didn’t believe in spirits. However, what if she was the opposite? Instead of a belief in spirits, she was already certain that they existed.

Belief dealt with believing in something without proof. She had knowledge and proof that something beyond existed, so it wasn’t a belief, but her reality.

Rouxi pulled Li Yun in front of a Taoist priest, snapping him from thoughts. The Taoist priest had just finished setting up his stall. It was early in the morning, and there were rarely any tourists around.

The Taoist priest was identifiable by his traditional daobao robe and huayuan hat. Otherwise, it was difficult to tell from his demeanor that he was even a priest. First, he was quite young, in his late twenties, a heavy set man, and listening to some heavy rock music on his ephone airbuds.

“Yo! You two here for some fortune telling?” The Taoist priest asked in a relaxed and cool manner.

Li Yun wondered if he got any sort of customers from his demeanor. He seemed like an amusing fella, so much better than the old skinny Taoist priests wearing long beards and holding a horsetail whisk.

“What would you like to ask young lady?” He asked.

“Can I ask for the lottery number?” Rouxi asked.

“Sure you can, I can guarantee a 99.99% chance of giving you the losing numbers, which method do you want to use?” He asked in a joking manner showing her his three coins and a bamboo cup full of divination sticks.

Rouxi scrunched her face in a cute manner. “Will my business succeed in the future?”

“That’s a bit vague, you have to be more specific.”

“What? There are specific guidelines for questions?” Rouxi thought fortune telling was amusing, but she never encountered one with a requirement on what question was asked.

“It’s like planting an unknown seed in an unknown medium. If you don’t tell me the shape of the seed and the type of medium, I can’t tell you the result.”

“Then what’s the point? If I tell you the seed and medium, wouldn’t you be able to guess what sort of plant it is?”

“Of course, but I will be able to advise you on how to make it thrive. There are people who have always failed to plant a simple chili pepper plant, but I’m able to help them grow it.”

“Oh? So what sort of question should I ask?”

“You can ask whether a new branch in the business will succeed if you hire a new manager. The new branch of the business is a medium, and the new manager is the seed.”

Rouxi scratched her head. She never thought that asking the right questions was important in divination.

“Yeah, if you don’t ask the correct questions, I won’t be able to find the correct answer,” the taoist said. “We Taoists are seekers of answers, but we can only help you find it. The more information we have, the better it is for us to search for it.”

Rouxi carefully thought of a question. “Will I do well on my thesis if I write about ancient tombs?”

The taoist nodded, seemingly satisfied with her question. The thesis was the medium, and the topic of ancient tombs was the seed. “Do you want to use coins or sticks?”

“Does it matter?”

The taoist shrugged. “Nope.”

“Okay, the coins then.”

The taoist placed the coins in both hands and began his divination. He threw the coins six times. Afterward, he paused to think for a moment.

“The gentle. Success through what is small. It furthers one to have somewhere to go. It furthers one to see greatness.”