Qin Liuxi entered the Daoist Temple and headed straight for the main hall. In front of the Grandmaster's large incense burner, she bowed several times and then began to dig.
Suddenly, a flash of white light came towards her. She agilely dodged it with a twist of her body.
"Hey, you can't hit me, you just can't hit me!" She clenched her fist triumphantly, holding a piece of jade-colored corner in her hand.
The white light swung again, accompanied by a cursing voice: "Hey, where did this little thief come from, stealing right in front of the Grandmaster, not afraid of the Grandmaster's blame?"
"I already greeted him, and his silence meant consent for me to dig. Besides, it's my own stuff I buried; how can that be stealing!" Qin Liuxi argued.
Three Pure Ancestors: I'll descend sooner or later to strike her dead!
"Nothing else grows, but your mouth keeps blabbing endlessly as if sharpened on a whetstone!" Standing in front of Qin Liuxi was an old man in a Daoist robe with a bun, no, an old Daoist, pointing at her with a white horsetail whisk.
Qin Liuxi smiled: "Look at how delicate I am, I surely can't use a whetstone, it must be slick talk!"
Master Chi Yuan glared at her and then looked at her hand: "Came up here just to dig for jade?"
Qin Liuxi stirred the ash in the incense burner to level it, then let go of her hand, revealing two small jade buckles in her palm, walked over to the old Taoist, and said, "We've added two little brothers at home, Qi Xingzi, who are so fragile. Without some Magic Artifacts, I'm afraid they can't be taken care of."
"Oh, you're usually cold and heartless, and suddenly you're all benevolent. Could it be that your conscience kicked in?" Master Chi Yuan scoffed.
Qin Liuxi glared at him, saying, "It's not my conscience, it's that I'm afraid someone will kick me out of the sect."
Qin Liuxi just hummed.
The two of them walked out of the main hall towards the rear hall, chatting as they went.
"Has everyone from your family come?" Master Chi Yuan subdued his playful demeanor.
"Mhm." Qin Liuxi replied, "Except for my grandfather and a few others, it's all old people, women, and children."
"A fated calamity that cannot be avoided, only faced. Compared to beheading, having the family confiscated and exiled is already a great fortune." Holding the horsetail whisk, Master Chi Yuan said, "If not for you these years, we might all be meeting in the Yellow Spring by now."
This calamity of the Qin family was a karma from their ancestors, a deathly ordeal, worse than the current outcome. It's only because of the merits Qin Liuxi had accumulated over the years that the family was preserved.
Qin Liuxi remained noncommittal.
Master Chi Yuan wasn't worried, as long as Qin Liuxi was willing, she would always be able to resolve this difficulty.
"Have you encountered that group of people yet?"
Qin Liuxi glanced at him: "That noble son?"
"Naturally noble, unspeakably distinguished, it's just..." Master Chi Yuan's words trailed off, his expression somewhat inscrutable.
Qin Liuxi didn't press further, nor could she, as the old chap's hand reached out in front of her, making her grimace.
"It's not a lot of money, shall we not count it this time?" Qin Liuxi said through gritted teeth, "My whole family depends on me, and we're very poor, just this time..."
"Five Disadvantages and Three Deficiencies, if you don't pay, as your master, I can only sigh for you." Master Chi Yuan wore a look that he would not force her, then said, "You just dug up the incense burner too, I don't know if the Grandmaster..."
Give, will she give? Isn't that okay?
She clenched her teeth and reluctantly handed over fifty taels with a smack to Master Chi Yuan.
Master Chi Yuan was beaming, flicked his horsetail whisk, and said: "Blessings to the Infinite."
Qin Liuxi huffed heavily.
This was one of the reasons why she was poor, no matter how much she earned, half of it always had to go to the temple for adding incense oil and doing good deeds.