Chapter 8: The Incense Pilgrim — How Is This Person Refusing Money?

He Zhuchun arrived at the shop early the next day. When he got there, the first floor held only Qin Shuheng, sitting alone—and across from him sat a woman, the two of them close, face to face, Qin Shuheng writing and drawing on a sheet of Yellow Joss Paper, and after finishing, pointing things out to the woman as he explained.

He Zhuchun knew this was an Incense Pilgrim who had come, so he didn’t disturb them, found himself a seat, and started playing on his phone.

Qin Shuheng spotted him and called a greeting.

“Here for my Master?”

He Zhuchun gave an acknowledging sound.

Qin Shuheng, flipping the yellow joss paper over as he told him: “You’re early. If it’s business, come back this afternoon—Master’s still got ages of sleep left.”

The woman across the way was evidently a regular, and chimed in: “A new pilgrim, is he? Coming to find Ritual Master Lu You without even asking about the right hours—a wasted trip.”

He Zhuchun’s interest was piqued. Pocketing his phone, he asked the woman: “You look experienced—tell me, when’s the right time to come find Ritual Master Lu You?”

“No earlier than two in the afternoon, but even that’s not certain.” The woman had the air of a seasoned veteran: “Ritual Master Lu You—easy to find and not easy to find, you could say. It all depends on Predestined Affinity.”

“The first time I saw him, I also came in the morning, around seven or eight, and happened to catch Ritual Master Lu You right in the shop. The second time I came at that same hour, hoping for another divination from him, and ran right into his nap. The third time was even worse—I came after five in the afternoon, missed him again, and it was Little Master Qin who told me Ritual Master Lu You wasn’t open for business that day, gone off to sleep on a whim.”

He Zhuchun’s head spun from all the “Ritual Master Lu You” this and “Ritual Master Lu You” that. He sorted through it and summarized: “So what you mean is, Lu You could be sleeping at any hour of the twenty-four, and finding him is pure luck?”

“That’s right.” The woman advised him further: “But by my experience, afternoon is when you’re most likely to run into Ritual Master Lu You. And if you don’t mind the trouble, you can come at dinnertime too—just wait nearby until Ritual Master Lu You finishes his meal, and he’ll see you right after.”

He Zhuchun nearly burst out laughing: “You’ve practically made him out to be a pig—nothing but eating and sleeping.”

“Oh dear, oh dear, we mustn’t say such things!” The woman waved her hands repeatedly: “My respect for Ritual Master Lu You is ten-millionfold—I wouldn’t dare insult him by a single thread. You can’t misread me!”

Not content with having said her piece, she turned her head to Qin Shuheng to pledge her sincerity: “Little Master Qin, you have to vouch for me. I absolutely had no intention of slandering Ritual Master Lu You!”

Qin Shuheng motioned for her to stay calm: “Master knows your character best of all. Don’t worry. You know how Master the elder is, don’t you? His character is this.” He thrust a thumb up and waggled it.

Only then did the woman relax, and she turned to lecture He Zhuchun instead: “You, young man—no filter in your mouth. That sort of talk will bring trouble sooner or later.”

He Zhuchun hadn’t imagined the pilgrims on Lu You’s side could be devoted to this degree—like a brainwashed cult. What did this have to do with Spiritual Consultation anymore?

Before the commotion among the three had settled, footsteps came from far to near down the second-floor staircase. He Zhuchun looked up—and locked eyes with Lu You, fully dressed, coming down.

Lu You still looked half-asleep, walking until he stopped dead on the second-to-last stair and went no further, first surveying the three of them one by one, his brain seemingly only now rebooting, before finally coming down the rest of the way.

He seemed freshly woken, voice still husky: “Morning.”

Huang Kuaipao was sleepier than he was, the whole weasel draped over his shoulder like a towel, face down, belly bearing his weight against Lu You’s body—the Little Huang didn’t mind the jostle, swaying with every step Lu You took, flat-out asleep like this.

He Zhuchun answered: “Morning.”

Qin Shuheng hadn’t expected him up this early. Grabbing the breakfast he’d bought but not yet eaten, he drew out a cup of soy milk from within.

“Master, have some soy milk to wake up.”

He Zhuchun asked: “Everyone else wakes up with coffee, but your Master’s quite the individual—soy milk.”

Qin Shuheng couldn’t be bothered to spar with him in front of a Patron Client today, and only smiled: “Both ground from beans. Same difference.”

Of the three, the most thrilled to see Lu You was, naturally, this female pilgrim.

Perhaps she was the sentimental sort—she’d missed Lu You on every previous visit, and it was precisely this time, hopes abandoned, that she’d caught him. Now she was moved nearly to tears: “Ritual Master Lu You, I’ve finally met you again!”

Lu You was blearily blowing on the steam of his soy milk; looking at her now, he sobered a little: “Miss Lin, long time no see.”

Lin Youzhi could barely contain her delight: “You remember me!”

Lu You said: “You once booked every Ritual Service I could perform, all in one go. You left an impression.”

He Zhuchun had picked his phone back up to play; at this he jerked his head up, shocked: “This is crazier than a fangirl.”

Lin Youzhi was so worked up her hands had nowhere to go, and she reflexively started praising again: “Because Ritual Master Lu You’s ritual services really work! You all don’t know what a state I was in before I met Ritual Master Lu You…”

Lu You took a sip of soy milk and cut Lin Youzhi off mildly: “And what brings you this time?”

“It’s like this—I had a dream last night.” Lin Youzhi stopped herself and sat back down in her chair. “Last night in my dream I saw my grandmother again.”

Lu You’s motion paused, imperceptibly. Feigning calm, he said gently: “What did she tell you?”

“Just all sorts of odds and ends.” Lin Youzhi seemed very happy: “She told me about her life over there—said she bought a big house, had lots of new furniture installed, and she told me a new old man arrived down there recently, starved to death alive at home because his children never cared for him…”

Once she started talking to Lu You, Lin Youzhi seemed to have an endless stream of words. Without pausing she told him about her dream, her life, her recent state.

He Zhuchun found it all tedious trivia and listened with impatience, gazing idly at Lu You—only to discover Lu You was listening with great attentiveness.

True, his eyelids still drooped and he looked listless as ever, but from the small details of his body language and his slightly knitted brow, one could tell he was absolutely listening to Lin Youzhi seriously.

He Zhuchun found it wondrous.

The Great Immortal who was bone-tired and impatient with everything—patient with his own pilgrims?

Was it a matter of profession?

He looked at Qin Shuheng.

Qin Shuheng was copying scriptures again. He’d been copying for so long and still hadn’t finished.

He Zhuchun’s thoughts wandered this way and that for a while, and by the time he came back to himself, Lin Youzhi had finished telling the scraps of her life and was rummaging in her bag for the Red Envelope she’d prepared in advance.

A very thick, very weighty Red Envelope.

Lin Youzhi pressed the envelope on the table and pushed it over: “Ritual Master Lu You, thank you for being willing to listen to all this.”

Lu You pushed the envelope back: “Miss Lin, I haven’t resolved any of your doubts, so I cannot accept a Divination Fee.”

Lin Youzhi still tried to press it: “Ritual Master Lu You, don’t refuse—just take it as my filial offering to the spirits.”

Lu You’s brow knitted tighter: “Miss Lin, this doesn’t follow the rules.”

The moment Lu You brought out the word “rules,” Qin Shuheng stopped copying scriptures entirely and hurried to persuade: “Miss Lin, please don’t be stubborn. Every trade has its rules, and rules mustn’t be broken. Doing this isn’t helping my Master—it’s harming him.”

Qin Shuheng said it deliberately grave. Lin Youzhi was duly frightened, and timidly drew the envelope back.

“Then may I use the money for a ritual service? Not as a Divination Fee—as a Ritual Fee.” Lin Youzhi had thought of a new angle, eyes lighting up: “Isn’t Appeasing Tai Sui coming up in a few months? So many people in my family are Offending Tai Sui next year!”

Lu You let out a long, quiet sigh and rubbed the space between his brows.

He Zhuchun watched, fascinated. Though he’d known Lu You just one day, in that single day Lu You had invited spirits, exorcised a ghost, investigated a case, Retrieved a soul, and even mixed up a cup of Talisman Water on the side—and through all of it He Zhuchun had never seen Lu You worried enough to sigh. Yet at the money-taking step, the worry came.

He also thought of Lu You’s broken-down scooter, and suddenly understood why the man lived so frugally.

Maybe it really didn’t pay. The LED bulb outside had been broken forever, and he’d never gone to fix it.

Lu You said: “Miss Lin, if you keep doing this, I won’t let you through this door again.”

Lu You meant what he said; at this point it amounted to an ultimatum, and Lin Youzhi finally, sheepishly, put the money back in her bag.

Only after finally seeing Lin Youzhi off did Lu You breathe out in relief and sink back into the Executive Chair, eyes closed, resting. Qin Shuheng wandered about with a fried dough stick clamped in his teeth, handing the plastic bag to He Zhuchun and asking, very friendly: “Did you eat breakfast before you came? Want a bite to tide you over?”

He Zhuchun declined politely: “Thanks, I’ve eaten.”

“Okay then.” Qin Shuheng went on wandering with his dough stick.

As the saying goes, one autumn rain brings one wave of cold. Yesterday’s rain hadn’t felt like much, but getting up this morning the chill was unmistakable, forcing an extra layer of clothes.

He Zhuchun asked: “What exactly did you do for the woman just now? How is she devoted to you to the point of obsession?”

“Nothing much,” Lu You said flatly. “I just passed a few messages along for her.”

“Messages to where?”

Lu You pointed at the ground: “The Underworld.”

He Zhuchun understood at once: “To her grandmother, then.”

“Mm.” Lu You answered softly.

The two were silent for a while, until Qin Shuheng had wandered the whole room chewing through two giant dough sticks, and He Zhuchun, timing it so the man had rested his full quarter hour, finally asked Lu You:

“What’s our task today?”

Lu You’s eyes stayed closed, and he said flatly: “Go to the school and look into some things.”

“Hm?”

Lu You opened his eyes. The sun was climbing now, and its light happened to be streaming through the glass door into the shop, Lu You bathed in sunlight, his pale amber pupils given a layer of natural glow, shining an almost translucent, beautiful hue.

“Let’s clarify our current troubles. One is the Soul Swap problem on Li Jiayuan; the other is the thing Liu Yingying carries,” Lu You reminded him.

He Zhuchun thought of something: “Oh right—what exactly is the thing on Liu Yingying? Yesterday I only heard you all mention it once, no details.”

About Liu Yingying, the day before, only Yang Shengnan had said it wasn’t an ordinary Yin Entity—but what it actually was, no one had explained.

Lu You told him: “Without a detailed look I don’t know either. But one thing is certain: the thing on her is not from our country.”

He Zhuchun joked: “Didn’t expect there’d be a foreign import around me.”

Lu You: “So—have you noticed the key point?”

He Zhuchun lowered his eyelids: “When multiple troubles appear at once, we can regard them as a single thread. Lay the thread on one plane and watch where they cross and interweave—the final intersection of the lines is the root of the problem.”

Li Jiayuan. Liu Yingying. The senior martial brothers and sisters. And He Zhuchun.

The intersection was already obvious.

Lu You smiled: “Is your professor’s side easy to get into?”

He Zhuchun thought about it: “How about going straight through the records system? I happen to have connections.”

Lu You smiled: “Then nothing could be better.”