51

Capítulo 69

It's fine if he's a god, anyway, he's "God." He's really, really cute.

I really like these simple and honest people. Even if no one knows what I'm doing or what I've accomplished, I still feel happy and joyful.

All the glory belongs to our Mazu.

"Where did Huang'e go?" Only now did he realize Huang'e was missing. "Why can't I see her?"

I laughed. "She befriended a white snake, who then dragged her and the dragon to dance." How funny, the social life of monsters.

Seriously, I'm not kidding, don't randomly pick up girls in nightclubs. You never know what you might end up with. It's dangerous.

“Let’s go to the church on Sunday,” he suggested. “I haven’t attended church in a long time.”

Although it's not really suitable... I don't want to have any disagreements with Tang Chen over such a small matter. What's wrong with accompanying him to church? I know some villagers are baptized and worship Mazu. You know this island is exceptionally tolerant of religion.

What does it matter? I'm just a jack-of-all-trades witch.

I haven't changed jobs; I've stayed here so long I don't want to leave. (I can't do any other work...)

Eight or nine years after graduation, I was discovered by a classmate who occasionally came to pay respects. As a result, the news spread like wildfire, and my already busy life was further complicated by these troublesome "old friends".

What's worse is that they discovered the area was beautiful and scenic, and with nothing else to do, they would bring their friends and family here to pray and play. They even contributed a lot of money to the village's guesthouses, and as a result, they dug up my unfortunate past as the "spiritual girl Lin Moniang".

Fortunately, the villagers remained calm, as if I had known all along, and I even told them about my strange job search and the dream that Mazu appeared to me.

As a result, I was almost driven crazy by these idiots, and I couldn't get rid of them. On holidays, I simply stayed at home, and they started knocking on my door to catch up. When they saw that Tang Chen was here, they spread even more rumors. I was so annoyed that I wanted to tell Huang E to just kill them all.

In reality, they don't seem to be haunted by any ghosts (ghosts are selective about who they are...), and they almost all live in big cities. There are few truly powerful supernatural beings in cities; most people scare themselves or make a big fuss over the smallest strange occurrences.

I didn't do anything, but they came with long faces and left with smiles on their faces. They said that just sitting here for a while calmed them down.

I've figured out a bit why Shuo opened a coffee shop.

But where can't you open a coffee shop? The year after I graduated, Shuo said he was tired of living there and moved to Tainan to open a coffee shop. Guan Haifa also went there.

I'm so busy that I can only take a few days off during the Qingming Festival to visit Shuo and my uncle. Shuo's coffee shop is right next to my uncle's traditional Chinese medicine clinic. Business is still slow, but there are always people coming in.

They remained distant. Uncle Shi's TCM clinic closed at 7 PM, but he would go to Shuo's place to sit, read, meditate, or practice introspection, waiting until Shuo closed at 10 PM before going home together. Tang Chen and I might even be closer than they are... they're old-fashioned, after all.

But surrounded by their calm yet loving presence, all the fatigue accumulated throughout the year can be swept away; after all, I am a person with a family.

But I simply couldn't find the time to visit the old man. I could only ask Huang E to convey my regards, and sometimes the old man would send ghost messengers to remind me to take care of my health.

In such a large area, I was the only one doing the dredging project, which was really exhausting. However, ten years after graduation, Yu Zheng, whom I hadn't heard from in a long time, came to find me, looking radiant and carrying his luggage, which surprised me greatly.

Seeing the humanoid's desolation, she made a cute "O" shape with her mouth, "...Oh my! How come she looks like my long-lost sister? If I didn't know she was your bird, I would definitely go back and torture my father!"

Huang E laughed triumphantly, "I even went to listen in on history! Human history is so much fun!" The two of them hit it off immediately, talking non-stop from hairdressing to Zhu Yuanzhang's donning of the yellow robe.

It was Yu Zheng who helped me for several months, so I finally completed this huge project.

"Didn't you go abroad?" I asked. She's incredibly fickle, always forgetting her friends for the sake of a guy. After she went abroad, she became too lazy to write, and we just lost contact. "Which boyfriend have you had yet?"

"I haven't changed it!" she chuckled. "I already have a master's degree in history, and I'm preparing to get a master's degree in education."

Her strength is much greater than before, but she is older after all, and knows how to restrain and control herself. When her emotions are deeply involved, they are no longer so turbulent, but rather have a sense of abundant flow.

After they parted ways, she went abroad to study. The "building window cleaning expert" would visit her every one or two months and provided her with a lot of materials to complete her thesis.

"What information can a 'building window cleaning expert' provide?" I rolled my eyes. This girl has gone astray; she knows to build a dike and take precautions, and won't just spill everything out.

She hesitated for a moment, "...they have a long history, and the information they can provide is firsthand."

"It is indeed quite ancient, dating back to the Crusades."

She laughed loudly, "I can't talk about this! Damn it, Hengzhi, you've gone bad! Don't try to trick me!"

Even without her saying it, I know she's happy. Now her sharp edges aren't as keen, or rather, she's found a sheath. She proudly declares that she wants to be the first female historian after Cao Xueqin. To better prepare for her research, she even pursued a Master of Education degree. After all, teaching is still the most practical path to research.

"Historians, huh?"

"A female historian!" She was absolutely adamant about this.

"And what about your expert?" I laughed.

“His jurisdiction is Taiwan… uh, you didn’t hear anything!” she said nervously.

I shrugged. Mr. Daren's organization is supposedly incredibly wealthy; as long as they don't stage any coups or wars, who cares what they're doing in Taiwan?

“Congratulations,” I nudged her with my elbow, “you’ve found a knight who can handle your queenly nature.”

This was the first time I'd ever heard of a mature queen blushing. She became furious, "Who's the submissive queen! Nonsense!"

I chuckled, but Yu Zheng was furious and pounced on me, throwing punches wildly. The funny thing was, she couldn't hit me, and I couldn't hit her. I was trained by Huang E, but who trained her?

"Hey~ You naughty kid! Stop thinking like that! Don't run away!"

I laughed and ran behind Tang Chen, who blushed with anger. "Xiao Chen, get out of the way!"

"I thought Huang'e and Xiaozhi were fighting," Tang Chen laughed. "The water's boiling over, come and have some tea."

I never imagined that we'd be able to sit down and enjoy tea together so happily before we get old. Time truly can resolve all entanglements.

My wedding invitations from Luo Jun and Yao Sheng are still on my desk. Everyone around me is doing well. Suddenly, I feel like I have nothing left to ask for.

I have no regrets.

When Yu Zheng was about to leave, he gave me a book.

It was written by a local scholar about folk deities. The more I read, the angrier I became. After all, for a shaman like me who serves deities, the slander against "vulgar and barbaric religions" is naturally infuriating. But I must say the information is indeed very detailed.

I turned to the page about "Mazu," where the author recounted Mazu's life story, but then dismissively commented, "She's nothing more than a 'witch'."

It was initially in an uproar, but upon reflection, I suddenly understood why the Empress Dowager had placed me in this position.

Perhaps she doesn't care at all that people call her a "witch," and might even be proud of it.

Yes, we are all shamans, in a silent and quiet place. And what have you scholars and officials done?

These are the words of the Holy Queen, and also the quiet yet powerful question and pride of me, Shuo, and all the nameless, silent, and self-possessed sorcerers who walk in the shadows of history.

I am indeed a sorcerer, and I am incredibly proud of it.

(The Witch's End)

Part Seven Continuation

In the ten years since graduation, Huang'e has changed a lot. I think her changes are definitely related to her senior brother Yuntao, even though he has been traveling all over the world for the past ten years, spending more than half the year abroad.

Every time he returned to China, Huang'e would completely lose all sense of humanity and become utterly oblivious to the existence of a host. She would vanish without a trace. The worst time was when she disappeared for three months without a word. I was so emotionally affected that I banged my head against a wall and tried calling her, but her phone was off. I even had to call my uncle to ask for my master's number before I finally managed to find her.

"What?" Her tone was extremely fierce.

"...Let's see if you're dead yet." I said irritably.

"No," she replied very briefly and decisively, and then hung up the phone.

Holding my phone, I was trembling with anger, so angry that I smashed it—onto the blanket. Although I'm financially independent now, with my astronomical student loan debt and meager salary… I still need money to buy a phone.

Thinking about this, I felt a little guilty.

Huang'e has been following me, this eternally poor wretch, and it's truly been incredibly tough for her. She loves beauty, but I simply lack the financial means to support her extravagance... let alone extravagance, I can't even maintain the basic necessities.

She would often go to the rental bookstore to look at free magazines, then come back and transform into fire feathers to paint her face with rouge. She cherished a few real clothes, saving them only for dates with her master.

This proud and willful Bird Queen has stopped arguing about this. She's actually learned to be patient and understanding, which leaves me somewhat bewildered. Sometimes she nags me that I should eat better and not take so long to finish a meal, which makes me feel sad.

As her carefree spirit deepened with her involvement in the world, it became increasingly tinged with human emotions, which saddened me. She didn't need to be bound by these mundane desires and emotions, but she eventually came to understand and even enjoy them. However, these desires and emotions aren't all good; they also have a tragic component.

My master treated her exceptionally well, until his girlfriend (ex-girlfriend...) came to make a scene, and I learned that he had broken up with his other girlfriends, leaving only Huang'e. I don't quite understand what my master saw in this naive young lady, but the two of them were truly inseparable, seemingly serious. My master was always traveling around the world, I don't know what he was busy with, but whenever he came back, he would rush to find Huang'e.

They're getting better and better, while I'm getting more and more annoyed.

She used to only know about sorrow and anger through me; I can't imagine if she experienced it herself...

I have already parted from my mother and father, a homeless witch with no ties, and I have endured all the hardships I needed to suffer. She is only beginning now, and in the dead of night, I will be overwhelmed with worry.

She scoffed at my needless worries, thinking I was just making trouble out of nothing. She, on the other hand, was quite enthusiastic, passing the days when her uncle was away. In less than three years since she arrived, she had become invincible in the area, and the mountain monsters would scream and run away at the mere sight of her.

Having satisfied her territorial desires, she happily went on a "study tour" to various universities in Taichung. Having lived for over a thousand years and heard so much evil and gossip, this slow-witted and naive bird queen was wondering "why" for the first time. Of course, she couldn't get an answer from me, a poor soul who was only one step away from becoming a nun. Having tasted the sweetness of knowledge, she rushed around to attend classes here and there, changing her clothes and outfits, finding immense joy in it.

Seeing how silly and happy she was, I realized I was overthinking things.

That year, I attended Luo Jun and Yao Sheng's wedding and was surprised to discover that their descendants had followed in their footsteps, and that they had formed a secret society called "Silence." I was overjoyed to meet these younger students; I almost cried.

They also solemnly showed me a very exquisitely crafted brooch, understated and neutral, shaped like a Y, somewhat like a slingshot. It was inlaid with a moonstone.

They said it was something every person patrolling the campus had to wear, a "family heirloom" of the club.

But this moonstone was something I casually gave to Luo Jun as a souvenir. I don't know how many I've made... I never imagined it would be treasured so much, even becoming a symbol.

The seed I planted unintentionally years ago has grown into a seedling, growing day by day, generation after generation.

That tumultuous yet brilliant university life seems to be right before my eyes.

The "dredging project" I did in Yong'an Shisizhuang has come to an end, and it should last for a hundred or two hundred years without any problem. After all, this area doesn't have the high density of cemeteries, so this is enough.

With more free time, I can visit the old man and the old devil every year, usually at the beginning and end of the year. Looking back on the past ten years, it's truly moving.

The old demon, having benefited from my twenty years of good fortune, managed to slip through a loophole and escape. But after being isolated from the world for so long, he's lost the will to eat people, and harming them feels pointless. The streets are filled with exhaust fumes; not only are humans impolite, but even the new generation of monsters and ghosts don't know how to respect their elders.

After being away for more than a year, I miss Ah Jia, whose brain is completely fried.

He returned home feeling dejected, but the old man didn't treat him poorly and invited him to live with him as an equal. So he stayed and enjoyed his later years.

Thank goodness he was like that, otherwise… I would have been in grave danger. I couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

"Relax," the old man said calmly, "If I didn't know him so well, why would I let you do this? But you, girl... you're the most troublesome person I've ever met! Look at your juniors, who else picks things up like you? Isn't there enough in the school? Are you picking up people from outside to make up for it? Did you go on a pilgrimage to add to your family? Tell me the truth!"

I forced myself to say, "No."

He only nagged me for a couple of minutes before letting me off the hook.

Actually… I didn’t put it under the table. Isn’t there a big tree outside the temple gate? Under the tree is a small shrine called Youying Temple. The seniority system there is terrifying, and they’re locals for generations. I take all the unruly and outcasts there to discipline them directly, saving time and effort. Using the Empress’s name, their discipline is truly… in a word, powerful.

If the old man finds out I'm causing trouble outside the Empress Dowager's gate, he'll definitely jump up and kill me.

It was around the end of that year, around the winter solstice, right?

I was adding incense when suddenly it felt like an invisible spear flew over and pierced my heart. I fell to my knees, completely bewildered by the attack, thinking I was having a heart attack.

With a whoosh, I coughed up a mouthful of blood, tears streamed down my face, and my whole body trembled uncontrollably, as if I had been thrown into a washing machine and violently churned.

The overwhelming grief almost overwhelmed me, and it wasn't until I coughed up blood that I calmed down a little.

This is not mine. This is not my grief and emotion.

…Disaster?