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Volume 1

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"Wow! He actually married that woman! How could he do this!" a woman cried.

"Xiao Qing, don't cry!" Another woman handed her a tissue and gently patted her back as if comforting a child.

"How can I not cry? He actually abandoned you!"

"Yes! He abandoned me, not you, and I didn't even cry, so why are you crying?"

"Peiru, I know you're very sad, but don't keep it inside, it will make you feel terrible!" Xiaoqing comforted Du Peiru while holding back her tears.

"I'm really fine! I've never liked him, no, I should say I've never loved him, so I don't feel any heartache." Du Peiru was practically swearing an oath.

“How could that be! I get so sad every time my boyfriend dumps me! The longest I’ve ever dated was only six months, but you and Huimin have been dating for three years. How could you not be sad to be dumped by him? Don’t keep everything bottled up inside, or you’ll get depression. Most people with depression commit suicide!” Xiaoqing said, wiping away her tears with a tissue.

"Xiao Qing, I'm really fine! Don't worry about me, okay!"

"Nothing?! The more someone says nothing's wrong, the more trouble they're likely to have, like a drunk person saying they're not drunk..." Xiao Qing's rambling skills were astonishing; no wonder her boyfriends all said goodbye to her after less than two months. For the sake of her ears, Du Peiru had no choice but to sneak back to her room.

"Peiru, do you think I'm right?" Xiaoqing turned around and found that Du Peiru had already entered the room. Xiaoqing couldn't help but shake her head, thinking: Sigh! Peiru must have depression. No! I must save her! There are plenty of fish in the sea! Hmm! I heard that the fortune sticks at Baiyi Temple are very accurate. Tomorrow I'll go with her to draw a marriage fortune stick. As long as she knows that Wang Huimin is not her true love, she won't try to kill herself. Heh! Heh! With a fortune-telling expert like me, even a dead fortune stick can be interpreted as alive. Yes! That's what we'll do!

Xiao Qing and Du Peiru grew up together in an orphanage. Because Xiao Qing was particularly talkative, the other children didn't play with her. Only Du Peiru could tolerate her, and thus they became best friends. When they turned 16 and left the orphanage to live independently, they became each other's only family. As for Wang Huimin, Du Peiru met him at night school. He was eight years older than her; how could Du Peiru possibly fall in love with such an older man?

(2)

"Pei-ru, hurry up! Let's go faster!"

"Xiao Qing, you've already drawn lots more than twenty times and had your fortune told more than thirty times, why are you still so enthusiastic?" Du Peiru said breathlessly.

“Pei Ru, you don’t know! The marriage fortune slips at Baiyi Nunnery are incredibly accurate! Little Chen said she came here a few years ago and drew a fortune slip that said ‘I will soon meet my ideal man,’ and sure enough, she met her husband the following year. Isn’t that amazing?”

"My God! A whole year can be called recent? You and Xiao Chen actually believed this place was very effective."

“Alas! Pei-ru, you don’t understand. As the saying goes, ‘One year in heaven is ten years on earth.’ A year is only two and a half hours in heaven. The gods have simply forgotten the time difference between heaven and earth.”

"I'm truly impressed by you! You can even make the dead seem alive!"

"That's the truth!"

Du Peiru decided to stop talking to Xiao Qing. She was currently experiencing oxygen deprivation, her breathing rate doubling. Du Peiru suspected that the reason the White Robe Nunnery hadn't been demolished by the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution's "Eliminate the Four Olds" movement was because they were too weak to destroy it by the time they reached it. Thus, the nunnery remained, a source of "calamity" for humanity.

"Pei-ru, did you get a good fortune slip? Let's go get it interpreted! Mine is 168—'All the way to prosperity,' which is a good sign! What about yours?"

"Fourteen, in Cantonese it is 'seriously dead,' meaning definitely dead."

"Hmm... don't think like that, let's interpret the fortune first! It might be the best fortune you can get."

"14, 168, here, here!" Xiao Qing happily checked the numbers and hurriedly tore off the two small slips of paper.

"Let's look at yours first! 'Fate brings people together from a thousand miles away, crossing time and space to meet your soulmate.' Hmm... this should mean your true love is thousands of miles away. Wow! It could be an overseas Chinese or a student studying abroad, you're rich! The next sentence should be... Oh! Right! This fortune slip should say that once you get through this sad period of heartbreak, you will meet your true love!" Xiao Qing was interpreting the fortune slip for Du Peiru with the air of an expert. This was understandable; Xiao Qing had heard others interpret it more than 20 times, and she knew it by heart.

"What a load of rubbish! Even this fortune stick is against me! It's always the worst possible fortune!" Xiao Qing said, tearing it up without letting Du Peiru see it.

"Don't be angry! Getting angry will cause wrinkles!" Du Peiru comforted her.

"That's right! Don't be angry! Don't be angry! Pei-ru, let's stay here tonight! The environment here is so nice, it would be a shame not to enjoy it! We can also take some nice photos to take back! Let's stay! I'll go tell the host." Good heavens! Before Du Pei-ru could even answer her, she had already run off to find the host.

The mountain air was so fresh! The moon was so round and big! Under the moonlight, the mountain scenery was even more enchanting! Du Peiru couldn't resist the temptation and left her room. She walked along a path, admiring the beautiful scenery around her. Before she knew it, she had walked quite a distance! Suddenly, Du Peiru noticed a faint light ahead. She went to look, and when she looked down, she was horrified! She was standing on a cliff, below which lay a lake. The lake water reflected the moonlight, which was why Du Peiru saw the faint light. The lake under the moonlight looked hazy and beautiful! Just as Du Peiru was about to sit down and admire it, a cry of alarm came from behind her: "Don't do anything foolish, Peiru!" Hearing this, Du Peiru's heart skipped a beat, and she involuntarily leaned forward, falling off the cliff.

(3)

It turned out that Xiao Qing was already awake when Du Peiru left the room. Xiao Qing thought Du Peiru was about to do something foolish, so she secretly got up and followed Du Peiru, trying to stop her before she committed suicide. Xiao Qing had no idea from beginning to end that she was the one who harmed Du Peiru.

Du Peiru woke up by the lake. "How did I get here?" she thought hard. Finally, Du Peiru remembered that she had fallen off the cliff because she was frightened by Xiao Qing's scream, then she saw a white light surround her, and then she woke up here.

"That damn Xiao Qing almost got me killed! I told you she should have come down to find me or called the police! What a disloyal thing! I'll teach her a lesson when I get back!" Suddenly, Du Peiru felt a little hungry, so she decided to go and fill her stomach first.

After walking for quite a while, Du Peiru finally saw the houses. Upon closer inspection, she realized they were all ancient buildings. Was it a tourist attraction? Never mind, she decided to go and check it out!

Wow! They're all dressed in ancient costumes! Is this a movie shoot? I'm doomed! The director's gonna yell at me, run! "Who threw something at me? Daring to mess with me, you want to die?" Du Peiru angrily turned around and yelled, only to see a large group of children running back in surprise. They ran for a while before stopping and shouting at Du Peiru, "Crazy woman, crazy woman, ha, ha, ha..."

Du Peiru looked around. Good heavens! Everyone was looking at her strangely! Oh my god! Run!

"Finally, I've shaken off those kids!" Du Peiru wiped the sweat from her brow with her sleeve, panting heavily. She looked around. "Wow! There's a dilapidated temple. I'll rest for a bit!" So Du Peiru went into the temple and found a clean spot to sit down. Perhaps because she was too tired, she soon fell asleep.

(4)

"Miss, there's a dilapidated temple here. It should be the place Master Shen mentioned. Let's go in and rest for a bit. Miss, be careful!" A voice came from outside the temple.

Du Peiru was awakened by their voices. Opening her blurry eyes, she saw a master and servant enter the dilapidated temple. Heavens! Impossible! Du Peiru rubbed her eyes, stood up, and took a few steps forward. How could this be! In the dim moonlight, Du Peiru saw that the woman before her looked exactly like herself. Du Peiru pinched her arm. "Ouch!" It hurt! It wasn't a dream! "My goodness! Why are one strange thing after another happening to me?" Du Peiru said, scratching her head with both hands.

At the same time, the terrified master and servant also screamed. Then the maid protected her master and said in a trembling voice, "You...you are...what...demon...you...don'e...closer! I...I...I have tective talisman...if you, you, if you touch me, I, I will be annihilated, you...please don't, please don't come...closer!"

"I'm not a monster, I'm human too!" Du Peiru said softly, giving a gentle smile. "My name is Du Peiru. What's yours?"

When the mistress saw Du Peiru smiling at her, she smiled back and said, "My name is Li Yushan."

"Can I touch you?" Du Peiru asked.

Li Yushan nodded. But her maidservant loudly refused, "No!"

"Jin'er!" Li Yushan scolded.

Jin'er turned around, wanting to say something, but Li Yushan shook her head, indicating it was alright. So Jin'er reluctantly stepped aside, still striking a pose of fierce loyalty to her mistress. Du Peiru then stepped forward, touched Li Yushan's face, then her own, frowning slightly as she said, "It's true!"

“Of course it’s true. Would my young lady be lying?” the maid named Jin’er retorted.

"Are you filming a movie?" Du Peiru really hoped that she would answer "yes".

"What is filming?" Jin'er asked curiously.

When Du Peiru heard Jin'er ask this question, her hope turned to disappointment, and she asked dejectedly, "What dynasty is it now?"

“The Song Dynasty!” Jin’er replied.

"The Song Dynasty! The Song Dynasty? My God! Have I returned to my past life or traveled through time?"

(5)

Seeing Du Peiru's state, Jin'er was convinced she was crazy, so she protected her mistress and took a few steps back. At that moment, Du Peiru's stomach was rumbling loudly.

"Do you have anything to eat? I haven't eaten all day."

“Yes,” Li Yushan said softly. “Jin’er, give her some steamed buns.”

"Miss, this is our dry rations!" Jin'er said, clutching her padded coat tightly.

"It's alright, we brought some silver with us."

Hearing her mistress's words, Jin'er reluctantly handed Du Peiru a few steamed buns. Du Peiru took the buns and wolfed them down, asking between bites, "Where are you planning to go?"

"We..." Du Yushan was about to say something, but Jin'er interrupted, saying, "No, we're not going anywhere."

"Judging from how nervous you all are, it's fine if you don't want to talk about it," Du Peiru said.

After that, the three of them didn't say a word. Du Peiru finished her steamed bun and sat on the ground, observing coldly. Jin'er seemed to be getting more and more anxious; she couldn't sit still on the ground and often ran to the door to look around. Li Yushan also unconsciously frowned.

"Miss, why hasn't Master Shen arrived yet? Could it be? No, no!" Jin'er stamped her feet anxiously.

"Can you tell me why?" Du Peiru looked at Li Yushan with sincere eyes.

Li Yushan opened her mouth, as if to say something. But Jin'er immediately called out, "Miss!"

When Li Yushan heard Jin'er call her, she fell silent again. She lowered her head, biting her lip, as if lost in thought. After a while, she quickly raised her head and looked at Du Peiru with a determined gaze.

"Miss!" Jin'er called out again.

Ignoring Jin'er, Li Yushan said, "Miss Du, you are not married yet, are you?"

"No!" Du Peiru replied.

"Aren't you engaged either?"

Du Peiru nodded.

"That's good! Miss Du, I need your help!"

"How can I help you?"

"Help me marry someone!"

"Get married?!" Du Peiru stared at Li Yushan in surprise.

"Miss, are you asking her to help you marry Ouyang Han?" Jin'er couldn't help but interject.

"No! I want to marry Shen Lang!"

"What?! Miss, are you crazy?"

(6)

Ignoring Jin'er, Li Yushan continued, "Miss Du, I know this is unbelievable, but I assure you, Shen Lang will be a good husband. He will love you dearly!"

"Since he's so great, why don't you marry him?"

"My father has arranged a marriage for me..."

“Ouyang Han? Is that right?” Du Peiru interjected.

Li Yushan nodded.

"Actually, you could ignore Ouyang Han and elope with Shen Lang!"