Chapter 328: Tai Sui

Chapter 328: The Great Year

Bewildered by suffocation, Bai Lingmiao felt herself floating, rising to the rafters of the ancestral hall. When she looked down, she saw her own pale, eyes-white face and the red veil of the great deity.

“Is this what death feels like?” Bai Lingmiao tried to look at her body below, but it was empty—nothing remained.

Suddenly, an idea struck her, and joy stirred in her heart. “My parents haven’t gone far yet—I can still catch up with them!”

But just as she raised her head to search for her family, she found that a series of indescribable things had sealed the entire starry sky.

Watching these shifting forms, Bai Lingmiao could be certain they were celestial beings—and all of them were sorrowful, for the emotions that had briefly touched them hadn’t faded.

“What more do you want from me now that I’m already dead?”

She attempted to pass through them, but was instantly repelled and fell upside-down, hanging from a rope, face-to-face with her own inverted self.

She saw her reflection had completely transformed—her pink eyes replaced by long, crimson, beastly ones. Even more unsettling was the crack on her face, revealing another pair of beastly eyes staring back at her.

Suddenly, the figure before her raised its long-nailed hands and seized her head, swallowing her whole.

The scales of a serpent tore through Bai Lingmiao’s skin, effortlessly severing the tight rope.

She crashed to the ground, barely able to process what had happened when a sharp pain erupted from deep within her skull, making her clutch her head and scream.

It hurt beyond anything she’d ever experienced.

Then, without warmth or emotion, the word “Two” appeared in her mind.

This was her task for the month—if she failed, she could imagine the consequences.

And she knew it would only grow larger.

With her neck darkened by bruising, Bai Lingmiao looked up despairingly toward the black rafters above.

From the moment she became a medium, her life had never truly belonged to her—even death was not hers to choose.

The previous events had filled her with a secret joy—she finally had the ability to help Brother Li. But now, the celestial beings had finally revealed their claws.

Bai Lingmiao recalled Li Zhi’s last words: “I’ll never be a medium again. It’s too humiliating.”

Only now did she understand what he meant. As a medium, she was nothing more than a slave to those celestial beings, with no freedom at all.

“Waaahhh!” Bai Lingmiao covered her face with both hands and wept bitterly in the dark ancestral hall, her sobs echoing endlessly.

The deity who had been admiring the moon heard the crying and seemed to recall something. Beneath the red veil, the three mouths sighed deeply, then took out a jade pendant and examined it repeatedly.

“Father?”

“No, teacher,” replied Li Huowang, who had already given up arguing.

He regretted so deeply that he had ever eaten noodles at that stall—how could eating noodles bring such trouble?

“Gawk gawk gawk!” The ducks in the coop beside him irritated him further. Why were there so many people heading to Yinling City today? The wide roads were packed solid.

“Father?”

“Alright, shut up,” Li Huowang muttered, pulling out two cotton balls and stuffing them deeper into his ears.

After sitting in the carriage for hours, they finally arrived at Li Huowang’s destination. Upon showing his Sky-Watching Bureau badge, he was immediately allowed to proceed.

Back in the bustling city of Yinling, Li Huowang exhaled in relief, guiding the horse-drawn carriage toward the inn. After such a long journey, he had finally arrived.

When he saw the temporary earthen kiln set up at the crossroads, he frowned in confusion. “What is this?”

“A Taoist,” said the monk, answering his question. “Today is Mid-Autumn Festival. Didn’t you know you have to build a kiln for the festival?”

Li Huowang shook his head after tugging at the reins. “We don’t have that custom in our village.”

“What customs do you have, then?”

“We don’t have any. We just eat mooncakes.”

Once settled in the inn, the outside world gradually grew dark. Normally, Yinling City would be under curfew, but tonight, it was unusually open.

The market was brightly lit, children carrying pomelo lanterns turning the entire city into a city of perpetual night.

Li Huowang waited inside the inn for Tuoba Danqing to arrive, but instead, only a pigeon carrying a message came.

“Tonight is Moon Night. My brother must return home to spend time with his wife and children. If there are matters, we’ll talk tomorrow evening.”

Seeing the note, Li Huowang felt disheartened. Did the Sky-Watching Bureau also take holidays?

This new understanding of the massive organization made him feel even more uncertain about what to do next.

He sat in the room, his gaze distant. What should he do now?

“What else can you do? Celebrate the festival, of course. Except for New Year’s, I love Mid-Autumn best,” the monk said, stepping forward.

“Celebrate with whom?”

“With us,” Red Zhong suddenly spoke up.

Li Huowang glanced at the four illusions before him, then walked to the window and whistled softly toward the stable where Mantou was guarding the carriage.

Mantou barked excitedly and rushed over.

Li Huowang called the waiter over and ordered a full meal to be sent to his room. He paid generously—the table was filled with chicken, duck, fish, and meat.

Watching Mantou devour the food beneath the table, Li Huowang picked up his chopsticks and took a bite of the yellow chicken. The taste was good, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that it lacked flavor. He poured himself a cup of wine and drank deeply. Not used to alcohol, he quickly became drunk.

Staggering, Li Huowang raised his cup to the full moon. “Nothing beats the smell of noodles in a pot in the wild, back in the days.”

“Father?”

“Hey! Son!” Li Huowang kicked Mantou. “Let’s celebrate Mid-Autumn together, the three of us!”

He didn’t know exactly when he had fallen asleep. When he woke up, he saw Mantou crouched low, snarling at the black tendrils emerging from his body, growling threats.

Li Huowang flicked his finger at the tendril—it quickly retracted into his navel. “Has the Black Great Year learned to come out on its own now?”

That might be bad news—but right now, Li Huowang didn’t care much.

“Go down and watch the carriage.” With a gesture toward the door, Mantou slunk away with his tail between his legs.

Li Huowang sat up, picked up his chopsticks again, and resumed eating the cold banquet laid out on the table.

After eating and drinking his fill, he sat by the window and took out a book. This time, it wasn’t the *Three Character Classic*, but the higher-level *Thousand Character Text*.

“…The sword is known as Jue, the pearl as Nightlight, fruits are prized for plums and pears, vegetables for mustard and ginger. The sea is salty, rivers are fresh, fish swim in water, birds fly in the sky…”

As he read, he began to hear a muffled, unclear voice in his ears. At first, it was chaotic, but gradually, it became clearer.

“…Music is valued differently; rituals distinguish rank. Harmony among superiors and subordinates, husband leads, wife follows…”

(End of Chapter)