Volume One, Chapter 94: Clarifying the Rumors at Clear Breeze Temple, Head-On

The chat erupted.

"Wait?"

"My neighbor’s dog went out for a stroll this morning, and guess what? It came back carrying a human head in its mouth!"

"What the hell? That’s wild."

"If I were the owner, I’d be terrified."

"Could it be the dog bit someone’s head clean off?"

"No way, right?"

"What the hell? Aren’t you from West Ridge?"

Fuziwen saw that message and immediately asked, "Yes! Were you there too?"

"No, no, I’m studying out of town. But my mom told me about it. She said the one who died was a man."

Fuziwen nodded and looked at Qin Yu. "Master, you know this man."

Qin Yu frowned, and a name had already taken shape in her mind.

The paper crane she had sent to find Luo Tian’s Shade had exploded on the spot.

At first she thought someone had interfered. Now, thinking back, it must have been that Luo Tian’s Shade had already been dismembered after death, and the paper crane had no idea which piece to follow, so it blew itself apart.

"Who are you talking about? You’re killing me here!"

"Can’t you just say it? If not, I’ll go dig through the internet myself."

"Spit it out, stop acting mysterious like some grandmaster."

"…"

The barrage of comments urged him on in a frenzy.

"It was Luo Yiyi’s father, Luo Tian’s Shade."

"???"

"Didn’t Luo Tian’s Shade run off in the middle of the night? Are you sure you didn’t see wrong?"

"My father-in-law went to take refuge, didn’t he? I also think you must have seen wrong."

"If I remember right, West Ridge is thousands of kilometers from here, isn’t it?"

"A true thousand-mile delivery of a human head?"

"At first I doubted myself too. But I forced myself to compare carefully, even though it made me sick. It really was him!"

Because he had found Luo Yiyi beautiful, he had watched that livestream with unusual attention, and Luo Tian’s Shade’s face had left a deep impression on him.

"Do you have a photo? Send it to me."

"Ew, the guy above has a pretty dark taste."

The young man shook his head. "The police were worried photos would spread and cause panic, so they had them all deleted."

The silent Qin Yu finally spoke. "He didn’t misidentify him."

"Really dead? My God, just thinking that someone who was speaking in a livestream two days ago is suddenly gone... I can’t accept it!"

"He really died?"

"Then how heartbroken must his wife be?"

"His fortune is gone, the pillar of the home is dead. How are his wife and daughter supposed to survive?"

"Oh my God! I was shipping that couple just the other day! How did they become separated by life and death in the blink of an eye?"

"I can’t even imagine—could I trade my ex-boyfriend’s life for Luo Tian’s Shade’s life?"

"What a pity."

The young man looked at Qin Yu and asked curiously, "Master, didn’t you say that as long as their fortune was wiped out, the calamity would be averted? Why did he still die in the end?"

"Yeah! Didn’t he do exactly what the master said? Why did he still die?"

"Hurry and check Qingfeng Temple’s official account too—they’re livestreaming as well!"

The scent of a huge scandal drifted through the air.

The netizens rushed to the front lines without hesitation.

Unlike Qin Yu’s Doi account, which had seventy or eighty thousand followers, Qingfeng Temple had several million.

As soon as the stream started, the number of viewers was already in the tens of thousands.

"It’s Master Falling Blossom! I queued for three days last time and still didn’t get in line. I can’t believe I’m seeing the real person in a livestream today!"

"Uh, can I ask what happened? Why would Qingfeng Temple, which is usually so low-key, suddenly start a livestream?"

"It seems a small streamer’s fans were slandering Qingfeng Temple, so they came on to clear things up."

"What slander? Qingfeng Temple clearly just isn’t very competent!"

"Oh, so you’re one of that fraud streamer’s fans, huh? We haven’t even settled accounts with you yet, and you pop up on your own."

A portion of Qin Yu’s fans spoke up for her in the barrage, but with the overwhelming number of viewers, their comments were quickly drowned out.

Qin Yu was curious too, so she followed along.

Inside Qingfeng Temple’s livestream was a slightly plump man with a full beard, dressed in a yellow robe trimmed in white. His features were proper and square, and he held a purple clay teapot in his hand, giving him a somewhat immortal air.

Master Falling Blossom bowed first, and his deep voice rang out. "Thank you, fellow daoists, for taking time out of your busy schedules to watch Qingfeng Temple’s livestream. We are deeply grateful."

"Recently, a charlatan with impure motives has been maliciously smearing and fabricating lies about Qingfeng Temple. Today, I, Falling Blossom, represent Qingfeng Temple in coming forward to clarify the truth."

"Who would dare slander Qingfeng Temple? It’s the most effective temple I’ve ever seen! My son’s encephalitis was cured only after praying at Qingfeng Temple! Master Falling Blossom is like my son’s reborn parents!"

"And Master Lotus Peak too, he’s amazing!"

"Master, don’t worry! We’ve always believed in Qingfeng Temple! That villain who slanders Qingfeng Temple won’t come to a good end!"

Qin Yu watched the scrolling comments and frowned.

Had she become a villain so quickly?

"Your Qingfeng Temple couldn’t even purify the evil presence on someone else’s antique properly, and you still dare come here acting pitiful? Aren’t you ashamed?"

That was clearly one of Qin Yu’s fans.

Master Falling Blossom had been waiting for exactly this.

A gleam of triumph burst in his clear eyes. "This fellow daoist, do you have proof for what you’re saying?"

"The replay from Master Autumn Breeze’s livestream is proof!"

The smile in Master Falling Blossom’s eyes grew even more obvious. If not for his long beard hiding the corners of his mouth, his smug grin would already be visible.

"I have watched the livestream replay you mentioned, and I have already investigated the truth."

"All of this was nothing more than a one-man show orchestrated by the streamer called Autumn Rain, all for the sake of riding on Qingfeng Temple’s popularity and boosting her own fame."

"The green snake with a human body and serpent tail in her livestream was controlled by her using an evil art that the righteous daoists disdain. Mr. Luo and our Qingfeng Temple have worked together for more than ten years. If we had not purified the antiquities thoroughly, how could Mr. Luo have failed to notice anything at all?"

"You’re only giving your side of the story too. What evidence do you have that what you’re saying is true?"

Master Falling Blossom looked full of regret. "Mr. Luo believed that streamer Autumn Rain, and dying in a foreign land is the best proof of that."

"Can anyone understand this? I’m completely lost."

"Can someone translate the whole sequence of events for me?"

"I feel like a field rat in the grass, desperately searching for the melon to eat."

"Let me explain briefly: two days ago, a streamer named Autumn Rain took on a case where a girl’s home was haunted. She discovered that the evil presence was caused by an object contaminated because an antique had not been properly purified."

"That in itself was a pretty ordinary matter, but the person responsible for purifying the antiques was the senior disciple of the True Person of No Substance at Qingfeng Temple, Master Reed. So then the fans of that master went to Qingfeng Temple to demand an explanation."

"So what kind of background does that streamer have, daring to slander Qingfeng Temple like this? Who gave him the guts? Liang Jingru?"

"I heard that streamer is actually pretty capable, supposedly accurate at almost everything."

"Even if he is capable, can he compare to Qingfeng Temple?"

"So the meaning now is that all of this was a self-directed performance by that streamer, just to grab attention?"

"That’s what Master Falling Blossom means."

"No way, this is like an egg trying to smash a rock. Who exactly is that streamer? Can someone tag him so I can take a look?"

"@Autumn Rain, this one!"

"@Autumn Rain"

In an instant, tens of thousands flooded into Qin Yu’s livestream, and then they discovered that Autumn Rain herself was in Qingfeng Temple’s livestream, eating up her own scandal.