Chapter 3

That was a long, long time ago—so long ago that she couldn’t remember many details. She only remembers studying the exquisite skills of her family’s exquisite house every day and every night, forgetting to sleep and eat. Her family was sparse in population, especially lacking in girls. Her mother passed away early due to illness, leaving only her and her elderly father in the family when she was nearly fifteen.

The unique skill of the Ji family was renowned far and wide, so they lacked nothing in terms of clothing and food, but the decline of the family was an undeniable fact. Before his death, her father said, “Tanyin, you should find a good family to marry into. This skill goes against the natural order, and it should not be used anymore in the future, let alone passed on to the next generation. Our Ji family has reached such a state; it is truly a sign of divine punishment.”

She heard him, but it didn’t sink in. As a daughter of the Ji family, delving into the family’s ancestral skills had become her instinct. She was so devoted and passionate that she never considered marrying or falling in love.

Her skills were even more exquisite than her father’s. The exquisite houses she made could be as small as fitting into a sleeve or as large as covering thousands of acres.

In this world, only those who became immortals could create their own realms. To become immortal, one must undergo the Heavenly Thunder Tribulation. The Ji family were just a group of mortal. While they possessed the skill to create realms, they had not experienced the baptism of the Thunder Tribulation like immortals, which was tantamount to defying the natural order.

Like everyone else in the family, she fell ill with an incurable disease.

Her father’s words echoed in her ears, but she couldn’t stop. At that time, she was crafting another extraordinary item, different from the exquisite house, something that could encompass all things in the world.

At the age of seventeen, she finally created four unique Qiankun Bags, unprecedented in the world, then quietly passed away after coughing up blood.

Tanyin opened her eyes to the bright sunshine outside the window, the colorful flowers and green willows, and the unfamiliar scenery.

She was dazed for a moment before remembering that this was the residence of a high priest. People were strange, and so was the place they lived in, called the Hexagonal Hall. While the Fox clan’s houses were quite unique, half of the Hexagonal Hall was buried underground. The building was divided into three floors, with only a glimpse of sunlight visible on the second floor, but fortunately, the bedrooms were on the third floor.

There were no pine or cypress trees in the courtyard in front of the Hexagonal Hall. Instead, there were large patches of celestial flowers, white as snow, each flower the size of a palm with white stamens. It was unclear what species they were. To the south of the hall was a small lake, with colorful flowers and green willows on the shore, contrasting sharply with the white expanse in front of the hall.

The unfamiliar scenery held no interest for Tanyin; she felt like she had dreamed last night.

She couldn’t remember how long it had been since she last dreamed. Now, suddenly back in this world,this body actually makes her dream. What a familiar yet strange feeling!

She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again. Suddenly, she saw the window being rudely pushed open from outside and the soap-robed high priest excitedly waving at her from outside.

Tanyin walked over, puzzled.

Yuan Zhong, resting his chin on his hand, looked at her with interest. One look was all it took to startle him. The little maid he brought back didn’t lie down to sleep but instead sat cross-legged on the bed, looking quite formidable and mysterious.

“Are you sleeping sitting up?”

Tanyin scratched her head, seeming embarrassed, and stuttered out, “Um… because… because I admire immortals, so I’m trying to practice…”

Was she just bad at lying, or was she pretending to be innocent?

Yuan Zhong smiled slyly. “I haven’t heard of any immortals who sleep sitting up. Is your leg numb? Come on, I’ll carry you out.”

He waited for Tanyin’s shy or fierce refusal. The high priest of the Fox clan had always been a frivolous fellow, skilled at flirting with beautiful girls.

Even after encountering various refusals, his persistence was his forte. Not even the former priest, Xin Mao, could deal with him.

Tanyin waved her hands repeatedly, then briskly propped herself up on the window and jumped up. Yuan Zhong stared dumbfoundedly as she reached out to grab his shoulder. His gaze wandered from her delicate face to her shoulder, then to her hair, and finally back to her hand—what a straightforward girl! He felt like he was losing in this first round, unable to use all the flowery words he had in mind.

“Your Highness,the High Priest.” Tanyin’s calm voice sounded a bit uncomfortable in his ears this time.

“May I ask what I need to do?”

In truth, he didn’t know either. As the High Priest, his whereabouts have always been elusive. Due to the ongoing conflicts with the War Ghost clan in recent years, the elders often assigned him some rather unsavory tasks. It had been twenty years, and he had never had a maid by his side. He didn’t need one, and the elders wouldn’t give him one.

But this time was different.

Yuan Zhong leaned on his hand for a while, then suddenly his eyes lit up with a smile as he looked at her, and he said softly, “Shall we play chess?”

Tanyin hesitated again. “I… I don’t know how…”

Yuan Zhong still smiled. “How about poetry?”

“…I don’t know that either.”

“How about playing guqin or zither?”

“I still… don’t know.”

Yuan Zhong sighed. “What do you know?”

As soon as he mentioned her strengths, Tanyin’s face lit up. “I know a lot of crafts! If anything here breaks, I’ll definitely be able to repair it better than before! Oh, by the way, that carriage outside—”

She pointed to a magnificent golden carriage parked in the courtyard behind and said, “I can help check if any parts need replacing or repairing.”

That was the specially-used carriage of the High Priest, and she boldly and frankly offered to intervene. Yuan Zhong chuckled again. Whether she was truly clueless or pretending to be, she was indeed talented.

“I don’t need your help with the carriage,” he replied straightforwardly.

Tanyin lowered her head, almost in distress. She had never thought that being a maid would also require proficiency in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. After thinking for a while, she whispered, “I’m willing to learn. I’ll definitely work hard to learn things like chess.”

Yuan Zhong chuckled and suddenly lightly pinched her beautifully shaped chin, leaning in frivolously. “It’s scorching hot today. How about serving me a bath?”

He waited to see her embarrassed reaction. To his surprise, this seemingly dense little maid didn’t react with the coyness or annoyance he expected. Instead, she showed thoughtfulness, saying, “Is that okay? Would the noble skin of the High Priest be seen by me? If you don’t mind, I’m willing.”

“…”

Most of the fox clan lived in Fangwai Mountain, not far from Yuancheng.

It was said that a long time ago, when the Fox clan was still flourishing, they didn’t choose mortals to do menial tasks. During that period, the boundary between humans and immortals was very clear. Later, as the gods withdrew, these tribes that once served the heavenly gods gradually declined. With fewer and fewer members, and because mortals below the mountain admired immortals, they gradually began to select mortals to do menial tasks in the immortal realm in Fangwai Mountain. Nowadays, it has become a regular event every few years.

Perhaps for these immortal beings with long lives, the fresh faces every few years were also a way to alleviate loneliness. All beings feared loneliness—humans as well as immortals.

The immortal realms vary in size, with the grandest being Xiang Mountain, where the mountain lord is quite generous, occupying dozens of peaks and nurturing hundreds of beautiful young men and women as disciples, ensuring perpetual spring-like weather on the mountain. On a smaller scale is Meishan Residence, just a small peak with exquisite courtyards, where Lord Meishan doesn’t accept disciples and only keeps spirits and ghosts as companions.

Although the Fox Clan’s Fangwai mountain wasn’t as grand as Xiang Mountain, it’s mostly covered with wooden bridges, flowing water, and man-made mountain celestial flowers, reflecting the natural belonging of the tribe. It corresponds to the solar terms throughout the year, so this hot seventh lunar month summer is particularly scorching.

Tanyin walked for a while under the sun, feeling her back damp with sweat.

Just now, the High Priest changed his mind and said he wanted to take a walk. They proceeded from the Hexagonal Hall, covered in celestial flowers, heading south. They passed by the small lake and through the tranquil and cool bamboo forest. Along the way, he didn’t say a word. His figure seemed like a deflated balloon, all shriveled up.

Was he unhappy? Tanyin hesitated.

She had never been good at dealing with people. Sometimes she might unintentionally offend someone with a single word. She didn’t want any conflicts with this High Priest; she just wanted to live in peace.

After thinking for a long time, she finally tried to speak up: “High Priest, are you feeling upset? If there’s anything bothering you, you don’t have to keep it to yourself…”

“Shut up for now, keep quiet, and I’ll feel better.” Yuan Zhong turned back to her with a sweet but insincere smile.

Tanyin immediately sealed her lips tightly, not uttering another word, and began to admire the scenery.

After crossing a wooden bridge and passing by an artificial mountain, they heard the sound of flowing water. The scenery before them changed drastically: a range of small green hills traversed from north to south, with several delicate waterfalls cascading down moss-covered large rocks, resembling flying pearls and splashing jade. Finally, they merged into the pond below. A pine-wood pavilion was built on the pond, and a winding bridge connected the pavilion to the shore.

Though the scenery was exquisite, at this moment, the shore and the bridge were densely packed with a group of girls, making even the best scenery feel out of place.

As soon as Yuan Zhong saw the girls, his eyes lit up, and his deflated demeanor immediately inflated, and he floated over without touching the ground. These girls were all maids, some acquainted with the High Priest, some not. However, regardless of acquaintance, facing the High Priest’s shamelessness, they couldn’t really hate him, but liking him was out of the question.

They chattered and laughed with him, but their eyes were all fixed on the elegant and noble young man in purple inside the pavilion.

Tanyin stood far away in the shade of the trees, watching the High Priest as he turned to joke with one girl and then another, the most lively figure in the whole scene, like a big monkey.

Was his mood better now? It changed so quickly; he really was a capricious person.

Tanyin’s gaze followed the High Priest’s hair all the way down, finally settling on the black silk glove on his left hand, staring intently.

The smooth and playful soap-robed man in front of her seemed to transform into another person, sometimes in simple blue clothes, sometimes in shiny silver armor.

At that time, she always remained alone in the darkness, quietly watching his spirited figure and his interactions with others.

She had also wanted to blend into that lively atmosphere, but in the end, she was always alone.

Tanyin sighed almost imperceptibly.

A few young maids, seeing her unfamiliar face, approached her to talk, asking, “Sister, are you here to see Lord Tanghua too?”

Tanghua? Tanyin thought for a moment before remembering the name she heard yesterday. Wasn’t it the immortal in purple robes? She glanced towards the pinewood pavilion and indeed saw Tanghua inside, enjoying himself with a drink.

Tanyin shook her head. “I’m just accompanying the High Priest for a leisurely stroll and happened to pass by here.”

“The High Priest?” The young maids immediately showed a mix of admiration and pity for her. Poor sister, so beautiful and seemingly gentle, how did she become his maid? It’s like putting a beautiful flower on… whatever that is.

Outside the pavilion, Yuan Zhong was chatting and laughing with the maids, the laughter never-ending.

Tanghua, who had intended to find a quiet place away from the crowd to enjoy his drink, was finally irritated by the noise and set down his cup.

How unlucky he was to run into the High Priest returning to the Fox Clan Mountain! With this troublemaker back, he could forget about having peaceful days.

“Wanqiu, Lanxuan, let’s go somewhere else.” Tanghua sighed deeply, deciding to escape the chaos.

As the three of them exited the pavilion, Yuan Zhong’s eyes lit up, and he floated over.

Tanghua felt his scalp tingling and simply hugged his arms, making way for him. Sure enough, the next moment, he pounced on Wanqiu, sticking to her like glue, his voice so gentle it could drip water.

“Wanqiu, my dear sister, have you secretly missed me?”

That maid named Wanqiu, surprisingly, wasn’t angry. She smiled and bowed to him. “High Priest, did you change your mask again? I almost didn’t recognize you yesterday.”

Mask? Tanyin subconsciously looked at his face and realized he was wearing a mask?

Was there really such a lifelike mask in the world? She hadn’t noticed it at all before.

Yuan Zhong was delighted, almost wagging his tail. Even Tanyin felt like his face was inscribed with the words “lecher” and “pervert.”

He touched his face, his eyes sparkling, “If sister Wanqiu wants to see, I’ll take off the mask and let you have a good look.”

Tanghua snorted disdainfully. Here we go again! When Wanqiu was just a little girl who was brought in, Yuan Zhong used this set of sweet words to play with her. It had been three or four years, and he still tried the same trick.

Wanqiu wasn’t fooled; she laughed, “Is there another layer of fake face underneath when you take off this false face? You always wear so many masks on your face, really thick-skinned.”

Yuan Zhong seemed not to hear her insult. He touched his face, then pinched it, sighing, “Hmm, it seems quite thick indeed.”

Tanghua couldn’t stand it anymore and frowned. “You have time to fool around here; why not go find Elder Ding Xu? You should have registered with him after receiving the maids yesterday!”

Yuan Zhong lazily smiled. “So annoying, so far away, I’m not going.”

Tanghua was both angry and astonished. Only when it came to Ji Tanyin’s background did he truly become involved.

Elder Ding Xu had been waiting for him to clarify the situation, yet at this moment, he was acting stubborn. Tanghua’s brows furrowed even tighter. “Elder Ding Xu asked me this morning to remind you again. If you don’t go now, I’ll personally skin your fox fur!”

Upon hearing this threat, Yuan Zhong felt his bones turn to jelly. He wished he could just collapse on the ground.

“Remember to ask sister Wanqiu to help peel the skin herself.”

Tanghua’s face turned livid with anger. He grabbed Yuan Zhong by the collar and threw him into the pond before storming away.