"Fortune-telling?" Qianye repeated the word.
It didn't feel like Jane's usual style at all, but she looked oddly enthusiastic—and he, frankly, wanted to shake off the heavy mood from earlier as quickly as possible. So he nodded.
"Sure… We're just wandering around anyway."
He looked at her. "Do you know anywhere that does it?"
Jane was about to toss out a random suggestion when the dessert shop owner—who had been wiping down their table—suddenly leaned in.
She was a lively girl with dark green hair, and the moment she heard their conversation her eyes lit up. She hastily withdrew the blatantly appreciative stare she'd been aiming at Qianye, wiped at the corner of her mouth as if to hide her drool, then chimed in with bright, eager warmth.
"You two want to get your fortune told? Then you should go to Suibian Temple up ahead! That's where the cultivators from Yun Kui Mountain practice! And I heard their sect master—the one who never shows their face—has come back recently!"
With the owner's detailed directions, Qianye and Jane quickly arrived and found the building with the plaque that read SUibian Temple.
Just as she'd said, the place looked old—gray walls, black tiles, the weary texture of long neglect. Even the writing on the plaque had faded into blur.
What stood out most were the doors.
Two heavy wooden doors stood wide open, as if the temple had known in advance that visitors would come.
Qianye paused at the threshold, hesitant, peering inside.
A small courtyard lay beyond, facing the main hall. The light inside was dim, the hall shut tight, impossible to make out clearly.
But what drew his gaze wasn't the hall at all—it was the ground.
A thin layer of dust lay spread evenly across the courtyard stones, undisturbed.
The air carried a stale, aged scent—dust and a faint trace of mildew—nothing like Pingxintang's living, vigorous medicinal fragrance.
"Is there… really anyone here?" Qianye muttered under his breath, green eyes full of doubt. "It looks like no one's been here for ages. The dust is so thick…"
He tugged lightly at Jane's sleeve, already retreating in spirit. "Should we… go somewhere else?"
Before Jane could answer, something furry and heavy brushed against Qianye's shin.
"Mm-nnh mm-nnh!" (Incense guest! Such a fragrant incense guest!)
A sharp, chirpy "mm-nnh" rang out—oddly gritty, like stone scraping.
Qianye looked down and his eyes widened slightly.
A Bangboo—an extremely strange one—was nuzzling his leg with an oversized head carved into the shape of a lion's face, yet still rounded with that unmistakable Bangboo cuteness.
Its entire body had a bluish-gray, stone-like sheen, as if sculpted from rock, but it moved with surprising agility. Round body, short thick limbs, and a stubby tail like a tiny stone pillar.
It tilted its head up at him, yellow electronic eyes glowing with gentle warmth, and continued to make adorable noises completely at odds with its "guardian lion" look.
"Mm-nnh mm-nnh!" (Esteemed incense guest, will you help me revive Suibian Temple for my whole—)
"Wait—what?!" Qianye blurted.
After rubbing its big head against him a few more times, the stone-lion Bangboo—Shiye—wrapped its short, chubby arms around Qianye's leg and began dragging him toward a side corridor leading to a detached courtyard.
It was shockingly strong. Qianye barely resisted and still stumbled forward several steps.
"W-Wait—where are you taking me?" he asked, startled.
But Shiye looked so harmless—and frankly too silly to fear—that Qianye gave up resisting and let it lead him, curiosity overtaking caution.
He called back, "Jane, should we follow it and see?"
He turned his head—
and realized Jane wasn't moving.
Jane stood where she was, brows tightening.
The instant she tried to step forward, an invisible force dropped down like a mountain.
Space around her seemed to harden. Her feet might as well have been welded to the ground—she couldn't move even a fraction.
Worse: it wasn't just her legs. Lifting a finger, shifting her eyes, even the smallest adjustment became brutally difficult.
This wasn't a physical restraint.
It felt like the very concept of "action" had been denied—absolute suppression from a higher order of power.
Jane's pupils constricted. Every muscle in her body snapped tight in a thousandth of a second, the instincts of a top-tier undercover operative and combatant slamming her into full alert.
Who?!Who could do this to her without her noticing anything at all?
At the same time, Shiye—still tugging Qianye along—seemed to sense something too. It abruptly released Qianye's leg, spun toward Jane, and its yellow eyes went wide with a very human kind of shock… and something like awe.
It even let out a short, tense "Mm-nnh!"
Qianye froze, confused by Shiye's sudden reaction, and followed its gaze—
and his heart nearly skipped.
Behind Jane, a person had appeared without a sound, like a ghost.
She wore a simple white daoist jacket and black leather pants. On her right thigh, over dark stockings, three old copper coins were strapped in place.
Long silver hair was loosely gathered behind her head, with one stubborn cowlick sticking up. A few strands fell along her cheek, emphasizing a profile that was cool and jade-clean.
She stood there with no dramatic movement at all.
Only one thing marked her intent—
a single pale, slender index finger, lifted and pointed at Jane's back.
That one "casual" finger created the pressure field that pinned Jane in place, utterly.
"Jane!" Qianye cried, panic and worry flashing across his face.
He instinctively tried to rush back to her—
but Shiye's round body shifted into his path, blocking him. It made a low, whimpering sound, as if urging him not to approach.
Qianye's voice shook as he stared at the silver-haired woman. "What did you do to her?!"
Even though he wasn't a fighter, he could clearly feel the suffocating weight of her presence.
The woman didn't answer him immediately.
Her amber eyes—deep as old water—rested on Jane's back, assessing, analyzing. The pressure on Jane didn't intensify, but it didn't vanish either.
After a brief silence, her voice finally cut through the frozen air—cool and clear, like struck porcelain.
"Mm." It sounded as if she'd confirmed something. The force at her fingertip shifted its frequency almost imperceptibly. "Miss, have you recently entered Hollows for combat? Or participated in a prolonged investigation as an Hollow investigator?"
Her tone was flat—more statement than question.
"Otherwise, there's no explaining the abnormal ether flow on you…"
She paused, then lifted her free hand and traced a pattern in the air.
A complex, exquisitely structured sigil—pale gold, formed entirely of ether—assembled instantly under her fingertip, shining softly yet unmistakably.
"…Like it's being disturbed by a deeper 'mark.' Not lethal, but clinging like a bone-deep parasite. It will subtly influence your judgment… and even draw unnecessary 'attention.'"
Before Jane could respond, the golden sigil drifted forward as if alive and pressed itself into her back.
The moment it made contact, Jane shuddered hard—
not in pain, but in something closer to release.
A dull, heavy pressure that had been hanging in the depths of her mind—something she hadn't even fully realized was there—was wiped clean by an unseen hand.
The thin, background irritability. The faint sense of being nudged, guided, pulled.
All of it vanished.
Her thoughts snapped into a clarity she hadn't felt in a long time. Her body returned to that familiar, fully self-owned lightness.
At the same time, the finger that had been suppressing her withdrew.
The rigidity of space dissolved.
Jane could move again.
She turned on the spot—fast, smooth, controlled—eyes like knives as she locked onto the woman behind her.
And when she saw that calm, unearthly face—especially the distinctive amber eyes with a faint green ring—
Jane's pupils shrank.
A flicker of shock cut across her gaze, sharp and naked.
It lasted less than a breath.
Years of living on the edge of danger tightened her expression back into place. The familiar, effortless smile returned—playful, a little insolent—but with a new weight beneath it.
"…Didn't expect this," she said, flexing her wrist lightly as if testing that she truly had full control again. "To think you'd show up here. What a… surprise."
The silver-haired woman watched her without expression. As if what she'd just done was no more notable than brushing dust off a sleeve.
"Oh?" she said faintly. "You know me?"
"Of course." Jane's smile deepened, and the sharp intelligence in her blue-green eyes flashed. "Master Yixuan of Yun Kui Mountain. The current sect leader."
Her tone carried a deliberate test as she added, "Rumor says… you possess Void Hunter–class strength."
"Only a nominal registration with the HIA," Yixuan corrected coolly. "At most, I update data periodically. No deeper affiliation."
She neither confirmed nor denied the rumor itself.
Her gaze swept Jane again, as if looking straight through the skin and into something underneath.
"The mark on you is unusual. This isn't typical Hollow corrosion—it resembles a man-made tagging technique. If you hadn't been repeatedly exposed to high-concentration filth-ether environments recently, or suffered significant mental turbulence, it would have stayed hidden far deeper."
She didn't press for the source.
She didn't pry into Jane's identity.
She simply stated what she had seen.
Jane's thoughts raced.
Yixuan's sudden appearance. Her immediate diagnosis. The effortless suppression and even more effortless purification…
All of it was outside Jane's initial expectations.
But the woman didn't appear hostile. If anything, she'd just helped Jane remove an invisible hazard.
Enemy? Ally? And why here?
Jane's gaze flicked, almost unconsciously, to Qianye.
The "little doctor" was staring at her with pure concern in his clear green eyes, unaware of how dangerous the brief exchange had truly been.
Jane made her decision in a heartbeat.
Her smile warmed, turning more sincere, letting the "collaborator" mask show just a sliver of respect.
"I see. Thank you, Sect Leader, for your help." She dipped her head in a small salute. "I did feel my mind dragging lately. I assumed it was just fatigue. Your words made it clear."
Then she turned to Qianye, tone deliberately light, calming.
"Qianye, this is Master Yixuan of Yun Kui Mountain. A real expert. Looks like our fortune-telling trip wasn't a waste after all."
Seeing Jane move normally again—and seeing the tension between her and Yixuan appear… less lethal—Qianye finally breathed out, though uncertainty still lingered in his eyes as he looked from one woman to the other.
Yixuan's gaze shifted to him.
When her eyes met Qianye's clear green ones—and the disturbingly pure ether flow around him—something faint flickered in the depth of her stare.
Her internal assessment turned heavier in a way she did not show on her face.
Then she spoke, emotionless as ever.
"You came to divine him?"
Jane didn't dodge. "Yes."
She stepped closer, naturally hooking her arm around Qianye again—part comfort, part anchoring statement: this person matters to me.
"But what I really want to know is… the mark you mentioned. Could it affect him?"
"Him?" Yixuan's gaze lingered on Qianye a moment, then she shook her head. "He is clean. At least—he isn't tainted by anything similar."
Her certainty left no room for argument.
Then she added, turning back to Jane with an effortless finality:
"If you want a detailed reading, it requires a quiet room, isolation, and no outside disturbance. Your mark has been dispelled, but the residual fluctuations still need settling. You are not suited to approach the divination rite."
The meaning was obvious.
Only Qianye could go inside.
Jane's brow tightened.
Leaving Qianye alone with someone this deep, this unreadable? Her instincts resisted hard.
But the memory of absolute suppression returned—cold and clear: if Yixuan had wanted to harm them, she wouldn't need excuses.
And Jane wanted answers—about Qianye's "future," and more importantly, about whether unseen dangers still circled him.
After weighing risk and gain, she exhaled.
She let her smile bloom again—bright, trusting, though the vigilance never fully left her eyes. She released Qianye's arm and gave him a light push between the shoulder blades.
"Go on, little doctor," she said casually, as if sending him into a routine consultation. "Let Master Yixuan take a good look at you. I'll wait outside."
She glanced at Shiye. "I'll keep this stone-lion kid company."
Jane even bent slightly, reaching as if to pat Shiye's big carved head.
Shiye shied back in bashful hesitation—but didn't fully dodge. It made a soft "mm-nnh mm-nnh," flustered and pleased.
Qianye looked at Jane, then at Yixuan.
He still felt nervous, but Jane's insistence steadied him, and Yixuan didn't feel like a villain—at least not openly.
"…Okay," he said. "Then I'm going in."
Yixuan didn't speak. She only shifted aside, opening the corridor toward the quiet room.
Her silver hair caught the light filtering through the eaves, immaculate and pale—striking against the dusty courtyard like a blade of clean snow.
Qianye glanced back once more. Jane gave him a bright, encouraging smile.
Then he stepped forward and followed Yixuan into the unknown.
Jane stayed at the entrance, watching Qianye's back disappear around the corridor corner. Only then did her smile slowly fade.
She folded her arms and leaned against the mottled wall, eyes sweeping the dusty ground, then settling on Shiye as it stared back at her curiously.
The courtyard fell quiet, broken only by the faint moaning of wind under old eaves.
Trust had formed—barely.
Doubt remained.
And the waiting, for Jane, promised to be longer than any undercover assignment she'd ever endured.
She didn't know that inside the quiet room, a conversation about the past, the present, and the future had only just begun.
The quiet room's lighting had been tuned to be soft and unfussy, gentle enough not to distract. A thin ribbon of incense lingered in the air, calming the mind.
Yixuan and Qianye sat facing each other across a low wooden table.
Yixuan's unusual double pupils rested on the boy who was trying his best to look composed.
After a moment, her cool voice spoke.
"Before divination, I want to ask you a question."
Qianye sat straighter, eyes earnest. "Master Yixuan—please ask!"
Her gaze seemed to pierce straight past appearances.
She leaned forward slightly, voice lowering into a strange rhythm.
"Do you know you are not human…?"
She paused, then corrected herself as if choosing better words, watching the subtle change in Qianye's face.
"Or rather—do you know you are not… ordinary?"
Qianye stiffened. In the clear green of his eyes, a flash of panic flickered—then he fell silent.
Yixuan's mouth curved into a small smile. The earlier chill softened, and in that easing, the distance between them felt smaller.
She leaned close to his ear, warm breath brushing his skin.
"Don't be afraid, Qianye. Our meeting is the choice of fate."
Qianye's eyes widened. "Master Yixuan… are you saying you can solve my problem?!"
Whatever shyness remained, it was burned away by urgency. His entire focus narrowed into a single point—waiting for her answer.
And her response made him almost jump from his seat.
"I do have a way to help you," she said, unhurried. "But…"
"But?" Qianye swallowed.
"But the prerequisite is…"
The smile in her eyes deepened. She sat back calmly and delivered the condition with infuriating leisure:
"Call me 'Master' first—let me hear it."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
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Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 155)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
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I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter230)
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Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 200
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
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From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/5
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 230
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 220
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/30
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 120
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 135
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 110
I Can Copy Unique Skills 100
Summoning an Evil God, but the 70
Supernatural Multiverse 100
My Harem Is Indescribable 90
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 95
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 68
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 105
Still playing traditional Honk 69
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 80
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Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 70
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 75
Checking In in Demon Slayer 80
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 85
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 70
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 65
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 70
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 70
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 65
Why did they assign me to Uma 65
MYGO Beauties 65
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 55
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 65
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 45
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 45
The Uma Musume Who Became 40
I'm Definitely Not the King of 45
After Maxing Out Every Class 45
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