Chapter 795: Side Story 4: 32

Bound by duty, Liu Junyan could not stay constantly by Xiao Jiu's side.

Yet he let Xiao Jiu witness each of his accomplishments in this special way.

Every trace Liu Junyan left on the Splendid State's veins bore Xiao Jiu's footprint.

Such days lasted a full two years.

During these two years, Liu Junyan never returned to Wufu Town; they never spoke a word nor saw each other, yet Xiao Jiu felt he was always there.

Xiao Jiu had a specially made hand-drawn map of the Splendid State, commissioned from Fang Chuanzong, who found the top expert in the industry to draw it, detailing every vein line across the Splendid State.

Each time Liu Junyan pulled her into a dream, upon waking she would unfold that map, after layers of screening finally pinpointing a spot, and Xiao Jiu would mark it with a small red flag in red pen.

During those two years, Liu Junyan rushed around the Splendid State like he'd been injected with chicken blood.

As the little red flags covered the vein lines, Xiao Jiu gradually figured out some clues.

She had always known that Suedi was neither Liu Junyan's starting point nor his endpoint.

Suedi was merely a memory point anchored by Liu Junyan.

Yet it was exactly this memory point that made him fully recall Xiao Jiu, and it allowed Xiao Jiu, after more than five years, to truly sense Liu Junyan's return for the first time.

When the little red flags on the hand-drawn map connected into a line, Xiao Jiu discovered that Liu Junyan's overall range of activity moved from north to south, from the outside inward.

Suedi was a critical point.

In the more than five years before Suedi, during which no one knew Liu Junyan had returned to the mortal world to take up a post, he quietly straightened the veins of the Splendid State north of Suedi.

In the following two years, he took Suedi as his starting point, circling inward along the outer edge of the Splendid State's south, and Wufu Town happened to lie exactly at the center.

That was Liu Junyan's final stop!

Who dares say it's all coincidence?

No, this is not coincidence, but Liu Junyan's meticulously designed Homeward Path.

Xiao Jiu was not idle either.

During these two years she strove to complete every job taken on by Yin Dang Hang, continually accumulating Merit, undergoing three Dream Trials in succession, and her Divine Status gradually stabilized.

Both Xiao Jiu and Liu Junyan continually improved and grew stronger in their own ways.

Xiao Jiu also understood clearly that before each time Liu Junyan pulled her into a dream to share his moment of victory, he had expended enormous effort to lay the groundwork for aligning the veins.

Even a tiny corpse python in Suedi made Xiao Jiu expend some effort, while the difficulties Liu Junyan faced were far greater and far more arduous.

Xiao Jiu marked Liu Junyan's movements on the hand-drawn map throughout these two years and studied his plans precisely to discern a pattern and anticipate his next destination ahead of time.

The Splendid State is vast and resource-rich, its veins a tangled web; although most veins are trouble-free, Xiao Jiu, though she had early on clarified Liu Junyan's movement trajectory, found it hard to determine whether any possible landing point for him might be problematic.

The next point might be that very one, or it could be separated by one or more points.

Xiao Jiu could never be certain, wanting to help but unable to.

She did not force it; after several Dream Trials, her state of mind grew ever more tranquil.

Especially when facing major events.

Until the third year, which was the end of the eighth year after Liu Junyan's ascension, Xiao Jiu took on a death‑pawn job.

She refused this job twice.

The third time, she too had wanted to refuse……

It was a palm‑sized compass forged of pure gold, clearly an antique; to Xiao Jiu's eye it dated back at least to the Northern Song period.

The one who came to pawn this golden compass was a southerner, speaking halting Mandarin and spinning a tale for Xiao Jiu.

He said the golden compass had been handed down in his family, a family heirloom.

He also said his ancestors for generations had been feng shui masters, relying on this golden compass, but due to turbulent times his family fell into decline, and by his generation they were destitute.

He further said he had fallen gravely ill and, having no choice, pawned the heirloom just to raise money to stay alive.

He respectfully handed over the box holding the golden compass with both hands; Xiao Jiu glanced at it once and said, 'Sorry, I won't take this golden compass.'

He immediately grew frantic, repeatedly defending himself and even starting to haggle aggressively, until Huang Fan threw him out.

After he was driven off, Huang Fan curiously asked Xiao Jiu, 'Boss, why won't you accept his goods?'

Then Xiao Jiu said, 'He's lying!'

'That golden compass is clearly something dug up from a tomb, yet he claims it's a family heirloom passed down from his ancestors—he gave himself away at once, trying to fool a layperson like me.'

Huang Fan laughed, 'Still, the boss's eye is sharp—she can tell real from fake at a glance.'

Xiao Jiu smiled, thinking the matter was settled.

But she didn't expect that a few nights later another person would bring the same golden compass to Yin Dang Hang.

This person was about seventy, skinny and dark‑skinned, with the left hand missing the three fingers beyond the thumb and index finger, the front half gone entirely.

From the appearance of the broken ends, it didn't look like a knife cut or a machine shear, but rather … a wound bitten out by something.

As soon as he stepped through the gate of Yin Dang Hang, Xiao Jiu sensed a faint, elusive 'earthy stench' emanating from him.

This earthy stench was not the smell of dirt actually clinging to his body.

but rather a kind of 'mark' that seeped from his bones, a trace of some former occupation.

The old man sat before the counter, pushing the box holding the golden compass toward Xiao Jiu, and bluntly said, 'Xiao Jiu Boss, with your discerning eye you spot jewels; I beg your pardon for trying to sneak past due to my status—please overlook my petty fault and accept this golden compass.'

Xiao Jiu did not take the golden compass nor speak; she simply stared steadily at the old man.

The old man continued, 'Xiao Jiu Boss, you should have seen that the golden compass's origin is shameful; it was unearthed by my ancestors from an ancient tomb in the Zhe region, that tomb remains unexcavated to this day, but because the tomb's occupant was of special status and the compass is heavy, it has always been hard to sell, so…'

'This is gold, not bronze.' Xiao Jiu interrupted, questioning, 'If you truly want to sell it, there are plenty of ways—if nothing else, melting it down is a fine option; pawning is the worst of the worst.'

The old man's mouth twitched; his sharp eyes reevaluated the young woman before him—indeed the rumors were true, the boss of Wufu Town's Yin Dang Hang is not easy to fool.

He pondered a moment, then said, 'Exactly—if there were any way at all, I wouldn't be thinking of pawning it; this thing is uncanny—it won't go away, can't be melted, and can't be returned…'