Chapter 46

The village chief needed Celestial Maiden Shi Jian’s protection—he didn’t care whether Granny Yu’s grandson was crippled or dead.

Granny Yu had been unreasonable all her life, but now she was rendered speechless by just that one sentence from the village chief.

...

Shi Jian had no idea how furious Granny Yu was. Anyway, she was currently very happy.

All eyes were on her, and she was literally glowing—this was her moment.

Shi Jian had been too busy fooling the villagers earlier and hadn’t had the chance to admire herself. As soon as she had a free moment, she opened her phone’s front camera to study herself.

She—was glowing!

It wasn’t like Prince’s cheat, which added external lighting; Shi Jian’s glow came from within.

The other streamers and the viewers in the livestream were full of questions.

Was this something they could ask about?

Some streamers suspected Shi Jian was experiencing a bug, or perhaps had used some rare, powerful item—either way, this was the first time any of them had seen something like this.

Though the streamers were curious, if Shi Jian didn’t want to share, there wasn’t much they could do. She wasn’t obligated to tell them anything.

But Shi Jian was generous: “You can ask, you can ask.”

She wasn’t like Prince, who used cheats and wouldn’t admit it. Now that there were no villagers around, and she’d finished admiring herself, she told the truth.

Shi Jian waved her phone. “It might have something to do with the whitening pill I took. I exchanged it in the app store. But I suspect it has a time limit.”

Shi Jian had no control over whether she glowed or not. She figured it was probably a side effect of her body absorbing the whitening pill. She vaguely noticed the glow seemed a bit dimmer compared to when it first started.

A bunch of streamers: ???

Livestream viewers: ???

So it wasn’t a powerful item, but a side effect of a whitening pill?

No one had ever paid much attention to whether the store had whitening pills. Even if they’d seen them, they probably just skipped past.

After all, normal streamers used their points mainly to cover transfer station expenses. If they had extras, they might buy healing or life-saving pills. The stronger ones were either saving up to reach one billion points to escape or buying expensive gear to become more powerful.

Who would buy whitening pills?

But since Shi Jian pretending to be a celestial maiden and fooling the villagers was such an unforgettable scene, the other streamers quietly took note of the whitening pill.

They figured maybe they could try one too—maybe they’d glow, and maybe they could copy Shi Jian a little.

How expensive could a whitening pill be anyway?

Then someone suddenly cried out, “Damn! This is way too expensive! Whitening pill—88,888 points, and you have to pay a deposit to try and grab it when it drops. If you fail, they keep the 5,000-point deposit with no refund?”

“Why not just rob us instead?!”

Everyone finally understood why no one had ever discovered the whitening pill’s effects—because the price was ridiculous!

If they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, they wouldn’t believe anyone would actually buy such a thing.

Shi Jian felt a bit of heartache about the cost too, but if the whitening pill really worked, she figured it was worth it. Judging from the current results, it seemed to be pretty effective....

Ever since Shi Jian transformed into a celestial maiden, her status in Xingfu Village skyrocketed overnight.

All the best food and drinks were delivered to her first. Her living arrangements were upgraded to a respectable standalone two-story house in the village. As for work...

Would a celestial maiden still need to labor? How could they allow a celestial maiden to fetch water or turn a millstone!

As a result, the other streamers’ statuses also rose alongside Shi Jian's. They could finally get some rest too.

Granny Yu not only gave up on trying to kill or harm Shi Jian—she couldn’t even get close enough to touch a single strand of her hair.

Shi Jian didn’t forget her promise to the dog either. Once she returned to the village, she immediately gave it the meat it had wanted.

So, the fierce dogs all turned into Shi Jian the celestial maiden’s loyal lackeys.

The villagers had already mastered the slogan. They chanted, “Celestial Maiden Shi Jian, boundless magic power!”

The dogs followed right on cue: “Woof woof woof woof!”

The entire village had become Shi Jian’s faithful believers—Granny Yu not included, of course.

Shi Jian didn’t have absolutely nothing to do. As a “celestial maiden,” she had essentially taken over the role of the previous so-called master.

The female streamer sharing her room had initially been worried. “Can you manage?”

How does one draw talismans, anyway?

Shi Jian didn’t need to labor anymore, but she now had to draw talismans.

All the streamers knew that the master’s talismans were completely useless—sloppily made, like a pen meandering across the page. Her roommate wondered if maybe Shi Jian should learn the same technique.

It might be useless, but at least it would look the part. It could serve as a reference.

But Shi Jian remained calm. “It’s fine. I got this.”

She picked up the pen and went to work on the talisman with practiced motions. Her roommate was surprised to see that it actually looked... decent. It even had a bit of authentic charm. Except...

Why did it look suspiciously like Shi Jian’s name?

Yes, that’s exactly what it was—Shi Jian was signing her name on the talisman. As a celebrity, she was most practiced at writing her own signature.

Shi Jian: Let’s just say her autograph tour had now reached Xingfu Village.

Back at Qingshan No. 1 High School, even asking for her autograph required payment. She was really taking a loss this time!

Then again, Shi Jian figured it counted toward covering food and lodging, so she let it go.

Celestial Maiden Shi Jian didn’t just draw talismans—she also had to answer the villagers’ questions.

One villager stared at her face in total infatuation and asked, “Celestial maiden, celestial maiden, can you tell me—when will I be able to marry a wife as beautiful as you?”

Celestial Maiden Shi Jian gently guided him, “Go dream about it.”

Just like the previous master, Celestial Maiden Shi Jian also had to host those spooky, ritualistic all-village gatherings. Back then she had mocked the master, saying he was just scared and wanted more people around to bolster his courage. Now, Shi Jian fully agreed with his reasoning.

Shi Jian righteously declared, “More people, stronger yang energy!” The more the better—and preferably bring more torches too.

She didn’t go as far as doing a shamanic dance, but she did perform a celestial maiden’s dance for everyone. She had once danced that routine at a highly rated TV gala show, which instantly shot her and the station to the top of the trending charts.The effect was naturally amazing; the villagers watched in awe, and gifts kept pouring into the livestream.

【Hahaha, help, Celestial Maiden Shi Jian is just too adorable.】

【Wife, wife, wife… (repeat mode jpg)】

【Hardcore advice on how to marry Shi Jian: go dream about it hhhh.】

【Honestly, I’m a bit jealous of the villagers of Xingfu Village. They get to have the wife’s autograph—I want one too!】

【Wuwuwu who wouldn’t want one?】

...

While leisurely playing the role of the celestial maiden, Shi Jian wasn’t completely idle in gathering information. During this time, Xingfu Village was either rainy or overcast, with no sign of clearing skies.

What they needed to pass the level was to see the sunrise.

But weather wasn’t something they could control, right?

Everyone agreed they still needed to deeply explore Xingfu Village.

However, the village chief remained tight-lipped. Whenever Shi Jian or other streamers brought up topics about female ghosts or village conditions, he always brushed them off, unwilling to talk much.

But since the village chief was supporting Shi Jian, he eventually had to ask something of her. That day came quickly, although Shi Jian didn’t want to face it at all.

The village chief looked nervous and hurriedly led Shi Jian and the other streamers to the scene of the incident.

A female villager had been attacked by a ghost.

Her death was extremely gruesome. Her belly had been completely torn open, exposing all her internal organs and intestines. Before she died, her eyes were wide open, as if she had seen something terrifying.

Shi Jian was “...” very uncomfortable; the celestial maiden almost felt like fainting.

Not only this female villager, the village chief also showed another corpse.

That of the master.

The master had disappeared earlier; Shi Jian had suspected he might already be dead.

But she didn’t expect the master to be dead in such a state. His belly wasn’t torn open, but he looked like he had been completely drained, now a shriveled, stiff dried corpse.

Shi Jian faced the village chief, “This is...?” What was the meaning of showing her this?

It wasn’t that Shi Jian was eager to solve the problem—if she didn’t speak now, her attention would keep turning to her churning stomach, and the next second she might vomit like a celestial maiden.

The village chief sighed, “Zhao Ersao died so unfairly. She simply didn’t believe in the talisman you drew, so she didn’t carry one. If everyone now had one of your talismans, they’d be fine.”

The village chief carefully showed off the talisman with Shi Jian’s signature that he kept close.

Shi Jian reluctantly responded, “...Maybe it’s not really because of that.”

The village chief then expressed his own purpose, looking troubled.

“Celestial maiden, now it’s time for you to show your divine power. The female ghost is in the ancestral hall...”

“You go, I’ll watch over your followers.”

The village chief directly assigned Shi Jian the task with no room for refusal.Shi Jian also saw the figures of the other seven streamers; they were among the villagers, who were all holding weapons.

What seemed like protection could actually become a threat.

If Shi Jian lost the disguise of being a celestial maiden.

Yu Po Po had been frowning these past two days but finally became confident. Because the village chief had previously issued orders, and because Shi Jian’s reputation in the village was quite high, she didn’t dare to sarcastically raise her voice but whispered softly.

“What celestial maiden? Let her be exposed, let her die!”

Shi Jian heard the village chief say, “You go subdue the female ghost,” but to her ears, it sounded like, “You go get yourself killed.”

How did the master catch ghosts? The villagers waited all night and never saw him; she didn’t expect the ghost to be waiting for her instead.

But Shi Jian really couldn’t show weakness in front of everyone. Not only was the entire village watching, the streamers were watching, and the livestream viewers were watching her too.

So Shi Jian steeled herself, “I understand. Let me go.”

Then Shi Jian resolutely walked into the ancestral hall, where she was not allowed to approach.

Her posture had to be graceful.

The door was pushed open easily. The villagers, including the village chief, instantly backed away but watched the building with anxious eyes.

Shi Jian didn’t expect that upon opening the door, she would see the female ghost sitting on a chair.

Unlike the disheveled appearance Shi Jian had seen before, today the female ghost had her hair pinned up, entirely in a bridal style. She had a fairly neat face and was wearing a very exquisite traditional Chinese bridal dress.

Shi Jian identified her as a ghost rather than a person because her eyes were all pupil — no whites, just pitch black; and her cheeks had cracked fine lines.

Shi Jian’s attention should have been on the female ghost, but her gaze was involuntarily drawn to the bridal dress.

Shi Jian had actually seen many beautiful clothes, but this traditional Chinese bridal dress still captured her sight.

The bridal dress appeared to be purely handmade, with exquisite embroidery. The phoenix patterns were vivid and lifelike; not only was the embroidery excellent, the color of the dress was especially beautiful — as red as fire, with faint golden threads that shimmered luxuriously in the sunlight.

Without thinking, Shi Jian blurted out, “Dear, where did you buy the dress? If it’s a one-of-a-kind piece, would you be willing to part with it? The price is negotiable.”