Next, following the schedule Xiao had given him, Ji An took the little girl to draw fortune slips.
"Haha, honored guests, the process for drawing fortunes is as follows: first, shake a bamboo slip out of the Fortune Slip Box, then exchange it with me for the Fortune Slip that reveals your luck."
"Uh."
Ji An looked at the burly man with the pompadour and sunglasses standing behind the fortune-telling stall and found himself momentarily at a loss for words.
'Hey, Xiao, what's the deal with this guy? Where did you find him? Can he actually interpret fortunes?'
And speaking of which — this was clearly a Liyue-style ancient city, so why had a Fortune Slip Box, something very much in the style of Inazuma, suddenly appeared here?
The sense of incongruity was off the charts.
"Ji An, don't dwell on it."
Xiao's voice came to him. "After Cloud Retainer drafted the itinerary, she discovered that none of the spirits knew how to interpret fortunes. Just as she was about to remove that activity, this person from Inazuma approached us of his own accord, wanting to make a deal..."
In short, this Inazuman — who claimed to deal in all manner of rare goods — had somehow caught wind of their plan. Thinking it good business and a chance to turn a profit, he had proactively volunteered to have his soul leave his body, enter the dream, and serve as the NPC in charge of fortune interpretation.
After hearing this, Ji An felt a flash of understanding, immediately followed by exasperation. "Oh, I see, that makes perfect sense — actually, no it doesn't!"
He had a million complaints.
"Forget it."
Ji An shook his head and decided not to dwell on it.
Since arriving at The Chasm, too many absurd things had happened. One more hardly made a difference.
He couldn't help but look the Inazuman over again. Judging by his appearance, could he really interpret fortunes?
"As you can see, young friend—"
The pompadour man noticed his skeptical gaze, folded his arms, and smiled. "My name is Liben, 34 years old, and I am a certified shrine maiden—"
"—Hey, young friend, don't walk away!"
Ji An's expression remained flat as he took the little girl by the arm and turned to leave.
In the end, however, Liben chased them down.
"Ahem, allow me to explain properly."
Liben said eagerly, "Young friend, I'm from Inazuma. I used to be a merchant, but I was misled by some false information — from the Tianquan, Ning— ahem, from a certain someone — which led to my bankruptcy."
"Anyway, let's not talk about that unpleasant matter."
"To cut a long story short: through various connections, I later obtained a shrine maiden certification at the Grand Narukami Shrine in Inazuma, and along with it I learned fortune-telling. I won't let you down. And don't worry about the fee — the young lady with the cat-ear twintails outside has already paid."
"...Alright."
Ji An gave a hesitant nod.
The man was still undeniably suspicious, but the little girl beside him seemed mildly interested. Besides, one fortune slip couldn't hurt.
Ji An looked at her. "Want to give it a try?"
"Mm." She nodded, and reached into the container Liben held to draw a bamboo slip.
Liben smiled and accepted it. "Hehe, just pass it here!"
Then he looked at Ji An. "Young friend, you'll draw one too?"
Ji An waved his hand. "I don't need to—"
"Go on, draw one! The interpretation is already paid for. You wouldn't want me to give a refund, would you?"
Liben looked at him imploringly.
"Fine."
Ji An reluctantly drew a slip.
"Very good. Please wait just a moment."
Liben fussed with the two slips. After a short while, he handed one to Ji An.
"Young friend, here is your Fortune Slip."
"Great Fortune?" Ji An opened the strip of paper and read the words aloud.
Liben laughed. "Haha, your luck is quite good today, young friend. Have a look at the full interpretation!"
Ji An's eyes dropped to the slip.
---
*— Great Fortune —*
*A day of recovering what was lost.*
*Matters you thought had sunk like stones to the bottom of the sea receive a positive response.*
*Friends you thought had parted ways forever may reconcile.*
*Things you had long forgotten may unexpectedly return to mind.*
*Nothing in this world is lost forever.*
*Today is the day to reclaim what once slipped away.*
*...*
*Liben's personal verse: Life is often at ease like this — what can hinder a smiling face?*
---
...He even borrowed a Liyue poem from somewhere. This Liben really knew how to run a business.
"Surely not all the slips here are Great Fortune?"
Ji An laughed despite himself.
He didn't think his luck was so extraordinary that any slip he drew would be Great Fortune. He preferred to believe that Liben had quietly arranged it to please the customer.
In his previous life, he had gone with his family to draw slips at temples more than once. No matter how many times they went, no one ever drew Great Misfortune. He had later asked a part-time worker there and learned they had long since quietly removed all the unlucky ones.
Still, reading well-wishes like these lifted his spirits somewhat. Everyone liked to hear good things.
Liben laughed. "Haha, young friend, you misjudge me. How could I, Liben, do something like that?"
Ji An gave him a sideways look.
True or not, he would know by checking the little girl's slip. If hers was also Great Fortune, that would settle the matter.
Speaking of which — the little girl had opened her slip some time ago and had been staring at it in silence. Why wasn't she reacting? Could it be she couldn't read?
"What does yours say..."
He leaned over — and then stopped.
Because he saw two characters: *Great Misfortune.*
"..."
Ji An stared at Liben.
Liben, what kind of business are you running? I praised you for nothing.
You're really this principled? You actually let someone draw a slip like this?
Do you understand what I'm doing here right now? I'm trying to resolve a crisis. I've finally built up a good rapport with this girl — if she stays in a good mood, maybe all of this gets resolved. And then you pull something like this.
Liben wore a perfectly innocent expression, as if to say: I told you I was a professional — I don't falsify results.
Ji An quietly leaned in to read the rest of the slip.
---
*... A day of feeling hollow inside, and possibly sinking into a deep sense of powerlessness.*
*... Not all partings will lead to reunion.*
*...*
*Today's lucky item: Lizard tail.*
*... When facing danger, most lizards will shed their tails to survive.*
*If you encounter feelings you cannot sort through — it may be better to let them go.*
---
Fortunately, the little girl read through the slip quietly, without any visible reaction.
Finally, her gaze settled on Liben's personal verse at the bottom: *Where does sorrow arise? From the autumn lodged in the hearts of those kept apart.*
She folded the fortune slip and put it away without a word.
Then she looked up at Ji An with the same shy smile as before.
"Shall we go?"
"Yes, let's," Ji An said quickly. "On to the next place."
"Young — friend!"
Liben called after them, waving. "With this business, I finally have enough capital to make a fresh start. If you ever get the chance, come patronize my stall again!"
"Sure, sure!"
Ji An waved back vaguely as he walked away.
He thought to himself: Patronize you again, right. Whether we'll even cross paths again is another matter entirely.
---
According to Cloud Retainer's itinerary, they were next supposed to watch fireworks, float river lanterns, and guess riddles.
He had been quietly wondering how one was supposed to watch fireworks in broad daylight.
But the moment he mentioned this to Xiao, the sky in the dream shifted instantly to night.
Thousands of lights came alive across the city. The streets glowed warmly. The night market erupted into noise — people moving in every direction, voices overlapping, lanterns swaying.
It was even more lively than during the day.
Ji An looked around at the transformed scene, privately marveling. This immortal art really is something. Whatever you need, it simply provides — and with astonishing realism. Wasn't this far beyond anything virtual reality had managed in his past life?
He found himself wondering if Xiao might ever teach him the Oneiric Shallows.
Ahem. Of course, he had no ulterior motives.
It was purely out of admiration for immortal arts.
The subsequent activities all went smoothly.
The little girl seemed to open up as the evening wore on, her smiles coming more readily, and she participated in everything with growing enthusiasm.
They floated river lanterns.
They guessed riddles at the lantern stalls.
They watched a street performer smash large stones on his groin—
Hmm??
It seemed something strange had slipped into the itinerary.
Finally, the two of them sat together on the roof of the tallest building in the ancient city.
After a while, the fireworks were lit.
Trails of flame climbed into the air and burst open against the silent night sky, blooming into brilliant, vivid blossoms of light.
Ji An and the little girl looked up together, sharing the quiet and the beauty of the moment.
Come to think of it, Cloud Retainer arranged three days for this. We've already finished everything in one. Will we just repeat it tomorrow?
Ji An was still turning this over in his mind when the little girl suddenly spoke.
"My name is Azhdaha."
He was quiet for a moment, then gave a soft sound of acknowledgment.
"I am the rock dragon king," she said quietly.
Ji An said 'oh', indicating he already knew.
The little girl's eyes went wide. "You already figured it out? Then why didn't you say anything?"
"Ahem, well..."
Ji An said, a little awkwardly, "I only put it together after we left Liben's stall. And besides — you clearly didn't want to say it yourself. Why would I force it out of you? As they say, life is hard enough; there's no need to go poking at things."
A quiet settled between them.
"But... if you already knew my identity, then you know there is nothing you could ask of me that I would refuse."
The little girl spoke first, her tone carrying a faint sheepishness. "So why go through all of this — all those things — just to fulfill my wishes? Why bother?"
"It wasn't a bother. I enjoyed it too."
Ji An shook his head.
At that moment, he happened to glance downward — and saw that the spirits had all gathered below, watching the two of them with great interest. Some were even gesturing at him encouragingly.
Ji An's expression flattened.
Could you lot be any nosier?
You're already dead, and you still can't resist getting involved in other people's business?
Really.
Has it never occurred to any of you to reflect on why you haven't been able to move on?
The little girl noticed his expression. Her face cooled. "Shall I drive them away?"
The aura of an elemental dragon king began quietly gathering.
"No, no, please don't."
Ji An stopped her quickly, then let out a sigh. "Forget it. They've had a long day cooperating with us. Let them be."
The little girl said 'oh' and sat back down without further argument.
She said quietly, "I feel like I've always been this way. Willful. Only thinking of myself."
"Back then, it was the same. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have..."
Ji An said, without missing a beat, "What can I say? I'm the kind of person who keeps his promises."
The little girl grew agitated. "But you didn't need to go that far for me!"
"Back then, I had no eyes — I couldn't see at all. I could only hear the sound of your arrival each time."
Tears began to well in her eyes. "I thought you were slowly shaping me, coming back every few years, every few decades. Each time, I was a little closer to the light."
"I never imagined that in the end I would come into this world by seizing your authority and the lives bound to your hundred cycles of reincarnation."
"If I had known that would happen, I would rather never have."
"Ah? Something like that happened? I must be getting old — the memory goes fuzzy. Well, it's all in the past now. No use dwelling on it."
Ji An could only play dumb. He genuinely felt nothing about it, after all.
What had the pangolin done? What did that have to do with him, Ji An?
Back during the simulation, apart from the brief immersion mode, the hundred reincarnations had amounted to little more than reading text — a bit longer than usual, but nothing beyond that.
"Even if you don't remember, I will."
The little girl looked at him, her small face set with quiet determination.
"Alright."
Ji An thought for a moment and said, "Then do me a favor. Tell those Geovishaps down at The Chasm to go home — every last one of them. We'll call it even."
The little girl lowered her gaze. "I'll make them leave. But you have to do something for me first."
Ji An: ?
What's this, little girl?
One moment you're solemnly declaring how much you owe me, and the next you're setting conditions just to clean up the mess you made?
The little girl looked up at him with clear, earnest eyes and whispered, "Please?"
"...Alright."
Ji An nodded with a helpless sigh. "Azhdaha, what do you want me to do?"
The little girl tugged at the hem of her skirt. "Could you... not call me Azhdaha?"
Ji An considered for a moment. "Okay. Dragon King, then."
The little girl: "(ｷ｀ﾟДﾟ´)!! Not that either!"
She said, "Whether it is me, that fool still beneath the Dragon-Queller Tree, or that kind old remnant of good outside — we are all Azhdaha the Dragon King, and yet none of us are."
Ji An thought it over, then shook his head decisively. "Didn't follow that."
He suddenly remembered something and asked with a flicker of concern, "I heard from Brother Kun earlier that you've used up your strength and are about to fade away. What exactly does that mean?"
The little girl looked at him for a moment, then turned her head away.
"Thousands of years ago, after your authority was inherited, Azhdaha the Dragon King was also granted sight by the Geo Archon. It was no longer an ordinary elemental being, but an existence comparable to a god — enduring as the mountains and seas. As long as there is rock in this world, it will not perish."
"That's a relief."
Ji An let out a quiet breath.
"By the way — what do you want me to call you?"
The little girl thought for a moment. "Call me Jiang Li."
"Jiang Li?" Ji An nodded. He didn't know why she had no wish to be called Azhdaha, or why she had chosen this name for herself, but if it made her happy, he would go along with it.
Hearing him say it, the little girl couldn't help but smile.
"You have to remember it, alright?"
-------
A/n: New content and stories posted on my patreon go check it out!
patreon.com/deadlygoober