Chapter 16: Farewell

  At noon, the lunch was still very exquisite. Shi Yi'an sat at the edge of the table, with no appetite. He held his chin and used the spoon in his hand to stir a bean paste osmanthus rice ball in the bowl, finally putting down the spoon and turning his head to look at Lang Xun on his left. Lang Xun was eating slowly and steadily, focusing all his attention on the food in front of him, every bite eaten with unusual seriousness. Shi Yi'an always had an illusion that Lang Xun would wipe his mouth and start evaluating the dishes on the table the next second.

  He turned his head again and looked at Shi Yi Xing on his right. Shi Yi Xing was in a bad mood, eating his own food with a cold face.

  Several others also had their own worries and were eating with their heads down, the whole table was silent except for the sound of cups and dishes lightly colliding.

  After dinner, the old man didn't rush everyone to disperse, but instead had the ghost servant clear the plates and bring out tea and snacks.

  Shi Yi'an had already drunk a bellyful of tea in the morning, and he really couldn't drink any more. He listlessly placed the lid of his teacup on the table and used his fingers to lightly press it down, making the teacup spin around on the table.

  "Xiao An." The old man called out in a deep and meaningful tone after Xiao An, then continued, "You have now become an official Tian Shi, it's time for you to go down the mountain to temper yourself."

  Shi Yi'an pressed the lid onto the table and nodded in agreement. From the day he came up the mountain, he had been looking forward to this day's arrival.

  "You few don't go together either, stagger your time, or else once you all leave, the mountain will seem desolate." The old man said.

  "Hmm." The Shifu's large courtyard, usually inhabited by fewer than ten people, was quiet and deserted.

  "Before you go, I'll give you some things." The old man beckoned to the ghost servant to bring over some items and put them on the table. A tablet computer, a mobile phone, a printer...

  Suddenly I saw this is a full set of office supplies.

  "The tablet contains most of the texts and pictures from our family's library, it's convenient to carry around." The elder brother explained on behalf of the old man.

  He then picked up his mobile phone, opened an app and continued: "This software is used to find the location of ghosts and determine their shape. It mainly replaces the compass, which is too conspicuous and heavy when carried around. We've already phased it out."

  "You're kidding, right? Using a mobile app to find ghosts?" Shi Yi'an had never known that mobile phones could be used this way before. He took the phone and pointed it in the direction of Gui Yong, pressing the scan button. On the screen, a human figure was scanned out.

  "Because the ghost itself is a magnetic field with memory, the mobile phone can determine its location and shape by analyzing electromagnetic waves. In addition, there is this printer." Uncle opened the printer and showed it to Shi Yian, "The ink cartridge inside contains cinnabar, which can be used to print simple talismans. It guarantees both accuracy and speed."

  Although Shi Yi'an knew that the Shi family had always been keeping up with the times, he didn't expect them to have achieved their goal of automating ghost-catching. It seems that not all descendants of the Shi family went on to become Taoist priests.

  "Also, if you want to buy things like talismans or cinnabar, there are several reliable Taobao stores that I have saved on my tablet. If you have any questions, feel free to give us a call."

  Shi Yi'an walked back on the road, hugging a big pile of things. He wanted to call out to Lang Xun to ask for help, but seeing Lang Xun walking behind him with that steady and leisurely gait, he knew it was definitely hopeless.

  The peach blossom spirit in the peach blossom forest was frolicking and playing nearby, one of them ran over and bumped into Lang Xian's leg. As soon as he saw Lang Xian's face, he was so frightened that he fell to the ground. It wasn't until Lang Xian left far away that he trembled and got up with the help of his companions.

  Damn it, this is the legendary aura of a turtle shell, isn't it? Spit, spit, it's the aura of a tyrant.

  Shi Yi'an returned to Si Wei's residence and put all these things in the study.

  Yun Mo helped him pack his things and asked, "When are you planning to leave?"

  "It hasn't been decided yet, it should be in the next few days." Actually, Shi Yi'an was still quite reluctant to part with Yun Mo. In the Shi family, apart from Shi Yi Xing and Xiao Shu, he was most familiar with Yun Mo. No matter what time it was, as long as he needed Yun Mo, Yun Mo would silently stand by his side.

  He knew that as Yun Mo, the house spirit of Si Wei Residence, he couldn't leave this place. He could only stay in the same place day after day, year after year, watching the children and grandchildren of the Shi family being born, growing up, becoming adults, and leaving. In the end, what was left in Si Wei Residence was still him.

  Yun Mo didn't have many ideas, he took out the fox tribe's jade and helped Shizhen hang it on his chest.

  "What's this for?" Shi Yian wanted to reach out and take it off, but was stopped by Yun Mo.

  Yun Mo Dao said: "Consider it a loan to you, now you're just a half-baked Heavenly Master, and it's not very safe for you to go out. Although the Guardian can protect you from harm, there may be places that are overlooked. Bring this with you, who knows when you might need it."

  "Cloud Ink, it's not as exaggerated as you said," Shi Yi'an smiled and said. "I'm going back to the city, not descending into hell. I lived there for over 20 years without any issues."

  "If you really go to hell, I won't worry that much, after all, the ghosts there are quite familiar with our family." Yun Mo insisted on not taking back the jade, "I can't leave the family, if you want me to feel at ease a bit, then take this with you."

  Yun Mo's words had already reached this point, and Shi Yi'an no longer refused. Even if it was just to make him feel at ease, Shi Yi'an lowered his head and stroked the emerald green fox, saying: "When I become a powerful Tian Shi that can put your mind at ease, I'll return this to you."

  When Shī Yǐ ān arrived, he didn't bring much with him. When it was time to leave, aside from the demon-catching tool given by Old Master, there wasn't much else to take either. After packing everything up, Shī Yǐ ān suddenly thought of something - since he could summon Lǎng Yàn, that meant he still had the ability to summon guardians. Perhaps among the remaining guardians, there might be one gentle and obedient guardian waiting for him.

  Thinking of this, Shī Yǐ ān replaced the batteries in his flashlight with two new ones and ran to the cave at the back of the mountain. The wine jar with blood was still placed halfway up the mountain, waiting for Shī Yǐ ān's arrival. Shī Yǐ ān walked over and continued to offer wine to the stone statue behind him.

  Until the last drop of wine in the wine jug had seeped into the stone bowl in front of the stone statue, not a single guardian was willing to sign a contract with Shi Yi An.

  Shi Yi'an wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel, turned around and saw Lang Xun. He rolled up the family rules and let the sunlight in, while he himself moved a rattan chair to sit at the door and play with Shi Yi'an's tablet computer, looking very pleased with himself.

  "I said you learned quickly, so soon you've crossed the barrier of thousands of years and learned to use a computer." Shī Yǐ ān dragged the wine jar back to the entrance of the cave, plopped down on the ground with a thud, panting heavily as he spoke.

  She suddenly lifted her head and glanced at Shi Yian, saying: "After you sign a contract with me, other guardians won't dare to sign one with you again."

  "What? Are you kidding me? This is such an important matter, why didn't you tell me earlier?" Shi Yian jumped up, feeling like a fool for having busied himself with bowed head and bent waist for half the day, only to be completely made a mockery of.

  "If I had told you before, you would definitely not have believed me." Lang Xun stretched out his hand to smooth down the hair that Shi Yi An had raised, adjusted his sleeves and turned to leave.

  Shi Yi An irritably messed up his hair, damn it, why is his own guardian such a good-for-nothing, can they still have fun playing together in the future?

  After Shi Yi angrily came out of the ancestral hall, he didn't want to think about his precarious dwelling at all and turned into the nearby Zhi Jing Residence. As soon as he entered the gate of Zhi Jing Residence, he saw Shi Yi lying on a rocking chair by the pond, with a fishing rod propped up on the ground, fishing.

  Shi Yi An was afraid of startling the fish, so he lightened his footsteps and approached the pond. Before he could get there, Shi Yi suddenly sat up and kicked the fishing rod into the pond with one foot.

  Shi Yue turned around and saw Shi Yue'an standing behind him with a look of astonishment, he knew that Shi Yue'an must have seen the previous scene. He let out a sigh and said in a low voice: "Is there something?"

  "No, I just came to see you." Shi Yi had originally wanted to complain to him about Lang Xun's affairs, but now it was clearly not a good time.

  Shi Yi let out a long sigh, calming down his emotions and said: "Stop pretending, I know what I'm doing, how could I not know about your little concerns? I'm fine, I've always known that I couldn't have anyone to protect, it's just that today confirmed it again."

  Giving hope, but then personally shattering that hope is a feeling Shī Yǐ'ān had never experienced before. However, he knew it must be unbearable, otherwise, how could it have caused the normally calm and collected Shī Yǐ Xíng to lose his composure?

  "Why is it that after I summoned Lang Xian, the other Guardians didn't dare to sign a contract with me again?" Shi Yi'an asked. As for the matter of the Guardians, Eldest Uncle didn't say much about it.

  "Let me put it this way, finding a guardian is like marrying a wife. In ancient times, if you had a virtuous and wise wife, then you could have three wives and four concubines, doing whatever you want, and your wife might even help you find more candidates. But if your wife came from a powerful family and was also extremely jealous, forget about having multiple wives, you wouldn't even dare to flirt with other women outside, or she would break your legs." said Shi Yue Xing.

  Shi Yian was asked by him with a confused expression: "So what?"

  Shi Yi's mouth curled up and he smiled, saying: "So, I said you found a vinegar jar."