As soon as Xu Zifan regained consciousness, he felt that he was not in good condition. His whole body was burning hot, his limbs were weak, and he didn't even have the strength to open his eyes!
[Shaohua, scan the surroundings for any dangers, and check my body.]
[Host, there is no one within 500 meters, no danger. This is a dilapidated Taoist temple. You currently have severe gastroenteritis, have not eaten or drunk anything for two days without treatment, and are extremely weak.]
Xu Zifan breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that there was no danger; illness was easy to resolve. He went directly into the spatial dimension. Shao Hua could control the things inside, and under his instructions, she retrieved the Nourishing Essence Pill and the Bigu Pill and fed them to him. He quickly recovered.
He opened his eyes, rubbed his forehead, and sat up. He was stunned to see that he was wearing thin black leather gloves. He was wearing short sleeves, so why was he wearing gloves?
He looked outside the space and saw that it was indeed a very dilapidated place. Since there was no one outside, he simply received the original owner's memories inside the space. In any case, he needed to figure out the original owner's situation first.
The original owner was born unlucky. He would choke on water, trip while walking, and flowerpots would fall and hit his feet when he passed by downstairs. Fireworks would explode in the opposite direction. These were minor issues. The original owner also had the ability to see ghosts, and whenever he touched someone's skin, he could see fragments of scenes about that person, some from the past and some from the future. This made the original owner always feel like a monster.
The original owner had no parents from a young age and lived with his uncle. His uncle, aunt, and their son and daughter treated him very badly. When he was a child, he would tell them what he saw, and they would call him mentally ill and take him to the hospital for injections. He was scared and would say that he was lying, not daring to tell anyone about his abnormality. When he got older, he simply wore gloves, at least to avoid seeing other people's fragments.
But keeping this secret all to himself is making him increasingly withdrawn. Especially since he can see ghosts and foresee things going wrong for others, but no one believes him, and he has no way to help others.
The feeling of knowing someone else's misfortune in advance but being unable to stop it was devastating, and the original owner became increasingly afraid of interacting with people.
Just two days prior, the original owner's uncle lost a business project and, in a drunken rage, berated the ailing original owner, calling him a jinx and telling him to get out. It was only then that the original owner learned about his parents' situation from his uncle and aunt's insults.
It is said that when the original owner was one year old, he cried incessantly and no one could soothe him, so they had to take him to the hospital for a checkup. The original owner stopped crying at the hospital, and his mother stayed at the hospital to take care of him while the others went home to rest. As a result, a fire broke out in the house that night, and the original owner's father and grandparents did not escape.
The original owner's mother was terrified, thinking the original owner was very strange. She took the family savings and disappeared without a trace. Afterwards, the original owner was adopted by his uncle and lived a life of dependence, never receiving any care from anyone. He even had to do housework and clean the house. The original owner was still grateful to his uncle for not kicking him out, but he never expected that he would be seen as a jinx in his uncle's eyes.
The original owner's illness worsened, but his uncle kicked him out of the house. Because he was drunk at the time, his uncle gave him nothing, so he walked into the street empty-handed and in a daze. He didn't know how long he walked, but he ended up in this dilapidated Taoist temple and collapsed in the courtyard.
The original owner was in great pain. He hoped that the interdimensional messenger could take over his life and prevent him from becoming a cursed monster or a jinx. He hoped his abilities could be useful and that someone would genuinely care for him, someone who wouldn't be afraid of or hate him.
Xu Zifan sorted through the original owner's memories, feeling somewhat puzzled. Since the original owner was so strange as a child, why would his uncle kindly take him in for so many years? Wasn't he afraid of being cursed to death? His uncle had even accused him of bringing death to his own father and grandparents. There might be some hidden story here.
However, he has already been kicked out, so going back is impossible. He needs to find a place to settle down first.
He stepped out of the space, took off his gloves, and looked at his overly pale hands. Wearing gloves in the middle of summer was really uncomfortable. The original owner was afraid of seeing others, but he wasn't. He was quite curious about this ability; it was a cheat code!
He looked around but didn't see anything strange, guessing there were probably no ghosts here. However, he sensed a slight spiritual energy, so he said to Shaohua, "[Scan the ground carefully to see if anything is hidden. Maybe there's some ancestral artifact?]"
[Shaohua: Host, please wait... Scan complete. There is a hidden compartment in the room at the ten o'clock position. Under the floorboards by the wall next to the bed, there is a jade thumb ring and a letter.]
Xu Zifan paused, "[There really is treasure? Let's go take a look!]"
In a hidden compartment of the dilapidated Taoist temple hut, there was a jade thumb ring and a letter. These were clearly not ordinary objects, and Xu Zifan became interested, feeling as if he were on a treasure hunt. He walked quickly toward the hut, but suddenly tripped over the threshold at the door. He quickly grabbed the door frame and almost fell to the ground.
He glanced at the threshold; it was quite low. He was certain he had stepped on it just now. Was this just his unlucky nature?
He moved more carefully, following the location Shao Hua had given him, crawled under the bed, pried open the floor tiles, and took out the wooden box inside. Just as he was about to back out, the bed above him suddenly collapsed, smashing down on his head before he could even react!
"Shit!" Xu Zifan cursed, covered his head, emerged from a pile of wooden planks, and quickly left the room.
He dusted himself off, realizing his bad luck, and looking around, unsure where was safe, he simply went back into the space.
He opened the wooden box; inside was a jade thumb ring of imperial green from an old mine, a type of glassy jade. Having spent his entire life gambling on jade in his previous life, he could tell the difference at a glance. However, there were many jade treasures in the room, and a jade thumb ring was nothing special. He then opened the letter inside.
The letter said that the Taoist temple was called Qingfeng Temple, and each abbot was called Qingfeng Daoren. Qingfeng Temple had been protecting the people within a hundred miles since ancient times, helping them to drive away evil spirits and cure diseases. During the Red Era, the temple was severely attacked and its vitality was greatly damaged. Later, only Qingfeng Daoren remained in the temple, and the incense offerings were almost gone.
Master Qingfeng had always upheld his ancestral mandate. Ten years ago, in an attempt to stop a treacherous and ruthless Taoist from harming others, he incurred the wrath of the Taoist priest, ultimately suffering a severe injury from an ambush and having his temple destroyed. Master Qingfeng had no time to find a successor, so before his death, he left behind a thumb ring, hoping that one day a destined person would take over and revitalize Qingfeng Temple.
Xu Zifan picked up the jade thumb ring and examined it. Sure enough, the words "Qingfeng" were engraved inside. This thumb ring was an heirloom of Qingfeng Temple and a token of the temple's abbot. The spiritual energy he had sensed earlier came from this thumb ring.
He slipped the jade thumb ring onto his wrist, and it automatically shrank to fit his thumb perfectly, truly resembling a magical artifact. He didn't know the specific uses of the jade thumb ring since he lacked cultivation, but it was brimming with spiritual energy; wearing it would at least help regulate his body and prolong his life.
He had once cultivated in the world of cultivation and had a deep understanding of the concept of fate. It just so happened that the original owner came to this Taoist temple, that he just so happened to sense a trace of spiritual energy, and that he just so happened to have the youthful energy to scan it, thus finding this thumb ring. Perhaps he really was the destined person mentioned in the letter.
This opportunity couldn't be turned down. Since he possessed the ability to see ghosts in this life, he might as well take on the position of abbot and play around with it. He'd never told fortunes or exorcised ghosts before; it was sure to be interesting.
Once Xu Zifan made his decision, he planned to start by rebuilding the Taoist temple. His family was not related to the original owner's mission, so there was no need to rush to see them. The most important thing was to adapt to the abilities and misfortune of this body.
He found the defensive jade he had carved before and put it on to protect himself from injury. Then, guided by Shao Hua, he took a bath in a stream in the forest, changed into clothes from his spatial storage, and immediately felt refreshed and much more comfortable. The only downside was that he almost slipped and choked on water in the stream, which was rather unpleasant.
To go from being the richest person in the last world to being the unluckiest person in this world is truly a huge difference.
Xu Zifan walked down the mountain and continued along the road. When he got tired, he would go into his space to rest for a while. After walking for about two hours, he finally saw a car coming at the fork in the road.
He quickly reached out to flag down the car. The car slowed down, and the people inside seemed to be observing him. After a brief discussion, they stopped in front of him. The driver, a rich second-generation, rolled down the window and asked, "Hey buddy, what are you doing here all alone?"
Xu Zifan pointed to the mountain and said, "I heard there's a Taoist temple on the mountain that's very efficacious, but you have to be sincere for it to work. So I went up there to make a wish, and now I'm a little too tired to walk anymore. Could you give me a ride? Just drop me off at a place where you can get a taxi."
The rich kid glanced at his attire. He couldn't tell the brand of his clothes and shoes, but they were obviously of excellent quality. The pendant around his neck and the ring on his wrist were top-grade jade. He was clearly a rich kid. He just didn't know why the rich kid was so stupid as to walk up the mountain.
He smiled and pointed to the back seat, "Get in the car, let's get acquainted. My name is Luo Chen, and this is my brother Jiang Dong."
Xu Zifan got into the car and nodded to them. "My name is Xu Zifan. Thank you. Did you come here for fun?"
Luo Chen started the car and said with a smile, "The cars behind us are all together. We're here to eat at a farmhouse restaurant."
Xu Zifan glanced back and saw three cars following behind him just as they turned the corner; the drivers all looked like wealthy young men. A thought struck him, and he asked, "You've come all this way; is this agritourism business doing well? Does it attract a lot of people?"
Jiang Dong turned around and leaned back in his chair, saying, "This place is pretty good. Their fish is especially delicious, and their braised pork is amazing too. We're planning to come back sometime soon. If you want to come, remember to make a reservation in advance. I'll give you their phone number."
"Okay." Xu Zifan reached into his pocket, took out a cell phone from his spatial storage, and wrote down the phone number Jiang Dong had given him. In his previous life, he had specially prepared a lot of things in his spatial storage in the modern world, just in case he was penniless in some other world. However, the phone didn't have a SIM card, so it couldn't be used yet.
A stray cat suddenly darted out onto the road. Luo Chen slammed on the brakes, and Xu Zifan lunged forward to grab the seat, but accidentally bumped into Jiang Dong's hand. A scene flashed through his mind: Jiang Dong was sitting in the passenger seat, chatting and laughing with Luo Chen. As the car turned a corner, an out-of-control truck came hurtling towards them. Luo Chen instinctively swerved, but it was too late. The truck crashed into the car, flipping it over. The windows shattered, Jiang Dong was bleeding from a head injury, and the car was hit several more times, seemingly in a chain-reaction accident!
Xu Zifan sat up straight and hurriedly asked Shao Hua to scan the road ahead. A bend appeared on the virtual screen, just like the one he had seen. He immediately shouted, "Luo Chen, stop the car! Stop the car now!"