“Cousin, I’ve had such a hard time finding you,” Wu Zhen said.
A Fu stared blankly at his master’s ‘cousin’, thinking she looked and sounded rather like a man. As expected of Master’s cousin, she was truly unique.
Pei Jiya, now in the role of master, didn’t share his disciple’s positive attitude. He felt a chill down his spine as Wu Zhen approached—strange, could mice even get that feeling?
The two cousins, one in Mei Zhuyu’s body and the other transformed into a mouse saw the consequences of their mischief reflected in each other. However, Wu Zhen’s face was ultimately thicker. She reached out to grab the white mouse from the pillow, grinning to show her teeth, and said, “Cousin, that wedding gift you sent was quite thoughtful. I guess you wanted me to open it on my wedding night, but unfortunately, I disappointed you.”
Pei Jiya, held in her hand, calmly adjusted his attitude, looking less cowardly than before. He smiled back and said, “Likewise, cousin. The parting gift you gave me is quite interesting too. Are you satisfied with my current appearance?” He waved his tiny mouse paws as he spoke.
Wu Zhen put down her mouse cousin and glanced around, noticing a plate of sesame sugar chips in the hands of a little girl nearby. She casually took a piece of candy and poked the white mouse’s belly. “Cousin, let’s not dwell on past events. Now, you need to help me switch our bodies back, right?”
Pei Jiya brushed off the sesame seeds stuck to his belly, not angry, and said, “Why didn’t Mei Zhuyu come with you?”
Wu Zhen’s face darkened at the mention of this. “He came, but he and the child were kidnapped by some villain.”
Pei Jiya: “Who would dare to kidnap him… Wait, child? I thought you two had just gotten married. The child shouldn’t have been born so quickly, right?”
Wu Zhen: “Of course not that quickly, it’s still in the belly.”
The white mouse suddenly laughed. Wu Zhen poked him again, “Cousin Pei, you know my patience isn’t great.”
The white mouse stopped laughing. “This body-switching technique came from a fragment of an ancient text I found. I figured it out after some trial and error. It had never succeeded before, so I’m surprised it worked for you two. You probably don’t know, but this isn’t something just any two people can do. It requires a meeting of minds, no rejection or ill will towards each other, and some other conditions… From this perspective, your relationship seems quite good. I thought you didn’t truly like Mei Zhuyu.”
Wu Zhen, heart as cold as iron, didn’t want to hear his nonsense. She cut to the chase: “Enough talk, just tell me how to solve this.”
The white mouse’s whiskers twitched as if his teeth hurt: “It’s best if both people are here at the same time. If you want me to forcibly break the spell, it might not succeed.”
Wu Zhen didn’t care about his difficulties. The sesame sugar chip in her hand was almost touching the white mouse’s face. “Hurry up, do it now, and it must succeed.”
Pei Jiya spread his paws. Well, she was still the same cousin from childhood—seemingly generous but quite unreasonable.
The process of breaking the spell was surprisingly simple and quick. Wu Zhen looked at her hands, seeing no change—this was still her husband’s body. Looking at Pei Jiya, he lay there like a deflated mouse, as if nearly dead.
Wu Zhen ruthlessly poked him awake and said coolly, “Are you playing with me? Nothing happened at all.”
The white mouse scrambled up. “You’re too far apart. This is all I can do. You’ll switch back in a day.”
Wu Zhen withdrew her hand, smiling at the white mouse’s eyes. “Fine. If you’re lying to me, cousin, heh.”
Pei Jiya coughed lightly, maintaining his dignity. “I’ve broken the spell for you. Shouldn’t you help me remove this mouse skin in return?”
Wu Zhen: “You know how to break it yourself. Your family has plenty of people; tears shouldn’t be hard to come by.”
Pei Jiya: “But you made this. Shouldn’t you take responsibility?”
Wu Zhen: “Cousin, have I been too nice lately that you think I’m a responsible person?”
Pei Jiya was at a loss for words. Finally, he shook his head and laughed. “Alright, I’ll handle it myself. I should thank you for this ‘mouse skin.’ It saved my life.”
Leaning against the pillow behind him, Pei Jiya recounted his experience from two months ago. When they were passing through the mountain road near Tangshui City, the weather suddenly changed with thunder and lightning. The horses pulling the carriage were startled and bolted towards a cliff. The carriage fell into the ravine below, with guards and servants rushing down to rescue people.
However, at the bottom of the ravine that day, there was a patch of sticky darkness.
“There was a monster at the bottom of the ravine,” Pei Jiya narrowed his eyes. “It killed all living things. At that moment, I happened to trigger the mouse skin and turned into a mouse. Luckily, I didn’t die from the fall, only suffered some injuries, and hid under a corpse to avoid the monster’s killing intent. Honestly, it was the first time I felt such terrifying pressure.”
Later, after the creature left, he crawled from the bottom of the ravine to the mountain road—such a long journey nearly killed him. He, the noble young master of the Pei family, had never been so exhausted in his life. After all these years of not dying from illness or his various experiments with magic, he almost died from exhaustion.
Wu Zhen asked, “Was it a rotting demon?”
Pei Jiya was surprised: “You’ve seen that thing too? Could it be that Mei Zhuyu was kidnapped by that creature?”
Wu Zhen felt awful and didn’t want to answer.
Pei Jiya was very interested and continued to ask, “Is that thing still at the bottom of the ravine?”
Wu Zhen rubbed her fingers and said in a low voice, “It’s not there anymore. Don’t know where it went.”
“Little Uncle!” A shout suddenly came from outside. Wu Zhen turned to look, then turned back to Pei Jiya and said, “I have to go now. Are you staying here?”
Pei Jiya: “Take care, cousin.”
His meaning was clear—he didn’t need her to worry about him. Wu Zhen didn’t particularly want to anyway, so she simply left, thoroughly embodying the concept of “use and discard.”
As soon as Wu Zhen walked out the door, the white mouse immediately reverted to his previous impressive demeanor, directing his disciple to tidy up his bed. It was covered in sesame sugar chip crumbs from Wu Zhen’s earlier actions.
A Fu obediently lay on the bed, brushing off the crumbs, and asked his master straightforwardly, “Master, are you afraid of your cousin?”
Pei Jiya: “…”
A Fu: “Did she beat you up before? Is that why you’re afraid of her?”
Pei Jiya said gently, “A Fu, listen, be good, and don’t say such things anymore.”
A Fu looked confused: “Don’t say what anymore?”
Pei Jiya: “Cousin.”
A Fu: “Oh.” She thought that her master must be afraid of his cousin. She found the cousin quite scary too.
Wu Zhen walked out of the small courtyard and waved to the young Taoist Lidong who had come looking for her. “Over here.”
Lidong hurried over. “Little Uncle, have you discovered something?”
Wu Zhen: “The matter is resolved. We can leave now.”
Lidong was shocked. He hadn’t even figured out what was causing trouble, yet Little Uncle had already solved the problem. Little Uncle was indeed Little Uncle! Lidong believed Wu Zhen’s words without doubt, immediately told the two Taos that the matter was resolved, and promised Mr. Tao that someone would be found to handle his wife and daughter’s issues. Then he set off with Wu Zhen towards Changxi Temple on Xiling Mountain.
This time, there were no problems on the journey. The two arrived at Xiling Mountain at dusk, then trudged through dense forest for half an hour before reaching the entrance of Changxi Temple.
To Wu Zhen’s surprise, the renowned Changxi Temple was not only remote but also dilapidated. The plaque was peeling, moss grew on the walls, and the large stones serving as steps at the entrance were worn smooth. The temple gate was small, allowing only two people to enter side by side. The two small wooden doors creaked open with a gentle push, not even locked.
Lidong closed the temple gate and said to Wu Zhen, who was looking around the courtyard, “Little Uncle must be hungry after a day’s journey. At this time, Master and the others should be in the dining hall. I’ll go inform the Ancestral Master that Little Uncle has returned. Little Uncle, please go to the dining hall first.”
With that, he hurried off to the right, leaving Wu Zhen standing alone in the courtyard.
It was too dark to see clearly, but Changxi Temple’s front courtyard was also old, though quite spacious. She walked around with her hands behind her back, passing through the side hall towards the back, heading towards the source of light and sound.
Although Wu Zhen didn’t know the way to the dining hall, she could find it by following the smell. A spicy aroma wafted through the air. Standing at the entrance of the dining hall, Wu Zhen thought, no wonder her husband could eat such spicy food—it seemed the Taoists of Changxi Temple ate like this daily.
Wu Zhen, a person who knew no fear of strangers, walked into Changxi Temple’s dining hall. Facing numerous piercing gazes, she remained unmoved, calm, and composed.
She even smiled at everyone and greeted them friendlily, “Nice to meet you all.”
The dining hall, which had been filled with chatter, fell silent as everyone stared at Wu Zhen standing in the doorway. A few Taoists who had initially looked happy to see their “Little Uncle” or “Junior Brother” return were stunned when they heard her speak and saw her smile.
The sound of dropping bowls and chopsticks echoed through the hall as people froze in shock.
No one spoke. All the Taoists, young and old, stared at Wu Zhen in bewilderment.
Wu Zhen smacked her lips, glanced at the dishes on several tables, and chose one that seemed to have less chili. She naturally sat down in an empty seat and, under everyone’s gaze, began to eat after serving herself some rice. She urged them, “Please, everyone, eat.”
She had been traveling all day and hadn’t eaten, so she was indeed hungry.
An old man with a white beard sitting next to her nervously looked her over. “Junior Brother Guyu, what’s wrong with you? You seem… off somehow?”
On the other side, a slightly younger Taoist with a beautiful beard asked with concern, “You’ve been away from the mountain for so long without any news. Now you’ve suddenly returned. Did something happen?”
The other Taoists who hadn’t spoken also stared at her, their faces showing the same questions even though they remained silent. Wu Zhen put down her bowl and chopsticks, wiped her mouth which was a bit spicy, and smiled again at the two bearded senior brothers on either side of her. “You two Taoists must be Zhuyu’s senior brothers, right? It’s a long story. I’m Zhuyu’s wife from Chang’an. My name is Wu Zhen.”
The senior brothers and nephews: What on earth? Is there something wrong with our ears, or is there something wrong with Little Uncle/Junior Brother?
Seeing that they couldn’t come to their senses, Wu Zhen spared them the polite small talk and focused on filling her stomach first.