“Divine punishment, this must be divine punishment!” The village elders immediately had an answer.

“I told you there’s a monster on the mountain, but you didn’t believe me. Look, the heavens are throwing a fireball down. They’re going to burn all the monsters on the mountain!”

For a moment, everyone was talking as if they were close relatives with the heavens.

“Ah Qi! Ah Qi!” Suddenly, the village’s scholar, old He Xiucai, rushed over and supported his pale-faced wife. He pointed to the dazzling firelight on the mountaintop, “My son, Ah Qi, is up there! Up there! What should we do?”

The elderly couple burst into tears.

People exclaimed, stunned for a moment, then looked at the mountain top. They were shocked, “What?! Your son is on the mountain!”

“His Ah Qi goes up the mountain every day to gather wild vegetables and mushrooms.”

“Who dares to go up at a time like this?”

“Yeah, yeah, look, the mountain is still shaking.”

“It’s rolling stones everywhere. We can’t go up now. Even if we do, it’s suicide. Hey!”

“Old scholar He, don’t worry. Once the mountain stops shaking, we’ll go up and find Ah Qi for you!” Several young men from the village stood up.

“Don’t worry, He Xiucai. As the saying goes, fools have good luck.” Did someone actually console them like this? If it were someone else, they’d probably get slapped.

Surprisingly, the elderly couple didn’t get angry at those words. Instead, they knelt down together and kowtowed, “Oh divine beings, our foolish child has a kind heart. If you’ve come to vanquish demons, please spare our foolish child.”

Seeing the elderly couple kowtowing, others felt sad too.

The mountain people were simple, both within and outside the village were like family. Despite Old He’s son being a fool, no one had ever bullied him in the village. Everyone clapped their hands together, silently praying for the safety of Old He’s foolish child amid the bursts of red light.

In one’s lifetime, there aren’t many coincidences. But sometimes, it can change fate.

On this day, besides Liu Qiang, another person was also going up the mountain. He was the only son of Scholar He, known as the village’s fool.

The fool’s name was He Shiqi, actually a handsome and dashing young man. His features were sharp, and his eyes were exceptionally clear and lively. In the evening, they shone like the stars in the night sky, twinkling as if they could penetrate the mysteries of the world. With a high nose bridge and lips of moderate thickness, his lips were vividly red, even village girls were envious of the rosy hue that could save them money on cosmetics.

The fool was good-looking, and if his family had a bit more wealth, the girls might have tolerated him. Unfortunately, the He family was poor as can be, living in destitution. Hence, when the fool turned twenty-one, he was still single.

Every morning, the fool would go up the mountain to gather wild vegetables and mushrooms. When the fireball fell, he was collecting mushrooms. Unlike Liu Qiang, when the fool saw the fireball, he was actually delighted. He chased after it gleefully, shouting, “Falling star! falling star!”

The fool’s legs were surprisingly fast. He chased the fireball to the mountaintop, where the huge fireball crashed into the ground with a “boom.” Sand and stones flew, and large trees around him were uprooted and flung around. Yet, the fool remained standing in place, unaffected by the tremendous impact. He was even happily looking around, collecting a few more mushrooms while panting heavily, as if it was a normal day.

The next moment, the air seemed to be sucked away, causing all the suspended trees to gather toward the point where the fireball had crashed. The fool saw the trees being flung again and found it amusing. He hugged a thick tree and flew along with the other trees toward the area where the red light shone on the mountain top.

He had just hitched a ride.

Suddenly, the flung trees came to a halt.

Not far from him, there was dazzling golden light constantly flickering, as if the sun had landed on the mountaintop. The fool looked blankly at the golden light, walked over the trees that had stopped flying, and a large glowing pit appeared before him. In the pit was a luminous lotus.

The fool had never seen such a scene. He stared at the pit, and suddenly, a tremendous force burst out of the golden light. The sand and stones flew, and the trees that had been suspended around him were flung away. The fool’s basket, as well as his clothes, were torn apart by the powerful force, leaving him completely exposed.

Amidst the chaos, only the fool He Shiqi stood tall and unfazed.

He Shiqi stood naked by the glowing pit, his hair in disarray due to the wind, his ink-black hair fluttering amidst the sand and stones. Stones grazed his face but didn’t harm him in the slightest. His black pupils were fixed on the luminous figure in the pit, much like the golden light itself. Absorbing his attention, preventing him from looking away.

After an unknown duration, the wind ceased which led trees to fall, the silence was restored, and the day broke.

As the golden light dissipated, a fragrant scent filled the air. Like the fragrance of a distant lotus, it penetrated hearts. Where the fragrance reached, flowers sprouted from the scorched earth, covering it like a floral carpet in the pit. Amid the blossoming flowers, a robed young girl emerged, and exuded smoke.

This July, the miraculous woman Lian Youyou descended from the Ping Mountain of Qin Prefecture. Was she a human, a demon, a god, or a devil? Who could tell? Only she knew.

Lian Youyou slowly woke up in the pit, her vision blurred, and a taste of soil in her mouth.

“Ptui! Ptui!” She spat out the dirt, feeling like she had just experienced an utterly humiliating fall.

She propped herself up, feeling dazed and lifted her gaze.

With this lift of her gaze. It was a sight that shocked both heaven and earth.

The Six Realms would cry foul at the disharmony and vulgarity of three words!

Because, within Lian Youyou’s eyes, He Shiqi’s stark-naked body.

“How many cycles of reincarnation did it take to gain this enlightenment?”

“Just want to say, Heavens, are you serious? Who the hell wants to see this!”

“Oh, my God!” Lian Youyou hurriedly covered her eyes, “I see something so dazzling the moment I arrive! Censor! Quickly censor!” Covering her eyes with one hand, she snapped her fingers toward He Shiqi’s direction with the other, “Snap, snap, snap.”

He Shiqi sat foolishly by the edge of the pit, watching Lian Youyou snap her fingers toward him. 

“Why was this woman so good-looking? She looked better than all the village girls.”

“Snap, snap, snap.”

“Hehehe.” He Shiqi also imitated Lian Youyou and started snapping his fingers. As he did, he found a rhythm and even nodded along. A rhythm that brought him indescribable delight.