After transmigrating into a book, she sighs: “He's so impressive, so clever he hardly seems human. There's nothing he can't do. He gets it as soon as I explain, and sometimes even without an explanation. He's practically an all-purpose, heaven-chosen workhorse.”
The top-scorer, who excelled in both civil and military studies, sighs: “She's so kind. Even a bodhisattva couldn't compare. She teaches me swordsmanship, helps me make money and keep accounts, teaches me medicine, gives me books to read, and provides for all my food and clothes. I hope she can stay by my side forever, but she's an immortal. One day, she'll have to return to the heavens.”
He asks everywhere how to keep an immortal from leaving. Should he hide her celestial clothes? Grind her shell into powder?
Then he comes across a miscellany claiming that immortals can communicate with the heavens through temples.
After that, he obsessively stops her from entering any temple, even ruined Taoist shrines with nothing left but their walls.
The day he gains great power, he says, “There are so many temples in the world. Tearing them all down would be too much trouble, and it's not realistic. I can't suppress other people's faith.”
Lian Tang: “?”
He takes a red cord and ties it around her neck, joking, “If you tie up a ginseng plant's stems and leaves, it won't run away. If I tie this around an immortal's neck, will she stop flying away?”
Lian Tang: “!”
He says, “A cord alone isn't secure enough. It'd be safer to tear down all the temples so she has nowhere to go. Then the immortal can only stay by my side.”
Lian Tang: “?!”
Help! She's just a mute, and her sweet, obedient mouthpiece seems to have a brain that's not quite right.
She tells him to take some time off. She wants to show him around and help clear his head.
He looks at her and smiles warmly. “All right.”
Then he pushes his luck: “Can I open my head and let you wash it? Will you stay with me forever?”
Lian Tang is scared out of her wits!
