Want to get rich overnight?
Want to marry a beautiful, rich woman and reach the pinnacle of life?
Want to enjoy sweet dreams every night and a life with no bitterness?
Ji Laizhi did. He wanted all of it so badly he could die.
Then one day, Ji Laizhi went out and found a bird.
A strange bird that could talk.
Strange bird: "Want to get rich overnight?"
Ji Laizhi: "Yes."
Strange bird: "Want to marry a beautiful, rich woman and reach the pinnacle of life?"
Ji Laizhi: "Yes!"
Strange bird: "Want to enjoy sweet dreams every night and a life with no bitterness?"
Ji Laizhi: "If I get the first two, I can do without this one."
"..." The strange bird said, "No. You have to want this one."
They say that if you wake from a nightmare in the middle of the night, let your hair down, face northeast, and call Boqi's name three times, Boqi will come and eat the nightmare, preventing the bad dream from coming true. In ancient times, during the twelfth-month exorcism rites, shamans would chant invocations to summon Boqi and ward off nightmares and disaster.
Strange bird: "I'm Boqi."
Ji Laizhi laughed. "A crow making grand claims, and now you're pretending to be a divine beast?"
Strange bird: "..."
So that night, the strange bird beat Ji Laizhi up in his dream.
After waking up, Ji Laizhi was much more polite. "Hello, Boqi. What should I do?"
Boqi's blue-black scaled feathers gleamed in the morning light. He shook his wings. "Open the door and welcome your guests."
Ji Laizhi stared at the terrifying monster in front of him as it twisted and writhed, changing into a beautiful woman's face, then immediately turning into a mass of black mist. He clutched the strange mask his grandmother had left him with all his strength.
The materialist beliefs he'd held for twenty years shattered. Ji Laizhi turned around, trembling. "W-what is that?"
Perched on a branch nearby, Boqi smiled. "Your beautiful, rich woman."
#No beautiful rich woman, would a poor black bird do instead?#
#Grandma, your keepsake seems to hit people#
#The complete transformation of a law-abiding materialist warrior#
#Discussion: Can divine beast buffs overcome reproductive isolation between humans and birds?#
#Answer: No need to consider reproductive isolation when both are male#
Theme: Strive forward to achieve common prosperity
