In the VIP ward of a large hospital in the imperial capital, the silence was so profound that one could hear a pin drop.

After a long pause, someone finally spoke.

"Master Mu, when you mentioned using three Soul Anchoring Talismans to 'buy' my son, did you mean... what I think you mean?" Jian Nianci, who looked remarkably youthful for her age of over fifty, hesitantly extended her index fingers and slowly brought them together.

"Yes," replied Mu Yaoguang, the so-called master, without a hint of hesitation. She even added after nodding, "I hope he can get the marriage certificate with me within three days. I have to leave the capital after that."

Upon hearing her confirmation, Jian Nianci swallowed hard.

In her idle moments, she had imagined various types of daughters-in-law—gentle, virtuous, strong-willed, socially adept—she had thought of them all. But never had she considered someone like Master Mu.

What category did Master Mu fall into?

A ghost hunter, talisman drawer, or feng shui expert?

Or perhaps, someone bold enough to propose buying her son?

Jian Nianci looked up earnestly at the girl who was slightly taller than herself.

The girl had enviably long hair, now tied up high at the back of her head, revealing a delicate and beautiful face.

When Jian Nianci first saw her, she had mistaken her for a family member of a patient who had wandered into the wrong room.

It wasn't until she witnessed the girl suspend a yellow talisman in the air and burn it to ashes without any igniting tool that she believed she was indeed the metaphysical master introduced by the abbot of Qingyue Temple.

She appeared even younger than her own son. Could she be just twenty?

Lost in thought, Jian Nianci couldn’t help but voice her curiosity.

"Master Mu, are you twenty this year?"

"In five days, I’ll turn twenty-one," Mu Yaoguang replied, her tone calm and measured. Yet, beneath her sleeves, her slender, pale fingertips fidgeted subtly, betraying her inner tension.

Only now did she realize she wasn’t as composed as she had believed.

"Twenty-one? That’s quite close in age to my son," Jian Nianci mused.

Yes, she knew.

She knew a lot about him, in fact.

Mu Yaoguang silently acknowledged this in her heart.

Should she agree?

Agree to let her son marry a master of metaphysics as his wife?

The thought alone would surely send her circle of friends into a frenzy. In their wealthy social circles, many were deeply superstitious.

And then there was her son—so brilliant, yet so stubbornly fixated on one person, his so-called "first love."

At twenty-five, he hadn’t even had a proper relationship.

If it were a girl like Master Mu...

Jian Nianci suddenly felt that perhaps Master Mu's suggestion was worth considering.

"Master Mu, after using those three talismans, will my husband..."

Having made up her mind, Jian Nianci turned her attention back to the unconscious Su Ji'an.

A few days ago, Su Ji'an had gone hiking in the Western Hills with friends. Upon returning, he developed a fever. Initially, she thought it was just a chill from the mountain breeze. However, shortly after the family doctor administered an IV drip, he fell into a coma. That very night, they rushed him to the best hospital in the capital. Despite consultations with numerous specialists, no cause for his condition could be found.

Later, someone suggested that he might have encountered something unclean. Through a friend, she contacted the abbot of Qingyue Temple, who then recommended Master Mu.

"The Soul-Settling Talismans can stabilize the soul of a living person. Mr. Su's coma is due to an excessive fright from encountering something unclean, causing a part of his soul to be unable to return to his body. Now that the malevolent entity has been eradicated, you need to place these three Soul-Settling Talismans on his forehead, below his navel, and on the soles of his feet. He should awaken within half a day."

As she spoke, Mu Yaoguang handed the three prepared talismans to Jian Nianci.

He would wake up in half a day?

Jian Nianci took the three talismans, her excitement barely contained. "Master Mu, rest assured. Once my husband wakes up, I will make sure my son marries you within three days."

...

Half a day later, at Su Corporation.

As Qiu Qiwen pushed open the door to the CEO's office, he heard a man's voice filled with surprise.

"Dad's awake?"

Su Jian, phone in hand, quickly walked around his desk and headed out. As he passed Qiu Qiwen, he instructed, "You'll take over the meeting for me."

"Me?" Qiu Qiwen pointed at himself, completely unprepared. What was he supposed to say at the meeting?

But the man in a hurry didn't give him a chance to refuse. In the blink of an eye, the spacious office was empty except for him.

"What do you mean, getting married?" Su Jian, who had just arrived at the underground parking lot via the elevator, suddenly stopped in his tracks.

The person on the other end of the phone was still talking. Su Jian's usually gentle and handsome face gradually clouded with a hint of anger.

Moments later, in the conference room where Qiu Qiwen was in a meeting with various department managers, he stared wide-eyed, looking as if he'd seen a ghost, at his boss and friend who had just returned.

"What's going on? Weren't you supposed to be at the hospital visiting your father? Why are you back already?"

Taking advantage of the moment when the sales manager was adjusting the projector for his presentation, Qiu Qiwen nudged the man beside him, who was wearing a cold expression.

Su Jian didn't answer Qiu Qiwen, but his tightly pursed lips clearly conveyed his displeasure to those around him.

Qiu Qiwen was puzzled. He had clearly heard his friend say in the office that his father had woken up. Logically, Su Jian should be happy about that. Moreover, he had seemed quite cheerful when he left earlier. How could he return with such a gloomy face after just a short while?

What could have happened to make his usually smiling friend show such obvious displeasure? Could it be about that person again?

However, based on past experiences, her best friend always preferred to suffer in silence rather than get angry at that person. So, what was she so upset about now? Curiosity was killing her!

In a rented apartment on the outskirts of the city, Mu Yaoguang had not stepped outside for two days. During this time, she had cast her fortune dozens of times. Each reading indicated that the marriage she was desperately seeking would be auspicious. Yet, she couldn't shake her anxiety. What if, just what if, something went wrong? After all, the divination also hinted that if she missed this chance, she and he would never cross paths again in this lifetime.

Sitting cross-legged on the cold floor, she gathered the fifty scattered yarrow stalks in front of her, preparing to cast another reading. Suddenly, a large black cat darted over, its plump front paws firmly pressing down on the stalks in her hands.

"Ali?" She blinked in confusion, reaching out to push the cat named Ali away. But to her surprise, the cat didn't budge. Not only did it stay put, but it also meowed twice at her and shook its head, almost human-like.

"Ali!" She frowned, her piercing gaze fixed on the black cat. The intensity of her stare made the cat's pupils contract sharply.

"Meow!" Ali let out a loud cry, then turned and ran off, resembling a child throwing a tantrum with a parent—both scared and annoyed.

She ignored the cat and instead raised the yarrow stalks above her head, shifting from sitting to kneeling. "I humbly beseech all past deities. Your disciple, Mu Yaoguang, once again troubles you to help fulfill my wish. From this day forward, I will devoutly offer incense and never break my promise."

After murmuring her plea, she carefully placed one stalk on the ground and divided the remaining stalks into two piles, beginning a new round of divination.

At that very moment, the phone ring she had been anxiously waiting for over the past two days finally sounded.

The instant the ringtone pierced the air, she tossed aside the yarrow stalks she had been holding and pounced on her phone like a starved tiger. Her fingers trembled as she pressed the answer button. "Hello!"

"Mu Yaoguang?" A clear, magnetic male voice came through the receiver.

"Yes!" Hearing the voice she adored, she nodded excitedly, then quickly added, realizing he couldn't see her, "This is Mu Yaoguang."

"Su Jian," the man's voice was calm, betraying little emotion. "Meet me at the Civil Affairs Bureau tomorrow morning at nine."

"Okay!"

Before she could even finish her response, he had already hung up the phone with decisive finality.