The Northern Song Dynasty returned south, seeking the truth of the Dao.

Wang Zhenhuan, fueled by the effects of alcohol, followed the path to Chonghe Zhenren's courtyard. With winter approaching, the night wind was biting cold, as if slicing flesh from bone, which dissipated much of his drunkenness.

He stood in the courtyard, looking at the pitch-black house, and figured that it was so late now, Chong and Zhenren should have already gone to sleep. So he sighed, turned around, and prepared to leave.

But as soon as he turned around, the lights inside the room suddenly turned on, and the creaking sound of the door opening came from behind him. Wang Huanzhen turned around and saw Chonghe Zhenren wearing an outer robe, holding an oil lamp, standing in the room looking at him.

Wang Huanzhen bowed respectfully and said, "May you be blessed with good fortune. It's so late, I am truly ashamed. I intended to leave quietly, but I did not expect to disturb your rest, Master."

"It's alright. Cultivators are naturally light sleepers. Have you thought it through, fellow Daoist?" Master Chonghe waved his hand at him and then asked. The cold wind made the candlelight flicker, casting a somewhat dazed light on him.

Upon hearing Chonghe Zhenren's words, Wang Zhenren remained silent for a moment before speaking, "I have made up my mind. I am willing to give it a try with Zhenren. If my brother still cannot live, then so be it."

"Excellent, it's wonderful that you think this way, Fellow Daoist. Fellow Daoist Ao has done good deeds for the people all his life, so I'm sure the Ancestral Master will allow him to live another life," said Chonghe Zhenren with a smile.

"I hope so. I won't disturb your rest any longer, Master. I'll come to see you again tomorrow. Farewell." Wang Huanzhen cupped his hands in farewell, and after seeing Chong Hezi nod, he turned and left the courtyard.

Back in his room, he didn't light a lamp. He simply went straight to the kang (heated brick bed) and lay down. The kang was warm and cozy, and even the bedding had been changed that day. Master Lu was always meticulous and thorough in everything he did.

Perhaps that's why he's been able to stay in this mansion for decades. Wang Huanzhen lay on the heated kang, listening to the howling cold wind outside, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

Although he had agreed to Chonghe Zhenren's request, he couldn't shake off his unease. He didn't know if his choice was right; if his brother could live, all would be well.

If he couldn't, he would be the murderer who buried his path to reincarnation with his own hands. So, although he seemed carefree in Chonghe Zhenren's courtyard earlier, those were just words spoken to embolden himself with alcohol.

Now that the words were out, he began to regret them. Ao Shuang had died for him, and for his own selfish reasons, he had tried to bring the already dead Ao Shuang back to life. If he failed, wouldn't that mean he had killed Ao Shuang again?

Thinking of this, he could no longer sleep. He got up from the kang (a heated brick bed), pushed open the door, and went into the courtyard. Just like the previous days, it had started snowing at night, and a thin layer had already accumulated in the courtyard.

Wang Zhenhuan stood in the courtyard, looking up at the sky. He hoped to receive a positive answer, but all he got in response was the increasingly dense snowflakes all around him. The white snow fell on him, quickly turning him into a snowman.

Wang Zhenzhen didn't know how much time had passed until he felt his body stiffen. He then moved, shook off the snow, and rummaged through his clothes for a while.

He took out a burlap bag. This familiar bag instantly pulled him into his memories. The whole story began with what was inside this bag.

He sighed, then opened the bag and poured out three shiny copper coins. These coins were none other than the ones that Master Xuan Yangzi had used to tell his fortune. Before leaving, he had put them in his dry food bundle and given them to Wang Zhenhuan.

Ever since he took the wrong money last time, Wang Zhenhuan had specially bought a burlap sack to store these three copper coins. Now, seeing the coins again and remembering his old friend, he felt as if he had been transported to another world.

Once upon a time, Daoist Xuan Yangzi left him in the same way, leaving him all alone to struggle for survival in the deep mountains. And now, the situation is so similar; Ao Shuang has also left him.

Whether it was out of selfishness or his unwillingness to let go, he simply didn't want to continue like this. Why did everyone around him have to leave him? Was he truly a cursed lone star?

Wang Zhenzhen didn't believe it. If he was truly a cursed star, why was he sent to the mortal realm? Wang Zhenzhen was filled with grief, indignation, and resentment. He held the three copper coins in his palm.

Watching the snowflakes fall from the sky, I held the copper coin above my head and gently tossed it upwards...

"Splash—" "Pfft—"

Three copper coins collided in mid-air and fell to the snow with a soft thud. Wang Zhenhuan didn't immediately look down to check; instead, he gazed at the sky and muttered to himself.

"May you be blessed with boundless fortune. By the grace of the Ancestral Master, I have wasted more than twenty years of my life, but finally met a benefactor who helped me to enter the Dao. Now that my sworn brother has died unjustly while eliminating evil, I cannot bear to be separated from him by death and grieve for our parting. Therefore, I have this wish to help my brother summon his soul back to life."

I humbly beseech the Ancestral Master's blessing; if this matter succeeds, please grant your disciple an answer!

After Wang Zhen finished speaking, he knelt down in the snow with a thud and performed a grand ceremony of three kowtows and nine prostrations. Then he got up, bent down, and began to search for the scattered copper coins on the ground.

Copper coins belong to the element of metal, and snow belongs to the element of water. Although the three copper coins were buried in the snow, they were as easy to find as bright lights in the snow. Wang Zhenhuan brushed away the snow covering the first copper coin with his hand.

The copper coin, with its sunny side facing up, was clean and gleaming with a yellowish light, which reassured Wang Zhenhuan. He didn't understand divination, so he only wanted to use the yin and yang of the coin to judge whether the matter could be accomplished.

The fact that a positive side has appeared means that the patriarch, at the very least, does not reject the idea of ​​summoning the soul back to life, which implies that the matter is feasible. If the first divination slip had been a negative side, it would mean that the patriarch had rejected his request.

The plan to summon Ao Shuang's soul was naturally out of the question. After picking up the copper coin and wiping it clean, Wang Zhen carefully put it in his cloth bag. He then went to the second copper coin.

If the first test was to gauge the Patriarch's attitude, then the second test was to determine whether the matter could succeed. He had just seen the result of the first test. The Patriarch had not refused the matter.

That means that summoning the soul back to life is not going against the will of Heaven. But when it came to the second one, Wang Zhen suddenly hesitated. Even if the patriarch granted his request, it would be futile if it didn't work out.

After thinking for a moment, he decided to look at the third one first. Just as he was about to get up, he realized that if he didn't look at the one in front of him now and instead looked at the rest, wouldn't that one become the second one?

Thinking of this, Wang Zhenhuan no longer hesitated. He squatted down again and brushed the snow off the copper coin. A clean copper coin lay quietly in the snow, gleaming with a yellow light.

Wang Huanzhen looked closely and was immediately delighted. The copper coin was still facing upwards, just like before!