Soul Realm：Fate Change

Chapter 4 - Mysterious Encounter

The live band switched to an upbeat song, and patrons began moving toward the stage. Under the dazzling neon lights, few noticed the small patch of shadow near the cash register.

I stood awkwardly in place, staring at the drink before me, unsure whether to accept it or not.

Ning Qianqian noticed my discomfort and nudged me with her elbow, mouthing that she would handle it. As she reached for the drink with a smile, another hand suddenly appeared. The light filtered through the golden whiskey, casting shifting shadows on the black suit sleeve.

I looked up to see Celeste standing beside me, examining the glass with an impassive expression.

"What's this?" he asked, lifting the glass, making the ice cubes clink.

Not knowing Celeste's alcohol tolerance and seeing him about to smell the drink, I quickly grabbed his wrist, taking the glass in my hand and pushing it back toward the man with an awkward smile.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I can't..."

The man stared blankly as I returned the drink, looking up at Celeste's displeased expression before turning his gaze back to my face. Suddenly, his expression changed to one of realization.

"Oh... OH! No, that's not what I meant." His hands gestured frantically between us.

"If that's not what you meant, then what did you mean?" Ning Qianqian produced a handful of sunflower seeds from somewhere and began cracking them with a smile. "You'd better explain yourself clearly, or someone might misunderstand your intentions."

"Ning Qianqian," I pulled at her sleeve, trying to stop her. "Don't make trouble."

"I just wanted to help this young lady solve some problems." The man wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, fumbling with his wallet with trembling hands.

It was a brown leather wallet, worn transparent at the seams, clearly having been used for a long time. As the man tried to pull out a card, the other side of the wallet threatened to spill open. I caught sight of a photograph of a small boy tucked into one of the compartments.

The boy wore a blue short-sleeved shirt, with thin, soft brownish-yellow hair plastered to his forehead. His skin was pale and his lips had little color, but despite looking frail, his spirit seemed good. His bright smile revealed a missing front tooth. The boy shared the same brownish-green eyes as the man, and judging by his age, appeared to be his son.

Ning Qianqian had clearly noticed the photo too, and whispered in my ear.

"He has a son but still comes here to hit on girls? Doesn't seem like a good person."

"He already said it's not like that, maybe he has other business," I whispered back.

"What other business could there be in a bar?" Ning Qianqian nearly lost control of her volume. "You're too trusting."

"This, this here." During our exchange, the man finally found what he was looking for and pushed it across the counter toward me.

It was a business card, printed on low-quality paper without any of the usual embellishments like gold foil that most business cards had. It looked like it had been printed on a home printer, with slightly fuzzy ink displaying the man's name and occupation.

I reached out to take it, wanting to read the text more clearly. Just as I was about to touch the card, my wrist with the Chu Flower bracelet suddenly felt heavy.

"Let me see," Ning Qianqian's hand shot out and snatched the card from in front of me. "Yuka... priest of the Pure Mind Church?"

She peered at him over the top of the card. "What's the Pure Mind Church?"

"A church that brings hope and light to people," Perhaps because he had entered familiar territory, Yuka – now properly addressed as Priest Yuka – seemed to settle down, his expression becoming more composed.

"To be honest, I know that you two ladies have been observing me during your work hours. I must confess that I was at a low point in my life recently."

"But the Guardian cleared away my distracting thoughts, helped me see my life's purpose clearly, and brought me hope. He completely transformed my life. I follow him, and I hope to bring his gospel to more people."

"To be frank, while having coffee here earlier, I accidentally overheard your conversation and learned of your troubles," Yuka looked at me. "I once faced the same difficulties you're facing now, but the Guardian helped me, and He can surely help you too."

When I first heard the words "Guardian" from Yuka's mouth, I was genuinely startled. As I continued listening, it began to sound absurd, and I let out a sigh of relief.

Yuka had gotten one thing right though – a Guardian could indeed help me. I secretly glanced up at my "Guardian" standing beside me, but was surprised to find Celeste's expression grave as he stared intently at the business card.

Had he become upset hearing Yuka use the Guardian title as a gimmick?

I pondered silently, thinking about how I still needed Celeste's help to find my soul and save my life. Determined to show my unwavering loyalty, I decided to take the business card from Ning Qianqian. I felt Celeste's gaze shift from Ning Qianqian to me, and a cold sweat broke out as I hurriedly declined Yuka politely.

"I'm sorry, Priest Yuka, but I prefer to solve my current difficulties through my own efforts. Would you like to order more drinks? As a regular customer, this round's on me."

"Let me handle this! I know exactly what drinks would suit Priest Yuka." Ning Qianqian squeezed in beside me, her fingers flying across the screen to select drinks while speaking to me in a voice only we could hear, "And you said there was nothing between you and the man you brought... Just look at how his eyes nearly burned a hole through that business card!"

"I was wrong – he's not an ice cube, he's a jar of vinegar."

That's a bit of an exaggeration.

I used the motion of taking the receipt to observe Celeste. He was still standing in place with his arms crossed, frowning at the business card. However, his expression wasn't as stern as before; instead, it seemed tinged with confusion, as if he'd encountered a difficult puzzle.

"Priest Yuka, let's go to the bar over there. I'll mix some drinks for you." Ning Qianqian half-invited, half-dragged Yuka away from the cash register, not forgetting to throw me an exaggerated wink as she left, her eyes twitching so much her eyelid almost cramped.

I knew exactly what she meant. I turned to Celeste with a sheepish smile. Though I hadn't done anything wrong, I couldn't shake the guilty feeling of "cheating" on one Guardian with another in front of him. My hand behind my back inched across the counter surface until my fingers touched the business card, then quickly grasped it.

"Celeste, you have to believe me, you're the Guardian I brought back from the Soul Realm, so of course you're more real than the Guardian he talks about! How could I believe him, right? Hehe."

"I'll throw away this card right now, immediately!"

"Wait." Celeste caught me as I tried to slip away. "Let me look at the card again."

The crumpled business card turned over and over between Celeste's fingers as he examined it meticulously, almost as if he were trying to determine the brand of ink used on the card through the text patterns or paper fiber arrangement. My palms were sweating as I mentally cursed Yuka for choosing to call their deity "Guardian" of all names.

"Celeste, stop looking at it. This city has many different beliefs, and such evangelizing happens in the shop every few days." I bent down slightly, trying to see Celeste's expression, but in the shadows cast by the lights, his expression was unclear.

"I know that priest wasn't talking about you Guardians, and Guardians probably can't cause earth-shattering changes in people's lives..." As I spoke, I realized I had never learned more detailed information about Guardians, only knowing rough information from Edwine, such as Guardians being able to soothe emotions but not having the power to change people's destinies.

Come to think of it, Guardians really couldn't cause earth-shattering changes in people's lives. As for other more detailed content, I'd ask Celeste when he was in a better mood.

Seeing Celeste still motionless, I simply held out my hand in front of him: "If you don't like it, we can just throw it away. If you're worried, I can put it through the paper shredder, then soak it in water until it's soft, and finally throw it in the blender and blend it into pulp, okay?"

"Give it to me quickly, looking at it is making you unhappy too."

Celeste finally ended his observation, looking up at me as if bestowing a favor, the business card held between two fingers, its corners already somewhat limp. I encouragingly extended my hand a bit further, thinking that as soon as Celeste gave me the card, I would dispose of it immediately.

Unexpectedly, a small green flame suddenly appeared on the card, dancing around its edges, and in moments had burned it to nothing.

"I'm not angry." Celeste gently blew away the ashes in his palm and turned to head back upstairs.

What a situation, I secretly lamented, hurriedly signaling Ning Qianqian to take over the cash register as I lifted my heels to follow Celeste back upstairs.

But Celeste wasn't in the room.

When I rushed back to the room, I only saw Francis Fat Tiger sleeping soundly in the corner, its little belly rising and falling, with no sign of anyone else.

There was nothing else on the second floor except for the storage room, and Celeste probably wouldn't be interested in looking around there. I stood in the center of the room looking around when a sudden breeze lifted the corner of the curtain, revealing a glass door that hadn't been completely closed.

So this room had a balcony!

I went over and peeked through the gap in the balcony door, seeing Celeste standing at the edge of the balcony fully clothed. The street below was nearly empty, the street trees had long since lost their leaves, and when the cold wind blew, it raised a rustling sound.

Below, occasional shouts from young people could be heard, mixed with the tinkling of the wind chimes at the bar's entrance and the creaking of the door opening and closing, all bundled together with rising steam before disappearing down the other end of the street.

Celeste stood there like a solitary deity, looking particularly desolate.

I hesitated about whether to go out and say something, but the early winter evening wind blew, making me feel like my brain had been flash-frozen and sent to the South Pole.

"Never mind, never mind," I turned up the room's air conditioning temperature and curled up on the sofa, wrapping myself into a ball with a blanket. "It's too cold to go out and pose dramatically with Celeste, who knows what he's looking at anyway."

It must be some divine matters that mortals couldn't understand.

It was too cold, so I wrapped myself in the blanket from head to toe, my bangs messily falling in front of my eyes. When I tried to brush the hair away from my eyes, I unexpectedly discovered that a petal was missing from my Chu Flower bracelet.

"The number of petals seems different from before." I examined it, turning it over and over.

"Because there was Dark Twilight."

The balcony door slid open with a whoosh, and Celeste entered the room carrying a chill with him. Even after walking to where I was, the warmth of the heater hadn't completely dispelled the cold from his body, and there was still a coolness when he came near. So even gods could react to cold; his nose tip and the corners of his eyes had been reddened by the cold, and his fingertips must be cold too.

Just as I was thinking this, Celeste used his fingers to grip my wrist, lifting it to his eye level: "It seems I wasn't mistaken. Just now indeed..."

"Indeed so cold."

"...what did you say?"

Perhaps my brain had short-circuited from the cold wind, but at that moment I was acting purely on instinct. When Celeste's fingers gripped my wrist, my thoughts involuntarily focused on the cold touch of his skin, and all I could think was that whether god or human, after being in the cold wind for so long, hands would indeed feel like ice cubes!

"Your hands are so cold." I grabbed his fingers in return.

"Although there are cases of Divine Chosen being with Guardians in the Soul Realm, I don't have such intentions." Celeste's voice directly hit my brain's power button, and I suddenly realized what I was doing, hurriedly letting go of his hand and raising my palm to the sky in a solemn oath: "I don't have such intentions either."

Celeste made no comment.

I scrambled up from the sofa, quickly changing the subject: "I really didn't listen to that Priest Yuka today, and you shouldn't mind what he said about the Guardian—"

"Every human has the possibility of encountering a Guardian, what he said might not be false." Celeste used his finger to hook my bracelet and lift it up, "But I went downstairs because I sensed Dark Twilight."

"Dark Twilight?"

How could there be Dark Twilight here when we're no longer in the Soul Realm?

Celeste seemed confused as well, but seeing me sitting there dumbfounded, he patiently explained his reason for going downstairs: "I sensed Dark Twilight appearing while I was upstairs. When I went down, I first felt Dark Twilight energy in the drink he offered you, and then felt it on the business card."

"But this feeling was very faint and quickly disappeared."

"Originally I thought it was my imagination, but seeing the Chu Flower, I'm certain my feeling was correct."

I looked at the Chu Flower missing a petal, still full of confusion: "You mean, it was Yuka who brought the Dark Twilight? Can Dark Twilight hide on people?"

"It's also possible that the glass and business card were contaminated and then quickly purified." Although Celeste said this, he clearly didn't believe this analysis himself, "This situation is very rare."

"Dark Twilight is born from people's negative emotions, it's an energy that can move independently. I've never encountered a situation before where Dark Twilight attaches to or hides within certain objects or people."

"But..." I thought of my first meeting with Celeste, "That rabbit we met before was also active with Dark Twilight, wasn't it?"

"That's different."

"The Dark Twilight contaminated the rabbit, which can't be considered symbiosis between Dark Twilight and the rabbit. We just needed to purify the contamination."

"Hiding or attaching is a much closer relationship."

I thought hard for a moment, then had a sudden realization: "I understand! It's like when I apply body lotion – some body lotions just float on the surface of my skin like a shell, while others penetrate my skin and become one with it!"

"That's the principle, right!"

What a genius analogy! I secretly expected praise from Celeste, but only saw his slightly speechless expression.

"Is that wrong?"

"It's correct."

Celeste continued: "Regardless of which type, the disappearance of Dark Twilight requires purification, it can't suddenly vanish without a trace."

"How strange..." The injury to the Chu Flower meant I had really encountered Dark Twilight just now, but this Dark Twilight had disappeared right under Celeste's nose.

"It sounds like the Dark Twilight was being controlled artificially, released when wanted, withdrawn when wanted, and even able to actively decide what objects to contaminate." As I spoke, I let out a big yawn, "Haa... Can anyone really control Dark Twilight?"

"Unlikely." Celeste picked up a manga book lying nearby – it was Ning Qianqian's precious collection hidden here. "Get some sleep, this isn't related to finding your soul anyway."

"That's... true..."

I gradually closed my eyes, and in my half-asleep state, I felt someone draping a blanket over me.

The warm air mixed with Francis Fat Tiger's purring, filling the room with a solid sense of tranquility. As drowsiness overtook me, my consciousness slowly sank into sweet dreams.

When I opened my eyes again, I had 6 days of life remaining.

---

"Still can't get through?"

"No."

"Don't worry, have some breakfast first."

Ning Qianqian pushed a coffee cup in front of me, gesturing for me to fill my stomach before continuing. I took a hasty sip of the coffee without checking its temperature and pressed the redial button.

The phone rang endlessly.

"It's no use, still no answer." Since waking up this morning, I had been anxious to call my grandmother to hear how she was doing and ask about the jade pendant and the prophecy.

But grandmother never answered the phone.

Ning Qianqian had dark circles under her eyes, "Maybe she went out and forgot her phone. Memory gets worse with age – she even sent that package to the shop, remember?"

Though I wanted to accept Ning Qianqian's explanation, an intrusive thought suddenly appeared in my mind: if grandmother hadn't sent the package to the shop, I wouldn't have been able to get the prophecy and jade pendant that day. Perhaps grandmother had done it intentionally.

...How could that be possible? Grandmother was a medicine woman, not a fortune teller.

I shook my head, trying to dispel this absurd thought, yet instinctively felt that grandmother had indeed done it on purpose. But if grandmother really could calculate everything so precisely, she would know my life was counting down day by day. Would a grandmother who knew I was living on borrowed time really leave her phone at home?

Perhaps she couldn't bear to hear my voice, fearing it would trigger her grief?

The more I thought, the more my mind wandered, until I was imagining grandmother crying sorrowfully at my funeral.

"No, I have to try calling one more time!" I couldn't let waiting become an eternal regret!

The wind chime tinkled, and Celeste appeared at the shop door with Francis Fat Tiger, the fluffy ball of fur, trailing behind him. The god and his Raou had just entered when they saw me with teary eyes determinedly holding up my phone.

"Chirp!" Francis Fat Tiger bounced and rolled into my arms.

"What's wrong?" Celeste brushed off non-existent dust from himself, stopping at a distance.

"It's nothing, she's just being dramatic." Ning Qianqian stroked Francis Fat Tiger's fur with a satisfied expression. "Celeste, you're amazing – you can go out for morning exercise even after staying up all night."

This morning I had reintroduced Celeste to Ning Qianqian, explaining that he was my friend who had come here because he had some business to attend to.

Ning Qianqian wore an "I understand, I understand" expression: "Celeste stayed up all night in that small room with you, just sitting there without sleeping. He's really a good person."

Celeste probably really hadn't slept all night. I didn't know if gods needed sleep, but in that room there was only one sofa for sleeping, and I had monopolized it – even if he wanted to sleep, he had nowhere to go.

I looked at Celeste with slight guilt, thinking I should go out later to look for a suitable bed to put in that small room.

"Morning exercise?" Celeste questioned Ning Qianqian's words.

I suddenly remembered that Celeste had actually gone out to communicate with the surrounding grass and trees, not for morning exercise at all. But if we told Ning Qianqian about communicating with plants, she would probably take us both to a mental health hospital.

"Yeah, yeah, didn't you go to the park nearby? We call that morning exercise here." I laughed awkwardly, trying to smooth things over. "Qianqian, I'm hungry. One sandwich isn't enough, get me a couple more."

Watching Ning Qianqian's figure disappear into the back kitchen, I let out a long breath and collapsed back into my seat. "Maybe we should find another place to stay. Using one lie to cover another lie – sooner or later, it's going to fall apart."

Francis Fat Tiger had half its body on the table, its little nose almost dipping into the coffee cup.

Celeste seemed puzzled by my nervousness: "Why not just tell her you lost a soul and soul essence?"

"Then she'd be scared into losing her own soul and soul essence."

I tried calling grandmother again, but still no answer. After sending her a text message, I threw my phone on the table, feeling restless.

"Celeste, what are we doing today?"

"We can only wait now." He approached the decorative flowers on the table, losing interest after realizing they were artificial. "I've extended my divine consciousness through the plant root systems in the nearby park. If there's any news, I'll receive notification."

"Take this too." Celeste produced another Pathfinder Bird and tucked it into my pocket.

"Isn't it useless?"

"An extra precaution."

How thorough, I thought admiringly. As my gaze fell on Celeste's face, I suddenly noticed he looked even paler than yesterday.

...Extending divine consciousness over such a large area must consume considerable divine power. And he hadn't rested at all yesterday...

"Celeste!"

"Hmm?"

"Let's go shopping!"

Though I said shopping, I had a clear goal: to buy a bed for Celeste. But it wasn't until we stepped into IKEA that Celeste, having caught onto my intention, told me Guardians actually didn't need rest.

"What do you mean they don't need rest?"

"Exactly what I said." Celeste showed little interest in the various beds before him. "Guardians survive on divine power granted by the Soul Realm. Our 'life' is rooted in Primal Force, unlike humans."

There it was – worldbuilding!

"What's Primal Force? With so many Guardians existing, doesn't the Primal Force get depleted?"

"Emotions have their own power. Positive emotions converge to form Primal Force, giving birth to the Soul Realm and Guardians. As long as humans have positive emotions, Primal Force won't be depleted."

"As for whether there's enough Primal Force to go around, well, Guardians exist to protect humans' positive emotions. If there isn't enough Primal Force, perhaps it means the Guardians aren't working hard enough."

Celeste's eyelashes lowered, but I caught a flash of mockery in his eyes.

"It sounds like Guardians have no control over their own lives." I chose my words carefully, trying to describe that strange feeling in my heart.

"It's none of your concern."

Celeste seemed unwilling to explain further. His gaze swept around the showroom once before he turned to leave—

"Are you two looking for furniture for your new home? Please let me know your requirements, and I'll be happy to make some recommendations."

—but was blocked by a salesperson's burning gaze.

Celeste, scorched by the salesperson's enthusiastic stare, seemed to momentarily forget what to say. I stepped forward, trying to help diffuse the situation.

"We..."

"What kind of furniture are you looking for? TV cabinet? Bed? We have dining tables and chairs too."

"Not really..."

"We can also start with style. Do you have photos of your room's decoration on your phones? I can help you choose furniture that matches your decor."

"Want to..."

"Or do you already have furniture and are looking for home accessories? Bedding sets, sofa cushions, decorative paintings, or curtains – just let me know what you need."

"...okay."

Failed completely.

Half an hour later, Celeste and I stood at the entrance of IKEA loaded with packages. I was carrying an IKEA shark plushie and holding a puppy plushie that looked remarkably like Francis Fat Tiger, with a bag of pet toys hanging from my finger. Celeste had been completely outfitted in comfortable home wear, with a grey hoodie pulled over his head, his former executive suit now tucked away in a blue and yellow woven bag he carried.

A gust of wind blew past, making both me and my wallet shiver.

"What's this?" Celeste pulled out a huge red and green stocking from his comfortable home wear pocket.

"A stocking," I squeezed out the words dryly, then added, "for putting gifts in."

My phone vibrated.

I snapped out of my daze, hastily dumped everything I was holding into Celeste's arms, and struggled to pull out my phone and answer it. Ning Qianqian's exclamation burst from the receiver: "Raina! There's no shower in that room! What did you buy a shower head for?!"

"...Wanted to replace the smoke alarm. In case of fire, this shower head can provide super-strong pressure, high water volume, smooth water flow without blockage, with three levels of pressure adjustment."

"Aren't you tempted?"

"Are you crazy?!" Ning Qianqian was directing installation workers to the downstairs bathroom on her end. "I had them install it in the downstairs bathroom. There's also some furniture piled up at the entrance – to fit everything into that room, the workers would have to play a sliding puzzle game in there. So I cleared out half of the storage room next door to store the extra furniture. Congratulations, Miss Shen, you now own a 0-bedroom, 1.5-living room residence on the most prosperous Eighth Avenue!"

"Get back here and clean up your mess!"

After hanging up the phone, my ears were still ringing. Celeste stood silently behind me, his face still wearing a somewhat bewildered expression.

"You probably haven't seen this in the Soul Realm," I pointed at all the bags and packages before us. "The trap of consumerism – a human realm specialty."

Celeste moved his lips but, unusually, didn't say a word.

The coffee shop wasn't far from here, and we walked in silence. A distant song could be heard from the roadside, the lyrics broken and intermittent, seeming to praise some deity.

"Is that him?" Celeste suddenly stopped, looking in the direction of the singing.

"Who?" I squeezed beside him, my shoulder sinking into the fleece of his hoodie, and through gaps in the shrubbery, I could vaguely make out a familiar face.

It was Priest Yuka.

He stood in front of a wheelchair where a frail boy sat – a boy with familiar brownish-green eyes.

I whispered to Celeste: "That should be his son."

Radiating outward from Priest Yuka and his son sat a circle of people of various ages and genders, and the singing was coming from their mouths.

During our observation, Priest Yuka noticed us too and waved at us with a smile. The singing stopped, and the circle of people's gazes followed Yuka's gesture to fall on Celeste and me.

I inexplicably broke out in goosebumps.