After rebirth, I rejected the rich yandere lady

However, the branches are indeed clean, with not a single praying plate left.

Xu Musen searched carefully for a long time, yet still found nothing.

Even though he had foreseen the result, seeing it with his own eyes left Xu Musen feeling somewhat heavy-hearted.

Outside the narrow path.

The young monk returned and saw two footprints on the damp ground covered with moss.

He immediately recalled the couple earlier; they must have snuck in when he wasn't looking.

He leaned over to take a look, and sure enough, saw the couple standing in front of the broken tree.

"Ah, young people nowadays, why don't they listen to warnings? If they fall, who'll be to blame..."

As the young monk spoke, he started to walk over, but before he could finish, someone tapped him on the shoulder.

"Master?"

The young monk turned around and saw a lean, white-bearded elderly monk.

"Master, there's a young couple who broke in, I'll go and call them out..."

"I know. The incense burner inside is full of ash, you should clear it first."

The elderly monk nodded.

"Yes."

The young monk glanced at the couple at the end of the narrow path and decided to bow and leave swiftly.

The elderly monk turned his head, his weathered eyes sharp and reflecting thought as he stroked his beard and looked at the figures at the end of the narrow path, lost in contemplation.

...

At that moment, Xu Musen was lost in thought in front of the broken tree.

An Nuannuan gently grabbed his hand.

Xu Musen snapped out of it and finally smiled, "Well, maybe this is fate."

This tree has been growing for a hundred years, having weathered countless storms, yet in the past three years, it was broken.

"When she's better, you can ask her yourself."

An Nuannuan consoled him.

Xu Musen reached out to rub her head, looking at the broken tree ahead. Since what he sought wasn't there, he decided not to linger.

At the moment of turning around,

a weathered voice came from behind.

"This tree has been here for over a hundred and fifty years. My master personally planted it back then. Over a century of storms and rains, it thrived with lush foliage; countless birds and small animals have nested in it over the years.

Yet last year, it abruptly broke; this is fate."

The white-bearded elderly monk had already appeared behind them at some unknown time, staring at the broken tree before them.

Xu Musen turned his head and looked at the elderly monk in front of him; he seemed somewhat familiar. He proactively apologized, "Sorry, we just came to retrieve something; we'll leave right away."

The elderly monk said nothing, his deep, weathered gaze silently assessing Xu Musen and then An Nuannuan beside him.

He took out a plate from his bosom.

"Is this what you're looking for?"

It was a faded praying plate, having gone through years of storm and rain, many of the inscribed characters were already blurred.

Yet Xu Musen instantly recognized those familiar markings.

This was Yao Mingyue's praying plate!

"Master..."

Xu Musen reached out his hand.

The elderly monk slowly spoke, "The little girl who hung this praying plate back then, hasn't she come?"

Xu Musen paused, looking at the elderly monk before him, and spoke quietly, "She's ill."

This sentence cast a moment of silence over them.

The elderly monk said nothing, glanced at the praying plate, and tossed it directly to Xu Musen.

Xu Musen immediately caught it steadily with both hands.

Xu Musen looked down at the token; after three years of wind and sun, the markings were already blurred, only barely discerning some words.

"Annoying" "Idiot" "Stupid blockhead" "You'll cling forever..." "Forget it... be happy..." "In the future... we'll be together..." "Mu... brother... like you..." "Wait for me..."

He couldn't make out any sentences, yet Xu Musen seemed to glimpse three years ago.

The unreasonable and proud yet sensitive girl, carving words with a flushed face while gritting her teeth.

Xu Musen tightly grasped the praying plate.

The elderly monk stroked his beard, walking past him to the broken tree, reaching out to touch the broken rings of the tree, and the sprouts growing from the broken branches.

"Last year, the strong wind broke this tree; there was also a nest on it, which was blown open. The nest was about to collapse completely, but this praying plate just happened to fall into the gap in the nest, protecting two just-hatched chicks. We only discovered this praying plate later when relocating the nest."

The elderly monk slowly narrated, his gaze carrying weathered gentleness, "It's both disaster and blessing. Without the nest, this praying plate would have disappeared amidst the mountains; without this praying plate, there would have been two fewer lives."

The elderly monk gazed at the green sprouts sprouting from the broken branches, seeing new vitality in spring and summer as if witnessing a new cycle.

The elderly monk turned his head to look at Xu Musen, his voice old yet lively and gentle.

"This too counts as.

A dead wood revived in spring, a survival in desperation."

A single praying plate brought about the rebirth of two lives.

Their lives also extended the life of this praying plate.

In the vastness of the universe, everything has its destiny.

Xu Musen raised his head to look at the elderly monk before him and the broken tree behind him sprouting new buds.

A dead wood revived in spring, a survival in desperation...

Perhaps, all of this is truly fate decreed by some higher power.

Xu Musen tightly held the praying plate in his hand, and bowed deeply to the elderly monk, "Thank you."

The elderly monk stroked his beard, shaking his head, "It's fate; that girl has a significant destiny, and so do you."

The elderly monk's wise eyes assessed Xu Musen and An Nuannuan again before finally shaking his head, "You both should leave; you likely have unfinished business."

Xu Musen grasped the praying plate in his hand, "Master, could I ask for a blessing from you..."

Xu Musen, a firm materialist, was thinking of Yao Mingyue at that moment.

He wished to believe there were spirits capable of ensuring her safety.

The elderly monk chuckled, shaking his head slightly as he stroked his beard, "The greatest blessing is right in your hand, isn't it?"

In Xu Musen's hand was that faded praying plate, after three years of storms, though faded, still returning to his hand.

The elderly monk stroked his beard, placed one hand behind his back, his weathered voice carrying ancient wisdom.

"Be it ghosts or science, they all come down to inner peace. Materialism or idealism, it's all about self. Miracles come in various sizes, and believing in miracles is what enables someone to bring blessings to another."

The elderly monk slowly walked out of the narrow path, leaving only a whispered echo.

Xu Musen tightly held the token, glancing back again at the broken tree sprouting vibrant green sprouts.

At that moment, he finally smiled, placing the praying plate into his bosom, close to his heartbeat.

There are no gods or spirits in this world.

The sincerely devoted are each other's divine presence...