Su Qing’s spells were indeed powerful... yet, among her repertoire, there wasn't actually one specifically designed to transform the wealthy into beggars.
In truth, what Su Qing did was not a direct transformation into poverty. She simply reclaimed the wealth they had amassed by selling her stolen belongings—including the portions they had hidden away. Su Qing would not overlook a single coin of the wealth they had gained through theft.
As for how Su Qing knew where those people had hidden their treasures? That was simple. Su Qing was now a Heavenly Immortal, and the subjects of her divination were merely the most ordinary of the myriad living beings. For her, calculating the entire life of a mortal was an elementary task.
Thus, it was quite easy for Su Qing to take back everything they were never meant to have. It simply required a bit of time.
After floating in mid-air for a while, Su Qing felt she had done enough. With a wave of her sleeve, she swept all the items into her Sleeve Universe.
"These things are of little use to me... Let me think if they can be put to better use elsewhere," Su Qing mused, stroking her chin. "Mhm, I'll do this: I'll leave a portion for Old Lady Yu and the others, and for the rest, I'll have them distribute it to those in need in my name or in the name of the Lord of Changbai Mountain."
Having formed a plan, Su Qing exhaled a breath of turbid air and continued her train of thought. "Right, those people still have shops. What should be done with those? Hmm, forget it, I'll just follow the original plan... I'll take it all."
Unable to think of a better solution and lacking a method to bankrupt them overnight, she decided to stick to her initial idea. Though it was simple and unrefined, it was undoubtedly effective and quite suitable for the situation.
Su Qing rolled her shoulders and looked into the distance toward the home of another household.
"Next, it's your turn!"
With a light chuckle, she flew toward her next target.
The night was exceptionally quiet, yet Su Qing was remarkably busy. She spent the better part of the night in this state of activity.
It wasn't until the latter half of the night that Su Qing finally 'reclaimed' everything.
"I really didn't expect that the things I left in the mortal world would sell for so much... These people really made a fortune. Just recovering it all took this much time," Su Qing muttered to herself, stretching lazily on her way home.
When she arrived back at the house, Chaoyan and Red Boy had not yet gone to sleep. Instead, they were sitting in the courtyard, chatting and laughing as they waited for her return.
However, the moment Su Qing appeared, the two little ones, who had been smiling a moment ago, immediately changed their expressions and put on a show of being angry.
Red Boy rushed up to Su Qing, huffing, "Sister Xiao Qing, you're finally back! Leaving us behind to go out and enjoy yourself—that's just too much!"
Chaoyan was more reserved, not as direct or casual as Red Boy. She simply stood to the side and nodded in agreement. "Exactly! Godmother, you went too far. You even locked us in..."
Seeing the two girls coming to hold her accountable, Su Qing’s cherry-pink lips curled slightly. She reached out and pinched Red Boy’s cheek. "You have the nerve to question me? I believe I said you two should be sleeping. Besides, I didn't go out to enjoy myself; I was tending to serious business."
Red Boy crossed her arms, acting completely unreasonable. "I don't care! Sister Xiao Qing, since you didn't take me along, you must have gone out to visit the pleasure houses to listen to music. Otherwise, why wouldn't you take us? I’m telling you, Sister Xiao Qing, if you don't take us next time, I’ll tell Sister Leng Xiang that you secretly went out to the pleasure quarters!"
Su Qing’s mouth twitched. This girl really had no filter. She reached out and gave the girl’s head a firm knock. "Do you think... your threat will have any effect?"
Su Qing had knocked quite hard, and Red Boy winced in pain. She instinctively clutched her head. "Why wouldn't it have an effect?"
"Don't ask why. Think about why it wouldn't work yourself!" Su Qing couldn't be bothered to continue bickering with Red Boy. She simply flexed her wrists and said, "Alright, back to bed! Chaoyan, I assume you have nothing more to say?"
Chaoyan glanced at Red Boy, then nodded with a beaming smile. "I have nothing to say! I was only dissatisfied that Godmother didn't take me along."
"Good..." Su Qing nodded and took the lead in walking away.
Red Boy glared at Chaoyan. "Didn't you agree to back me up?"
"I did!"
"Then why didn't you say anything?"
"I was cheering for you in my heart."
"??? Do all you Buddhist practitioners love lying this much?"
"Lying? Not at all. I really did cheer for you in my heart, and I even spoke up for you in my mind... so it doesn't count as a lie. Besides, joining you in threatening Godmother would have been a much worse idea," Chaoyan said with her hands clasped, smiling playfully. "Sometimes... you're just too one-track-minded. How could Godmother possibly be threatened by you? Her reputation in the Heavenly Palace is already so bad, and she hardly cares about it!"
"..."
Red Boy stared at Chaoyan gloomily. She felt she had definitely been played. Furthermore, she felt she was starting to dislike Chaoyan more and more.
Seeing Red Boy’s dissatisfied look, Chaoyan chuckled and chanted "Amitabha." Then, she followed Su Qing to rest.
Seeing this, Red Boy was quite frustrated but could only swallow the bitter pill. The only thing she could do was wait for a chance to get even later. With a cold huff, she also went to sleep.
Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, it was early morning.
A heavy fog had rolled in this morning, adding a touch of hazy beauty to Chang'an City. Many poets, witnessing the scene, took up their brushes to write a few lines of verse, though whether those poems would survive the test of time was another matter entirely.
At the same time, several households woke up only to find their homes drastically changed.
Overnight, their houses had become destitute.
Not to mention precious calligraphy and paintings—even items of slight value had vanished. It was as if they had returned to several years ago, before they had become wealthy.
Even the houses themselves had changed, reverting to the state they were in during their days of poverty.
"What the hell? This is a ghost! I... I must still be dreaming. How is it possible to wake up and find myself back several years in the past?" One master looked at the scene in his room, laughed hollowly, and went right back to sleep.
However, when he woke up again, nothing had changed. It seemed he really had returned to that time.
Such a massive overnight change was bound to happen... and with a little creative storytelling, it could easily become a long-lasting tale, a unique legend.
As for how to frame the story and how to spread it to ensure a positive effect, that would depend on the abilities of Su Qing’s subordinates.
Yesterday, before Su Qing went to reclaim those items, she had used her clone to find the Old White Deer Spirit. She had him find several demons in the town who had clean transformations and were particularly eloquent.
Since Su Qing had already decided to use this opportunity to earn some Incense Power, she naturally wouldn't go in unprepared.
The Old White Deer Spirit was very efficient. He didn't ask why Su Qing needed these people; he simply found the ones she required in the shortest time possible and delivered them to her.
Of course, he didn't deliver them to Chang'an personally. He handed them over to Su Qing's clone. He didn't have a Somersault Cloud; by the time he arrived, the opportunity would have long passed.
On the way back, Su Qing’s clone had already informed them of what they needed to do. Thus, everything was already arranged.
Calculating the time, these little demons should be starting to play their roles. However, it would take a lot of time for the event to ferment. After all, rumors didn't spread in a day or two, especially in an era where travel was slow. One needed patience.
Fortunately, Su Qing was not lacking in patience. She had more than enough to wait for the situation to develop. She didn't even care if the plan failed. All she would need to do in that case was retrieve her people.
Since she was the one who brought them here, she certainly couldn't just leave them stranded. For now, Su Qing didn't need to do anything but follow the original plan: take Chaoyan and Red Boy around to play.
In the morning, after a simple breakfast, Su Qing called for Chaoyan and Red Boy to set out.
Although Red Boy had been knocked on the head by Su Qing yesterday, she had long since put it out of her mind by the time she woke up. Red Boy was not the type to hold a grudge—at least not against Su Qing.
On one hand, she genuinely liked Su Qing. On the other, Su Qing’s lessons were always just a simple, temporary sting. To Red Boy, that bit of pain was nothing—certainly not enough to warrant a grudge.
Besides, there were still many places in Chang'an City she hadn't visited. Naturally, she wanted to follow Su Qing and explore the city to the fullest.
Red Boy and Chaoyan were bursting with energy, as if it were inexhaustible. The two girls walked ahead of Su Qing, leading her here and there to look at everything. For a moment, it was hard to tell if the girls were taking Su Qing shopping or if Su Qing was taking them.
Fortunately, Su Qing didn't care about such trivial matters. As long as the two girls were having fun, it was all worth it.
And so, Su Qing led them on a slow stroll. Meanwhile, on the other side, Tang Sanzang and his three disciples were currently being escorted by the Eight Great Vajras, returning through the skies above Chang'an City.
Looking down at the bustling Tang capital, Tang Sanzang couldn't help but sigh. "It has been many years since I left Chang'an. I didn't expect it to become even more prosperous."
Wukong also looked down, scanning the area and wondering if there was anything special about this bustling city. However, he didn't see anything particularly unusual.
Instead, he happened to spot a familiar person... This person was none other than his Eldest Sister.
"Eh? Why is our Eldest Sister in Chang'an City too?" Wukong scratched his head and asked.
Hearing this, the Vajras looked at each other and finally said, "Great Sage, your Eldest Sister is the Azure Spirit Sovereign. We do not know why she is here."
Wukong scratched his head and waved them off. "Who was asking you?"
"..." The Vajras were somewhat embarrassed and fell silent.
Seeing this, Bajie grunted and said, "If your Eldest Sister is here, then she's here. She is the Azure Spirit Sovereign, the Lord of Changbai Mountain. She can go wherever she wants to play. Unlike us, who had to work so hard to fetch the scriptures, only to have Ananda and Kasyapa scrape a layer of oil off us. We don't even have our alms bowl left... Besides, we've already reached Chang'an. Let's not waste any more time. We should deliver the scriptures to the Tang Emperor and have lunch at his place first! Besides, the Sovereign is here on vacation; it wouldn't be right for us to disturb her, would it?"
Bajie seemed to be thinking of Su Qing, but in reality, he was mostly thinking of himself. He was truly terrified of Su Qing and didn't even want to see her.
However, Sun Wukong didn't realize this at the moment. He simply bared his teeth at Bajie’s words. "You glutton, your head is full of nothing but eating... but you're not wrong. Since Eldest Sister is here playing, it wouldn't be good for us to disturb her. Once we've finished the business at hand, I'll go and greet her privately."
Hearing Wukong’s words, Bajie breathed a sigh of relief. "Exactly, exactly... let's go see the Tang Emperor!"
Wukong turned to look at his Master, and seeing him nod, he said, "Then let's head down quickly to see the Tang Emperor!"
Seeing this, the Vajras had intended to suggest that only Tang Sanzang go down to see the Tang Emperor. But since Wukong had already taken his Master down, they could only let the matter drop.
After Wukong and the others left, the Vajras did not depart immediately. Instead, after a moment of thought, they prepared to go and greet Su Qing.
After all, Su Qing’s status was higher than theirs, so it was only proper for them to pay their respects.
At this moment, Su Qing, who was accompanying Chaoyan and the others on their stroll, had not yet noticed that Tang Sanzang’s group and the Eight Great Vajras had arrived in Chang'an.
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