I'm caught in the cycle of endless competition, you're waiting for me in the apocalypse.

"The Xuanmen Society will act in several parts: one part will exorcise ghosts for the public and investigate; another part will go to the boundary wall to guard it; and the last part will rush to provide assistance. We will also hold another meeting after this meeting to formulate and implement a plan."

……

During the meeting, the family heads asked the masters questions about their own issues and also actively contacted them privately to collaborate. It was in this tense atmosphere that the gathering was successfully completed.

Before the event ended, An Xin discussed the matter of going up the mountain to become an apprentice with her new master. Since Master Zou still needed to discuss follow-up work with the Xuanmen members, he went back to the Wei family with Wei Ran first. Qi Mingxuan naturally became An Xin's protector again and escorted her home, which made Wei Ran envious to tears. Soon after, he received the same disdain from his father and master.

After returning home, An Xin also reported the events of the meeting to her father.

At first, An Zongping frowned, but when he heard that An Xin had been chosen by Master Zhang and was going to go up the mountain to learn from him, he felt a sense of pride.

"Xinxin, Master Zou will stay at your Uncle Wei's house for the next few days. After all, it's such a big deal to become an apprentice. Your mother and I must take you to pay your respects in person."

“Okay, Dad!” An Xin nodded obediently, hesitated for a moment, and then said, “Actually, what was said at the meeting wasn’t everything. According to what Dr. Qi investigated at his family’s hospital, the extent of the ghost intrusion is already very serious. They even control newborn ghosts and manipulate them to possess people, and possession is a forbidden technique that is very damaging to one’s karma. We even suspect that they are collecting ghosts. There are still many things that are unclear. If I can join the Xuanmen sect, I can better do things for the family. Dad, you also need to be fully prepared.”

"Yes, my dear Xinxin, Daddy will definitely pay attention. This time, when I accompany you to see Master Zhang, I will also ask him for advice."

................................................

in a few days

An Xin's parents took her to the Wei family to pay their respects to Master Zhang and presented the pre-prepared apprenticeship gifts. They had a pleasant conversation, adding details about the future world and the ghost incident. They also confirmed that An Xin would be sent up the mountain to formally become an apprentice in seven days.

Finally, Master Zou said earnestly, "The people who live in Anjia are all destined for great fortune, but unfortunately, there are villains trying to sabotage them. You must not be careless and should make a decision as soon as possible."

An Zongping was extremely grateful upon hearing this and repeatedly said "thank you."

Upon returning to the An family home, An Zongping summoned his special assistant and had a long conversation with him in the study.

Two days later, after breakfast, An Zongping instructed An Xin to find him in the study after 10 o'clock. Meanwhile, Wen Lan took Anna to a spa for treatment.

"Dad, I'm coming in." At 10 o'clock sharp, An Xin arrived at the study.

"Hmm, Xinxin, take a look at these." An Zongping handed An Xin three file folders.

She took the folder, opened it, and the contents of the first folder astonished her. Opening the second and third folders, An Xin was completely petrified. These three folders contained paternity test reports from three different institutions.

“Yes, as you can see, you are our own flesh and blood. And that Wang Anna is indeed problematic.” Seeing that An Xin was silent, An Zongping knew that she must be having a hard time processing this fact, so he spoke first and gave her some time to process it.

At this moment, An Xin frantically shook Di Ting in her sea of ​​consciousness: "Xiao Jiu, what's going on? What exactly is going on? How come it's completely different from what was said before?"

"Xinxin, let me have some peace and quiet, let me sort this out properly, and then listen to what An Zongping has to say." Diting was completely stunned, never expecting things to take such a strange turn.

An Xin looked up, her eyes inexplicably reddening. She stared at An Zongping and spoke, her voice hoarse: "How could this happen? A year ago... a year ago we all did paternity tests, and they confirmed it, didn't they? The investigation results at the time also showed that Anna was your biological child, while I... I haven't even found my parents..."

"Xinxin, sit down quickly, calm down, don't get agitated." An Zongping quickly helped the swaying An Xin to sit on the sofa, poured her a glass of warm water, and after a while, seeing that she had calmed down, he spoke again, "A year ago, we did a paternity test at Qi Family Hospital, and we were all there at the time. It was done at a hospital we knew well, so we didn't doubt its authenticity at all. Later, I hired a private investigator to investigate what happened back then, but the results were very vague. They only said that the children were switched, but they couldn't find out who switched them, where they switched them, or when they switched them. I couldn't help but have doubts, and even your mother felt something was off. Judging from your appearance, no one would think you weren't our biological child. But at that time, we had the test results, so we had no choice but to accept Wang Anna."

"Then why do you want to get tested again this time?"

"For the past year, your mother and I have been trying to accept this 'reality,' but it just feels awkward. Perhaps family ties are irreplaceable. Seeing you so depressed this past year has been very painful for your parents. When we learned that you were injured and had amnesia, your mother cried for a long time in private, saying that it was all our fault for not taking good care of you. How could something like this happen to you as soon as we left the house? At first, we thought that you might have relapsed into depression and attempted suicide by hitting your head, but when I asked the housekeeper, Wang, he said that you hadn't shown any unusual behavior in those days. Moreover, no abnormalities or bloodstains were found in the house or your room afterward. It was at that time that I accidentally discovered that Wang Anna was getting very close to one of the maids in the house, and I wondered if she was the one who harmed you. For some inexplicable reason, I suddenly had a bold guess. When I took you to the hospital that day, Wang Anna wasn't there, so I decided to have a new psychiatric evaluation done to indirectly confirm my guess."

"Then you took advantage of the time when you went shopping to ask the hospital to do a paternity test, but in the end there was a discrepancy." An Xin recalled that An Zongping went out for quite a while before returning.

“Yes, I kept it from you at the time because I was afraid that the outcome would not be ideal and would hurt you again.” An Zongping poured himself a glass of warm water, took a few sips and continued, “Qi Mingxuan told me about the hospital incident, which made me even more suspicious of Wang Anna. I was also afraid that there were accomplices of hers at home or in the company, so I called your Uncle Wei to investigate together and fired a lot of people.”

"Then why haven't you confronted her yet?"

"Because I really couldn't get any evidence, and what I wanted to know more about was whether she committed the crime herself or if there were other people behind it. But during my investigation, I found that she never did it herself. Someone was helping her, or someone might be controlling her, but these are all just my guesses. After all, we are in the open while she is in the dark. What I want to catch is the mastermind behind this who is trying to disrupt our family and hurt you."

Does Mom know about these things?

“Your mother doesn’t know much. Firstly, I’m afraid she’ll be hurt again, and secondly, I’m afraid that if she’s exposed, it will alert the enemy.”

"Will Mom be in danger?"

"No, I have bodyguards always with your mother and Wang Anna. Besides, Wang Anna has never harmed your mother, and has even tried to please her."

"Okay then, I'll be going up the mountain in a few days and may not be able to come home for a long time. Mom and Dad, please take good care of yourselves."

"Yes, I will. We still have cell phones, so we'll keep in touch whenever we have time. Don't let Mom and Dad worry."

"Yes, I will, Dad." An Xin looked at An Zongping's red eyes and felt relieved. She thought that this father seemed pretty good. So she got up and went over to him and gave him a heartfelt hug. "Dad, you've worked hard these days."

"..." An Zongping remained silent for a long time, then hugged An Xin tightly and patted her back. "Daddy is not tired. Daddy just wants you and your mother to be well."

back to room

An Xin summoned Di Ting: "Xiao Jiu, don't you think the whole thing is beyond our comprehension?"

"Yes, why was that the story I heard when I first arrived? It was as if someone deliberately guided me and concealed the truth, but the one who could conceal even me must not be a simple character."

"Perhaps your spiritual power is too limited, which is why you were deceived?"

"That's possible, but why give us that illusion?"

An Xin and Di Ting sat on the bed, looking at each other, completely baffled: "Ahhh!!! I can't figure it out, I just can't! My head hurts!"

“Xinxin, let’s put these things aside for now. Anyway, we won’t see Anna for a long time, and An Zongping will definitely investigate. Maybe he’ll find the truth.” Di Ting felt useless and was almost giving up on himself. He decided to just lie down and stop acting like an omniscient and omnipotent master. He would just obediently stay by An Xin’s side as a guardian beast. So he said, “Xinxin, you’ll be going up the mountain to start your real cultivation life in five days. Why don’t we take advantage of these few days to do some good deeds?”

"for example?"

"For example, building roads and bridges, helping the elderly, the sick, and the disabled, sponsoring children who have dropped out of school, planting trees and restoring the ecosystem..."

"Time is too tight, and there are many things I can't do myself, so I can only donate money. I need to find a reliable foundation."

So An Xin took her considerable allowance and dividends to the Red Cross Foundation and made donations in several areas, including medical care, rural development, and assistance for out-of-school children.

Then I went to an animal protection association and donated food to stray cats and dogs.

Then I found the official website of the National Base for the Protection and Breeding of Rare Species and anonymously donated a sum of money.

Finally, she called Qi Mingxuan and told him that she also wanted to participate in the foundation under his name, and promised to transfer the monthly dividends of the An family to the foundation for its international relief activities.

After doing all these things, my luck points have indeed increased significantly, now reaching 359 points. My merit points have also increased slightly, but not by much.

"Xiao Jiu, the fortune value hasn't increased as much as I expected, and the merit value is even less."

"Hmm, yours is all external giving, giving money, and it's practically giving for the sake of giving, so your fortune points aren't increasing as expected." Seeing her confusion, Di Ting explained, "Let me tell you a little story, and you'll understand. Once upon a time, there was a girl who went to a temple to make offerings to the Bodhisattva, but she only had two coins. She sincerely gave them to a young monk, and the abbot, upon learning this, personally performed a dedication ceremony for her. A few years later, the girl became a princess. She returned to the temple and had her maid offer gold and silver, but the abbot had his disciple perform a dedication ceremony for the princess. The princess was puzzled and asked why. The old monk..." The master then said, 'Female benefactor, although you only donated two coins back then, the gift was meager, but your heart was sincere. Only my personal repentance could repay your kindness. Today, although the gift is generous, the sincerity of your donation is not as strong as before; having someone repent on your behalf is sufficient. Amitabha!' This illustrates the principle that a thousand gold pieces are half the value, while two coins are the full measure. All acts of charity depend on the intention behind them. Many acts of charity, if done spontaneously and without expectation of return, leaving no trace, become acts of unseen merit. In short, blessings are the rewards gained through good deeds, usually manifested through material possessions. Merit, on the other hand, is the inner cultivation, moral elevation, wisdom, enlightenment, and the path to liberation.

An Xin lowered her head and pondered for a moment, then sat cross-legged on the bed to meditate.

"Is this another epiphany?"

------------

Miyin has something to say~

Because of the confusion between "福福德" (blessing) and "功德" (merit) in many novels and films, this article mentions that if you want to clarify this further, you can search for the difference between "福德" and "功德". I won't go into detail here.

If you're unsure about the difference between true and false goodness, or between full and partial goodness, but are still very interested, you can search for "Liao Fan's Four Lessons" online. It's a video completely based on the book of the same name, and it's truly insightful and thought-provoking. The video is only about two hours long, equivalent to watching a movie, and it's a masterpiece that can benefit you for a lifetime.