Han Ruochen nodded in acknowledgement and walked over to the motorboat. She came to a stop next to the priest and said to him, "Priest Huo, thank you for considering my father’s request." She knew that Priest Huo usually did not take such requests, and he only accepted her father’s request because he had known her father since he was a little kid. If that was not the case, then Priest Huo would have never bothered to entertain this weird request of hers.

Priest Huo snorted as he picked up a bunch of pomelo leaves that he brought with him and dipped them into a bowl of water that had been blessed by the priests of the temple. He sprinkled the water on the motorboat and then started to chant with his voice rising passionately, "Oh, Great Spirit of the Four Seas!" His voice rose with each rhythmic slap of the tide against the metal of the motorboat. "Bless this vessel! May its path be clear of any hidden reed, and may its engine roar with the strength of the immortals themselves. Bless this vessel with a fate that it will return with a bounty that has no competition."

He then turned to look at Han Ruochen and said to her while handing her a small, red silk pouch filled with ash from the incense of the temple and a single coin that had been blessed by him. "Fasten this to the till, Ruochen. It will anchor your soul to the motorboat. No matter where you go, where you take this motorboat, your soul shall guide you every time you take a turn on this vessel."

Han Ruochen took the pouch that was given to her by the priest and stepped on the boat before tying it where Priest Huo asked her to do it. As Han Ruochen stepped off the boat, the villagers who were watching the excitement were stunned. One of them turned to look at Priest Huo and asked him, "Sir Priest, are you not scared of being retaliated against and punished by the heavens? You are actually blessing a boat that has been purchased by a woman! The sea god will not like it."

"Why wouldn’t the sea god like it?" Instead of being offended, Priest Huo turned to look at the man who had spoken. He calmly glanced at the crowd that was waiting for his response and continued in a low voice, "What is wrong with a woman driving a motorboat? Do you look down on women? If so, then you might as well stop doing that. I have no idea who told you that women bring bad luck when they are allowed on the boats."

When he saw that the men around him were still frowning hard, he continued, "Let me tell you something: the very existence you look down on was the one that suffered the greatest pain just because she wanted to bring you all into this world. If you think women are born jinxes, then who are you all? The ones who were born by a woman? Don’t get all smug just because you have something women don’t; without them, you all would be like headless chickens." 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Priest Huo did not understand where this sense of entitlement came from in the hearts of men. Just because they were stronger than women, they went ahead and claimed that women were jinxes?

"But our ancestors never allowed women to get on the boats!" The man was still stubborn and refuted Priest Huo. he did not want to admit that there was anything wrong with what he was thinking; anyway, it would be better for Han Ruochen to lend this boat of hers to the men of the village. What if she angered the sea god and brought a plague on their village? Who would take responsibility then?

Han Ruochen would still be fine. She had a father who owned a pig farm, but what about them? They all relied on fishing. If the sea god got angry and ended up blaming them, what were they going to do?

"Your ancestors did not let women on board because they cared about them being thrown into the sea and not because they believed that their women were jinxes. They cared for the women in their families and did not bring them to the sea; there was never such a thing as a woman being born as a jinx to her man just because he was a fisherman." Priest Huo knew the old tale that went around the families of the fishermen and thought that it was time for him to correct their views, or else he was worried that they might cause even more trouble for Han Ruochen in the future.

He could not allow that to happen.

The man who was speaking flushed red with anger and humiliation. He wanted to argue with the priest, but he did not know where to start. He then said to the priest, "Then what about Han Ruochen? What if she falls into the sea without a man following her? In the end, she is not cut out for taking this motorboat to the sea. Is she?"

Priest Hip calmly smiled. He shook his head and turned to look at the man, his peach wood sword still in his hands as he stated in an offhand voice, "You do not have to worry about such things since Han Ruochen has purchased this motorboat; she must have some ideas regarding this situation at hand. Since she was the one who bought this motorboat, she is the one in charge of worrying about whether she can take care of it or not. Why are you worrying in her place?"

This time, even if the man wanted to make trouble, he could not say a word and could only lower his head resentfully.

Han Ruochen did not say anything from start to end, but she kept a note of those who caused trouble for her. Since they dared to cause trouble for her, they had better not come looking for her in the future, in the hope that she would take care of them by giving them a job.