At night, April’s cold wind blew through the ancestral hall.
At dusk, Yun Yichu had ordered the two coffins carried here from the front hall.
He hoped to borrow the blessings of his ancestors to suppress the evil aura.
A special presence drew Changming to this place.
She stood at a slight distance, quietly observing.
Her gaze was fixed tightly on Feng Xing beside the coffins.
He wore a fitted outfit, black robes embroidered with dragon patterns in silver thread.
At his waist hung a token.
A maid passed by him, yet seemed not to see him at all.
Changming guessed that this might be Feng Xing’s true form.
A wisp of a wandering soul, yet not under the jurisdiction of the underworld; his baleful aura surged to the heavens, rather like a fierce ghost.
Keeping watch here in the dead of night—he must have some special purpose.
Changming also concealed herself and quietly crept forward.
“Young Master Feng Xing, deep in the night when all is still, you’ve slipped here in secret. Is someone meeting you?”
Feng Xing glanced at Changming but did not respond.
Changming reached out and hooked his chin, forcing him to lower his head and meet her eyes.
“What a fine face.”
Feng Xing struck out with a palm, but Changming caught it easily.
And took the chance to yank off the waist token at his side.
“The waters of the Yun Manor run deep. What has an officer come here to fish up?”
Feng Xing was puzzled. “Officer?”
Changming narrowed her eyes and toyed with his waist token.
“This is the waist token of a little ghost under a Soul-Reaping Envoy.”
“Specially used to hook away the souls of those in the mortal realm who are about to die, or who have already died.”
She tossed the token back to Feng Xing.
“It’s your own thing. Don’t tell me you don’t know?”
Feng Xing hung the token back at his waist. “I only took office today. I’m not very familiar with it yet.”
His words made Changming deeply suspicious. She approached him step by step.
“What exactly is your purpose in coming to the Yun Manor?”
Feng Xing lifted his eyes to meet Changming’s gaze. “Then what is your purpose?”
Changming chuckled softly. “Yun Yichu invited me here to help him drive out evil and avert disaster.”
“I signed a spirit contract with him. Once the matter is done, I’ll take ten years of his mortal lifespan.”
“That is my purpose.”
Feng Xing looked at Changming for a while. “I am a newly appointed ghost constable. The Department of Yin sent me to bring the Yun family’s second son to the underworld for reincarnation.”
Changming touched Yun Rong’s coffin. “But you discovered that his soul had already vanished long ago.”
“Yet the deadline to report back is imminent. Left with no choice, you can only wait here.”
“You even tried to use incense to lure the soul back on its own.”
With that, she waved her hand and snapped the corpse incense in two.
Feng Xing had no particular reaction. His voice was淡. “As you say, that is indeed the case.”
Changming leaned lightly against the coffin. “Then why did you disguise yourself as a mortal officer and make a trip to the Yun family?”
“Isn’t that completely unnecessary?”
Feng Xing denied Changming’s claim. “No. I merely wanted to send him home, to have one less lonely wandering ghost in the world.”
By now, Changming had determined that perhaps his goal really was the same as hers.
“Since when did ghost constables become so kindhearted?”
Feng Xing looked at Changming. “You don’t believe me?”
Changming asked in return, “Why should I?”
Killing intent gathered around her, and one hand was hidden behind her back. “Perhaps you, like me, know that he saw the Liuzi Copper Coin before he died.”
“And our objectives are the same as well.”
Just as Changming was about to make a move against Feng Xing, Yun Rong suddenly slipped into the ancestral hall.
He interrupted Changming’s action.
Fortunately, he could not see the two of them.
Feng Xing listened to Changming’s words, feeling utterly baffled.
He was about to speak, but Changming covered his mouth with her hand.
“Quiet. Let’s hear what he has to say.”
After Yun Rong entered the ancestral hall, he first offered three sticks of incense to his father and kowtowed three times.
Then he lit several sticks of incense for his younger brother and burned a great deal of paper money.
There were tears in his eyes; he was completely different from before.
“Father, ever since I was young, I followed by your side.”
“We endured poverty and hardship together.”
“I am the one who understood you best.”
“But why were you always biased toward my younger brothers?”
He wiped his tears bitterly. “The elder must give way to the younger.”
“I heard those words from childhood until I grew up.”
“Even until you passed, you were still reminding me to take more care of my younger brothers.”
“But the things they received far exceeded mine.”
“Why should I still have to yield?”
His heart was filled with resentment. “All these years, I worked painstakingly to run the family business.”
“Diligently and conscientiously.”
“I even contracted consumption from overwork and worry.”
“To save me, Chunlu sold her dowry and searched everywhere for renowned physicians.”
“In the end, to survive, and to lessen the pain, I became addicted to cannabis.”
With that, he coughed violently several times, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
“Since then, I have been listless and unwell. My body often falls beyond my control, and my mind becomes unclear.”
“Even so, I never laid down the responsibility of the Yun family.”
“I kept working hard to manage the business.”
“But just when everything in the Yun family was flourishing, just when I felt all would finally get better, you advised me to decentralize my power and hand it over to Second Brother.”
“How could I possibly accept that?”
“So you killed Yun Hua?”
Changming’s voice was ancient and solemn. She deliberately put on the manner of a ghost constable as she questioned Yun Rong.
Yun Rong waved his hands repeatedly. “I didn’t kill him.”
“How could I possibly kill my own younger brother?”
Then, as if he recalled something, he said, “He was the one who wanted to kill me.”
“When I resisted, I accidentally injured him.”
His expression was tense, the veins on his forehead bulging, cold sweat pouring down his back.
Changming asked him, “Then why did Yun Hua want to kill you?”
Yun Rong pointed at the coffin. “That day, he arranged to meet me on the rear mountain.”
“After I arrived, he tried to kill me.”
“He kept muttering that if he killed me, he could become the head of the Yun family.”
“When I resisted, I accidentally pushed him to the ground.”
“And the dagger he had thrust toward me happened to stab right into his heart.”
He kowtowed several more times toward the coffin. “I don’t know why he wanted to kill me.”
“But at the time, I truly did not mean to do it.”
“I beg Heaven to forgive me.”
Changming deliberately raised her voice, wanting to shake the truth out of him. “You are lying.”
“That day, it was clearly you who used the excuse of searching for medicinal herbs to invite Yun Hua up the mountain.”
The moment these words came out, Yun Rong’s expression instantly darkened.
The corner of Changming’s mouth curved slightly. She had guessed right.
He wept, thought for a long time, then knocked his forehead to the ground.
For a long while, he did not lift his head.
His voice was faint. “Yes. I killed Yun Hua.”
“I killed my own younger brother with my own hands.”
“But I had no choice.”
“Because I became addicted to cannabis, I can no longer perform a man’s duties.”
“Nor can I possibly have descendants.”
“I wanted Chunlu to have someone to rely on after I was gone.”
“Father did not love me, so I could only fight for it myself.”
“I only wanted the people by my side to live well.”
Changming sighed. “Those who are pitiful must also have something hateful about them.”
“I am the Night Wandering Deity. Tomorrow, go to the yamen yourself and confess. The sins of your lifetime can be written off in one stroke.”
After hearing this, Feng Xing gave Changming a deep look.
“Night Wandering Deity?”
Changming looked back. “What? Does this venerable one not resemble one?”
Feng Xing did not answer her, only looked toward the sun that was about to rise.
Changming pointed at him. “I’m afraid you won’t find Yun Hua’s living soul today.”
Feng Xing said in a low voice, “No matter.”
As he turned to leave, Changming called out to stop him.
“I know the owner of that waist token on you.”
“You are not a ghost constable of the Department of Yin at all.”
“Who exactly are you?”
A sharp sword capable of cutting through all things was pressed against Feng Xing’s back.
A newbie author begs for book reviews.
I’m seriously crying to death. Can a living person please leave even one comment? Scolding me is fine too.