The procuress, still shaken, stammered incoherently. “She… she… she tore Old Xu into pieces… bits and pieces… shredded him completely… and she… she… she doesn’t have a shadow! I… I… I…”
As they walked, her voice suddenly trailed off. Her eyes went wide with terror, and she pointed tremblingly down the road, her whole body shaking, her teeth chattering so hard she couldn’t form a word.
Ban Xia followed her gaze and saw a lone woman on the road. The woman was bent over, as though searching for something.
The moon slipped behind thick clouds, and the air was deathly still. Ban Xia squinted, trying to see if the woman had a shadow. But before she could make it out, the woman straightened and walked closer, still hunched slightly, until she bumped directly into Ban Xia.
“Sorry…” the woman murmured, lifting her head. Her hair was matted with something sticky and red—whether blood or flesh, it wasn’t clear. Yet her expression was dazed and helpless.
“Have you seen a copper coin?” she asked softly, her tone pleading. She gestured with her hands. “Just an ordinary copper coin, but with red rust on it. The rust is blood-red.”
"Hey, she’s here. Hurry up and subdue the ghost," Ban Xia said, elbowing Chi Xue after a moment of tense silence.
"I don’t know how!" Chi Xue shouted, his voice uncomfortably loud. "I’m a seer, not a spirit catcher!"
"Subdue the spirit?" Upon hearing this, Su Yun stepped back, then suddenly lunged forward with a crazed expression. "Who are you planning to subdue? Chi Lian? No! You can’t! He’s innocent! Everything—everything he’s done—it’s all my fault!"
"What did you do to him?" Ban Xia’s curiosity piqued.
"Every year during this season, he sheds his skin—it’s when his… urges are strongest. I cast a spell on him, then placed a chastity curse on myself to force him to seek another woman. I wanted him to replace me… so I could leave," Su Yun mumbled, her voice dazed. But then her eyes turned vicious, and she thrust a bloodied hand toward Ban Xia, snarling, "So you can’t capture him! If you try, I’ll tear you apart, just like I tore apart Hang Sheng!"
Ban Xia took a step back, and then another, but no matter how she moved, Su Yun’s bloody hand seemed to close in on her. It was about to grip her neck.
Why did every ghost in this world seem fixated on choking her? Ban Xia’s frustration boiled over. She stomped her foot and yelled, "Hey! I hate it when people grab my neck! If you take one more step, I swear I’ll… I’ll…"
"I’ll find someone to choke you back!"
A new voice cut in, carried by the wind, elegant yet overly theatrical. Suddenly, a hand shot out, grabbing Su Yun by the neck and lifting her high into the air.
"Was that cool? My line and my move?" the newcomer asked, turning back to Ban Xia with a smirk and raising one sharp eyebrow.
"So cool!" Ban Xia and Chi Xue chimed in unison, their sycophantic tone unmistakable.
"Good." Satisfied, You Huang turned his attention back to Su Yun. "Now, my dear lady, would you kindly tell me where Chi Lian is?"
"I don’t know," Su Yun rasped.
"That’s impossible!"
"Years ago, he abducted me—it was like a gust of wind took me straight to his lair. Now he’s returned me, and again, it was like a gust of wind brought me back to the capital. If I knew where he was, why would I be desperately searching for that copper coin?"
Her words seemed truthful, but they also revealed something critical.
"Copper coin?" Ban Xia, always sharp, latched onto the clue. "Are you saying… that the copper coin can lead you back to him?"
Su Yun immediately clamped her mouth shut.
"Speak," Ban Xia pressed, not giving her a moment to breathe. "You should know that our very handsome friend here really doesn’t want to resort to torturing a lady ghost."
"I won’t say. For years, I’ve wronged him and betrayed him. This time, I won’t," Su Yun replied with a sigh, lifting her head. Her gaze turned resolute, and for the first time, her expression cleared.
The night had passed. In the cave, crimson threads of blood filled the air like veins, endlessly multiplying. They twisted and coiled, threatening to overwhelm the entire space.
The snake demon had gone mad, pouring all his spiritual power into weaving a net meant to trap Xuan Ye.
Xuan Ye gripped his Moonlight Blade, gasping for breath. Finally, he stopped struggling and leaned on his knees. "You’re insane! Once all your spiritual power escapes, you can’t reclaim it. You’ll disintegrate completely—cease to exist!"
"Cease to exist… that’s still better than endless loneliness, don’t you agree?" The faint, ethereal voice echoed through the cave.
"Perhaps we can talk this out," Xuan Ye offered.
"Someone clinging to life and fearing death? What’s there to talk about with you?" The voice replied, disdainful. The flow of spiritual power quickened. A crimson thread finally slipped past Xuan Ye’s defenses, piercing his shoulder. Like a spider’s web, it latched onto his blood, binding him tightly.
Back on the road, Chi Xue’s delayed reaction finally caught up. "She’s protecting her lover. We shouldn’t force her."
"That’s guilt! Not love!" Ban Xia snapped, turning to glare at him. "If we don’t push her, your precious Ya Jin will die. Do you get that?"
"Oh." Chi Xue hung his head, fiddling with his fingers. "But… we still shouldn’t force her. Maybe… I mean, maybe I have another way."
"What way?"
"I… I might be able to enter someone’s mind and read their thoughts."
"Have you ever succeeded? Or are you going to waste our time and produce nothing but hot air?"
"I did! Once! I entered my dog Xiao Huang’s mind and figured out… it wanted a bone."
"Who’s Xiao Huang?"
0 Comments