Merit

The moment the earth-shaking wails of mourning rose, Pan Yun seemed to sense something and opened her eyes to look toward the horizon.

The black cat, which had lately loved lying atop the rafters, abruptly stood up. Its glassy eyes seemed to shine as they fixed on Pan Yun.

With a meow, it leaped down from the beam and pounced straight into Pan Yun's arms.

Once she caught it, it kept meowing excitedly. Pan Yun's ears were filled with its cries. "Did you feel it? Did you feel it? The seal has opened!"

Pan Yun held it tight and ground her teeth in her mind. [Quiet down. Keep making noise and I'll throw you out!]

Sure enough, because the black cat would not stop meowing, quite a few people were looking at her even as they cried. Doctor Zhang and Eunuch Qian were especially displeased, while Zhu Youjue beside them was already on the verge of fury.

Holding the black cat, Pan Yun lifted her eyelids to meet everyone's gazes and said expressionlessly, "Black cats are spiritually aware and ward off evil. It says that His Highness is here and is most pleased."

The moment she said this, everyone could not help looking around. Seeing the empty air tremble faintly, especially those who had once met Prince Zhou in their dreams, they instinctively crowded together, their weeping tinged with fear.

Prince Zhou, who stood to one side listening to the Imperial Decree: ...

Pan Yun frowned. "What are you afraid of? Prince Zhou was such a good man. Even if he has returned, he would not frighten us."

Once they heard this, everyone felt that she made sense. They stopped trembling and slapped the ground as they wailed, "Your Highness! You were such a good man—how could you leave us like this—"

The crying instantly reached new heights. Even people outside the mansion could hear the thunderous wailing.

Prince Zhou nodded in satisfaction. Giving Pan Yun face as well, he floated up and flew toward his coffin.

As he passed over the crowd's heads, a faint Yin wind stirred, and everyone felt it.

When they saw that the trees nearby had not moved at all, everyone began to suspect something.

Little Zhu Tongqie, kneeling to one side, was brushed by the wind. He curiously raised his head and turned his little face around. When he saw Prince Zhou sitting atop the coffin, his eyes lit up. Tugging at his father, he said, "Grandpa, Grandpa..."

Zhu Zijin raised his head, hurriedly pressed down Zhu Tongqie's hand, then turned toward the coffin and kowtowed repeatedly. "Father, was it truly you who came back to see us?"

Everyone's tears became even more heartfelt and earnest.

Doctor Zhang and Eunuch Qian's hearts trembled. They repeatedly saluted in the coffin's direction, only letting out a breath after they had withdrawn from the mourning hall.

The two exchanged a glance. Though Prince Zhou had been a good man, still... they ought to visit Kaifeng less often in the future.

Zhu Youjue looked at the coffin with a complicated expression, and no one knew whether he believed it or not.

Tao Ji quietly shuffled over to Pan Yun's side and asked in a lowered voice, "Prince Zhou is still here?"

Pan Yun gave an "Mm."

Tao Ji was troubled. "Today is already the seventh day after his death. If he still refuses to leave, does he plan to remain as a ghost?"

The Princess Consort and Zhu Zijin were worried about this as well. After crying for a while, they came to find the three of them, hoping they could perform rites and properly send Prince Zhou away. "Ask His Highness on our behalf whether he still lacks anything. We'll burn it for him."

In truth, there was no need to perform rites. Prince Zhou was content, and his soul form had already faded. Before long, he would be able to go where he was meant to go on his own.

But since the household requested it, it was not as though they could not do it.

After all, performing rites truly allowed a ghost to depart more smoothly and quickly.

Pan Yun met Prince Zhou's eyes and nodded.

But she did not move, because coming from the twenty-sixth century, she only knew two spells for sending off ghosts. One was to directly smash them apart and make their souls scatter and vanish. Well, that was not suitable for Prince Zhou.

The other was a section of incantation—just one sentence and one hand seal. It was especially simple and straightforward, allowing a ghost to instantly find the way and depart.

The twenty-sixth century valued efficiency.

This era was different.

After Xuan Miao heard their request to conduct rites, she demanded several kinds of soul-summoning banners, along with a peachwood sword, incense and candles, clean bottles, spring water, the five sacrificial animals, Prince Zhou's favorite foods, clothing, and much, much more.

Xuan Miao even had to write a sacrificial eulogy on the spot, including soul-summoning, soul-settling, soul-sending, and so on...

As Xuan Miao wrote, she explained it to the wide-eyed, bewildered Pan Yun.

Pan Yun furrowed her brows and asked, "If a single incantation and hand seal can accomplish it, why make it so troublesome?"

After finishing the eulogy, Xuan Miao looked up at her and said, "A person comes cleanly into this world. Though they cannot leave as clean as when they arrived, they must at least leave clearly. Whether merit or sin outweighed the other in their life should be deeply examined beneath the soul-summoning banner.

"The rites settle the soul. They not only comfort the living, but also point out a road for the departed, letting them know in advance how they should pass through King Yama's Hall."

Pan Yun said, "But aren't eulogies filled entirely with good words?"

Xuan Miao smiled without quite smiling. "Who said eulogies are all good words? The ability to hide a person's lifetime of faults within the eulogy—that is true skill. Besides, the most important thing in conducting rites is to question the heart: question the summoned soul, question its innermost heart, and make it reflect upon itself. If you cannot reach its heart, then your cultivation is insufficient."

Tao Ji felt deeply affected. "With insufficient cultivation, you cannot even obtain a Daoist ordination certificate."

Very soon, Pan Yun witnessed the power of rites in this world.

The moment the soul-summoning banner was raised, Prince Zhou's figure, which had already become faint, solidified once more. The clothes that had been burned appeared on him, and Prince Zhou was renewed from head to toe.

As Xuan Miao stepped on the Big Dipper and chanted incantations, Pan Yun sensed a marvelous aura. She dazed for a moment, and when she came back to herself, Prince Zhou was already bathed in golden light...

Pan Yun could not help holding her breath. She felt that golden light drawing her—or rather, drawing the spirit realm within her Mud Pill Palace.

What was this?

[That is Golden Light of Merit!] The black cat in her arms was extraordinarily quiet, even lowering its voice as it spoke in her mind.

[The opening of the seal must be related to it. Pan Yun, absorb it!]

Pan Yun did not move. She only stared intently at Prince Zhou as he bathed in the Golden Light of Merit that belonged to him.

One old, one young, they gazed at one another across empty space. Prince Zhou smiled faintly, his form gradually fading. As the final trace of his soul vanished, a wisp of golden light flew from him toward Pan Yun...

Prince Zhou had willingly given this to Pan Yun. Though he did not know what use it had, the black cat coveted it so deeply that it must be something good.

He had spent these seven days happily. Even after death, he had fulfilled his wishes and not failed this life. He was content.

A lone soul, he had nothing he could give this child. So he gave her a little of what she and the black cat so greedily desired.

Prince Zhou gradually dispersed. In the eyes of everyone in Prince Zhou's Mansion, Xuan Miao had merely begun pacing before the mourning hall and chanting an incantation when the clouds in the sky slowly parted. The sunlight that had been hidden suddenly poured down, and the entire sky brightened.

Beneath the sunlight, the white clouds took on color. The clouds drifted, hovering not far above Prince Zhou's Mansion, seeming to swim as they curled and unfurled in place.

And when Xuan Miao stopped walking and finished her hand seal, a ray of sunlight happened to fall upon Pan Yun's face, making it impossible for people to look away for a time.

Though it was only a ray of sunlight, Zhu Zijin did not know why, but he felt it was his father's will as he departed. Thus, he gave not only Xuan Miao, who had performed the rites, a tray of silver, but Pan Yun one as well.

Pan Yun accepted it with a face full of embarrassment, yet her movements were exceedingly crisp and decisive.

In just two months, she had accepted three trays of silver alone. It truly was terribly embarrassing.

Pan Yun carried the money back to her room. The moment the door closed, she set down the tray and sat cross-legged on the bed.

The black cat paced in circles beside her in such urgency that it pleaded, "Let me go in. Once I stabilize the seal that has been opened, I'll come right back out. I definitely won't go back on my word."

Pan Yun quietly watched it with open eyes.

Knowing that she was suspicious by nature, the black cat raised its paws, nearly wishing it could cut open its heart and show it to her. "Really. We've worked together for so long, and I'm already used to being inside a cat's body. I absolutely will not deceive you. I only want to go in and stabilize the opened seal. Otherwise, it keeps shaking, and that makes you uncomfortable too, doesn't it?"

Pan Yun reached out and gently stroked its little head, saying softly, "Of course I trust you. Have you forgotten? We have a contract. Besides, I'm not afraid of you rebelling. At worst, I'll just seal you again."

The black cat's body stiffened. Right, they had a contract. Pan Yun dared take this risk, but it did not. Now the black cat no longer doubted itself—it began doubting Pan Yun instead. She was fierce and solitary; could she be planning to invite the gentleman into the jar, then seal it directly once it entered?

Pan Yun withdrew her hand, regulated her breath, and entered a meditative state. [Come in.]

The black cat gritted its teeth. It would risk everything.

A streak of spiritual light flew from the black cat's body and, with a whoosh, sank into Pan Yun's forehead.

Returning to its own spirit body, the Spirit Being let out a comfortable sigh, then immediately plunged in to inspect the portion of the seal that had been released.

Pan Yun's consciousness was also within the Mud Pill Palace, searching for the reason its seal had been opened.

But within her Mud Pill Palace, aside from the spirit realm, the most conspicuous thing was a floating mass of golden cloud.

Pan Yun recognized at a glance that it was the good thing Prince Zhou had given her. She had felt comfortable then, but now, when her consciousness touched the golden cloud, not only did her soul grow stronger, her entire body felt extraordinarily comfortable.

The Spirit Being floated out of the spirit realm, coveting it intensely, but within Pan Yun's Mud Pill Palace, it did not dare make any rash move.

"It was merit. Your own share of merit opened the seal," the Spirit Being said. "Did you notice? The fates of all those people in Prince Zhou's Mansion who were meant to die have changed. Zhu Tongqie, Prince Zhou's six wives, and those servants around Prince Zhou—all of them found life within death. Even Zhu Zijin's fate changed. Heaven rewarded you with merit."

Pan Yun said, "So merit is the key to opening the seal. In my previous life, the state threw so many things at you for nothing, along with my eight years of spiritual energy."

The Spirit Being pretended not to hear the latter half and continued, "Merit truly works better than spiritual energy. I was only sealed this one time, so I had no experience in breaking seals. If I had known earlier..."

In her previous life, it could have awakened already. Pan Yun's country surely would have been willing to place it upon all sorts of good people to absorb merit together.

Pan Yun fell into thought. "What was inside the part of the seal you opened?"

After taking a look, the Spirit Being said, "Seven techniques from the Thirteen Techniques of Daoist True Qi, along with the introductory volume for talisman cultivation."

Pan Yun's spirits soared. What did the twenty-sixth century lack most?

Complete cultivation methods, that was what. And talismans. Many talismans in later generations had been developed based on existing research, but detailed matters such as brushwork and circulating power had scarcely been preserved. Everything had to be researched, learned, and developed anew.

Ancient methods—so long as a complete inheritance of an ancient method was discovered, it would shake the entire nation.

And now she had an entire volume all at once?

And cultivation methods too.

Today's ten lucky numbers are also numbers ending in 5. Screenshot as proof.