Past of Wind and Dust

"What good could there possibly be in irredeemable villains like them?"

The Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger said angrily.

"Tiger King, you should hear what they have to say."

Lin Chan said calmly. By now, he had a rough grasp of the Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger's temperament and could afford to stroke the tiger's whiskers.

The Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger, seeing this, lifted the spell that had silenced the four Grief Ghosts and said to them:

"Tell him—am I right or not?"

"The Great King is absolutely right. We are deeply ashamed, deeply ashamed."

Aside from the Brocade-Robed Magnate, the other three chimed in agreement.

"Well? Do you still have anything to say?"

The Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger looked smugly at Lin Chan.

Lin Chan was in no hurry. He simply swept his gaze over the four Grief Ghosts and said:

"Tiger King, you hold their souls in your grasp. If they displease you, they suffer the torment of their souls being torn apart. How could they dare speak the truth?"

"We are speaking the truth!"

The Daoist Robe Youth glared viciously at Lin Chan.

But the Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger silenced the four Grief Ghosts again and mulled over Lin Chan's words. They did seem to make sense.

Pacing back and forth, the Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger fixed his gaze on the four Grief Ghosts and said:

"Now, I'll give you a chance. Tell me the reasons for your evil deeds, or speak of any good you've done. If what you say is true, I'll set you free."

"If it's false, I'll make you suffer the agony of ten thousand ants gnawing at your hearts every single day."

With that, the Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger lifted the silencing spell on the four Grief Ghosts.

Hearing this, all four Grief Ghosts were overjoyed.

Being a Grief Ghost was no easy task. They endured unspeakable pain every moment—neither human nor ghost, unable even to reincarnate.

In order, the Red-Clad Woman, Pan Chunping, spoke first.

Having been a Grief Ghost for so long, Pan Chunping's mind was filled with nothing but resentment. Her every thought was about how to help the Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger harm others, how to drag more people into the tiger's belly.

Of course, the Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger only ate the wicked, so Pan Chunping did everything she could to provoke malice in others, letting the tiger feast with a clear conscience.

As for why she had killed her husband—she thought long and hard but couldn't remember.

Still, her desperate desire for release forced her to recall the past.

"I... I remember now. I was originally a courtesan raised from childhood at the Red Sleeve Pavilion, with the stage name Bai Cha. After I turned thirty, my beauty faded, but after more than a decade of performing, I had saved up some money. So I bought my freedom, married a merchant, and changed my name to Pan Chunping, planning to live out the rest of my life peacefully. Who would have known? My husband never had good intentions when he married me. From the very start, his goal was the money I'd saved over years of performing. His business had failed, and he urgently needed the funds to turn things around. At first, I believed him and gave him most of it."

"But he wasn't satisfied—he needed more! We already had a child, and he kept wheedling and pressuring me until I had no choice but to hand over more money. Not long after, he said it still wasn't enough and came asking again. I grew suspicious and followed him, only to find him going in and out of gambling dens and the Red Sleeve Pavilion. I should have known—merchants are fickle."

As she spoke, the Red-Clad Woman covered her face and wept.

Now, she was no longer a Grief Ghost consumed by hatred, but merely a helpless, pitiful woman.

"So you killed him?"

The Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger's eyes bored into the Red-Clad Woman like nails as he began a Soul Search.

He didn't believe the vicious woman's fabricated story.

Soul Search was mentally taxing, which was why the Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger hadn't used it on her before.

Flipping rapidly through the Red-Clad Woman's memories, the Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger soon found the fragment of her about to buy her freedom.

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In her youth, the Red-Clad Woman had believed in love. She had pledged her life to a scholar and started saving money early, scrimping and saving everywhere. Unlike her other sisters, who earned a lot but spent just as much on fine clothes, jewelry, and cosmetics, she always waited for that scholar to come back and take her away.

She wouldn't even need him to pay—she could buy her own freedom.

But she waited over a decade, until her beauty faded and her youth was gone. Even the Red Sleeve Pavilion could no longer keep her, and she could buy her freedom for a pittance—yet the scholar never came.

That was when Pan Chunping understood—he was never coming back.

Heartbroken and disillusioned, she hastily picked the most agreeable merchant among her regular customers, married him, and planned to live out her days in quiet resignation.

After having a child, Pan Chunping even resolved to be a good mother and wife.

But her husband was nothing like the kind man he had been before marriage.

The vows and sweet words had all been a sham.

When she discovered that her husband had secretly gone to the Red Sleeve Pavilion, Pan Chunping was utterly disappointed in him. But they had a child together.

For the sake of her child, Pan Chunping could only endure, gritting her teeth and holding on, thinking that if she could just raise her child, her life would be complete.

Little did she know, her tolerance only emboldened her husband.

Not only did he slowly drain away the money she had saved over more than a decade of selling herself, but he also frequently beat and berated her.

But Pan Chunping didn't care. She had endured all kinds of hardship in her life as a performer—she could just bear it and move on.

Drinking, whoring, gambling—even a mountain of gold and silver would eventually be emptied.

Soon, there was no money left in the house.

Unable to get money from Pan Chunping, her husband flew into a rage and began beating the children to threaten her.

Unable to get a divorce, Pan Chunping was forced to buy poison from an old acquaintance and poison her husband with her own hands.

Seeing this, the Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger stopped the Soul Search.

There was no need to look further; the Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger already knew the rest—it had devoured Pan Chunping and her daughter.

"What you said is true. You are free!"

The Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger exhaled a puff of white smoke. The smoke merged with Pan Chunping, and her mismatched eyes became even, her ugly face returning to normal.

Her face wasn't breathtakingly beautiful, but it did have some charm—just a bit aged.

"Thank you, Great King!"

Pan Chunping repeatedly kowtowed to the Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger. Being a Grief Ghost meant daily torment, and now that she was released, she felt an immense relief.

After kowtowing to the Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger, Pan Chunping turned and kowtowed to Lin Chan as well.

"Thank you, young master!"

Pan Chunping's words were no longer venomous but filled with gratitude.

Lin Chan nodded. He knew that most people weren't born evil; there was always a reason for their wrongdoing.

Especially with the Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger fishing for lawbreakers, the caught evildoers had even more bitter grievances they couldn't voice.

Still, he hadn't expected Pan Chunping to have such a tragic past, and he couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy.

Pan Chunping lingered for a long time, unwilling to disperse her soul or leave. Instead, she looked at the Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger, hesitating to speak.

"Why haven't you left yet? You should enter reincarnation now, or it'll be too late once your spirit dissipates."

The Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger said to Pan Chunping.

"Great King! There's one more thing—my Xing'er. Do you know where she is now? I want to see her one last time."

Pan Chunping looked at the Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger with a pleading gaze.