Lost Soul

I left the bathroom door in a daze and came to the end of the corridor.

The Taoist altar's furnishings were simple, but its layout was clear and well-organized—a master's handiwork. The altar table held a full set of implements, even some unrelated to feng shui masters.

I remembered that besides Zhao Qian's grandfather, who had initiated her, she also had a female lay practitioner as a teacher. It seemed some of these things belonged to that woman.

That female lay practitioner had left without saying goodbye. Where had she gone, leaving so many things behind?

But with Song Wanyi there, I didn't feel comfortable studying these things, so I arranged the talismans I had drawn, rearranged the implements on the altar table, lit twelve sticks of the finest incense, and began silently reciting incantations.

At the very end, I used a brand-new scalpel stored here to cut open my middle finger and began copying some incantations inside the Soul Urn with essence blood. The process was the same as when I subdued Xijun back then, only the incantations were somewhat different.

"Come, blood offering." I watched Song Wanyi kneeling beside me and awkwardly extended my middle finger. If it had been Xijun, I wouldn't have felt any pressure at all.

But Song Wanyi was a female ghost the same age as Zhao Qian and Yu Xiaoxue, as well as an uncanonized mountain god. This way of feeding her, like feeding chicks or ducklings, seemed somewhat inappropriate, which made me feel uncomfortable too.

Song Wanyi silently knelt beside me, looking at me with pitch-black eyes rimmed by a ring of red. Her face showed neither joy nor anger.

That left me awkwardly holding my finger out in midair.

She had never consumed anyone else's essence blood before. As a mountain ghost, there were simply too many things she could eat, and the spiritual energy in the mountains was enough to sustain her daily activities. It was only natural that she had no interest in human essence blood.

So directly consuming essence blood was an entirely novel experience for her.

She looked at it, then finally reached out with both hands and grasped mine. After thinking for a moment, her vermilion lips parted and lightly touched the blood dripping from my middle finger.

Wanyi's lips were crimson, unlike Xijun's and somewhat different from those of ordinary fierce ghosts. She was clearly far more powerful. The instant her vermilion lips touched my essence blood, she seemed to feel a trace of heat pierce through her lips and into her very soul, and her eyes lit up at once.

She took my hand and began sucking. I could feel an endless stream of blood flowing from my body. I had already lost a great deal of qi and blood the previous night, and now I still had to feed her essence blood after returning from the mountain, so I immediately began to feel dizzy.

But Song Wanyi seemed to have developed a taste for it. When I instinctively pulled my hand away, a trace of reluctance showed in her eyes, as if she was extremely unwilling to stop.

I remembered how I had nearly used the Soul Bell to hook her soul before and immediately sobered up considerably. I shouted, "Stop!"

Song Wanyi finally came to her senses. She seemed to realize that, without knowing it, she had just used an enchantment to tempt me into continuing to provide her with blood.

But she was clever and quickly concealed her panic. She stuck out the tip of her tongue and gently licked the wound on my middle finger, licking away the last smear of blood.

The gentle scene was like flirtation between lovers. I broke out in gooseflesh all over. Song Wanyi looked like a refined young lady, but some of the things she did sent a chill creeping over my skin. The allure buried in her bones meant that when she bewitched souls, she seemed not to need any spellcasting at all. Every movement she made could accomplish it.

I forcefully suppressed the restlessness in my heart and cast away my impure thoughts. Once my mind was clear, I lit the incense again and inserted it into the divine altar.

"You have consumed my essence blood. From now on, you will be subject to my control and do my bidding. I will provide you with blood offerings regularly. If either of us breaks this oath, the ghosts and gods of the four directions and the ghost kings of the eight quarters will come to claim our soul. Understood?"

I quickly lit the incense and inserted it into the paper talisman altar inscribed with "the ghosts and gods of the four directions" and "the ghost kings of the eight quarters."

Song Wanyi nodded and also knelt to pay respects to the gods and ghosts being sacrificed to.

Once the ceremony was complete, I had Song Wanyi enter the new Soul Urn, then carried the old one beneath the peach tree. I found a spot that looked decent and buried her there.

I was raising even fierce ghosts now, so burying an urn beneath the peach tree in the courtyard was nothing I couldn't do. Besides, I was surrounded by ghosts anyway. I had long since stopped caring.

Back in the study, I turned on the computer and began searching fashion websites for red clothes. I also called Xijun over to look with me.

Xijun wrapped her arms around my neck, her tiny eyes fixed on the various bright-red traditional outfits appearing on the computer.

She quickly found a luxurious outfit that looked somewhat like the phoenix coronet and red bridal robes worn by Big Sister-in-law.

I immediately turned on the color printer and printed out the picture.

When Xijun saw the outfit in the picture, which looked so much like Big Sister-in-law's, she was beside herself with joy. She stared at it without blinking.

"I'll have to ask your Sister Zhao Qian first and see how she can send it to you, all right? But there's no way to get this crown. That's only used for weddings. Xijun, you're still young, so let's not have the crown, okay?" I said to Xijun.

Xijun nodded vigorously, seemingly urging me to take care of it.

Actually, I didn't think she cared much about the crown. She simply felt that the clothes Big Sister-in-law wore suited her.

I took the printed design and left the study, finding Zhao Qian sitting on the sofa with Yu Xiaoxue.

Zhao Qian was wearing an elegant, unadorned dress. Her face was still flushed, and she seemed not to have recovered from the incident in the bathroom when I had seen her completely naked. When she saw me coming toward her, her whole body twisted slightly, as if she was extremely uncomfortable.

"Qian," I greeted her.

"Tian, Brother..." Zhao Qian looked over, her beauty delicate and radiant.

Yu Xiaoxue watched television while eating milk candy. She glanced at us, finding it extremely strange. She had no idea what could have happened between the two of us in such a short time.

"It's like this. I have an outfit here that Xijun really likes. What she's wearing now is rather shabby, so I was wondering if we could burn it for her. It's a bit troublesome, but could you see if you can help her?" I carefully handed over the design.

Zhao Qian noticed that I seemed not to care about what had happened in the bathroom and that I really did need her help. She took the design, looked at it for a while, and said, "That won't be a problem. Qian can use five-colored paper as the material, carefully cut it out, and burn it for her."

When I heard Zhao Qian agree so readily, I immediately asked, "Is this five-colored paper the five kinds of paper money—blue, yellow, red, white, and black? The kind used to burn offerings for little ghosts or the spirits of deceased children? But do we have a sheet large enough?"

"We do. Qian has some prepared at the Taoist altar. Qian did this sort of work before. I remember that a wealthy merchant's daughter drowned and died unjustly. After her death, she kept appearing in the merchant's dreams. The merchant told Qian that he saw his daughter without clothes in the dreams, saying she had no clothes to wear in the underworld. He had already burned many clothes for her, but it still hadn't solved the problem, so he asked Qian to help. After researching it, Qian realized that what he had burned wasn't specialized paper, so it had no effect."

"Qian found five-colored paper, cut some clothes according to the styles the girl had liked when she was alive, and burned them for her. The next day, the merchant happily told Qian that his daughter had appeared in his dream again. She was wearing the clothes Qian had made and said she liked them very much. At last, she could reincarnate." Zhao Qian spoke to me with some excitement. She was actually thrilled because she had been able to help me; normally, she was always relying on my help.

"Mm... like that, naked, huh..." I listened to her words, but my thoughts turned to what had happened in the bathroom, and I muttered it without thinking.

Zhao Qian's face instantly turned red. Even Yu Xiaoxue couldn't stand it anymore. "Tian, Brother!"

"Oh! Oh, sorry. My mind wandered for a moment. I was just thinking that if the merchant saw his daughter naked, he must have felt terribly embarrassed. That definitely needed to be resolved—and quickly, too. It's lucky he happened to meet you." My old face flushed as well, and I hurriedly found an excuse to cover it up.

"Tian, Brother! What were you thinking? When did Qian ever say the merchant was a man? She was a woman..." Zhao Qian snatched up the design and ran upstairs.

"See? Tian, Brother, you were so bad that you angered Sister Qian. Hurry up and chase after her to apologize." Yu Xiaoxue stuck out her tongue.

I rubbed my brow and shook my head. Sigh. I had no idea what those two had been talking about lately. Yu Xiaoxue and Zhao Qian had grown even closer than I was to them. Why wouldn't she help me out of this mess?

I really had been absentminded lately. I didn't know why, or whether it was because of my depleted qi and blood, but I had been dazed all day, with my mind going blank in waves.

After Yu Xiaoxue reminded me, I took Xijun's Soul Urn upstairs to apologize and, incidentally, give Xijun a new home.

But as soon as I reached the second floor, Zhao Qian had already carried a pile of five-colored paper into the bedroom and shut the door.

It seemed Zhao Qian was truly angry. I wondered if I ought to reflect properly on my behavior today.

Giving Xijun a new house wasn't difficult. It was one of the stages of a fierce ghost's advancement, and my grandmother's books had mentioned it many times.

Once a ghost being raised gained greater power, its original Soul Urn would have part of its incantations canceled out by the ghost's strengthened abilities. As a result, there was a certain chance the Soul Urn would be unable to withstand the energy and break. If the owner couldn't replace it with a higher-grade Soul Urn in time, the ghost's soul would also dissipate without the urn's support.

The process was much the same as before, and the blood offering had to be provided as well. Enduring my depleted qi and blood, I cut open my middle finger again and fed Xijun blood to form the contract.

Everything went smoothly, and Xijun was also very satisfied with her new Soul Urn. After all, she had chosen it herself.

I suddenly felt that my qi and blood were frighteningly depleted. When I stood up, darkness spun in waves before my eyes, and I nearly collapsed onto the altar table.

I had originally wanted to wait for Zhao Qian to finish the clothes and then burn them for Xijun, but I couldn't wait any longer. What I needed most seemed to be rest, so I struggled to stand straight and went downstairs, holding on to the banister.

"Xue, I'm going to sleep for a while. I didn't sleep last night, and I'm exhausted. I'll probably wake up around lunchtime this afternoon. Guests will be coming to the Zhang Family, so you and Zhao Qian handle the cooking. Wake me when they arrive." After saying that, I opened the study door.

"All right, Tian, Brother! Xiaoxue will let you try Xiaoxue's cooking." Yu Xiaoxue waved her little fists.

I closed the door. My head spun terribly. When I touched my forehead, it was burning hot. It seemed I also had a fever.

"Xijun, Song Wanyi, protect me." Cold sweat broke out across my forehead. Ever since I was little, I had basically never had a fever, because Big Sister-in-law had cared for me secretly. Something had definitely gone wrong this time.

I collapsed onto the bed with a thud. In my hazy state, I saw Xijun emerge from the Soul Urn. Seeing how awful I looked, she panicked and hurried over to press her face against mine.

Song Wanyi merely furrowed her brows slightly and knelt worriedly beside the bed.

I didn't know when it happened, but a thunderous shout woke me.

"Yu Xiayi! After investigation: born in a yin year, yin lunar month, yin hour, yin moment, and yin cycle, your fate lacking life, with your yang lifespan destined to end early! You have committed two great sins: stealing Heaven's fate and altering your destiny, and unlawfully killing a ghost officer! We have come under the command of the underworld to reopen all cases and claim your life! If you resist in any way, you will immediately suffer the punishment of having your tongue pulled out and being boiled in an oil cauldron!"