Xiao He's carriage arrived at the Xu Residence, where an old servant was already waiting. The carriage had been prepared, along with offerings such as candles, joss paper, and other paper goods.
This suited Xiao He just fine. Tomb-sweeping meant passing the mass grave, which was bound to bring a bit of bad luck. They couldn't use their own carriage, lest they bring the bad luck home with them.
If they were unlucky, they might bring a female ghost home, which would be even worse.
Xiang Yuan pursed his lips. "Xiao Forty, don't you like female ghosts? Why are you chickening out?"
"When have I ever liked female ghosts? Don't make things up."
Xiao He protested righteously, then quietly added that female ghosts were common, but Widow Wang wasn't.
So he was afraid of running into an ugly ghost!
Xiao He's reminder made Xiang Yuan remember that ghosts might be lurking at the mass grave. He went inside and fetched Wang Wenxu's calligraphy, just in case.
Better safe than sorry.
As soon as Xiang Yuan picked up the scroll, it felt lighter. It weighed the same as before, no different from last night, but somehow it seemed to be missing a little weight. He couldn't say what was missing, though.
Curious, he unrolled it. The four characters, "People Have Intentions," were unchanged. The brushwork was vigorous, and it was Wang Wenxu's genuine work. It hadn't been switched out.
"Strange..."
Xiang Yuan couldn't make sense of it. He left the house and climbed into the carriage.
The Xu Residence had only one old servant, too elderly to drive. Xu Jixian told him to stay at the residence and prepare a meal, then drove Xiao He and Xiang Yuan himself to the southern part of town.
Afraid Xiao He would pester him, Xiang Yuan offered to switch places and drive the carriage himself, leaving Xiao and Xu to banter inside as usual.
But Xiao He stopped him.
"Brother Yuan, don't be shy. Brother Xu owes you his life, so it's only right."
Could it be that I'm just sick of you?
Xiang Yuan stared at Xiao He expressionlessly, hoping he'd take the hint. It didn't work. Xiao He was thick-skinned enough that whether he got the hint or not made no difference; the guy was a chatterbox and a total goofball.
"I'll tell you in secret. Don't let Brother Xu hear."
Xiao He leaned against the joss paper and said loudly, "Actually, he and I discussed it last night. To repay you for saving his life, he's paying out of his own pocket to send you to the academy. Otherwise, given his temperament, he'd have taken the morning off to sweep the graves. Why else would he be rushing around from place to place, first west of town and then south, afraid he'd miss the city gates closing?"
Xiang Yuan suddenly understood. Xu Jixian was a loyal friend. He'd handled the whole business of getting him into the academy, and had probably even knelt down and begged Wang Wenxu.
They'd known each other for only a day, yet Xu Jixian was so loyal and grateful. He was worth befriending.
Outside the curtain, Xu Jixian gave a couple of grunts, clearly embarrassed to have been found out.
Imagining that dark horse-like face turning red and looking bashful made Xiang Yuan shudder. He took out the scroll to change the subject. "Xiao Forty, you've seen a lot. Take a look at this calligraphy. Is something wrong with it? Does it seem to be missing something?"
"'People have intentions'—no one's missing. Uh, no characters are missing."
"I think it feels lighter."
"Oh, I understand. You mean the Vast Righteous Qi. Some was used up when we exorcised the ghost last night, so it's a little lighter."
Xiao He explained, sounding serious. "It's a common money-making trick among scholars. Think about it: if you're short on money, you have to earn some. If you're earning money, you don't have time to study. Keep that up, and are scholars even scholars anymore? So they look for ways to make money and mix a bit of their Vast Righteous Qi into the calligraphy they write for people..."
"It's like those monks who give you a good treasure. Only after you've used it and seen their methods will you be willing to pay a fortune to have gold applied to a Buddha statue."
What was this, a VIP trial period? Had I transmigrated or not?
Xiang Yuan didn't believe him. He translated Xiao He's nonsense and quickly figured out what was going on.
It was simple: the calligraphy wasn't a magical treasure, and Wang Wenxu wasn't a living sage. A casual stroke couldn't contain much Vast Righteous Qi, so it made sense that some had been used up when it encountered a ghost.
Xiang Yuan put the scroll away regretfully. It couldn't be recharged; every use meant a little less.
Fortunately, it wasn't a big problem. Wang Wenxu was quite fond of him. If he studied hard in the future, he could ask his teacher to give him a few hundred more paintings and calligraphy pieces for protection.
The mass grave, south of town.
There was a slope to the east and a pit to the west. Though no cold winds howled, dry bones occasionally poked out of the soil, glaringly conspicuous in the sunlight.
Crows circled overhead, and wild dogs prowled nearby. Perhaps the yin energy was too heavy. Aside from a few rows of crooked, withered trees, there wasn't so much as an insect's chirp or a blade of grass.
Xu Jixian stopped the carriage and told Xiao He to hurry up. He didn't want the Xu family's ancestors to miss their place in line to collect the money.
Xiao He jumped down from the carriage with a handful of yellow paper tucked in his arms. He scattered the money as he went, muttering apologies for the disturbance, then happily started wandering beneath the withered trees.
He found a yin soldier—a divine sword, with a black hilt and a straight blade. What a delight!
"A real man should carry this sword, slay demons, and establish an achievement for the ages!"
"..."
Xiang Yuan watched expressionlessly. Then he spotted someone approaching in the distance, exclaimed in surprise, and hurried over.
"Old Liu, what brings you here?"
"That's what I should be asking you. Why are you everywhere I go?"
Old Liu had a new partner today, another veteran from the yamen.
The yamen wasn't very big, but it had plenty of old hands. These veterans were all shrewd, and knew Xiang Yuan had latched onto a powerful patron. They cheerfully cupped their hands and thanked him.
Xiang Yuan, we've all heard about your good fortune.
He wasn't much of a patron. Wang Wenxu was the one who counted.
Ignoring Xiao He waving his "divine sword" around, Xiang Yuan turned to the young constable accompanying Old Liu. He'd studied martial arts at the same school as Xiang Yuan and arrived in Fengxian County around the same time. If he remembered correctly, his name was Ma Zhengdao.
At that moment, Ma Zhengdao looked envious. They had the same background, but while some people were still stuck at the bottom, others had become a companion to the heir of the prince's household. The difference was enough to make anyone sigh.
Ma Zhengdao didn't approach Xiang Yuan to make small talk. The young man was shy, and seemed to feel there was now a thick wall between them. He pressed his lips together and nodded.
Seeing that the young man hadn't said anything, Xiang Yuan nodded back and looked at Old Liu. "I'm accompanying the young master of the Xu Family to the cemetery up ahead to pay respects to his ancestors. Where are you going? Another case?"
"Wouldn't you know it? Some poor bastard died after running into a ghost," Old Liu sighed.
"How are there so many ghosts?" Xiang Yuan asked in surprise.
"Don't say that. There really are..."
Old Liu stepped closer and lowered his voice. "According to the investigation, the deceased was named Wei Kun. His father died when he was young. To keep from burdening her child, his mother ran off with a traveling merchant. Wei Kun apprenticed to a carpenter and learned a trade. He scrimped and saved until he finally had enough to marry a wife. But on the way to the wedding, he failed to avoid the mass grave... and got the wrong bridal sedan."
Red and white met, evil upon evil!
A chill swept over him in broad daylight, and Xiang Yuan felt cold.
His brows furrowed. His instincts told him that Wei Kun's encounter with a ghost and Xu Jixian's had to be connected. It was too much of a coincidence. Most likely, a disciple of the Yellow Springs Dao was behind this one too.
Old Liu continued, "Captain Liu said the Yellow Springs Dao's fiends have entered the city, and there's more than one of them. There'll be plenty of trouble in the coming days."
The Southern Border was too chaotic, and survival there was extremely difficult. It wasn't a place for low-skilled disciples to travel alone. So every few years, when Yellow Springs Dao disciples traveled the world, they chose Western Chu in the north.
Fengxian County was only a place to rest. They wouldn't stay long; at most, it was a gateway to the sea. The whole of Western Chu—or, for that matter, the whole world—was where the Yellow Springs Dao disciples went to gain experience.
Anywhere but the Southern Border would do.
The Yellow Springs Dao wasn't worried about these disciples leaking their techniques or information. Outer disciples couldn't learn advanced martial arts, and besides, they were protected by secret arts that left no corpse behind when they died. With no corpse, no one could discover the meridians and acupoints used in Qi Circulation, much less deduce the Yellow Springs Dao's supreme divine arts.
Old Liu didn't know any of this. Xiang Yuan had asked his senior uncle for help, but Lingguang was old and forgetful, so he hadn't found an answer either.
In any case, the danger was real. Until this wave of trouble had passed through Fengxian County, it was best to avoid lingering in places with heavy yin energy, like the mass grave.
Old Liu relayed Captain Liu Jingsheng's words. Xiang Yuan cupped his hands in thanks. After saying goodbye to Old Liu and the other two, he turned to Xiao He, the "crazy swordsman."
This wasn't just lingering. He was wandering around aimlessly. If nobody stopped him, he could keep at it all day.
Xiang Yuan sighed at how much trouble Xiao He was and grabbed him, dragging him toward the carriage like an adult hauling a child home.
"Brother Yuan, don't pull me! I haven't finished picking things up. This is a great opportunity. If I don't pick them up today, someone else will get them for sure." Xiao He struggled with all his might, brandishing the yin soldier and challenging Xiang Yuan to a duel.
"Don't be ridiculous. No one else is bored enough to do this. You can come back and pick things up next time."
Xiang Yuan shoved Xiao He into the carriage and held the calligraphy close. He told Xu Jixian to hurry up, hand out the money to the ancestors as quickly as possible, and get back to the county seat before dark.
It wouldn't do to run into fiends from the Yellow Springs Dao.
Before you continue