Red Words, Soul Capture

Lu Yuan walked out of the washroom, having changed into a brand-new black robe.

The main hall was already empty.

In the courtyard, there were shattered porcelain shards, overturned chairs, and smashed flower pots...

Several yamen runners were cleaning up the mess under the candlelight.

Su Ding'an scurried over to Lu Yuan, smiling as he opened a pouch of silver and weighed it in his hand.

"My lord, we collected a total of fifty-three taels of silver, all of which were paid at a fifty percent markup over the original value."

"You should have seen it; Xu Zhi's injured face actually turned quite ruddy from pure anger, and he looked like he was bleeding internally as he handed over the silver."

"I reckon he was so afraid of seeing you again that he didn't want to stay for even a second longer."

Lu Yuan nodded. "When dawn breaks, find a craftsman. Whatever needs repairing, repair it; whatever needs replacing, replace it. Don't skimp on the costs."

Su Ding'an pocketed the silver and chuckled. "Don't worry, my lord. Although I love money, my character is absolutely reliable."

Lu Yuan gave a grunt of acknowledgment. "How did Xu Zhi and his men end up in Linchuan County?"

Logically, since he was stationed in Linchuan County and had not requested aid from the Prefecture Bureau, other Demon-Suppressing Guards should not have come.

Upon hearing this, a look of embarrassment appeared on Su Ding'an's face.

"Reporting to you, my lord, this is actually my fault for not reporting the pacification of the Shen Family demonic infestation to the Prefecture Bureau immediately."

"The Paper Effigy Troupe and the Shen Family infestation happened around the same time, so I intended to report them to the Prefecture Bureau together once both were resolved."

"Perhaps because the distress signal Zhao Heng sent out earlier hadn't been rescinded, it led to Xu Zhi coincidentally taking the assignment and rushing over."

Speaking of this, a flash of resentment appeared on Su Ding'an's face.

"If he had just come, that would be one thing. If it were anyone else who had made a wasted trip, I would have apologized, explained the situation, and treated them to food and wine."

"But Xu Zhi started spouting insults and pointing fingers the moment he arrived. Although I, Su Ding'an, don't have his level of skill, I won't be pushed around."

At this point, a cunning glint appeared in Su Ding'an's eyes.

"My lord, guess what? I didn't say a single word to them about the Shen Family demonic infestation, hehe."

"They didn't know the infestation had been cleared, nor did they know that you, my lord, had personally slain the Scroll Fairy, a Wild God of the Mystic Realm, which is why they dared to look down on you."

"The outcome today is nothing more than what they deserved."

Lu Yuan looked at Su Ding'an, his tone laced with a mocking laugh. "You sly dog, Su Ding'an, you actually dared to use me as your weapon! You really are bold enough to defy the heavens!"

Su Ding'an shrank his neck and waved his hands repeatedly. "My lord, have mercy! Have mercy! How would I dare to scheme against you? They were badmouthing a superior, and I simply wanted to vent some frustration on your behalf."

"Enough, stop the act. You did well in this matter. Take two taels from that pouch as a reward, and give me the rest after the courtyard is repaired."

After saying this, Lu Yuan turned and walked toward his room, but Su Ding'an's voice suddenly drifted from behind him.

"My lord, if I may be so bold as to ask, did the night watchman go home?"

Lu Yuan's figure paused, and he turned slightly.

Su Ding'an rubbed his hands together and smiled. "His wife, Cuilan, has been sitting in the back hall for most of the night without even a drop of water, and she's four months pregnant. I was thinking..."

"He died."

Lu Yuan spat out the two words without a hint of emotion.

The smile on Su Ding'an's face froze instantly, and he opened his mouth, unable to close it for a long time.

He turned his head to look toward the back hall, a complex look flashing in his eyes, and he gave a muffled response.

"Oh, I see..."

After standing dazed for a long while, Su Ding'an took a deep breath and walked toward the moon gate leading to the back hall.

Lu Yuan returned to his room, habitually lying down on the bed with his hands behind his head.

The faint sound of a woman weeping drifted from the direction of the back hall, intermittent and broken.

Perhaps it was because he was emotionally detached, but he could not empathize with this kind of sorrow.

He saved Chen Wan'er because it was a life, and it was worth saving.

He killed demons and the Longevity Cult because those things harmed lives, and they deserved to be killed.

But to ask him to grieve for a stranger whose husband had died—he could not do it, nor could he understand it.

After all, people died under the claws of demons every single day in this world; if he had to feel sad for every single life lost, he would never be able to hunt demons.

Clearing his mind of distractions, Lu Yuan opened his panel.

[The current synthesis entry is Soul Thought [White] ×312]

[Synthesizing]

[Soul Thought [White] ×243 → Wandering Soul [Green] ×81 → Soul Guide [Blue] ×27 → Soul Pulse [Purple] ×9 → Wraith Egress [Gold] ×3 → Soul Capture [Red]]

[Soul Thought [White] ×54 → Wandering Soul [Green] ×18 → Soul Guide [Blue] ×6 → Soul Pulse [Purple] ×2]

[Note: Only one entry can be bound to the same path]

Finally, a red one!

Lu Yuan felt a surge of energy and immediately checked the entry.

[Soul Capture: When the soul is severed, the spirit is lost; when the essence is withered, madness ensues.]

Although it was a single entry, it could be divided into two types of usage.

The first is Soul Capture.

According to the Demon Treasure Codex of the Demon Suppression Bureau, during the reign of the founding emperor, a scholar passing through Huizhou came across a desolate mountain temple.

The temple was empty, save for a painting of a beautiful woman hanging in the main hall.

That night, the scholar dreamed that the woman walked out of the painting, and he found himself following her uncontrollably.

When he was discovered the next day, his face was ashen, and he remained in a coma.

This is Soul Capture.

The second is Essence Seizure.

Lu Yuan recalled the Notes from the Cottage for Close Observations of the Strange he had read in his past life.

In the Qing Dynasty, a woman traveling at night encountered a bandit.

The woman hid under an ancient tree, untied her belt to wrap around her neck, let her hair down, and stuck out her tongue, disguising herself as a hanging ghost.

When the bandit approached and saw her, he was instantly frightened into madness and fled, never to recover his sanity.

This is the loss of essence; the effect is the same when it is seized.

When the soul is captured, a person becomes an empty shell.

When the essence is seized, a person becomes insane and deranged.

Lu Yuan bound the red entry and stored the other two purple entries in his inventory, saving them for future synthesis.

He closed his eyes and went to sleep.

Just as the sky began to brighten, he was awakened by a commotion.

The window paper glowed with a gray light, and there were people running outside, their footsteps chaotic.

Lu Yuan opened his eyes, lay still for a moment, then got up, threw on his outer robe, and went outside.

Several servants were standing in the courtyard, their faces looking grim.

Su Ding'an walked over, his usual smile gone, his voice low.

"My lord, Sister Cuilan... she's gone."

Su Ding'an hung his head. "She learned about the night watchman last night and cried for a long time. I didn't think much of it, as she was still pregnant, but this morning she was found hanging from the rafters."

"She was a widow who remarried; it was hard enough for her to find a man who wanted her, and she was carrying a child. Who would have thought..."

Lu Yuan walked to the door of the back hall and stopped. Cuilan's body lay on a door plank, her face covered with a white cloth.

Her belly was still slightly rounded; four months pregnant, it was already showing.

A belt lay on the floor nearby, made of blue cloth, washed until it was faded white.

Lu Yuan stood there, saying nothing.

He had thought that by avenging the night watchman, the matter was settled.

He had not expected that Cuilan would take her unborn child with her.

He watched for a moment, then turned and walked out of the back hall.

The morning light spilled over the roof, stretching his shadow long across the ground.

He looked down at it, suddenly feeling a stifling pressure in his chest that would not dissipate.

It was not his first time seeing the dead, yet he felt that Cuilan's death was different from the deaths he had seen before.

He had killed demons and destroyed cultists, yet a person who wanted to live had died right before his eyes.

He did not know how to describe it, only that the cultists of the Longevity Cult had died too easily.

They should have suffered more, felt more regret; in the final moments of their lives, they should have wished they had never been born at all.

Footsteps approached from outside.

Su Ding'an and Wang Wende arrived before Lu Yuan one after the other, both of them looking troubled.

Su Ding'an frowned, his voice tight.

"My lord, Magistrate Wang has sent word that White Moon Villa is secretly colluding with the Longevity Cult!"