The Real Zhao Hu

Zhao Hu and Liu Fu, sitting beneath the eaves, also spotted Xie An standing at the door. The two hurriedly rose to greet him, clasping their hands in salute.

Xie An raised his right hand slightly. "No need to be so formal. Your wife is with child; hurry inside and take a seat."

Zhao Hu ushered Xie An and Chen Mo in. "My humble home is crude. Please forgive the poor hospitality, Young Master."

Xie An hesitated briefly, but in the end, he stepped over the threshold.

For one thing, the qi around Zhao Hu was not particularly vast and posed no threat to him now.

For another, Zhao Hu had gone with him to Li Family Village. Why had he died...? Xie An had to go in and get to the bottom of it. After all, he himself might be next.

Once inside the cramped sitting room, Zhao Hu invited Xie An to the seat of honor and instructed Liu Fu to make tea.

Xie An handed Zhao Hu the osmanthus cakes Chen Mo had been carrying, along with a child's bib, shoes, and socks bought from a ready-made clothing shop. "I knew you were about to become a father, so I bought some clothes and socks for the child."

"Thank you, Young Master, for thinking of my child!" Zhao Hu accepted the gifts with both hands and bowed in thanks. Then he took out a pair of shoes from a nearby cabinet and offered them to Xie An.

"I finished these shoes a few days ago. They are in your size, Young Master. The uppers are made of soft autumn lambskin—supple and tough. It had to be tanned nine times before the fiery residue could be removed. A layer of Iron-Thread Python hide is sandwiched into the soles; it has excellent springiness and is especially suited for martial artists. My craftsmanship is a little rough, though. I hope you will not disdain them."

Liu Fu added, "My husband spent all our savings to have someone buy these materials from the prefectural city. The needlework is just somewhat crude. Please do not dislike them, Young Master."

For a moment, Xie An could not bear to refuse, so he accepted the shoes.

After a pause, Xie An rose to his feet. "Zhao Hu, go wait for me in the room first. I have something to discuss with you."

Xie An leaned close to Chen Mo and whispered, "Guard the courtyard. If you discover Zhao Hu and his wife trying to flee, seize them immediately. If anything unusual happens, kill without mercy!"

Chen Mo's heart tightened. She did not know why Young Master Mingxi had suddenly become so cold-blooded, but she still nodded.

Only then did Xie An follow Zhao Hu into the bedroom.

The cramped bedroom was exceedingly plain, but sandalwood incense had been lit, and mugwort was burning. There were also atractylodes, white atractylodes, and licorice laid out nearby.

These were all things commonly used among the people to ward off the aura of death.

Under Xie An's scrutiny, Zhao Hu seemed at a loss for what to do with his hands and feet. "For Young Master to come visit my wife and me is truly a blessing for Zhao Hu. May I ask what instructions Young Master has?"

Xie An stared at Zhao Hu for a long while before speaking. "Zhao Hu, you have followed me for six years, and we even experienced the great terror of Li Family Village together. We can be said to share a deep bond as master and servant, can we not?"

Zhao Hu clasped his hands. "Young Master's great kindness is something Zhao Hu can never repay in this lifetime."

Xie An nodded. "Since that is so, I will speak to you from the bottom of my heart. I hope you will answer truthfully."

Zhao Hu seemed to realize something and nodded heavily. "Please speak, Young Master."

Xie An finally went straight to the point. "When did you discover that you were dead?"

Zhao Hu stared at Xie An in utter shock. "Young Master... how did you know?"

Xie An did not say that he possessed the gift of Qi-Gazing. Instead, he gave an explanation Zhao Hu could accept. "Though Storax Pill is used among the people to ward off evil, it can also conceal corpse qi. It also has the effect of softening corpses.

"When you accompanied me in training before, your limbs were stiff and your strength felt hollow. That was when I began to suspect it."

Thud.

Zhao Hu instantly seemed to have lost his soul, collapsing limply onto the ground.

Before long, tears came streaming down his face.

"Young Master, I beg you to give me a little more time. I must see my child be born... only then can I die with my eyes closed."

Zhao Hu had clearly misunderstood. He thought Xie An had come to take his life.

"I, Zhao Hu, have lived honestly all my life. I never stole, never robbed. I only wanted a child, so that the Zhao family line would not end with me...

"My wife, Liu Fu, was pregnant twice, but both pregnancies ended in miscarriage. Neither child ever got to open its eyes and see this world before leaving it.

"The doctor said it was fate.

"I sought famous physicians everywhere, only hoping for some secret prescription to stabilize a pregnancy. I donated incense money, worshipped gods, and begged for talismans, all because I wanted to continue the Zhao family line. I only wanted to be a father once.

"Now Ah Fu has finally become pregnant...

"I only wanted to be a father once... Was that wrong?"

Zhao Hu shut his eyes, and tears burst forth as though a dam had broken.

Xie An felt a pang of sorrow. He helped Zhao Hu up. "Do you know that the child in your wife's womb is a stillborn fetus? It may even be some evil, monstrous aberration."

Zhao Hu's eyes flew wide. "Impossible. Just now, I heard movement from the child in my wife's belly. I even faintly heard it calling me Father..."

Xie An sighed deeply. "Zhao Hu, I have not deceived you. Uncle Shui is already on his way. If you do not believe me, I will have Uncle Shui examine the child in your wife's womb when he arrives. Uncle Shui is a Dark Force expert and can sense the qi of the living. Surely you will believe him."

Zhao Hu looked as though he had been struck by lightning.

His wife had finally conceived after so much difficulty and was about to give birth, yet Xie An was telling him that the child was a monster... How could Zhao Hu possibly accept that?

But Zhao Hu was not stupid.

He knew that what had happened to him was deeply strange.

He did not completely reject Xie An's judgment.

"Then... then what should I do?"

Xie An said, "Do not panic. Let Uncle Shui take a look when he arrives. If I judged wrongly, then all will be well. But if Uncle Shui finds that it truly is a monstrous fetus..."

Zhao Hu dropped to his knees, tears in his eyes. "Young Master..."

Xie An's heart stirred, and he added, "I will have Uncle Shui exhaust every effort to see whether the monster can be cured. What do you think?"

Thump!

Zhao Hu knocked his head against the ground. "Thank you for your great kindness, Young Master!"

Seeing that Zhao Hu had calmed down considerably, Xie An helped him up again. "Master and servant though we may be, I will certainly help where I can. Get up and speak. Tell me the details of how you died."

That was Xie An's true purpose in coming today.

Only then did Zhao Hu rise. Wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes, he recounted everything in full detail. "Actually, for the first two days after I left Li Family Village with Young Master, nothing seemed unusual. Then one day, I had a dream. The dream replayed what we experienced in Li Family Village. I dreamed that the Grain-Collecting Ghost shouted outside Li Degui's door, demanding taxes, and then it ended. Nothing was out of the ordinary. But two days later, I had another dream..."

As he said this, Zhao Hu's body visibly stiffened. "This dream was different. It connected seamlessly to the last one. The grain collector opened the door, and the yellow Dragon King's Blessing lantern above the gatehouse was gone. The grain collector walked straight inside and asked whether I had paid my Grave Tax.

"I knew the taboo that one must not answer a ghost's questions, so I said nothing. But that tax official still rushed over, opened a bloody maw, and exposed two rows of dense fangs before pouncing on me. It tore open my chest cavity and gnawed my five viscera and six bowels clean."

At those words, Xie An felt his scalp go numb as a bone-piercing chill swept through his entire body.

Because Zhao Hu's two dreams were exactly identical to his own two dreams...

There could not possibly be such a coincidence in this world.

Gulp.

Xie An swallowed. "What happened afterward?"

Tears poured down Zhao Hu's face. "Afterward, I woke up and found myself still lying at home. I thought it was merely an ordinary nightmare. But I soon realized... something was wrong with my body. I lifted my clothes and looked..."

With that, Zhao Hu tore open his shirt.

He revealed the chest cavity that had been dug open, the organs within entirely hollowed out...