A Netherworld Ghost Banquet

The Demon-Slaying Bureau commandants entered the rear residence. Seeing the Silver Corpse severed in two on the ground, they immediately stopped in their tracks.

"Who are you?"

The commandant at their head demanded sharply.

"Yan Chixiao, Demon-Expelling Commandant of Luo Capital. Brother Zhou is a clerk in the Ministry of Works."

Yan Chixiao displayed his badge, making a point of emphasizing Luo Capital.

A capital official outranked local officials by three grades, and the same held true in the Demon-Slaying Bureau. Only the most elite commandants were transferred to the Capital.

Clerks in the Ministry of Works held neither rank nor grade, yet they were even harder to cross than capital officials. Everyone knew the ministry was awash in lucrative perks; without ability or connections, no one could get in.

"Ji Gang, Demon-Subduing Commandant."

Ji Gang lifted his visor and cupped his hands. "Thank you both for your efforts. Leave the rest to us. Pang Lie, arrange lodgings and see that our two honored guests are well entertained."

"This way, my lords."

Pang Lie was an older Demon-Slaying Commandant, with strength in the lower third grade.

Within the Demon-Slaying Bureau's promotion system, aside from immortal masters serving short-term "tours of duty," those in the lower third grade were designated Slaying, those in the middle third grade Subduing, and those in the upper third grade Exterminating.

In the Demon-Slaying Bureau, where martial strength mattered most, promotion came far faster than among the court's civil officials. They belonged to separate systems, however, and these ranks were more akin to honorary offices without actual authority.

Administrative posts such as commander and command director were established separately to handle management.

Yan Chixiao declined. "There's no need. I still have to go to Mi River Commandery. I heard fish demons are wreaking havoc there."

"I took leave to visit my family back home, so I won't be staying long either."

Zhou Yi did not want to be an eyesore. After all, this was their territory.

Ji Gang visibly relaxed at their words. He personally escorted them out through the Cui residence's gates and watched them mount their horses.

Zhou Family Village lay over a hundred li north of Hengyang County, while Mi River Commandery lay northwest of Guning Commandery. For the time being, Zhou Yi and Yan Chixiao shared the same road.

Once they had ridden a dozen zhang away, Ji Gang saw Yan Chixiao rein in his horse, turn back, and call out a question.

"Lord Ji, I wanted to ask-how did you arrive so quickly?"

"Oh? Lord Yan, you've enjoyed peace in the Capital so long that you don't know the situation out here. In recent years, demons have been causing trouble more and more often."

Ji Gang wore a resolute expression. "Hengyang has suffered several attacks by corpse ghosts in succession. The commandery governor supplied a large quantity of spirit stones so we could keep the Demon-Observing Disc running at all times..."

"I see. Thank you for your efforts, Commandant Ji."

"It's all for the people!"

"Farewell."

Yan Chixiao shook his reins and caught up with Zhou Yi ahead.

They traveled together until the official road forked ten li outside Hengyang, where their paths diverged.

Zhou Yi cupped his hands in farewell. "We part for now. Let's meet again once we're back in the Capital."

"Certainly! Certainly!"

Yan Chixiao had experienced many partings, in life and in death. After returning the salute, he urged his horse northwest.

Zhou Yi suddenly asked, "Before we part, there's something I don't understand. There's clearly something wrong with Hengyang's Demon-Slaying Bureau. Why won't you look into it, Brother Yan?"

"As long as they're subduing demons and banishing fiends, why concern ourselves with so much else?"

Yan Chixiao never looked back. His figure gradually receded, and his voice grew distant before fading away. "Sometimes, the hardest thing is knowing how to play the fool..."

Zhou Yi sighed. The chestnut horse understood his intent and headed northeast.

Zhou Family Village.

Also known as Zhou Family Town, it lay amid the mountains in northern Hengyang.

The village held four or five hundred households, seventy to eighty percent of them surnamed Zhou.

Following the route in his memories, Zhou Yi rounded three hills and spotted cooking smoke rising in the distance.

The mountains stretched like a sea, the sunset red as blood.

Zhou Yi felt none of the apprehension that grew stronger as one approached home. His chestnut horse stopped at the village entrance.

Several children were playing, chasing one another around a tree, their laughter clear and sweet.

One of the older children spotted Zhou Yi and came over to ask, "Who are you? Where did you come from?"

Zhou Yi answered with a smile, "My surname is Zhou. I came from the Capital. My home is... beside the old locust tree at the eastern end of the village."

A little girl nearby, her hair tied in a ponytail, brightened. "Fifth Uncle's house?"

"Yes, yes. I'm Zhou Xinfu's second son, Zhou Wenyi."

Zhou Yi's full name was Zhou Wenyi. The Zhou genealogy assigned generation names in the sequence of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, faith, gentleness, kindness, respect, frugality, and humility. The clan had put down roots in Zhou Family Village four or five generations ago.

"Fifth Uncle's at Ninth Grandpa's house. Second Sister's coming home for her wedding visit today."

The little girl was innocent and guileless. She believed whatever Zhou Yi told her.

"Ninth Grandpa, Second Sister..."

Zhou Yi sank into thought. Unless his predecessor's memories had become jumbled and fragmented, Ninth Grandpa had already been seventy when he ran away from home-a village elder who had the final say in its affairs.

Second Sister belonged to the same generation as Zhou Yi and was around his age. They had often played together as children.

When he heard she was engaged, he had even hidden beneath his quilt and secretly wiped away tears. Looking back now, he could only sigh that youthful feelings were always poetry.

Twelve years had passed. Why was Second Sister only now making her wedding visit home...?

Magical light flashed through Zhou Yi's eyes as he looked at Zhou Family Village with the Spirit Eye Technique.

The peaceful scene of curling cooking smoke vanished, leaving only ruined walls and rubble. Dense yin energy and killing intent gathered into black clouds overhead.

When the wind blew, they shifted into the shapes of all manner of demons and ghosts.

Looking down at the children by the village entrance, he saw only drifting spirits. The little girl smiling at him had a face covered in bloody marks and a fist-sized hole torn through her abdomen.

The other children were either thin as kindling, their heads severed from their bodies, or pierced through by weapons. Each had died a different death...

Zhou Yi withdrew the Spirit Eye Technique, and everything returned to its peaceful appearance. A drop of lunar essence appeared in his palm. He shaped it into a piece of rock candy and offered it to the little girl.

"Could you take me to Ninth Grandpa's house?"

"Yes, yes, yes."

The little girl grabbed the candy and hurriedly popped it into her mouth.

The lunar essence melted on contact. Pure taiyin spiritual energy flowed into her ghostly body, and her wound slowly healed.

"Heeheehee, it's so sweet-"

The little girl could not help laughing with delight.

Leading his chestnut horse, Zhou Yi followed her into the village, encountering many villagers along the way.

"Sixth Auntie."

"Uncle Hui."

"Brother Jun."

"..."

The little girl called out everyone's name without a mistake. Most people in the village were related to one another.

Zhou Yi's brocade robe stood out sharply in Zhou Family Village, and someone asked where he had come from.

"He's Brother Yi from Fifth Uncle's family."

The little girl always answered first, as though she had learned a little secret and could not resist sharing it.

"Old Fifth's second boy? When the famine struck a couple of years ago, didn't I hear you went south?"

"With the little rice and flour we had at home then, someone really could have starved to death. Going out to try my luck meant one less mouth to feed."

Zhou Yi answered the old man's question with a smile.

"You've got guts, boy. You deserve to strike it rich!"

Fourth Grandpa squatted at the foot of a wall and took a hard pull on his pipe. "You've just aged a little too fast. How did all your hair turn white when you're still so young?"

Zhou Yi laughed it off, unsure how to answer.

Ninth Grandpa's house stood in the center of Zhou Family Village, right beside the ancestral hall. The lively clamor could be heard from afar.

A crowd had gathered outside the courtyard, spinning tales about anything under the sun. Seeing someone arrive, they came forward to greet him and bowed as they ushered him inside.

As they drew close, the little girl called out happily and ran over to speak to a middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man went into the courtyard and shouted, "Old Fifth! Old Fifth! What are you still fussing over? Your second boy's back!"

Leading his horse, Zhou Yi stopped three or four zhang from the courtyard gate. He hesitated, unable to advance or retreat.

"My second boy! My second boy's back!"

Mother Zhou came out first, still holding a ladle. The moment she saw Zhou Yi, she burst into tears and rushed toward him.

Father Zhou struggled to maintain his fatherly dignity, but his legs wobbled as he walked, and he had no idea what to do with his hands.

In the end, he patted Zhou Yi hard on the shoulder. "All right, all right. It's good that you're back. What's there to cry about?"

His elder brother and younger brother came out next, their eyes red.

What filled Zhou Yi with joy and happiness, yet also anger and sorrow, was that his elder brother had married. His sister-in-law was also surnamed Zhou, and her swollen belly suggested she was at least four or five months pregnant.

Father Zhou led Zhou Yi around to greet everyone, afraid that two years away might have made him forget his roots.

Zhou Yi greeted each person in turn without getting a single generational relationship wrong, making Father Zhou feel immensely proud.

After all, this was the day of Second Sister's wedding visit home. Once the excitement subsided, everyone returned to preparing the feast, setting out a full eight tables.

As the sun sank in the west, torches were lit in the courtyard, and the homecoming banquet officially began.

There had originally been no seat for Zhou Yi, but a wanderer returning home always received a few special favors. He was seated at a table with his uncles' generation.

Over the meal, the inevitable questions came: how was he doing out there, had he married, could he use his connections to find opportunities elsewhere for the village boys...?

Zhou Yi agreed to each request. Once the wine entered his stomach, he wrapped it in magical power and spat it out whenever he had a chance to turn away.

The younger generation had no right to a seat at the feast. The honest ones worked, carrying plates and dishes, while the clever ones roamed about, calling everyone uncle and offering toasts.

The little girl brought several playmates over to Zhou Yi to beg for candy.

Zhou Yi shaped his accumulated lunar essence into all sorts of sweets from his previous life and handed them all out, drawing a chorus of delighted wonder.

The banquet seethed with noise. Wine cups and tally sticks crossed amid a scene of lively revelry...