Late in the night, several trusted servants of the Ning Household carried lamps as they followed the youth strolling leisurely ahead.
"Hmm... let me see. This way..."
Ao Ding walked through the mountains as though on level ground, finding his way at will, while the others clicked their tongues in wonder.
Before long, Ao Ding found a large pit piled with dead leaves.
"Here it is. Go ahead and dig-the poor thing was a spiritual being that had attained the Dao, yet because it could not quell its springtime desire, it suffered this calamity that destroyed its cultivation."
The others stepped forward cautiously and parted the dead leaves with their herb hoes, revealing a three-foot polygonatum plant with withered yellow stems and leaves.
Ning Zhi's elder brother reached down to feel it. Its roots had long since rotted through, giving off waves of foul odor like a woman's intimate fluids.
Father Ning turned deathly pale and pointed at the polygonatum on the ground. "This-this is Huang Lang? He's dead?"
"Indeed. This was your son-in-law. He was a spirit who had attained the Dao, too. What a pity, what a shame... ah! Now he has rotted into putrid liquid and returned to the earth."
Ao Ding was deeply moved.
Although Sun Chen had prepared so many stories of humans and spirits, Ao Ding had no particular opinions on the matter.
If they had no children and did nothing that defied Heaven, why meddle in their lives behind closed doors?
But if their antics caused trouble, that would not do.
Ao Ding had originally thought that if this truly was an immortal spirit who had attained the Dao, he might as well act as matchmaker and then find a way for the two to prevent conception.
But from the look of things now, Huang Lang really had been unable to control himself and had drained every last drop of his vital essence. Presumably, he had reverted to his original form upon returning that night and perished completely?
Hmm... perhaps this was a trial of love, too? He failed to overcome it, and this was the result?
At that thought, Ao Ding took it as a warning.
"From what I can see, this polygonatum had some cultivation, but after suffering this calamity, he has no medicinal properties left. Will you bury him, take him home as medicinal material, or perhaps bring him back for Ning Zhi to see?"
"Bury him, bury him-bury him here." Father Ning's face seemed to age, and even his steps grew unsteady.
Ning Zhi's brother was puzzled, finding his elderly father's reaction very strange.
Why was Father reacting like this to Huang Lang's misfortune? Had he actually intended to let Huang Lang marry my sister if he were still alive?
Seeing his son's confusion, Father Ning sighed. "Do you remember me telling you there were immortal spirits on Phoenix Mountain? Several times when I lost my way gathering herbs there as a child, I only made it safely down the mountain because an immortal boy in yellow showed me the way."
Something stirred in Ao Ding's heart, and he looked at Father Ning.
Father Ning said bitterly, "Judging by the location, it was probably somewhere around here."
His childhood playmate had actually become his daughter's lover?
And now he was dead?
Ning Zhi's brother recalled that his father had indeed mentioned such events from his past.
But-
Seeing his father's grief, he felt a bitter tangle of emotions.
How had one spirit become entangled with two generations of my family?
Unable to withstand his father's urging, Ning Zhi's brother joined the servants in filling in the pit of dead leaves. Father Ning personally built a grave for the polygonatum, and then they all went down the mountain.
Once home, they told Ning Zhi what had happened. The girl remained silent for a long time before letting out a long, quiet sigh. "Father told us stories of his childhood. Later, once when I went up the mountain, I happened upon a crow pecking at a plant. The plant looked very lively, waving its branches and leaves in the wind to fight back. Remembering Father's story, I picked up a stone and drove the crow away. Then I saw the plant was injured, its branches and leaves broken, so I used the red cord for tying ginseng to bind the broken branches back together. But the next time I went up the mountain, I couldn't find it."
The Ning Household looked at one another in silence, each sighing with emotion.
"Tying a red cord, sealing a marriage-Sister, this really was... ah!" Her brother had nothing more to say.
So his sister had been the one to invite this marriage in the first place?
Seeing Ning Zhi's unhappiness, no one felt it appropriate to say more.
Since it was late, the Ning Household offered to have Ao Ding stay and rest for a day.
Lying on the wooden bed in the guest room, Ao Ding mulled it over repeatedly, then suddenly rose, drew out his spirit staff, and tapped it gently.
His entire body turned into a streak of light and flew silently toward Phoenix Mountain.
Finding a spirit acupoint in the mountains, Ao Ding placed the jade bracelet Green-Eyed Ghost had given him in its center and recited an incantation.
Before long, strands of yin energy surged forth, weaving together into a Ghost Gate.
"You wanted me?" A cheerful voice came from the other side. Clearly, Green-Eyed Ghost was in a good mood today.
Ao Ding told him everything that had happened that day, including the matter of the water ghost.
After hearing him out, Green-Eyed Ghost also found this romance between a human and a spirit rather novel. But his thoughts soon turned to the water ghost.
"How would you like me to help?"
"I was thinking that the spirit was a spirit medicine on the verge of attaining the Dao, and his spiritual soul had already formed. Even if he died in his tribulation, his soul should have entered the underworld, shouldn't it? Could you look into it? Let him come out and explain everything plainly to Miss Ning?"
"I'll give it a try."
Green-Eyed Ghost closed the connection and looked at the eight hundred ghosts and monsters in the Mountain Villa.
"Everyone, stop for a moment. Come north with me. We're going to find someone."
Green-Eyed Ghost swept up a yin wind, and the host of ghosts and monsters surged north in a mighty procession.
That night, a cold wind blew through Ninghe Town.
In her bedchamber, Ning Zhi tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
Whenever she lay on her pearwood bed, she seemed to smell the fragrance of plants on Huang Lang's body and recalled how the two of them had once been here...
But whenever she thought of the "truth" Ao Ding had uncovered, she could not help hiding under the covers and weeping.
Suddenly, an eerie wind blew the window open from outside.
"Little Zhi, Little Zhi."
"Miss Ning!"
Two faint, ethereal voices rang out in succession, and Ning Zhi looked up.
Two masses of yin energy floated beside her bed, their heads and figures dimly visible within.
"Ah!" Ning Zhi screamed in fright.
But when she looked closely, they were the water ghost she had met during the day and the Huang Lang she had longed for day and night.
"Huang Lang, you-you weren't..."
"I died in my tribulation, and my spiritual soul fell into the Nine Netherworlds, becoming a spirit herb on the banks of the Underworld River. Today, a ghost rescued me, allowing me to return to the mortal world to bid you farewell."
The water ghost chuckled. "During my time as a water ghost, I never harmed any living beings and spared passersby on the bank many times. When I went down to the underworld today, a Northern Yin Ghost King favored me and appointed me Underworld River Water-Dividing Official. I was on my way to take up my post at the Underworld River when I happened to meet a powerful ghost looking for your Huang Lang. After we talked, I learned that this powerful ghost was a helper invited by that young fellow from earlier today. His Excellency Green-Eyed Ghost pleaded with the Ghost King on our behalf, and the Ghost King allowed us to return to the world of the living for two hours tonight so the two of you could say goodbye."
Learning of Ao Ding's efforts behind the scenes, Ning Zhi was deeply touched.
The water ghost tactfully went outside to keep watch, leaving the human and ghost to pour out their hearts to each other.
Of course, he was terribly curious about gossip like this.
Green-Eyed Ghost in the underworld had also instructed him to listen carefully so he could report back.
"Huang Lang, do you truly love me?"
"At first, I thought you were declaring your love for me and wanted to take human form to turn you down. I never expected my own heart to be moved instead, so I went along with the current... Only later did I learn that tying a red cord around me hadn't been a declaration of love."
The Polygonatum Immortal was innocent by nature. What did he know of love?
When Ning Zhi saved him that day, he had merely taken it as the good fruit of having guided Father Ning long ago. But the other spirits on Phoenix Mountain teased him every day, saying that tying the red thread meant a marriage ordained by Heaven, and that a romance was destined between them.
The Polygonatum Immortal had intended to take human form and explain things clearly to Ning Zhi, only to fall into his springtime tribulation and become entangled himself. A little over a year later, he was the one whose vital essence had been exhausted, his soul falling into the underworld.
Hearing this, the water ghost shook his head repeatedly. "Egged on by others? That's a tribulation too."
But before long, he heard faint sounds of sensual pleasure drifting from inside.
The water ghost covered his face. "You youngsters-even now that human and ghost walk different paths, can't you show a little restraint?"
The two hours passed in a flash. When the Polygonatum Immortal came out, the water ghost grabbed him, and the two rode the yin wind back to the underworld.
Before long, Ao Ding, seated before the Ghost Gate, received Green-Eyed Ghost's report.
"Thank you."
"No trouble-I got to enjoy a bit of entertainment too... but what about their future?"
"That will depend on them. A human and a ghost are somewhat easier to accept than a human and a spirit. If their affection runs deep, they can reunite after Ning Zhi dies."
"Then you must explain to Ning Zhi first that if she seeks death by suicide, Northern Yin won't stand idly by. The Ghost King of the Land of Wrongful Death most detests lovers who kill themselves for love. If that happens, never mind a reunion-they may have to suffer separation even in the underworld."
Ao Ding agreed with a smile.
After the Ghost Gate closed, the sky began to brighten, and Ao Ding rose and returned to the Ning Household.
By then, Ning Zhi had also washed and dressed, and came out to attend dutifully to her parents and thank Ao Ding.
Seeing her bright and spirited, without a trace of sorrow, Ao Ding hastened to relay Green-Eyed Ghost's warning.
"Thank you for your warning, Immortal."
Then Ning Zhi knelt down and pleaded, "Huang Lang told me that I have several centuries' worth of his spirit-medicine essence within me and possess an affinity for cultivation. Please trouble yourself to guide me, Immortal Master. How should I cultivate from now on?"
Looking at Ning Zhi, Ao Ding understood something of her intent.
Love between a human and a ghost could hardly compare with that between an immortal and a ghost. If Ning Zhi succeeded in cultivation, what harm was there in breaking through the boundary between yin and yang?
After some thought, he took out a copy of the Hundred Herbs Calamity-Transcending Scripture. It was a Jade Casket Spirit Compendium that drew on the finest essences of a hundred herbs to cultivate a medicine king inner elixir. It was most suitable for Ning Zhi in her present state.
"You must not casually pass this scripture on to outsiders, though sharing it with your family is permissible. Although they lack an affinity for immortality, it can still strengthen their bodies."
After giving his instructions, Ao Ding carefully taught her the method of cultivation.
The Ning Household practiced medicine to begin with and understood the human body and medical principles thoroughly, so Ning Zhi soon grasped the basics.
Over the following days, Ning Zhi returned completely to normal and began treating the townsfolk.
By now, however, the people of Ninghe Town firmly believed the rumor that Ning Zhi and her lover had privately pledged themselves to each other, only to be torn apart like a pair of mandarin ducks under the cudgel, and that her child had been given away.
That they said the child had been given away rather than drowned by the Ning Household owed much to this medical family's century-long unblemished reputation. Many patients refused to believe that the ordinarily kindhearted Father Ning could harm an infant.
So the child must have been given away, surely?
Watching Ning Zhi, whose complexion had returned to normal as she continued treating everyone, those patients silently prayed that she would reunite with her child someday.
Some townsfolk who were traveling away even volunteered their promise that if they found her child, they would bring the child back to reunite with her.
Thinking of the lump of matter buried in the woods, then looking at the sincere gazes of the townsfolk before her, Ning Zhi forced a smile and thanked them one by one for their kindness, while feeling utterly helpless.
She seemed to be starting to understand what her father and brother had experienced when their neighbors misunderstood them.
Seeing everything settle onto the right course, Ao Ding took his leave of the Ning Household.
As he was leaving, Ning Zhi presented him with a scroll of incantations.
"Immortal Master, Huang Lang entrusted this to me to give to you."
"He said I could present this spell to you once you had taught me immortal arts."
Ao Ding took it and looked it over. It was a "Life-Preserving, Illness-Dispelling, Calamity-Resolving Spell."
Using true qi as a guide and reciting the spell a hundred times would refine a strand of "calamity-resolving spell power," which could dispel all manner of malign influences and ailments, restoring health to the Dao body.
Ao Ding accepted it with a smile, and another wisp of fortune silently churned above his head.
"Everyone, no need to see me any farther!" Cloudlight stirred beneath Ao Ding's feet, and he vanished in the blink of an eye.
Before you continue