Unwilling (Seeking Collection)

Madam Fang and the two little ghosts floated to a step away from Blade Sword Double Kill and stopped. It was probably because people with strong Qi and Blood would be harmful to them, these yin ghosts. The three ghosts stopped moving. After a moment, Shi Xuan could feel some faint flowing gas drifting from Blade Sword Double Kill towards them, and then their soul forms became a little clearer to Shi Xuan's senses.

Although Shi Xuan appeared not to care, he was actually paying close attention to Madam Fang and her two children's actions of absorbing yang energy. He hoped to judge from the subtle details of their actions whether they truly did not harm people. While the outside rumors and Madam Fang's own account indicated this, Shi Xuan was not a child and never blindly followed or believed others. Therefore, he prepared to observe independently before combining the rumors and her account to make a judgment. This was unlike his previous life, where blind following and belief often resulted in no loss, sometimes financial loss, and only in extreme cases, a danger to life. In this world, dealing with ghosts and spirits, blind following and belief was akin to gambling with one's life most of the time.

In just a few breaths, Madam Fang and the two children stopped and floated back, looking satisfied. At this moment, combining the absence of Sha Qi and the smell of blood food on them earlier, along with the rumors and her account, Shi Xuan could basically confirm that they had indeed only reached the stage of absorbing a small amount of yang energy and were harmless to people.

Madam Fang gestured to the two children, bowed gracefully, and paid her respects to Shi Xuan. The two children behind her clumsily imitated their mother and also paid their respects to Shi Xuan.

Seeing Delin bow to him in a manner befitting a woman, Shi Xuan's lips twitched involuntarily. Shi Xuan said to Madam Fang, "Alright, those two have also atoned for their past. Now, can you tell me why you've been lingering here?"

Madam Fang used illusion to conjure a chair and sat down as if it were natural. She recalled and said, "Years ago, during the fire, my husband had gone out on a business trip and hadn't returned. The household staff was insufficient. My kitchen in Red Maple Garden, where Delin, Hanling, and I were, caught fire late at night. It was dry and windy, and the fire spread quickly. When I woke up, the surroundings were already engulfed in flames. That night, Delin and Hanling were sleeping with me. The head maidservant and I each held one child, trying to rush out, when a main beam collapsed, completely blocking us inside. I watched them choke awake from the smoke, watched them try to call out 'Mama' but couldn't. Although the fire burning my body was incredibly painful, my heart ached even more. I was so unwilling. My two children were only three years old."

This kind of pain was truly unimaginable. Shi Xuan did not interrupt, raising his hand to signal Madam Fang to continue.

After a pause, Madam Fang calmed her emotions slightly and continued, "The next time I had sensation, I found myself in the small well in the courtyard. Delin and Hanling were also beside me. Seeing me wake up, they cried and complained about how uncomfortable they had been just now. We wanted to go out but found ourselves instinctively fearing the sunlight. That's when I realized that my children and I had become ghosts."

"After coming out at midnight, I discovered that the entire mansion was filled with the ghosts of many maids and servants. But as the days passed, I noticed that the ghosts of those maids and servants began to forget, and terrifyingly, Delin and Hanling did too. I was lost and helpless. Suddenly, I instinctively understood many rules of heaven and earth. After seven days, ghosts would slowly lose their memories, and even their own existence would begin to fade after ten days."

"Mm, I've read about this in Daoist texts as well," Shi Xuan nodded affirmatively.

"But I am unwilling! I haven't had a chance to look at my husband again, and Delin and Hanling haven't had a chance to call out 'Dad' again. These are all secondary. Although I am unwilling, I also understand that humans and ghosts belong to different paths. But what I am most unwilling about is that Delin and Hanling were only three years old. They haven't experienced anything, tasted anything, haven't read books, haven't written calligraphy, haven't embroidered flowers, haven't drawn red lines, haven't caught birds, haven't picked flowers, haven't played around everywhere, haven't had tea, haven't tasted various delicacies, haven't made friends, haven't passed the Jinshi exam, haven't paraded on horseback, haven't experienced the bridal chamber with a red veil and candlelight, and haven't had children to enjoy the joys of family..." By the end, Madam Fang was muttering to herself, overcome with grief, her voice barely audible.

Shi Xuan remained silent. Even while maintaining his controlled thoughts and a clear mind, his heart felt a pang of pity.

Madam Fang paused for a long time this time, until the siblings Delin and Hanling behind her curiously poked their heads forward to see what was wrong with their mother. Only then did Madam Fang snap back to reality.

"As this feeling of unwillingness grew stronger, I could feel my form stabilizing, and even Delin and Hanling in my arms stopped dissipating. As days passed, I could instinctively absorb yin energy. However, Delin and Hanling's souls were inherently weak. Although their dissipation stopped, they lost many memories, and their absorption of yin energy was very slow. More than ten years have passed. I often taught them in my spare time, but Delin and Hanling, as Daoist Priest Shi, you've seen them, they are still like three or four-year-old children. Mm, in the beginning, they couldn't even move more than a zhang away from me," Madam Fang said with a mix of joy and sorrow in her tone.

"Later, someone built a new house here. Based on the principle that humans and ghosts belong to different paths, and not wanting people to disturb us, I intended to scare them away. Heh, at first, those who built the house came during the day and left at night, with only gatekeepers staying behind to prevent theft. I was trapped in this Place of Yin Energy and dared not come out during the day, nor could I leave far at night, essentially unable to go to the front yard, so I never found an opportunity to scare anyone. It wasn't until the house was built and people moved in that I started coming out at midnight to scare them. That family later invited many monks and Daoists to catch ghosts, heh, but they were all charlatans, none of them possessing Magical Power like you, Daoist Priest Shi. I easily scared them away. However, from those monks and Daoists, I learned that my husband died of anger due to the family's tragic news, and the household servants who followed him dispersed after dividing the money. No wonder no one came to offer sacrifices to us."

"Mm, so when did you start absorbing yang energy?" Shi Xuan asked a question he was more concerned about.

"As my cultivation deepened through absorbing yin energy, a year after that family moved away, I began to feel hungry and wanted to eat something, but I didn't know what to eat. Once, a vagrant, drunk, entered here. I was so hungry and dizzy that I don't know how I started absorbing yang energy. Three years ago, Delin and Hanling also started feeling hungry. However, one absorption can generally sustain us for several months. It's just that very few people come here in a year, heh. If I had known, I wouldn't have scared away that family back then," Madam Fang said, covering her mouth and laughing.

Shi Xuan thought this ghost had a sense of humor and replied, "This feeling of hunger is actually the consequence of pure yin energy cultivation. The deeper the cultivation, the more you need things containing yang energy to neutralize it. Human yang energy is the gentlest and least harmful to yin souls. Once cultivation reaches a certain level, you even need to consume blood food to sustain yourself."

Madam Fang asked doubtfully, "Is blood food similar to the pig heads and sheep heads used in sacrifices?"

"Mm, because ghosts receiving sacrifices mainly rely on the Prayer Power from sacrifices to sustain themselves, blood food at most involves livestock, and it's often only available during the annual grand sacrifice. For your current situation, if your cultivation reaches the point where you need blood food, in the initial stages, you can still use livestock. As your cultivation progresses further, you will only be able to use humans or demonic beasts," Shi Xuan replied seriously.

Madam Fang fell silent for a long time. The two young siblings behind her, bored, started making faces at Shi Xuan, sometimes showing only their eyes, sometimes only their mouths, sometimes turning into green-faced fanged demons, and sometimes transforming into Shi Xuan's likeness.

"Daoist Priest, is there no, is there no other way?" Madam Fang looked at Shi Xuan with teary eyes.

Shi Xuan sighed and said, "It is the way of heaven and earth. Unless you can rapidly advance to the Qi Induction Stage and absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to neutralize yin energy, and you must practice a method that does not rely on devouring human blood, flesh, and souls to increase cultivation. Unfortunately, even if there were a true transmission, I don't think you could break through to the Qi Induction Stage within half a year to a year after entering the cultivation realm where you must eat humans or demonic beasts."

Madam Fang remained silent. After a moment, she stood up and said hysterically, "Then what about other things? Borrowing a corpse to house a soul? Soul reincarnation? Even if Delin and Hanling don't recognize me in the future, as long as they have a chance to start over!" The siblings, hearing their mother mention their names, quickly stopped making faces.

Sigh, you've read too many storybooks and plays. There's no such thing as soul reincarnation in this Great Fang world. Although I came here by borrowing a corpse to house a soul, my cultivation is still far from helping your children do the same. Although Shi Xuan didn't want to shatter Madam Fang's hope, he still said, "Unfortunately, my cultivation is shallow, and I cannot assist Madam Fang."

Madam Fang slumped back down, but after a moment, she lowered her head, her gaze fixed on the ground, and said with firm resolve, "When the time comes, I'll just trick Delin and Hanling into thinking it's pork and lamb." The siblings, hearing their mother mention their names again, looked at Madam Fang with confusion. After speaking, Madam Fang slowly raised her head, met Shi Xuan's gaze, and said word by word, "Daoist Priest, are you here to eliminate harm for the people and destroy me, this evil ghost?"