Madam Fang and the two little children drifted to within a step of Blade Sword Double Kill before stopping. Perhaps people with vigorous Qi and Blood could harm Yin ghosts like them. The three ghosts remained still. After a moment, Shi Xuan sensed faint streams of air drifting from Blade Sword Double Kill toward them, and their soul bodies became somewhat clearer to his senses.
Shi Xuan seemed unconcerned, but he had been closely watching Madam Fang and her two children absorb Yang Energy. He hoped to judge from the subtleties of their actions whether they truly did not harm human lives. Though both the rumors outside and Madam Fang's own account pointed to that conclusion, Shi Xuan was no child. He had never blindly followed or believed others, so he intended to observe for himself before weighing the rumors and her testimony. This was unlike his previous life: blind faith usually caused no loss, occasionally cost some money, and only in extreme cases endangered one's life. But in this world, when dealing with ghosts and monsters, blindly following others meant gambling with one's life most of the time.
After only a few breaths, Madam Fang and the two children stopped and drifted back, their faces full of satisfaction. Combining this with the absence of Killing Intent and the scent of Blood Food from them, along with the rumors and her account, Shi Xuan could now basically confirm that they had indeed only been absorbing small amounts of Yang Energy and posed no harm to people.
Madam Fang gestured to the two children, then gracefully bowed to Shi Xuan. Behind her, the two children clumsily imitated their mother and bowed to him as well.
Seeing Delin use the manner of bowing reserved for women, Shi Xuan's mouth twitched. He said to Madam Fang, "All right. Those two can be considered to have atoned for their past sins. Now, can you tell me why you linger here and refuse to leave?"
Madam Fang used an Illusion Technique to conjure a chair, then sat upon it with convincing poise. After recalling the past, she said, "During that fire, my husband had gone out on business and had not returned. The estate was already short-handed. In the middle of the night, the small kitchen of Red Maple Garden, where Delin, Hanling, and I were, caught fire. The weather was dry and the tinder was ready; the flames spread over quickly. When I awoke, fire already filled the surroundings. Delin and Hanling had been sleeping with me that night. The senior maid and I each picked up one child and tried to rush out, but a great beam collapsed, sealing us completely inside. I watched the two of them wake, choking on smoke. I watched them try to call for mother, yet unable to make a sound. The flames burning my body hurt beyond measure, but the pain in my heart was even worse. I was so unwilling! My two children were only three years old!"
Such suffering was indeed unimaginable. Shi Xuan did not interrupt, merely raising a hand to signal Madam Fang to continue.
After pausing for a while, Madam Fang steadied her emotions before continuing. "When I became aware again, I found myself in the small well in the courtyard. Delin and Hanling were beside me as well. When they saw me awaken, they cried about how awful it had been. We wanted to leave, but we instinctively feared sunlight. Only then did I understand that my two children and I had become ghosts."
"After coming out at midnight, I found many maidservants' and servants' ghosts wandering throughout the entire residence. But as the days passed, I discovered that the ghosts of those maidservants and servants had begun to grow forgetful. Worse still, so had Delin and Hanling. I was at a complete loss, when all at once, I instinctively understood many rules of heaven and earth. After seven days, ghosts slowly began to lose their memories. After ten days, even their very existence would begin to slowly dissipate."
"Yes, I have read of that in Daoist books as well." Shi Xuan nodded in confirmation.
"But I was unwilling! I had not even had the chance to see my husband one last time. Delin and Hanling had not even had the chance to call Dad one more time. Those things were bearable. Though unwilling, I understood that the living and the dead walked different roads. But what I could not accept most was that Delin and Hanling were only three years old. They had experienced nothing, tasted nothing. They had not studied, written, embroidered flowers, applied rouge, caught birds, picked flowers, played about everywhere, drunk tea, tasted all kinds of delicacies, made friends, become Jinshi, ridden horseback through the streets, worn a great red bridal veil beneath wedding candles, or borne children and enjoyed the happiness of family..." By the end, Madam Fang was murmuring to herself, overcome by grief, her voice too faint to hear clearly.
Shi Xuan fell silent. Even while keeping his thoughts gathered and his spiritual platform clear, pity still stirred in his heart.
Madam Fang remained silent for a long time. Only when Delin and Hanling behind her curiously stretched their heads forward to see what had happened to their mother did Madam Fang come back to herself.
"As these unwilling thoughts grew ever stronger, I could feel my form beginning to stabilize. Even Delin and Hanling, whom I held in my arms, began to stop dissipating. As day after day passed, I eventually became able to instinctively absorb Yin Energy. But Delin and Hanling's souls had never been strong to begin with. Though they stopped dissipating, they lost many memories, and they absorbed Yin Energy quite slowly. More than ten years have passed. In my spare time, I often taught them, but as Daoist Priest Shi can see, Delin and Hanling are still only like children of three or four. At first, they could not even move more than ten feet away from me." Madam Fang's tone held both joy and sorrow.
"Later, someone built a new residence here. Since the living and the dead walked different roads, I did not want people disturbing us, so I planned to scare them away. Hehe, at first, those building the residence came during the day and left at night. Only someone remained on watch at the gatehouse, guarding against thieves. I was trapped in the Place of Yin Energy, did not dare come out during the day, and could not travel far at night. I basically had no way to reach the front courtyard, so I never found a chance to frighten anyone. Only after the residence was completed and people moved in did I begin coming out at midnight to scare them. That family later brought quite a few monks and Daoist priests to catch ghosts. Hehe, but they were all charlatans waving banners and swindling others. Not one possessed true magical power like you, Daoist Priest Shi. I frightened them off with ease. Yet from those monks and Daoist priests, I learned that my husband, upon hearing the terrible news from home, died in a fit of rage. The servants who had followed him divided up the money and possessions, then scattered like birds and beasts. No wonder no one came to offer us sacrifices."
"When did you begin absorbing Yang Energy?" Shi Xuan asked, raising a question he cared about more.
"As I cultivated by absorbing Yin Energy, my cultivation grew deeper. A year after that family moved away, I began to feel hungry, as though I wanted to eat something, yet I did not know what. Once, an idle fellow stumbled in here drunk. I was so hungry that my head spun, and somehow I began absorbing his Yang Energy. Three years ago, Delin and Hanling began to feel hungry as well. But one feeding can generally last several months. There are rarely even a few people who come here in a year. Hehe, had I known, I would not have frightened that family away back then." Madam Fang covered her mouth and laughed.
Shi Xuan thought that this ghost had quite a sense of humor. He said, "That hunger is actually the consequence of cultivating solely with Yin Energy. The deeper your cultivation becomes, the more you need things containing Yang Energy to balance it. Human Yang Energy is the gentlest and least harmful to Yin souls. Once cultivation reaches a certain level, one must even begin consuming Blood Food to maintain it."
Madam Fang asked in confusion, "Is Blood Food like the pig heads and sheep heads used in sacrificial offerings?"
"Yes. Ghosts receiving sacrifices mainly rely on the power of wishes from those offerings to sustain themselves, so their Blood Food need only be livestock, and they usually receive it only during the great annual sacrifices. But ghosts like you, once you cultivate to the point where you must consume Blood Food, can initially still use livestock. Once your cultivation advances further, however, you can only use humans or demonic beasts." Shi Xuan answered solemnly.
Madam Fang fell silent for a long while. Behind her, the two little siblings boredly made ghost faces at Shi Xuan. One moment they became nothing but eyes, the next nothing but mouths; one moment they had blue faces and fangs, the next they became Shi Xuan.
"Daoist priest, is there... is there no other path?" Madam Fang looked at Shi Xuan with tears in her eyes.
Shi Xuan sighed. "It is the way of heaven and earth. Unless you can swiftly advance to the Qi Induction Stage, absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to balance the Yin Energy, and cultivate a method that does not rely on devouring human flesh, blood, and souls to improve cultivation. Unfortunately, even if there were a true transmission, I do not think that after reaching the cultivation realm where you must eat humans or demonic beasts, you could break through to the Qi Induction Stage within half a year to a year."
Madam Fang was silent. After a moment, she rose to her feet and said almost hysterically, "Then what about other ways? Returning a soul through a borrowed corpse? Reincarnation of the soul? Even if Delin and Hanling no longer recognize me in the future, it is enough so long as they have another chance to begin again!" Hearing their mother mention their names, the two siblings hurriedly stopped making faces.
Ah, you have read too many storybooks and watched too many operas. This vast world has no such thing as reincarnation of souls. Though I came by returning a soul through a borrowed corpse, my cultivation is still far too weak to help your children do the same. Though Shi Xuan could not bear to shatter Madam Fang's hopes, he still said, "Unfortunately, my cultivation is shallow, and I cannot lend Madam Fang a hand."
Madam Fang slumped back down, but before long, she lowered her head and stared at the ground. In a firm voice, she said, "When the time comes, we only need to tell Delin and Hanling that it is pork or mutton." Hearing their mother mention their names again, the two siblings looked at Madam Fang in great confusion. After speaking, Madam Fang slowly raised her head and met Shi Xuan's gaze, enunciating every word. "Daoist priest, have you come to rid the people of evil and destroy this wicked ghost, me?"
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