The river rushed swiftly, and the drums and music of the Thousand-Dragon Water Festival drifted faintly from afar. The young man bound with red cord jolted awake and saw a beauty standing before him.
Mist hung over the river, making the beauty before him seem half real and half hidden. Ji Chen squeezed his eyes shut, then forced himself to ask, “Villains tied me up beside the river. Miss, could you help untie me?”
The young woman smiled sweetly. “What do I get for untying you?”
Ji Chen hurriedly said, “My family has some modest wealth. I can give you a hundred taels of gold and silver.”
She shook her head. “I don’t lack gold or silver.”
Ji Chen said, “I passed the jinshi examination and serve at court as a Hanlin Attendant Reader. I have not yet married. I would be willing to welcome you into my residence as my wife.”
The woman raised an eyebrow. “I don’t lack men.”
Ji Chen choked for a moment. “Whatever you want, as long as it’s within my power, I’ll find it for you.”
“You said it yourself.” Smiling, she bent over him, one pale, slender finger lightly touching his lips. “If you want me to save you, I want ten years of your yang lifespan in this life and ten years of your yin lifespan in the next.”
Ji Chen was both frightened and alarmed. The woman’s face seemed almost illusory before his eyes. He hesitated. “I’m afraid that would be inappropriate.”
“Then stay tied up here. The riverbank is damp and cold. Your elder brother may have been dragged into the underworld, but that top scholar is a fortunate man protected by Kuixing. Every one of the people who followed him down there has an extraordinary background. They’ll surely be able to save him.” The woman gave a soft laugh. “He’ll probably learn very soon about all those things you did. Once good and evil are judged, forget ten years of yang lifespan. You may end up burdened with grave sins and unable to reincarnate at all.”
Ji Chen felt as though he had fallen into an ice cellar. His thoughts raced several times. When he saw her turn to leave, he hurriedly called out, “Please save my life, Miss! Even if I have to serve you like an ox or horse in my next life, I will definitely repay you!”
The woman turned back and smiled faintly. “I don’t need you to serve me like an ox or horse. I only want ten years of your yang lifespan in this life and ten years of your yin lifespan in the next.”
Ji Chen wavered.
“Young Master Ji, are you really willing to give up your present status and position and simply die like this?” Her breath was fragrant as orchids as she patiently coaxed him.
Ji Chen gritted his teeth. “Fine. I agree!”
The woman broke into a smile. She lifted a hand in an orchid-finger gesture and lightly pointed toward him. The red cords fell away onto the ground.
Freed, Ji Chen stopped her before she could leave. “Miss, since you’ve saved me, save me all the way through. With abilities like yours, you must have a way to send me down there too, so I can settle this dispute myself.”
She smiled. “You’re certainly bold. Since fate brought us together, I don’t mind helping you a little further.”
Ji Chen was delighted. “Many thanks, Miss.”
“Listen carefully. Each of the four people who followed Ji Luo down there has abilities of their own. If you confront them head-on, you have absolutely no chance of winning.” She turned her palm over, and a blood-red dagger appeared in it. “Do exactly as I tell you, and you may stand some chance of winning.”
Ji Chen stared fixedly at the dagger, his heart pounding. His gaze gradually grew entranced, and he reached for it without even realizing what he was doing. Gripping it tightly, he said, “Please tell me what to do.”
The woman smiled and beckoned. “Bring your ear closer.”
…
Ji Chen stood before the two towering doors with the dagger in hand, fear rising in his heart as the woman’s voice echoed beside his ear:
“When you enter the river, you’ll see an enormous ghost gate guarded by two white dragons. Don’t hurry through it. Walk a hundred steps east and you’ll faintly see two statues in the rock wall, one human and one fox.”
Ji Chen found east and counted out a hundred steps, stopping just before the rock wall. When he looked carefully, he really could make out the faint forms of a human and a fox carved into it.
“Use the dagger in your hand to stab the human statue in the dantian. There is a golden bead inside. Dig it out and replace it with this black bead I gave you. As for the fox statue, cut open its chest with the dagger. If there is a heart inside, take it out and bring it to me.”
The scarlet dagger in his hand seemed to catch the scent of something and began trembling wildly, nearly wrenching itself from his grasp.
Ji Chen swallowed nervously and tightened his grip on the dagger.
* * *
“We’ve already been down here for four hours.” Xiao Chunhe made a quick calculation with the compass in his hand while carefully avoiding the red spider lilies beneath his feet. “Will Little Ye and Liang Yun be able to hold out?”
Yue Jingming caught his arm and guided him around the flowers. “Those two will be fine. I’m more worried about you.”
“What about me?” Xiao Chunhe asked, puzzled.
“You were weak to begin with, you’ve been ill all this time, and you’re still afflicted by the demon-gu. Having your soul outside your body for too long will affect you more severely.”
“I’m fine. These flowers just smell too strong.” Xiao Chunhe wrinkled his nose. “Can’t you smell them?”
Yue Jingming shook his head. “What do they smell like?”
“Rotting corpses.” Xiao Chunhe sounded almost despairing. “I feel like I’m walking through a pile of rotting flesh.”
Yue Jingming refused to think too deeply about that. “If you’re uncomfortable, you can turn into the little fox.”
Xiao Chunhe’s face fell. “Forget it. At least in human form only two feet touch the ground. If I turn into a fox, all four paws will be on it. That’s even worse.”
Yue Jingming glanced at the front of his robe. “I can carry you.”
Xiao Chunhe cleared his throat. “Wouldn’t that be a little inappropriate?”
“It’s fine,” Yue Jingming said.
The suggestion tempted Xiao Chunhe enormously, but he still refused. “My power weakens when I turn into a fox, and changing back into human form takes time. I wouldn’t be able to protect you quickly enough.”
Yue Jingming’s steps paused. “Thank you.”
“Stop thanking me with your mouth all the time.” Xiao Chunhe tapped the corner of his own lips, his fox eyes full of sly amusement. “If you really want to thank me, a kiss would be much more practical.”
Yue Jingming smiled, reached up to smooth a stray lock of hair behind Xiao Chunhe’s ear, and leaned closer.
Xiao Chunhe’s brow shifted slightly. He instinctively licked his lips, only for Yue Jingming to straighten up and pluck the floating Yingshi Talisman from behind him. “The talisman lit up. Ji Luo is nearby.”
Xiao Chunhe narrowed his eyes in displeasure. “Yue Jingming.”
Yue Jingming said solemnly, “We are both living souls. We shouldn’t cross certain boundaries while we’re down here. If it causes some complication, it could become troublesome.”
“Tsk.” Xiao Chunhe prodded his chin with one finger. “Then kiss me after we go back up.”
Yue Jingming lowered his eyes. “Mm.”
Yue Jingming had left Xiao Chunhe’s heart itching, but Xiao Chunhe could only endure it and attend to business first. “We’re on someone else’s territory, after all. If we run into Lu Yu, don’t rush to attack him.”
Yue Jingming nodded. Following the Yingshi Talisman’s guidance, the two crossed the sea of red spider lilies and walked straight into a noisy, bustling market. Dense ghost qi struck them head-on, while cool corpse qi drifted through the air.
If he absolutely had to describe it, it smelled rather like a charity mortuary where corpses had been stored year-round.
Holding his fan over his nose, Xiao Chunhe carefully avoided the skulls hanging outside the shops and nudged Yue Jingming. “Those two up ahead?”
Yue Jingming raised a hand to refuse a spider ghost trying to sell him eyeballs. “That’s Ji Luo.”
Lu Yu, who had an arm around Ji Luo, suddenly turned his head. Yue Jingming and Xiao Chunhe immediately changed direction and ducked into a nearby stall.
“You two just came down here, didn’t you? Want to try some fresh, improved Meng Po Soup?” a little girl asked enthusiastically. “One cup lets you forget your sorrows without forgetting a thing. Two cups bring happiness and sweet dreams.”
Two hardworking kittens followed behind her, each holding a cup in its paws and staring expectantly at them with round eyes.
The little girl clasped her hands together. “Good sirs, please have mercy. We’re all working here to earn ingots. Once we save enough, we can go to the Dream Office and send dreams to our families.”
Xiao Chunhe stared in wonder. “They send dreams too?”
“Of course. The owners of these two little cats cry every night. They’re frantic about it, but they can’t do much work and can’t earn enough ingots.” The girl lowered her head and twisted the hem of her clothes. “My parents are the same. Mother has been ill recently. I want to visit her in a dream and tell her not to miss me anymore.”
Yue Jingming patted her head and took a small pouch of ingots from his sleeve, handing it to her.
The girl brightened. “Thank you, young master. You’ll definitely have a good rebirth.”
Xiao Chunhe crouched and divided some ingots into two portions, placing them in the little bibs on the kittens’ chests. “Fine. We count as distant relatives anyway. We all have fur.”
The two kittens meowed and rubbed against his calves.
Each of them now held a cup of what was supposedly Meng Po Soup, though it presumably was not the real thing. Xiao Chunhe lowered his head to sniff it and whispered, “Are they gone?”
“Mm.” Yue Jingming glanced at the extinguished talisman. “Lu Yu is too cautious.”
“Since he comes here, someone must know him,” Xiao Chunhe said.
A short while later, after hearing their questions, the little girl said, “The name Lu Yu doesn’t sound familiar, but from your description, I think you mean Lord Six.”
“Lord Six?”
“That’s right. He’s the leader of those stone-statue lords who were transferred here from the ghost gate under the river a few days ago. Those lords often come to the market to drink.” The girl continued, “Lord Six has only come a few times. He ranks sixth among the stone-statue lords, so everyone calls him Lord Six.”
“What sort of person is he?” Yue Jingming asked.
“Lord Six isn’t just powerful. He’s very kind too. He often helps little ghosts like us who don’t have much ability. Once I even saw him feeding little cat and dog ghosts beside the Wangchuan River,” the girl said. “He and the other stone-statue lords may have died horribly and become fierce ghosts, but they died protecting the common people. Everyone likes them.”
“Do you know where he lives?” Xiao Chunhe asked.
The little girl pointed toward a cluster of houses across the river. “Over there. Just cross Naihe Bridge. Two white stone dragons stand outside Lord Six’s gate. Feed them two red spider lilies and they’ll let a ghost inside. Lots of homeless cats, dogs, and little babies go live in his courtyard, and he never drives them away.”
After leaving the stall, Xiao Chunhe asked in confusion, “Did we find the wrong person? Lu Yu and this Lord Six don’t seem to have anything to do with each other.”
“Perhaps we’ve been biased against him.” Yue Jingming folded the Yingshi Talisman three times and said quietly, “Ji Luo, are you there?”
A moment later, the Yingshi Talisman glowed faintly, and Ji Luo’s wary voice came through it. “Who are you? Oh no, have I gone mad after becoming a ghost? Why am I hearing someone beside my ear? Should I tell Lu Yu? Heavens, can ghosts still get sick? Did Lu Yu insist on sleeping with me so much that he broke my body? Come to think of it, that thing of Lu Yu’s really is huge—”
Xiao Chunhe immediately covered Yue Jingming’s ears and snapped, “You shameless bastard, shut up! What filthy nonsense are you saying where my Daoist can hear it?”
Ji Luo cried out, “Two ghosts?! Is this what I get for liking men?”
“It’s us, Yue Jingming and Xiao Chunhe.” Yue Jingming removed Xiao Chunhe’s hands. “This is the Yingxin Spell. It lets us hear your inner voice directly. There’s no need to panic, and whatever you do, don’t tell Lu Yu about this.”
Oh no, oh no. Daoist Yue followed me down here. Lu Yu must be in danger. I need to tell him to run away quickly, Ji Luo thought.
“…Young Master Ji.” Yue Jingming was silent for a moment. “You’re in great danger right now. A living soul cannot remain in the underworld for long.”
Ji Luo froze. “I’m not dead? But Lu Yu clearly told me I was.”
“That ghost lied to you.” Xiao Chunhe rubbed his forehead in exasperation. “We just checked for you. Your yang lifespan isn’t exhausted, and you even have an exceptionally rare fate destined to become top scholar. You absolutely cannot let a ghost cloud your mind and believe Lu Yu’s lies. You can still be saved.”
Ji Luo could hardly believe it. “Me? Become top scholar?”
“It’s a long story. For now, don’t alert Lu Yu. Find a chance to send him away,” Yue Jingming said. “We’ll find you ourselves.”
The voices in his mind abruptly vanished. Ji Luo jerked his head up toward Lu Yu. “Huh? What did you just say?”
Lu Yu seemed a little displeased that he had been distracted. He lowered his eyes despondently. “Brother Luo, if I really did something that wronged you, would you hate me?”
Ji Luo frowned. “Do you really have someone else outside? No, wait, some other ghost?”
Lu Yu gritted his teeth. “No person and no ghost. I mean something else. For example, I might be… much bigger than you.”
Ji Luo looked baffled. “You already are pretty big.”
Lu Yu’s embarrassment quickly turned to irritation. “I mean I’m much older than you.”
Ji Luo said, “Impossible. You’re a year younger than me.”
Lu Yu tightened his grip on Ji Luo’s hand. “What if I… am not Lu Yu?”