Chapter 11
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Chapter 11: Unwilling
Mrs. Fang and her two children floated to a place one step away from Twin Sword Killers and stopped, maybe because people with strong life force like them would be harmed by dark ghosts. The three ghosts stood still there, and after a moment, Shi Xuan could feel some faint gas flowing from Twin Sword Killer towards them. Then, the spirits of Mrs. Fang and her children became somewhat clearer to Shi Xuan’s senses.
Shi Xuan seemed not very interested, but he had been closely watching Mrs. Fang and her children absorbing yang energy. He hoped to judge whether they truly didn’t harm people based on their subtle actions. Although he had heard rumors and Mrs. Fang’s own words indicating this, Shi Xuan was not someone who blindly followed or believed. He decided to observe independently before combining the rumors and confessions to make a judgment. Unlike in the past, where blindly believing might lead to just financial loss in most cases and danger to life in extreme situations, dealing with ghosts in this world meant that blindly believing could often be a risky game with one’s life at stake.
In just a few breaths, Mrs. Fang and her two children stopped floating back with satisfied expressions. Combining the absence of evil energy and blood scent on them, along with the rumors and confessions, Shi Xuan could reasonably conclude that they were indeed only at the stage of absorbing a small amount of yang energy without posing any harm to people.
Mrs. Fang gestured to her two children, who respectfully bowed to Shi Xuan, with the children awkwardly imitating their mother in performing the gesture.
Seeing Delin bow to him in a feminine manner, Shi Xuan’s lips couldn’t help but twitch. Shi Xuan said to Mrs. Fang, "Alright, those two have somewhat redeemed themselves for their past actions. Now, can you tell me why you have been lingering here instead of moving on?"
Mrs. Fang conjured a chair with an illusion and sat down, recalling, "During the fire years ago, my husband was out for business and hadn’t returned. With a shortage of manpower in the courtyard, a fire broke out in the small kitchen of the Hong Feng Yuan where I, Delin, and Hanling were. The fire spread quickly due to the dry weather. When I woke up, the surroundings were engulfed in flames. That night, Delin and Hanling were sleeping with me. I tried to get out with each of us holding one child, but a beam collapsed, trapping us inside. I watched them being choked awake by the smoke, trying to call for me in vain. Though the burning pain was unbearable, the pain in my heart was even more intense. I felt so unwilling. My two children were only three years old."
Such a pain was truly unimaginable. Shi Xuan remained silent, gesturing for Mrs. Fang to continue.
After a pause, Mrs. Fang calmed her emotions and continued, "When I regained consciousness again, I found myself in the small well in the courtyard, with Delin and Hanling by my side. When they saw me wake up, they cried, saying how unbearably hard it was. We wanted to go outside but found ourselves instinctively fearing the sunlight, realizing that we had all become ghosts."
"After coming out in the middle of the night, I found many maids and servants’ ghosts wandering around the house. But as the days passed, I noticed that the ghosts of those maids and servants started to forget. What’s scary is that Delin and Hanling also forgot. I was confused at first, but suddenly I instinctively understood the rules of the world. After seven days, the ghosts slowly started to lose their memories, and even after ten days, they began to fade away."
"Yes, I read about this in a book of wisdom," Shi Xuan nodded confidently.
"But I am unwilling to accept it. I didn’t get to see my husband again, Delin and Hanling didn’t get to call out ‘father’ again. These are not so bad, although I am unwilling, I understand the difference between humans and ghosts. But what I am most unwilling about is that Delin and Hanling are only three years old, they haven’t experienced or tasted anything yet – haven’t read a book, written a word, embroidered a flower, painted a picture, caught a bird, picked a flower, played around, had tea, tried different foods, made friends, achieved success, paraded in a horse-drawn carriage, had a wedding night with red covers and candles, and haven’t had the joy of having children…" Mrs. Fang trailed off into a whisper, overwhelmed with sorrow.
Shi Xuan stayed silent, even though he kept a clear mind, a sense of compassion arose within him.
Mrs. Fang paused for a long time this time, until Delin and Hanling curiously leaned forward to see what was wrong with their mother, Mrs. Fang snapped back to reality.
"With the growing feeling of unwillingness, I felt myself becoming more solid, and even Delin and Hanling in my arms stopped dissipating. As time passed, I could instinctively absorb Yin energy, only that Delin and Hanling’s souls were weak. Although they stopped dissipating, they lost many memories, and the absorption of Yin energy was very slow. It has been over ten years now, and even though I often teach them, Delin and Hanling, as Daoist Priest Shi you have seen, are still equivalent to three or four-year-old children. Yes, initially they couldn’t even stray more than a few steps away from me." Mrs. Fang’s tone was a mix of joy and sadness.
"Later, someone built a new house here. Understanding the different paths of humans and ghosts, I didn’t want to be disturbed, so my plan was to scare people away. Hehe, at first, the construction workers came during the day and left at night, only the guards stayed at the gate to prevent theft. I was trapped in a place filled with Yin energy, couldn’t come out during the day, and couldn’t go too far at night, so I couldn’t find a chance to scare people until the house was finished, and people moved in, that’s when I started coming out at night to scare them. That family even brought monks and Taoists to exorcise, hehe, but they were all phonies trying to deceive, none of them had the power like you, Daoist Priest Shi, so I easily scared them away. However, from those monks and Taoists, I learned that my husband died in anger due to a family tragedy, and the servants scattered after sharing the money, no wonder no one comes to worship us."
"When did you start absorbing Yang energy?" Shi Xuan asked a more concerned question.
"As I cultivated by absorbing Yin energy, my skills deepened over time. After a year since that family left, I started feeling hungry, wanting to eat something but not knowing what. Once, a drunk man stumbled in here, and I was so hungry that I started absorbing his Yang energy. Three years ago, Delin and Hanling also began to feel hungry. Usually, absorbing energy once can sustain us for several months, but people rarely come here in a year. Hehe, if I had known, I wouldn’t have scared away that family." Mrs. Fang chuckled with her hand covering her mouth.
Shi Xuan thought to himself that this ghost was quite humorous and said, "The feeling of hunger is actually a result of pure yin energy cultivation. The deeper the cultivation, the more one needs yang energy to balance it out. Human yang energy is the gentlest and least harmful to yin spirits. As cultivation reaches a certain stage, one may even have to start consuming blood to sustain themselves."
Mrs. Fang asked in confusion, "Is blood food similar to those pig heads and sheep heads used in rituals?"
"Yes, because the souls being sacrificed mainly rely on the power of the ritual to sustain themselves, so sacrificing livestock is enough, usually only during major annual ceremonies. Like in your current situation, if you reach a stage where you must consume blood, initially livestock can be used. As cultivation progresses, only humans or monstrous beasts can be used," answered Shi Xuan seriously.
Mrs. Fang remained silent for a long time upon hearing this, while her two young siblings behind her boredly began to make funny faces at Shi Xuan – one moment only showing their eyes, the next only their mouth, then showing fangs, and even mimicking Shi Xuan’s appearance.
"Master, is there really no other way?" Mrs. Fang looked tearfully at Shi Xuan.
Shi Xuan sighed and said, "It’s the will of the heavens and earth. Unless you can quickly advance to the Qi Gathering Stage to absorb spiritual energy from the heavens and earth to neutralize the yin energy, and practice a method of cultivation that doesn’t rely on devouring human flesh and souls to progress. Unfortunately, even if you have a true transmission, I don’t think you can break through to the Qi Gathering Stage within half a year to a year once you reach the stage of having to consume humans or monstrous beasts."
Mrs. Fang fell silent, then stood up somewhat hysterically after a moment and said, "What about other methods like returning from the dead or reincarnation, even if Delin and Hanling no longer recognize me, as long as they have a chance to start over!" Her two siblings quickly stopped making faces upon hearing their names from their mother.
"Ah, have you seen too many opera productions? There is no talk of reincarnation here in this vast world. Though I returned through borrowed bodies, the cultivation needed to help your children return through borrowed bodies is far from enough. Though Shi Xuan didn’t want to shatter Mrs. Fang’s hopes, he still spoke up, "Unfortunately, my cultivation is shallow, and I cannot assist you, Mrs. Fang."
Mrs. Fang sat down despondently, but before long, she lowered her head and, with a determined tone, said, "When the time comes, as long as Delin and Hanling are considered as pork or mutton." Her two siblings, hearing their names mentioned again, looked at Mrs. Fang with confusion. After speaking, Mrs. Fang slowly raised her head, locked eyes with Shi Xuan, and said, "Master, are you going to rid the people of evil and eliminate this wicked spirit in me?"