[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-i-m-not-crazy-this-is-the-emperor-s-banner":3,"chapter-i-m-not-crazy-this-is-the-emperor-s-banner-i-m-not-crazy-this-is-the-emperor-s-banner-chapter-49":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","I'm Not Crazy—This Is the Emperor's Banner",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2291389,4480,"Chapter 49: Courage","i-m-not-crazy-this-is-the-emperor-s-banner-chapter-49",49,"\u003Cp>My daughter Hongxia:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Time flies, years pass unnoticed; over thirty years have slipped by since I wandered far from home, my heart wild like weeds, craving only freedom, causing me to neglect you and your mother, our bond shattered until we parted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All these years, I have missed you deeply—I still remember the day you were born, how ecstatic I was, how you lay in my arms, tiny, your sparse hair, and in that moment I felt something I’d never felt before, like sipping ice in summer, spreading through my whole body…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he wrote this, Shen Siyuan paused, pen in hand, gazing at Lu Guanchang, unsure how much of this was truly sincere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps all he said was true, but why did it later turn sour? Why did he abandon them, ignore them for years…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only when one suffers does one realize regret.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If not to test whether helping a man like him could earn merit, Shen Siyuan would never have helped him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s wrong?” Lu Guanchang snapped back to attention as Shen Siyuan stopped writing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Nothing, go on.” Shen Siyuan said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Guanchang then resumed organizing his words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He began by reminiscing, recounting many childhood anecdotes between father and daughter, then expressed his remorse toward his daughter, and finally spoke of himself—his lifelong efforts reduced to dust, his heart unwilling to accept it, for all of it should belong to her, and he hoped she would come to Haibin to meet him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He never said he was dead, only that his days were few.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Guanchang spoke this way for good reason—if he admitted he was dead, many things would become inexplicable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s all. Thank you, Master.” Lu Guanchang bowed respectfully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ll mail it for you tomorrow. Ci’en is close—it should arrive the day after tomorrow…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, yes, thank you, Master, thank you~” Lu Guanchang bowed repeatedly, his face beaming with joy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Siyuan waved him off. “Go now, I need to rest.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alright, then, Master, I’ll… I’ll go to Ci’en first.” He thought for a moment and said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fine.” Shen Siyuan nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That way, he would learn in advance whether his daughter would come to Haibin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Lu Guanchang left, not long after, Yin Xingyue and Doudou drifted in through the window on a gust of yin wind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You two don’t need to stay here with me—especially Doudou, go home to your parents.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Siyuan picked up his phone; it was filled with messages from Jiang Wenxin, ostensibly discussing tomorrow’s blind date, but in truth probing whether Doudou was with him, whether she had gone missing, and so on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh? Do Mom and Dad miss me? I miss them too.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Doudou, lost in play, remembered her parents only after Shen Siyuan’s reminder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Goodbye, Sweet Potato Pot, goodbye, Little Yue-sister…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She waved her small hand at them, then rode the yin wind, rushing out the window again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That little thing…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Siyuan sighed helplessly, then turned to Yin Xingyue beside him. “If you have nowhere to go, stay here.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yin Xingyue shook her head. “I’ll go see if the police have found him…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Siyuan knew who “he” was, and nodded in agreement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So Yin Xingyue also rode off on yin wind; checking the time, it was nearly ten-thirty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He picked up fresh clothes and went to the bathroom, deciding to bathe and sleep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But when he finished bathing and stepped out, he found Yin Xingyue had returned—quietly seated on the sofa, as if waiting for him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s wrong?” Shen Siyuan asked, surprised.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He’s dead.” Yin Xingyue said calmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her abrupt words stunned Shen Siyuan, then he understood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He hurriedly asked: “You mean your stepfather is dead?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He’s not my father.” Yin Xingyue corrected him seriously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alright, my mistake—Fang Yunlou is dead? How did he die?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yin Xingyue nodded, then shook her head, speaking timidly: “I saw him, and came back—I don’t know how he died.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Siyuan stepped forward and gently stroked her head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t be afraid—he should be afraid of you now. Didn’t you say that very thing to Doudou?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yin Xingyue’s fear of Fang Yunlou stemmed from his control and psychological torment while he was alive; she was just a young girl in elementary school, full of confusion and uncertainty about the world, her mother never siding with her, bullied at school, ignored by teachers…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eventually, she collapsed completely and chose suicide.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But death didn’t erase her fear of Fang Yunlou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet she must overcome it herself—Shen Siyuan couldn’t help her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t be afraid—I’m here. You’re my Dharma Protector now; I won’t let anyone harm you…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Siyuan’s words seemed to give Yin Xingyue great courage; a faint blue glow began to rise around her body—the glow of the Ming fire she had drawn back into herself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yin Xingyue lifted her head, gazing at Shen Siyuan, whispering: “Thank you, Brother.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Siyuan smiled faintly and patted her small head. “Go on—do what you want to do.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yin Xingyue nodded, then dissolved into a gust of yin wind, vanishing from the room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fang Yunlou was dead—dead in agony, tormented beyond measure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He died with unbearable resentment—his career was about to reach a new height, he still had countless unspent funds, endless pleasures awaiting him—how could he die like this?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But death is death; no matter how furiously he raged, no matter how he screamed at the killer, lunged to fight him to the death, it was useless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the end, he could only retreat sorrowfully home—home, the final refuge of the soul, even as a ghost, still gave him enough safety.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Along the way, he saw all kinds of ghosts; few retained human form—most were grotesque and twisted, just as he himself was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His upper body was human, but his lower half resembled an octopus, covered in sticky, short, revolting tentacles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a new ghost, having glimpsed the other side of the world, he was utterly lost and cautious, avoiding contact with other ghosts at all costs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only when he cautiously returned home did he finally exhale—until he saw his still-vibrant wife, and resentment surged within him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’m dead—why is she still alive? And all my wealth now belongs to her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thought of her, with my money, moaning beneath some other man’s body made his eyes bulge with hatred; countless tentacles sprouted, spreading through the entire house, transforming him fully into an octopus monster.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wrapped his tentacles around Yang Xuejiao and dragged her away with him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even as her three fires burned his tentacles, sizzling and smoking, he refused to let go.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through relentless effort, Yang Xuejiao’s three fires grew weaker, flickering like a candle in the wind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just then, a gust of yin wind swept into the room—a small figure appeared before Fang Yunlou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fang Yunlou saw the figure, his eyes glinting with malice, his mouth splitting into a terrifying grin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I… I’m not afraid of you anymore.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blue flames surged upward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>PS: To clarify—ghosts cannot harm humans directly, but being haunted brings misfortune, declining fortune, constant bad luck, financial loss, or serious illness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I mentioned this in Chapter Seven—no setting changes.\u003C\u002Fp>",1179,"2026-06-20T03:53:08.657Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","d64dda6e3d888a71a393a9c51ff1a71d8e410f71c9f9532460a1575ccc8b1c29","i-m-not-crazy-this-is-the-emperor-s-banner-chapter-50","i-m-not-crazy-this-is-the-emperor-s-banner-chapter-48",623,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-m-not-crazy-this-is-the-emperor-s-banner-cover.jpg"]