[{"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-57":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},2291397,4480,"Chapter 57: A Grandma","i-m-not-crazy-this-is-the-emperor-s-banner-chapter-57",57,"\u003Cp>\"Wow, that big brother is so powerful...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Little sister, is your hair on fire? Won’t that hurt her...?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Is she Hong Haier...?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Oh, she’s a girl, Hong Haier’s a boy, or is he a girl...?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Blue flame, that’s Blue Haier, hahaha...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Guangfa couldn’t remember how long it had been since his daughter had been this lively.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His daughter circled around her mother, chattering nonstop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Du Xiuzhi had wanted to tease her by withholding the news, but couldn’t withstand her persistent pleading.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Guangfa stood on a chair and took down two bottles of liquor from the top shelf.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Du Xiuzhi stood below and reached out to catch them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Guangfa widened his eyes in shock: \"How can you catch things?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You just noticed?\" Du Xiuzhi gave him a look.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then she said: \"I don’t fully understand it myself. When Master Shen extended his finger and formed a seal, I felt a faint blue light rush toward me, then my body grew heavy, a sense of solid ground beneath my feet—no more of that constant emptiness, that lightness, as if I were floating on the wind...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Even though no one can still see me, I feel no real difference from the living...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This wasn’t surprising, since the Nine You  Demon Lord, who bound the spirits on the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, could incite warfare, bewitch minds, and drain life essence; though not a ghost cultivator himself, he had gained some ghost cultivator abilities through the banner’s power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon hearing this, Zhu Guangfa perked up immediately, excitedly saying: \"Then let’s ask Master Shen to let you stay with us forever.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Do you think the two strands of qi I passed to you are some kind of gift? Prolonged exposure will corrode your bodies and turn you into living corpses...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Is it that serious?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Then, Mom, how long can you stay with us?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Tingting beside her also grew quiet, her small face filled with sorrow; Zhu Guangfa’s expression turned grave too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Enough, don’t be like this. To reunite with you again is already great fortune—why demand more?\" Du Xiuzhi hugged the two.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing his daughter upset, Zhu Guangfa quickly changed the subject: \"Are these two bottles of liquor too meager to give Master Shen?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Du Xiuzhi smiled: \"For Master Shen, anything you give is too meager. If that’s the case, give him your best.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Then okay, let’s go out and buy something else—just two bottles of liquor doesn’t seem proper.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But you haven’t drunk these two bottles of Xifeng yet?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hehe~ I’m keeping them as a memory.\" Zhu Guangfa scratched his head with a foolish grin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His words sparked curiosity in Zhu Tingting beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What kind of memory?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Du Xiuzhi smiled and explained: \"These were the liquor your father brought when he first came to my home, to give to your grandfather. They were bought with his first paycheck.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Then why doesn’t Grandpa drink them now?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No, because your grandfather didn’t want to drink them either, so I brought them back.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Speaking of her father-in-law, Zhu Guangfa asked softly: \"Did you see them?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Du Xiuzhi shook her head, smiling: \"Probably because you took good care of me, you satisfied him, and he had no regrets, so he left.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Guangfa only gazed at her deeply, pressed his lips together, and murmured softly: \"Not quite...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had always blamed himself for her death, feeling he hadn’t cared for her well enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yin Xingyue’s hometown was a tiny, remote village.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The village was mostly filled with elderly people and children; Yin Xingyue had once been one of them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But she refused to call herself a left-behind child, because her father was dead, not away working and leaving her behind—sometimes, she even felt a little glad about it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yin Xingyue’s grandmother was called Yi Po; everyone called her that, but even Yin Xingyue didn’t know her real name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even this surname wasn’t hers—it was her grandfather’s.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yi Po’s life was bitter: she lost her husband in youth, her son in old age, and then her only granddaughter...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So Yi Po completely broke down; her back could no longer straighten, and she walked hunched over, head bowed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She walked slowly, but very carefully; she didn’t know why she was still alive, but for now, she couldn’t die yet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sometimes, living was a kind of pain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But for Yi Po, it was just the same—she’d suffered too much in her life, and her heart had gone numb.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For her, living brought no joy, and death brought no sorrow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Living was just living—it meant nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the one thing that often made her sigh with regret was letting her granddaughter Xiao Yue go with her mother.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She couldn’t understand why Xiao Yue would kill herself—wasn’t living better?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She often asked herself this, but she had no answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet she hoped Xiao Yue was alive, hoped to see her, to hear her call her Grandma...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So she regretted it—deeply, deeply regretted it...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So her back bent even more...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I didn’t want to...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the phrase Yi Po spoke most often.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiao Yue had raised a puppy; the puppy was obedient—whenever Xiao Yue called, it would happily run over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But one day, Yi Po asked her where the puppy was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She smiled and said she split it—half gave to Uncle Si, half to Wang Dana from the west village.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She knew then she couldn’t keep Xiao Yue by her side—she had to be like her father, to study, to go somewhere better to study.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But why did it have to be this way? I didn’t want to...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yi Po regretted it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She struggled to drag the small cart behind her—it was a gift from the shopkeeper at the village entrance, who said it was a freebie from a detergent company; city elders liked pulling them to buy groceries, so the shopkeeper gave her one to help her collect trash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, her cart was piled high with trash: cardboard boxes, plastic bottles, scrap wire—completely full.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yi Po had to drag it to town to sell it; the town wasn’t far—ten or so li, half an hour by bicycle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But for Yi Po, bent over, the town was far enough—each trip took her half a day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yi Po put her hands behind her back, pounded her waist, and stopped again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But she didn’t rest long—she resumed dragging the cart forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, it felt much lighter—but she quickly realized: this lack of resistance meant someone was pushing her from behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She turned around and saw a familiar figure standing behind her, smiling warmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Grandma~\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bathed in the afternoon sun, her smile grew even brighter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yi Po felt no fear, no surprise—only an indescribable calm and joy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She grinned, revealing her few remaining teeth; every wrinkle on her face seemed to glow with happiness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s Xiao Yue,\" she said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Grandma~\" Yin Xingyue called again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You’ve come to take Grandma?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Death was truly something to be glad about.\u003C\u002Fp>",1158,"2026-06-20T03:53:08.657Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","d74fac90665ccdcdaa41a0d9da6842a99adc8493204647190d33f9edcad6288b","i-m-not-crazy-this-is-the-emperor-s-banner-chapter-58","i-m-not-crazy-this-is-the-emperor-s-banner-chapter-56",623,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-m-not-crazy-this-is-the-emperor-s-banner-cover.jpg"]