Chapter 318: Female Ghost's Tear

Su Zhiyuan's face turned pale, he pointed at Gan Su Xin and shouted loudly.

"Impossible, this is impossible, you clearly died, how can you still be here?"

"She is dead, that's true, but don't forget, there is something called a ghost in this world. Those who are killed unjustly can become vicious ghosts." I curled the corner of my mouth in a cold smile, coldly staring at Su Zhiyuan.

By now, without thinking one knows what happened. If there were any hidden feelings before, at this moment it is completely revealed, especially when Su Zhiyuan saw Gan Su Xin's ghost, the fear shown in his eyes.

Whoever does no wrongdoing need not fear a ghost knocking at midnight.

"Zhiyuan, you didn't tell me you had a terminal illness and were leaving this world? Why are you still alive now?" Gan Su Xin stepped closer, her tone stern as she questioned Su Zhiyuan.

"Don't come over, don't come over." Su Zhiyuan, frightened, kept stepping back, his face panicked as he cried out to Gan Su Qin.

Finally, he even gritted his teeth, picked up a fruit knife, and stabbed toward Gan Su Qin's body.

But ghosts are intangible; aside from us Daoists, how could ordinary people possibly harm her?

Therefore, Su Zhiyuan's stab was destined to miss.

But this stab, although it did not harm Gan Su Xin's body, completely broke the heart of a lovesick maiden.

Gan Su Xin's soul began to tremble; she stroked the spot where Su Zhiyuan had just cut, murmuring: "You actually wanted to kill me, Zhiyuan, have you forgotten? I am your beloved Su Xin? You let me go? You said you would protect me forever, life after life."

"Now, you actually take a knife and want to kill me, why, why is this?" As she spoke the last words, Gan Su Xin seemed to go mad, screaming to the heavens. Around her, a grayish mist arose; I knew this was a female ghost's resentment. At this moment, she had become a resentful spirit.

If a moment ago she knew she had been deceived, she was angry; now she is heartbroken to the point of despair. The person she once thought she could entrust her life to, a single lie led her willingly into the depths of death. The man she once thought would be her lifelong partner, without hesitation raised a gleaming dagger against her. The pain, piercing to the heart.

"Why, why is all this like this?" Gan Su Xin merely kept repeating "why," her eyes now filled with bewilderment.

I know how she feels now; anyone, when the faith they steadfastly kept for another is mercilessly destroyed by that person, will ask themselves in bewilderment, why. Because at this point, even one cannot tell whether what they did in the past was right or wrong.

Her anguish I could feel, and even Pangzi beside her couldn't help but sigh.

We understand her feelings, but Su Zhiyuan does not; he not only cannot feel Gan Su Xin's pain, but also thinks her appearance is meant to take his life.

He knelt in terror on the ground, kowtowing.

"Sorry, sorry, I was wrong. I really didn't expect you would commit suicide because of that letter. I only wanted you to leave me." He kept kowtowing, continuously repenting.

"Wu wu, Su Xin, I really didn't mean to hurt you, I was just afraid my wife would find out about this and then divorce me." Su Zhiyuan seemed to recall something, trembling with fear as he shook his head: "No, she cannot divorce me. Everything I have is given by her. If she divorces me, I will have nothing left. No longer a university professor, no longer my current life. I don't want to live again as a vagrant, starving one meal, full the next—no, no."

"I spit, you scum, a beast in human skin, also dare to call yourself a professor. Even if you cloak yourself in the most righteous robes, you cannot hide your petty heart." Pangzi spat viciously at Su Zhiyuan.

As for me, I proved it with action, delivering a hard kick to Su Zhiyuan, who kept kowtowing on the ground.

Damn it, this sort of clothed beast is simply wasting the nation's grain. Even at death's door, he still clings to his trivial vanity, not only refusing to repent, but still obsessing over that damn reputation and status.

Gan Su Xin ignored his repentance, step by step approaching him. She even stretched out two hands… from our perspective, that was the motion of preparing to choke Su Zhiyuan's neck.

We two were preparing to decide whether to stop Gan Su Xin, because from her posture it seemed she wanted Su Zhiyuan to pay with his life. As a Daoist, seeing a ghost harming people in broad daylight and doing nothing feels somewhat derelict of duty.

But before we could speak, the situation changed again; when Gan Su Xin's hand was about to touch Su Zhiyuan, he suddenly turned sharply. Before we could react, he pressed the fruit knife against… Pangzi's neck.

"Don't come over, if you come again I'll kill him." Su Zhiyuan, acting mad, fiercely threatened Gan Su Xin.

But he didn't know, the person he was holding hostage was a Daoist, and this Daoist also knew martial arts.

In an instant, taking advantage of Su Zhiyuan's distraction, Pangzi applied a Reverse Seize, locking his wrist and shoulder.

Perhaps due to inertia, while Pangzi held Su Zhiyuan's shoulder, he also shoved his body forward hard.

With a bang, Su Zhiyuan's head hit the wall, and he completely fainted on the ground.

"Zhiyuan..." Gan Su Xin cried out in alarm, flung herself to Su Zhiyuan's side, wanting to reach out to help him up, to touch his face,

"Zhiyuan, do you know? If you had told me the truth from the start, I would have let go of my obsession, hidden my love for you, and thereafter not bothered you. Even if it meant living out this life alone, enduring the day-and-night torment of longing, that would still be acceptable. But…"

"But why did you act clever, tossing away a suicide note to deceive me? I once thought the vow of eternity would outweigh, but it turns out it cannot rival the emptiness of yellow earth, nor can it withstand this cruel reality."

She just sat there beside the unconscious Su Zhiyuan, speaking as if no one else were present.

"Zhiyuan, tell me, am I wrong, or is the world wrong? Why can you men abandon a relationship without hesitation? And why, after a relationship ends, does it leave an indelible mark in our women's hearts? Life is so long, yet this mark follows us a lifetime, until death."

I and Pangzi said nothing, just silently watching her. Yes, it's strange; as a Daoist, I am actually listening to a ghost pour out her feelings, her inner thoughts, and I am utterly absorbed.

After a long while, Gan Su Xin stood up, and before I and Pangzi could react, she said to us:

"Thank you, thank you for bringing me to see Zhiyuan's final face; in this life I have no regrets left."

After saying that, she slowly rose and faded into the wall. At the moment she finished speaking, the arising resentment vanished without a trace.

I, however, widened my eyes, my heart struck as if by lightning. Isn't it that a ghost's resentment only disappears after killing her enemy, or after being liberated by a Daoist? Why, why didn't she kill Su Zhiyuan? She ought to hate him greatly.

"Wait a moment…" I couldn't help but speak up to stop her.

"You ought to hate Su Zhiyuan, right? Why are you not hating him now?" I looked at her and asked softly.

She glanced at Su Zhiyuan, then gently shook her head.

"Even if he hates me, wants to kill me. But I still love him; I cannot bring myself to harm him."

Immediately, she shook her head and whispered softly: "After all this, in the end, it's just that I was too foolish. I have figured it out; I no longer wish to cling to the past, let everything be like fleeting clouds."

This time, she had no hesitation at all, turning and vanishing into the wall. I knew she had let go of her obsession, preparing to reincarnate.

Yet why, at the moment she turned, did I see a crystal-clear droplet flow from the corner of her eye?

"Senior sister…" Pangzi opened his mouth, but ultimately swallowed the words he was about to say. Perhaps this is Gan Su Xin's best ending.

And at the moment she disappeared, I reached out and caught that droplet that had flowed from the corner of her eye.

This is… a female ghost's tear? I stared in disbelief at the green-tinged droplet in my hand, its impact on my spirit was enormous.

Don't the elders often say ghosts have no feelings, let alone shed tears? Then what is this I hold? It slipped from a female ghost's eye—isn't it exactly a ghost tear?

In an instant, I became confused, lost between tradition and the unknown.

I realized I had made a grave mistake. In my view, I had always thought ghosts were merely my soldiers, just there to do my bidding. Aside from Little Fat and my sister, I never considered any wandering soul a friend. I thought they were nothing but dead objects, weapons in my hand; I ordered them to kill, they had to kill; I ordered them to do good, they had to do good. Just as elders told us from childhood that feces are surely filthy, I too mistakenly believed ghosts must be harmful. Even if I punished them, slew them, it seemed only natural.

Only now did I discover they were wrong, and I was wrong. Utterly mistaken, I only looked at the superficial flashiness with worldly eyes, never truly feeling the inner essence of all things.

Feces are smelly, yet who has ever observed with care how they seep into the soil, nurturing myriad flowers and things. Ghosts are surely harmful. Yet now before my eyes there is a ghost who, even dead, does not wish to harm those who once harmed her.

All my life I have only learned to see things with my eyes, never to contemplate the myriad phenomena of the world with heart. I am full of the doctrines taught by my predecessors, yet I forgot that a Daoist's cultivation is nothing more than a tranquil mind.

Gan Su Xin has left, leaving me with a sudden epiphany. I dare not say she is right, but I absolutely dare not say she is wrong; she possesses a foolish devotion to love, never considering her kin, friends, selfishly sacrificing her own life. Yet from beginning to end, she never harmed anyone.

She is a ghost, a kind female ghost who quietly passed through my life, overturning my previous understanding, overturning that heart of mine which had drifted in the secular world and grown cold.