Chapter 546

The murder continued, the whole city's sky was shrouded in gloom, this killer was like a strange phantom; we tried our best to catch him, but we couldn't keep up with his footsteps.

Han Duo's spirit was not well, growing increasingly decadent, her worried look made one feel heartbroken. I and Pangzi were watching over Zen Easy Hall; Seventh Uncle and QingSongShu had no moment of leisure. The whole day was spent pursuing the killer.

But the opponent was also not an ordinary person; even if QingSongShu broke the Yin Rule, trying to summon the dead's spirit to question it carefully, the summoning ended in failure at the end. Plum Blossom Numerology and Wonder Gate Escape Technique often pointed in the wrong direction.

The heavenly secrets had been obscured; all divinations could find no trace of the opponent.

On the fifth day after I discovered the corpse, I went to Yao Yirong's home. Yao Yirong's appearance grew even more haggard; the tumor in her brain seemed to have taken effect. Just a moment ago she was talking and laughing, but the next moment she suddenly asked me: "How did you come here?"

That day, at the Yao family I saw the current inheritor of the Plowshare Witch Sect, Yao Wenju, father of Yao Yirong, who was also my master's junior fellow disciple, Yao Song.

This old man, his brilliance restrained, leaned on an old wooden cane; though he looked over sixty, his upright bearing and the restrained divine light in his eyes all spoke of his extraordinariness.

"Are you Hai Sheng, the disciple of my second senior brother Li Feng?" Yao Song gazed at me with a sighing look: "Your eyes, they are truly like my second senior brother's."

"My master and I, both our left eyes have had issues; however, I was born with a white eye, while my master's eyes are blind. But what Yao Song said was actually my right eye. He said my gaze, like my master's, carries a sense of vicissitude and melancholy."

"We talked for a long time; when I learned that Yao Song was preparing to defy heaven and change fate for Yao Yirong, my heart churned with shock."

"Changing fate costs the very life of the practitioner. It means more innocent people will be implicated. To change fate, the conditions are harsh; perhaps you can steal another's feng shui fortune, using countless people as mediums to transfer it. But doing so, the price will be your own life."

"It's fair: what you borrow must be repaid. Even if you have deceived the heavenly secrets for someone else, what you ultimately suffer will always be annihilation. After death, your soul cannot ascend to the nine heavens nor descend to the Yellow Springs; you can only wander as a lonely wild ghost in Yangjian forever. You are destined never to be reincarnated, destined to receive no protection from your ancestors. As a ghost, you will also suffer the bullying of other lonely wild ghosts."

"Upon hearing Yao Song's decision, I instinctively wanted to stop him; birth, aging, sickness, death—these are heaven's ordained. No matter how powerful the means, once this law is broken, no one ends well. Yet I know Yao Song won't listen to me, whether it's him or Yao Wenju, neither will."

"I personally fed Yao Yirong a bowl of red, viscous herbal medicine, spoon by spoon into her mouth. After she slept peacefully, I bade farewell to the Yao family and returned to Chan Yi Hall."

"Is Yao Yirong, little sister feeling better?" Pangzi grabbed me as soon as I entered and asked.

"A bit better," I replied half-heartedly, walking into my own room.

"I lit two incense sticks for Little Fat; it had been ages since I last teased him. As I offered the incense, Murong Jiaja drifted out from the dark jade beside me. This was the first time in ages she had actively sought me out; her elusive self, still clad in white that outshone snow, seemed like a fairy stepping slowly from a painting."

"Hai Sheng, I fear I must leave you!" Murong Jiaja whispered.

"I was startled, and my already heavy heart tightened inexplicably."

"What are you saying? Why suddenly say such things to me!"

"Murong Jiaja shook her head: 'I don't know, but for these many days I've had a premonition; perhaps I will return to myself.'"

"Yourself? Aren't you already yourself? Or, who are you?"

"Murong Jiaja's words left me with countless doubts; my intuition told me she was hiding something from me, but I could neither guess nor fathom it, while her gentle visage remained, concealing a faint melancholy sorrow."

"Hai Sheng, what are you doing?" As I stared at Murong Jiaja, Han Duo burst in holding a bowl of soup.

"Who is she?" Upon seeing Murong Jiaja, Han Duo's expression froze instantly.

"Go back for now, we'll talk later..." I stored Murong Jiaja away, turned, and explained to Han Duo: "Nothing, she's a lonely ghost I once took in."

"Hmph, I was wondering why you were holed up alone in your room; turns out you have a gorgeous female ghost keeping you company." Han Duo's face broke into a bewildered smile.

"Yes, in my view it was utterly bewildering, seeming to contain anger, mockery, and teasing; a diversity of emotions condensed into this complex smile."

"Here, I just cooked this." Han Duo handed me the bowl.

It was a bowl of bean curd stick and pork stomach soup; when I took it, the steaming broth still emitted a peppery aroma. The previous morning I had seen Han Duo boiling soybeans, yet there were no soybeans on the table. It turned out she was boiling the soybeans to make bean curd stick.

"So fragrant..." I took a gentle sip; the peppery heat and the sweet fragrance of the bean curd stick slowly melted in my mouth.

"If it's fragrant, have a few more bowls; I see you have little appetite today, so I specially cooked this... for everyone to drink." Han Duo smiled sweetly, revealing a small dimple.

She was lying; she had been boiling soybeans the day before, so how could she suddenly decide to make this soup today on a whim?

"Heh... if you didn't become a chef, you'd truly be wasting your talent." I didn't expose her; instead I picked up a piece of bean curd stick, put it in my mouth, and chewed slowly.

"I've also thought that once the children of Tongyuan Bay all have books to read and no one needs to worry about their three daily meals, I'll open a small eatery, quit being a witch, and spend the rest of my life peacefully wielding a spatula." Han Duo sat beside me, propping her cheeks, and rarely showed a hint of innocent naivety.

"Hehe, I'm already imagining you holding a spatula." I let my imagination run wild and burst out laughing.

"Get lost, how can you be so frivolous? I'm being serious," Han Duo said, laughing and exasperated as she shoved me. Then she lamented: "But if I don't become a witch, what else can I do? Even if I were an ordinary person, I wouldn't know who would come to eat the rice I cook."

"How could that be? Little Millet, don't worry; you're so beautiful and your cooking is superb—surely many would vie to marry you, so why fret? At most, if no one pursues you, I'll take the lead and mistreat you." I followed up.

Only when Han Duo revealed that half-blushing sweet smile did I slowly realize, wishing I could give myself a hard slap.

"What do you want to eat tonight?" Han Duo flashed two sweet dimples, her eyes narrowing into crescent moons, a blush rising on her lovely face.

"Um... I, I have no appetite, I don't want to eat rice," the hand holding the spoon already trembled slightly.

"Then I'll make some sweet water for you to drink; sweet water isn't like rice, it's appetizing." Han Duo asked again expectantly.

"Oh oh oh, okay," I replied absentmindedly, my mind agitated.

Night fell silently; I slumped in the corridor, gazing at the bright moon above, and let out a long, purposeless sigh: "This life is truly lonely as snow."

With a creak, I turned my head and saw a rabbit had somehow appeared beside me on the steps. The rabbit lay strangely on the stairs, its two ruby eyes gazing up at the moon; that squeak seemed also a lament to the moon. Its odd sight made my mouth twitch, leaving me deeply torn.

"When did a rabbit become so troublesome, so sentimental?"

"The sweet water's ready; hurry and drink it while hot." At that moment, Han Duo came out holding a bowl of sweet water.

Han Duo handed the sweet water to me, urging: "Drink it quickly; once it cools, it won't taste good."

I lightly scooped a spoonful, lifted a spoon of red beans into my mouth. Han Duo suddenly asked sweetly: "Is it good?" I answered without thinking, absentmindedly: "Pretty good."

Only after Han Duo left did Pangzi come out with a bowl of sweet water and sit beside me; then I noticed something was off.

"Holy shit, why is yours red bean sweet water while mine is just cooling tea? This damn thing is too fair, honestly trying to make this prince starve." Pangzi complained with a bitter face.

My heart suddenly tightened; I lowered my gaze and belatedly realized my bowl was red bean sweet water, while Pangzi's... was cooling tea.

"Exquisite dice holding red beans, who knows the deep longing?" As this poem surfaced in my mind, so did a pale, delicate face—Yao Yirong.

"I hope it's not just my overthinking," I shook my head, trying to shake off this tangled thought.

"How boring, life truly is lonely as snow, squeak..." The rabbit and Pangzi's gloomy voices sounded; I looked left and right, then decided to follow the crowd's direction, sighed, propped my chin, and gazed at the bright moon.

At this moment, the only thought left in my mind was a tear-filled: "Life is truly fucked beyond measure."