Chapter 50: Seizing the Soul

Xu Yuan returned to his own room to sleep; after waiting a while, he listened closely with his ear, and since there was no sound from the stepmother's side, she must have fallen asleep, so he quietly got up and slipped out of the courtyard.

Lin Wanmo was standing behind the bed, watching.

Deep worry filled her eyes: truly, he had a lot of nerve.

Her first reaction was to go out directly, grab this boy by the back of his neck, and drag him back.

But after a change of thought, she still did not do that.

Xu Yuan left the courtyard and headed straight for the eastern mouth of the alley, knocking lightly on the door: "Uncle Mao Si."

Uncle Mao Si obviously had not slept yet and asked in a muffled voice: "Who is it?"

"It's me, Uncle Si, Xu Yuan."

Uncle Mao Si opened the door, and just as Xu Yuan was about to enter, he found a chisel flashing with cold light pressed against his forehead.

Uncle Mao Si quickly withdrew the chisel: "It really is you, boy; I thought some evil spirit with no eyes was using this kind of door-calling and response trick to coax me into opening the door."

Xu Yuan chuckled and entered: "If an evil spirit used such a trick to coax you open the door, it would truly be offering itself up to death."

Uncle Mao Si closed the door firmly and scolded: "In the middle of the night, why aren't you sleeping properly at home but running around everywhere? It's too dangerous."

Xu Yuan said: "I want to ask Uncle Si for a favor; just now, Lin Wanmo and I killed someone..."

Uncle Mao Si widened his eyes: "You must call her Mother!"

Xu Yuan pouted: "Fine, fine, fine, let's go quickly; if we wait a little longer, I'm afraid the soul will be summoned away."

Uncle Mao Si asked: "Who did you kill?"

Xu Yuan: "That's exactly why I don't know who he is, so I need your help to interrogate the soul."

Uncle Mao Si hesitated somewhat; it was not that he was unwilling to help, but he worried it would drag Xu Yuan into some danger.

Xu Yuan pleaded: "Uncle Si, since I was little you have loved me the most; when I was three or four years old, you let me ride on your neck to visit the temple fair."

Uncle Mao Si hummed: "That's strange; every time you rode on my neck, you would pee all over my neck. With Grandpa Shen and your father, it was fine..."

Xu Yuan's old face turned red, and he said: "That shows I am closest to you."

A smile bloomed on Uncle Mao Si's sorrowful face, and he brought along several carpenter tools: "Let's go."

A moment later, the two returned, with Uncle Mao Si clutching a ghost in his hand, namely "Ghost Ding Qian".

Uncle Mao Si was a Spirit Cultivator.

Entering the room, Uncle Mao Si lit an oil lamp, then gently blew a breath toward the flame; with a "whoosh," the originally orange-red firelight turned dark blue.

It illuminated the entire small room with a cold, gloomy light.

Uncle Mao Si pinched the ghost and glanced at the flame—Old Qian's ghost face was utterly cold, seeming to care not at all about everything he had encountered.

Uncle Mao Si shook his head: "No need to ask; this kind of soul is very rare; no matter how you torture it, it will say nothing."

Xu Yuan nodded: "Then let's follow Uncle Si's method; I only want to know who is behind him."

Uncle Mao Si nodded, rubbed his fingers holding the ghost, and Old Qian's soul crumbled; a lifetime of vast memories turned into countless "fragments" and "scenes."

Then they vanished rapidly.

No one could capture such vast yet fragmented "scenes" all at once.

Uncle Mao Si only made a rapid judgment, then his hands flew, grabbing out several fragments from the most recent time periods.

He then showed them to Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan saw a quite large rear garden.

He saw Old Qian diligently refining yin souls and forging yin soldiers.

He saw Old Qian go to Qili Pu.

He saw Old Qian in a row of remote houses, cooking his own dinner, and after eating, heading straight for He Gong Alley.

"That's enough," Xu Yuan said.

He had already roughly seen clearly where Old Qian had come from.

Xu Yuan thanked Uncle Mao Si: "I'll go back first."

Uncle Mao Si waved his hand, dispersing all the remaining soul fragments: "I'll walk you back."

"It's just this short distance..."

But Uncle Mao Si, without further ado, grabbed his arm and walked him all the way home.

Xu Yuan carefully returned to his room, listened again to the stepmother's side, which was still quiet; she must not have noticed his little trick, so he finally felt relieved, took off his clothes, and went to sleep.

After dropping the person off and returning, Uncle Mao Si had just reached the door when he suddenly realized something; he turned his head and found Lin Wanmo standing nearby.

Uncle Mao Si grinned, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

After all, he had just helped Xu Yuan hide some things from Little Mo.

Lin Wanmo indeed held some resentment toward him, her small face stiff; she was not here to demand an accounting: "Grandpa Shen called everyone over."

Uncle Mao Si nodded and went with Lin Wanmo to Grandpa Shen's house.

At the corner, there was a water well.

As the two passed, something clung to the Jingkou and crawled out, suddenly opening a pair of blood-red eyes—then quickly closing them, the claws loosened, and with a "plop," it fell back into the well.

The two were too lazy to pay attention.

Arriving at Grandpa Shen's, sure enough, Aunt Wang was also there.

Grandpa Shen leaned against the head of the bed, smoking his pipe; seeing the two enter, he said: "Everyone is here; let's begin."

Lin Wanmo cut in: "Grandpa, let me ask something first."

Then she rushed straight at Uncle Mao Si: "Did you just help Xu Yuan take that Spirit Cultivator's soul?"

Uncle Mao Si hummed, thinking to himself: Boy Yuan, it's not that I won't help you hide it; you fear your stepmother, and I'm a bit afraid of this fierce young girl too...

Uncle Mao Si explained the situation, and Lin Wanmo's eyebrows shot up: "He wants to..."

Grandpa Shen waved his hand: "What we're about to discuss is actually the same matter."

Lin Wanmo said nothing, crossed his arms, and sat back down.

Grandpa Shen said: "People from the Impurity-Dispelling Bureau just arrived. They want Young Yuan to join the Impurity-Dispelling Bureau. This is a major issue; I, an old man, dare not make the decision alone, so I've called everyone here to discuss it together."

Aunt Wang shook her head repeatedly, her head nearly flying off: "It's too dangerous; I don't agree!"

Uncle Mao Si hesitated and said: "Young Yuan's Fate Cultivation and Rank Dan Xiu were not inheritances received from our alley."

Aunt Wang glared: "What do you mean?"

"Since he didn't receive our inheritance, he actually doesn't count as one of our alley's people. This is an opportunity to jump out..."

"You don't treat Ah Yuan as one of your own!" Aunt Wang was truly angry.

Uncle Mao Si stepped back a bit: "When have I ever not treated him as one of my own? What I mean is, what's good about being a person in this alley? We've been trapped here for several generations. Although it's risky, this is an opportunity for Young Yuan. The Impurity-Dispelling Bureau is actually a good place to go. If he can eventually rise to an official position, he can completely shed the identity of a criminal from River Work Alley."

Aunt Wang snorted: "You make it sound easy. With our identity, what good future could joining the Impurity-Dispelling Bureau offer?"

Uncle Mao Si didn't argue with her; after all, he had already made his own idea clear.

"Grandpa Shen," Aunt Wang asked, "what is your idea?"

Grandpa Shen puffed his pipe, puffing puff. Aunt Wang waved her hand to scatter the smoke drifting toward Lin Wanmo: "You're choking the child—speak up."

Grandpa Shen stopped smoking: "When Ma Tianshou first brought it up, I also instinctively refused. But after thinking it over carefully, since Ah Yuan has become a Fate Cultivator... this seems like fate. According to reason, he should try it."

He spoke vaguely, but everyone present understood what he meant by "try it."

Lin Wanmo blurted out: "I sent him to Seven Grain Terrace Town to let him avoid family matters, not to let him shoulder such a heavy burden! I actually never expected him to become a Fate Cultivator!"

Grandpa Shen sighed: "But it's such a coincidence that Young Yuan became one."

Everyone fell silent.

Xu Yuan going to Seven Grain Terrace Town was actually arranged by Xu Huanyang before his death.

Lin Wanmo was merely an executor.

Could a few grains of "Old Year Grain" really attract June Bugs in the vast Ghost Wushan? Xu Huanyang probably didn't expect this to succeed either.

But by pure coincidence, it happened.

It inevitably made people think of... the Xu family's "destiny by fate"!

After a long while, Grandpa Shen spoke again: "Two in support, two in opposition, so let's stick to the old rule:

Let the elders decide."

All three nodded.

Requesting monthly tickets!

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(End of this chapter)