Chapter 180: Xiu’e Returns from the Dead

Lu Yuan did not immediately respond to Hu Huxu. He simply stood quietly at the entrance of the stone chamber, his gaze once again slowly sweeping across the entire space.

The medicinal fragrance, the scent of yin earth, and the faint fishy odor of lamp oil lingering in the air mixed together to form an atmosphere that weighed heavily on the mind.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled, forcibly suppressing the irritation in his chest born from Hu Huxu's dawdling and the chamber's bizarre arrangement.

When he opened his eyes again, they held a focused calm, that unique clarity belonging to a Daoist Celestial Master, capable of discerning yin and yang.

"Stand in the corner. No matter what you see or hear, do not make a sound, and do not come within three steps of the stone bed."

Lu Yuan's voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable tone of command, directed at Hu Huxu.

Hu Huxu nodded silently and retreated into the shadows at the southeast corner of the stone chamber as instructed, blending himself almost completely with the wall.

Only his turbid eyes remained fixed intently on Lu Yuan and the stone bed.

Only then did Lu Yuan step forward, walking towards the stone bed.

He first walked to the head of the bed, his gaze falling on the bean-sized "Original Life Soul-Continuing Lamp".

The flame flickered weakly, as if it might be extinguished the next second by a yin wind blowing from nowhere.

"Borrowing a wisp of your flame as a guide, to find her path of return."

Lu Yuan muttered softly to himself. He raised his right hand, thumb, index finger, and middle finger pressed together to form the "Spirit-Gathering Finger Seal".

He gently held it suspended three inches above the flame, not touching it.

An extremely faint, pale golden zhenran flowed from his fingertips, like fine threads, slowly probing into that bean-sized flame.

"From the profound origin of heaven and earth, all zhenran finds its root."

"Through the vast cultivation of kalpas, my divine power is proven."

Lu Yuan began to chant, his voice low and rhythmic. It was not a loud shout, yet each word was clear,

carrying a strange penetrating power that echoed within the sealed stone chamber.

This was part of the Daoist foundational Spirit-Calming Incantation.

Used here, it was to borrow the incantation's power to stabilize this Original Life Lamp that maintained the last trace of "life" energy.

Simultaneously, he used his own zhenran as a guide to sense the faint, almost imperceptible remnant soul aura connected to the lamp flame.

As the incantation was chanted, Lu Yuan's left hand was not idle either. With a single hand, he swiftly formed several complex hand seals—first the "Communicating with the Netherworld Seal", to connect yin and yang.

Then the "Tracking Seal", to locate the aura.

Finally, the "Guiding Seal", prepared to receive and guide.

With the completion of each hand seal, a faint golden light flickered at his fingertips before vanishing into the surrounding void.

The flames of the "Four Directions Soul-Anchoring Lamps" in the four corners of the stone chamber seemed to brighten just a sliver.

And the cold white candlelight of the "Seven Stars Soul-Locking Lamps" in the passageway also seemed to resonate subtly with Lu Yuan's hand seals, the flowing light shifting slightly faster.

After finishing this, Lu Yuan took a step back, moving away from the head of the bed.

He walked to a spot about three steps diagonally in front of the stone bed, facing the woman on the bed, standing with his feet neither fully together nor fully apart, his energy sinking to his dantian.

His right hand reached into his robe, and when it emerged, he was holding a dark yellow talisman paper between his fingers.

The paper was not ordinary yellow ceremonial paper; its texture was special, faintly containing a restrained inner glow.

On it, cinnabar mixed with some special material had been used to draw intricate cloud and thunder patterns.

This was an authentic "Summoning Soul and Guiding Spirit Talisman", something only true Daoist lineage holders could draw, and only orthodox Celestial Masters could activate.

"Hu Huxu."

Lu Yuan said sternly without turning his head.

"Call her name."

"Call her as you usually would in daily life."

"Only call three times. It must carry true feeling. Do not hesitate."

Hu Huxu in the corner shuddered. His lips trembled as he looked at his wife on the bed, who seemed to be merely sleeping. His eyes instantly reddened.

He opened his mouth, trying several times.

Only then did he force out from the depths of his throat that name, sealed away for so long, yearned for day and night yet never dared to utter lightly.

His voice was hoarse and shaking, carrying endless longing and pain:

"Xiu'e...."

"Xiu......e......"

Three calls, each more difficult than the last, each more sorrowful than the last.

They echoed in the silent, cold stone chamber, as if trying to pierce through the stone walls, reaching straight to some unknowable corner of the netherworld.

The instant the third call fell, Lu Yuan moved!

A sharp light exploded in his eyes. His right hand, holding the talisman, shot up like lightning, while his left hand simultaneously formed a sword-finger gesture.

Pale golden thunderlight coiled around his fingertip. It was not the offensive Palm Thunder, but the more refined "Soul-Guiding Thunder Zhenran".

The incantation on his lips abruptly changed, his tone rising, carrying a majestic and solemn power:

"Wandering soul adrift, where do you remain!"

"Let the Three Souls come early, let the Seven Souls draw near!"

"Frightened by illusions, your true soul lost!"

"Now we invite the Five Paths, the Generals of the Wandering Roads!"

"The local earth god, the kitchen god of this home!"

"Search for the lost true soul, retrieve it and reattach it to the body!"

"Aid in reviving the spirit! The Gate of Heaven opens, the Gate of Earth opens, let the child from a thousand li deliver the soul!"

"By the command of Supreme Elder Lao Jun, urgently, urgently, as by the law's command!"

This was the orthodox Daoist "Soul-Summoning Incantation"!

When performed with specific hand seals and Gang Steps, its power was absolutely incomparable to that of ordinary folk spirit mediums.

As the incantation sounded, the talisman in Lu Yuan's right hand "poofed" into flame without any fire, transforming into a strand of azure smoke that did not dissipate.

Instead, guided by the Soul-Guiding Thunder Zhenran from his left hand, it coiled around his body once like an agile azure snake.

Then it abruptly shot towards the woman on the stone bed!

The azure smoke, upon reaching about a foot above the woman's body, suddenly dispersed!

Transforming into a faint, almost invisible azure light curtain that enveloped the entire stone bed.

Simultaneously, Lu Yuan's feet performed the Gang Steps, treading the Dipper. His figure moved rapidly.

He walked seven steps around the stone bed according to specific positions and sequence, precisely corresponding to the positions of the Big Dipper in the sky!

With each step he took, the spot where his foot landed on the ground faintly brightened, as if starlight had been drawn down by him.

When he finally took the seventh step back to his original position, completing a full set of "Seven Stars Gang Steps", the aura within the entire stone chamber abruptly changed!

The azure flames of the "Four Directions Soul-Anchoring Lamps" suddenly leaped up an inch, their light blazing brightly, casting the stone chamber in a wash of azure.

A faint resonant hum came from the direction of the "Seven Stars Soul-Locking Lamps" passageway.

And the bean-sized flame of the "Original Life Soul-Continuing Lamp" at the head of the bed began to shake violently.

Its color changed from dim yellow to increasingly pale, as if it might go out at any moment, yet was held back by an invisible force.

Lu Yuan's expression turned grave. He knew the most critical moment had arrived.

That remnant soul had been forcibly detained outside for years by the "Soul-Locking Reverse Return Formation" and the arrangements of this place.

It had long "grown accustomed" to that state of drifting without anchor yet being forcefully pulled. It might not be willing, nor might it have the ability, to easily "return to its place".

Lu Yuan's hands rapidly formed seals again, this time the even more complex and profound "Soul-Pacifying and Spirit-Settling Seal" and the "Yin-Yang Bridge Connection Seal".

His ten fingers flew like butterflies through flowers, leaving afterimages and trails of fine golden light.

The incantation on his lips changed again, becoming low, drawn-out, filled with soothing and guiding intent:

"O soul, come back! Return to your old home!"

"Heaven and earth, the four directions, harbor many treacherous thieves!"

"Images are set in your chamber, quiet, peaceful, and secure!"

"High halls and deep rooms, with railings and tiered balconies!"

"Tiered terraces and storied pavilions, looking out upon high mountains!"

"Latticed doors with red adornments, carved in square patterns!"

"In winter, there are warm secluded halls; in summer, the rooms are cool!"

"River valleys wind and turn, with murmuring streams!"

"Sunlit breezes stir the orchids, and lofty thoroughworts!"

"Through the main hall into the inner chamber, red dust mats are spread!"

This passage was from the "Summoning the Soul" section of the "Songs of Chu", adopted and refined by the Daoist tradition to become one of the highest-grade secret incantations for pacifying and guiding souls.

It was remarkably effective for soothing lost or injured souls.

As the incantation was chanted and the hand seals completed, Lu Yuan pointed like a sword towards the center of the azure light curtain above the stone bed, striking through the air!

"Let the spirits settle in the form, let the soul return to its dwelling!"

"If you do not return now, when will you wait!"

"Return!"

The word "Return!" erupted from his mouth like a thunderclap exploding within the stone chamber!

*Hum—!*

The stone walls of the chamber seemed to vibrate.

The flame of the "Original Life Soul-Continuing Lamp" at the head of the bed suddenly leaped upward, bursting into a fist-sized halo of dim yellow tinged with a thread of blood-red.

It then rapidly dimmed, becoming even weaker than before. The lamp oil was visibly about to burn dry.

And on the stone bed, the woman's body seemed to tremble... ever so slightly.

Immediately after, the azure light curtain enveloping the stone bed rapidly converged and submerged into the woman's brow point like a whale sucking in water!

In the air, it seemed as if countless faint, mournful, yet confused and longing sobbing winds arose,

the friction and resonance produced as the remnant soul was forcibly pulled back from its drifting state!

The sound of the wind gradually faded.

The stone chamber returned to silence, with only the azure "Four Directions Soul-Anchoring Lamps" in the corners and the last flicker of the "Original Life Soul-Continuing Lamp" at the bedside still burning.

Lu Yuan slowly withdrew his stance, standing upright. Sweat was already visible on his forehead, and his breathing was slightly labored.

This performance, which seemed to lack earth-shattering combat, had actually been extremely taxing on his mental focus and zhenran.

It required a profound understanding of the ways of the soul and a mastery of incantations, talismans, seals, and Gang Steps that reached a subtle and transformative level.

Lu Yuan looked at the stone bed.

The woman on the bed still lay quietly, her face peaceful, as if nothing had happened.

But Lu Yuan could sense that the pure, deathly "emptiness" that had existed within that shell before had now disappeared.

In its place was a faint, chaotic, yet truly existing fluctuation of "spirit".

Like a candle flame in the wind, though unbearably weak, fragmented, and likely devoid of clear consciousness, it had indeed "returned".

It had re-established the most basic connection with this meticulously preserved shell.

The soul had returned to its original body.

Though what returned was a remnant soul, it had finally returned.

With this "anchoring point", the next steps of performing the funeral rites and laying her to rest now had a foundation.

Lu Yuan turned his head to look at Hu Huxu in the corner, his voice slightly hoarse from the exertion:

"It's done."

"The soul has returned to its place, though... it is only a wisp of remnant consciousness."

"Prepare the funeral arrangements. Let her... be laid to rest in peace."

The moment Lu Yuan's words "laid to rest in peace" fell, the hunched figure in the corner, almost merged with the darkness, shuddered violently.

Then, Hu Huxu seemed as if the last supporting bone in his spine had been pulled out. He stumbled out from the shadows.

He was no longer the silent, enduring, and deeply calculating head of the Hu Family of Continuing the Lamp.

He was just a pitiful man who had lost his wife for many years and had finally received some kind of "confirmation".

He practically crawled on his hands and knees to the side of the stone bed. His knees hit the cold ground heavily with a dull "thud", but he seemed utterly unaware.

"Xiu'e..... Xiu'e, ah...."

Hu Huxu tremblingly stretched out those rough hands, stained with black mud and the marks of years of labor, wanting to touch his wife's cheek on the bed.

But his fingertips stopped abruptly just before making contact, hanging in mid-air, trembling violently.

He dared not touch her, as if afraid of shattering this last bit of false tranquility, or perhaps afraid of disturbing the newly returned, fragile remnant soul.

In the end, he only placed his hand hovering over the back of his wife's hand.

Through the layer of coarse cloth clothing, he seemed able to feel a faint, almost imperceptible, different kind of weak warmth belonging to "spirit".

Perhaps it was just his illusion, but this illusion was enough for him.

"Xiu'e.... my Xiu'e, ah...."

A suppressed, beast-like sob that had been held back for who knows how many years erupted from Hu Huxu's throat.

The sound was hoarse, broken, mixed with a heavy accent from beyond the Great Wall. It was no longer the muffled, calculating tone from before,

but was filled with heart-rending pain and endless regret.

"It was my uselessness.... I had no ability...... couldn't keep you...... let you suffer outside.... for so many years, ah..."

".....It was my fault..... all my fault...."

Tears, turbid and large, rolled from his eyes that had long been dry for years.

They streamed down his rough, wrinkled cheeks, dripping onto the edge of the stone bed, spreading into small dark patches of dampness.

He cried like a child who had been lost for years and finally found his home, only to discover it in ruins.

His shoulders heaved violently with his sobs, his dusty cotton-padded jacket trembling incessantly.

"I let you down.... let Yangyang and Tutu down...... I'm a good-for-nothing..."

"Couldn't even let you go properly.... had to use these crooked methods.... to forcibly keep you..."

"Made you suffer... I'm not human... I..."

He rambled incoherently, repeating words of self-blame.

As if he wanted to pour out all the guilt, pain, and despair that had accumulated in his heart over the years through these tears and disjointed words.

He bent over, pressing his forehead against the cold edge of the stone bed, emitting dull "thud" sounds.

It wasn't a kowtow, more like an unconscious, self-punishing impact.

Lu Yuan stood to the side, watching quietly.

He did not offer comfort, nor did he urge.

He knew that any words would be hollow at this moment.

Hu Huxu needed this weeping, needed this catharsis delayed for eight or nine years.

It was not merely mourning for his deceased wife, but also a reflection on his own twisted obsession and hopeless struggle over these years,

and the complete release of the pain deep in his heart from knowing it was wrong yet being unable to let go.

After who knows how long, Hu Huxu's crying gradually subsided, turning into intermittent sniffles.

He still knelt by the bed, his forehead pressed against the bed edge, his shoulders slightly shaking.

Then, extremely slowly, he used his arms to push himself up from the ground, swaying as he stood.

He turned to face Lu Yuan.

That usually expressionless round face was now a mess, smeared with tears and dust, his eyes swollen to mere slits.

But the look in his eyes was completely different from before.

The previous numbness, lifelessness, wariness, and deeply buried despair

had been replaced by a clarity bordering on exhaustion and... gratitude so thick it seemed to congeal.

He looked at Lu Yuan, this excessively young, hot-tempered, yet possessing unimaginable skill and decisiveness Daoist Celestial Master.

His lips trembled, as if he wanted to say something, but for a moment, nothing came out.

Finally, Hu Huxu took half a step back.

Then, this man of considerable status among the Ten Families beyond the Great Wall, this stubborn and headstrong man, slowly, deeply, bent at the waist towards Lu Yuan, bowing.

This bow was very low, very low, almost ninety degrees.

He maintained this posture. His hoarse, choked voice sounded in the silent stone chamber, each word weighing a thousand pounds:

"Lu..... Lu, Daoist Master..."

"Great kindness... and virtue..."

"Hu Huxu... will never forget..."

"I.... I thank you on behalf of Xiu'e.... for giving her... a true conclusion..."

As he spoke, he straightened up, fiercely wiping his face with his dirty sleeve, even though tears uncontrollably welled up again.

The look in his eyes as he gazed at Lu Yuan was filled with emotions complex to the extreme.

There was gratitude, awe, the exhaustion of finally laying down a heavy burden, and a trace of shame born from his previous distrust and dawdling.

"You can rest assured....."

Hu Huxu took a deep breath, trying to steady his voice a bit, though it still carried a heavy nasal tone.

"The matter of your master.... I.... I will take you!"

"Even if it means violating the Ten Families' oath, even if I must suffer retribution, I accept it! This is what I owe you!"

He paused, glanced back at his wife lying peacefully "asleep" on the bed. A flash of pain crossed his eyes, then turned into resolve.

"After we... properly send off Xiu'e, let Yangyang and Tutu... see their mother one last time..."

"I will take you to find the Liu Family!"

"On the way, everything I know, I will tell you!"

This time, his promise was resolute and decisive, without the slightest hesitation or evasion.