[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-there-is-a-malevolent-spirit":3,"chapter-there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-chapter-55":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","There Is a Malevolent Spirit",{"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},2263161,4416,"Chapter 55: 54, Body and Head","there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-chapter-55",55,"\u003Cp>54. Body and head\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The woman wore the two-bun hairstyle common in Qing palace dramas; the kingfisher ornaments and colored hairpins woven through her hair had acquired a dull patina from years of decay.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She held a swaddling bundle as she drew near Zhou Chang’s form.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang caught the stench of rot and mildew mingled together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She revealed herself only in the corner of his eye during that fleeting glance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Zhou Chang instinctively turned toward where she stood, the woman with the bundle vanished again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet the stench of rot and mildew clung to Zhou Chang, refusing to fade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>——‘She’ was right here beside Zhou Chang now, but seeing her required a special mode of perception.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Have you smelled anything strange?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang looked at the other two and suddenly spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wasn’t sure whether the imperial consort had targeted only him, following him alone, or whether the other two had already sensed her presence but dared not speak out of fear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Combined with what Bai’s father had previously recounted, if this former Qing consort had fixated on someone, they would almost certainly smell the stench of her corpse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The stench of rot might be a key indicator of whether the other two had been targeted by the former Qing consort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bai Xiue, hearing Zhou Chang’s words, shook her head in confusion and pointed ahead: “I haven’t smelled anything strange, but the stone tablet right in front of us has disappeared.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bai’s father, tense, nodded in agreement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wasn’t the stone tablet always appearing and vanishing intermittently? Don’t worry about it.” Zhou Chang replied casually, then turned to Bai’s father and asked, “When your daughter’s grandfather saw that nursing consort, and she asked him what he wanted—did he ever respond to her at all?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Let me think…” Bai’s father frowned deeply, then firmly shook his head. “No.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was terrified then, just wanted to run away—how could he dare respond to that strange consort?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who knows if answering her might cause her to keep his body and leave behind the head in her arms?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang sniffed again; he felt the stench of rot and mildew growing closer, as if it hovered just three or five feet around him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether this former Qing consort was now a demon or a secular deity remained uncertain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet she stood silently before the living, invisible to them under normal circumstances, detectable only by her corpse-stench—just thinking of it sent chills down the spine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As she drew nearer, who could say what might happen once she reached a certain distance?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang pondered, then resumed walking, leading the other two along the mountain path toward the edge of the Bai family graveyard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A fog, rising from nowhere, had already sealed off the path.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet among the three present, only Bai’s father was ordinary; the other two were far from normal, so even with limited visibility, they carried Bai’s father forward without hindrance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang hurried on, hoping to test whether leaving the Bai family graveyard would cause the former Qing consort to leave him behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he had misunderstood—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even after he crossed the path, climbed over the ridge, and fully exited the boundaries of the Bai family graveyard, the stench in his nostrils did not fade—it grew stronger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was as if a corpse, its internal organs utterly decayed yet externally intact, pressed its face against his own!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The corpse was still breathing; the reeking stench from its rotting chest and abdomen poured into Zhou Chang’s nostrils with every exhale.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang stopped walking and muttered to himself: “Could Master Wen have seen this former Qing consort too?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And did he make some kind of deal with her?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bai’s father stared, bewildered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He couldn’t follow Zhou Chang’s train of thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had no idea where this was coming from.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Bai Xiue, after a moment’s pause, suddenly understood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She frowned, thinking quietly: “According to what Father said, Grandfather saw that golden head open its mouth—and beneath its tongue lay many spirit tablets; one of them bore the character ‘Wen’…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Perhaps that was Master Wen’s spirit tablet…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Bai family graveyard still has the stone tablet and plaque gifted by Master Wen—perhaps he really did make some deal with that former Qing consort.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That former Qing consort must be dead.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But she’s been possessed by what appears to be Yongzheng’s severed head, so though dead, she cannot rest.” Zhou Chang’s gaze burned. “Every word she speaks is the will of that Yongzheng head.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If Master Wen truly made a deal with Yongzheng’s head, then Master Wen must have received a divine banner from Yongzheng.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And Yongzheng used Master Wen’s body for his own purposes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bai Xiue opened her mouth slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She instinctively felt Zhou Chang’s deduction was correct, yet she couldn’t keep up with his reasoning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Was the Yongsheng Distillery truly founded by Master Wen, or was it the work of Yongzheng’s head?” Zhou Chang’s eyes gleamed as he stared at Bai Xiue, then called out another name: “Bai Ma, Bai Ma!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Bai Xiue glanced hesitantly at her father and whispered: “Father, don’t be afraid…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ve seen everything now—what’s left to fear?” Bai’s father smiled, relieved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he saw half of Bai Xiue’s face suddenly sprout another face—and he froze, eyes wide with shock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bai Ma’s face was icy, coldly staring at Zhou Chang without speaking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang tapped his temple with his finger and asked Bai Ma directly: “If I lose my head, I die—but a corpse-spirit without a head can still live—Feng Si’s death omen has no effect on corpse-spirits, correct?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bai Ma nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I thought the death omen of Sheng Leng Heichang also had no effect on corpse-spirits,” Zhou Chang suddenly reversed his earlier conclusion. “But even a corpse, whole and intact, is better than one missing parts.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Eunuchs spent fortunes to buy back their missing parts when leaving the palace.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How much more so for something as vital as the head?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So the corpse-spirit was cornered—forced to kill me, it willingly sacrificed its own head!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Losing its head was a desperate act for the corpse-spirit itself.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But for you, behind the scenes—Bai Ma—this act must have suited your master, the Treasure King, perfectly!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I can sense that this corpse-spirit now acts only on instinct—but all sentient minds emerge from the cultivation of instinct. If its head is gone, it may never develop consciousness at all!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And a corpse-spirit with nothing but instinct—that is precisely what the Treasure King seeks to cultivate!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So the corpse-spirit’s decapitation was a crucial part of the Treasure King’s plan!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s why, when I turned back, triggering Feng Si’s taboo, you wept and said I had no chance left—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Isn’t that right, Bai Ma?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under Zhou Chang’s relentless words, Bai Ma was utterly stunned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She stared at his corpse-like face but could not penetrate the living soul hidden behind it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bai Ma’s skin crawled with dread.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We still have one chance, Bai Ma,” Zhou Chang fixed his gaze on her eyes, his stare piercing her soul. “Tell me—what if I placed someone else’s head atop the corpse-spirit?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Bai Ma, think carefully.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Work with me. Assist me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I get my chance—and so do you!”\u003C\u002Fp>",1200,"2026-06-19T18:47:42.084Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","dd69c6f71d128cc64dd00bb74868baa55960bfb12e94ebe5932de8d15ceeabae","there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-chapter-56","there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-chapter-54",209,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthere-is-a-malevolent-spirit-cover.jpg"]