Chapter 305

Liang Chao's great-grandfather's skin effigy was hung in Nan Shu Fang, the whole drying rack covered with a black cloth, and there was no movement all day.

That day was calm and still.

I and Li Qingying caught up on sleep for a while, then started making paper people, folding gold ingots, stamping paper money, etc.

As I expected, the funeral shop's business suddenly boomed.

Many townspeople came to buy paper money and gold ingots, also paper people and paper horses, most of whom took them to the Zhupan River bank to burn.

At dinner, Li Qingying angrily said to me, "Xiao Jiu, they're going too far—burning by the river is enough, but some people are burning paper money outside our pawnshop's courtyard wall, and some even mutteringly bury things under our wall."

I raised an eyebrow and asked, "What are they burying?"

"Just some talisman paper, copper coins, little peach-wood swords, and such."

Li Qingying said, tossing a small cloth bag onto the table.

I reached out and opened it—good grief, it turns out the townsfolk had been busy all day, and Li Qingying had swept it all away in one go!

If they found out, I'd guess hardly any household in Wufu Town would sleep tonight.

I fiddled with an ancient copper coin; it's genuine, an old artifact, should have been consecrated at a temple, and indeed it has the power to guard the house and repel evil.

It seems some people in Wufu Town still know about those events from over a hundred years ago.

Otherwise they wouldn't come to the pawnshop to burn paper money and perform rites.

Tonight, after guarding the pawnshop until midnight, I urged Li Qingying to close up and go to sleep.

If something is bound to happen, blocking it only delays it temporarily.

As the saying goes, there are thieves who can last a thousand days, but no guard can last a thousand days.

Li Qingying still slept in the same room as me; we lay in bed but neither could sleep.

How could we sleep?

Around one o'clock, we only heard a soft pa-da from Nan Shu Fang, like the sound of clothing falling to the ground.

Li Qingying was about to turn on the light and go look, but I grabbed her hand, pricked up my ears, and whispered, "Sister Qingying, listen—is that crying?"

Li Qingying's whole back went stiff.

Then I knew she had heard it too.

The wailing sound, at first like it burst from underground, with men and women, old and young, gradually spread to the backyard, growing louder, sounding even more unrestrained.

This scene was more tragic and frenzied than what I felt sitting in the red bridal sedan earlier.

However, this process didn't last long—only two or three minutes—when a shrill cat cry rang out in the main courtyard, and in an instant the whole pawnshop fell utterly silent.

I and Li Qingying waited a moment longer before turning on the light, putting on our clothes, and tiptoeing out toward the back.

Just as we passed the rear wing and entered the front courtyard, the flashlight beam swept the ground, and we were startled, instinctively stepping back a few paces.

In the front courtyard stands a large pagoda tree; beneath it is a bagua well, with a large stone placed on its rim.

At that moment, the edge of the stone was covered in messy black soot handprints, dense and layered.

A layer of ash floated on the ground ahead, within which faint traces of dried, blackened blood could be seen, extending all the way to the main hall.

As we walked through the front courtyard into the main hall, we saw the Black Cat sitting upright on the steps before the door, head held high, chest out, looking very dignified.

Just now it was its single cry that subdued those unclean things.

I walked over, picked it up, rubbed its head, and said, "Great job! I'll reward you with two extra sticks of incense later."

The Black Cat meowed twice, then rubbed its head against my chest.

Upon entering the west room, Li Qingying went to offer incense to the Black Cat; the cat leapt over and kept breathing in and out around the incense stick.

At that moment, the Copper Coin Person on the main deity's altar had faded to almost white, the gilt lacquer symbols on its soles were no longer discernible, and the base of the shrine was dripping with many bloodstains.

As I went over to tidy up, I suddenly froze.

Li Qingying saw me abruptly stop and asked, "Xiao Jiu, what's wrong?"

I raised my hand and pointed to Fu Wan's spirit tablet.

Fu Wan had been nurturing her soul in the tablet, which had always been enshrined, but now her tablet was not standing; it had fallen face‑down inside the shrine.

Ordinarily nothing gets into the west room, and when we come to offer incense we are careful; it's impossible to knock over the tablet without noticing.

This could hardly have been done by the Black Cat.

The Black Cat has always treated Fu Wan well, and as a creature its balance is innately superb; even if it jumped around on the shrine, unless it intended to, it could not knock things over.

So why did Fu Wan's tablet fall over?

I went over, lifted Fu Wan's tablet, and upon touching it realized something was off.

Fu Wan is a soul; if she were still in the tablet, the tablet would feel icy cold to the touch.

But the tablet in my hand was at normal temperature.

In other words, Fu Wan might no longer be in the tablet, or perhaps she has completely vanished, ashes scattered.

No, if Fu Wan had been reduced to ashes, the tablet would have split on its own, not merely fallen over.

So… did Fu Wan go out for a stroll?

When did she fully coalesce, and when did she run out?

It would be dangerous for her to go out now!

Thinking this, I immediately ran out, went under the eaves, and looked up carefully into the interior of the hexagonal palace lantern.

Previously, Fu Wan's remnant soul had been slowly nurtured inside the hexagonal palace lantern; I thought she might have returned there to continue cultivating her soul.

But she wasn't there.

Li Qingying also came over and whispered, "Xiao Jiu, when I came over just now I deliberately glanced at Nan Shu Fang, and that skin effigy was indeed gone."

"Sister Qingying, go to Liang Chao's house now and retrieve the skin effigy—be careful." I said, "I'll go look for Fu Wan."

We split up to act.

At this hour, all of Wufu Town is dead quiet, except for the ghost theater at the teahouse, which still has sound.

Fu Wan originally came out of the Zhu Pan River by wading through water, so she is more likely to go to the waterside.

So I headed straight for the Zhu Pan River, walked forward along the riverbank, and from afar saw the ghost theater on the open space in front of the teahouse.

On the ghost theater stage, several skin puppets were performing earnestly, and down below a sizable audience had already gathered.

And among that crowd of spectators, Fu Wan's soul unexpectedly appeared!

Her Soul Body had solidified, wearing a Republic-era student uniform, with a neat student hairstyle, her hands clasped in front, holding several books.

She stared intently at the ghost theater, not knowing how long she had stood there.

I lifted my foot to go toward the ghost theater, when at that moment my peripheral vision caught a familiar figure in the dim spot by the riverbank.

That person wore a military uniform, rode a tall horse, had a saber at his waist, and gripped the reins tightly……who else could it be but Zhao Zixun?

He hid in the darkness, staring fixedly at the edge of the ghost theater, that slender figure seemingly never tiring.