Chapter 696

Reincarnation is certainly good; it is also the longed‑for ending of many wandering souls and wild ghosts.

How fortunate I am to have received help from everyone inside and outside the Dang Pu.

I should have gone on to reincarnate then, so as not to trouble anyone further.

But I am indeed somewhat greedy; I always feel there are many things I have yet to do.

I still have a debt of gratitude to repay.

It seems… it seems I am still waiting for someone…

In short, I chose to stay.

And I, too, have gotten my wish.

Xiao Jiu Zhanggui asked the Dou family to make a spirit tablet for me.

At that time, my soul could already condense a bit; sometimes at the dead of night I would emerge from the Soul‑guiding Lamp and stand beneath the eaves, looking around.

For a day or two, I locked eyes with the man who rode the warhorse.

He is really strange; whenever I look at him, his gaze starts to dodge.

He clearly comes to see me every night, yet when I truly manifest, he dodges—what does that mean?

Still, he is quite handsome, bearing a soldier's spirited bearing, which attracts me.

A few days later, my tablet was finished; I was directly ushered into it and enshrined on the altar in the west room of the main courtyard, formally receiving incense offerings.

That night, just as everyone was preparing to rest, the Dang Pu's gate was loudly knocked on.

It was the man on the warhorse coming to knock, looking for me.

I heard it.

I also heard Fifth Lord Grey shout at him: "Fu Wan has been taken in! The young lady is youthful and beautiful, now she even has a position; someday she'll be our Dang Pu's Clear Wind, General Zhao—if you want to renew your fate, you'd better work hard!"

The man stared for a good while before leaving.

From that day on, fragments of memory began to flash in my mind.

From their words, I gradually came to know something about that man.

His name is Zhao Zixun; he was once a victorious general, but now… is he a walking corpse? Or a ghost commander?

In short, he is very formidable.

Between him and me, there once was a deep entanglement.

But as the Black Cat said, our affair must be settled by us two alone; no one else should involve themselves in our karma.

With the nourishment of merit and the support of incense, my Ghost Cultivation proceeds ever more smoothly, and the state of my soul body becomes ever more solid.

Xiao Jiu Zhanggui and the others are too busy, running east and west; often only Sister Qingying is left to guard the Dang Pu.

Whenever this happens, I and the Black Cat naturally heighten our vigilance, nipping every danger in the bud.

Zhao Zixun also pays close attention to the Dang Pu; whenever he needs to lend a hand, he does so without hesitation.

In the battle at Small Camp Mouth, he led the Red Flag Child and the Black Cat on a thousand‑mile rush, rendering great aid.

Li Qingying began to urge me, wanting me to give Zhao Zixun some ideological work; she has always wanted to recruit him.

I have tried a few times to approach Zhao Zixun, but before I could speak, he would mount his horse and flee.

This man… is truly beyond words.

Am I some flood‑beast? Do I really frighten people that much?

One day, a ghost theater was erected on the square before the teahouse, near the Zhu Pan River.

I love listening to opera; as soon as the performance begins there, I come out of my tablet and run over to listen.

Each time, I feel a scorching gaze fixed on me from afar.

I don't even need to turn around to know who it is.

Of course, I also sneaked a glance back.

Sure enough, it was Zhao Zixun.

I discussed this with Xiao Jiu Zhanggui, and for some reason her eye sockets instantly filled with moisture, her eyes full of pity.

She seemed to want to say something to me, but found it hard to speak.

She asked me: "Wanwan, just how much of your past memories have you recovered?"

I told her the truth.

She then pressed: "Do you still remember Zhao Zixun?"

I shook my head: "I don't remember; did we really know each other before?"

Xiao Jiu Zhanggui took my hand and said pityingly: "Wanwan, General Zhao is a good man; he once did some wrongs under duress, but it wasn't his will—he was schemed against, and you also suffered misfortune then. If one day you regain all your memories, I hope you two can reconcile properly."

I heard her in a daze, but hating to see her cry for me, I kept nodding: "I understand; I can tell who's good and who's bad."

Xiao Jiu Zhanggui smiled with relief.

I'm really foolish.

Despite Xiao Jiu Zhanggui's hints and guidance, I still haven't recalled that painful and humiliating memory.

Perhaps because that memory wounded me too deeply, I have chosen to bury it.

I've hidden it so well that even I can't find it.

Until the moment Chen Ping's blood corpse appeared in the Dang Pu, my entire soul body felt as if struck hard by a heavy blow.

Everything, everything, came rushing back.

When all the dust had settled, I instead drew my head in like a turtle.

I began to avoid Zhao Zixun; I dare not face him.

I dare not let him know what I have endured.

I… I am afraid he will despise me… as dirty…

The first to notice something was off about me was Li Qingying.

She greatly admired Zhao Zixun and never gave up the idea of recruiting him through me.

Especially when construction began in the Jiǔyàn qū area, she told me that later they would establish a Clear Wind Hall there, and both I and Zhao Zixun could be recruited into it, receiving incense offerings.

When I realized I had fallen for Zhao Zixun, I was happy to talk about him with Li Qingying.

But during that time, I kept avoiding the topic.

Li Qingying immediately sensed something was wrong and turned to tell Xiao Jiu Zhanggui.

Xiao Jiu Zhanggui called me alone to her room, saying she wanted to show me something.

That day, I saw the blood letter and stamps Zhao Zixun had desperately left for me before his death.

When I saw the line on the blood letter: "Wanwan, after receiving this letter, if someday you meet me again, be sure to run fast! Stay far away! Then it will definitely no longer be the original me!"

Two lines of blood tears trickled down my cheeks.

As a ghost, I can no longer feel heartache.

But right now, my soul is trembling, and my Soul Body has become unstable.

I recalled our last meeting.

In that dim alley, his silhouette flashed by.

By then, he was already dead!

A coffin nail was driven fiercely between his eyebrows, and from then on he was no longer himself.

All his actions were no longer under his own control.

I too have been controlled by a coffin nail, so I can empathize with him.

The things he did while under the coffin nail's control are things that, as an upright soldier with a clear mind, he could never have done.

He cannot bear to look back on the time when he was a puppet.

He cannot bear to face the sins he once committed.

No wonder he's so conflicted—unable to let go of me, yet afraid to approach me.

That day, I made a decision.

This time, let me first resolutely walk toward him.

To love him.

To redeem him…