Chapter 114: Gone with the Wind

Cui Yue’s body was riddled with wounds, blood gushing forth incessantly, yet his hands remained locked firmly onto the wooden sword, refusing to let go.

The woman in green, the ghost, still struggled to comprehend what had just unfolded. Her hollow, featureless face stared blankly at Cui Yue, and she stood frozen in place.

Past events drifted away like wind; all dust had finally settled.

This life was lived only for love, without regret. For this, she had defied the cycle of reincarnation and committed monstrous sins.

"Wait for the next life," she thought. "In the vast sea of people, perhaps I can call out to you once more: My beloved Pei Lang!"

The wound on the ghost’s chest continued to widen, and black miasma erupted from it, surging like a turbulent, relentless tide.

With her final ounce of strength, the woman in green raised her ghostly claws and pinched Cui Yue’s crown. With just the slightest pressure, he would perish on the spot.

"Heh, let it be! Life is short enough as it is. Harmed by others, I turned love into hatred. Through these decades of blood and carnage, I have long since lost my true self."

"There is a destiny in the unseen. I refused reincarnation to seek blood vengeance, and today, for my soul to scatter into nothingness is the fate I deserve."

"In my final moments, why add more to my sins?"

The ghost withdrew her hand, scattering her ghostly aura. A slender, jade-white finger emerged, gently wiping the blood from the corner of Cui Yue’s mouth. She sighed softly.

"You are truly a good person."

Cui Yue was overcome with a tide of conflicting emotions. Life and death, reincarnation—it all felt as calm as water. Having glimpsed the seven emotions and six desires of this world, what was love? And what was hate?

The ghost’s form gradually became transparent and ethereal; all her ghostly energy drained through the peach-wood sword.

The gaping wounds on Cui Yue’s chest began to absorb the vast, surging miasma like a blue dragon drinking from a river, drawing it deep into his body.

The ghost’s once-vacant face now slowly regained its contours. With a touch of rouge, beneath willow-leaf brows, her phoenix eyes shone like torches. As the blood-lust faded, her true, lotus-like beauty was revealed.

"Thank you, Cui Yue. Remember my name: Wei Luoyang."

With those words, the woman in green dissolved into a wisp of azure smoke, dancing away with the breeze.

A gentle wind rose, transforming into faint mists amidst the mountains.

Cui Yue felt a sharp, agonizing pain in his chest. Unable to support his riddled body any longer, he collapsed to the ground.

He stared at the trailing smoke, feeling a sense of profound loss, and murmured to himself:

"Luoyang, Luoyang... 'Look upon the Luo, the waters are vast and deep.' The world is but a dream..."

In the distance, the sound of Qin opera drifted through the mountains, faint and haunting.

*The resentment rises three thousand feet, the soul of the wrongly dead is filled with fury... The spirit lingers in sorrow, calling out the name of Pei Lang.*

*Beneath the red plum blossoms, never to be forgotten; by the West Lake, the heart's secrets are told. Though the body dies, the heart yearns; this love is indestructible, forged like steel...*

*I look up to the heavens and ask, why is the human world so full of agony? A lonely soul with nowhere to turn, the stars and moon are dim, the wind and dew are cold. I hear the sound of weeping in the garden, the solitary lamp shining against the window screen...*

*...I hate only the divide of yin and yang, a chasm that cannot be bridged, keeping us worlds apart.*

Cui Yue listened to the flowing aria, feeling dazed.

Indeed, the world is vast and distant; you and I are merely passersby. If we meet, a shared smile—like the first light of dawn—is all that remains. Do you still remember the vows we made?

Cui Yue’s vision blurred. His limbs lost all sensation, as if he were resting on a bed of soft cotton, and he slowly closed his eyes.

He wished only to drift into a deep slumber, with no next life, and no more of the mortal world.

...

The next morning, frost lay heavy and cold. The secluded, locked-down Yunshan Village bathed in the light of the rising sun, scrubbed clean of its past, waiting to be rebuilt.

The world was quiet; the dream was one of absolute peace.

Cui Yue was sleeping soundly when he was suddenly shaken awake.

"You brat, wake up!"

Old Freak Huo was busy pinching his philtrum and checking his pupils, a flurry of activity.

"Hmm? What... what happened?" Cui Yue asked, his eyes bleary with sleep.

"My goodness, you’re finally awake! I thought you’d kicked the bucket, kid." Old Freak Huo let out a sigh of relief upon seeing Cui Yue come to.

Cui Yue suddenly remembered the events of the night before and scrambled up.

He looked across the graveyard, but beyond a few lonely mounds, there was no sign of the ghost.

"What happened? I remember her name was Luoyang."

"She’s gone! To be precise, her soul has scattered. She’s gone where she belongs. I didn't realize you were so hung up on a ghost’s name."

Cui Yue spat on the ground, then sighed. "She had the chance to kill me last night, but she gave it up at the very last moment."

Old Freak Huo recalled the scene as well. With a complex expression, he said softly, "Perhaps after all these years of bloodshed, she was tired. For her, it was perhaps a form of liberation."

Cui Yue’s expression remained blank. He didn't respond, just stared quietly into the distance, deep in thought.

After a moment, Cui Yue stood up and walked straight toward Yunshan Village.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Old Freak Huo asked, puzzled.

"I’m going to find her!" Cui Yue replied without looking back.

Old Freak Huo thought his ears were failing him. Had the kid cracked his head last night and gone crazy?

"Are you out of your mind? Even if you died and became a ghost right now, you wouldn't find her! I told you, her soul has scattered. There isn't a shred of her spirit left in heaven or on earth." Old Freak Huo hurried after him, reaching out to grab the fool.

"She didn't belong here. She died with a grievance and was trapped for decades. I want to find her remains and give her a proper burial."

Old Freak Huo’s hand hung in mid-air. He looked at Cui Yue, unable to find words, and fell into deep contemplation.

Cui Yue made his way to the ancient well in the center of the village. He found a hemp rope as thick as a thumb, tied one end to a nearby bluestone, and dropped the other into the well. The mouth of the well was pitch black, bottomless to the eye.

Suddenly, a flashlight was pressed into Cui Yue’s hand.

Cui Yue looked up. Old Freak Huo nodded toward the well and cautioned, "Kid, be careful."

"I will!"

Cui Yue replied, gripping the rope and climbing down into the well.

The village well must have been abandoned for years; he heard no sound of water, only a terrifying silence.

Cui Yue descended slowly, his flashlight illuminating the moss-covered stone walls.

The bottom remained dark, the dim beam of the flashlight unable to pierce the gloom.

"It’s surprisingly cool down here."

Cui Yue felt a chilling draft and shivered involuntarily. His hand trembled, and the flashlight slipped from his grasp, falling into the depths.

*Thump.*

Cui Yue peered down anxiously. The dim light lay solitary at the bottom of the well.

He let out a long breath. *Thank goodness, it's not too far.*

Another quarter of an hour passed—it felt like a century—and he was finally near the bottom.

Suddenly, his foot sank into something soft and squishy. A wave of revulsion washed over him, and he jumped back in a panic.

He picked up the flashlight and nearly collapsed in terror.

A massive, black boar’s head, baring its tusks, stared at him with two blood-red eyes, glaring with pure malice!

"Mother of God!"

It was the black-skinned wild boar from before!

Cui Yue gasped, scrambling back until his spine hit the cold stone wall, with nowhere left to run.