Volume 1, Chapter 158: The Tragedy of the Village Guardian (2)

From that day on, Lu Fulai never saw a glimmer of light in Lu Qihua’s eyes again; she would always stare into the distance with a vacant expression.

Lu Fulai asked her, "Mom, are you homesick?"

Lu Qihua would stroke his head with a blank face, offering a bitter smile but remaining silent. Lu Fulai felt as if she were drifting further and further away from him. Back then, he understood nothing. Until...

One night, he heard a commotion coming from her room. Concerned, he walked over, only to see Lu Qihua, stark naked, her limbs bound to the bed, with the burly Uncle Wang from next door—who sold eggs—crawling on top of her.

Lu Qihua, usually numb, froze when she caught sight of those bright, clear eyes in the corner. In that moment, humiliation, panic, and shame washed over her. She struggled to push the man off, but her resistance only seemed to excite him further. Because of her past history of biting, her mouth was gagged. Lu Qihua shook her head frantically, but the wretched scene had already been witnessed by Lu Fulai.

Lu Qihua did not know when Lu Fulai left. She only remembered that there was no moon that night; the dark sky was devoid of stars, just like her own world, which lacked even a flicker of light. It rained all night long. The pattering sound of the rain felt like a funeral dirge.

In his heart, Lu Fulai harbored a burning hatred for the villagers who abused his mother, yet he was also desperately trying to protect her dignity. Thus, he decided to bury everything that happened that night deep within his heart.

Perhaps it was from catching a chill in the night air, but Lu Fulai developed a fever the next day, one that flickered on and off for a month before he recovered. After this major illness, Lu Fulai, who was never very talkative, became even more reticent. The villagers whispered that the fever had scorched his brain. Whenever this happened, Lu Qihua, who usually cared little for gossip, would flare up like an angry cat and get into arguments with them.

Lu Fulai, afraid that the secrets he held would be discovered, began to avoid her intentionally. He did not realize that it was precisely this avoidance that caused Lu Qihua to lose the final shred of courage she had to keep living.

Lu Fulai clearly remembered that morning, when the woman called "Grandmother" was grumbling: "Lazy slut, sleeping until this hour! I'll sell her off sooner or later." These words had calloused his ears. Taking advantage of the moment "Grandmother" turned away, he quietly crept to the door of Lu Qihua’s room. Peering through the only window of that confined space, he saw the quilt folded neatly—it did not look as if anyone had slept there at all. Perhaps due to a mother-son intuition, he panicked.

—

Lu Qihua was dead. She had drowned in the clearest stream in Jia Village. She likely believed that this stream could lead to the outside world, and that after death, she would be able to return to her hometown.

Unfortunately, her body was still claimed by the woman called Grandmother. Even after Lu Qihua was dead, the woman’s malice towards her did not diminish in the slightest. From that day on, Lu Fulai became truly "dim-witted"—he not only lost his ability to speak but also lost the most basic of facial expressions. Perhaps thinking that Lu Fulai was the only bloodline left, "Grandmother," however much she despised him, did not abandon him.

...

Lu Fulai looked calm, gently stroking the tattered scrap of paper in his hand as if it were a treasure.

Qin Yu raised an eyebrow. "Is that all?"

Lu Fulai did not speak, maintaining the motion of stroking the paper.

Qin Yu asked, "You killed those people, including your grandmother, with your own hands, didn't you?"

As Lu Fulai recounted the past, several pitch-black lines appeared on his face—the mark of death reserved for those nearing their end, a chronicle of the sins of his life.

Lu Fulai revealed a frantic, smug smile and retorted, "Didn't they deserve to die?"

Qin Yu did not deny his question, for she too felt those people deserved their fates.

"As a son, if I did not avenge this, I would not be worthy of the name!"

Qin Yu sighed deeply in her heart. This was Lu Fulai's choice; she had no right to question it further.

"Then tell me about this 'living soul.' Where did you get it?"

Lu Fulai hesitated. Before he could speak, he heard Qin Yu’s voice: "I can tell at a glance if you are lying."

Lu Fulai suppressed his inner schemes and confessed, "A Taoist priest gave it to me. He said that as long as I did things for him, he would teach me the method to resurrect my mother."

"What kind of Taoist?"

The sudden question left Lu Fulai a bit dazed. He tried hard to recall everything about the priest in his mind, but it was in vain. He had seen the man many times, yet now he could not remember his face. Finally, he gave up. "I don't know."

"You don't know? How could you not know?" Lu Jinyuan was skeptical.

Lu Fulai shrugged. "I really don't know. I should know, but I just don't." His words sounded like a tongue-twister, leading Lu Jinyuan to think he was playing games with them.

"In our Xuanmen, there are arts that can conceal one’s appearance. Perhaps he wasn't lying."

Lu Fulai remained silent, repeating over and over, "Can you really let me see her one last time?"

Qin Yu studied his face carefully. "What is the priest’s goal?"

Lu Fulai shook his head slightly. "He just had me refine corpse oil into various products and hand them over. As for where she is, I don't know."

Qin Yu stared at him, seemingly judging the truth of his words. After a moment, she asked, "Why did you spare me in the cave?"

Back then, if he had let the old woman melt her down, none of this would be happening now.

Lu Fulai’s gaze drifted. He lifted his hand with great effort; his blackened palm hovered just below Qin Yu’s nose. He squinted, his expression one of nostalgia. "Your eyes are very beautiful..."

Just like hers. That was why his heart had softened. Of course, he hadn't been without a backup plan; he had tried to erase everything regarding the old woman from Qin Yu’s mind. What he hadn't expected was that Qin Yu’s cultivation was far deeper than he had imagined; he simply couldn't wipe it clean. When Qin Yu found the cave, he could only order the old woman to self-destruct and destroy all evidence to protect himself in the shadows. But Qin Yu hadn't been fooled; instead, she had tracked the old woman back to him.

He looked at Qin Yu, tilting his head slightly, and a dirty smile appeared on his pale, weak face. "If she hadn't been trapped in this place, she could have been just like you..." His voice choked with emotion.

Qin Yu felt a stifling discomfort in her chest. She glanced at Lu Jinyuan and said, "You go out for a moment."

Lu Jinyuan was worried about Qin Yu, but before leaving, he gave Lu Fulai a heavy look. Once Lu Jinyuan was far away, Mu Ling popped out.

He took a deep breath of fresh air and didn't stop talking. "Suffocated! I was suffocated!"

Hearing no response from Qin Yu, Mu Ling turned back in confusion, only to see her staring at him. He was so startled he almost bit his tongue. "L-Little Yu, why are you looking at me like that?"

Qin Yu withdrew her gaze. "Do you have a way to call back this living soul?"

Qin Yu’s solemnity made Mu Ling unconsciously serious as well. He deliberated carefully, his expression heavy. His light form leaped onto Qin Yu’s shoulder, and he exclaimed in surprise, "A living soul! This is the first time I've ever seen a living soul stay in this world for so long!"

A living soul is called such because it retains a person's vitality, offering a chance for rebirth. This was the reason Lu Fulai had persisted all this time. However, the Taoist who gave him the soul hadn't told him: a living soul only works within forty-nine days, or perhaps the priest never intended for Lu Qihua to come back to life at all.

Qin Yu rolled her eyes at him. "Stop being so jumpy and think of a way, quickly."

Mu Ling scratched his dark head with his finger, looking troubled. "I've never encountered this situation before either..."

Qin Yu: ...

"Just tell me if there is a way or not!"

Mu Ling shook his head. "It's simply been too long."

Qin Yu looked at Lu Fulai’s increasingly pale complexion and pondered. She couldn't delay any longer; Lu Fulai was running out of time. It seemed there was only one way left.

The moment that thought crossed her mind, Mu Ling sensed it. His face went cold, and he asked very solemnly, "Little Yu, are you really going to do that?"

"There's no time to think about that."

She sat cross-legged, heedless of everything else.

—

Lu Jinyuan checked his watch. Only twenty minutes had passed, but it felt as long as a century. He paced back and forth in anxiety until a soft sobbing sound came from the cave.

At almost the same moment, the grass by the roadside swayed in the wind, and Lu Jinyuan was gone from where he had stood.

Lu Fulai, leaning against a rock, had stopped breathing, but a satisfied smile remained on his face. Qin Yu lay on the ground nearby. In the air, a small, pale white flower quietly withered away.

[The Aftermath for Lu Fulai and Lu Qihua]

Using the soul as a guide, Qin Yu sought out Lu Qihua at the River of Oblivion. Because her three souls were incomplete, Lu Qihua had been reincarnated three times, each time as a simpleton who never lived past the age of ten, where cold eyes and mockery were common occurrences.

When Qin Yu found her, she was sitting by the Bridge of Helplessness, her face covered in tears.

"Do you remember Lu Fulai?"

Lu Qihua had a lovely face. She looked up in surprise, a hint of confusion in her features. She murmured, "Fulai... Fulai..." As if remembering something, she said softly, "Is he doing well?"

"He wants to see you."

Lu Qihua was stunned. "Better not."

That memory seemed etched into her soul; whenever she returned here, it tormented her. She knew Lu Fulai was innocent, but she...

Qin Yu did not force her, simply handing her a scrap of paper. "If you change your mind, kiss this paper, and it will take you where you wish to go."