The tailor shop was dimly lit, with only three characters “Spring Joy” written from right to left outside.
It looked like an old family business, but when Xing Shuishui followed inside, she discovered it was quite different. The interior was clean and orderly, with cabinets on all sides filled with fabrics of various colors, pants, and gowns. A wooden board in front of her was posted with hemp papers listing fabric names.
When she mentioned wanting to sew a skirt, the shopkeeper immediately climbed up the wooden ladder.
When he got the needle and thread and looked back at the young girl, he almost fell off. She was sitting obediently on the stool, but in front of her… a menacing figure had appeared out of nowhere.
The young man stood tall, scanning the room coldly. He lifted the beaded curtain above his head and looked down at Xing Shuishui.
Xing Shuishui: “I thought you had left.”
“If I leave, you leave too.”
He Liansheng didn’t miss a single expression on her face as the disturbed beads clinked. Though blessed with divine features, his demeanor was as cold as a wrathful deity.
Xing Shuishui quietly shifted away.
He Liansheng sneered: “Are you that afraid of me?”
Xing Shuishui: “I’m just here to mend clothes, stop causing trouble.”
“Xing Shuishui, stop pretending with me.”
He Liansheng suddenly grabbed her arm and pinned her against the cabinet.
His breath fell on Xing Shuishui’s cheeks, making them tingle.
She really disliked this feeling.
He snarled: “Xing Shuishui, in this world only one thing fears me most—spirits. Be careful, if I catch your fox tail, I’ll make sure there’s nothing left of you.”
Oh, no wonder he was always monitoring her for no reason. So that’s why.
She stared at him blankly for a while.
Then she said: “You’re pressing on my hair…”
“It hurts a bit.”
He Liansheng’s gaze was cold, but he also seemed lost in thought for a moment.
Seeing the tense atmosphere, the shopkeeper hurried over with a smile: “Please calm down, sir. Let me first mend this young lady’s skirt.”
Like grabbing a lifeline, Xing Shuishui quickly waved him over. The shopkeeper nervously placed the wooden tray beside her. He Liansheng left the shop, and suddenly the beaded curtain’s string snapped, scattering beads everywhere. There was no need to guess who did it.
This led to Xing Shuishui not only paying for the mending but also patiently helping the shopkeeper pick up the beads one by one, apologizing on He Liansheng’s behalf. The shopkeeper was extremely grateful.
Leaving the shop, Xing Shuishui found He Liansheng hadn’t left. She actually wanted to remind this ill-tempered man to be more careful next time—it was surprising he hadn’t been beaten to death yet. Then she noticed the jade tablet on him. Well, as a Lingshan celestial master, he had reason to be arrogant.
He Liansheng turned his head.
Xing Shuishui smiled and showed him the mended skirt hem.
Sometimes even he didn’t understand—he had just been so cruel to her, yet she acted as if nothing had happened, so pure.
They walked in silence after that, neither speaking.
Xing Shuishui deliberately maintained distance from He Liansheng, afraid he might test her again if he became unhappy. Only when they returned to their lodgings did she slightly lower her guard.
Unexpectedly, the siblings hadn’t gone to sleep and were still talking by lamplight. Li Guanxing looked unwell, exasperated.
“Sister, I’ve told you so many times not to trust those beggars on the street, with their stories about selling themselves to bury their fathers, having no one to rely on. They’re just scamming you for money! Think about it, that woman selling herself to bury her father—how much did we give her last time? And now she’s here again selling herself to bury her father! How many fathers does she have?”
Li Guanyu thought seriously: “Guanxing, don’t say that. Maybe she’s burying her adoptive father. Someone so loyal deserves our generosity.”
Li Guanxing held his head, looking about to explode: “But she wasn’t even grateful—she stole your money pouch! Sister, you really shouldn’t have stopped me from going after her!”
Li Guanyu said: “We only lost a money pouch, but for them it might have been a huge help. Such a good deed is rare in this world—material things don’t matter much. Guanxing, you should focus on cultivation.”
Still fuming, Li Guanxing noticed Xing Shuishui and He Liansheng standing at the door: “You two are back.”
Seeing He Liansheng, he was surprised—he actually waited for her.
Xing Shuishui showed off her mended skirt hem again. Looking at the crooked stitches, Li Guanxing wanted to blind himself—if she hadn’t said anything, he would have thought she sewed it herself.
Clearly, Xing Shuishui was easily satisfied.
He pondered: “How much did you spend?”
Xing Shuishui held up two fingers.
“Two copper coins?”
“Two taels. Two taels of silver.”
Li Guanxing suddenly felt much better about his sister being scammed.
They soon received a letter from Master Zhu. It mentioned a funeral at the city lord’s mansion—the city lord’s daughter had died from an incurable illness. They had invited the Zhu couple and their young children.
Li Guanyu and her brother would pose as the Zhu couple, while He Liansheng would be the Zhu son.
Xing Shuishui originally didn’t want to go, thinking she could search their lodgings thoroughly while the Lingshan people were away—surely she could find who she was looking for. But the Zhu family was so terrified of spirits that they stayed home all day, and no one was willing to accompany them.
So Xing Shuishui had to play the Zhu daughter.
Xing Shuishui felt she could still resist.
She worried: “Won’t this be dangerous? I have no cultivation power. I’m afraid I’ll hold you back.”
Li Guanyu said: “Don’t worry, Miss Xing. With me and Guanxing here, nothing will happen to you. We’re just going to ask the death messenger for passage, then He Liansheng will enter Fengdu City alone. Guanxing and I will wait outside to assist him—you’ll stay with us.”
They’re going to Fengdu City?
Xing Shuishui was surprised they were so daring, not afraid of never returning. But if those who hadn’t received the King of Hell’s judgment would remain in Fengdu City, could Sister be there now?
Xing Shuishui lowered her eyes, quickly hiding the longing in them.
She smiled: “Sister Guanyu is truly compassionate! Actually… I think it’s too formal for Sister Guanyu to call me Miss Xing. If you don’t mind, just call me Shuishui!”
Li Guanyu praised: “Your name suits you well, fresh as spring water.”
Li Guanxing’s gaze nearly turned Xing Shuishui into a sieve.
With the city lord’s daughter dead, the entire mansion was shrouded in gloom. As soon as Xing Shuishui entered, she saw mourners kneeling before the coffin chanting elegies. Their voices were mournful and stirring as they kowtowed occasionally. The grieving relatives in mourning clothes seemed affected, wiping tears and calling the deceased’s name.
Usually, the body would be kept for three days after death.
During this time, they had to prevent cats and dogs from disturbing the spirit and avoid startling the corpse.
Xing Shuishui turned to look at He Liansheng. Even with his transformed gentle jade-like face, he still wore an expression that spelled trouble for anyone who provoked him. Those who knew would understand this was a funeral, but others might think he came to kill someone at the funeral.
Li Guanxing asked quietly: “Sister, when will the death messenger arrive?”
It was too noisy around them—Xing Shuishui only caught the words “death messenger” and looked around: “Where? Where? I don’t see anyone.”
Li Guanxing was exasperated: “Of course you can’t see them. How could a mortal like you see death messengers?”
This reminded her to be careful not to expose herself.
Xing Shuishui pretended to be disappointed. Li Guanyu comforted her: “Don’t be sad, Shuishui. Sometimes it’s better not to see non-human things. Some ghosts are missing eyeballs or heads—quite frightening at first sight.”
He Liansheng narrowed his eyes: “You want to see?”
Warning bells rang in Xing Shuishui’s mind as she shook her head frantically.
“Then shut up.”
The city lord decided it was time and ordered servants to set up the feast.
They waited half the day—no death messenger.
The dishes were served—no death messenger.
The meal finished—still no death messenger.
Li Guanxing found it strange: “They should have arrived by now, based on past experience.”
He suddenly exclaimed: “He Liansheng, what are you doing!”
He Liansheng cast an invisibility spell and walked toward the memorial hall as if no one was there. Xing Shuishui, wearing mourning clothes, followed. The kneeling people saw her young age and thought she must have been close to the deceased, so they made room for her.
He Liansheng peered into the coffin: “The death messenger won’t come.”
Hearing this, Li Guanxing also cast a spell and came to look, exclaiming in shock: “How can this be? Where’s her soul?”
People in the memorial hall seemed to sense something, gazing confusedly at the coffin. But that area was empty, with only white silk hanging from the rafters swaying gently. Li Guanxing quickly covered his mouth.
Li Guanyu walked behind Xing Shuishui and tapped her. Xing Shuishui felt her body become lighter.
The person kneeling beside Xing Shuishui rubbed their eyes and asked: “Hey, didn’t you see a young girl here just now?”
Their companion replied impatiently: “What young girl? You must be seeing things. This spot has been empty the whole time.”
Xing Shuishui looked down and realized she too could now move around unnoticed. Excitedly, she tugged at Li Guanyu’s sleeve. Li Guanyu gestured for her to follow.
“Did we come too late? Has the death messenger already been here?”
Li Guanyu also lowered her eyes to look.
He Liansheng: “Not necessarily.”
The young man suddenly narrowed his eyes toward the main gate. Another group of yellow-robed monks had entered the city lord’s mansion. The mourners bowed respectfully to them.
Xing Shuishui observed their ritual bells—they were monks invited by the city lord to perform funeral rites.
Li Guanyu frowned: “We’ll interfere with their ceremonies if we stay outside. Let’s wait in a room for now.”
Indeed, several invisible people standing around the coffin would make the monks think a group of formless “ghosts” were there when they performed the rites.
The four of them pushed open the door to the largest room and went inside, closing it behind them.
What a coincidence.
Xing Shuishui’s eyes immediately fell on a geographical scroll depicting the entire current region.
The scroll was long and detailed, not only containing many strange symbols and directional lines, but also hexagrams rendered in black ink. This was—a very large magical array.
For the first time since her rebirth, Xing Shuishui’s expression became extremely grim.
This formation—she would recognize it even if it were burned to ashes…
Li Guanxing also discovered it: “Look! These places were exactly where the jade carvings massacred people, and they all have the same symbols.”
“What kind of demonic formation is this? It’s so eerie just looking at it. I’ve never seen anything like it in any texts. Why would the city lord’s mansion have such a thing?”
Li Guanyu frowned and took out a communication talisman: “Let’s wait a moment. I’ll ask Master.”
Soon after, she muttered: “How could this be… how could this be…”
He Liansheng impatiently: “What did that old man say?”
Li Guanyu said: “This is the Soul Capturing Grand Formation that was lost over a hundred years ago, from the ‘Yinshan Treasure Scripture.’ It was created by the Yinshan Patriarch. The first generation of evil cultivators, Guan Yinzi… was a forbidden topic at Lingshan.”
Seeing Xing Shuishui’s pale face, Li Guanxing patted her shoulder: “Scared stiff, aren’t you? We told you not to come but you insisted. Let me tell you, Guan Yinzi especially likes to eat little girls like you who aren’t even fully grown.”
Li Guanyu scolded: “Guanxing, don’t scare her. The Yinshan Patriarch died three hundred years ago. The scripture was also burned by the person who killed him.”
Xing Shuishui said quietly: “I’m not scared stiff. I’m just… just curious why the soul-capturing technique would appear here. Didn’t Sister Guanyu say it was lost over a hundred years ago?”
Li Guanxing interjected: “The person who killed him—I remember—I think it was Xue Jiuling. I heard Master say she was a very strange peach blossom spirit. She might have known the scripture’s contents. Think about it, Sister. Back then Xue Jiuling had only a hundred years of cultivation but could fight life and death battles with that thousand-year-old monster Du Dizhu. She must have used the ‘Yinshan Treasure Scripture’!”
Xing Shuishui resisted kicking him. What nonsense—that was because of the Leaving Fire…
Li Guanxing muttered to himself: “No, wait! Didn’t that spirit also get struck dead by heavenly lightning a hundred years ago? My master said she was burned to ashes! How tragic. Could it be she didn’t die completely? Is she stirring up trouble in Fengdu City?”
Xing Shuishui: “…”
Why throw every bit of dirty water on her?
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