Chapter 149

Chapter 149

◎Departure◎

He Long took the team outside for a final check. Ji Nanxing had already set up the Eight Directions Array Talismans in the haunted house. If things got out of hand inside, activating the array would suppress the evil energy.

As for Qian Fei, He Long didn’t hold much hope. He had a general idea of Qian Fei’s situation. Even if the lingering spirits inside had an obsession with him, Qian Fei was just an ordinary person. If he got caught in a reenactment and felt the heat of a fire, staying calm would be tough.

An untrained person, faced with ghosts and fire, would surely panic.

At dusk, Mu Chun showed up with two team members. He Long waved with a grin, "Hey, Captain Mu!"

Mu Chun brushed off his casual attitude and asked about the progress. After hearing their plan, Mu Chun said, "I’ll go in with Nanxing."

Nineteen people had died here, all bound by the land’s force. Mu Chun wasn’t comfortable with Ji Nanxing going in alone.

He Long laughed, "Captain Mu, I asked for your help, not to have you take my credit. You should stay outside with my team to secure the perimeter. Going inside is for me and Little Nanxing. Besides, aren’t my innate Yin-Yang eyes perfect for this?"

Mu Chun frowned, considering whether to let him go in.

He Long waved, "I haven’t worked with Little Nanxing yet, don’t take my chance."

Nearby, Xiao Ye, who’d been listening, asked, "Is He Long going in with you?"

Ji Nanxing nodded, "It’s his case. As captain, it’s normal he’d want to go in. Why?"

Xiao Ye shook his head, "Nothing, I just feel better knowing someone’s with you."

If he wasn’t afraid of being a burden, Xiao Ye would’ve gone in with Ji Nanxing. But he knew his limits. He could draw talismans, but that was it—he couldn’t even activate them. If he went in, Ji Naonao would have to protect him, so he’d better stay outside.

"Did you bring all the talismans? Keep some in your pocket for quick use. I’ve got a stack for you—I’ll put them in your waist bag, just in case."

Ji Nanxing glanced at the waist bag, "One or two talismans are enough. I’ve got ten thunder talismans—more than enough to wipe out the ghosts. No need for the bag."

Xiao Ye insisted, "Better safe than sorry."

As he checked Ji Nanxing’s gear, He Long appeared and exclaimed, "How long have I been gone? Are Yulan City’s Taoists this rich now?"

A stack of thunder talismans—was he planning to wipe out every ghost within a hundred meters? No wonder Ji Nanxing was going in alone. With this gear, he could handle the haunted house blindfolded.

Ji Nanxing gave in and let Xiao Ye fasten the waist bag. Then he turned to He Long, "Is it time?"

He Long nodded, "Almost. The place has been closed for a long time, so we’re airing it out."

The clouds had covered the moon at some point. Fearing that tonight’s commotion might make headlines tomorrow, the authorities had sealed off the entire street under the pretext of circuit maintenance. Only the streetlights in the alley were on, giving off an eerie chill.

Qian Fei rubbed his arms. Even in the middle of summer, he felt a coldness that gave him goosebumps. Looking at the courtyard with its brick wall torn down, he felt even more uneasy.

Ji Nanxing checked the time, "It’s about time, let’s go in."

Xiao Ye quickly reached out and hugged him, trying to transfer his own Yang Energy to him, "You must be careful. Don’t push yourself if things get tough. If we can’t handle it this year, we’ll wait for the next decade. If it’s too dangerous, just throw out a bunch of talismans and run out."

Ji Nanxing looked up slightly at Xiao Ye’s worried expression and smiled, "Don’t worry, I’ll come out without a single hair out of place."

Back then, he had ventured into a deserted village alone and had to summon Yin Officers to escape when he was cornered. Compared to that, this haunted house was just a minor scene.

He Long patted Qian Fei’s shoulder, "Remember, everything you see inside is from the past, and everything you feel is fake. As long as you firmly believe it’s fake, the things inside can’t hurt you."

Qian Fei nodded, took a deep breath, and followed the two Taoists into the small courtyard that had been sealed for who knows how many years.

They had strung up some temporary lights in the small courtyard, but due to its long closure, there was still a weird mix of earthy and burnt smells. Even though it hadn’t seen the sun in years, the weeds inside had grown wild, taller than a person.

Qian Fei thought it was odd and couldn’t help but whisper, "How come I can still smell something burnt after all these years?"

Ji Nanxing turned to look at him, "You can smell something burnt?"

Qian Fei nodded.

He Long’s face shifted, "Get ready, it’s coming."

Qian Fei instinctively grabbed Ji Nanxing’s sleeve. The moment He Long’s voice fell, the whole rundown courtyard seemed to roll back in time. The weeds disappeared, the brick walls vanished, and the house, sealed for years, slowly showed what it looked like before the fire.

The courtyard was a standard two-entry setup with a narrow main gate and a long passageway. After getting past the weedy passageway between the bricks, they entered a front gate leading to a three-sided courtyard.

In the middle was the main house, with a large kitchen on the left and an old-fashioned toilet and bathroom on the right.

A big willow tree, taller than the second floor, stood in the middle of the courtyard, its branches hanging quietly under the cold moonlight.

He Long sucked in a sharp breath, "No wonder this place turned into a haunted spot."

Seeing such an unscientific scene firsthand, Qian Fei’s brain was already fried. Sure, he believed in fate and ghosts, but he had never seen them with his own eyes. Now, right in the thick of it, his whole worldview was shifting.

Hearing He Long’s words, Qian Fei started to respond without thinking, "Why did it turn into a haunted spot?"

Ji Nanxing said, "They say planting a willow by your door invites endless trouble. Check out those hanging willow branches—don’t they look like a ghost banner?"

Qian Fei couldn’t stop shivering, gripping Ji Nanxing’s sleeve even tighter. He hadn’t seen it before, but now it totally looked like a ghost banner at the gate!

Remembering that the people in the house had been dead for thirty years, Qian Fei even regretted agreeing to come in. Before experiencing it firsthand, he didn’t feel it, but now, he figured he was brave for not peeing his pants.

Seeing Qian Fei’s pale face, He Long smiled, "This is your hometown. You’re about to see your family. It’s a one-time deal, so make it count."

Hearing this, Qian Fei became even more nervous. Ji Nanxing had already stepped towards the main hall. Even though it was a reenactment, they were pulled into the dead’s memories, and what they saw now was all real.

Entering the house, the first floor was pitch dark, and everyone inside was obviously asleep. Back then, TVs were rare, and people hit the hay early.

Qian Fei whispered, "What should we do now? Should we see how the fire happened back then?"

Ji Nanxing looked at him, "Don’t you want to see your biological parents?"

Qian Fei bit his lip, paused, and then nodded, "I want to see them."

If he didn’t take this chance, he’d regret it forever.

Qian Fei’s biological father was Qian Yongfeng, and his mother was Wang Min. They lived on the second floor and were still awake. Through the crack in the door, they could even see the light inside.

Hearing the soft sobbing inside, Qian Fei let go of Ji Nanxing’s sleeve and walked into the room.

Wang Min was a woman of average appearance, still plump from pregnancy and childbirth, but exuding a maternal gentleness.

She was still in her postpartum period, with a scarf wrapped around her head, sitting on the bed wiping her tears.

Qian Yongfeng sat on the other side of the bed, head down in silence, holding a cigarette but not lighting it, just occasionally sniffing it to ease his inner turmoil.

After a while, Qian Yongfeng stood up, and Qian Fei finally saw his face clearly. He was indeed his father’s brother, with at least a fifty percent resemblance, especially in their eyebrows, likely a family trait.

But unlike his father, Qian Yongfeng had a sharper appearance. Unlike his father, who, perhaps from working in the community for so long, dealing with family disputes, had grown to look more like a good-natured person.

Seeing Qian Yongfeng’s appearance, Qian Fei thought to himself, so this is what my biological father looks like. No wonder I’m not bad-looking; my biological father is quite handsome.

Qian Yongfeng walked around the bed and sat next to Wang Min, wringing a towel to wipe her face, then pulled her into his arms and patted her: "I’m sorry. I owe my brother, but you have to help me repay it. Wife, I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you. Please, stop crying, okay?"

Wang Min grabbed Qian Yongfeng’s clothes and cried even harder. That was her son, the one she carried for ten long months. Even though she knew, even before marrying Qian Yongfeng, that this child wasn’t meant to be hers, this was something they had agreed upon.

But when the child was actually taken from her, Wang Min felt as if her heart had been ripped out.

Qian Yongfeng patted her back and said, "I’ve talked to my brother. He’ll stay in his wife’s hometown for the next few years. When the child grows up, he will bring him back, and they’ll live in the courtyard next to ours. It’ll be nearby, so you can see him every day if you want."

But Wang Min said, "But he won’t call me ‘Mom,’ and he won’t call you ‘Dad.’ He won’t know he’s our child. He’ll only call you ‘Uncle’ and me ‘Auntie,’ but I’m his mother."

Qian Yongfeng could only hold her and comfort her, not knowing what else to say. After a while, he said, "First, focus on recovering and taking care of yourself. In a couple of years, we’ll have another one. I’ll work harder to save up, and we’ll pay the fine to have another child, okay?"

What else could Wang Min say? The child had already been taken away. Afraid she’d struggle to let go, they barely let her see the child after he was born.

Her in-laws were hesitant but kept silent. Though the grandparents stayed quiet, they silently backed the decision. To them, no matter who raised the child, he’d always be part of the Qian family. Besides, her brother-in-law couldn’t have children and would cherish her son as his own, so they all advised her to let it go.

This was something they’d agreed on before getting married. Before they married, Qian Yongfeng had explained the promise he’d made to his brother, saying that his life was saved by his brother. If she wasn’t willing, he wouldn’t hold her back.

So Wang Min had made up her mind before marrying Qian Yongfeng. She had been mentally preparing herself all along. Even during her second pregnancy, her brother-in-law’s family covered all the expenses. To console her, they even gifted her two hefty gold bracelets.

She’d already come to terms with it, but her mother’s meddling made her feel worse.

Seeing her husband equally distressed and torn, Wang Min wiped away her tears and said, "I know, I just miss the child. Don’t worry about me, go to sleep. I’ll sit here for a while longer."

Qian Yongfeng sighed, "You’re in your postpartum recovery period—you can’t cry like this. Listen to me, rest well and take care of your body. We still have Sweet Girl."

Qian Yongfeng turned off the light and fumbled his way to bed, but neither of them could sleep. One wept silently, while the other gazed at the moon outside the window.

Qian Fei also felt bad, but he wanted to say that his adoptive parents had taken good care of him, giving him unconditional love, and he had been very happy.

He tried to call them ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad,’ but Ji Nanxing beside him said, "They can’t hear you. This is a replay of the past—what you’re seeing is their memories."

Although it was a memory, some things felt very real, such as the smell of smoke they could smell upstairs when the fire started downstairs.

As soon as Qian Fei smelled the fire, he rushed downstairs and saw He Long standing in the yard, anxiously asking, "How did the fire start?"

He Long said, "It was your uncle. Your maternal uncle lives downstairs. He got up in the middle of the night, went to the bathroom, and was about to go back to his room, but somehow he went upstairs and listened at your parents’ door. When he came back downstairs, he forgot to blow out the candle and casually left it in the living room. The wind blew it into the curtains, and that’s how the fire started."

But the people inside obviously hadn’t noticed the fire on the first floor yet. They were all sleeping with their doors closed. Watching the fire slowly grow, Qian Fei tried to call out to them.

But no one could see him, and no one could hear him. He could only stand by helplessly as the fire grew larger and larger, and soon the wooden house was engulfed in flames.

Qian Fei’s eyes were red from the fire: "Do they have to go through this every ten years?"

He Long hummed in agreement: "Many earthbound spirits keep repeating the process of their death. It doesn’t necessarily have a specific time frame. It’s probably the old willow tree outside that’s holding them to a ten-year cycle. In the realm of earthbound spirits, this is considered good."

Ji Nanxing said, "Some earthbound spirits repeat it every day."

Qian Fei suddenly felt that once every ten years was indeed quite good, but it wasn’t much comfort to him.

He looked at Ji Nanxing: "They can’t see me or hear me. How can I resolve their lingering attachments?"

Ji Nanxing: "When this cycle of death ends, they will have a moment of clarity. Then you can talk to them, and He Long and I will try to perform the rites."

Qian Fei: "What if they don’t want to be released?"

Ji Nanxing: "Then we’ll open the Ghost Gate and send them away by force."

By the time the smoke reached the second floor, the people upstairs finally came rushing down. Qian Yongfeng took Wang Min to the first floor and told her to run out first, then turned back upstairs. His parents, grandparents, and child were still upstairs.

Wang Min realized her parents and brother’s family hadn’t noticed the fire yet, so she dragged her body, still recovering from childbirth, to knock on their doors.

Outside, the clanging of gongs echoed as neighbors discovered the fire at their house and were trying to alert the community to help extinguish it.

Wang Min's parents, seeing the entire house ablaze, panicked—their first instinct wasn’t to flee but to try to fetch water from the kitchen to put out the fire.

Qian Fei was extremely anxious and shouted, "Run outside! The fire’s out of control now, run!"

But the people in the past couldn’t hear him. They desperately wanted to control the fire, but it spread too quickly, and by the time they wanted to escape, it was already too late.

Qian Fei watched helplessly as they tried to extinguish the fire, and the narrow hallway was blocked by a beam that had fallen from the rafters.

That’s why his family couldn’t escape—their escape route was sealed.

When the Qian and Wang families realized the fire was uncontrollable and they would die if they didn’t run, the escape route was already blocked.

Qian Yongfeng scooped up his daughter, intending to toss her over the courtyard wall, but because they were building a three-story house, the courtyard was filled with wood, which was now burning, making it impossible to approach the wall.

He looked upstairs, holding his child, and wanted to rush back inside, seemingly planning to go to the third floor and throw the child out from there, but the flames inside were even more intense than those outside, leaving no way in or out.

Watching his family choke on the smoke, hearing them scream for help, Qian Fei knew it was a replay of the past, and no matter what he did, he couldn’t save his relatives who had died thirty years ago, but he still wanted to do something.

He rushed over, trying to push the beam blocking the passage, but when his hands touched it, it was scalding hot, and he instinctively pulled back. But the next second, a wave of heat hit him, and he felt like he was engulfed in the flames.

His relatives’ desperate cries and wails were swallowed by the roaring flames. With his hands burned red, Qian Fei looked back at his family and gritted his teeth, reaching out again. This was the only way out—if he could move the wooden beam, his family could escape.

Even though they were long gone, Qian Fei still hoped they could escape once in this endless cycle of death.

Beneath the cold moonlight, surrounded by the roaring fire, He Long stood beside Ji Nanxing and asked, "Did you foresee this too?"

Ji Nanxing shook his head, "How can anyone predict the human heart? I was just trying. What if he really did it?"

Before entering, Ji Nanxing only told Qian Fei that when the scene replay ended, his relatives would regain their senses for a moment, and he could talk to them and try to ease their lingering regrets.

He didn’t tell Qian Fei that if he could break the cycle of death, he could also free his relatives from the earthly bindings.

But the latter required sincerity, not deliberate action, otherwise, why would they need Qian Fei? As a Taoist, he could’ve broken the cycle himself with ease.

At this moment, Qian Fei was more determined than ever. He didn’t know if he was fighting for his parents and family or for himself.

The feeling of the fire was too real. His hands were already severely burned, and his entire body felt like it was on fire, as if a layer of skin was about to peel off, but he couldn’t stop. He wanted them to live, even if just once.

Qian Fei didn’t know when the fire stopped, nor did he notice when the cries quieted down. Until someone appeared beside him, and with a single lift, the immovable wooden beam was effortlessly lifted.

Qian Fei turned his head and saw Qian Yongfeng standing next to him, smiling at him.

At that moment, tears instantly streamed down his face, and he opened his mouth, as if squeezing the words from his throat, "Dad..."

Behind him, it was quiet. The engulfing flames had vanished. Qian Fei turned around and saw his family standing neatly in the courtyard. His great-grandparents leaned on each other, his mother was holding Tian Niu, his grandparents were also smiling, his maternal grandparents stood behind his uncle and aunt, and there was a teenage boy, probably his cousin, all smiling at him.

Qian Yongfeng rubbed Qian Fei’s head, "We are so happy to see you again, and we are so relieved that you were sent away that day. Your survival is our greatest solace."

Wang Min approached, cradling Tian Niu, "Look, this is your sister."

Looking at the three-year-old girl in her arms, Qian Fei cried and forced a smile, "Mom, sister."

Wang Min touched her son’s face and said, "They took good care of you. Seeing you grow up safely, your parents are at ease."

Ji Nanxing took out the prepared ingots, burned a guiding talisman, and drew a circle on the ground. The flames lit up the courtyard once more, but this time they were cold and harmless.

As the spell was cast, a large gate faintly appeared, and the Ghost Gate slowly opened. The members of the Qian and Wang families, now freed from their bindings, made their way to the Ghost Gate, finally free.

Qian Yongfeng and Wang Min hugged Qian Fei tightly, patting his shoulder: "Take care of yourself; we’re off now."

Little Tianniu waved at her older brother before being carried by her parents into the Ghost Gate.

At that moment, several small dogs ran out from the grass, sniffed around Ji Nanxing, almost as if thanking him, wrapping their tails around his calves before happily running into the Ghost Gate.

The peaceful salvation ended, leaving behind the uncooperative spirits who had died tragically here.

They were innocent victims, bound to this place by its unique environment, becoming earthbound spirits. If not for the suppression by the Qian and Wang families, they would have committed countless evils seeking replacements.

Now, being sent to the underworld, they seethed with resentment. After all, their inability to leave after death was not due to lingering attachments but because of the earthbound force of this place. Having just gained freedom, they were unwilling to go to the underworld.

As a result, these spirits were forcefully herded into the Ghost Gate by He Long wielding the Five Emperors Coin Sword. Their wails and cries were even louder than those of the Qian and Wang families in the fire.

After all the spirits were sent away, the Ghost Gate closed once more. Ji Nanxing took out the scripture talisman he had previously asked Xiao Ye to draw and tossed it into the air. As the incantation was chanted, the talisman ignited, and as the ashes fell onto the grass, a fine, dense rain began to fall from the sky.

In Ji Nanxing’s eyes, the long-buried resentment of this place was being washed away by the mist transformed from the scripture talisman.