Chapter 116

Chapter 116

Sui Lanwei suddenly reached out and removed Tang Liu's blindfold.

Tang Liu felt instantly awkward, as if suddenly exposed. "Wh-what are you doing?"

Without a word, Sui Lanwei pressed a hand to the back of Tang Liu's neck, pulling him closer while straightening up himself. He lowered his head until their foreheads touched. Closing his eyes, he extended a thread of his awareness into Tang Liu's eyes.

Tang Liu hissed, feeling as if icy winter water from the Lai River had been poured into his eye sockets. He instinctively tried to pull back. Sui Lanwei tightened his grip, holding him firmly in place. "Don't move, Husband Liu."

Tang Liu froze.

A few moments later, Sui Lanwei finally released him. He sat up straight, not rushing to speak. Instead, he stared thoughtfully for a moment at a blade of grass pushing through a crack in the bluestone step below.

Tang Liu's blindness was a congenital, incurable condition, a fate written in the stars. Even for him, curing these eyes would come at a great cost.

"Ah, it's raining."

Sui Lanwei remained silent for a long while. When he finally pulled his thoughts back, a fine drizzle had begun to drift in the air.

Spring weather was unreasonable, changing as quickly as one's expression. The sun was still out, yet raindrops were already falling.

Sui Lanwei looked at Tang Liu. During his silence, the other man had already retied his blindfold, without mentioning what had just happened. He simply stretched out a hand, palm upturned to feel the fine rain. "It's raining, isn't it?" he asked uncertainly.

Sui Lanwei gave a soft hum of affirmation.

"Then let's go. We should head back before the rain gets heavier." Tang Liu wiped the rainwater from his palm against the hem of his robe. Picking up his bamboo cane with his left hand, he naturally took the hand of the person beside him with his right, pulling him to his feet before leading the way back.

The garden was some distance from their living quarters. After a few steps, Tang Liu seemed to remember something and exclaimed, "If you like looking at flowers and plants, I know a place. Once you're better, I'll take you there."

Sui Lanwei, half a step behind him, lifted his gaze at these words. "It would be nice if Husband Liu could see them with me," he said, suddenly wistful.

Tang Liu scratched his head. "But I *am* here with you."

"I mean, see them together."

Tang Liu was silent for a moment. "That... is a bit difficult. But don't worry, although I haven't seen that place with my own eyes, I've heard it's extremely beautiful in spring. You focus on recovering. Maybe we can still catch this spring."

Sui Lanwei looked towards the southeast, where a round arched gate led to the deepest part of the estate. After a moment, he said, "Alright. Then I'll wait for Husband Liu to take me out."

Tang Liu readily agreed.

Sui Lanwei added, "With time on our hands, why don't you accompany me to stroll around the estate these next few days? Some places in this estate, flowers are planted but then seem to vanish without a trace. I don't know what's going on. And there are some flowers I don't like. Let's replace them together."

Tang Liu was more than happy to have something to pass the time and naturally agreed.

The two returned to their room. Not long after, the rain grew heavier, pattering rhythmically on the roof tiles. The sound lulled Tang Liu into drowsiness, and before he knew it, he had fallen asleep with his head on the table.

This sleep seemed to last a long time. When he woke again, the sound of rain had vanished. All was quiet, and the room seemed to hold only him.

Tang Liu realized he was still slumped over the table. He straightened up, waiting for the pins and needles in his arm to subside before reaching for his bamboo cane beside him. His hand found nothing. He groped around on all sides for a while but still couldn't find the cane that was his constant companion.

Had Wei Wei put it away for him?

Thinking this, Tang Liu called out, "Wei Wei?"

"I'm here."

The familiar voice came from in front of him, yet it sounded strangely ethereal and distant, as if traveling from a faraway place.

A sense of oddness struck him, but then something even more bizarre appeared before his eyes. It was a blurry shape, not quite round, its edges indistinct. It was distinctly different from the surrounding darkness. Rather than appearing out of thin air, it seemed more like this shape was parting the darkness to come before Tang Liu.

Tang Liu stood frozen, not understanding what was happening.

For over a decade, this was the first time something other than darkness had appeared in his "vision."

His mind went completely blank. He stared dumbly as the shape gradually expanded, swallowing more and more of the darkness until it reached right before him. Then, beneath this covering shape, a square object appeared, supported in mid-air by four long strips connected at the corners.

Tang Liu "looked" at this object and realized it was the table he had just been lying on.

He felt for his blindfold and only then discovered it was gone. His eyes were open. It seemed he could really see.

Could he see? Could he really see?

What was going on? What had happened?

Questions arose one after another, pounding in his head until he felt dizzy.

He stood there in a daze. Meanwhile, that first blurry shape began to flicker. A few steps away from the table, two tall, side-by-side rectangular objects suddenly appeared—a door. Then, that shape vanished. In the overwhelming darkness, only a table and a door remained.

Tang Liu stood rooted, at a loss. Suddenly, someone pushed the door open and walked in.

That should be a person. They had long hair reaching the waist, a slender figure; their robes fluttered with each step.

Tang Liu watched this person until they walked right up to him, standing across the table. This person's gaze rested silently on his face for a moment before their eyes curved slightly. "Husband Liu, you called for me."

A buzzing filled Tang Liu's head. After a long while, he managed with difficulty to open his mouth. "...Wei... Wei?"

"Mhm." The person answered cheerfully. "Husband Liu's eyes aren't good, and now you're getting tongue-tied?"

Tang Liu ignored the comment, almost desperately reaching out to touch this person's face.

The other person didn't pull away or avoid his touch, still looking at him with a smile.

Tang Liu touched his brows, his eyes, his nose, his lips, finally letting his hand fall in a daze. "It really is you..."

Wei Wei asked with a laugh. "Husband Liu never saw me before. After one touch, you're sure it's me?"

Tang Liu looked at his own hand, murmuring, "I wouldn't remember wrong."

For over a decade, his hands had been his eyes.

In his limited life, he had only ever touched three people. The first was the old beggar, the second was himself, and the third was Wei Wei.

He could never mistake it.

He remembered the old beggar's appearance, the shape and feel of his features. He knew the shape and feel of his own features. But it turned out such shapes, such textures, looked this way to sighted eyes.

"Then your memory is quite good," Wei Wei said.

Tang Liu looked at him, saying nothing.

The other lightly furrowed his brows, seeming dissatisfied with his silence. Placing both hands on the table, he leaned forward slightly, adopting a coquettish tone. "Husband Liu, what are you spacing out for? Aren't you happy to see me?"

Tang Liu shook his head but still didn't speak, merely gazing at him intently, unwaveringly.

The other frowned again. "Or do you think I'm not as good-looking as you imagined?"

"No," Tang Liu said. "You are the most beautiful person I have ever seen."

His brows relaxed, seeming quite pleased with this answer, but then furrowed again, casting a suspicious glance at Tang Liu. "My husband has only ever seen me. How can you be so certain I'm the most beautiful person you've ever seen? Don't you start using those smooth lines like the men out there, all sweet talk and empty flattery."

Tang Liu looked at him and said, "I mean it."

No matter what the other said next, Tang Liu remained silent.

He just stood there, gazing at his spouse for a long time.

...

The rain was still falling.

Tang Liu straightened up from the table. His arm wasn't numb; he had only slept for a short while.

"Husband Liu, what's wrong?" Wei Wei asked softly beside him.

"I had a dream," Tang Liu said after a moment of silence.

"A nightmare? You don't look very happy."

"It was a beautiful dream."

Sui Lanwei didn't press for details about what exactly it was about. Instead, he thoughtfully raised a hand to touch his own face.

While they sat side by side listening to the rain, the Wang residence, two streets away from the Sui residence, was anything but peaceful.

"That brat deceived me!" Yuan Song snarled, his eyes dark with anger.

Before him stood a peachwood table (known as an 'Eight Immortals' table). In the center lay two paper figures folded from yellow ritual paper, each only palm-sized. One was completely blank, while the other had facial features drawn in cinnabar, its back inscribed with a birth date and time, and was tightly bound with layers of red thread. One end extended to the blank figure, wrapped around it several times, then continued to curve and wind across the table, ultimately forming a complex pattern laid out in red thread.

Around this pattern, along the four edges of the table, eight candles were lit, encircling the paper figures.

Now, all eight candles had gone out. The wax hadn't yet solidified and was slowly dripping onto the table, indicating they had been extinguished not long ago.

Master Wang wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead. "This... what does this mean, Taoist Master? Was it successful?"

Yuan Song replied, his voice grim, "That kid tricked us. His birth date is false."

"What!?" Master Wang was shocked, then added, "But marrying him over clearly worked. If the birth date is false, how could the fierce ghost agree? The wedding ceremony that day went extremely smoothly. And if that wretched beggar just made it up, it's too much of a coincidence for the ghost to have accepted it."

Yuan Song only glared, remaining silent. This was precisely what he couldn't understand.

Ghosts and humans are separated by the realms of yin and yang. Ghosts belong to yin, humans to yang. But everything between heaven and earth follows the principle of yin-yang balance. Therefore, living humans also carry yin energy, and yin ghosts, while fearing yang, also need it. Human eyes can only see the mortal flesh, but in the eyes of ghosts, there is only the energy of yin and yang.

Thus, to a ghost, all people in the mortal world appear as two intermingled masses of energy. For them to distinguish one person from these similar energies is absolutely impossible, unless there is a karmic connection between the ghost and the person.

Without such a connection, ghosts can only identify people by their birth date. That's why they had used the birth date Tang Liu provided for all the betrothal rituals. The ghost at the Sui residence recognized the birth date, then recognized Tang Liu, and only then could this ghost marriage be completed.

If the birth date was false, it would mean the person discussed for the marriage was one, but the one actually married was another. To the ghost, this would be marriage fraud.

In cases of marriage fraud, the person married off often meets a sudden end within a few days.

But every time he had visited the Sui residence, that beggar had been full of life and vigor.

Yuan Song's gaze fell on the two paper figures. After pondering for a moment, he said, "We must find a way to compel that kid to reveal his real birth date."

Hearing this, Master Wang hesitated.

Yuan Song didn't hear a reply for a while and turned to look, taking in his expression clearly. He couldn't help but feel impatient. "What? Thinking of backing out again?"

Master Wang forced a few awkward laughs. "It's not that I want to back out, but Taoist Master, my daughter has already recovered. There's really no need to get further entangled with that ghost and create more trouble. In my opinion, whether Tang Liu's birth date is real or false, as long as it works, that's what matters. The payment, I'll give it to you as we initially agreed."

Yuan Song's expression changed, a flash of anger in his eyes, but he quickly calmed down. He just stared at Master Wang for a moment before saying coldly, "You may want to settle things peacefully, but you must ask if others agree. Over the years, you've conducted hundreds of business deals. Before every major deal, you sought divine guidance through divination. Surely you've heard the saying: it's easy to invite a deity, but hard to send one away. Your Wang family has invited a century-old immortal. Now, thinking you can send this immortal away with just a beggar of unknown birth date—how could it be that easy?"

"Back then, I asked you: did you want to send the immortal away or eliminate it? You chose elimination. Now, the arrow has left the bow; there's no turning back. If you want to withdraw unscathed, you'll have to see if that immortal is willing to be merciful and let you go."

Master Wang's face paled, then flushed red. He defended himself, "I was truly driven mad with rage back then. Seeing Yu'er so ill, of course I wished to eliminate the culprit immediately."

Yuan Song no longer looked at him, his gaze returning to the paper figures on the table. He said gravely, "I will only explain the stakes to you twice. There won't be a third time. You weigh it for yourself."

Master Wang still hesitated.

They were in his courtyard. Tonight, all the concubines and servants who usually attended him had been sent away, but the candles in the courtyard were still brightly lit. The study door was open, and the jade artifacts and antiques on the display shelves inside gleamed under the candlelight, hinting at their considerable value.

Master Wang looked at his study, then in the direction of his daughter's courtyard. After a long while, he said in a low voice, "Taoist Master, can you guarantee the continued prosperity and wealth of my Wang family?"

Yuan Song let out a cold laugh, as if hearing something extremely amusing. "Even if it truly is an immortal, as long as it is completely eliminated, all matters can be settled peacefully."

Master Wang gritted his teeth. "Then I entrust this to you, Taoist Master. After it's done, I will surely reward you handsomely."

Yuan Song glanced at him sidelong, raised a hand to stroke his long beard. Upon touching the noticeably thinner beard, his face darkened. He lowered his hand and said, "You needn't worry about me running away. My Cangshan Sect takes exterminating ghosts and eliminating evil as its duty. There is no reason to abandon a task halfway."

This time, Master Wang was completely resolved. He cast aside all his previous hesitations. Now that his thoughts had been exposed, he wasn't embarrassed. He asked, "Is knowing Tang Liu's birth date the only method?"

"Tang Liu's birth date, or the name, birth date, and dates of birth and death of that fierce ghost from its lifetime, or its remains. Of these three things, we must have at least one. Otherwise, I may not be confident." Yuan Song pinched the end of his beard. "Tomorrow, summon Yin Mei. I have instructions for her."