To Raise a Soul 25.2

“Blood disaster?”

Shocked, Yu Zhen quickly replied, “Let’s hurry and tell Wu Xuan so that he can preven-”

“We can’t!”

Yan Yan suddenly held his shoulder with a stern expression on his face and said, “The fate of ordinary people shouldn’t be recklessly changed. There’s no karma between you and Wu Xuan. You mustn’t go!”

An invisible power spread within the car. Yu Zhen felt his mind turn blank. His body instinctively retreated and flung Yin Yan’s hand away.

Thud.

Because he had used too much force, Yan Yan’s hand hit the seat, making a muffled sound.

The invisible power in the car quietly dissipated. When Yu Zhen regained his senses, he looked at his hand and then at Yin Yan who was shocked by his reaction. He quickly sat up and grabbed Yin Yan’s hand, rubbing it and tried to explain, “I’m sorry, I didn’t do it on purpose. I don’t know what overcame me… Does it hurt? I’m sorry. “

“Don’t say sorry – I was the one that scared you.” 

As Yin Yan reined in his emotions, he drew his hand back and got the car back onto the road. With a more relaxed tone, he explained, “We meet ghosts to save those that are trapped in our realm and subsequently, the humans who could have been harmed by them. Releasing those ghosts is virtuous and meritorious. Meddling with the fate of an ordinary person is not. Fate is an arrangement made by heavenly law and trying to change it is taboo. Heavenly law will be conserved. If you help someone avoid disasters, heavenly law will have you take on those disasters instead. So you can’t act rashly.” 

“The mysteries of the heavens cannot be revealed, and it most certainly cannot be arbitrarily changed as one wishes. Yu Zhen, you already have one foot in the grave, and you have yet to successfully enter the Way. So, you have to be particularly careful about this.”

As Yu Zhen listened, he looked at his empty hands. A complicated emotion arose in his heart, making him speechless. 

Why?

He seemed to ask the question in his heart, but he didn’t know what he was asking about.

There was only silence in the car as it pulled into the hospital where the injured workers stayed.

The two bought some consolation gifts and then headed into the hospital. Just as Yu Zhen couldn’t stand the oppressive silence any longer and was about to say something, Yin Yan stopped, turned his head and said, “Come out.”

Yu Zhen quickly followed Yin Yan’s gaze and saw a dark shadow appearing out of thin air. It ran before them and lay down on its front in a subservient manner.

The black cat let out a meow. At the same time, a rigid human voice sounded in their minds. 

[Imploring this high immortal to fulfill my wish.]

Dumbfounded, Yu Zhen stared at the black cat.

My imagination? I thought I heard the cat speak.

Yin Yan gently waved a hand and their surroundings quickly faded. When it turned pure white, even people in the hallway disappeared. Only the two of them and one cat were left in the pure white world.

“The spiritual energy of this world is weak. Being able to awaken your consciousness is heavenly law’s care and consideration. Although you’ve lost your body, your cultivation is present. When the negative aura on your body is transformed, you can truly enter the Way. You’ve worked hard for a hundred years. Do you really want to give up?”

The black cat looked at him and wailed. 

[If I hadn’t met that child, I would already have been killed by humans. After ten years of companionship, how can I give up? I don’t ask for anything else, only that I can protect her as she grows up. I implore you, high immortal, to grant my wish.]

“At sixteen, humans are considered adults. Bu Lian has already grown up.”

[Imploring the high immortal to fulfill my wish.]

The black cat stayed down and refused to get up. Unable to bear watching the cat, Yu Zhen moved closer to Yin Yan and whispered, “What wish does it want you to fulfill?”

“To keep its memory and reincarnate so it can stay by Bu Lian’s side.” Yin Yan asked the cat again, “Have you really thought it through? Once your cultivation is discarded, you can never enter the Way again. Are you really willing to do this?”

[Imploring the high immortal to fulfill my wish.]

The black cat repeated the same sentence with a resolute attitude.

Yin Yan looked toward Yu Zhen and asked, “Can you see anything on its body?”

Yu Zhen was stunned for a moment, but he glanced at the cat and replied, “It’s just a normal cat… its eyes are red and it’s emitting some black qi from its body.”

“That’s negative aura. It’s his hatred towards the humans who had hurt him. Whether it enters the Way or reincarnates, this negative aura needs to be transformed. The only way to transform it is to use merits. So the decision to help it will be yours to make.”

For a moment, the black cat was stunned by the news. Then it turned to lay down facing Yu Zhen and let out another pitiful, begging meow. 

I didn’t expect things to also involve me. He tightened his fingers which were not quite warm despite having Yin Yan by his side. He hesitated for a few seconds before finally walking forward and squatting in front of the cat. The golden glow of merits emerged from his body. 

With the spread of the golden light, the black qi on the cat’s body faded and disappeared. The red color of its eyes disappeared and his fur appeared fluffier and smoother. 

After the negative aura faded away, Xu Wu appeared all of a sudden and patted the black cat. The black cat swished its tail and meowed at Yu Zhen. A white glow appeared around the black cat and it slowly faded away. 

[Thank you.] 

Sighing gently, Yu Zhen stood up. Soon after, an unusual sight appeared – a few golden threads appeared from a far off distance within the white world and drifted closer to enter his body. Quickly, a warmth heated up his cold limbs.

A low hum escaped his lips as he reveled in the comfortable feeling. When the sensation passed, he pinched his warm hands. Looking to Yin Yan, he asked, “What’s this?”

“The merits from saving others. If it didn’t reincarnate, the cat demon will harm humans due to its extreme resentment. Its soul would break and scatter. It was lucky. You were its only chance and it managed to grasp on to that chance.”

With a wave of Yin Yan’s hand, the white world disappeared and their surroundings returned to normal. The crowd of people in the corridor went about their business, without any sense of abnormality from what just transpired. ”Let’s go. We should visit the workers.”

The only chance? Then, those questions earlier…

As Yu Zhen puzzled over his thoughts, Yin Yan walked away with long strides. Seeing the distance between them, Yu Zhen hurriedly put aside his pondering to take quicker steps and catch up. 

—–

In total, there were three injured workers. Their injuries were caused by falling from high places on scaffolding. 

The three workers each had their own rooms. One had a fracture while the other two were bruised and battered from their harsh fall against the bricks under the scaffolding. First, Yin Yan brought Yu Zhen to visit the worker with the fracture.

The worker was very surprised by their arrival and appeared to be uncomfortable and cautious.

As it was only a fracture, the worker didn’t expect a personal visit from the boss’s son. He was a boorish fellow, inexperienced in dealing with the rich, and his mandarin was a bit rough and nonstandard ¹ , causing him to stutter slightly in his speech. 

Yu Zhen had expected Yin Yan to ask the workers some questions, but he didn’t. He appeared to truly only be there to visit them, gift them the fruit baskets, speak to the doctor about their conditions, and offer them some well wishes before leaving.

It was that simple. After they delivered the gifts to the three rooms, they left the hospital and drove back to the apartment.

“You didn’t need to ask?” 

“Ask what?”

“Ask the workers about what they encountered. And if there really were any evil things at the construction site.”

“There’s no need to ask.” Yin Yan maneuvered the car to join the flow of traffic. He asked, “Did you see any ghostly aura on the workers?”

Ghostly aura? Like that black qi around Bu Lian’s ghost cat? 

Yu Zhen shook his head and replied, “No.”

“So it’s not haunted. The problem is something else,” Yin Yan explained. Spotting something from the corner of his eye, Yin Yan turned the car, leading out of the main traffic. They stopped at a large, chain supermarket.

“Hmm??”

“I’m hungry,” Yin Yan calmly stated. Removing his seat belt, he boldly and confidently continued, “I want to eat something you make.”

Yu Zhen: “…”

At noon, while they were supposed to be enjoying roast duck, there were some surprising turns of events so Yu Zhen, too, was a little hungry. As a result, he simply followed Yin Yan into the supermarket.

—-

They carried large bags full of ingredients into the apartment. As Yu Zhen was about to head over to the kitchen, Yin Yan entered first and said, “I’ll cook something for you.” 

Are cultivators so capricious?

Yu Zhen silently looked at him. But he was overjoyed to have food without having to work for it, so he hummed in assent and turned to check on the dimensional pot. However, Yin Yan stuck out his head and called out, “Help me bring the ingredients. Thanks.”

“…”

Laying out the ingredients on the table, Yu Zhen was once again prepared to dust his hands of the task when Yin Yan said, “Apron.”

Yu Zhen turned and look at him.

Yin Yan shook his hands. He had somehow touched some oil while he was arranging the ingredients.

Heaven and Earth are great, but the people who depend on others to live are the greatest.

Yu Zhen fetched a checkered-patterned apron and approached Yin Yan. Yin Yan cooperatively opened his arms wide and lowered his head.  

Once the loop was placed around his neck, Yin Yan turned around, indicating to Yu Zhen that he should secure the ties around his back.

Yu Zhen stretched his arms around Yin Yan’s side in a back hug-like position. Once he picked up the apron strings which hung down, Yu Zhen drew back his hand and tied a large bow knot. Immediately afterward, he said, “It’s tied. You cook. I’ll go have a look at the dimensional pot. Thanks for your hard work.” 

Once he finished speaking, he decisively withdrew and quickly retreated from the kitchen.

Yin Yan looked at the kitchen door. He shook his hands. The shimmering oil on his skin evaporated like smoke. Then he reached behind and picked up a strand of hair. With a small hand gesture, he made an embroidered drawstring pouch² appear and he carefully stored the hair in it.