To Raise a Soul 36.2

At night, after they had washed up, Yu Zhen was dressed properly in nightwear when Yin Yan wrapped one arm tightly around his waist and gently waved the other hand.

A dizzying sensation followed. When their feet were firmly planted on the ground again, they were in the garden of the Qiu residence. Surrounded by darkness, only the moonlight and the glow of street lamps dimly lit the area.  

“!!!”

Yu Zhen’s body was rigid and shock was apparent on his face. His arm tightened around Yin Yan’s waist for a long moment before he finally managed to loosen his grip and questioned, “This is..?”

“The ability that I recovered after you cultivated up another rank: Reduction to One Inch.”

As he explained, his hold on Yu Zhen remained firm. He reached out a hand and, with a finger, gently tapped on the wall of the Qiu villa. Wisps of two souls floated over to them.

“Immortal, spare my life! Spare me! I’ve never harmed anyone! Really! Immortal, spare me!”

The baby spirit knelt down as soon as it caught sight of Yin Yan. It shivered in its shrunken form on the ground. After a few moments, it suddenly had an epiphany and floated up into the air with a swish. It looked around its surroundings and then let loose a sinister smile.

“I’m out? I-I’ve passed through these walls? I’ve left the Qiu house? Hahaha! The heavens have eyes! I -”

As the floating baby spirit released a fiendish energy, Xu Wu appeared and threw itself at the spirit. It clamped down around the neck as if catching a baby bird. Then Xu Wu threw it down to the ground.

The baby spirit immediately shut up. It was splayed out on its stomach as it fearfully glanced at Xu Wu. It then shifted its sight to Yin Yan and Yu Zhen. Its joy at being freed from its prison quickly disappeared and it quietly shrank up in defeat, ready to accept punishment.

In contrast to the excited baby spirit, Xin Xiaoxiao was very calm. After observing the situation, she floated over to Yin Yan and Yu Zhen. Facing Yu Zhen, she knelt down and said, “Thank you, Great Immortal, for your blessings on Ruijie. Xiaoxiao cannot thank you enough.”

No one has ever knelt to me before. Er, no. No spirit has ever knelt to me before. He brushed aside Yin Yan’s arm on his waist to help her up, but Yin Yan grabbed his arm.

“You’ve got merits within you. You can’t just touch spirits.”

Yu Zhen quickly stepped back and said, “I’m not some great immortal – just an ordinary person. You don’t need to kneel to me. Quickly, get up.”

Xin Xiaoxiao looked at Yin Yan and their intertwined hands. She kowtowed to Yu Zhen once more before standing up. 

Yu Zhen looked at Yin Yan. After an encouraging nod, he internally cheered himself on and looked at the two souls in front of him. “The two of you… Do you want to be my ghost attendants?”

Ghost attendant?

The baby spirit and Xin Xiaoxiao looked at each other. The baby spirit looked away without a word, but Xin Xiaoxiao showed a hesitant expression. “Great immortal, you’ve helped Ruijie. Xiaoxiao should repay you, however, my dream is still unfulfilled…”

Yu Zhen understood her thinking and so hurriedly explained, “Oh, no. I’m not looking to force the two of you to be my servants. I only want to give you both positions which would make your existence acceptable. I have already entered the Way, so the heavens will be more lenient with me. If you become my ghost attendants, your fate^[1] will be in my hands so the emissary of the underworld will not be able to do anything to you. I’m not asking for either of you to leave with me. You can stay at the Qiu residence, but on the condition that you don’t harm innocent people and your revenge can only be to an appropriate degree.”

After a few seconds of hesitation, Xin Xiaoxiao once again knelt down facing Yu Zhen. The negative energy on her body reduced. She bowed and said, “Thank you for Master’s kindness.”

That’s all it takes to get your agreement? I haven’t even finished speaking yet.

Snapping back to reality, Yu Zhen urged her to get up again. “Don’t call me ‘master’. Just call me Yu Zhen. Come on, stand up.”

He took out a seed and wrapped it with merits. He clumsily recited the words for accepting an attendant. Then he flicked the seed between Xin Xiaoxiao’s eyebrows. 

The golden light flashed and the negative energy around Xin Xiaoxiao completely vanished. A faint, golden mark in the shape of the seed appeared on her forehead, and her pale skin regained some rosiness. If it wasn’t for her translucent figure, she would have looked no different than from when she was alive.

Xin Xiaoxiao reached up to touch the hot mark on her forehead and her warmed face. She stared blankly for a short while before her expression shifted into half-crying and half-smiling. She bowed to Yu Zhen again. 

“Thank you, Master.”

Seeing that the ceremony was a success, Yu Zhen sighed with relief. Then he added, “You really don’t need to call me ‘master’.”

“Thank you, Master,” Xin Xiaoxiao insisted.

“…” Fine.

Helpless, Yu Zhen signaled for her to stand up. He felt half of the weight in his chest had lifted. He then looked toward the baby spirit.

The baby spirit observed everything that just happened, paying particular attention to Xin Xiaoxiao’s change. It no longer felt hesitation. Moving towards Yu Zhen, it knelt down and expressed its willingness to pledge allegiance to Yu Zhen. 

However, Yu Zhen didn’t immediately accept it. He knelt in front of the baby spirit and explained, “There is bad karma attached to you. You’ve absorbed three half-formed spirits, and your temperament is not stable. I can accept you, but there are a few things I have to make clear to you first. If you become my ghost attendant, I will use merits to slowly transform you. I’ll eliminate the negative energy and bonds of injustice from your body. Once the karma has been completely eliminated, you’ll return to your original form and I’ll send you back into the cycle of reincarnation.”

The baby spirit’s eyes brightened.

Merits! Reincarnation! Which ghost and spirit wouldn’t covet these!? I was made into a baby spirit, if I don’t get any help, I won’t get to live another lifetime. These are the things that I’ve been dreaming about!

“But, for me to give you these, I have some conditions,” Yu Zhen reminded it. Meeting its gaze, Yu Zhen continued, “You want revenge? That’s possible. It’s useful for removing the karma on you. I also have no right to interfere. But the target of your revenge can only be the person who has caused you harm. You can’t target innocent bystanders. Once you’ve become my ghost attendant, I will be in control of your entirety. If I want your soul to scatter to the winds, you wouldn’t even have the chance to struggle. You’ll disappear immediately. Once you follow me, you can’t willfully do evil things. If you violate my rules, I will immediately eliminate you. So you should think clearly about whether or not you want to be my ghost attendant.”

The baby spirit’s expression sank and it frowned.

Seeing its expression, Yu Zhen sighed internally. He stood up and said, “Even if you don’t become my attendant, I won’t indiscriminately do anything. But, after your karma is eliminated and the restrictions tying you to the Qiu residence are gone, if you commit evil acts, I will personally find you and send you off.”

Then he looked at Xin Xiaoxiao and said, “Of course, the same applies to you.”

Xin Xiaoxiao’s expression didn’t change, but her bearing became even more respectful. She earnestly replied, “Xiaoxiao will remember Master’s instructions. I won’t willfully commit evil acts.”

Yu Zhen nodded.

The baby spirit raised its head, eyes lit with flames of hope, and asked, “Can you really help me reincarnate?”

“Yes,” Yu Zhen replied. He paused and then added, “Even if I can’t, Yin Yan will be here.”

The baby spirit looked at Yin Yan. Recalling his powers, it made its choice. It knelt in front of Yu Zhen and said, “I agree to be your ghost attendant. But I have a request.”

“Go on.”

“I want to meet my mother,” it replied. It suddenly lowered its voice and said, “At that time, she didn’t know Qiu Xiehua’s plot. She thought that Qiu Xiehua had abandoned her because she had accidentally lost their child. She felt guilty and blamed herself. She has been tormented by it for half of her lifetime. I can sense that her predestined lifespan is about to end. Please take me to see her. Please.” 

Then he knelt down and continuously kowtowed to Yu Zhen.

Xin Xiaoxiao couldn’t look away from the exchange. She moved a hand to her belly and, with thoughts of her unborn child, the rims of her eyes reddened. 

Yu Zhen didn’t expect to receive such a request. An ache filled his heart and he looked at Yin Yan.

“Its mother is indeed still alive. I can bring you all to meet her.”

Yin Yan’s words made him feel relieved. He looked back at the baby spirit which had stopped kowtowing when it heard Yin Yan’s words. He took out a seed and used the same technique as before to send it into the baby spirit’s forehead. 

The golden light flashed and the negative energy of the baby spirit disappeared. At the same time, its face transformed. 

The aged and creased skin slowly became plump and vibrant. In the blink of an eye, the sinister-looking baby spirit turned into a fair-skinned and cute little baby. A faint golden mark remained at the point between his eyebrows, making him look sweet and lovely.  

“San’er thanks Master for his kindness.”

The baby spirit knelt with a serious expression on his plump face, looking impossibly meng.

Yu Zhen looked at his face in a daze. He wanted to smile at the serious expression on the steamed-bun-shaped face. However, he held in his amusement, nodded, and forgot to care about the address of ‘master’. He hurriedly motioned for him to stand up.

As San’er’s mother did not have much time left in her life, Yu Zhen wanted to help San’er complete his wish as quickly as possible. After a short moment of consideration, he placed San’er within a magical jade provided by Yin Yan and let Xin Xiaoxiao return to the villa. Using Reduction to One Inch again, they appeared at the village where San’er’s mother lived.

San’er’s mother was already quite old, but she could still walk independently. Every day, she persisted in going out to look for her baby. Not a single day was missed.

Upon their arrival, Yu Zhen gave San’er some merits so that he could temporarily show his true self. Then he pulled Yin Yan to a spot further away. 

San’er bowed to the two men from a distance, then he walked to the old woman’s home. He lay down and began to cry.

After a short while, the movements of the old woman getting up from her bed could be heard. The wooden door then opened and San’er’s mother appeared from behind it. She was shocked at the sight of San’er, but then she picked him up and held him tightly. Cheeks streaming with tears, she kissed and coaxed the baby as she brought him indoors.

“Let’s go.” Yu Zhen looked away.

Yin Yan held him by the waist and asked, “You’re not going to wait for him?”

“Let him accompany his mother through her last moments. We’ll pick him up in a few days,” he replied. He looked up at Yin Yan. Abruptly, he hugged Yin Yan around the waist. Leaning his head on Yin Yan’s shoulder, he said, “Thank you.”

Yin Yan’s heart leaped at the intimate action. Without further words, he waved a hand and brought them home using Reduction to One Inch. Then, he let go of Yu Zhen, went to the bathroom, and firmly shut the door behind him.

Yu Zhen was stunned, still in the spot and posture of holding Yin Yan that he returned in. He pursed his lips and looked at the bathroom door numbly. After a long period of silence, he quietly huffed, “I’ll eventually cure you of your cleanliness obsession.”