To Raise a Soul 45.2

A sudden heavy downpour surprised the citizens of B City. Lasting less than half an hour, the rain left almost as quickly as it had arrived. 

“The weather forecast is getting more and more unreliable. Now my skirt is wet.”

A beautiful, young girl walked by a car window. She looked downwards and grumbled as she lifted her long skirt to keep it off the wet ground.

With a helpless expression, the boy beside her awkwardly took off his coat. He thought to put the coat on her, but his face was flushed red and he didn’t dare to offend her.

“Go on! Why are you hesitating?! You two have the red string of fate on you! She’s your future wife! Don’t be scared!”

The young man in the car spied on them and gave the boy a fist pump in encouragement.

The old man beside him raised his eyebrows. At the end of his patience, he pulled the young man back and scolded, “Feng Lin! If you aren’t going to focus, go home! Don’t cause trouble here!”

Feng Lin looked back at his grandfather and complained, “But it doesn’t matter even if I concentrate. From the time that the black clouds appeared until now, we haven’t even been able to narrow down the area where the clouds may have been produced. What’s the point of concentrating…”

Feng Yuan’s face darkened at his words. He itched to take out a magic item and give him a thrashing.

From the front seat, Bo Xiu saw that the old man’s expression was quite poor. He hurriedly placated, “When the black clouds were present, it covered a wide range. Its appearance came without warning and spread quickly, so it’s normal that the area can’t be narrowed down. Thankfully, the clouds didn’t bring any harm with it this time. We don’t need to worry about it too much. Senior, Feng Lin has an immature temperament, but you’re the elder, so calm down.”

Feng Lin looked at Feng Yuan pitifully and whimpered, “Grandpa…”

“I’ll deal with you when we get back.” Feng Yuan’s words were harsh, but they were an empty threat. He frowned and glanced outside at the sky which had returned to normal. Finally, he came to a decision about an issue he had been hesitating over.  

“Actually, Bo Xiu, not long ago, I bumped into a young man who I thought might be Qing Xu Zi’s grandson. The merits around him were very dense. He’s a very suitable young successor.”

Bo Xiu and Feng Lin were stunned. Feng Lin couldn’t help but yell, “Grandpa, are you saying that the guy you tried to pull a ‘touching and breaking the porcelain’ move on is Qing Xu Zi’s grandson? Are you sure?”

Bo Xiu also lit up in excitement. “Since Qing Xu Zi’s grandson is in B City, Qing Xu Zi must also be in B City. Senior, do you have the young man’s contact details?” 

I can definitely obtain his contact details, but…

Feng Yuan hesitated. His resolve wavered again and he waved a hand. “Let’s wait and see. Let’s not rush to make contact… Let’s wait.”

As for what he was waiting for, he didn’t clarify.

Yu Zhen had another dream. In his dream, he was a tender youth dressed in exquisite robes with his long hair tied-up. He kneeled in a large hall beside other boys and girls who were dressed in a similar way as him.

Immortals sat high above them, some looked dignified while others appeared kind, stern, or impatient.

They were choosing their disciples.

A question arose in his heart, but the scenery before him abruptly changed. The hall had emptied and he was the only one left kneeling. 

No one chose him.

No one wanted him.

Among the whole sect, he was the only one who wasn’t granted a title because nobody accepted him as their disciple. Despite the fact that he had the highest natural aptitude among the current batch of kids who had gone up the mountain. Despite the fact that he was brought back from a remote village by a sect elder.

But no one wanted him.

Daylight slowly darkened. He slowly gained the appearance of a slim youth. The environment around him also changed. A giant rock stood before him, and someone was seated atop the rock.  He kneeled at the foot of the rock, his palms covered in a thin layer of sweat. 

After a long while, a cool voice floated down. “I’ll accept you.”

Wild with joy, he raised his head and looked up, meeting a calm and tolerant gaze.

“Your title will be… Yu Zhen* ^[1].” 

Yu Zhen.* 

^{*Both instances are written in a different way from the usual Yu Zhen. See notes for details.}

Yu Zhen opened his eyes to an empty room filled with the rays of morning light.

He was dazed for a long while before he sighed in relief and relaxed his body. Pressing a hand to his forehead, he mumbled, “Why do I keep forgetting my dreams… This sucks…”

Two days later, the Qiu family’s housekeeper abruptly changed her story. She confessed to the crime, claiming that she had made the corpse oil and corpse powder from animals. She’d claimed that it was unrelated to Qiu Xiehua.

That night, Yin Yan took Yu Zhen to the village of San’er’s mother. They found the door of her home securely locked. A rhyming couplet was written on a white piece of paper and stuck on the door. After a quick glimpse at the writing, they flashed over to the village’s cemetery.

A ghost with the appearance of a beautiful young woman crouched beside a new grave. She spoke warmly to San’er who stood in front of her.

“Mother remaining your mother in the next life, what do you think?” The woman asked nervously.

San’er, with his tender and bun-like face, solemnly shook his head and replied, “No, it will be a long, long time until I reincarnate. Don’t waste your time needlessly.”

The woman started sobbing.

San’er turned his head, remaining unmoved.

“How about I also become the ghost attendant of the immortal who helped you? Mom has only just gotten to know you, and doesn’t want to separate from you.”

San’er continued to shake his head. “You can’t. There’s a cost to being a ghost attendant. Your fate in your next life is alright. Don’t let it go to waste.”

“Wuuuuu,” the female ghost cried.

She was very beautiful. Her eyebrows curved like willow leaves. Her eyes were almond-shaped and her cheeks were peach coloured. Even when crying, she was a delicate beauty, and her tears stirred sympathy from onlookers.

But San’er’s heart remained unmoved. Instead, he kneeled before her.

“Mother, I haven’t been able to show filial piety to you. Your son has been unfilial. Be at ease and go for your rebirth. I will pray that everything goes smoothly in your next life. The emissary of the underworld is almost here. If you don’t hurry on, they will catch me and scatter me to the winds.”

The female ghost stopped her fake crying. Ghosts didn’t have tears. If there was anything that would fall, it would be tears of blood.

“San’er…”

“Mom, please give me a name.”

Mother and son looked at each other. This time, the woman really did cry. Two trails of bloody tears rolled down her face. She couldn’t hide the pain, despair, and grief from her face.

“You already have a name. It was chosen by that man, but you definitely will not like it. Mom doesn’t like it either. The day before you were born, Mom dreamt of a rainbow-colored pansy. Mom’s family name is Tao. Use Mom’s surname and the name Jin. Is that ok? Is it too feminine^[2] ?”

“It’s not.” San’er stood up, hugged her, and kissed her cheek. “I’ll miss you.”

The woman hugged him back. She wanted to say ‘me too’, but she knew that after her reincarnation, her memories from her life would turn to dust and vanish into the river of time.

The longer she cried, the more wretched she looked. With the strength in her hug, it appeared as if she wanted to merge him back into her flesh and blood.

When the faint ringing of ethereal bells sounded, San’er raised his head to look at Xu Wu. He resolutely pushed the woman away and then wiped away the tears on the woman’s face. He smiled at her then turned around and flew to Yu Zhen’s side without looking back. 

The woman looked over. She wanted to chase after him, but she bit her lip and stopped herself. When her gaze met Yu Zhen’s, she kneeled and vigorously kowtowed a few times. Then she took the initiative to move towards the void.

She couldn’t let the underworld’s emissary discover her son. She was a mother, and the last thing she could do for her son was to sever their connections. 

That night, San’er didn’t return to the Qiu residence. He withdrew into the space within Yu Zhen’s jade pendant and accompanied him back to the apartment.

Xu Wu appeared to dislike a soul following Yu Zhen. When Yu Zhen wasn’t paying attention, it snatched the jade pendant away using its mouth and ran into the dimensional pot, hiding itself in there.

Worried about San’er, Yu Zhen wanted to go to San’er, but he was stopped by Yin Yan.

“There are the Bodhi Lotus and spiritual energy in the dimensional pot. It will promote the cultivation of his soul.”

Yu Zhen paused in his steps. He thought for a moment, then gave up on following them. He and Yin Yan then washed up and returned to their own rooms. 

In the early hours of the morning, Xu Wu jumped out of the dimensional pot with a piece of jade in its mouth. It hid its form and immediately dashed towards the Qiu residence. 

Qiu Xiehua had been moved back to the family home. In his dreams, he felt a pain grow at his thigh as if someone was gnawing on his body. He was startled awake and met with the evil-looking face of San’er.

“I heard that you refined my corpse into oil, and ground it into powder. And you used it to make arrays?” San’er spoke in a ghastly manner. Twisted elation gleamed in his eyes as he continued, “I don’t have a body anymore. What will you repay me with, hmm?”

“Waaaaaahhhh!”

Qiu Ruijie, who was sleeping on the second floor, suddenly woke up and began to wail.

His nanny woke up and went to coax him, but found that no matter what she did, he couldn’t be coaxed. She became very anxious.

Xin Xiaoxiao followed behind Qiu Ruijie. She glanced towards Qiu Xiehua’s room, then looked away and began to coax, “Ruijie, don’t be scared. It’s just your granduncle punishing a bad man. Don’t be scared, don’t be scared. It’ll pass quickly. Mom’s with you.”

Everything appeared to be normal at the Qiu residence.

“Ah! Fire! Fire!”

The screech of the nanny that rang through the morning air smashed the peace within the house, scaring awake each member of the family. Everyone rushed out of their rooms and received another shock at the sight of thick smoke billowing out of Qiu Xiehua’s room.

“Why isn’t the fire being put out?!” Qiu Feixiong roared.

Everyone seemed to wake up from their dazed states and began organizing and putting out the fire.

Old Master Qiu was rescued from the fire after half an hour, but he was burned beyond recognition. The weirder thing was that he was missing a large chunk of his thigh as if it had been chewed away.

“A backlash! It must’ve been eaten by the magic!” Si Ling screeched. With her insider knowledge of the truth, she was scared by the horrific condition of Qiu Xiehua. 

Qiu Feixiong’s heart thumped, but he maintained a calm and strong front. “What nonsense are you spouting?! Shut up!”

As soon as his words fell, a line of policemen entered the building and they didn’t seem to see the mess in the room. A police officer coldly asked, “May I ask where Qiu Xiehua is? We found DNA in the corpse powder. The corpse powder’s owner has a parent-child relationship with Qiu Xiehua. Where is he? Have him come out. He will need to come with us.”

Parent-child relationship?

Each of the Qiu family members became silent. Qiu Feixiong’s expression suddenly changed, displaying his genuine panic.