Alone, Beautifully – Chapter 112
by Little PandaMy Wife (24)
“Newly purchased items.”
Zheng Zhiyu tried to find some old ghosts from remote and wild areas who had more experience. These ghosts usually didn’t receive much worship or offerings and could only freeload at wealthy households during festivals. They were wild ghosts who might have heard about many things.
She started directly with the topic of the Ghost King, after all, according to the fake master’s words, Xu Jiao’s identity was inseparable from the Ghost King. If there were any problems with her soul, it would most likely be related to that Ghost King.
However, Zheng Zhiyu’s path to finding these wild ghosts was not very smooth.
These fellows had indeed lived for a long time, but their daily lives were no different from shut-ins. Some didn’t even know about the change of dynasties and were still immersed in the prosperity of past dynasties. Some even trembled at the mere mention of the Ghost King. There was not a single piece of useful information.
Zheng Zhiyu could only venture further and further. Fortunately, there had been no movement from Xu Jiao’s side, and she estimated that nothing major would happen in the short term. This gave her the courage to consider going to even more distant places.
Just as she was searching for clues about Xu Jiao’s physical abnormalitiesβ
In S City.
A bald man was escorted out of a financial building by a group of people in suits. Someone held an umbrella as they guided him into a black Mercedes. Only when he was enveloped by the cool air conditioning did the bald man lean back comfortably in his seat. An assistant and disciple were at his side, offering him a handkerchief to wipe his sweat and dabbing the thin layer of perspiration from his forehead.
At the same time, the disciple displayed a fawning smile and, with lowered eyes, said respectfully, “As expected of Master. I originally thought this job wouldn’t be too difficult, but who knew this place could nurture such a formidable entity. If it weren’t for Master coming to help me, your disciple would have fallen here.”
Hearing these words, the bald man stroked the Buddhist beads around his neck, which were adorned with ten thousand ghost faces. Half of the beads had turned gray in color, and half of the ghost faces were solid while the other half were faint. In contrast, however, there was a new bead on the pagoda that emitted a slight red glow.
He glanced sideways at his disciple and replied slowly, “You can’t be blamed for this. Human greed knows no bounds; nowadays, people will do anything for money⦔
“They specifically employ devious methods, and sacrificing some ordinary people is quite common in the process.”
“However, while there are those who engage in such karma-depleting activities, there are naturally also people who meddle in the so-called righteous causes. They broke the feng shui formation of that place, turning the focal point from auspicious to ominous, causing it to backfire on its master.”
“This turned out to be an unexpected pleasure for me. The suppressed soul had already become a great evil ghost due to the overflow of resentment. I was just wondering how to repair my magical instrument, and who knew your mishap would end up being of great help to me.”
Hearing his praise, the man sitting beside the bald one also showed delight on his face, smiling as he said, “For this disciple to be able to ease Master’s worries is my good fortune. However, there is one thing this disciple doesn’t quite understand.”
The bald man closed his eyes, enjoying the air conditioning in the car, and said to him, “Speak.”
“I’ve heard Master mention before that the pagoda on your magical instrument was reserved for the Ghost King. Why did Master go out a while ago and return not only with the magical instrument greatly damaged, but also directly filled the pagoda with this fierce ghost we found todayβ¦ If I remember correctly, Master has been searching for the Ghost King for over twenty years. Can’t we close the net now?”
The speaker was only in his early twenties after all, and preferred to seek shortcuts in his actions. He couldn’t quite understand the monk’s approach. In his view, his master had spent nearly half his life setting up plans to capture the Ghost King, such as using divination techniques he had learned earlier to calculate the person with karmic ties to the Ghost King’s reincarnation after his downfall. For this, he had even lowered his own living standards, disappearing into deep mountains for years at a time.
A while ago, Master said he had calculated that he would face a tribulation and wanted to go see if it was the Ghost King’s reincarnationβ
Who knew that when he returned, he was injured. Although the injury wasn’t too severe, the string of ghost-faced Buddhist beads around his neck, which people usually couldn’t look at directly, had turned gray on one half and seemed about to shatter. Fortunately, he managed to protect it successfully in the end, barely preserving it.
Otherwise, this magical instrument would have been equivalent to losing half its power.
Hearing his disciple’s words, the bald man opened his eyes. Thinking of something unknown, a fierce light flashed in his eyes. After a while, he slowly said, “The Ghost King emerged from the underworld a hundred years ago. It’s the only thing in this world that could break out of the underworld.”
“I don’t know how it was born, I’ve only been fortunate enough to see brief descriptions in the sole copy left by my grandmaster. Luckily, I fully inherited from my master the method of deducing fate and divination. By leveraging the right timing, I was fortunate enough to calculate that the Ghost King’s lover would soon appear in the mortal world.”
“For this, I painstakingly set up numerous plans, but who knew that man’s calculations are no match for heaven’s willβ”
“That day in Xu family village, guess what I saw? The Ghost King’s beloved was actually involved with a fierce ghost, and I couldn’t quite see the origins of that fierce ghost. Observing her spellcasting, there seemed to be hints of great mystical arts, yet the murderous aura on her body was no less than that of ordinary fierce ghosts, if not more.”
“I was careless for a moment and fell victim to her spell.”
“There were two things I hadn’t anticipated in this matter. First, according to rumors, this Ghost King was clearly a romantic. Folk tales say it searched the eighteen layers of hell in vain for its lover, which is why it broke out of the underworld, wanting to see its beloved in the mortal world. Afterwards, its traces were never foundβ¦ At that time, I clearly saw an emotional bond between its beloved and the fierce ghost, but the Ghost King didn’t appear.”
“Secondly, after I came back, I calculated the fate of that fierce ghost. Who knew her destiny seemed to have been deliberately concealed by someone? I couldn’t see even a trace of it. I neither know the background of that fierce ghost nor when the Ghost King will manifest in the world.”
Hearing this, his disciple was secretly shocked, while also showing some shame on his face.
He had thought things were too simple.
Indeed, Master was a person pursuing immortality, so naturally, he considered things more thoroughly than him when taking action. For the same matter, he could only see the surface, while Master had already taken one step and seen ten steps ahead.
After hesitating for a long time, the disciple finally asked, “But Masterβ¦ you’ve waited for too long. If the Ghost King doesn’t appear for a long time, what will you do?”
Hearing his disciple’s words, the bald man’s eyes showed rare emotional grief and indignation.
He remained silent for a long while, then the corner of his lips curled into an eerie arc:
“My good disciple, there’s no need to worry for me.”
“Those traps I’ve setβ¦ none of them will be wasted. Just wait, within half a month, the Ghost King’s wife will surely face a life-threatening situation. When that time comes, I don’t believe the Ghost King won’t show up.”
“If it really turns out this way, I can say I’ve done everything humanly possible, and it’s just that heaven doesn’t will it.”
“I can’t wait another hundred years.”
(LP: I have a feeling that Xu Jiao is the Ghost King)
Xu Jiao didn’t know that she was already caught in a trap.
After fooling her roommates, she tossed the box aside and returned to the lower bunk position. She sat at the iron table and cut a piece of bright red watermelonβ
The watermelon flesh was very fresh. The iron spoon made a crisp, sandy sound as it dug in. Just as she was about to put the centermost bite into her mouth, the clean and sweet juice aroma of the watermelon had already drifted into her nose, instantly immersing her in the coolness of summer, just like the cool breeze from the air conditioner.
When the sweetness entered her mouth, the watermelon flesh was slightly squeezed between her tongue and palate, releasing sweet juice that spread throughout. The sweetness was even more intense than before, yet addictive, making it impossible to stop eating spoonful after spoonful.
After more than ten consecutive spoonfuls, the summer heat she had absorbed from the sunlight outdoors had unknowingly been reduced by half.
Xu Jiao ate almost half of the watermelon, and her mood lifted along with it. Although she didn’t wait for Zheng Zhiyu to return that night, her mood was already quite good. It seemed to have swept away many days of nightmares and bad emotions, and even the lethargy from her low fever had completely disappeared.
She lay in bed, listening to the long-absent lively sounds in the dormitory. Qian Ai and Zhou Qili always chatted for a bit before going to sleep:
“Xiaoxu, when we came back earlier, we saw the aunty downstairs saying that we should avoid those bushes when going out. The school has an unusually high number of insects and snakes this year. Someone from another department has already been bitten by a snake while taking pictures in the bushes without paying attention. Is that true?”
Xu Jiao gave a faint “Mm” in response.
Qian Ai sighed, “Ah, the school is too strange this year, isn’t it? I thought the rumors about the hotel outside were just a coincidence, but now there’s a murder case on the same floor, and these snakes and insects seem to be coming out in droves. Don’t you think it’s very bizarre?”
Zhou Qili, engrossed in her novel, responded with a delayed, “A little bit.”
She then waited for Xu Jiao’s reply.
Xu Jiao, listening to her gossip that was surprisingly close to the truth, couldn’t help but feel a bit of admiration. However, she maintained her usual persona on the surface: “Is that so? I haven’t really noticed.”
Qian Ai sighed with disappointment.
“I thought you, the top student, had changed, but I didn’t expect you to still be so uninterestingβ¦ Oh right, didn’t you ask me about the story of the school leadership and Building No. 18 last time?”
Xu Jiao remembered this topic; she had asked Qian Ai about it on the chat app. Unexpectedly, Qian Ai had gone off on tangents and later diverted her attention. She had also put aside the matter of Building No. 18 and the Arts and Sciences Building’s formation due to the incident of seeing a snake with Zheng Zhiyu when they went out.
Now that Qian Ai had brought it up voluntarily, she followed along: “Mm, you know about it?”
Qian Ai sat up excitedly, cupping her face, looking at Xu Jiao from her upper bunk across the distance. She nodded enthusiastically: “You’ve hit the nail on the head. Ahem, I probably didn’t tell you guys before because it’s not a very glorious matter. Since our Xueba is now actively gossiping, considering how rare it is for her to be curious, I have to satisfy that curiosityβbut let’s be clear, you can’t tell anyone else about this, and you’re not allowed to look at me strangely, okay?”
Zhou Qili and Xu Jiao: “?”
As the two became a bit confused, Qian Ai said somewhat embarrassedly: “It’s like this, my dad was in the same dormitory as the principal back then, so I’ve heard a bit about the story of the school’s construction at the dinner table⦔
Zhou Qili was shocked for a second: “Wow, so the legendary ‘big leg’ (influential connection) has been right beside me?”
Xu Jiao wasn’t particularly surprised. Qian Ai’s usual expenses were not ordinary, and having such capital and this kind of family connection was quite normal. She remained silent, quietly listening to Qian Ai continue.
“I heard that when S University was being built, they invited a specialized feng shui master to take a look. After all, it’s a century-old school, you know. How many major universities in China don’t have feng shui designs when they’re built?”
“I heard that many aspects were normal at first, but some buildings would inevitably become old and unusable as time passed. Plus, there were always students developing mental issues due to academic pressure, relationship problems, and such. The students at our school are talented elites from all over the country, so they have high self-expectations. Such people are also prone to overthinking, so every graduation season, there are always some who jump from buildings.”
“I’m not sure which year it started, but the Arts and Sciences Building near our dormitory had its energy field changed. The explanation I heard was that the resentment of the girls who jumped was too deep, polluting the magnetic field in that area. I don’t know if that’s true or not⦔
“Anyway, the school later changed principals several times, and each time they wanted to invite a master to come and renovate the Arts and Sciences Building, as well as the study building next to the college. They especially wanted to make some feng shui arrangements to suppress that negative energy.”
“When our current principal took office, he happened to know a highly skilled person. This expert was said to be a Buddhist. The school had originally prepared a large sum to demolish and rebuild these buildings with bad feng shui, but this expert directly helped save money by only proposing to build a new dormitory at the current location of Building No. 18. The energy field and design of this building would suppress the negative energy of those two buildingsβ”
“That’s the origin of Building No. 18 and some of the feng shui stories I know about the school.”
After Qian Ai finished, Zhou Qili exclaimed from the side: “I feel like I’ve just followed a daily life fantasy novel? Is feng shui really true?”
Xu Jiao, however, suddenly asked a different question:
“The master you mentioned who helped with the designβ¦ is he bald? What does he look like?”
Qian Ai: “?”
She was very confused, not understanding how Xu Jiao could ask such a strange question after hearing this story. It was completely outside the range of normal reactions.
After hesitating for quite a while, Qian Ai finally said uncertainly: “I guess so? Aren’t half of the Buddhists bald? Why are you asking this, Xueba? Do you know this person?”
Xu Jiao lay flat on her bed, staring at the ceiling, and casually made up an answer: “Just curious.”
Qian Ai sighed: “As expected of a top student, even your angle of curiosity is so tricky.”
Xu Jiao: “⦔
Perhaps because Xu Jiao often helped her with academics, Qian Ai was now eager to satisfy her curiosity. She even sent a message to her family late at night to ask about this matter.
Xu Jiao didn’t have much hope, and simply fell asleep calmly.
By now, she could face that strange, anxious dream of searching for someone whose name she didn’t know quite composedly. After waking up, she could also quickly adjust her mood.
She was prepared to enter another dream in some strange place.
However, to her surpriseβ
Tonight’s dream was quite different from the previous days.
Xu Jiao dreamed ofβ¦
Zheng Zhiyu.
In the dream, Zheng Zhiyu was wearing clothes that looked like a Taoist robe. Xu Jiao followed behind her, looking down at the high steps leading up the mountain, and heard her slowly reciting in front:
“β¦The highest good is like water. Water benefits all things without contention. It dwells in places that people despise. Thus, it is close to the Tao.”
Hearing these words, Xu Jiao stopped in her tracks and looked up at her in confusion. It was then that she realized the height difference between them seemed quite unequal. Although she knew Zheng Zhiyu was slightly taller than her in real life, the difference shouldn’t be this great.
It was as ifβ¦
She herself was just a three-year-old child.
At eye level, she could only see Zheng Zhiyu’s legs and the graceful movement of her steps, along with the swaying light blue trouser legs.
She stopped walking, and the person in front seemed to sense it, turning around to look at her, asking, “Why aren’t you reciting along?”
Xu Jiao looked up at her figure against the light, moved her lips, not knowing how to make excuses for herself. She just stared at Zheng Zhiyu, wondering how someone who appeared so cool and otherworldly could, after becoming a ghostβ¦
Be able to unleash her true nature like that?
Isn’t it said that cultivators act according to their hearts and speak naturally? What kind of path is this? Hadn’t she heard that during cultivation, one should suppress their emotions and desires? Is this the path of emotionlessness?
Too many thoughts were floating through Xu Jiao’s mind, and she didn’t know where she was, so she simply remained silent.
Seeing her inexplicably unhappy expression, Zheng Zhiyu raised her hand to pat Xu Jiao’s head. Xu Jiao suddenly shuddered slightlyβ
Strange.
The other’s action was clearly aimed at the top of her head, but when it landed, why did it produce a ticklish sensation in the area of her ears?
Could it be that her ears were on top of her head?
Xu Jiao found it difficult to imagine such a bizarre scene, but from Zheng Zhiyu’s perspective, it looked as if the person had just twitched their ears at her, seemingly disapproving of her action.
So she withdrew her hand, no longer touching Xu Jiao, and only said: “The γTao Te Chingγ is supreme for cultivating the mind. If you have nothing to do in your daily life, you should copy and recite it more often. It will help with your cultivation.”
Xu Jiao nodded and looked up at her.
Zheng Zhiyu started walking forward again. Xu Jiao felt that this dream was somewhat controllable by herself. Seeing Zheng Zhiyu walk, dressed in Taoist robes, she somehow thought of the Ghost King matter. So she quickened her pace, wanting to speak up and ask something, but then her foot stepped on something unknownβ
The next moment.
As she fell, an indescribable pain shot through her tailbone.
It made her feel as if cold sweat was about to break out all over her body.
Zheng Zhiyu seemed to have eyes in the back of her head. She had already taken a step forward, but quickly turned back to catch her, while glancing behind her and shaking her head, saying:
“Tuck in your tail.”
Xu Jiao: “β¦???”
She turned back to look in shock, seeing a large, fluffy tail with a slightly brownish color.
Thanks to the common knowledge she possessed as a demonic cultivator in the first world, now she could immediately tell just by looking at the tail⦠this was the kind of tail that belonged to a mountain fox.
How could she be a fox?
Could it be that this time her identity was again a supernatural creature?
Xu Jiao’s mind was filled with questions, and when Zheng Zhiyu picked her up, she forgot her original concerns and uttered in confusion: “Tail⦔
Zheng Zhiyu sighed and said to her: “I know you’re very unwilling to be in this form. You were originally human, but you were targeted by a mountain spirit, nearly losing your body. In the end, because my disciple-nephew’s exorcism was ineffective, the fox’s essence merged with youβ¦ Now in this form, who knows if the underworld will accept you after a hundred years.”
“Well, don’t worry. As long as I’m here, I’ll find a way to restore your human form somedayβ”
“Until then, just try to control yourself a bit. Don’t keep accidentally letting this tail show. If others see it, they’ll treat you as a supernatural creature too.”
Xu Jiao heard this information-packed content and was quite shocked. She had just managed to gather her wits in this dream and wanted to ask something more, but Zheng Zhiyu had already put her down and was walking away without looking back.
Xu Jiao stepped on her own tail once every three steps on average, the pain almost making her lose control of her expression. But Zheng Zhiyu’s figure was already getting further and further away from her. She had no choice but to hold her tail high and chase after her:
“Wait for me⦔
But no matter how fast she ran, she couldn’t catch up.
Without realizing it, this dream had once again become that dream of searching for someone.
“Phew.”
When Xu Jiao woke up, she let out a big sigh, but halfway through relaxing, she realized there was an additional cool presence in front of her.
She blinked her eyes, her first reaction being that she was still in a dream. It wasn’t until she glimpsed the bright red clothes on Zheng Zhiyu that she realized, ohβ¦ this was reality.
Qian Ai and Zhou Qili were still sound asleep, not having woken up. Xu Jiao pulled the blanket and asked with her eyes: You’re back so soon?
Zheng Zhiyu habitually felt her forehead.
Hmm, surprisingly no fever today.
Her gaze revealed a hint of joy as she lowered her head and asked Xu Jiao: “Did you miss me?”
Xu Jiao slowly shook her head.
Zheng Zhiyu asked again: “Was the thing I sent you useful?”
Xu Jiao’s head-shaking hadn’t stopped yet. After reacting for two seconds, she suddenly halted, neither nodding nor shaking her head. After a while, she pulled out a sarcastic smile and said to Zheng Zhiyu using lip-reading:
“Using my money to send me things?”
Being close, Zheng Zhiyu easily understood what she was trying to say and couldn’t help but laugh, deliberately misinterpreting her meaning: “Ah, it’s not good? What, did you secretly try it without me? I don’t believe it. This store has so many anonymous positive reviews. Did you not even open it? Let me help you try it.”
Xu Jiao: “⦔
She raised her hand to silently push away Zheng Zhiyu’s approaching gesture.
Zheng Zhiyu glanced at the two roommates sleeping nearby, then exhaled two breaths of cool air towards them. At that moment, Xu Jiao was forcefully pulling up the blanket and didn’t notice this scene. After doing this, Zheng Zhiyu grabbed the opened box from Xu Jiao’s side and burrowed into her blanket.
Xu Jiao: “!”
This time, she used a warning whisper to say to Zheng Zhiyu: “Don’t you dare.”
Zheng Zhiyu hugged her and bit her ear: “What’s the problemβ¦ They’re not awake anyway. This one has a bunny tail design, it’s super cute. I thought it would suit you the moment I saw it. You with a long tail must be very cute.”
Xu Jiao: “⦔
For some reason, she thought of her previous dream.
Even more inexplicably, she recalled the first world, when she was a nine-tailed fox, and the things that a certain rebellious junior disciple did to her tailsβ¦
Zheng Zhiyu touched her neck with the back of her hand, noticed the temperature was somewhat abnormal, and said in surprise: “Huh? I was just teasing you a bit. Did that really scare you enough to start a fever again?”
Xu Jiao: “⦔
She pushed Zheng Zhiyu out of her blanket, pulled the covers up, covered her face, and let out a very soft “Mm.” Then, with no sincerity at all, she moved her lips, silently saying:
“Yeah, you scared me to death.”
Zheng Zhiyu, not knowing which part struck her as funny, didn’t care how strange her smile might look now. She covered her face with her sleeve and smiled until her eyes crinkled.
As if seeing through Xu Jiao’s lie, after laughing for quite a while, Zheng Zhiyu reached out again to touch her neck and asked in surprise: “Huh? How come you’re not feverish anymore now?”
Xu Jiao: “⦔
She rolled her eyes at the certain ghost, ignoring Zheng Zhiyu’s silly behavior. She propped herself up with one hand to sit up, reached for her phone to check the time, but found that Qian Ai had actually sent her a message in the middle of the night.
She opened it to seeβ
The content was strikingly:
“Ta-da! My dad had a business dinner last night, so he went to bed very late. He actually has pictures of the master! Because this master helped check the feng shui for our family! Look! Satisfying your curiosity! Praise me, Xueba, aren’t I amazing?”
“[Image]”
Xu Jiao opened the photo to lookβ¦
A chill ran up her spine.
It was exactly the appearance of the bald master she had seen when she returned to her hometown.
Although he was very young, his facial features and bone structure hadn’t changed much at all.
Zheng Zhiyu, not knowing why she had paused, leaned in and affectionately nuzzled her cheek, her voice set to a seductive mode, speaking to her with a moist tone:
“The ancients said, the key to a day lies in the morning⦔
“We should follow the ancient teachings and make good use of the morning timeβ”
“Let’s try out the new toy I bought for you?”
I disagree, Zheng zhiyu is probably the ghost king and song her wife