Fate Trading System – Chapter 140

Plan A

Red Moon in the Barrier 4

Truth

That sound, Su Xin only heard it once. Although the sound was very small, Su Xin was certain she hadn’t misheard.

Master Fourteen, did you just hear any sound?

【Host, no. I suspect the way ghosts communicate with people might be directly through brain waves, like how I communicate with you. So others can’t hear it, only you can hear it. Just now I detected a fuzzy energy body, which should be Tong Manwen if I’m not mistaken, but it has already disappeared.】

“Okay.”

Although Fourteen couldn’t directly see the form, he could still discern something from the energy body’s fluctuations, which was still quite useful.

“Aunt Cui, please take care of your health. Uncle Tong too – the dead cannot return to life, don’t be too sad, and mind your health,” Su Xin consoled, and Yang Cui nodded.

When Su Xin was leaving Yang Cui’s house, she met the original owner’s good friend, Tong Ling, at the doorway.

Tong Ling was two years younger than the original owner, with a very lively and unrestrained personality, a naive and somewhat silly girl. She grew up and played together with the original owner, considered green plum and bamboo horse [childhood friends], and they were very close.

Tong Ling came with her parents. She was an only child, which was a very rare thing in the village, because families would typically really want a son and would keep having children until they had a boy – this was normal, but their family wasn’t like that.

It seemed that Tong Ling’s mother had some health problems and developed chronic illness after giving birth to Tong Ling, making it impossible for her to have more children. Because of this, Tong Ling’s mother was often gossiped about behind her back. However, everyone also envied that Tong Ling’s mother had a good husband, because Tong Ling’s father was very open-minded about her inability to have more children and remained as kind to her as ever.

“Ning Ning, Xiao Qing.”

Tong Ling wore thick cotton clothes with animal fur trimming on the collar and cuffs, looking very warm.

“Ling Ling.”

Su Xin nodded.

Although Tong Ling was only a girl, she was very much doted on by her parents, which was evident from her clothes, appearance, and demeanor. Her father generally didn’t let her do any farm work, and she was raised fair-skinned [meaning: untanned by fieldwork] and looked very healthy.

“This is…”

Tong Ling looked at Mu Qi with an awkward smile, as she couldn’t quite remember this girl’s name.

“Mu Qi, you can just call her Qi Qi.”

Mu Qi nodded to her, with just the right amount of politeness, showing neither too much familiarity nor distance.

“Okay. How have you been lately? Because this winter is really too cold, much colder than usual, I haven’t wanted to go out, so I haven’t visited your house. Besides, with what’s happening in the village now, my father won’t let me go out, worried something might happen to me.”

Tong Ling glared reproachfully at her father behind her, and her father showed a kind-hearted [simple/honest] smile.

Tong Ling’s father was known in the village as a very good person, always helping when any family had troubles. Now that something had happened to Tong Manwen, he would naturally come to see if there was any way he could help.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Just come and visit when you have time. The weather will get colder and colder, probably with several snowfalls coming. It will be even colder after the snow melts, but spring won’t be far after that.”

Su Xin sighed, feeling somewhat bitter inside – spring meant she would have to start farming in the fields.

Ah, the essence of rural life.

“Yes, I’ll come visit you during New Year’s.”

“Okay.”

After the young friends made their plans, they parted at Yang Cui’s doorway, one walking east and one walking west.

Mu Qi was always very quiet, with an extremely weak presence. She would just stand there without speaking or moving, like a deeply rooted tree, habitually silent.

Su Xin had specifically studied methods of concealment, this was a required course for assassins – how to become ordinary and unremarkable in a crowd, so that no one could find a trace when looking around.

A good assassin not only needs agile skills and strong judgment but also needs to learn how to ‘hide’ themselves.

Su Xin’s sensitivity to auras was undoubtedly very keen, but just now, if she hadn’t constantly reminded herself that there was someone beside her, she might have forgotten Mu Qi’s existence, just like Tong He and Yang Cui’s couple did.

The unchanging dampness and cold, the only difference between yesterday and today was that it was a bit colder.

Su Xin gathered firewood and started heating the stove, waiting for Mu Qi to cook. She sent Tong Qing back to his room, not wanting him to busy himself here. Because Fourteen was monitoring real-time all day, Su Xin wasn’t worried about anything happening to him while alone in the room.

Tong Qing had already read through his four textbooks over and over again. Mu Qi gave him a new book, which was written in simplified characters rather than traditional characters. It was a book of poetry. Tong Qing didn’t recognize some characters and didn’t understand their meaning, but he had a worn-out small dictionary, and now he was reading the new book while consulting the dictionary.

The firewood burned in the stove, gradually heating the pot. Mu Qi skillfully cut and washed vegetables, her fair face looking peaceful under the dim yellow light. Su Xin watched her for a while, then looked at the ingredients on the chopping board. Su Xin’s knife skills were good, cutting vegetables beautifully, but even if vegetables are cut beautifully, it’s useless if they’re not cooked well.

The hot oil made sizzling sounds, and when the vegetables were added, they made a loud popping sound that was so pleasing to hear. The sound of the spatula stir-frying created a different world.

Su Xin really enjoyed watching others cook. When she was bored, she would watch cooking shows because she thought cooking was a very magical process – ordinary, unremarkable ingredients transforming into beautiful shapes, and finally becoming delicious dishes, pleasing to both eye and palate.

She would watch very attentively, never treating the cooking process as just a way to pass time. She never took notes of the process, and maybe she would forget after watching, but she remembered feeling very happy while watching. Every dish deserved respect.

When watching the documentary 《A Bite of China》, the food contained not just the cook’s effort, not just sustenance, but also culture and customs, heritage and memories.

Su Xin thought perhaps she had offended the Kitchen God [a deity in Chinese folklore] somehow, as she definitely had no talent for cooking.

Usually at the dining table, Su Xin would exchange a few words with Tong Qing, asking if he was cold or talking about other things, but since Mu Qi came to their home, Su Xin had told Tong Qing that Mu Qi didn’t like talking while eating. So now they didn’t converse during meals, leaving all conversations for after eating, even casual chat wasn’t necessary.

“Dinner’s ready, it smells wonderful. Little brother, we haven’t eaten meat at our own home for many days. How about I catch some fish from the river tomorrow, would you like that? Qi Qi, do you know how to cook fish?”

Su Xin asked two questions to two people. Last night, the siblings had eaten well at Tong He’s house – it was a feast, but at their own home, Tong Qing hadn’t had any meat for almost a month. Children need proper nutrition while growing up, so Su Xin thought about providing some nourishment for her brother.

The fish from that river were very delicious, even without adding too many seasonings, they tasted very good. Su Xin recalled the taste of the fish from her memories and felt a bit hungry.

“I know how.”

Mu Qi set out the bowls and chopsticks, nodding to Su Xin.

“Big sister, I don’t want to eat it, please don’t go there, that place isn’t…”

Tong Qing hesitated, because someone had died in that river, and with winter approaching, nobody went there anymore. Tong Qing was afraid something might happen to Su Xin.

Last time on the frozen river surface, there really was a ghost trying to kill Su Xin, pushing her down onto the hard ice.

Su Xin wasn’t afraid; she was more worried the ghost wouldn’t appear. What’s so scary about a ghost? Besides, ghosts can’t harm people randomly – this is karma [cause and effect].

Everything in the world has cause and effect; whatever cause is planted must yield its corresponding effect. The original owner hadn’t done anything wrong, and if ghosts randomly harmed uninvolved people, they would pay a very heavy price.

Su Xin had originally felt a bit scared, but after Fourteen’s explanation, she wasn’t afraid anymore – they were just energy bodies that existed.

“It’s fine, I’m craving it. I’ll go catch fish tomorrow. Winter fish are easier to catch. Wait for big sister to bring some back tomorrow and let Qi Qi cook them. We’ll have a good meal, and keep the leftover ones alive – we can kill them whenever we want to eat them.”

Su Xin said cheerfully that catching fish shouldn’t be too difficult, although she had never done it herself, but it was in her memories, and the river wasn’t deep anyway.

“Big sister, you’d better not go, it’s too dangerous. What would I do if something happened to you?”

“Tsk tsk tsk, what nonsense are you talking about? If you’re worried, come with me tomorrow. I’m just afraid it’s too cold outside and you might catch a chill.”

“Then I’ll go with you.”

Tong Qing quickly said. He only had his big sister as family now; if anything happened to her, he absolutely couldn’t bear it.

“What about you, Qi Qi? Will you stay at home or come with us? We’re planning to go at noon when it’s a bit warmer, although not much warmer.”

Su Xin looked at Mu Qi, who was serving rice, asking for her opinion.

“I’ll go with you all, there’s nothing interesting about staying home alone. I’ve never watched others catch fish before.”

“Alright, when we catch the fish, I’ll clean them, and you can just cook them directly. You don’t need to scale the fish – your hands are so fair and delicate, I’m quite afraid you might get cut.”

“Okay.”

Mu Qi nodded and sat down in the chair, and the three people began eating.

Night fell quickly. Su Xin had already gotten used to this kind of life, heating water for Mu Qi’s bath, watching the flames in the stove while warming her hands, not feeling this life was dull or tasteless.

However, this was only limited to mission time. If she had to stay in this place for her whole life, she would leave first out of impatience. But that was impossible anyway – if she stayed in this place and couldn’t leave, it would mean mission failure, and failure would mean leaving this world and having one year deducted from her lifespan.

The night was cool as water. Su Xin lay in bed, and just as she was about to fall asleep, she heard that familiar calling voice again.

【Host, he’s here.】

If not mistaken, it should be that Tong Manwen fellow.

“Sister Ning, come out!”

That voice seemed to sound from outside the curtain, yet also seemed right next to her ear, carrying an icy breath.

Su Xin wasn’t sure if Mu Qi was asleep, so she tentatively called her name, but got no response.

The calling in her ear went from unclear to clear, the voice very familiar – definitely Tong Manwen without a doubt.

“Sister Ning, Sister Ning, come out quickly, I don’t have much time!”

The voice in her ear sounded very urgent. Su Xin couldn’t pretend not to hear; she got out of bed very quietly, lifted the door curtain, and went out.

She didn’t know if Tong Manwen’s death had anything to do with the formation eye [feng shui point] she was looking for, but regardless of whether there was a connection or not, she needed to hear what Tong Manwen had to say.

Mu Qi’s eyelashes trembled slightly, then returned to stillness.

As soon as Su Xin went out, she felt the cold aura. She somewhat regretted not taking out the quota [likely referring to something that could help with ghosts]. This cold sensation was clearly different from the winter cold outside; it must have come from some ghost inside here.

“Sister Ning.”

Tong Manwen appeared. His appearance was identical to the corpse under the white cloth she had seen when washing her face at his house – his face deathly pale and rigidly cold, like a frozen stone, but his expression wasn’t stiff; it was very animated, just like when he was alive.

Tong Manwen walked back and forth in the room, smiling when he saw Su Xin.

“Manwen, it’s not yet your seventh day after death [important day in Chinese funeral customs], why have you come back already?”

Su Xin appeared very calm, showing not the slightest trace of fear or agitation.

Seeing her like this, Tong Manwen breathed a sigh of relief. He had been afraid Su Xin would scream and run away upon seeing him, after all, not everyone could see a ghost and remain so calm.

“Sister Ning, I came to tell you something. I wasn’t killed by a ghost, I was killed by a person. No, no, I should say I was first killed by a person, then a ghost made me look the way you all found me. That day I had hallucinations, and after running away from your house, I encountered ghost walls. I tried hard to hide in Old Man Hu’s temple but it was no use. I was found by her, then she killed me. I saw my own corpse being buried alive by a female ghost. I don’t know what she was trying to do.”

When Tong Manwen said this, there was no resentment in his voice, only indescribable sadness.

“Who killed you?”

“My mother.”

Tong Manwen looked like he was about to cry, his voice choked with tears, bloody teardrops falling from the corners of his eyes, looking very pitiful.

“What…?”

Su Xin hadn’t expected such an answer. How could it be? Yang Cui killing her own son?

“Sister Ning, I really don’t know what I did wrong. From childhood, I always listened to her. Although she often scolded me, when she wouldn’t let me study, after I fought back once, I obediently worked in the fields. If she didn’t want me to do something, I wouldn’t do it. I was always mischievous, partly because I wanted to be that way, and partly because I just wanted to get her attention. You don’t know how frightening our home was. When I was quiet, it felt like there was no human presence in the house, yet they clearly weren’t ghosts, they were human.”

“Maybe it’s better that I’m dead, since I couldn’t escape anyway. But I didn’t want to die. Although she gave birth to me and raised me, I shouldn’t blame her, but I really can’t understand it.”

Blood was still flowing from Tong Manwen’s eyes, and a wound appeared on his body – it must have been his fatal wound.

That day he encountered the ghost walls and went into Old Man Hu’s temple, but heard Yang Cui calling him.

He thought his mother had come to take him home, but unexpectedly what awaited him was a knife piercing his body.

“Why don’t you go ask her?”

Since ghosts could appear, why not go ask the perpetrator?

Su Xin didn’t understand Tong Manwen’s thinking. In her view, no matter how long parents gave birth to and raised their children, if they killed them, they were wrong.

The idea that ‘I can kill the child I gave birth to as if that settles the debt’ was simply unreasonable.

“I can’t go ask her. I have to go for reincarnation. Sister Ning, there’s a female ghost in my house – she’s the one who buried me. Even though I’ve become a ghost, I’m no match for her. She seems to be working with my mother. That female ghost is now looking everywhere for me, wanting to devour me. Actually, I do hate my mother, but I’m powerless. I couldn’t do anything while alive, and now even in death, I can’t do anything.”

Tong Manwen had just habitually come here. In his view, Su Xin was a very reliable older sister. He was used to hiding here whenever something happened, not being this close to anyone else, so even after death, he chose to tell these things to Su Xin.

How could he not want to confront his mother? After the initial shock, he even wanted to drag that woman who gave birth to and raised him down to hell together. But he was only 14 years old, with many thoughts still like a child’s. The contradiction in his thoughts caused him inner conflict, and with external threats, he finally gave up.

His mother could kill him, but he couldn’t bring himself to kill his mother.

“So I need to move quickly now. Sister Ning, you must be careful, this village has completely changed.”

Tong Manwen opened the window, letting the cold wind blow in from outside. He pointed at the moon in the sky, asking Su Xin to look.

This was his final warning before leaving.

The clouds dispersed, revealing the moon’s true form. Tonight’s moon was blood-red, matching this evil influence [supernatural disturbance].

Su Xin drew in a sharp breath and furrowed her brows.

Tong Manwen said when he died and his soul left his body, he saw an extremely powerful female ghost. He instinctively felt something was wrong, so his spirit floated into Old Man Hu’s temple. Whether it was because he stayed inside or not, that female ghost somehow didn’t discover him.

He hadn’t been dead for long, and spirits weren’t supposed to go too far from their corpses. He quietly concealed his traces, and after his body was moved back home, he saw Su Xin and called out urgently, but it seemed the female ghost noticed him, so he quickly hid again.

“Maybe in this world there were never any gods, only ghosts. If Old Man Hu really existed, why doesn’t he show his power, just watching our village turn into this ghostly state?”

Tong Manwen disappeared, his figure dissolving into nothingness.

Su Xin gazed at this strange moon and closed the window.

Because she hadn’t worn her padded jacket, only standing outside in her undergarments while talking for a while, her already cold-sensitive body was now completely chilled, her fingers feeling nearly frozen.

Su Xin sighed. She ultimately couldn’t treat the people around her in these worlds as NPCs, because they were indeed real people living in another dimension.

Regarding Tong Manwen, Su Xin felt sympathy and regret, but she wouldn’t let her sense of justice overflow and expose these matters. She wasn’t foolish – this was someone else’s family matter, a mother killing her son. What good would come from condemning it?

Tong Manwen’s death eliminated one suspect for her, but brought deeper confusion.

Why did Yang Cui kill her own son, working together with a female ghost? Was she connected to this village’s supernatural barrier? If there was a connection, what role did Yang Cui play in it? Did Tong He know about all this, and was there any connection to Tong Xi?

In Tong Manwen’s death, did Old Man Hu’s temple play any important role?

Were Old Man Hu and the Earth God really real?

From the order of worship during New Year, you could see that the villagers valued Cloud Lady more than Old Man Hu – Cloud Lady was first, Old Man Hu second. Also, Cloud Lady had a temple keeper to maintain the incense offerings, but Old Man Hu didn’t.

According to legend, Old Man Hu’s history should be older than Cloud Lady’s, and Cloud Lady was a human while Old Man Hu was a ‘god.’

But perhaps because of this – one being an intangible god and one being a person who made real contributions – while Old Man Hu was said to be children’s protective deity, children kept having incidents.

Uncle Tong said this was because Old Man Hu was angered, since the corpse was in front of Old Man Hu’s temple, but Tong Manwen said it was done by the female ghost.

So it’s very possible this wasn’t about angering Old Man Hu, wasn’t his revenge, but rather a provocation, a mockery.

Su Xin thought of other things, such as her little brother who was between Da Ya and Tong Manwen’s age, the mission target Tong Qing.

Who put that knife on the doorframe? It couldn’t be that female ghost – if a female ghost wanted to harm someone, she wouldn’t need such a roundabout method. The ghost walls that Tong Manwen encountered were probably set up by the female ghost. There would be no need for such methods to deal with ten-year-old Tong Qing.

If the female ghost and Yang Cui weren’t related to the sickle incident, were they related to Da Ya and Er Ya’s deaths?

Were Da Ya and Er Ya’s deaths caused by humans or ghosts?

And there was the Cloud Lady temple’s night watchman who gave cold laughs in the crowd as if seeing through everything, and the highly respected Great Aunt – they seemed to have many stories behind them too.

Su Xin remembered Yang Cui’s strange words and confident tone when she tried to arrange marriages for her and Tong Xi earlier.

Someone had said Tong Xi wouldn’t survive this winter. Su Xin didn’t believe this was groundless, and Tong Xi’s health was indeed very poor, even coughing up blood, but Yang Cui had that manner of being absolutely certain that Tong Xi wouldn’t have any problems, would definitely survive and live very well.

In Su Xin’s ears rang the complaints Tong Manwen had made that day when he came here hiding from Yang Cui. Tong Manwen said he felt that compared to himself, his young uncle seemed more like his mother’s child.

But these words were too absurd – when Tong Xi was born, Yang Cui was only a few years old, still living far away in another village.

Moreover, Tong Xi was a university student who had gone away to study, and when he returned home in poor health, Yang Cui had already been married into the family for nearly half a year. And what about that female ghost?

While Su Xin was lost in thought, suddenly her shoulder was tapped, making her turn around in fright.

Mu Qi stood there, looking at her with a strange expression.

“Why aren’t you sleeping, what are you doing standing here?”

“Nothing, why did you come out?”

Su Xin’s expression softened, but in her heart she became increasingly vigilant.

This person walked without making any sound – if she had wanted to kill her, she could have succeeded just now.

Su Xin silently cursed herself for letting her vigilance drop – this shouldn’t have happened.

“I suddenly woke up just now and felt it was ice cold beside me. When I found you weren’t there, I came out to check. Aren’t you cold? Come in quickly.”

The room was dark, with no lights on, and the moonlight from outside couldn’t shine in. Su Xin could only sense Mu Qi’s location by feeling.

“Alright, it’s too cold.”

Su Xin didn’t mention what she had been doing just now, walked toward her room, lifted the curtain, quickly took off her shoes, and crawled into the blanket.

The bed had grown cold from its owner’s absence. Su Xin curled up under the blanket shivering, her whole body trembling with chattering teeth.

The bed shook slightly as Mu Qi returned under the blanket.

A hand reached out and held Su Xin’s hand, causing Su Xin to be slightly startled.

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