Fate Trading System – Chapter 142

Plan A

Red Moon in the Barrier 6

Dead

When Su Xin arrived home trembling, she sat in a chair, took a sip of water, and felt extremely tired.

The fatigue came suddenly, without any warning signs. Su Xin shook her head and sniffled – she had been fine just moments ago.

Master Fourteen, what’s wrong with me?

Could it be that I’ve been haunted by some ghost?

【Host, you have a cold.】

“Huh???”

In this freezing weather, although the original body was sensitive to cold, it was also very strong with high immunity. How could she catch a cold? It didn’t make sense. She hadn’t gone anywhere to fool around – catching fish on the ice shouldn’t count, right? She had worn such thick clothes.

【Your body has absorbed too much yin energy. You should know humans and ghosts cannot stay together too long. Last night in very cold conditions, you went out to meet a ghost without wearing your padded jacket…】

No wonder she caught a cold.

By afternoon when she went to wash her face, her breathing felt labored, her nose was stuffed up, cold sweat appeared on her forehead, and her whole body was swaying and about to fall.

“Sister, what’s wrong?”

Tong Qing very quickly noticed Su Xin’s condition. Su Xin looked like frost-beaten eggplant [completely deflated/listless], without any energy.

“It’s nothing, I’ll go back to sleep and will be fine.”

Su Xin took off her clothes and shoes, lay in bed, pulled the blanket over her head, and waited to sweat it out – thinking that making herself a bit stuffy might help her feel better.

Tong Qing ran to the kitchen to boil hot water for Su Xin. Mu Qi wasn’t at Su Xin’s house this afternoon; she had said goodbye to Su Xin and returned to her own home, saying she was going to read.

She slept until dark before waking up. By then, Mu Qi had returned and was sitting beside Su Xin’s bed, holding a bowl of congee [congee].

“You’re back?”

Su Xin still had no energy. Her condition hadn’t improved but had actually worsened. Her voice had become hoarse and somewhat muffled.

“Mm, I’ve been back for a while. Ah Qing and I already had dinner. I specially cooked this congee for you – I figured you wouldn’t be able to eat anything else.”

There were no doctors in the village. The nearest clinic was more than 20 minutes’ walk away, and besides, they couldn’t leave now.

Mu Qi used her hand to feel Su Xin’s forehead temperature – sure enough, she had a fever.

“Thank you.”

Su Xin hated being sick the most – being ill left her without any strength. She clearly felt cold, yet her breath felt scorching hot. The alternating sensations of hot and cold were very uncomfortable.

Su Xin couldn’t feed herself – she couldn’t even lift her hands. Mu Qi fed her the porridge spoonful by spoonful. The porridge was very soft and smooth, sprinkled with some tasty dried radish, and didn’t taste bland at all.

After finishing the bowl of porridge, Su Xin felt exhausted and wanted to sleep.

【Host, you have a fever.】

Oh, talk to me later, I’m very tired now.

Her physical condition affected her mental state. Su Xin had no energy to talk with Fourteen – she was too weary.

Fourteen wanted to wait a bit longer. If it really reached that critical point, Fourteen would take the initiative to use Su Xin’s life value to treat her illness.

Mu Qi watched the sleeping girl, her gaze appearing dim and unclear under the yellowish lamplight.

Cold fingers wandered over the fair face, tracing from the corner of her eyes to the ends of her eyebrows and then to the corners of her lips, carefully outlining, carrying exploratory curiosity.

An inexplicable feeling of wanting to be close – Mu Qi felt confused. She clearly should have been doing something else, yet she was delayed like this.

Su Xin felt like she was being roasted over a fire, tossing and turning like a skewer of grilled meat – just sprinkle some cumin and pepper powder and she could be eaten right away.

Unclear, fuzzy mumbling arose in the room. One could tell it was the owner speaking deliriously. Mu Qi watched Su Xin’s uncomfortable, nearly fever-crazed state and furrowed her brows.

The slender, rounded fingertip accidentally slipped between the parting lips. Su Xin felt like she was holding something cool, somewhat like an ice pop. When everything around was like fire, this bit of coolness was truly precious. Su Xin hurriedly held onto it, not letting it escape.

Mu Qi stared blankly at her own finger. Although the room was dark with no lights on, it didn’t prevent her from observing the person beside her, nor from clearly seeing her finger being taken into the mouth. The temperature there was very high, as if it could scald her finger, yet it was also moist and soft.

She felt her finger being gently played with, that person treating it like a treasure, caressing it – not sensually or vulgarly, but with pure intention.

But later, the person lying in bed seemed to tire of this finger, no longer holding it tightly, instead irritably pushing it out with her tongue and spitting it out, while mumbling something unclearly.

The recent “ice pop” hadn’t melted but instead had grown warm. Su Xin disliked this and spat it out – she wanted something ice-cold.

Mu Qi slowly raised her hand, wetness still lingering on her fingertip – Su Xin’s saliva.

Mu Qi had very good eyesight. She watched that transparent droplet slowly slide down from her fingertip, flow into the spaces between her fingers, then drip onto her palm.

Mu Qi had always disliked physical contact with others, let alone allowing someone’s saliva to stick to her hand. Yet today, contrary to her usual nature, she didn’t feel disgusted or repulsed.

When she closed her palm, she couldn’t capture that tiny droplet – it melted into her palm, clinging to the lines of her hand.

Mu Qi switched to another finger and placed it on Su Xin’s brow point [between eyebrows]. Threads of black energy [qi] moved from Su Xin’s brow into Mu Qi’s finger. After just a few seconds, Mu Qi withdrew her finger, pulled the blanket, and lay down with closed eyes.

Only her fingers and palm, lying beneath the blanket, continued to rub gently, unable to resist.

It was mysterious.

When getting up the next day, Su Xin felt refreshed and energetic, as if yesterday’s cold and fever had been just an illusion. After washing up, she drank a cup of water, then ate breakfast – life felt wonderful.

Fourteen truthfully reported Su Xin’s condition from last night and what it had witnessed.

Su Xin thought that perhaps this meant Mu Qi had healed her. Those threads of black energy were probably yin energy. Mu Qi indeed wasn’t an ordinary person, but she definitely wasn’t a ghost – this point Su Xin could be certain of.

After all, they had shared a bed for several days. The person sleeping beside her had breath, a heartbeat, could eat food, and had warm hands – how could she be a ghost? Besides, Mu Qi had a shadow too.

But Mu Qi probably wasn’t an ordinary person either – how could a normal person absorb those things from her body?

Fourteen actually hadn’t told Su Xin everything, only the key parts. As for the matter of its host refusing to let go of someone else’s finger – there was no need to mention that, right? It would be awkward for everyone if that came out.

Su Xin now placed Mu Qi in the number one alert position, with Tong Xi in second place.

Yang Cui shouldn’t be – that was Su Xin’s intuition.

There was another crucial question – whether the formation’s eye knew they were the formation’s eye. If that person didn’t know they were the key to this village, it would be very difficult to handle. If they knew, they might show some flaws or put up defenses. But if that person was completely unaware, thinking they were just an ordinary person, believing the strange events in the village had nothing to do with them, and that everyone being unable to leave wasn’t their concern – that would make things even more troublesome.

“Sister, you’re better! I thought you’d be sick for several days.”

Tong Qing really disliked seeing his sister in such a sickly state. In his eyes, his sister should always be healthy and very lively – seeing her lying weakly in bed scared him very much.

“What, did you want your sister to lie in bed for several days?”

Su Xin teased, pinching her little brother’s fair, tender cheeks. Shotaros [Japanese term for cute young boys] were just so adorable.

“How could that be possible? I hope you never get sick in your whole life.”

“Alright, then I hope you never get sick in your whole life either.”

The siblings blessed each other, being a bit silly.

After a few days, what Great Aunt had said came true.

Yang Cui died.

That day it happened to snow outside – it was the first snow of the year. Snowflakes fell in abundance, and before long, a layer had settled on the ground.

Yang Cui was essentially the pillar of her household, handling all domestic affairs single-handedly, whether it was raising chickens, ducks, or pigs, or working in the fields and taking care of the whole family, young and old – she did it all.

Yang Cui was actually a very diligent housewife. In other seasons, she would get up early every morning, first feed the animals in the courtyard, then start washing clothes, and after washing clothes make breakfast. In short, she did all the miscellaneous tasks like sweeping and mopping. In winter she could be relatively free, but washing clothes alone was enough to keep her busy. Her reputation among others in the village was very good.

She was a typical rural housewife – liked gossip, enjoyed lively atmospheres, liked to argue, was petty about details, but was also very hardworking and could endure hardship. If Su Xin hadn’t personally heard Tong Manwen say Yang Cui killed him, she wouldn’t have believed such a village woman could cruelly kill her own son with her own hands – you may know someone’s face but not their heart [appearances can be deceiving].

Yang Cui died in her family’s well. That day, Tong He got up and called for his wife several times with no response, yet the other side of the bed was clearly cold, indicating she had left early.

Tong He left the room to find no breakfast and no one had washed the clothes. Only then did he realize something was wrong, as this was the first time in over ten years.

He couldn’t find her anywhere inside or outside the house. Thinking Yang Cui might have gone out, in this deep winter, Tong He finished washing up and found the house’s water bucket empty, so he prepared to draw water from the well.

The well water was groundwater, which wouldn’t freeze. Tong He discovered his family’s well was open, with the bucket fallen below. He frowned and planned to pull it up.

He found today’s bucket unusually heavy – even full of water it shouldn’t weigh this much. Tong He pulled up the bucket and was completely shocked.

What was in the bucket clearly wasn’t water, but a person – no, it could no longer be called a person, just a deformed corpse.

The reason Tong He could recognize the corpse as his wife at a glance was the twisted, deformed head. Yang Cui’s expression showed terror, as if greatly frightened. She maintained a position looking up at the sky, her neck and head at a 90-degree angle.

Tong He turned away to vomit, but since he hadn’t eaten anything, nothing came up.

Although Yang Cui was a woman and not particularly large, fitting her into such a small bucket would still be very difficult – the scene was nauseating.

Tong He couldn’t reach in to take out his wife’s deformed corpse because it was too difficult – she was wedged in the bucket exactly, with not even a slight gap. This wasn’t something a human could possibly do.

If Yang Cui had been tortured so painfully, stuffed in a bucket with a student, then hung in the well – these things couldn’t have happened without any noise. Tong He clearly remembered his wife lying beside him when going to sleep last night, yet he slept until dawn without hearing any sound.

But Tong He couldn’t just leave his wife’s corpse in the bucket like this. He gently closed the eyes of the wife who had shared his bed for over ten years and broke the bucket.

The corpse was crumpled into a mass, with blood stains all around.

The pungent smell of blood and the ugly corpse made Tong He’s eyes red.

He wasn’t terrified or afraid, just like a silent stone. He knew all this was karma, and his karma should be coming soon too.

Watching one’s child die must shorten one’s life span.

Tong Manwen’s corpse was still lying in another room – the first seven days [of mourning] hadn’t passed yet, so it couldn’t be buried.

Su Xin was among the earlier ones to hear this news. After receiving this information, Su Xin quickly brought two people to Yang Cui’s house.

What a situation – first his son died, then his wife. Everyone gave Tong He sympathetic looks, while casting strange glances at the corpse covered with white cloth, which wasn’t straight but seemed like only half [was there].

“Tong He, how did Cui’er die? She was fine just two days ago, wasn’t she? She was even chatting with me. How did she just leave today?”

That was a lone widow named Tong Yuzhuo, forty or fifty years old, with no son and no husband. Her husband had gone out to work with their son several years ago, got captivated by the outside world’s temptations, and never returned. The son followed his father’s ways, wasn’t worth anything, and forgot about his mother at home, acting as if he’d never lived in this village.

Tong Yuzhuo had also left the village before, but she had no money and didn’t understand the outside world. She had tried to find her husband and son but returned unsuccessful. She was a rural woman, uneducated, with an accent. Penniless outside, wanting to do anything, people looked down on her. Tong Yuzhuo had to return. She waited from her twenties until her forties. Because of the worries weighing on her heart, although she was only forty-something, she looked over fifty – a picture of sorrow.

Usually lonely at home by herself, she liked to visit neighbors and talk with other women. She had quite a good relationship with Yang Cui, and often went to help her.

“Sister Yuzhuo, please don’t ask anymore.”

Tong He sighed and shook his head.

“Hmm, how can we not ask? How can we not know how such a living person died?”

Tong Yuzhuo asked back in surprise.

There weren’t many people in the house, just Su Xin and Tong Yuzhuo.

Those who came earlier to visit had already left, offering perfunctory condolences, then leaving while muttering strange things in their hearts.

Su Xin asked Fourteen to describe the appearance of the corpse under the white cloth. Fourteen indicated it was indescribable and directly gave her a projection.

Su Xin was also shocked by the corpse’s horrible state. The death was too tragic – it wasn’t even in human form anymore, making people want to vomit upon seeing it, far more frightening than any horror or ghost movies.

Su Xin drew in a sharp breath internally but showed nothing on her face.

This shouldn’t be something done by a human, but by a ghost, right?

After all, no one could mangle a corpse like this – it looked like it had been subjected to some kind of compression, and this village didn’t have such tools.

【I stand with you on this point.】

A ghost did it? Could it be Tong Manwen?

It shouldn’t be – the way Tong Manwen left that day, he definitely wouldn’t go back to take revenge on his mother. Besides, Tong Manwen said there was a powerful female ghost by Yang Cui’s side. Could that ghost have done it?

But weren’t that female ghost and Yang Cui on the same side? To demolish the bridge after crossing [betray an ally] made no sense, just as Yang Cui killing Tong Manwen made no sense.

Many things in this world seem to have no cause and effect relationship, as if they don’t need special reasons. But having no reason is itself a reason. In this world, there is no love without cause, and no hatred without cause. Yang Cui killing Tong Manwen must have had some reason, and her being killed must have had one too.

Yang Cui was dead – another candidate eliminated.

This village seemed to have fallen under some curse, with people dying one by one. But those who died were all people she considered unimportant – that is, not the formation’s eye – which didn’t help her mission at all, but instead brought more mysteries and confusion. Among these events that seemed closely connected yet unrelated, could someone be orchestrating things from behind, just like the confusion barrier laid over this village – was it human? Or ghost?

Tong Yuzhuo wanted to lift the white cloth to look at the corpse underneath, but Tong He stopped her.

“Tong He, what do you mean? Although she was your wife, she was also my good sister. Not telling me how she died is one thing, but not even letting me see her after death? That’s too unreasonable.”

Tong Yuzhuo wasn’t a weak woman. Her experiences made her both insecure and sensitive, but her self-esteem wouldn’t allow her to show these things. She appeared very strong-willed, yet easily became dependent on others, just like how she depended on Yang Cui.

“Sister, it’s not that I won’t let you look. If you want to see, then look, but you need to prepare yourself mentally.”

Tong He had a cigarette tucked behind his ear. He took it and put it to his mouth, wanting to smoke but trembling too much to light it. He sighed and put the cigarette back where it was.

Seeing him like this, Tong Yuzhuo’s doubts grew. Without hesitation, she pulled down the white cloth, then widened her eyes and covered her mouth to hold back a scream.

A nauseating smell spread from the corpse. With those twisted limbs, if not for the face, Tong Yuzhuo wouldn’t have recognized this as Yang Cui at all.

“This… this…”

Tong Yuzhuo’s voice trembled so much she couldn’t speak a complete sentence. She appeared severely shocked, turning away, unwilling to look at the corpse’s condition anymore.

“This is how I found her when I woke up this morning. It wasn’t done by human hands – it’s all karma, I suppose. Sister, I only hope that considering your relationship with my Yang Cui, you won’t speak of this matter outside. Later I’ll move her to another room; I won’t let others see her like this.”

Tong He knew his wife cared greatly about face [reputation/dignity]. If everyone saw her dead in this state, she would definitely come pull his ears in his dreams.

“Alright.”

Tong Yuzhuo nodded in a daze, looking like she hadn’t come back to her senses yet. She looked at Tong He with incredulous eyes, then turned away.

What karma? Tong Yuzhuo didn’t believe in such things. She also didn’t believe in Cloud Lady. Each year she joined others in worship, but didn’t believe in her heart.

If karma and retribution really existed in this world, her husband and son should have died long ago.

“This is our family matter now, Sister. You’ve seen her, and she knows your feelings. You should go.”

“Absurd, truly absurd.”

But if not calmly accepting it, what else could be done? Even if one screamed and shouted in release, what would it change? The person was already dead, and it wasn’t done by human hands, but by something unclean [supernatural/evil].

Yes, absurd.

“Little Ning, you won’t tell, right?”

“Of course not, Uncle Tong. Where’s Brother Tong Xi?”

“He’s still resting in his room, hasn’t woken up yet.”

“Such a big thing has happened, and he’s still not awake?”

“I haven’t told him. His health isn’t good to begin with. Cui’er always doted on him. If he knew she died, and died so horribly, he might cough blood and faint. His constitution is too weak – I don’t know if he could withstand such a huge shock.”

It was rare for Tong He to say so much at once. Usually, he hardly spoke, and when he did, it was just one or two words at a time. Usually, Yang Cui always complained that he didn’t know how to talk. Now that Yang Cui was gone, Tong He spoke more, but the person who wanted to hear it was no longer there.

The news would have to be told eventually – it was just a matter of when and how to tell it.

“I understand, Uncle Tong. You must stay strong – the family depends on you now. There’s Brother Tong Xi and Grandmother too, you’ll need to take care of them all. If there’s anything inconvenient, you can tell me. I’ll help with whatever I can.”

“You’re kind, uncle knows.”

At the doorway, Su Xin met Tong Ling again. For some reason, Su Xin felt Tong Ling looked more haggard than a few days ago, with an unhealthy complexion.

“Lingling, are you sick?”

“No, why do you ask?”

“Your face looks quite bad [pale/sickly].”

“It must be because it’s too cold.”

Tong Ling coughed twice and rubbed her face.

“Take care of yourself.”

“Mm-hmm, I know. Uncle Tong’s family has lost two people in just a few days. Who knows what feng shui conflict [bad luck] they’ve run into.”

Tong Ling sighed, looking at Tong He’s house with sympathy in her eyes.

“After you’ve finished looking, go home quickly. Why are you coughing? I’ll cook some pear water [traditional Chinese remedy] for you when we get home.”

Tong Ling’s father said hurriedly, urging Tong Ling on, his concern obvious in his words.

“I know, you’re nagging.”

Tong Ling frowned and walked in.

When Su Xin was about to leave, she heard a distinctive footstep sound from behind. She turned around to see it was Grandmother Tong.

Grandmother Tong walked with a swaying motion, her expression somewhat vacant. She grabbed Su Xin’s hand with trembling hands, while Su Xin looked at her, not understanding what was happening.

“Grandmother, what’s wrong?”

“Cui’er… run… run…”

Grandmother Tong spoke unclearly, tears flowing down her wrinkled face.

“Grandmother, are you sad about Aunt Cui? Don’t cry, don’t cry.”

Su Xin used her sleeve to wipe Grandmother Tong’s tears, gently comforting the elderly woman.

Grandmother Tong must have had very deep feelings for Yang Cui. After Grandmother Tong developed dementia, Yang Cui took care of her without any complaint, busy doing everything. Now knowing something had happened to Yang Cui, she was still calling her name.

“Run… run…”

“Grandmother, what are you saying?”

Su Xin couldn’t hear clearly; the voice was too muffled.

But Grandmother Tong suddenly stopped speaking, closed her mouth, and slowly shuffled away.

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