Fate Trading System – Chapter 152

Plan A

Red Moon in the Barrier 16

Perching ghost

Plants and trees originally have no heart.

Mu Qi originally had no name, and she never thought about naming herself.

She had no heart, so she couldn’t feel sad. She occasionally felt curious about humans who could move, but her heart remained undisturbed.

Mu Qi could actually move too, perhaps. As long as she pulled her roots from the ground, she could move a short distance, but couldn’t maintain it for long and would need to root herself again.

She wouldn’t do such thankless tasks – if she really moved, people would likely cut her down as a demon tree. Besides, her roots were deeply entrenched, making it difficult to pull them out.

Mu Qi forgot who planted her. At that time, she was just an ordinary tree without consciousness.

She grew slowly, diligently absorbing sunlight and dewdrops, gradually becoming a tree reaching to heaven.

People parted beneath her branches, making promises to never abandon each other, vowing to return home in glory after passing exams and marry their beloved. Some succeeded, returning triumphantly to marry their sweethearts. Others failed, never returning, leaving maidens heartbroken beneath her branches.

Some even wanted to hang themselves from her southeastern branch.

Mu Qi silently watched it all through the long years, life passing like viewing flowers while riding past. She would occasionally sleep from winter until spring, finding life boring.

But worse than being boring was that Mu Qi didn’t realize she was boring – she just felt empty.

She didn’t know when she gained consciousness.

She learned much knowledge from passing Daoist priests and Buddhist monks. She had never seen other supernatural beings, and though she tried talking to flowers, grass, and passing animals, she never received any response.

Although meeting Tong Ning previously hadn’t felt special, that day was different.

At first, she just wanted to find an excuse, but when Tong Ning came back the next day, speaking earnestly while cautioning her to be careful, it struck Mu Qi’s heart.

That feeling was hard to express – it wasn’t love at first sight, yet it surpassed love at first sight.

There was a strange certainty there that they would definitely become friends.

But after becoming friends, she began yearning for something more.

“What should we eat tonight?”

Su Xin abruptly changed the topic. Life’s greatest pleasure is food. She stuck close to Mu Qi not only because of her extraordinary abilities but most importantly because she could cook delicious food. Without good food, everything else was meaningless.

“We’re out of meat, so we can only have vegetarian dishes.”

“That’s fine, your vegetarian dishes are delicious too.”

Su Xin was always good at living happily, taking things as they came, adapting quickly to any situation, and striving for the best for herself.

While the atmosphere here was harmonious, in another part of the village, the mood wasn’t so good.

“Sister, don’t run out now. Haven’t you noticed how dangerous it is?”

“Of course I know that, but I just want to find him and get answers. Why did he harm Fengying? Just because she caught us and didn’t want to join in. Why did he have to kill her so brutally?”

Tong Xiaoxuan paced back and forth in the room, showing obvious agitation.

It was truly an accident, from the day before yesterday afternoon.

Tong Xiaoxuan had strong desires, and she discovered Tong Xi was the same. The two clicked immediately, both enjoying the pursuit of excitement.

Tong Xiaoxuan had been suppressed for too long and finally exploded, though she didn’t know Tong Xi’s motivations.

While they were intimate, Qian Fengying caught them, her expression changing instantly.

Tong Xi suggested a threesome, but Tong Xiaoxuan refused, feeling they shouldn’t corrupt Qian Fengying, who was after all a married woman. Qian Fengying also refused – despite her seductive appearance, she wasn’t promiscuous. She left angrily and in disbelief.

The night before last, Tong Xiaoxuan went to talk to Qian Fengying, which led to an unpleasant encounter. After not seeing her for a day, Qian Fengying died last night.

As for whether Tong Xi was the killer, Tong Xiaoxuan didn’t know, but she just felt it was him, nothing more.

“You know he’s strange, yet you still want to go to him? Do you want me to collect your corpse tomorrow?”

Tong Liu was exhausted, not understanding why his much older sister still thought so simply and childishly.

“But… but I can’t stand it!”

“Why can’t you stand it?”

“Didn’t you hear what that dead girl Qian Fengqian said? Wasn’t her mockery enough?”

“But sister, was she wrong?”

“It’s exactly because she wasn’t wrong that I want to get clear answers!”

“Ah… I give up on you.”

Tong Liu waved his hand – he couldn’t communicate with his sister at all. It was exhausting; he couldn’t understand her thought process.

Tong Xiaoxuan left, and Tong Liu rubbed his temples. He couldn’t really ignore it – if they were to die, they might as well die together.

As soon as Tong Xiaoxuan left, Tong Liu followed.

At night, while Mu Qi was about to remove her outer clothes, her body suddenly froze.

“Someone has entered my body.”

Mu Qi’s abrupt statement confused Su Xin, though she certainly wouldn’t misinterpret it, so what was happening?

“A ghost is trying to hide in my body – in my true form at the village entrance.”

Mu Qi rubbed her temples.

“Who?”

“It should be the newly dead one from last night.”

The ghost seemed panicked trying to enter, but couldn’t get in without her permission.

“Can you bring her here?”

“I can.”

The next moment, a female ghost appeared before Su Xin – it was Qian Fengying.

“How did I get here?”

Qian Fengying looked flustered and very frightened.

“Don’t be afraid, Sister Fengying. What happened to you?”

“Tong Ning?”

Qian Fengying seemed somewhat disoriented. Her appearance wasn’t that of her death state; she looked clean and tidy, though her gaze was vacant and looked at Su Xin as if at a stranger.

“Mm.”

“Who are you hiding from?”

“A ghost wants to eat me. She killed me.”

Qian Fengying seemed to recall something horrifying. Her body began trembling violently, blood color spreading across her form, carrying heavy resentful energy.

Mu Qi frowned, not wanting to frighten Su Xin. Wisps of black qi floated from her hands into Qian Fengying’s body.

Qian Fengying stopped reverting to her death state, her eyes becoming clear.

“You… you’re not human either?”

Qian Fengying seemed to remember previous events, looking at Su Xin and Mu Qi with surprised eyes.

“Sister Fengying, you’re not human now either.”

The words sounded strange, almost like an insult.

“Oh, right.”

Qian Fengying tucked her temple hair, smiling sheepishly.

“Tell us what happened to you. You just mentioned a female ghost killed you and wants to devour you.”

“Yes, yes. That day I went to… kill Tong Xi.”

Qian Fengying’s voice became very soft at the end, her expression deeply melancholic.

“But I never expected him to be such an evil gate [supernatural], not human at all. The things following him were even more terrifying, not letting me go even as a ghost.”

Qian Fengying didn’t know what to say. One wrong step led to another. If she hadn’t had such thoughts and acted on them, things might not be like this now.

“Why did you want to kill Tong Xi?”

Su Xin actually disliked the boy too, but not enough to kill him. Although he was strange, perhaps it was precisely because of this that they should be more careful with him.

“Can I not say?”

Qian Fengying didn’t know why she had been so impulsive that day. She thought Tong Xi was just a medicine pot, too weak to fight back, and she could take him by surprise. But she had overlooked many small details.

If Tong Xi was really just a medicine pot, how could he be doing such things with Tong Xiaoxuan in the wild? It was disgusting. However, due to her fixed impression, Tong Xi’s image as a weak invalid was deeply rooted in her mind, and in her impulse, she just went for it.

Qian Fengying hated the expression on Tong Xiaoxuan’s face that night when she came to talk – that sweet expression like a young girl embracing spring.

She knew what kind of person Tong Xiaoxuan was and knew all her actions. Tong Xiaoxuan had never hidden anything from her. Though they always seemed to bicker on the surface, being of similar age, they shared many confidences.

Qian Fengying was an open-minded person, yet also conservative – liberal in thought but conservative in body. Even though her husband only came home once or twice a year, she had never been unfaithful, until that day when she encountered the agitated Tong Xiaoxuan.

That day at Tong Xiaoxuan’s house, Tong Liu was out. Qian Fengying had meant to have a proper conversation, but Tong Xiaoxuan was like a powder keg [explosive temperament], easily ignited. They started arguing fiercely, but somehow ended up in bed together. Neither had done such things before, but it happened in their confusion.

Qian Fengying felt their relationship had changed, yet somehow hadn’t changed much. They didn’t do it often, firstly because it was risky, and secondly because of guilty consciences.

But Qian Fengying never thought she would become jealous. She had thought that given how things were, with the village in this state, Tong Xiaoxuan would never have a chance to marry. But then Tong Xi appeared out of nowhere.

“Then don’t say it. Since you’re already a ghost, if you’re afraid of being devoured, why don’t you quickly leave this place?”

“I can’t get out. I couldn’t leave when alive, and now as a ghost, I still can’t leave. What kind of strange place is this? It wasn’t like this in all the years since I married here.”

“Ghosts can’t leave either?”

If that’s the case, Tong Manwen must have died – both body and soul.

Mu Qi manifested a branch in her hand, laying it open in her palm.

Qian Fengying, as if granted amnesty, hurriedly entered the branch.

Mu Qi placed the branch in Su Xin’s hand, shaking her head at her.

This method wouldn’t be able to protect this soul for very long.

---

---