Fate Trading System – Chapter 158

Plan A

Red Moon in the Barrier 22

The Great Fire

When Su Xin returned, she wasn’t in a good mood.

“What’s wrong? You look rather down?”

Mu Qi was closely observing her wife’s facial expressions, constantly sensing her mood. In this mission world, Su Xin had no need to hide anything, so when she was happy, she showed it, and when unhappy, she showed that too.

“My heart feels very heavy.”

Su Xin glanced toward the Cloud Lady Temple, feeling the hatred just from hearing the description.

“Evil people come from harsh lands” [bad environment breeds bad people], despite her good intentions, she received such torture. Su Xin felt the village massacre was understandable – the villagers from hundreds of years ago didn’t deserve any sympathy. How could they still have the face to live in this world after committing such atrocities against their benefactor?

Look at what they did first thing after the incident – they wanted to prevent their tortured benefactor from ever being reincarnated. Cloud Lady’s revenge came from desperation, but that revenge was stopped by someone else before it could be completed. That Daoist priest probably didn’t know the true story, because those villagers would never tell him the truth, as they knew those unspeakably disgusting things they had done.

The Daoist priest and the original Cloud Lady had the same mindset – these people were pitiful, they were suffering, so they needed to be helped.

But were they really pitiful? People are often deceived by appearances, even confusing right and wrong, good and evil. Sometimes what one sees isn’t necessarily true, and what one doesn’t see isn’t necessarily false.

Su Xin went to the room and told Cloud Lady’s story to Mu Qi. Mu Qi wore an expression that seemed to say “as expected” – she had seen too much in this world, having witnessed even worse things than this.

“What she did wasn’t excessive at all. No wonder her resentful energy is so heavy. Even after being cleansed by incense ash for hundreds of years, she still emerged full of despair.”

Mu Qi sighed. Now understanding the situation’s origin, she was quite certain – Cloud Lady might look frightening with her deep resentful energy, but she didn’t have much power left. Because fewer people came to worship, the power of the incense offerings had weakened, allowing her to break free.

That Daoist priest from hundreds of years ago was quite remarkable to have thought of such a method.

“I don’t quite understand what she wants to do now. If she wanted to massacre the village, she could have just done it directly. Why trap us all here without taking action herself?”

Looking at the whole situation from beginning to end, Cloud Lady had only killed two people, and those were actually done by Tong Ling. Cloud Lady had merely lent her power. In some ways, what Cloud Lady did wasn’t even wrong, because as long as Tong Ling’s parents were alive, Tong Ling would continue to be tortured.

Although she prevented everyone from leaving, she wasn’t much connected to the successive deaths in the village. Uncle Tong was killed by Widow Wang’s husband, others were killed by the female ghost, and Tong Ling’s parents were dealt with by Tong Ling using her borrowed power. None were directly related to her.

“I don’t know either. Perhaps we’ll need to ask her personally to understand.”

Mu Qi shook her head.

“I remember something – a long time ago when we went fishing, I saw a strange little boy under the ice. He must have been a ghost, right? Who was he?”

Although these minor ghosts might not have much to do with the village, Su Xin remained curious, especially since that little ghost had startled her back then.

“That was just an entity formed from condensed resentful energy, not a real ghost. It’s not exactly a charm spirit either – it’s a nature spirit. It can move around freely here like I can, but it’s not a demon. It probably came because it sensed the heavy yin energy in the village and wanted to feed, but it’s likely gone now. After all, it couldn’t mess with any of the ghosts in this village. Just a little creature, not worth worrying about.”

Mu Qi said this while using her fingers to tuck Su Xin’s fallen hair back in place.

“It should end soon, right?”

“Yes, very soon. Neither side is worth fearing, we can take direct action now. However, after everything is dealt with, I might be weakened for a while. I won’t be able to take care of you then, so you’ll need to take good care of yourself.”

Mu Qi felt somewhat sad, knowing that the overuse of power would definitely leave her weakened.

“I understand. Didn’t I take care of myself before you came? I even took care of my younger brother. Please don’t treat me like a child – you don’t need to remind me every day.”

“But you are a child in my eyes.”

Mu Qi smiled indulgently.

“Are you treating me like a daughter?”

*Hiss*… How frightening…

“No, I’m just taking care of my little wife.”

Since they were in their room, Mu Qi picked up Su Xin and placed her on the bed, gently nuzzling her face with the tip of her nose.

Oh my, that’s breaking the rules.

Tong Xi sought out Tong Xiaoxuan, with the female ghost acting as messenger. After their identities were exposed, there seemed to be nothing left to hide.

Under the female ghost’s chilling gaze, Tong Xiaoxuan said she needed to change clothes and quickly went into her room, emerging shortly after.

After Tong Xiaoxuan left with the female ghost, Tong Liu recalled her earlier words and immediately ran to knock on Su Xin’s door.

“Let’s go.”

“Elder Sister, where are you all going?”

Tong Qing watched the three people preparing to leave, with Tong Liu looking particularly serious.

“We’re going to take care of something. We’ll be back soon. Wait for us at home, okay? Soon Elder Sister will be able to take you out to school.”

Su Xin didn’t waste any more time, and the three hurriedly left.

Meanwhile, Tong Xiaoxuan couldn’t wait to take action. Women are actually delicate creatures, sensitive by nature, their physical structure determining their vulnerability. But as the saying goes, never provoke a woman. When they make up their minds, they can be more ruthless than anyone, showing none of their usual hesitation. Even the most fragile woman, when pushed to her limits, can explode with shocking force. The more harmless they appear, the more terrifying they can be.

Su Xin’s dagger was system-issued, capable of killing even in weak hands. Tong Xiaoxuan, who worked in the fields, was certainly not weak. She stabbed multiple times, and when Tong Xi tried to kick her away, he couldn’t match her strength. Blood soaked the bed, and he died almost instantly.

After her savage stabbing, Tong Xiaoxuan’s eyes were bloodshot, still not recovered from that state.

“This is for being evil, for killing her. Killing her wasn’t enough, you had to eat her too. Fine, kill her if you must – she was wrong first, but why did you have to consume her, wanting to prevent her reincarnation… Die… Just die all of you…”

Tong Xiaoxuan kept muttering, seeming to have fallen into a state of qigong deviation [dangerous mental state from spiritual practice].

The female ghost immediately discovered something had happened to Tong Xi and rushed back, grabbing the soul that was floating out of Tong Xi’s body.

Normally, when people die and become ghosts, they don’t fall unconscious. However, after Tong Xi’s death, his soul was in an unconscious state.

“How dare you kill him! Do you know how much effort it took to make him like this!”

The female ghost exploded in rage, thick black qi pouring from her body, sweeping toward Tong Xiaoxuan like a dark tide.

Mu Qi acted instantly, using a barrier to trap her. The barrier kept shrinking until it was almost condensed into a ball, transparent enough to see the female ghost imprisoned inside.

“What are you doing!”

The female ghost shouted, but her expression anxiously watched Mu Qi’s hand, where a point of light floated – the soul that had just left Tong Xi’s body.

“I should be asking what you’re trying to do. Let me see… 237 lives. You’ve killed quite a few people, yet somehow you’re still around.”

Mu Qi said in surprise, while gripping the point of light tightly.

“Let go.”

“No, you’re not a ghost. What are you?”

The barrier slowly floated to Mu Qi’s hand, hovering alongside the point of light. This thing wasn’t a ghost – if it were, after killing so many people, the ghost officials would have collected it long ago. It wouldn’t still be free, carrying around this strange soul.

“A royal soul – you’re the Zhenlong Pearl [dragon-subduing pearl]?”

This time Mu Qi was truly surprised. She had seen many things, but this object she had only heard about in others’ tales.

It was said the Zhenlong Pearl had an extraordinary power – it could preserve souls and continuously find new hosts for them. In a sense, this could be called immortality, because when a soul enters a new body, it loses its memories, but after a long time, those memories slowly return, remembering all past experiences and becoming their former self again – isn’t that immortality?

It was because of this miraculous effect that it was called the Zhenlong Pearl. Owned by the royal family – which emperor wouldn’t want immortality? But Mu Qi had thought it was just a legend.

The point of light floating in her palm was clearly bright yellow, with traces of auspicious qi that was nearly dissipated.

“It’s none of your business. Release me quickly.”

“Your power is almost gone, isn’t it? You must have kept him alive for a very long time. Otherwise, why would your power be so depleted? His soul is growing weaker too. You can’t support another transfer.”

Mu Qi said with certainty.

In this world, there’s no immortality without cost. Everyone’s name is recorded in the Netherworld’s fate register. The Zhenlong Pearl indeed has this power, but it requires payment – its power grows weaker until it finally becomes an ordinary pearl. Its master’s soul also grows weaker, and can only inhabit increasingly frail bodies.

For example, during the first transfer, it could enter a strong, healthy person’s body. Later, it could only enter bodies of people already near death and unable to sustain life, like Tong Xi.

And the Zhenlong Pearl no longer had power to continue nourishing his soul, so it could only continuously kill people and devour their souls to replenish his soul. This was a very self-destructive method – the Zhenlong Pearl, originally a spiritual object, had become an evil artifact.

“This has nothing to do with you. You’re not even a Daoist priest, why try to capture me? Release me quickly.”

“So you can kill her?”

Mu Qi nodded toward Tong Xiaoxuan, who stood dazed while being held by Tong Liu.

“Of course! That worthless woman! I must kill her!”

“But I can’t let you harm her.”

Mu Qi effortlessly absorbed both points of light into her body. Of course, she wasn’t devouring them or hiding them – once this barrier breaks and they go outside, naturally someone would come to deal with them.

“Is everything finished now? Can we leave without dying here?”

Tong Liu asked anxiously while holding her sister, eyes full of hope.

“Not yet. There’s still one ghost.”

“There’s more!”

“That ghost is the main one preventing us from leaving. Take your sister home. The rest isn’t your concern anymore. Pack your things, but don’t wander around until we’ve dealt with the final matter.”

Su Xin instructed, exchanging a glance with Mu Qi before they both walked out.

Mu Qi had read the Zhenlong Pearl’s memories and felt somewhat rueful, but not sympathetic. It was just an evil spirit that had harmed so many people for its own selfish desires. Don’t crown it with the name of true love – it’s truly disgusting.

True love was originally a term of praise, but it has increasingly become derogatory, bringing mockery and ridicule when mentioned.

Affairs with mistresses are called true love? That’s moral corruption.

Killing people for your lover is called true love? Please don’t taint these words.

Indeed, love is supreme, but it depends on what kind. Some are moving and touching, while others are ironic and nauseating.

The Zhenlong Pearl was a treasure that made its way into the emperor’s hands. That emperor was young and promising, spirited, and handsome. The Pearl, having drifted through heaven and earth for so long, had gained spiritual awareness. Nourished by the emperor’s dragon qi, it soon cultivated a human form – a young woman who captivated the emperor.

But they were only master and servant, with somewhat unsavory implications. When the emperor was assassinated in middle age, the Zhenlong Pearl, unwilling to let her beloved master die, defied heaven’s mandate to grant him eternal life.

When they came to this place, they encountered Tong Xi’s body.

At that time, Yang Cui had just lost her first child and was heartbroken. She disliked her sickly brother-in-law and planned to split the family to drive him out, hoping for his early death.

Tong Xi did indeed die from his poor health, but the Zhenlong Pearl immediately filled his body with her master’s soul. Using this power once again left the Pearl extremely weak, unable to constantly maintain her master’s new body.

When a soul is first placed in a body, the master has no memories. If this body died naturally, all efforts would be wasted, and she wouldn’t have the power for another soul transfer.

The Zhenlong Pearl entered Yang Cui’s dreams, appearing as Old Man Hu, telling her that her lost child was a boy, and that pitying the unborn infant’s death, he had transferred its soul into her recently deceased brother-in-law.

Yang Cui was very superstitious, and since the Zhenlong Pearl’s master’s soul had just been transferred, he was dazed and childlike, which made Yang Cui believe completely.

However, after a few months, Yang Cui became pregnant with her second child. The Zhenlong Pearl, fearing Yang Cui’s attention would be divided between Tong Xi and her own son, appeared in another dream, claiming the child in her womb was evil and would grow up to be wicked, even harming its mother during birth.

Yang Cui was very worried, but since it was her own child, she decided to keep it.

During Yang Cui’s delivery, the Zhenlong Pearl deliberately caused complications, making Yang Cui hemorrhage – enough to weaken her but not kill her.

Having Tong Manwen die in front of Old Man Hu’s temple served the same purpose.

She needed a soul and wanted to completely deal with this family, so she used Yang Cui to kill Tong Manwen.

Yang Cui had absolute faith in Old Man Hu, while the Zhenlong Pearl recovered and secretly cared for her master.

When the Zhenlong Pearl sensed her master’s soul weakening, she quickly nourished it. But later, when her power became insufficient and couldn’t recover fast enough, she resorted to her old method – killing.

Her first victims were a couple – the last household Su Xin discovered, their bodies already decomposed.

As for why she later killed Yang Cui – because Yang Cui wanted to arrange a marriage for Tong Xi. A woman’s jealousy wouldn’t allow her beloved to be coveted by others. By then, Tong Xi had partially recovered his memories as emperor. The Zhenlong Pearl couldn’t bear it and killed Yang Cui, thinking that with her death, no one would arrange marriages for Tong Xi.

Later she wanted to kill Su Xin for the same reason, but discovering a more powerful presence around Su Xin, she retreated and targeted others instead.

When Tong Xi was intimate with Tong Xiaoxuan, he had fully recovered his memories. The Zhenlong Pearl was furious with Tong Xiaoxuan but could do nothing about it.

“Where are you going now?”

“To kill the formation’s eye.”

“You know who it is?”

“Of course.”

Quick and decisive.

Su Xin went to Qian Fengying’s house and knocked. Qian Fengqian opened the door.

“Do you need something?”

Su Xin directly pulled down Qian Fengqian’s clothing at her left shoulder, revealing a red crescent mark.

“What are you doing?”

Qian Fengqian’s expression changed as she pulled her clothes back up. Su Xin swiftly broke her neck.

The formation’s eye was dead.

“Murder!”

Qian Fengying’s mother-in-law screamed. Su Xin didn’t even glance at her, pulling Mu Qi as they ran quickly toward their destination – Cloud Lady Temple.

It was indeed Qian Fengqian. To be the eye of a barrier formation apparently drains one’s life force – using one’s life to sustain the barrier. Su Xin didn’t know if Qian Fengqian had volunteered, but judging by her expression just now, she clearly had.

Though unaware what deal Qian Fengqian made with Cloud Lady, Su Xin didn’t need to know. They just needed to reach the temple quickly to meet the tragic, resentful mastermind behind everything.

The main doors were wide open, as if welcoming guests. Su Xin remembered that on the day Grand Aunt passed away and she buried her, those doors had been tightly closed.

“She’s inside.”

Mu Qi nodded.

She was a gentle-looking young woman, very similar to the statue in the main hall. Her expression was calm, her eyes like stagnant water. Though her face showed no emotion, just standing there made others inexplicably sad.

“Cloud Lady.”

Su Xin called her name. Cloud Lady looked at the visitors and released a heavy sigh.

“If only many things in this world could be done over. Then I wouldn’t have come to this village that day. At the crossroads, I would have chosen the other path. If I had known how tragic my fate would be, I would have ignored those dying people. When I completed my medical training, my master told me that as healers, saving lives is our highest duty. But what’s the point of saving scum? It only brings deeper suffering.”

Cloud Lady spoke, unclear whether to herself or others.

“If possible, I wish my mind wasn’t clear. Then I wouldn’t be so tormented now. Wouldn’t it be better to go mad and kill everyone? But their increasingly devout worship prevents me from fulfilling my wish.”

When they first built this temple, people’s worship wasn’t sincere, even carrying malice and curses, because they were afraid. But generations passed, and the original perpetrators all died. The villagers began truly worshiping her like a deity. They didn’t know what their ancestors had done, making her worship their highest priority during New Year celebrations, with genuine sincerity that she could feel. From initial rage to gradual calm, Cloud Lady only felt sorrow.

She could see daylight again because there were fewer people now. By New Year’s this year, no one came to worship except one old woman keeping watch. This allowed her to emerge and learn the village’s current state.

Once this village had over 400 people – a huge number. Saving them had been troublesome, and many still died in that epidemic. After her massacre, over a hundred survived who could continue having descendants.

That was how she remembered it. But now, emerging to look again, only fourteen households remained. The old were aging, the dead were gone, as if abandoned by time. All the young and strong had left, departing this small village for the wider world beyond.

Cloud Lady couldn’t continue her killing because these people wouldn’t live much longer anyway. Yet she was unwilling to let them go, knowing they were descendants of those who had wronged her, despite centuries passing.

She sensed something strange in the village, neither ghost nor human, killing people and devouring souls. She wouldn’t save them – she even felt schadenfreude [joy at others’ misfortune], pleased to see it happen.

The first formation eye died, and she found the second. Both were young girls, their youth able to sustain the barrier for long. That girl made a deal with her, wanting to kill her sister. Unfortunately, her sister was killed by someone else, but it didn’t matter – the girl didn’t know, still thinking Cloud Lady had done it, since her sister appeared to have been killed by a ghost.

“Most people here are already dead. Is there anything we can help you with?”

Su Xin asked, feeling sympathy and deeply moved. Perhaps she had truly been an especially kind person – if she had lived longer, she could have helped many people.

She wasn’t a saint, didn’t blindly forgive those who hurt her, but she was indeed a reasonable person, and even as a ghost remained reasonable. This was her revenge, yet it was gentle.

If not for that female ghost by Tong Xi’s side, she might have just trapped everyone here to die. While one can’t say she was right, neither can one say she did too much wrong. From Su Xin’s perspective, this ghost had already shown the utmost benevolence.

“You know, if you hadn’t come here and asked me that question just now, I still wouldn’t have spared you.”

Cloud Lady said with a smile, her expression carrying a faint sadness.

“Help me burn this place down. I want to be completely freed from this temple.”

Cloud Lady glanced at her statue, laughed mockingly, and gently raised her hand. The statue fell to the ground, shattering into pieces.

“Alright.”

The intense fire burned away the evil.

May all good people receive good fortune and live in peace.

---

---