Don’t Know.
The Chu family’s second-floor study.
Chu Zhaoqiu walked to the window, raised a hand, and gently pulled the curtain closed, blocking the sunlight.
Seeing this, Ye Linlin hurried forward to help, glancing at her freshly re-bandaged arm: “Zhaoqiu-jiejie, let me do it. You shouldn’t use your hand anymore, or Uncle and Auntie will be heartbroken if they find out.”
Just now downstairs, when Chu Zhaoqiu was changing the dressing, Father Chu and Mother Chu had watched with faces full of heartache.
They understood their daughter’s temperament; they wanted to say something to her but didn’t quite know what.
Besides, Bu Yu and Ah Li revealing the news to Chu Zhaoqiu was clearly because Chu Zhaohua had authorized it—how could someone destined to be the family head just lie down comfortably like this, ignoring everything?
Ye Linlin saw this and could also understand.
What she couldn’t understand was Chu Zhaoqiu’s actions.
Why did Zhaoqiu-jiejie suddenly intervene to stop the Fingerless Madam from leaving the shade of those trees?
And why call her into the study to participate in this conversation too?
She didn’t understand. After pulling the curtains closed, she secretly glanced at the silent figure in red standing in the study, then obediently walked over to stand beside Chu Zhaoqiu.
Chu Zhaoqiu stroked her re-bandaged right forearm. With a slight movement of her fingertips, a sofa was pushed towards the Fingerless Madam’s legs. “Please sit.”
Then she turned her head to Ye Linlin and said, “Linlin, you sit too.”
Ye Linlin turned her head to look at the Fingerless Madam. The other party was calmly taking a seat, composed and peaceful, showing no aggression. Only then did she find a sofa and sit down as well.
Chu Zhaoqiu got straight to the point1: “Now, can the Fingerless Madam tell me why Liu Guohui absolutely had to be killed?”
The Fingerless Madam didn’t hide anything: “Because he looked exactly like my husband from when I was alive.”
Chu Zhaoqiu and Ye Linlin were both startled.
“I hate that face too much,” the Fingerless Madam raised her head to look at Chu Zhaoqiu, her words undisguised malice, “so he had to die!”
She too had once been an ordinary person, as commonplace as could be.
Born, grew up, married—the wife follows the husband’s lead2, bearing hardships without complaint, with no way out. It was the epitome of countless women of her era.
In this monotonous3, numbing plotline, her luck was particularly bad—her husband was an idle4 gambler.
The exact same face, even the habits of domestic abuse and gambling were sickeningly identical.
Back then, they lived a hard life; they couldn’t afford good food year-round, yet her husband idled about, relying on her needlework to support the family.
Later, they had children, a son and a daughter. She thought having children would make this man settle down and care for the family, but she was wrong.
He became addicted to gambling, and from then on, it was completely out of control.
He made their already insufficient income worse5; made his wife struggle bitterly, aging prematurely with white hair and a haggard, worn face; made his own flesh and blood thin and weak during their growing years.
But he kept gambling.
He always believed his luck would turn on the next hand, that he could turn things around and win big.
She was in agony over this.
But what use was it?
In their era, women simply couldn’t leave their husbands. Seeking a separation was too difficult, and divorcing a husband was simply non-existent. No matter how terrible the husband was, women had to stay by their side; leaving meant facing condemnation from everyone. Because women weren’t people, they were men’s appendages6.
She earnestly pleaded7 with her husband to change his bad habits and raise the children properly, but what she always got in return was a beating.
Countless times she thought of ending her life, thinking death would be release, but it was her children who pulled her back to this world, again and again.
But compared to Liu Guohui, her husband was even more terrifyingly cold.
—He sold their pair of children to pay off gambling debts.
When she returned from work and learned of this, she instantly collapsed, as if the sky had fallen. Frantically, she grabbed his collar, asking where he sold the children, questioning why he disregarded family ties—that was their own flesh and blood!
But he pushed her away nonchalantly, saying: “They have to repay my kindness for raising them eventually; sooner or later, it’s all the same.”
She froze on the spot, caught off guard by this shameless argument.
…This person before her wasn’t human at all!
But it wasn’t over.
Before she could even catch her breath, the next evening a group of vicious men burst into their home with knives, grabbed her husband’s head, pressed it onto the table, and yelled at him to pay up.
It was only then she realized the gambling debts he owed couldn’t be settled just by selling their children…
He no longer had the arrogant dominance he showed her, but lay wretchedly on the table, begging for forgiveness, saying he would definitely repay.
She huddled in the corner, terrified, watching it all, unsure what to do.
She saw the cold flat of a knife gently patting her husband’s face, a man asking him: “What will you pay with?”
The air was silent for a long moment.
Then the man impatiently kicked him and raised the knife in his hand: “How about paying with your life—”
She was too scared to look, but just as she was about to cover her eyes, she saw his finger suddenly point towards her.
“—Take her!
“I’ll sell her to you! You can make her do anything, make her receive clients8, that’s fine too! Please, I beg you, let me go!”
All eyes in the room instantly focused on her. She was sized up like merchandise; it felt as if her clothes were stripped off, leaving her utterly without dignity.
A chill ran through her from head to toe. She knew he was vile, knew he lacked humanity, but she never knew he could stoop to this level! Her heart turned to dead ashes.
Just then, a voice suddenly sounded by her ear: “No.”
A short man in the crowd said: “Her face is worn, her hair is white; applying rouge9 won’t help. How can she do the work of serving men with her looks? I think this punk is trying to get us into a losing deal. Chop off one of his fingers first to make him behave!”
His wrist was slammed onto the table. Her husband yelled anxiously: “Wait!” He struggled to turn his head towards the fierce man holding him down, speaking fawningly10: “You still need me to pay you back, I have to go out and work! If you chop off my hand, how can I work? Big Brother, think about it, think about it…”
The man sneered: “But I feel like chopping something off today, just to give you punk a taste of warning.”
She heard her husband yell anxiously again: “Chop hers!”
She looked at him again in astonishment.
He stared at her, saying: “I’m the man of the house, my strength is greater than a woman’s. If mine is chopped, it’ll be hard for me to find work, don’t you think…”
She stared blankly at him. He was smiling that fawning smile, plunging her into utter despair11. Twisting logic, impotent excuses, selling his wife and children… So her best years had all been given to such a beast!!!
In the study, the Fingerless Madam raised her hand, looking at the missing index finger on her left hand, her gaze distant as if looking back at that dark past.
She could never forget the image of that knife falling.
“Tell me, doesn’t he deserve to die?”
He was clearly the one who did wrong, yet his wife and children bore the consequences. How could such logic exist in the world? How could he not deserve to die!
Ye Linlin blurted out: “He deserved it!”
Then she added: “So how did you become like this?”
The Fingerless Madam looked at her four fingers.
“I killed myself.”
Ye Linlin was suddenly taken aback, not knowing what to say.
Chu Zhaoqiu remained silent, her brow slightly furrowed, her eyes holding pity.
The Fingerless Madam’s voice continued: “After those two incidents, I lost all hope of living. I heard that dying in red clothes filled with resentment would turn one into a Vengeful Ghost after death. So I found my only red garment, put it on, and drowned myself in the river.”
Her left hand suddenly clenched into a fist, her gaze abruptly brightening: “I didn’t expect it, but I actually succeeded.”
She became a Vengeful Ghost filled with deep anger.
She began to take revenge on that man, making him unable to live and unable to die.
But it wasn’t enough, far from enough.
She hated this type of person—why should their families bear the consequences for their wrongdoings? So she wanted to kill them all, make them swallow their own karma!
“Their evil couldn’t overcome my hatred, so they became my nourishment, making me stronger and stronger.
“After dying, I was much freer than when I was alive.”
She looked at Chu Zhaoqiu.
“I know you demon hunters won’t let me go, but I don’t care at all about reincarnation. I hate Liu Guohui’s face, I hate him as a person. If given another chance, I would still kill him, subject him to death by a thousand cuts12!”
After understanding the reason, Chu Zhaoqiu and Ye Linlin could now empathize with her hatred.
No wonder she hated him enough to want to destroy that face.
Wasn’t this also Liu Guohui’s karma in this life?
The Fingerless Madam leaned back against the chair.
“I’ve finished speaking. You can make your move now.”
She slowly closed her eyes, her mood exceptionally calm, facing death as if returning home.
Ye Linlin quickly looked at Chu Zhaoqiu.
Seeing the latter slowly raise two fingers, seemingly not intending to show mercy, she suddenly became extremely nervous, wanting to plead for a ghost for the first time.
Just then, she heard Chu Zhaoqiu ask the Fingerless Madam: “May I ask your name?”
The Fingerless Madam opened her eyes and looked at her, saying with utmost calm: “My surname is Li, my given name is Li Qin.” Li Qin13.
Li Qin, Guo Qin—women of two lifetimes, neither able to escape that man’s demonic claws. Besides them, other “Qins” exist in this world. Their stories are their lives, and also the epitome of suffering for countless women.
“I’ll remember it,” Chu Zhaoqiu said.
As her words fell, a dazzling golden light suddenly stabbed towards the Fingerless Madam!
“—Don’t!”
At dinnertime, Chu Sining came upstairs to call Ye Linlin for dinner.
But Ye Linlin said she wasn’t eating, she couldn’t eat, she wanted to be alone for a while.
Chu Sining had to look at her older sister. Chu Zhaoqiu nodded calmly: “Let her be alone for a bit, think things over. She can eat later, it’s fine.”
Only then did Chu Sining follow her sister downstairs for dinner.
After dinner, Chu Zhaoqiu chatted with her parents for a while before returning to her room to rest.
Not long after, her beloved yaoguai arrived again, treading on moonlight14, holding a little kitten in her arms.
As soon as Fu Lianxue arrived, she flopped onto the bed, muttering, “So tired, so tired…”
Baobao let out a “meow” and jumped out of her embrace, landing on the bed.
Chu Zhaoqiu walked to the bedside and sat down, gently stroking her face: “Was work very hard today?”
Fu Lianxue retorted, “Is any work not hard?” After speaking, she nudged towards her: “Don’t move, let me absorb your fragrance, recharge my energy.”
Only her concerts weren’t hard work. Because then, a lot of love meant for her would rush towards her, available for her use, leaving her revitalized, making her happier the more she sang, more joyful the more she danced.
Chu Zhaoqiu thoughtfully placed a pillow under Fu Lianxue’s head, then cast a spell to close the door and windows, preventing the kitten from running or jumping around and getting hurt.
Then, she looked at Baobao, who was kneading15 on the pillow.
“Lianxue, why did you bring Baobao over?”
Fu Lianxue said matter-of-factly: “It was at my manager’s place yesterday. I happened to have work today, so Hanxi brought it over for me.”
Only then did Chu Zhaoqiu remember her mentioning yesterday that she’d entrusted Baobao to her manager, nodding in sudden realization.
Fu Lianxue rested for a bit and recovered. She opened her eyes, looked at Chu Zhaoqiu, and didn’t forget to ask about her exorcism work: “Right, you messaged me today saying you found the Fingerless Madam. How did you find her?”
Chu Zhaoqiu lowered her eyes, twirling a strand of her long hair, “She went looking for Liu Guohui.”
Fu Lianxue raised her eyebrows.
Chu Zhaoqiu said very calmly, “Liu Guohui is dead.”
Fu Lianxue propped herself up curiously: “Oh? How did he die?”
“Drunk, fell into the river and drowned because the wood-plastic composite railing was in disrepair from age and couldn’t support him,” Chu Zhaoqiu said. “That’s the police investigation result.”
“And the demon hunters’ investigation result?”
Chu Zhaoqiu said: “The railing was indeed in disrepair from age, and it did indeed crack naturally.”
She looked into Fu Lianxue’s curious eyes: “But it was artificially accelerated.”
The railing was indeed old and damaged, cracked naturally, unable to bear weight, causing the drunk Liu Guohui to tumble into the river. What the Fingerless Madam did was, at the instant the crack appeared in the wood, accelerate the speed of its breaking, making Liu Guohui fall faster. Then she conjured a rock to slash Liu Guohui’s face, dragged him to the river bottom, and tormented his spirit over and over, making him die in agony. Other than that, there were no external injuries, no different from accidentally stumbling and falling into the river.
Chu Zhaoqiu thought for a moment and added: “In this matter, the railing was in disrepair due to age. The responsible party had a duty to maintain it but failed to do so, so they are obligated to compensate his family a sum of death compensation.”
“How much?”
“Don’t know.”
How much money the family could get depends on the determination of responsibility and how the court rules. The only thing she could confirm was that Guo Qin and her daughter would receive this money and, at the same time, be completely free from the sea of suffering that was Liu Guohui.
After hearing this, Fu Lianxue flopped back onto the bed: “Well, what can I say? The Fingerless Madam was actually quite thorough in her actions.”
She added: “See, I told you, right? Some people just deserve to die; you can’t stop it.”
Chu Zhaoqiu smiled faintly, saying nothing.
Fu Lianxue asked again: “Hey, so what did you guys do to her? You didn’t… really let her soul be scattered and dispersed, did you?”
Chu Zhaoqiu watched Baobao jump onto her lap, stroking its head with a smile.
She said: “Don’t know.”
—Demon hunters don’t concern themselves with things they don’t know.
Fu Lianxue: “?”
Over at Guo Qin’s home, the lights were brightly lit.
Somehow, the lights today seemed much brighter than usual.
She threw away her daughter’s old schoolbag, turned to look at the child, who had the brand-new, pretty little schoolbag bought just that afternoon slung on her back.
Today, that man died, and her daughter had a new schoolbag. Although death had visited the home, she didn’t feel the slightest urge to cry; she didn’t want to cry, only to laugh, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.
It seemed their life, mother and daughter, was finally about to get a little better.
“Wow, our Niu Niu looks so pretty with this schoolbag!”
She smiled, welcoming her child, welcoming a new future.
The moon hung clear and cold in the sky outside the house.
Beneath the moonlight, a corner of bright red clothing flashed past, disappearing in the blink of an eye, like a wisp of wind in this world.
No one knows where the wind will go, or where it will stop. The wind is forever free.
✨ Unlock Early Access to Chapters! ✨
Choose your perfect membership at bamboopandatl.net:
📚 Full Access ($4.99)
• Advanced chapters of ALL ongoing novels
• Access to complete finished novels
• Ad-free reading experience
📖 Single Novel Access ($1.49)
• Advanced chapters of ONE specific novel
• Ad-free reading for chosen novel
PayPal is the only current payment option!