Chapter 9
T/N: This is a pretty long chapter. I’ve been off for a while, but hopefully I’ll get a few weeks of respite now, finally. whew.
“Come, repeat after me.” I said calmly to Zhi Yan. “Yesterday I dreamt of Lu Zhao Yao again. She still wanted me to burn Netherworld Money for her. I couldn’t enter the Forbidden Grounds, so I had to make do here.”
“I….I dreamt of Lu Zhao Yao again yesterday, she made me burn Netherworld Money…I could only come here….to make do.” She stammered through such a simple statement, but at least the meaning was still the same.
Mo Qing fixed his gaze on her, looking like he was pondering something, but before I could work out just what he was so intently thinking about, he turned his gaze away. He looked at the cart of Netherworld Money burning at the side, and the other cart full of Netherworld Money close by.
Zhi Yan laughed awkwardly. “Haha, it’s a bit too much. I had no choice, she insisted on so much…”
“Shut up, who said you could reveal so much!” I berated her.
For such matters of deception, it is best to be mysterious and vague. You have to keep others guessing; explaining everything clearly would only have the opposite effect.
After being rebuked, Zhi Yan immediately bit her lip, her face full of grievance and frustration.
Just as I thought she had made a mistake, and she also thought she had made a mistake, Mo Qing, who had a cold expression all the while, suddenly…seemed to laugh softly. His lips had not even opened – it was more like a light breath of laughter.
“It is her style.”
I startled, and raised my head to glance at him, only to see that he was gazing at the crackling flames, the embers burning brightly in the darkness of the night. He seemed to have fallen into an absent-minded daze, but it was only a moment later that his gaze darkened.
His gaze was shuttered, hiding his thoughts. His emotions were carefully restrained.
This demeanor…it did somewhat match the emotion Zhi Yan was talking about… grief.
(Translated by jillaimee at Silent Moon Translations)
“Nn…there’s still some incense and candles here, do you…do you want to burn some for her?” Zhi Yan was similarly staring at Mo Qing, and she suddenly spoke, her voice trembling.
“I don’t want him to burn it.”
“She would surely not like to see me offering up incense to her.”
Mo Qing and I spoke at the same time.
I saw the kneeling Zhi Yan’s neck turn slightly, as if it took her everything to not glance over at me.
I did not explain my reasons. Mo Qing, too, remained silent, and did not speak further. Only Zhi Yan, who knelt in between us, fidgeted like she was sitting on a bed of needles.
“Then…I’ll continue burning?” Zhi Yan seemed to muster all of her courage to ask, and it was unclear if she was asking me, or Mo Qing.
Mo Qing took two steps back. “Continue.” His back was leaning lightly against the trunk of the tree directly opposite; he faced me, yet was unable to see me. He lowered his head to gaze at the fire, which burned with increasing brilliance, and stared at the ashes dancing in the sky. I could not fathom his deep thoughts.
The Netherworld Money finished burning, and Mo Qing left just as suddenly as he appeared, without any warning whatsoever.
Zhi Yan, after seeing the last of the embers die down, turned around while still kneeling. When she saw that there was no one behind her, she released a breath of relief, and slumped onto the ground as if her legs were paralysed. She lightly pounded on her legs, massaging them. “You two Demon Kings…just what sin did I commit…”
“Be careful with your words in the future,” I said. “The moment you started burning the Netherworld Money, he appeared. Who knows when he might be watching you with the Thousand Li Gaze.”
Upon hearing this, Zhi Yan’s entire body went stiff and unmoving.
“But there is no need to be too afraid, the Sect Leader is always busy. He just came by personally, so now he probably has no time to be watching you.” I guessed: “When a demonic cultivator reaches Chen Li Lan’s level, he can easily move between places with simply a thought. Yet yesterday we were able to talk for so long in the Forbidden Grounds; he only arrived after 11pm. He likely saw you when coincidentally glancing across the mountain range, and therefore came over even before anyone reported the matter to him. It is probably the same situation today – he noticed you by coincidence. Otherwise it wouldn’t have taken him so long.”
Zhi Yan finally relaxed slightly, and softly asked, “Then in the future, should I come up with an explanation before I do or say anything? So I can at least explain myself if I get seen again.”
“If your body can be completely taken over by me, then there wouldn’t be so many problems.” I glanced at the sky. “It is midday, the money has all been burnt. I’m going back to rest before I take over your body at night.”
I figured that I should first go to the Ghost Market tonight. Once the money Zhi Yan burnt for me went through, I would be able to buy Godly Speed Pellets and float over to the Hidden Books Chamber. I wouldn’t even need to seek Mo Qing’s permission and risk arousing his suspicion.
To seduce and flatter someone, it is best not to discuss any conditions or requests in the beginning. One should seduce whole-heartedly and focus on ingratiating yourself, to the point of letting others think that you are single-mindedly devoted to this man… That is the true path of seduction.
(Translated by jillaimee at Silent Moon Translations)
Time: Late night.
Xi Yue Peak was completely silent, but there were still people roaming about outside. Demonic cultivation was unlike Celestial cultivation; there were some cultivation paths that were best practised at night. I possessed Zhi Yan’s body, made her stay in the house, and left.
When I met people along the way, I did not avoid or hide. They greeted me with bows and bended knees to curry favour, and as I nodded and said I was going for a walk, they were all smiles as they sent me off with their gazes, and even from a distance I could hear them shouting for me to take care. Compared to the situation Zhi Yan had described to me, this was like the difference of the sky and earth.
I was very pleased. Indeed, I, Lu Zhao Yao, can only live magnificently as a human.
When I reached the forest, I made a hand seal, and in the blink of an eye, I was at the Ghost Market, which had previously taken me three days of floating to reach.
But it was odd. Today, there was only a dense forest of withered old trees before my eyes, and none of the stalls that had flanked the road on both sides, manned by unhurried ghostly peddlers. I turned around in a circle. Looking at this road, I should be at the right place.
I stroked my lower jaw and pondered for a moment, then walked to a side and sat down, before letting the top half of my body come out of Zhi Yan’s body. Just as my spirit left Zhi Yan’s body, there was a flash of light, and on the same road, there were rows upon rows of stalls on both sides. In front of the stalls were numerous stall-keepers floating and drifting around – a quiet yet oddly festive atmosphere.
It is the Ghost Market, no mistake about it.
I leaned back, going back into Zhi Yan’s body, and indeed, the moment I was in her body, using her eyes to gaze at the road in front of me, I could see nothing once more.
Could it be, Zhi Yan’s body can only see me, and not other ghosts?
I once again came out of her body and stood. I turned my head, and saw her body slumped limply against the tree trunk – Zhi Yan’s soul did not return.
It seems like only when the sun is out, will Zhi Yan’s soul return on its own. Just as I was pondering this, suddenly there was a female ghost floating past behind me, unsteadily floating towards Zhi Yan’s body.
Not good! If she possesses Zhi Yan’s body… before I even managed to complete the thought, that female ghost passed through Zhi Yan’s body, then through the tree behind her, and continued floating on her way.
I pondered again. Could it be, Zhi Yan’s body can only be possessed at night by me? Was it because of the incident a month ago, during that stormy night when she slammed into my gravestone head-first, breaking her head open, causing some kind of special connection between us?
“Oi.” I called out to a ghost scholar nearby. He quietly turned his head to look at me.
“This…scholar…gives…salutations…”
“Mn, nice to meet you, Gives-Salutations(1), there is an empty shell here, you go and try it.”
“Men…women…are…different…must…not….”
Even dead, he is still so pedantic. I rolled my eyes at him, and grabbed an old lady from the side, who was holding on to a cane. “There is an empty shell here, you try possessing it.”
The old lady glanced at me, pursed her shriveled lips and asked, “Young lady, what are your Eight Characters(2)? My son is dead too, how about a Ghost Marriage ah?
“… …”
Forget it, I should not have talked to these ghosts…
I turned and glanced at Zhi Yan’s body, and thought: Just leave it there. If I find that it is missing when I get back, then it means that it can be possessed by other people as well. If the body is still there, then it means only I can possess it. Anyway, regardless of who possesses it, in the morning Zhi Yan would still be back in control, so there is no worry of losing the body.
I am rich now. Let’s first go get a Godly Speed pellet.
I happily entered the Ghost Market, looking around, and eventually found the store selling the Godly Speed pellets. In front of it stood the store assistant with his ghostly white face, downward slanting eyebrows and drooping eyes; he stopped me, and asked, in a dispirited and sickly tone, “What’s your name ah?”
“Lu Zhao Yao of Chen Ji Shan.”
Just like the ferocious looking ghosts at the entrance of the Soul Return Store last time, he took out a mirror and conversed with it, then stepped forward, blocking the door. “You may not enter.”
I startled. “Why?”
“You have insufficient Netherworld Money!”
I startled again. “Insufficient? Why? I had someone burn so much for me just today!”
“For a living person, they can only burn a thousand dollars for a ghost in a day. The excess amount don’t count, they are all confiscated.” He lazily replied me. “You only had one person burn money for you today right? You have a hundred dollars in your account. Our store only allows those with at least ten thousand dollars to enter.”
Recently there has been too many things that made me want to puke blood. I feel that my throat is parched now, with no more blood to spare.
I massaged my forehead to stall for some time.
I felt that my calculations were a little lacking. Putting aside how dastardly the Netherworld rule of only allowing a living person to burn a thousand dollars a day for a ghost was, just this one thousand dollars, other people can have a thousand dollars added to their account, but why is it that my account only has a hundred dollars? Before I could ask, the store assistant pointed to another store opposite and said “Any questions, go ask the Big Netherworld Money Store.”
I followed his finger, and turned, only to see a tiny and cramped little store, with a crooked sign proclaiming “Big Netherworld Money Store”.
Are you trying to cheat ghosts here?
I floated over to that store, and saw a dried up and shriveled little ghost sitting at the cramped counter, his fingers like withered bamboo sticks as they flew over an abacus with loud clicks. He raised his head up to gaze at me. “What name, and what occupation?”
“Lu Zhao Yao of Chen Ji Shan…” My temper has been grinded down to nothing by these ghosts. “Today someone burned two large carts of money for me, but I only had a hundred added to my account.”
The ghost gazed towards a huge standing mirror by the side. “Lu Zhao Yao, is it, mm, when you were alive you commited the sins of massacre, making outlandish claims, lying and cheating…Hn, there are too many sins, I won’t recite any more. For every sin, ten percent is deducted from your account. It would have deducted everything, but because you also have virtues of redemption and doing good deeds, there was also an addition of a few percent. Combining everything together, if others burn a thousand dollars for you, you can get ten percent of it.”
He spoke quickly and I was befuddled at first, but eventually I managed to piece the general meaning together. Meaning, this Netherland money store operated based on the deeds a person did when they were alive, dividing them into virtue and sin.
If there was a sin, the money burnt by a living person, would be deducted. If there was a good deed, the money burnt by a living person, would be increased. Basically, it was just a single principle, which was –
The amount of wealth one has in the Netherworld, is based on one’s character and deeds.
Based on how many people were willing to burn money for you. Based on how many good deeds you did when you were alive.
I finally understood. Why, upon becoming a ghost, I was stuck in such wretched poverty. It was because, I, Lu Zhao Yao, when I was alive, I lacked for nothing; the only thing lacking, was my character and deeds.
The world of ghosts, towards demons like me who oppressed others and threw the world into chaos when we were alive, was full of discrimination and malice.
Having understood this, I pondered deeply on the possibility of using my current incorporeal form to kill Yan Wang(3), overthrow the current regime of the Netherworld and take over… then thought that I should just obediently go back and find people to burn money for me.
I floated back, feeling vexed. Why had I rejected the opportunity of having Mo Qing burn money for me today? If he had burnt some for me, then I would at least have two hundred dollars now! A mosquito might be small, but it is still meat! If I don’t accumulate the little, how can it gather into a lot?
I found Zhi Yan’s body still lying under the tree and possessed it, standing up and brushing myself off, thinking. Now that there is no more hope for getting a Godly Speed Pellet, it looks like I still have to go over and meet Mo Qing, and get permission to enter the Hidden Books Chamber.
And here’s the problem now: tonight, just how am I supposed to flatter and seduce him……
(Translated by jillaimee at Silent Moon Translations)
I’ve decided to use “Netherworld” instead of “Hell” in translation as it is a slightly more encompassing term (also to avoid the popularised meaning of Hell, in terms of Biblical interpretation. The context is different here.)
(1): This scholar gives salutations – 小生(this scholar) 有礼 (salutations, greetings). A formal way of greeting by scholars. There is a play on words here as one can also introduce himself as 小生 (this scholar) 有礼 (named, You Li) hence why Zhao Yao calls him 有礼 (gives-salutations/You Li). Obviously the scholar isn’t called You Li, so she is essentially calling him “gives-salutations”.
(2): Eight Characters (八字) – comprised of 4 pairs of characters stating the year, month, day, and hour of someone’s birth. The exact art of interpretation is pretty complicated, but essentially it is believed that you can calculate someone’s compatibility, luck, fate etc based on these characters, and especially before marriage, one must make sure the Eight Characters of the bride and groom don’t ‘clash’, which will bring huge misfortunes.
(3): YanWang (阎王) – King Yan, the God of Death, ruler of the Netherworld, oversees the ‘Ten Kings of Hell’. Passes judgement on all the dead. Also known as Yama or Yan Luo Wang.
