Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 75: Ending

Blondie flailed his arms in despair and swiftly summoned his ghost to claw at the scarf around his neck. But whatever that scarf was made of, the ghost’s sharp claws couldn’t leave a single mark.

It clung tightly to his windpipe, constricting like a noose. Eyes bloodshot, Blondie looked pleadingly at Mei Lan.

As the scarf loosened slightly, it revealed a red string around Mei Lan’s neck. She casually tugged it and pulled out an oddly shaped green jade pendant.

Under the moonlight, it shimmered with an uncanny glow. Maybe from the lack of oxygen, Blondie hallucinated a pair of eyes on the pendant. Mei Lan was watching him, and so was it.

…Watching him die.

The suffocating pain grew sharper, and Blondie’s thoughts spiraled, memories surging out of control.

He had always known he wasn’t the brightest, so he lived by two life lessons: find a good loophole and follow a strong boss.

He had accidentally killed someone when he was young but wasn’t held accountable due to his age.

Realizing this, he treated it like gold and quickly fell in with local “street folks”, taking on dirty jobs that adults couldn’t do.

When he got older, he pledged loyalty to a big brother in the city. He’d specifically steal from the wealthy. So long as he didn’t go too far, rich people usually wouldn’t make a fuss.

Even in this ritual, he had followed his life rules. So how did it all end up like this…?

Blondie struggled futilely. The jade pendant before his eyes began to blur and double, yet it stirred a strange familiarity.

Wait… he’d seen it before…

Back when he was with his big brother, he had met a young man called “Mr. Cen” who also wore a green jade pendant!

Mr. Cen was a prominent figure in Gui Province. Since his boss followed Mr. Cen, Blondie could loosely claim to be under him too.

Seeing that pendant now… Mei Lan must be with Mr. Cen. Mr. Cen was powerful… maybe…

“Mr. Cen… Mr. Cen…”

Blondie wracked his meager brain, tongue swollen, straining to form the words.

At that name, Mei Lan actually reacted.

She narrowed her eyes and twisted her mouth into a cold smile that didn’t look like her usual self. The scarf tightened suddenly. Blondie’s body twitched twice, then slowly collapsed.

His double pupils were bloodshot, and he died with his eyes wide open.

Mei Lan chanted softly. Blondie and Jiang Xun’s souls floated from their corpses as glimmering fragments and quickly fused into the jade pendant.

She tucked it back under her collar and retied her scarf.

[All right, come eat.] She lifted her head and called out to the nearby evil spirits.

The words she spoke were no longer human language.

The next second, flesh and organs exploded around her. Mei Lan continued smiling gently, deliberately staying still to let the blood and wounds splash all over her body.

A dozen meters away, hidden in the forest’s shadows…

Fang Xiu, tucked under Bai Shuangying’s arm, silently watched the spirits devour Blondie’s corpse.

The black dog sat at Bai Shuangying’s feet, hopping up to try and reach Fang Xiu’s hand.

Bai Shuangying was clearly entertained. “You rushed back… to see this?”

Earlier, when Jiang Xun activated his self-destruct spell, Bai Shuangying had instantly noticed something was wrong. With one sweep of his Peach Bone Evil, he hurled Jiang Xun’s body away with a massive blast of yin energy.

The explosion still reached them, but far less lethally than it could have.

Fang Xiu’s reaction was terrifyingly fast.

The moment Bai Shuangying moved, he shouted for Cheng Songyun to raise the shield, then immediately grabbed Bai Shuangying’s arm. “Quick, back to the courtyard!”

But just as they got close, they witnessed Mei Lan’s execution—the jade pendant, the bold capture of soul fragments.

As the last bit of Blondie was devoured, Fang Xiu finally spoke. “…I originally thought, since Jiang Xun knew soul-swap spells, he might fake his death and switch souls.”

“If Mei Lan wasn’t a black Taoist and ended up facing him alone, she’d definitely be silenced.”

Bai Shuangying assessed fairly. “That was definitely silencing.” It just happened that the one silenced was Jiang Xun.

“Two lives in one body. Shame about the soul fragments.” Fang Xiu lowered his head and muttered, “Looks like the ‘kill Jiang Xun’ competition ends in a draw.”

Bai Shuangying stared at Fang Xiu, waiting to see his next move.

But Fang Xiu didn’t confront Mei Lan. He waited until she finished cleaning up, then gently tugged Bai Shuangying’s wrist and walked away.

In the darkness, Bai Shuangying’s gaze remained fixed on him.

Fang Xiu then located A’Qiao and Lu Wei. Their bodies were nearly destroyed, barely hanging on. He ended their suffering with one blow each.

Afterward, he circled the site of Jiang Xun’s explosion a few times. The dog helped dig out a bloodstained jade pendant. Fang Xiu held it up to the moonlight for a long time, then buried it deep in his pocket.

Finally, he called Cheng Songyun and Guan He out from the Resentful Ghost Shield. The three strolled back to the courtyard at a calm pace.

Everything proceeded smoothly and methodically.

By the time they were done, dawn had broken.

Faced with Mei Lan’s sobs and her story that “Blondie was attacked unexpectedly”, Fang Xiu smoothly launched into performance mode…

He comforted Mei Lan in a gentle, soothing tone, as if worried about her mental trauma. He said he’d failed to assess the surrounding dangers and that this wouldn’t happen again.

To Cheng Songyun and Guan He, he wore a mask of guilt and regret, claiming he had been reckless and should have better prepared to confront Jiang Xun.

Blondie, the only one who knew the truth, was now dead.

The others knew nothing about what had really happened in the main house.

Right in front of Bai Shuangying, Fang Xiu confidently spun a tale. “Jiang Xun tricked a newbie into testing a taboo, the kid fled and begged me for help.”

The taboos and clues Fang Xiu had previously hidden were now repackaged as confessions from A’Qiao and Lu Wei earlier that night, which were perfectly reasonable to disclose now:

…Don’t leave the premises, or your right shoe will disappear.

…Don’t damage the courtyard, or you’ll be expelled.

…Don’t walk into the wind, or you’ll die instantly.

These three taboos were relatively harmless and easy to obey.

Now that only one newbie remained, there was no need to panic. Everything could proceed at a measured pace.

Lies wrapped in lies, fabrications woven into fabrications.

Fang Xiu narrated them with fluent sincerity. His slightly reddened eyes brimmed with earnestness. To his anxious teammates, his words were like a warm glass of wine. It was comforting, like finally seeing the moon after the clouds part.

Bai Shuangying silently listened while consuming the souls of A’Qiao and Lu Wei. Once, he might have marveled at Fang Xiu’s cunning and adaptability. But now a strange thought surfaced…

Bai Shuangying suddenly felt… that Fang Xiu didn’t look happy at all.

Even in the confrontation with Jiang Xun, Fang Xiu seemed more cheerful when he used the magic brush to tease the dog than he did now.

The little dog sat quietly at Fang Xiu’s side, lifting its grape-like eyes to watch him. Its tail occasionally swished. Bai Shuangying scooped it up and tapped its cold nose.

“Forget it. He said he would take it slow and would probably stay here for a while.” 

The dog licked Bai Shuangying’s fingertips and tilted its head.

“Forget what I told you before.” Bai Shuangying stroked its soft fur. “Go ahead and bother him.”

“Woof?”

“You ask why?”

“Because I want to understand him. And for that, I want him to relax a little.”

His human wore mask after mask. From hair to fingertips, his whole body was wound tight.

Only when he wasn’t lying did those masks crack just a bit, letting Bai Shuangying catch a glimpse of the real Fang Xiu.

The dog tilted its head again from side to side, trying to understand. Bai Shuangying watched it thoughtfully in silence for a long time.

“Bai Shuangying.”

When the sun fully rose, Fang Xiu finally finished spinning his web of lies.

He rested his cheek on Bai Shuangying’s arm, trying to cool his head against his ghost’s body.

“Do you have anything urgent to say? If not, I… I’m gonna nap a bit…”

He let out a massive yawn, like he could collapse and sleep right there in the courtyard.

After last night, Bai Shuangying had many things he wanted to ask his human…

For example, that vile magic the Guishan Sect was using, about the green jade pendant, about why Fang Xiu hated its followers. Now would be the perfect time to tempt and pry.

But looking at the exhausted Fang Xiu, swaying on his feet… he didn’t feel like asking anymore.

“Go ahead and sleep,” he said, pressing a hand to Fang Xiu’s forehead. “Take your time.”

The dog barked twice in agreement.

Just take your time.

Bai Shuangying silently echoed the words in his heart.

……

By noon, the smell of hot soup woke Fang Xiu.

He twitched his nose and opened his eyes from within his ghost’s sleeve.

Everything looked too familiar. He instinctively tensed until he remembered Jiang Xun was gone and there was no longer any immediate threat.

The weather outside was lovely. The window was open, letting in cool air that refreshed the whole room.

With Blondie gone, the space felt much larger. His vulgar painting leaned askew in a corner, and his uneaten fruit still sat in a bowl.

Another person gone, like a countdown ticking forward.

Fang Xiu glanced at Mei Lan.

Her eyes were swollen from crying, and she curled up under the blanket like she’d really been traumatized.

If he hadn’t witnessed the truth, he’d think she was just a scared girl.

At this point, it seemed Mei Lan wasn’t just a black Taoist priest. She, like Jiang Xun and Shan Hunzi, was part of the Guishan Sect.

Logically, Fang Xiu should eliminate her without hesitation. But she had killed Jiang Xun, a fellow believer. Sect infighting was taboo in the Guishan Sect. That made her position… interesting.

…And that vague “apocalypse” they mentioned… Fang Xiu had never heard of it before.

He decided not to alert her for now. Best to observe further.

Of course, this made her a security risk to the team. But luckily, it wasn’t his problem at the moment.

Here, he was pressing pause, trying to steal a little time from the countdown. A little time to “live”.

At that thought, Fang Xiu reached out and hugged his ghost tightly. Bai Shuangying let him, then placed his hand gently over Fang Xiu’s eyes.

Fang Xiu: “Hm?”

“You wouldn’t be able to see that dog without my magic,” Bai Shuangying said. “You seem to like it a lot.”

Just then, the dog burst into the room like a cannonball, having slipped past Cheng Songyun at the door. It leapt directly onto Fang Xiu’s stomach and began furiously licking his face.

Bai Shuangying: “…It seems to like you too.”

Fang Xiu pushed the excited dog away and sat up with effort.

But the dog dashed back, bit the hem of his T-shirt, and started pulling him toward the door.

“No, no, we eat first, then walk,” Fang Xiu muttered, patting the dog’s head.

The dog tugged harder, nearly ripping the shirt off him.

“It wants you to follow it.”

Fang Xiu was shocked. “You speak dog?”

Bai Shuangying: “…Its situation is complicated. Just follow… It probably found something to help you relax.”

He had said he wanted Fang Xiu to relax. So did the dog, it seemed.

Fang Xiu had no choice but to follow, dragged into the courtyard.

The little black dog barked joyfully and led him to a corner of the yard to the spot where Fang Xiu had once found an old shoe and plastic toys.

The dog raised a paw and began digging fast. As dirt scattered, something slowly came into view…

An old-model handheld camcorder.

It was buried under dirt yet showed no signs of rust. It didn’t emit much yin qi, clearly not the E of this place.

The dog gently grabbed the strap with its mouth and dragged it to Fang Xiu’s feet, eyes full of anticipation, tail wagging like it might take off.

Bai Shuangying: “What is that?”

Fang Xiu picked it up, quickly found the charging port, and used his skill to charge it.

“How should I put it… this is one of humanity’s mass-produced ‘E’,” Fang Xiu said.

“It can also reveal karma.”

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