Liu Dongfeng was clearly the kind of person who possessed firm convictions. He was righteous, upright, and so self-confident that he had become stubborn.
He would not easily change his mind about something he had decided just because of other people’s influence. But there was one good thing about him: once he realized he was wrong, he would immediately try to make amends and correct his mistake.
Just like before, when he decided that Fu Sang was a suspect in a major case, he immediately turned the electric baton up to its highest setting and used it on him without even blinking after he was unable to pry his mouth open. Later, when he discovered that he might have been used as someone else’s weapon and had wronged an innocent person, he began looking for ways to make amends, even considering the risk of offending Zhuge Heng to release Fu Sang and his ghost.
To be honest, Fu Sang did not appreciate this kind of person.
His impression of Liu Dongfeng was average at best. To him, Liu was just an NPC from the Zhuge family and the Spirit Supervision Bureau. He was not even worth the effort of revenge. At most, he could use him as a messenger to pass along information he wanted Zhuge Heng to know and advance his plans.
Liu Dongfeng came from the Zhuge family and believed that Fu Sang was guilty of hiding an underworld spirit. Whether for the Zhuge family, the Spirit Supervision Bureau, or everyone in the world, in theory, he should have reported everything he had seen to Zhuge Heng without leaving out a single word.
Who could have expected Liu Dongfeng to take the initiative to conceal the matter for Fu Sang?
Fu Sang had little regard for the Spirit Supervision Bureau. Unless something unexpected happened, he would never cooperate with them or work for them in his life. But there was no helping it. Liu Dongfeng’s choice had unintentionally planted a cause between them, so Fu Sang had to repay the karmic effect.
Still, having someone he could order around to do things for him was not bad. It saved him from having to run around everywhere himself, which was a real nuisance.
As for the deal Fu Sang had proposed, Liu Dongfeng had no reason to refuse.
The higher-ups had indeed been thinking about dealing with the Zhuge family’s dominance over the Nether Path for some time. But supporting the smaller families was not an option, and they had no easy way to strike at the Zhuge family.
Now, not only had an opportunity finally presented itself, but someone had also volunteered to enter the game, plan everything, and charge ahead to muddy the waters while they prepared to clean up the mess and reap the benefits from behind. It was practically a pie falling from the sky.
The only problem was that this person was too unpredictable. Liu Dongfeng could not judge how far Fu Sang’s words about “killing a few people” would go in practice, nor did he know whether he could persuade the higher-ups not to hold Fu Sang and his ghost accountable afterward.
“Everything else is fine. It’s just the fourth point… I can’t promise you anything yet. All I can say is that I’ll do my best to help you resolve it. After all, you know that neither killing people nor a Crimson Evil is a small matter to the Spirit Supervision Bureau. And there are several stubborn, self-righteous old fossils like me in the Bureau, people who can’t tolerate even a grain of sand in their eyes.”
“Understandable.” Fu Sang nodded, looking as though he was very easy to reason with.
But Liu Dongfeng knew perfectly well that there was absolutely no room for negotiation.
Today, the Zhuge family had displeased Fu Sang, so he could invite the Spirit Supervision Bureau to join him in flattening the Xuangu Mountain Range. Tomorrow, if the Bureau made things difficult for him, he could just as easily think of some other way to wipe them out.
But the question was, could the Spirit Supervision Bureau and the higher-ups really allow such a powerful and extreme time bomb to remain beyond their control?
If Fu Sang were willing to join the Bureau, there might still be room for discussion. But Liu Dongfeng did not even need to ask to know that Fu Sang’s answer would definitely be no.
But if he was unwilling to put a rope around his own neck… who could believe that he was hiding a Crimson Evil not because he wanted to charge headfirst into the whole world and become its king, but simply because he wanted to quietly fall in love?
“…You mean Zhuge Fusang and that Crimson Evil are in that kind of relationship?”
After leaving Jiangchen Residence, Liu Dongfeng returned to his room and spent the entire night awake, carefully wording what he would say. Early the next morning, he sent Zhuge Heng a calling card, asking him to spare some time from his busy schedule to meet.
“Yes…”
Liu Dongfeng spoke with great difficulty.
“The monitoring bracelet needs to be within a certain distance before it can be manually activated after being switched off. So after leaving your residence yesterday, I went straight to Zhuge Fusang’s place. You know what he’s like. He’s prickly and difficult to get along with. Meeting him inevitably means suffering for no reason, so I hadn’t planned to alert him at first. But after approaching, I saw something through the glass…”
“What did you see?” Zhuge Heng noticed Liu Dongfeng’s hesitation.
Liu Dongfeng felt that saying “kissing” did not describe what he had seen quite thoroughly, but “making love” was too embarrassing to say aloud.
After struggling for a long time, he finally managed to force out half a sentence.
“They were… uh, doing that sort of thing.”
After his initial surprise, Zhuge Heng let out an ambiguous sneer.
“He really has a lot of energy.”
After burning down the ancestral hall, visiting the archives in the middle of the night, and exploring the Cui Xing Gate, he still had the energy for this after returning.
Liu Dongfeng awkwardly raised a hand to rub his nose and said stiffly, “It’s the first time I’ve known that a human and a ghost could even…”
“What can’t they do? The world is vast, and there are all kinds of strange things. Some people fall in love with demons, some marry dolls, and others are devoted to children or corpses. What’s wrong with falling for a ghost? Besides, his ghost isn’t ordinary. When he was alive, he was already an extraordinary figure of his generation.”
Zhuge Heng stood before the lush plants in the rear courtyard of the Family Head’s Pavilion, holding a pair of scissors as he carefully trimmed the branches and leaves in his hand.
The plant was already neat and beautiful enough, yet Zhuge Heng could always find tiny flaws in it, flaws so small they could be ignored, and carefully remove them.
“…?” Hearing this, Liu Dongfeng raised his eyes to look at Zhuge Heng.
He sensed something unusual in Zhuge Heng’s words, but did not dare to ask rashly.
“If I’m not mistaken, that ghost’s temperament should be very gentle, right?”
“?” The information Fu Sang had wanted Liu Dongfeng to reveal inadvertently had now come straight from Zhuge Heng’s own mouth. Liu Dongfeng suddenly felt uncertain.
“Uh… I’m sorry, I’m not really sure about that.”
“You don’t need to be sure.”
In fact, it was precisely because he knew what kind of temperament that ghost had that Zhuge Heng believed Fu Sang’s claim that he was “obedient to every command.” He also believed that this Crimson Evil would be willing to sacrifice himself to prevent a catastrophe and save everyone under heaven.
Originally, he firmly believed that his proposed deal was feasible. But now, a new development had emerged, one that had far exceeded Zhuge Heng’s expectations.
If it were purely an exchange of benefits, Zhuge Heng would still have some confidence. It would hurt to part with something, but as long as he threw enough resources at Fu Sang, Fu Sang might loosen his grip and hand over the ghost.
But if feelings were involved as well… things would be different.
A servant or a pet could naturally be discarded at will in exchange for something else. But what if it was a lover?
Then again, perhaps not. After all, Zhuge Fusang seemed like a cold-hearted madman. Did he really have feelings, or did he even need such a thing? Did he know what love was?
He and that Crimson Evil were probably nothing more than a fleeting affair born of lust and a strange fetish. When faced with a sufficiently great temptation, he would probably abandon the ghost faster than anyone else.
“If I’m guessing correctly, it should also be a male ghost, with long hair and red clothes, and not dressed in modern clothing?”
“Yes…”
“Do you know who he is?”
Zhuge Heng suddenly asked.
Liu Dongfeng was taken aback. He did not know why Zhuge Heng had suddenly brought this up.
Was he supposed to know?
“W-what?”
“Qi Changying of the Li Dynasty. That name should be familiar to you, right?”
“…” Liu Dongfeng’s eyes widened. It would be a lie to say he was not surprised.
Hearing gossip was one thing. Knowing the identity of the person involved and then looking back at the gossip in that light was another matter entirely.
“I-is he the Qi Changying I know?”
“Yes, the very one. The legendary figure praised by later generations for a thousand years. The so-called God of War, the extraordinary hero who won great victories in the northern campaigns, the young general, the commander of the Qi Army, Qi Changying.”
Zhuge Heng did not think this was a secret that needed to be carefully concealed, so he casually told Liu Dongfeng.
Then he asked, “Where does that Crimson Evil usually hide?”
Liu Dongfeng came back to his senses and carefully considered how much information to reveal.
“I’m not really sure about that either… I only took a distant look through the glass. I left soon afterward because I was afraid Zhuge Fusang would discover me if I stayed. But now that you mention it, it is strange. Zhuge Fusang doesn’t have the slightest trace of yin energy on him, at least none that I’ve ever seen, yet that Crimson Evil can appear beside him silently without anyone noticing…”
“Crimson Evils can do far more than you or I can imagine. Controlling the release and concealment of yin energy is nothing. If what you say is true, that ghost is probably hiding on Zhuge Fusang’s person. Doesn’t he carry many good-quality artifacts?”
Zhuge Heng smiled ambiguously.
“Zhuge Fusang is difficult to read and control. He’s shrewd and calculating, like a slippery fish, and he’s very good at making people angry… If there’s a way to get things done without going through him, naturally, that would be best.”
The more Liu Dongfeng listened, the more something felt wrong.
Was this something he was even supposed to know?
So he tentatively asked, “…Should I leave?”
“There’s no need. You’re a child of my Zhuge family, so you’re one of us. What you’ve told me today has been a great help. If this matter succeeds, your contribution will be significant. I can’t promise you anything else, but I can certainly ensure that from now on, you’ll have a smooth path through the Spirit Supervision Bureau and rise steadily through the ranks. I, this old man, can still manage that.”
With a sharp snip, Zhuge Heng cut off a tiny, unwanted protrusion on the flower branch. When he spoke again, there was a hint of deeper meaning in his words.
“Liu Dongfeng, Officer Liu, you have a boy of around ten years old at home, don’t you?”
“…” Liu Dongfeng froze. Vigilance immediately rose in his heart, and for a moment, he couldn’t answer.
“His name is Liu Lian, right? He can see underworld spirits, but unfortunately, he’s frail and often ill. You don’t want him to inherit your line of work because you’re afraid he’ll encounter danger or an accident and end up ruining his whole life. Instead, you’d rather he become an ordinary, normal person like his mother. That’s why you didn’t send him into the Zhuge family. You only taught him some basic spells to protect himself from evil spirits.”
“The Zhuge family is about to face an unprecedented catastrophe. But Heaven has its own destiny. As long as we survive this calamity, the prosperity and glory our family will enjoy in the future will be beyond anything you or I can imagine right now. So here is my guarantee to you: once this calamity has passed, your child will enter the main branch directly, and I will personally raise and educate him. I will pass on everything I have learned throughout my life to him. Although I can’t promise him the position of family head, I can guarantee that he will become a core member of the family and enjoy a life of peace and wealth.”
With such a generous promise, the task Zhuge Heng wanted him to carry out certainly wouldn’t be simple.
That was what Liu Dongfeng thought.
After pondering for a moment, he asked, “What do I need to do?”
“Pretend to pledge your allegiance, then find an opportunity to kill Zhuge Fusang.”
Zhuge Heng really dared to ask for anything.
“Besides, even if you weren’t working for me, wouldn’t his existence be a tremendous headache for your Spirit Supervision Bureau? Would you allow a powerful madman carrying a Crimson Evil to live freely in this world? I don’t think so. He and his ghost must both die.”
Liu Dongfeng’s expression gradually grew solemn.
After a long silence, he finally sighed.
“…I understand.”
“Of course, I know what he’s capable of, and I appreciate you. I won’t leave you to face such a freak alone. How about this? I’ll have someone provide you with cover and help you from the front.”
As he spoke, without waiting for Liu Dongfeng to respond, Zhuge Heng pulled a mourning bird out of his pocket.
“Call the Third Elder here.”
Liu Dongfeng couldn’t stay, but he couldn’t leave either. He could only stand to the side and wait nervously.
Not long after the mourning bird flew away, a young man hurried over and stopped a few steps away from Zhuge Heng before bowing.
“Family Head, please give your orders.”
“Go find Zhuge Can and tell him that I won’t interfere in Zhuge Fusang’s affairs anymore. He can do whatever he wants. Let’s see what he’s capable of.”
“Yes.”
The young man accepted the order and was about to leave, but Zhuge Heng quickly called him back.
“Wait.”
The young man stopped and waited for Zhuge Heng to continue.
Zhuge Heng thought for a moment and murmured, “Zhuge Fusang really is a madman…”
Soon, he seemed to have made some sort of decision.
“Get a few people to escort the Shaosi to the back mountain. Do it as quickly as possible.”
“Yes.”
…
In the evening, orange-yellow light slipped through a hole in the curtains, leaving a small patch of light on the dark floor.
Qi Changying looked at that lone spot of brightness in the dim room, slightly lost in thought.
Fu Sang was asleep, lying on top of him.
This person’s desire for control was truly strong. Even while asleep, he had to cling to him to make sure he wouldn’t run off, leaving him afraid to move in case he woke Fu Sang up and made him angry.
But Qi Changying didn’t dislike this position.
In this situation, Fu Sang’s scent completely enveloped him.
His scent always made him feel at ease.
But this probably wasn’t very comfortable for Fu Sang.
The room was cold, and Qi Changying was cold too. He couldn’t give Fu Sang any warmth; instead, he had to draw warmth from him.
So even though Fu Sang was wearing a thick sweater, he still curled up unconsciously in his sleep.
Qi Changying sighed very softly and slowly.
He raised a hand and unconsciously stroked Fu Sang’s back again and again, as though gently soothing him.
After an unknown amount of time, the heartbeat and breathing of the person in his arms changed slightly.
Qi Changying knew he was about to wake up.
And the first thing this person did upon waking was touch his cheek to make sure he was still there, then turn his face and kiss him.
Fu Sang was obsessed with desire. Before, he had never done anything with anyone, so it was fine. But now that he had tasted the sweetness of it, he began to crave that feeling just as he craved pain and kissing. He could easily be aroused.
However, he didn’t particularly like this kind of physical reaction being beyond his control. So, many times, even when he reacted, he wouldn’t let Qi Changying help him. Instead, he would wait for the feeling to pass on its own, then pull Qi Changying into stirring up another round of desire, trying to seize absolute control and make himself the one who controlled everything that happened.
He was imprisoned here. He couldn’t go out during the day, and there wasn’t much to do even if he went out at night. After all, he had already obtained the information he wanted. All that remained were things he couldn’t get for the time being and tasks he had entrusted to others.
Life under confinement, waiting like a rabbit by a stump, was truly boring. These were the only things that could bring him even the slightest bit of pleasure each day.
“Knock, knock, knock!”
The sound of someone knocking on the window rang out.
It was about time. The person delivering dinner had come again.
Fu Sang was still a man who kept his word. Since Qi Changying was willing to do it, he also ate every meal properly, just as he promised.
The food from the main branch was truly disgusting. For three days, the largest piece of meat Fu Sang had seen in his bowl was less than half the size of his little fingernail. Today, he assumed he would see another pile of clear soup and watery vegetables, but when he pulled back the curtains, he discovered that the dishes waiting on the windowsill were completely different from usual.
Fu Sang stared at the bowl for a moment, his expression unreadable. Only after a while did he slightly curl his lips into a smile before opening the window and bringing in the tray.
It was a large bowl of chicken soup, with oil still floating on the surface.
Qi Changying walked up behind him and lowered his head to smell him. He didn’t say anything.
“Do you know what this dish means?”
Sensing his approach, Fu Sang turned his face slightly and asked.
“What?” Qi Changying followed his gaze toward the bowl. “Chicken soup?”
“It’s a drowned chicken.”
Fu Sang smiled and picked up the spoon, stirring the soup and chicken inside.
The aroma of the soup spread along with its steam. Qi Changying froze, frowned, and took another light sniff, as though confirming something.
Then, seeing Fu Sang scoop up a spoonful of soup and bring it toward his mouth, he immediately came back to his senses and reached out to stop him.
“Fu Sang, there’s something in…”
“I know. I’ve been eating vegetarian for days. This person really understands me.”
Fu Sang interrupted him and quickly put the soup into his mouth before he could react, swallowing it.
The soup had been stewed well. It wasn’t too salty or too bland. The taste was just right.
Fu Sang narrowed his eyes slightly, and a hint of a smile appeared at the corners of his lips.
“…Just in time.”
