“Only a madman, a ruthless person, could come up with such a method. He offered up everything he had to create a lock, forcibly snatching that wisp of soul back from the hands of evil people. Then he tortured himself in the most cruel way imaginable, forcing out an overwhelming amount of resentment and forcibly refining the other person into a ghost, giving him power that no one else would ever dare covet. That way, even if he himself was no longer around, no one would dare lay a finger on him again.”
“From ancient times until now, in heaven or on earth, there has only ever been one like you.”
Jiuzhangji sighed softly.
“Back then, after Master learned about this, he remained silent for a long time.”
“From the very beginning, Master knew that the karma between Little Qi and Qi Changying was a tribulation for him, but it was also his fate. It was something he had to face on his own. Later, things really did turn out this way, but Master was unable to intervene. He could only watch helplessly as Little Qi walked down that path of no return.”
“Xiao Qi originally had a half-divine body. By rights, he shouldn’t have died so easily. But in order to keep that child here, he sacrificed his physical body, divine soul, and divine bones, leaving behind only a wisp of shattered soul in the human world. He fell into a deep sleep, waiting for a variable that would appear a thousand years later.”
“As for that child, he turned into a vengeful ghost. He was forced to accept too much power that didn’t belong to him. For a time, he lost control and went mad, nearly destroying the entire Nether Path. In the end, the ancestors of the Zhuge family, who now belong to the Nether Path, stepped in and sealed him beneath a formation. He remained sealed there for all these years.”
“This is the story of the seventh rank, Crimson Evil, which has been passed down through the Nether Path for a thousand years and lives on in legend. It is a rank that stands on its own above the sixth rank of underworld spirits.”
“I think the ancestors of the Zhuge family knew something,” Jiuzhangji said. His eyes shifted slightly, and his words carried an unspoken meaning.
“Their sealing formation was truly vicious to the extreme. They dismantled Little Qi’s bones and refined them into extremely yin and evil magical artifacts, using them to suppress the very person Little Qi wanted to protect. If they hadn’t done that, Little Qi wouldn’t have been trapped in the formation for so long, unable to wait for the opportunity to awaken. He would never have wasted an entire thousand years like this.”
“?” Fu Sang raised an eyebrow slightly at one particular sentence.
“You mean those bone artifacts weren’t made from Qi Changying’s bones, but from Qiyueban’s?”
“Mm. I don’t know much about the affairs of your Nether Path, but after following Master for so long, I’ve learned that the simplest and most direct way to deal with an underworld spirit is to target its corpse.”
“Body and soul are originally one. Even after death, they continue to affect each other and cannot be completely separated. Otherwise, there would be no saying that one must be buried in peace. Back then, Qi Changying lost his mind and nearly became a calamity. The Nether Path spirit masters of that time wanted to deal with him, so they found his corpse and tried every possible method. They whipped it, placed curses on it… but none of it worked. Even when they finally burned it to ashes, they still couldn’t cause the slightest damage to Crimson Evil’s source.”
“So Qi Changying’s corpse had already been reduced to nothing a thousand years ago.”
“Since they had no way to deal with the Crimson Evil, they turned their attention to Little Qi’s bones instead. Perhaps they knew the truth behind Qi Changying’s transformation into a ghost, or perhaps they thought Qiyueban’s bones still contained the power he had possessed in life. In any case, by a stroke of luck, they found a way to restrain Crimson Evil.”
“They refined Little Qi’s skeleton into magical artifacts and used them as the formation’s core, completely suppressing the Crimson Evil beneath the formation. Only then did they obtain a brief period of peace. But they probably didn’t know that this way, it wasn’t just Crimson Evil who was trapped. You were trapped as well.”
Fu Sang gave a mocking laugh, his expression difficult to read.
“What? Is a half-divine body really that powerful? It can still stay alive even after its bones have been turned into trinkets?”
“It sounds unbelievable, but that’s indeed the case.”
Jiuzhangji nodded.
“Being on the verge of becoming a Shenguan means that the position of Shenguan has already been determined. The only difference between a god and a half-god is whether that person has washed away their karma and mortal attachments. But regardless of whether they eventually wash them all away, that divine position belongs to them, and can only belong to them. From that moment on, neither heaven nor earth, neither life nor death, can take that person away. So even though Little Qi sacrificed his divine bones and divine soul, he wouldn’t completely die. Because the Heavenly Dao has no right to destroy him, and the cycle of reincarnation has no right to take him.”
“He only needed to wait for the right moment, and he would find a way to return. That was precisely why he told Qi Changying to wait for him. He knew that one day, he would definitely return.”
“But he had to wait far too long for that moment. And as he waited, a thousand years passed.”
“Things didn’t take a turn until more than twenty years ago. After a thousand years of twists and turns, Little Qi finally encountered that variable.”
“At the time, Zhuge Lin had just lost his beloved daughter. By a twist of fate, he learned the truth about the Zhuge family’s secret, which had been concealed for a thousand years: the succession of the Shaosi. Who wouldn’t hate it when their most beloved daughter had been made a scapegoat and stepping stone for someone else for no reason?”
“Having lost his daughter, he no longer had anything to hold him back or make him hesitate. He wanted revenge. So he began plotting how to make the culprit pay the price and lose everything, even if it meant mutual destruction.”
“Originally, he thought he might as well release Crimson Evil directly and recreate the disaster from a thousand years ago, so that no one in the entire Nether Path would be able to live in peace. So he found the handwritten records of the Seven Watch Blood Crying Prison. Following the instructions written there, he spent a long time locating the seven auxiliary formations of the Seven Watch Blood Crying Prison one by one. He tampered with them and destroyed the formation. Afterward, the magical artifacts inside the formation scattered outside and fell into the hands of different people. Although Zhuge Lin found the main formation, he failed to release the Crimson Evil, and instead found an infant.”
“That was you, Fu Sang.
“Back then, fragments of the Fu Sang Divine Bells protected one of your heart meridians. Fragments of your divine soul scattered into those magical artifacts. Later, when the artifacts escaped the seal, you also gained freedom and a new life.”
“Zhuge Lin was an intelligent man. He had read extensively and knew that Qiyueban’s life-bound magical artifact was called the Fu Sang Divine Bells. After considering the bond between the fragments of the divine bells you carried and you yourself, he vaguely guessed your identity. So he took you home and kept you by his side. But after raising you for a little while, he discovered that you couldn’t remember anything.”
“You didn’t remember who you had once been or what you had done. You were like an ordinary child, innocently exploring this world as though you had arrived here for the very first time.”
“But even without your memories, at least your bloodline and innate talent remained. So Zhuge Lin began teaching you everything about the Nether Path from the beginning. He desperately wanted you to become the Qiyueban who had once shaken the entire Nether Path. He wanted you to recover your former power and help him make those people who were human on the outside but beasts inside pay the price.”
“The pain of losing his daughter made him dark and paranoid. His resentment affected you to some extent. He knew your vindictive nature and wanted you to hate the Zhuge family and this world just as he did. So he provoked you and treated you poorly, then waited. He waited until the day you would grow up and turned around to take revenge on everything, including him. Even if you destroyed the entire world, that wouldn’t matter.”
“But soon, he discovered that all those years of effort had been in vain, because he finally realized that you couldn’t see underworld spirits.”
“For a Nether Path spirit master, the most important ability is being able to see underworld spirits. But you seem to have been born without this ability.”
“If you can’t see underworld spirits, can’t sense their presence, and can’t touch them, how can you become a Nether Path spirit master? What he valued was your unique ability to command ghosts. But if you couldn’t see ghosts or command them, how could you help him take revenge? So he abandoned you and began preparing a new plan. That was the later disaster involving the Cui Xing Gate.”
“…” Fu Sang listened to all this without feeling particularly resentful or hateful.
He only found it completely ridiculous.
So that was it.
So the reason he was imprisoned and forced to study those obscure, difficult curses at an age when he couldn’t even recognize all the characters was because he was once Qiyueban, and Zhuge Lin was anxious to turn him back into that all-powerful Qiyueban and make him a qualified tool for revenge. That’s why he was treated and honed like a blade.
A blade had no human rights. The crazier he drove it, the sharper its edge would become.
Unfortunately, Zhuge Lin later discovered that the blade he had worked so hard to obtain was not even sharpened. In fact, it couldn’t be sharpened at all. Naturally, the best thing to do was cut his losses and throw it away.
Fu Sang had been obsessed with this question for many years. But even until Zhuge Lin died, he never found an opportunity to grab him by the collar and ask him why.
Now he finally knew.
It turned out that Zhuge Lin broke the seal and gave him his freedom. But the price of that freedom was heavy schoolwork and seven years of imprisonment and abuse.
Everything was karma, an exchange with a clearly stated price.
Fu Sang understood, but he wasn’t particularly willing to accept it.
Unfortunately, Zhuge Lin was already dead. Completely dead. Not even a single grain of ash remained.
That old man had lived a rather unfortunate life. Everything had been stolen from him, leaving him with nothing. He couldn’t even wait for reincarnation. So, between the two of them, they could barely call it even.
Returning to the main topic, Fu Sang raised his eyebrows slightly and asked something else.
“Qiyueban could see them.”
“Mm.” Jiuzhangji nodded.
“If I am him, why can’t I see them?” This was what Fu Sang found most incomprehensible.
“Ah…” When asked this question, Jiuzhangji raised his eyes and looked at Fu Sang’s eyes.
He quietly met Fu Sang’s heterochromatic eyes for a moment before saying:
“Because you have to find him.”
“…”
Fu Sang was taken aback.
“Your left eye carries the bond you forcibly preserved, the bond between you from life to death. From then on, you couldn’t see underworld spirits, but you could see him.”
“In this way, even if you were reborn into his world and lost all your memories, forgot the past, and even forgot who you were, even if you never entered the Nether Path and were simply an ordinary person… when fate and your bond guided you to his side, you would never overlook him or miss him.”
Jiuzhangji’s eyes were as gentle as a pool of still ink, reflecting Fu Sang’s figure.
After a moment, he curved his lips into a faint smile.
“Although he never said it aloud, I think Little Qi must have known that no matter how many times you died, no matter how many times you lost your memories, as long as you met Qi Changying, you would be drawn to him. You would… fall in love with him all over again.”
“But he understood his own personality too well. He knew that once your memories were erased and you opened your eyes again, no matter what you had experienced, you would never admit that you and he were the same person.”
“So he asked me to leave you a message.”
“Heaven treated him unfairly. He didn’t have time to take what he wanted into his own hands, so it ended up benefiting you.”
“As long as you have the ability to save him, he will belong to you alone.”
These weren’t words Fu Sang liked hearing.
He sneered.
“The way you put it, it’s as though I got a bargain from him?”
Jiuzhangji shook his head helplessly.
“Look at you. You’re unhappy no matter what anyone says. You get angry no matter how things are put. No matter how many times you start over, your personality never changes.”
Fu Sang wanted to argue with Jiuzhangji about that, but he was in a good mood, so he let it go.
Who cared whether they were the same person or not?
In any case, he had seen it with his own eyes. Compared with him, Zhuge Suli clearly had a much smoother life. Yet in the end, when it came to Qi Changying, that person apparently never got anything at all.
At this point, did he still need someone who had died a thousand years ago to tell him whether Qi Changying belonged to him?
“This bridge has come to an end.”
In the silence, Jiuzhangji stopped walking. He tilted his umbrella slightly and said to Fu Sang:
“I can only take you this far. The souls who have reached this point in the past would have to step onto the path of reincarnation if they went any farther. But as for you… I don’t know where you’ll go. Perhaps you’ll find a true ending. Perhaps you’ll open your eyes again and find yourself back where you started. Or perhaps you’ll forget the life and memories you currently possess, and everything will begin all over again. You can try and see where you’ll go after crossing this bridge. Or perhaps… you can turn back and face the reality that drove you here.”
Jiuzhangji stood amid the clouds and mist, his features veiled in a faint, ethereal haze.
“Fu Sang, what will you choose?”
Fu Sang also stopped. He looked at the road ahead, obscured by clouds and mist, then at Jiuzhangji.
“Who was responsible for what happened back then?”
“You mean…?”
“Who stole the Qi family’s fortune? And who came up with that whole scheme, killing Qi Changying and Zhuge Suli?”
Despite having walked for a while and listening to what felt like a very long story, in reality, there were still many questions in Fu Sang’s mind, like the clouds and mist, not yet dispersed. The things concealed before him were yet to be revealed.
“Also, what exactly is the Cui Xing Gate, and when did it appear? There was no such thing a thousand years ago.”
In Su Li’s memories, when he was at the Imperial Observatory, he clearly explained to the Zhuge family and the other spirit masters how the Nether Path guided resentful souls. He did so more than once, even teaching several consecutive days and giving several lessons.
There was never anything like the Cui Xing Gate. For Nether Path spirit masters, as long as they had a method, purifying resentment was not difficult. It was their very duty. So why did the Zhuge family create something that accumulated resentment?
In the past, Fu Sang would definitely have done anything if there was a chance to die.
But now, he was not so eager to do so.
Because he still had many questions left unanswered and things left unfinished.
Back then, someone from the Zhuge family killed Qi Changying.
Now, that damned gate of the Zhuge family had again caused him to lose Qi Changying.
Not a single person behind all this would get away.
Even if they were already dead, he would dig up their bones and make them pay for it, ensuring they could never find release for eternity.
His person was easy to bully.
But he was not someone just anyone could afford to provoke.
Even if he died, he would first drag those people down to hell with him.
“Even if I knew these things, I couldn’t tell you.” Jiuzhangji smiled at him.
“You know what Master always says: Heaven’s secrets must not be revealed. We must not interfere with other people’s karma or opportunities. If you want to know, go and find out for yourself.”
“…”
Fu Sang looked at Jiuzhangji and curled his lips slightly.
He didn’t say anything.
He gave Jiuzhangji one long, deep look, then took a step away from the red umbrella in his hand. Turning around, he resolutely walked back the way he came.
Jiuzhangji stood amid the clouds and mist, the umbrella tilted slightly, revealing his indifferent eyes.
He simply watched Fu Sang’s retreating figure without moving.
Only after a moment did he speak, almost like a sigh:
“May we never meet again, Little Qi.”
Whether Fu Sang heard those words was unknown.
In any case, he did not look back.
Not even once.
Perhaps he felt walking was too slow, so Fu Sang simply started running.
Although clouds and mist obscured his vision, leaving him unable to see the road ahead, Fu Sang seemed to know which direction he was supposed to go and every step he took was very firm.
Later, the clouds and mist before him gradually dispersed, yet he still could not see the full appearance of this bridge.
Following the path he took to get here, he did not return to the bridgehead, nor did he return to that grocery shop whose location was unknown.
He ran through the wind until, at last, an illusory white light enveloped him.
It was like a long story finally reaching its end, or a blank page marked “To Be Continued.”
There were no punctuation marks there, no paragraphs, and no cause and effect that had to be followed between one line and the next.
He rushed into that blank space and, for the first time, felt that he was not a word someone had written down.
He was a beginning.
