Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I Remembered Who Betrayed Whom Seven Hundred Years Ago

By the time we slipped out the back door of the Soup-Brewing Room, the Underworld was already under a total lockdown.

Ghostly lanterns flickered to life one after another along the Yellow Springs Road. Black and White Impermanence led the Soul-Capturing Team as they searched everywhere, and even Ox-Head and Horse-Face, who usually spent their days sneaking wine by the bridge, had been dragged into service. The atmosphere along the banks of the River of Forgetfulness was tense. I hiked up my skirts and hurried east, pulling Xie Wujiu along as his chains dragged against the stone steps with a faint, metallic clatter.

His soul was too weak to move quickly.

Yet, he didn’t utter a single word of complaint.

When we reached the abandoned Reincarnation Path, I suddenly stopped.

An old Reincarnation Mirror stood there, long fallen into disrepair, its surface cracked down the middle. No one ever came here; the mirror couldn’t reflect one’s present life, only glimpses of shadows from the past.

I had originally intended to use it to test how much of Cui Jue’s words were actually true.

But as Xie Wujiu and I stood before the mirror together, the surface suddenly flared with light.

I saw seven hundred years ago.

Back then, my name wasn’t Meng Qi. It was Su Du.

I was the legitimate daughter of the Zhenbei Marquis Manor, and Xie Wujiu was the descendant of a disgraced official. However, because his father had once taken a blade for mine, our families had arranged a marriage contract long ago. We grew up together. He would climb over my back wall to take me to the river to release lanterns, and he would apply medicine to my palms with a stern face whenever I practiced the spear until I got blisters.

On the day of our wedding, the entire city was decorated with lanterns and streamers.

I sat in the bridal chamber wearing a vibrant red wedding dress, my heart thumping like a drum. When Xie Wujiu lifted my veil, his hands were trembling. He stared at me for a long time before finally choking out a single sentence: “Ah Du, you look so beautiful today.”

I laughed at his silliness.

But before we could even finish our nuptial wine, the sounds of shouting and slaughter erupted outside.

The imperial decree to seize our household arrived faster than the wedding night could begin.

The Zhenbei Marquis Manor and the Xie Family were branded as rebels overnight. My father died in battle, my mother took her own life by striking a pillar, and the entire Xie clan was wiped out. The firelight turned half the sky red. Xie Wujiu pulled me through the back door as we fled, the sound of whistling arrows filling my ears.

We hid inside a dilapidated temple.

I was still wearing my wedding dress, my skirts soaked in blood.

I grabbed him and asked what was happening.

He remained silent for a long time before saying only one thing: “Ah Du, I’ve brought this ruin upon you.”

Later, when the government soldiers caught up, he hid me under an altar table and went out alone with his sword.

Through the gaps, I saw him pinned down in the snow. I heard the leader laugh and say, “Siming Star Lord said that this Young Master Xie’s fate is too stubborn. If he does not die, the Heaven’s Mandate cannot be settled.”

At that time, I didn’t understand anything about fate.

I only knew that he was about to die.

When I lunged out to save him, an arrow pierced my chest.

Before I collapsed, I saw Xie Wujiu break free from his chains and rush toward me like a madman.

The mirror shifted.

It was the Underworld.

I dragged my blood-drenched soul to the foot of the Naihe Bridge. Xie Wujiu was shackled by the bridge, his eyes bloodshot, refusing to drink the soup no matter what. The King of Hell said his killing intent was too heavy; he would either have his soul scattered or have his past washed away to start anew.

I knelt on the bridge and kowtowed three times to the King of Hell.

I said I would become Meng Po.

I would personally see him off.

I only asked that he be allowed to live.

The scene in the mirror shifted again.

I saw myself pressing a blood-print onto a Pact. I saw the King of Hell bring a bowl of soup. I saw Xie Wujiu shaking his head desperately, crying out, “Ah Du, don’t.”

But I still drank that bowl of soup myself first.

If I wanted to live, I had to forget.

If I didn’t forget, I wouldn’t have been able to endure those seven hundred years on the bridge, nor could I have watched him suffer life after life.

The mirror’s light should have ended there.

But within the cracked surface, another image suddenly appeared.

It was something I had never seen before.

Outside the dilapidated temple that day, while Xie Wujiu was pinned in the snow by soldiers, Siming Star Lord stood to the side and said nonchalantly, “Xie Wujiu, if you confess to the crime of rebellion, Su Du can pass into the Underworld with her soul intact. If you do not, she won’t even have the right to become a ghost.”

Xie Wujiu looked up, his mouth covered in blood.

He said, “Fine.”

Then, he pressed his thumbprint onto the confession.

My entire body jolted.

It wasn’t that he had brought ruin upon me.

He had used himself to trade for my life as a ghost.

By the time the mirror’s light faded, I could no longer stand steady.

Xie Wujiu caught me.

I looked up, staring intently at him. “You knew all along?”

He remained silent.

“You clearly knew that you didn’t harm me back then-you saved me. Why didn’t you say anything?”

“What would have been the use?” His voice was very soft. “By then, you were already Meng Po. If you had known the truth, it would have only caused you more pain.”

My eyes turned red with fury. “So you let me hate you for seven hundred years?”

“Ah Qi,” he looked at me, “I would rather have you hate me than have you be unable to go on living.”

I slapped him across the face.

The sound was sharp and clear.

Xie Wujiu didn’t dodge.

As his face turned from the blow, the corner of his mouth actually curved into a faint smile.

I grew even angrier. “You’re still laughing?”

“Because you’re finally willing to hit me,” he said. “For these seven hundred years, every time you looked at me, there was nothing in your eyes but endurance.”

My nose stung, and I almost burst into pathetic tears again.

But before I could scold him, a sea of ghostly fire suddenly lit up outside the abandoned Reincarnation Path.

Dozens of chains whistled through the air, pinning themselves straight into the ground.

Siming’s voice drifted through the night wind, calm and unhurried.

“Have you had enough of your trip down memory lane?”

I turned around.

He stood at the end of the stone steps. Behind him were the King of Hell, Black and White Impermanence, and an entire squad of Soul-Capturing Soldiers.

He looked at us like two pieces of prey that had finally crawled out of their hole.

“Meng Qi, hand over Xie Wujiu,” he said. “I can still let you continue being Meng Po.”

I gripped Xie Wujiu’s hand tightly and suddenly laughed.

“Continue being Meng Po?”

“Siming, did you forget? Back on the bridge, I already resigned.”