After Chen Ying fled the courtyard in tears, Duan Xu's figure materialized at the gate. He glanced toward the child's retreating form, then turned his attention to He Simu.
In the dying light of sunset, the tall and beautiful woman tilted her head, a faint smile playing on her lips—silently declaring Duan Xu's failure and her own foresight.
Duan Xu didn't appear to believe he had failed. He approached her with a smile. "Chen Ying just can't accept it yet. Give him some time."
"Accept? Accept what? He doesn't need to accept anything." He Simu waved her hand dismissively, stretching lazily as she walked past him.
"People fearing evil spirits is as natural as sheep fearing wolves. It's the way of nature. Chen Ying's reaction couldn't be more normal. It's best if he walks away from evil spirits for the rest of his life. You're the abnormal one, fearing nothing. Humans detesting ghosts and ghosts being evil—that's the proper position for a Ghost King."
He Simu tossed these words over her shoulder, and her figure disappeared through the doorway.
She didn't seem upset by Chen Ying's fear or rejection, as if she had witnessed such reactions too many times to be bothered. Perhaps, as she claimed, most things in the human world were simply "inconsequential" to her.
Just something to pass the time, playing along with the scene.
After the imperial edict was issued, General Qin quickly gathered his generals to reformulate the battle plan. With Zheng An present to supervise, Duan Xu and his Taba Army were finally not excluded.
During this period, as the Great Liang army arranged supplies and weapons, Duan Xu took Xia Qing Sheng, Han Ling Qiu, and a squad of soldiers to follow the Su Ying Army general and survey the terrain north of Shuo Prefecture. Due to its advantageous location and topography, Shuo Prefecture would serve as the main rear base for the northern bank campaign.
He Simu, temporarily without her powers, naturally remained in Shuo Prefecture city, spending Duan Xu's money freely everywhere, to the point that all the vendors in the city knew about this strange guest who threw money around and damaged things wherever she went.
Chen Ying had stopped crying but still frequently visited his sleeping "Sister Xiaoxiao." Whenever he encountered He Simu, he was always somewhat timid. He Simu would simply smile in response, neither alienating nor drawing close to him.
Several days after Duan Xu left the city, a group of uninvited guests arrived in Shuo Prefecture.
That day, after He Simu had crushed another batch of walnut cookies and was casually returning to the Lin residence where she was staying, she noticed people bustling about in unusual commotion, with faint sounds of wailing. He Simu puzzledly handed the paper bag to the Lin household steward, instructing him that these cookie fragments could be fed to the dogs, and then asked, "What's happening in the mansion? Why is it so noisy?"
The steward sighed. "You know how Miss He, the diviner from the Taba Army, has been suffering from that strange illness, sleeping without waking?"
He Simu found it odd. "Has she woken up?"
"No, but her family has come looking for her."
"Oh, I was just saying..."
He Simu paused, suddenly processing what the steward had said, and turned sharply. "He Xiaoxiao's family has come looking for her?"
Encountering acquaintances while possessing someone else's body was an enormous problem, even more troublesome than illness. That's why He Simu generally ventured to very distant places for her activities, rarely encountering familiar people.
This vacation was truly bringing all sorts of strange situations.
He Simu rubbed her temples and followed the sound of wailing. After passing through a long corridor and stone gate, she found a woman being supported as she wiped her tears, with Officer Song from the Cheng Jie Army standing beside her, offering comfort. Several servants stood scattered around the courtyard. He Simu positioned herself among these onlookers and asked quietly, "Who are all these people?"
The household servant recognized her as a good friend of General Duan and explained, "The one in the middle wearing dark brown clothes with some white hair is Miss He's mother. The one supporting her is Miss He's elder brother. I heard that after Miss He disappeared, they searched from Yue Prefecture. When they distributed search portraits, someone in Liang Prefecture said the person in the portrait looked very similar to He Xiaoxiao, so they continued their search there. Just now, they confirmed that Miss He is indeed their missing relative—even the birthmarks match. But now Miss He is sleeping without waking, and her mother is heartbroken."
He Simu's gaze swept over the people in the courtyard before she leaned against the wall, watching the scene unfold with cool detachment.
This scene was truly touching—as if that girl from a few months ago, who had sought death because her mother and brother wanted to sell her as a concubine to an old man, was a mere fabrication. From the looks of it, her relatives had received money but discovered the person was missing, so they rushed over to find her.
The woman cried out, "She's not called He Xiaoxiao at all! Her name is Qiao Yan, my youngest daughter, who mysteriously disappeared more than three months ago. She was the most obedient and sensible girl. How could she travel hundreds of miles to Shuo Prefecture all by herself?"
This person should think about how she drove her "obedient and sensible" daughter to the point of making a deal with an evil spirit, lending her body for half a year in exchange for freedom.
The brother supporting the woman added, "Yan'er never performed magic tricks, much less had any divination abilities. It seems the master was right—sister has been possessed by an evil spirit!"
He Simu raised an eyebrow, shifting her gaze to the elderly man in cultivator's attire standing beside Officer Song. Officer Song bowed to the old man. "Daoist Master, you mentioned earlier that there was an evil spirit causing trouble in the prefecture. Were you referring to Miss He... no, Miss Qiao?"
The old Daoist stroked his beard and spoke with calculated calm. "As I observed from a distance, I saw malevolent energy gathering above the Lin mansion. Upon entering, this yin energy became even more concentrated. I've examined Miss Qiao's condition—sleeping without waking despite no illness—clearly the work of an evil entity's spell."
He Simu studied the gray-robed elder for a moment, taking in his appearance of exaggerated immortal aura, and smiled lightly.
Interesting.
What play was being enacted now?
Hearing the old Daoist's words, Officer Song immediately asked him to find a way to expel the evil spirit and restore peace to Shuo Prefecture. The Daoist extracted a talisman paper from his robe, mumbled an incantation, and the talisman began to emit a red glow and stand upright.
The old Daoist waved his hand dramatically. "Find the ghost!"
The talisman suddenly quivered and shot through the crowd like an arrow, only to be caught in mid-air between two fingers.
He Simu calmly lowered her hand, flicking the talisman between her fingers with casual disdain. "What is the Daoist Master trying to do?"
The old Daoist's eyes widened as he pointed at her and declared, "It's her! She's the evil spirit who possessed Miss Qiao! She's the malevolent entity disrupting Shuo Prefecture!"
Everyone in the courtyard—men and women, old and young—fell silent as they turned to stare at He Simu.
He Simu discarded the talisman and, under everyone's collective gaze, remained silent for a moment before raising her eyes with a knowing smile. "What's this? The Cheng Jie Army can't find fault with General Duan, so you're resorting to smearing him and those around him?"
The people in the courtyard swiveled their attention to Officer Song, who flushed red at the accusation and angrily replied, "Don't talk nonsense! The Daoist Master and I just happened to learn of this matter! What does this have to do with General Duan?"
He Simu remained composed, smiling without speaking.
General Yin of the Cheng Jie Army was notably superstitious about feng shui. When leading troops into battle, he always brought along one or two Daoist masters to determine auspicious or inauspicious fortune. This elderly man was Daoist Master Mingfeng, whom General Yin favored and relied upon most.
It was said that Daoist Master Mingfeng had long detected an evil presence in Shuo Prefecture. Today, while walking on the street with Officer Song, they happened to encounter the Qiao family searching for their relative and helped guide them to the Lin residence. Upon arriving, Daoist Master Mingfeng sensed heavy malevolent energy and followed them into the mansion, where they discovered the unconscious He Xiaoxiao—or rather, Qiao Yan.
In the military tent, Wu Sheng Liu and General Yin sat on opposite sides. He Simu sat beside Wu Sheng Liu, while Daoist Master Mingfeng sat beside General Yin. The Qiao mother and son knelt in the center of the tent, with General Qin and Zheng An occupying the seats of honor.
General Yin stood and addressed the kneeling woman. "Madam Qiao, tell us, when did your daughter disappear?"
The woman prostrated herself on the ground. "Your Excellency, she disappeared on the twenty-fourth of October last year."
General Yin clicked his tongue and looked toward Wu Sheng Liu with pointed meaning. "I heard that Miss He Xiaoxiao appeared in Liang Prefecture on October 26th last year. Crossing hundreds of miles in just two days—who among us could achieve that without the help of ghostly powers?"
Wu Sheng Liu glared and shouted, "What's this? Whatever time she says her daughter disappeared, that's when she disappeared? Just because she claims to be Miss He's mother makes it true? I might as well claim I'm your father!"
General Yin slammed the table in fury. "Wu Sheng Liu, watch your filthy mouth!"
Wu Sheng Liu jumped to his feet. "Pah! You're not worthy of my clean speech! What are you trying to say? You just want to claim He Xiaoxiao is a monster, don't you? Then Miss Seventeen is also a monster, and the entire Taba Army is a monster's nest, is that it? Why don't you say Duan Xu is a monster too? He's a relative of the imperial family—just try saying that!"
General Qin's voice thundered through the tent. "Stop arguing! Both of you sit down!"
General Yin and Colonel Wu exchanged hostile glances before sitting down with visible resentment. General Yin snorted lightly. "Wu Sheng Liu, don't be so defensive. General Duan is indeed a talented youth, but the Duan family is entirely composed of civil officials. For him to come to the front lines for the first time and achieve such extraordinary merits, even infiltrating the enemy camp to assassinate their commander—do you think that's possible? Most likely he borrowed some ghostly power, using unorthodox means..."
Zheng An spoke coldly from his elevated seat. "General Yin, one must speak with evidence. Witchcraft and using ghosts are serious crimes—how dare you make such casual accusations?"
Wu Sheng Liu, however, was trembling with rage, his burly frame flushed as he said through gritted teeth, "Who the hell are we guarding Shuo Prefecture for? For whom! If you had even a shred of conscience, you couldn't say such things! How much effort and how many injuries has General Duan suffered to protect this city? And you dismiss it all with one accusation of unorthodox means? Let me tell you, as long as there's even one person alive in the Taba Army, we will never allow you to touch General Duan's people!"
"You, Wu Sheng Liu! Are you taking orders from Duan Shunxi or General Qin? The Taba..."
"Enough arguing!" General Qin's shout silenced the tent.
He Simu leaned back in her chair, thinking that General Yin's ability to reach the correct conclusion through completely absurd, jealousy-filled, and malicious speculation was truly impressive.
Given the current situation and atmosphere, it seemed that without her saying or doing anything, once the fire was directed at Duan Xu, it became a dispute between two factions, making whether she was actually an evil spirit irrelevant.
As long as they insisted that General Yin was attempting to frame Duan Xu, all evidence put forward by Daoist Master Mingfeng could be dismissed as having ulterior motives. Now, apart from being unable to die, she appeared in every way like a mortal. Since Qiao Yan couldn't wake up, it was a case of "the dead can't testify."
She leisurely picked up her teacup and took a sip, then heard someone shouting outside the tent, "Report! General, the Taba Army diviner Miss He Xiaoxiao has awakened!"
He Simu choked on her tea.
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