Chapter 9: Ninth Blade

In the darkness of night, Xie Xuan looked up at Feng Xun's call. She stared at him for a moment, and as expected, she followed her principle of opposing him. She turned around and disappeared into the darkness.

Feng Xun placed one hand on the scabbard hanging at his waist. He watched Xie Xuan disappear before his eyes and thought to himself: It really was her.

It snowed all night in Fengdu. Whether it was the ghost cultivators' imagination or not, they felt that the snow was heavier today. The ashes that flew from the mortal world to the underworld seemed to carry scorching heat, as if the flames burning these underworld offerings were extraordinarily hot.

At the same time, many things that only existed in the mortal world appeared out of nowhere beside Xie Xuan's bed: women's clothes and hairpins, human decorations, and the silver money that Xie Xuan needed. Because the paper money burned by relatives in the mortal world was often in large denominations, prices in Fengdu were very high. But this time, the silver money burned for Xie Xuan was real, circulating metal currency. It was clear that the person who burned the money had expended tremendous effort to reduce the silver to ashes—ordinary mortal fire could not accomplish such a thing.

In the mortal realm, Feng Xun piled up all the gifts he wanted to give Xie Xuan, and ignited a pure fire before him powerful enough to incinerate the world. He went to such great lengths simply to give Xie Xuan some gifts. Feng Xun thought that this way Xie Xuan would know that someone in the mortal realm still remembered her.

Xie Xuan was awakened by the gold and silver objects around her. As she turned over, she felt something hard being cast onto her bed. She opened her eyes alertly and saw a dazzling array of gold and silver objects on the bed, interspersed with interesting human artifacts—sachets and brocade boxes for women, as well as kites and clay figurines for children.

Feng Xun bought her everything. He didn't know what Xie Xuan liked, so he bought her a collection of worldly items that interested him.

Xie Xuan knew that someone had burned something for her in the human world; she didn't believe that anyone would send her anything.

So she assumed it was sudden danger, quickly rolled over and jumped off the bed, assuming a defensive posture. However, she paused for a moment when she noticed that the items on the bed were all the same color.

Feng Xun knew she didn't like white, so he avoided it entirely, purchasing items in colors she didn't dislike—mainly dark hues. Moreover, the styles of the clothes he bought were very limited—clearly, he only recognized those particular styles and bought accordingly. There were also some rattles piled up inexplicably, which must have been purchased because he himself was interested in them.

Xie Xuan glanced at the items and realized they were Feng Xun's doing. She suddenly understood that the boundary between the underworld and the human world was not so distant after all. Feng Xun, for instance, could travel between the human world at will.

She picked up the rattle that had rolled onto the ground and shook it gently. She had never played with this toy before, and when it made a "thump-thump" sound, she was startled.

Not long ago in the mortal realm, Feng Xun had also studied this little toy. When the rattle drum produced its sound, his handsome eyebrows twitched slightly in surprise—he too had never played with such a thing during his childhood.

Xie Xuan sat cross-legged on the bed and began to examine these intriguing little gadgets. She had no concept of money, so she set all the silver coins aside.

She fiddled with the bamboo dragonfly by the bed for a long while before finally the little thing flew from her hand, spinning through the bamboo leaves, and flew out the window.

Xie Xuan grew interested and chased the bamboo dragonfly to the window. Once the dragonfly reached the window, it lost momentum and fell straight down, striking someone on the head.

Feng Xun's ghost head mask was knocked askew, revealing a glimpse of his smooth forehead and handsome eyebrows. He was indeed wearing the mask only to conceal his face, not because he was too hideous to show himself.

Xie Xuan leaned against the window, quietly observing him. She felt it would be embarrassing to show interest in the things Feng Xun had given her, so she planned to quietly withdraw and pretend she hadn't noticed anything.

But Feng Xun had already straightened the ghost head mask. He picked up the bamboo dragonfly from the ground and looked up, only to meet Xie Xuan's cold gaze.

A gentle, compassionate smile played on his lips as Feng Xun asked: "Do you like it?"

Xie Xuan frowned and asked him: "Feng Xun, what is 'like'?"

"It's just…" Feng Xun hesitated for a moment, but finally, he said calmly: "It's just that you want this thing, or… this person to stay by your side."

His raised eyes gleamed with something like raging fire, and Xie Xuan looked away.

"I don't like it," she said, pulling her head back into the room.

She had heard people speak of liking and disliking, but that was something that belonged to complete and normal human beings. How could she possess that?

Xie Xuan tidied up everything scattered on the bed and throughout the room. Although she was disheveled and didn't even have a complete set of clothes when Feng Xun pulled her out, she would organize everything around her when living alone, to the point of being somewhat morbidly meticulous.

Sometimes, she was simply acting mechanically, and what drove her was not emotion.

The next day, she didn't invite Feng Xun and went to eat vegetarian noodles in Fengdu City by herself. This kind of bland food wasn't popular in the underworld. Ghosts possessed very weak senses, and they often required lavish food to feel as though they were truly eating. Many of those who came to eat vegetarian noodles were devout believers who abstained from meat and fish, maintaining their habits even in death.

Therefore, the ghosts who entered the noodle shop with Xie Xuan were all kind-faced Buddhist ghosts, radiating a soft and peaceful light, making Xie Xuan, who sat among them, appear less frightening.

She sat in the corner of the noodle shop, quietly eating the tasteless vegetable noodles. This was the only food she remembered from her life. She must have been a little girl then, around four or five years old, eating this kind of food every day, and she had been very frail...

No—no! She clearly gained intelligence later in life. Before that, the cowardly original body had occupied her consciousness from the previous life. Why would she have memories of that time?

Is she herself? She couldn't be herself. She's not that cowardly, timid, and useless person who only knows how to flee!

But why does she possess her memories?

Conflicting questions kept arising in Xie Xuan's mind, occupying all her thoughts. She could no longer swallow the vegetable noodles in her mouth. She turned her head and vomited several times, feeling a splitting headache.

Under the influence of such chaotic consciousness, her soul showed signs of disintegration once more. Fortunately, at this moment, the monks and ghosts who had come to enjoy the vegetarian meal surrounded her.

They were compassionate and kind, and seeing that Xie Xuan was not in good condition, they wished to help her.

So when Xie Xuan regained her senses and looked up, she saw many concerned eyes—the ghost cultivators who could remain in Fengdu were all souls without karmic consequences; if they were evil souls, they would have been cast into hell long ago.

"Young lady." A monk tried to step forward to help Xie Xuan up, but she instinctively flinched and prepared to attack.

However, Xie Xuan closed her eyes, suppressing her long-repressed restlessness. She forcibly suppressed this feeling of rejection toward others and allowed the monk to help her up.

She turned her head, accepted the water offered by someone, and took a small sip.

Xie Xuan thought that she simply didn't want Feng Xun to perceive her as dangerous and thus increase the restrictions upon her, so she now had to attempt acting more like a normal... ghost, or rather, a human?

After realizing that Feng Xun could freely enter the human world that day, Xie Xuan thought that one day she too could return to the human world. Feng Xun had taught her the rules and common sense of humanity for so long, and she had also begun to learn how to disguise herself.

It wouldn't be difficult for her to maintain this facade; it was at least a thousand times more benevolent than the hellish illusion created by Li Wen, or certain things in the human world.

So Xie Xuan held the cup in her hands and whispered to the monk beside her: "Thank you."

The monk nodded to her, and after confirming that she was unharmed, he quietly went about his business.

Xie Xuan suddenly felt that Fengdu was so unreal it seemed dreamlike. She had read books about the underworld and its hellish and treacherous places. In her eyes, the human world seemed to be just like that. But Fengdu was like a paradise, as beautiful as a dream.

These changes naturally occurred after Feng Xun arrived in the Underworld. The Underworld used to be overrun by demons and monsters, with demons ruling over all directions, just like the hellish realm imagined by the human world.

Of course, Xie Xuan was unaware of these details; she only felt that Feng Xun, who remained by her side, possessed a kind of benevolent foolishness.

So, one evening when Feng Xun was teaching her to read books, she secretly scribbled a few words on a piece of paper.

"Feng Xun—a fool." That's how she described him.

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