“You have committed too many evils and harbored too many attachments. You knew the cycle of justice, yet you insisted on breaking it. There is karma in the unseen world, and today’s fate is nothing but the consequence of your own doing!” After Zhang Enpu finished speaking, he painfully formed a hand seal, intending to finish off Jiang Siwen’s last soul fragment.
Liu Dashao thought to himself that it was indeed true; the wicked scholar had done too much harm, even devouring all the local immortals practicing in the northeastern regions nearby. This must be his punishment.
As Zhang Enpu raised his hand to strike Jiang Siwen, a woman’s voice suddenly cried out, “Old Taoist, please spare his life!”
Turning toward the voice, Liu Dashao saw a woman dressed in a red wedding gown standing on a nearby hill. She looked familiar, but he couldn’t recall her name.
“Siwen!” The woman floated toward the group.
“Yun’er!” Seeing her, Jiang Siwen struggled to rise, but after enduring the previous “Ghost Soldiers Clear the Path” technique, his form had been shattered, and he could no longer stand.
Hearing Jiang Siwen call her name, Liu Dashao suddenly realized—could this red-clad woman be Zhen Yun? No wonder she looked familiar. Wasn’t she the same Li Zhi Ming he had seen during his last out-of-body experience?
It seemed the soul-summoning formation behind the hill had indeed summoned Li Zhi Ming’s true soul.
Zhen Yun floated over to Jiang Siwen and gently lifted his upper body, and the two souls embraced tightly.
“Yun’er… I’ve waited for you so long… Finally, I’ve seen you again…” Jiang Siwen’s voice trembled with emotion.
“Siwen! I know you’ve been waiting painfully on the path of reincarnation… It’s just our fate that we couldn’t become husband and wife in the mortal world, so we’ve wandered between life and death,” Zhen Yun wept bitterly.
“What does it matter… Hehe… I’ve waited through dozens of lifetimes… As long as we can be together… that’s enough…” Jiang Siwen closed his eyes, and faint tears trickled down his cheeks.
He reached into his torn robe and pulled out a comb, slowly placing it in Zhen Yun’s hand.
“Yun’er… Do you remember? I always used this comb to brush your hair… For a thousand years… I’ve had only this comb to keep me company every day…”
“I remember! I remember everything! Siwen! Now we’ll be together forever! Are you happy?”
Zhen Yun’s ghost was already sobbing uncontrollably.
Zhang Enpu’s furrowed brows gradually relaxed, and his hand, which had been forming the seal, quietly dropped behind his back.
“…Hehe… It’s no use… My spirit has been shattered… This last soul fragment probably won’t last long…” Jiang Siwen struggled to sit up and bowed to Zhang Enpu.
“Senior… I didn’t consume the mountain spirits… I merely trapped them within the stone tablet at the village entrance… If you remove the barrier with your magic, those spirits can be released… This is my small attempt at atonement for my past sins…”
Zhang Enpu said nothing, but Liu Dashao could tell his heart had softened.
“Yun’er… I… I can’t let go of you…” Jiang Siwen struggled to utter his final words, his voice barely a whisper.
Zhen Yun wept bitterly, then stood and knelt before Zhang Enpu.
“Honored Immortal, have mercy on us! Everything Siwen did was for me! He didn’t truly intend to do those evil things! Please show us mercy! We couldn’t be husband and wife in life, but we beg to be wandering souls together!” As she spoke, Zhen Yun kept bowing and crying softly.
Liu Dashao was deeply moved by their steadfast love. After hundreds of years of waiting, what they received wasn’t a life of marital bliss and growing old together, but rather becoming wandering spirits. It seemed so unfair of Heaven. Yet, he realized, the two before him probably didn’t care anymore—they had only ever wanted to be together, and now, they had finally achieved their wish.
Though he had just fought fiercely with Jiang Siwen and felt great resentment toward the evil scholar, Liu Dashao now felt a small sense of warmth, even a tear forming at the corner of his eye.
“Please rise, young lady. Your husband has done nothing wrong. His actions just now have already atoned for his past sins. I bear him no grudge, and I can see he is a man of deep feeling,” Zhang Enpu said earnestly.
“Thank you, Master, thank you!” Zhen Yun kept bowing, tears streaming down her face as she smiled joyfully.
“Ah, I suppose I was too harsh. Your husband’s soul will soon dissipate. Allow me to perform a ritual to help him gather his soul essence,” Zhang Enpu said, then adjusted his robe and sat cross-legged on the ground.
He pulled out a palm-sized wooden sword covered in intricate talisman characters. With it, he made several sweeping gestures in the air before placing it on the ground, its tip pointing toward Jiang Siwen.
At the same time, his left hand reached for a bamboo tube at his waist. He removed the red cloth covering it and took out a yellow talisman. With a flick of his wrist, the talisman ignited without flame. Holding the burning talisman, he quickly circled the bamboo tube with it before letting the ashes fall.
After completing these actions, Zhang Enpu nodded, then placed the bamboo tube upright on the ground. He picked up the small wooden sword and struck the tube three times.
With a deep “Boom! Boom! Boom!” Zhang Enpu waved the sword at Jiang Siwen and shouted, “Come in!”
As soon as he spoke, Jiang Siwen’s soul flew into the bamboo tube before Zhang Enpu. The tube wobbled slightly, then stilled.
Zhang Enpu picked up the tube and approached Zhen Yun. “Your husband will reform his soul inside this tube. Take it, and wait at the village entrance before the first rooster crows tomorrow. Then, ghostly officials will arrive to guide you both to reincarnation. Do not cling to worldly attachments anymore, for your wish has been fulfilled. This is all the help I can offer.”
“Hehe, and if you happen to meet the Black and White Impermanents, just mention my name—Liu Dashao—and say that your ninth brother misses them. They’ll take good care of you two on the way!” Liu Dashao patted his chest proudly and chuckled.
After hearing both master and apprentice speak, Zhen Yun bowed deeply to them, tears of gratitude streaming down her face. “Thank you, Honored Immortal! Thank you, Young Immortal! Heaven will witness your kindness and bless you! May you always be safe and sound!”
With that, Zhen Yun took the bamboo tube in her hands, gently stroked it, and smiled contentedly. “Siwen… It’s all over now… We’ll never be separated again… Let me take you home…”
As she spoke, she floated forward a few steps and vanished.
Liu Dashao was deeply moved by the scene before him. Tears streamed down his face uncontrollably—not because of their grand love, but because of their unwavering belief in each other. Through hundreds of years of waiting, countless lifetimes of longing, they had never given up or grown weary. They didn’t seek eternal love in the mortal world—they only wished to be together, even as wandering spirits. That was their greatest wish.
People often say all beings possess emotion, yet sometimes human feelings pale in comparison to the loyalty between two wandering souls—so steadfast, so full of trust.
Liu Dashao stood silently, gazing in the direction where Zhen Yun and Jiang Siwen had vanished, sincerely praying for their future lives—to be together, to grow old side by side.
“Dashao, don’t delay. Let’s quickly go to the stone tablet at the village entrance to rescue the trapped spirits!” Zhang Enpu said, his face pale.
“But Master, you’re injured! We should go home first, recover, and then go!”
“There’s no more time… Otherwise, the spirits’ cultivation will be affected, and many lives will suffer,” Zhang Enpu said, then pulled Liu Dashao toward the village entrance.
On the way, Liu Dashao felt something moving in his robe—it must be Huang Er Ye waking up.
Zhang Enpu stopped and said to Liu Dashao, “Let the Great Immortal Huang come out.”
Liu Dashao was secretly surprised that Zhang Enpu knew, but then Huang Er Ye jumped out from his robe, glanced at the two of them, and quickly disappeared into the distance.
“I’ll explain later how I know everything that’s happened to you these past days. Now, let’s go break the barrier!” Zhang Enpu said, then hurried Liu Dashao forward.
Both were badly injured, Zhang Enpu especially so. By the time they reached the stone tablet, Zhang Enpu was drenched in sweat and extremely weak.
“Dashao… look closely at the stone tablet… Is there anything unusual?” Zhang Enpu sat down, clearly exhausted.
Liu Dashao dragged his weary body to the stone tablet and examined it carefully.
The half-meter-high green stone tablet seemed normal, except for a strange black flower at its base.
“Master, there’s a black flower at the base of the stone!”
“It’s the Black Karma Blossom! Pull it out!” Zhang Enpu’s expression changed drastically.
Following Zhang Enpu’s instructions, Liu Dashao reached out and pulled the flower. It felt icy cold to the touch, but with a firm tug, he uprooted it.
As he held it up, he saw that the roots of the flower were actually a tiny human head, no larger than a fist, black and shriveled with closed eyes. Feeling disgusted, Liu Dashao threw it to the ground and crushed it underfoot.
Suddenly, a piercing sound rang out.
Looking closely, countless spirits began rising from beneath the stone tablet, including the old spirit, Liu Xian Po.
Liu Dashao realized the barrier had been broken and felt relieved.
Then, his body suddenly weakened, his head swayed, and he fainted, knowing nothing more.
When Liu Dashao opened his eyes again, he found himself lying in bed at home, with Zhang Enpu, Liu Laoshi, and Wang Chunhua all gathered around the kang, watching him so intently that he wondered whether he was still dreaming.
“Am… am I dreaming… What happened… Master… is that really you…” Liu Dashao’s throat felt dry.
“These past days have been hard on you, but your master is here. You’re not dreaming!” Zhang Enpu said, hugging Liu Dashao tightly.
Feeling warmth, Liu Dashao knew he wasn’t dreaming. Overwhelmed with emotion, tears streamed down his face once more.
“Ah, it’s all our fault—we shouldn’t have left you behind. These past days must have been so hard on you,” Liu Laoshi said beside him.
“No! I’m grown up now. I’m fine, really!” Liu Dashao stubbornly insisted, lifting his head.
Zhang Enpu stroked his white beard and smiled at Liu Dashao. “Indeed, I know all about what you’ve done these past days. My disciple, you’ve shown great courage and strength.”
Only then did Liu Dashao remember that before he fainted, Zhang Enpu had told him to release Huang Er Ye. So he must have known everything.
“That’s right! Master, how did you know about Huang Er Ye? That’s something only I knew!” Liu Dashao tried to sit up.
Zhang Enpu gently pressed him back onto the kang and pulled the blanket over him.
“Be a good boy and rest first. After dinner, I’ll tell you everything slowly,” Zhang Enpu said affectionately.
It turned out that Liu Dashao had been gravely injured that day and had fainted from exhaustion. Zhang Enpu had carried him home, where he had remained unconscious with a high fever for two full days. Zhang Enpu himself had also been recovering from injuries sustained when Jiang Siwen’s dark energy struck him, and his wounds still hadn’t fully healed.
“But Master, how did you know everything that happened to me these past days?” Liu Dashao asked, chewing on a large pancake hungrily, clearly famished. He spoke too quickly, however, and choked on his saliva, coughing violently and turning red in the face.
Zhang Enpu chuckled, poured a cup of water, and handed it to Liu Dashao before continuing calmly.
It turned out that on the day of the confrontation with Jiang Siwen, Zhang Enpu had just returned and went to Goudan’s house looking for Liu Dashao. When Goudan stammered and couldn’t explain clearly, Zhang Enpu suspected the two boys had been up to something.
So he asked the Five Door-Guarding Ghosts.
It was those five ghosts that Zhang Enpu had left behind specifically when he first left, to protect the house from thieves. They were the same red-eyed ghosts Liu Dashao had seen peering through the door crack that time, the ones he had thought he had imagined.
“They told me everything—about Huang Er Ye, the Xuanpin Pill, and most importantly, that you’ve learned the art of Qimen Dunjia,” Zhang Enpu said, patting Liu Dashao’s head.
Liu Dashao nodded thoughtfully, his confusion now cleared. He asked Zhang Enpu, “What happened to Jiang Siwen and Zhen Yun in the end?”
Zhang Enpu sighed, a slight smile on his face. “Before the first rooster crowed that night, the ghostly officials took them to reincarnation. The next day, I divined their fates—they will be born into two wealthy families and marry in their next lives. It’s Heaven’s way of blessing this pair of tragic lovers.”
Hearing this, Liu Dashao felt joy for them. He sincerely hoped they would not suffer in their next lives.
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