Chapter 68:
This Venerable One Can’t Bear It
CHU LAN WAS DEAD, but the illusion continued.
Dawn was still hours away; the long nightmare not yet over. The survivors returned to the governor’s residence, preparing to leave for Putuo Mountain as soon as morning broke.
It was hard to believe that someone could carry on after suffering that kind of pain. Truth be told, it really did seem like all that remained of Chu Xun was a walking husk, his soul long since gone.
As Mo Ran moved through the city, he heard many people fretting. After all, Chu Xun had suffered so much. Putting aside the possibility that he would hold a grudge, in his current state, even if he was willing to lead everyone away from the city, their chances were significantly diminished.
Not everyone thought only of themselves. There weren’t a lot of them, but at least a few people were genuinely sad for Chu Xun.
They all stewed in anxiety as they waited for the sky to brighten.
What arrived before the rising sun was that cold and now-familiar voice, rupturing the heavy night sky and reverberating above the barrier. This time the ghost king addressed not Chu Xun, but everyone else in Lin’an.
“The sun will soon rise. This venerable one knows you plan to leave once day breaks. But have you really thought your plan through? Putuo is a long way from here, and you’ll never make it there in a single day. Once night falls, you’ll have to depend on Chu Xun for safety. Do you think he’ll protect you?”
“Mommy—”
A child started crying from fear at the terrifying voice, burrowing into his mother’s arms. Everyone stared up at the sky.
Only Chu Xun, standing in front of the governor’s residence and leaning against the haitang tree, had his eyes closed, as if he heard nothing.
“His wife and son are dead because of you. Do you really think Chu Xun will defend you? He likely has something else in mind—something to avenge his family, something to make you all wish you were dead. It’s only human nature, after all… This venerable one was once human, too, you know. Sure, there are kind people, but they’re only kind for their reputation. Humans are vile by nature; any so-called good person is just trying to get something in return for their deeds. Let’s be honest: once forced into a corner, they won’t care whether other people live or die.”
The ghost king’s eerie voice echoed above them.
“This venerable one said it before: I never intended to take all of your lives. In fact, the living can serve us ghosts. If you don’t believe me, just look at him—”
As he spoke, a black cloud billowed toward the barrier with Xiaoman standing on top of it. Next to him was a kindly man of about forty or fifty.
“That’s Xiaoman’s father!” someone cried out in surprise.
“It’s Xiaoman’s father! Didn’t he die?”
“Even though his body was dismembered—everyone saw. How could this be?!”
The ghost king continued, “As one of the nine kings of the underworld, even if this venerable one does not exert control over life and death like Emperor Yanluo, it is but a simple matter to restore the appearance of the dead. If you serve me, I will grant you the lasting company of your deceased loved ones. However, if you oppose me, you’ll end up like your Chu-gongzi, watching your wife kill your child with your own eyes, powerless to do anything to stop it.”
All were silent within the barrier.
“Will you really trust him? Trust that he won’t take revenge for his wife and child? Do you really think he’ll take you from here all the way to Putuo?”
Someone glanced toward Chu Xun, their eyes already flickering with malice.
Chu Xun finally looked up from where he stood under the flowering tree, his quiet gaze level with theirs. He honestly didn’t know what to say at this point. A long while passed before he finally said, “It already is what it is. What would be the point in harming you now?”
“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!” The ghost king’s ghastly laugh echoed from above the barrier. “Very good, very good. He says he won’t harm you. If you believe him, then go ahead and leave with him. But if you believe me—”
His voice roared with increasing intensity, as if it might pierce their eardrums and straight into their hearts.
“If you believe me, you will be rewarded. I can bring back your families. All you have to do is hand over Chu Xun. You just have to…hand him over to me! I bear a grudge against him, not any of you. Hand him over, and you won’t have to abandon your homes. Hand him over, and you can reunite with your families. Just hand him over, and it will all be over.”
The ghost king’s voice grew faint.
“I will wait at the City God Temple till sunrise.”
The voice faded away.
The deadly silence slowly gave way to a rising clamor as all eyes in the crowd turned toward Chu Xun. Chu Xun looked back at them with a calm, even expression.
“What should we do?” someone started muttering helplessly.
“What should we do, my husband? I’m so afraid…”
“Mommy, I’m scared. I don’t wanna get eaten!”
“The ghost king isn’t wrong…” someone else said in a low voice. “These supposedly kind people always have ulterior motives. We’ve seen plenty of their sort before. Chu…Chu-gongzi may not have done anything yet, but look at him. Half-dead as he is, who’s to say he won’t do something crazy in the future?!”
“You’re right,” whispered someone who heard his words, in full agreement. “For all we know, he’s nursing that grudge and just waiting to get us all killed! Treachery at the eleventh hour is hardly unheard of…”
A rough-looking man suddenly stood up from the crowd. “Grab him!” he yelled. “If we hand him over, we can live!"
Everyone went silent. A few moments passed before a young woman stepped forward and put herself in front of the man. “How could you be so ungrateful?” her voice was soft but determined. “Have you no dignity as a man?”
“Piss off!” The man kicked the woman to the ground and spit on her face. “You’re a stupid whore who sleeps with men, no family to speak of. The hell you running your mouth for? I have to take care of both young and old—I ain’t gonna let my own family go through this shit! Chu-gongzi, you’re just gonna have to understand!”
With that, he made to seize Chu Xun.
He hadn’t taken a step before his leg was firmly grabbed. He looked down and roared furiously, “Still getting in the way, you dumb whore? Go die by yourself if you want. How dare you try to drag everyone else down with you?!”
The woman was no less enraged. “I may be a prostitute, but at least I can tell right from wrong. If even cats and dogs know to repay kindnesses, how could we humans not?!”
“Shut the fuck up!”
The man drove his boots down on her head until her entire face was mottled with bruises. By then, the rest of the crowd had also approached and formed a circle around Chu Xun. A few in the crowd tried to stop the rest, like the woman from the brothel had tried before, but their efforts were futile, like a single leaf caught in a raging current, swallowed in no time at all.
“Gongzi! Gongzi, hurry and get out of here!” an old woman yelled shakily toward Chu Xun. “Chu-gongzi, go! Just go! Don’t stay for the sake of these animals! Go!”
There was also the tender voice of a young child. “Stop fighting, Mommy, Daddy. Don’t hurt the gongzi, don’t hurt him—”
A maelstrom of commotion, disorder and chaos.
Chu Xun stood alone in the rain. He felt as if he was staring at a horde of ghosts who had crawled out of the very depths of hell. For a moment, he wanted to leave.
Then his gaze landed on the people, those living, breathing, crying people. He saw the young child bawling as he tried to stop his parents. He saw the young woman who had been the first to stand up for him, whose face was now bruised and swollen. He looked at the old woman shaking in the rain, and the other dozen or so people standing with their backs to him, trying their best to stop the others.
The foot that was about to leave paused. They had done nothing wrong. If he took down the barrier, these people would die too.