Oh no, the nanny is still at home! Song Xiaozhou suddenly jumped up. Lu Heng grabbed his hand and said, “Don’t worry about her.”
Song Xiaozhou turned his head and stared at Lu Heng.
Lu Heng looked at Song Xiaozhou and slowly repeated, “Don’t worry about her, she’ll be fine.”
Song Xiaozhou hesitated for a moment and asked, “Is the nanny human or a ghost?”
Lu Heng rubbed his thumb over Song Xiaozhou’s knuckles and said, “I don’t know. If I had to say, she’s half human, half ghost.” Song Xiaozhou looked at the indifference between Lu Heng’s eyes, and his heart tightened. He leaned over and kissed the space between his eyebrows. Lu Heng clenched Song Xiaozhou’s fingers. He had been bedridden for many years and had very few close confidants.
Lu Heng trusted Nanny Lin.
He never expected that the last dose of medicine to kill him would be fed to him by Nanny Lin.
The medicine was laced with poison.
The more Lu Heng trusted her back then, the more resentment he felt when he died. By the time he was able to crawl out of his coffin, Nanny Lin had already become that way: senile and dazed, most of her three souls and six spirits were gone, with one lingering soul stubbornly guarding her body. Not quite dead, but not quite alive either—half human, half ghost.
Song Xiaozhou said, “Nanny still cares about you in her heart.”
Lu Heng hummed in response, gently pinched his cheek, and said in a deep voice, “She just can’t face the fact that she killed me.”
Song Xiaozhou’s eyes widened. Lu Heng said, “Nanny Lin was my mother’s nanny. She took care of my mother and also watched me grow up.”
“Before I died, I couldn’t believe she would murder me.”
“After I came back, I asked the servants in Jing’an Courtyard.” Lu Heng paused. The how and when of his interrogation went unsaid. “Even if she had her reasons, I can’t forgive her either.”
“I won’t kill her, and I won’t see her either.” Lu Heng lowered his eyes and looked at his own fingers, his voice cold and flat. “If you do something wrong, you always have to pay the price.”
Song Xiaozhou was speechless for a moment, not knowing what to say. He said, “Then if I do something wrong…”
Lu Heng smiled.
Song Xiaozhou mustered up his courage. “Jinzhi, you have to tell me, even if you’re angry, you have to say it…”
Lu Heng pinched Song Xiaozhou’s chin, raised his face, and said, “As long as you aren’t afraid of me, stay by my side, and love me, whatever you do can’t be wrong.”
“You stay here,” Liang Mu said concisely, “I’ll go after him.”
Shen Zhi’s expression wasn’t very good. The jade-like man’s face was pale, with a fragile and delicate look.
Their bloodline had been preserved for generations, always bearing the duty of vanquishing demons and evil spirits. However, Shen Zhi died young. His father spent a great deal of effort using a rare piece of jade to nourish Shen Zhi’s soul, carving it into a human shape. After many years, he finally allowed him to grow up like a normal person. He was in his position and bore his duty, but because Shen Zhi’s true form was jade, he was most susceptible to cold and malevolent ghost energy.
The resentment and ghost energy in Jing’an Courtyard were heavy. After the two of them sealed all the ghosts, Shen Zhi was already feeling a bit unwell.
Shen Zhi raised an eyebrow and said, “Shige, are you worried about me?”
Liang Mu said emotionlessly, “I don’t want you getting in the way.”
Shen Zhi clicked his tongue, raised his hand to sheathe his sword, and said with a smile, “How could that be? You’re my Shige. I love you too much to get in your way.”
Liang Mu said, “Nonsense.”
Shen Zhi held out a pale wrist. “Here, check my pulse. I’m really fine.”
Liang Mu walked straight past him. Shen Zhi called out, “Hey,” and jogged a few steps to catch up. “Shige, wait! It’s so dark, what if I trip and fall?”
Liang Mu: “Shut up.”
“No, I won’t shut up,” Shen Zhi said brazenly. “The mouth isn’t just for eating; it’s for speaking. If I don’t talk, my tongue will get stiff, how would I cast spells or kiss anyone? If I turned into a block of wood like you, wouldn’t I be doomed to never find a partner my entire life?”
He kept babbling endlessly. Naturally talkative, in front of Liang Mu he was like beans spilling from a bamboo tube, never pausing for a moment.
Liang Mu’s brow furrowed. “Shen Zhi, shut up.”
Shen Zhi slowly said, “Oh,” but a moment later, he said again, “Shige, what do you think Lu Xuan did to make Lu Heng turn into such a fierce, vengeful spirit? If Lu Heng kills a few more people, what would happen?”
Liang Mu looked up at the dark back mountain and said, “Mount Furi used to be a mass grave. Twenty years ago, a Taoist priest achieved enlightenment here. The people spread the word, mistaking it for a place of good fortune, which is why the Lu family bought this place and built a manor.”
Shen Zhi understood; this was a matter of timing and location.
Most people who die become ghosts and then follow the soul collectors to the Yellow Springs for reincarnation. Even those with strong obsessions who linger in the human world for a few days will eventually go to the Yellow Springs. Only a very small number, who die a tragic death with persistent resentment, can become vengeful ghosts and are unable to reincarnate.
Lu Heng was the latter.
“Shige, you said Lu Xuan isn’t a good person either. If we help him out of our own selfish reasons, aren’t we accomplices?”
Liang Mu indifferently said, “The affairs of the living are none of our business.”
He turned his head to look at Shen Zhi and raised his hand to touch his ear. Shen Zhi’s footsteps faltered. The rough pads of his fingers rubbed against the skin behind his ear, making his heart tremble. He calmly pulled himself together, used his hair to cover a few cracks behind his ear, and said with a playful smile, “Shige, what’s with all the touching? And being so close, hmm?”
Liang Mu withdrew his finger without a word.
After a long while, Shen Zhi said, “Is it particularly ugly?”
Liang Mu didn’t even think about it. “It’s not ugly.”
Shen Zhi was made of jade and required the purest jade essence to nourish him. After Shen Zhi’s father died, Liang Mu took on this responsibility. The two of them traveled the world, one to exorcise ghosts and the other to search for jade.
This was why Lu Xuan approached them. If they helped him eliminate Lu Heng, the Lu family would spare no effort in scouring the world for the finest jade for Shen Zhi.
Suddenly, Liang Mu grabbed Shen Zhi’s wrist. Shen Zhi frowned and said, “A ghost wall.”
Liang Mu snorted coldly, “Child’s play.”
