Smoke and Fire [GL] - Chapter 14

To remarry the day after your wife dies in childbirth, with the bridal sedan chair and the coffin brushing past each other—anyone who heard this would probably curse the man relentlessly.

In any case, Shen Junxuan’s impression in Si Yin’s mind had already plummeted through the earth’s core.

“After we complete his commission,” she stared intently at the retreating figures of Shen Junxuan and the new bride, saying furiously, “I will go kill my way into the Ghost Realm, then kick him straight into the eighteenth level of hell and torture him to death…”

“Ahem, he’s already dead,” Tan Tan reminded her at the appropriate time.

Si Yin didn’t even blink, and slowly replied, “To be unable to seek life or death—wouldn’t that be better?”

Yi An beside her gasped, feeling a chill down her spine.

She was about to condemn Si Yin for being so dark, when she saw Luo Yao, without even turning her head, unequivocally make a “silence” gesture at her.

Yi An: “…” Impressive. She’s already preempted my preemption.

Although she thought this, Yi An was an actual follower of action—not following orders wasn’t an option, as they were in a place where encountering a ghost was a real possibility. Try disobeying?

Following Luo Yao’s signal, the few people quieted down. The sound of the suona (Chinese horn) became increasingly mournful. Listening again, this was not music for a wedding, but clearly for a funeral.

As the sound of the suona grew louder, the sky suddenly darkened, almost instantly reaching a state where they couldn’t see their own hands. At this moment, the faint humming of a young girl came from all directions:

“Jing bells sway, entering the main hall, kneeling to heaven and bowing to earth, hoping for a son to arrive.”

“Red veil, white bone hairpin, calling for a child yet hearing the busy sound of water.”

Yi An and the bar girl were already trembling like sieves. Yi An desperately covered her ears, but the humming, whose source was unknown, poured into her mind like water. Though it lacked any apparent anger, it was utterly spine-chilling.

Luo Yao frowned and looked back, swiftly and cleanly chopping the backs of both their necks. She then smoothly caught the unconscious Yi An and said to Si Yin, “Put a barrier around them.”

Si Yin pursed her lips. Though reluctant, she condensed a streak of spiritual light on her fingertip, instantly enveloping the two girls.

—Luo Yao wasn’t despising their uselessness. Protecting allies with no combat capability when necessary was done to eliminate distractions and focus on the enemy.

The remaining three stood back-to-back in a triangle, and amidst the increasingly thick resentful energy, they all summoned their spiritual manifestation artifacts.

Luo Yao slowly tightened her grip on the icy sword hilt. She hesitated for only a brief moment before removing the earring from her right ear, whose temperature had dropped to freezing point.

She knew perfectly well that she could have completely ignored this. After all, if the Demon Lord wished to crush a small obsession, it would take but a moment. Or even if Shang Mian didn’t act, she had countless ways to protect herself.

But she knew that was impossible, and Shang Mian knew it too.

Born a goddess, she had naturally been taught since childhood about saving people, the well-being of the world, and moral righteousness. Even after everything changed and her heart was utterly dead to the so-called Buddhist and Taoist ways, she had never forgotten these things.

“There’s no need to build up the atmosphere for us,” she said slowly to the void. “If you’re going to start, you can be quicker.”

The eerie, ethereal humming abruptly stopped, as if it understood her words, replaced by the laughter of a girl.

“Hehe, hehe…”

The deep black shadow whooshed past them. Si Yin was the closest. She raised her heavy sword and chopped down mercilessly, but the vengeful spirit seemed to have no form. It split in the middle and immediately merged back together, giggling: “Oh dear, your methods are useless.”

“You’re a ghost, not even a decent demon, and you dare challenge your grandma?” Si Yin sneered, turning her sword to meet the shadow.

But this time, she changed her strategy. A dazzling white-gold radiance burst from the center of the heavy sword. The vengeful spirit, upon contact, let out a piercing scream: “Aahhhh—!!”

Si Yin laughed, already preparing to withdraw her attack, but her gaze slightly narrowed, and she instinctively questioned, “Hm?”

The vengeful spirit only dimmed for a fraction of a second upon touching the sword edge. After Si Yin withdrew her sword, it solidified again and instantly swam towards Tan Tan, aiming directly at her heart!

Si Yin’s expression instantly changed, but before she could strike again, Luo Yao, who was closer to Tan Tan, had already taken action. The sword edge deliberately sliced her right fingertip, and a drop of fresh bl00d fell onto Tan Tan’s chest.

Luo Yao supported Tan Tan with one hand, looking down and saying, “You might be able to withstand pure divine energy, but you might not be able to endure my bl00d…”

“But you probably don’t know that a single drop of my bl00d,” she smiled very faintly, “once caused an economic crisis in both the Demon and Ghost Realms.”

Before her words finished, Tan Tan trembled violently. Then, the massive shadowy figure quickly bolted out of her mouth, as if it truly couldn’t stand it and was attempting a frantic escape.

Simultaneously, Tan Tan let out a muffled groan and coughed up a mouthful of bl00d. Luo Yao let her lean in her arms and whispered, “It’s alright, A’Tan. You were very brave.”

“…”

Tan Tan rested in her arms, her breathing faint and ragged.

Luo Yao coldly looked up at the vengeful spirit. Si Yin, who was about to rush over, instinctively stopped in her tracks, her entire being tensing—

Having been by Luo Yao’s side for so many years, how could she not recognize that look in her eyes: it was intent to kill.

But it was only for an instant. By the time Si Yin tried to get a clear look, Luo Yao had returned to her usual gentle calmness: “Why have you consistently refused to target me?”

The vengeful spirit, whose vitality had been wounded by her drop of bl00d, moved along the ground between the bushes and did not speak.

“Then I’ll ask another question,” Luo Yao pressed the sword hilt down, and the icy blue sword edge let out a loud clang against the earth, “—Why did you remain quiet all this time, only choosing to attack us now?”

This time, the vengeful spirit answered. She giggled in a clear, young girl’s voice: “A little brother. She will give birth to a little brother… They said, if there’s a little brother, they won’t want me anymore.”

This answer was unexpected. Luo Yao paused: “Are you saying that this newlywed madam will give birth to a boy?”

“Yes… yes…”

The vengeful spirit’s voice was ethereal.

“You believe we are helping that madam, and since we are not members of the Shen family, you decided to target us first, is that right?”

The vengeful spirit circled her, its voice faint and elusive: “You are not the first. You will all help Father kill me. If I don’t kill you, how can I protect myself?”

Luo Yao was silent for a while, seeming to be pondering something. After a moment, she said faintly: “…It has nothing to do with them. You can come for me alone.”

“Luo Yao?!” Si Yin’s face changed, but before she could speak, Luo Yao placed a hand on her shoulder and gently shook her head.

The vengeful spirit was also clearly very surprised. The speed of the black mist’s flow suddenly accelerated for an instant. Then, she laughed happily in the girl’s voice: “Deal.”

In a flash, the black mist dispersed.

The surroundings returned to the setting of the Shen residence courtyard, but the red silk and lanterns were gone. Clearly, this was not the same day she had just been in. The other four people had also vanished without a trace.

“I don’t like you. You have divine energy on you, it’s a disgusting smell,” the vengeful spirit whispered in her ear. “But they all think you are very interesting and asked me to show you this past event.”

“Then you should take a good look at how everything began—”

As the vengeful spirit spoke, the objects around Luo Yao gradually became clearer. People were walking back and forth bustlingly. Unlike what she had seen before, everyone here had features, and their behavior was quite normal.

Luo Yao understood: she had been pulled into a memory by the vengeful spirit.

“Little Rong’er, stand here and don’t move, do you hear me?”

She felt her line of sight move upwards. In front of her was a gentle-looking girl who lowered her head and patted her own head.

She heard herself speaking in a clear, childish voice: “Sister Ning An, what are you going to do?”

“Shh, Father found a skilled master from outside the world. I heard he’s going to look at the feng shui for our family,” Shen Ning An said, pushing her towards the courtyard. “Go play by yourself, alright.”

Luo Yao looked at her tiny, lotus-root-like arms, estimating that Little Rong’er was about two years old at this time.

Little Rong’er hopped around in the courtyard for a while, probably feeling a bit bored, which Luo Yao could tell from her occasional glances toward the main hall.

Luo Yao had a rough idea: if Shen Junxuan was right, this was the day the Shen family, before they rose to prominence, first heard the concept of “Washing the Girl” from the supposed “master.”

As for why the vengeful spirit specifically pulled out this segment for her to see, it must be because Little Rong’er overheard something.

Sure enough, the small child tiptoed towards the main hall with her short legs. She was initially hesitant because she was disobeying her sister’s words—but unexpectedly, by a nearby window, she saw Shen Ning An also unmistakably eavesdropping.

“Hmph, she told me not to.”

Little Rong’er muttered to herself indignantly, then quickly ducked into a spot where Shen Ning An couldn’t see her and stood on her tiptoes to peer inside.

The layout of the main hall was no different from the one sixteen generations later, except that the extremely conspicuous ancestral tablets were missing, and it wasn’t as luxurious. A man with a shifty appearance stood by the window, who was presumably Little Rong’er’s father, the Shen family ancestor.

“The Master’s words are still too esoteric for us…” Old Master Shen seemed to hesitate, then gritted his teeth and said, “Please speak plainly. As long as it can revitalize my Shen family, there’s nothing we won’t do!”

Hearing his words, the person sitting in the main seat suddenly looked up, his voice gentle and refined like jade: “Is Old Master Shen truly sincere?”

As soon as Luo Yao heard the voice, her heart fiercely skipped a beat.

This is…

Veda?!

Although those days in the Celestial Realm were long behind her, Veda was the Flower Goddess’s attendant and Luo Yao’s right-hand man. It was impossible for Luo Yao not to recognize his voice.

From Little Rong’er’s perspective, the man in the main seat wore wide white robes, a white mask on his face, and held a string of Buddhist beads in his left hand. He exuded an air of immortal grace, clear and refined like jade.

Veda was not a god, but an immortal who ascended through Buddhist cultivation. In this world, gods acted as they pleased, but immortals were bound by the mortal realm. Whenever devout believers in the mortal world sincerely prayed, having received their offerings, immortals had to descend to deal with the matter. Therefore, Veda’s appearance here was not difficult to explain.

But if this “master” was Veda, based on Luo Yao’s understanding of him, no matter how much these mortals begged him, he would absolutely not directly reveal the method of “Washing the Girl.”

Luo Yao slightly narrowed her eyes.

It seems someone has lied.