Chapter 59
Chapter 59
Yan Yanchi was apparently stubborn to his bones. Despite everything Qiao Ying and the Stone Lions had told him, he still did not loosen his grip on his sword.
“Life and death follow a fixed order. Since she has died, she should enter the cycle of reincarnation, not linger here as a wandering soul. If this continues, she will eventually become a vengeful ghost and bring calamity upon the mortal world.”
Cold light gleamed along the Demon-Subduing Sword. As nonhuman beings themselves, the two Stone Lions immediately leaped into each other’s arms and trembled.
The girl crouched behind Qiao Ying shuddered too. Her tears fell as if they cost nothing, pattering against the floor.
Qiao Ying truly hated dealing with people who clung blindly to rules. “I saw every day and night of her past ten years. Ten years ago, she was only a child. Ten years later, she is still nothing more than a timid young woman afraid to speak with strangers. If a fledgling falls from its nest, she climbs the tree to put it back. If heavy rain drives someone into the temple, she secretly brings them food even though strangers frighten her. Tell me, Daoist Master: does a young woman who has committed no evil and performed many acts of kindness deserve to die?”
Something in her words must have struck Yan Yanchi. When he looked at the huddled girl again, scrutiny and curiosity had entered his gaze.
After a moment, he asked, “You say she was still a child when she appeared here ten years ago?”
Qiao Ying nodded. “Yes.”
The Demon-Subduing Sword abruptly slid into its sheath. Much of Yan Yanchi’s killing intent vanished in an instant, though he continued to watch the girl with a strange expression.
Qiao Ying ventured, “Daoist Master, have you decided not to attack?”
Holding the sword against his chest, he said, “For now.”
At this, the girl’s sobs quieted. She cautiously revealed half her face from behind Qiao Ying, her dark, luminous eyes still shining with fear.
Clearly, Yan Yanchi ought to have questioned the rumor that a female ghost here bewitched others with her beauty.
His face hardened again.
The frightened girl promptly hid.
Now that Yan Yanchi no longer looked ready to kill, Qiao Ying turned and pulled the girl to her feet.
She wore a simple white dress. Her extraordinarily long black hair almost reached her ankles, resembling black moonlight. When she lowered her head, it concealed most of her face. The beautiful young woman once again looked very much like a ghost.
“Your surname is Ding?” Qiao Ying asked.
The girl raised her eyes slightly.
“Your name is Lingling.”
Surprise filled the girl’s eyes. “H-how do you know my name?”
Qiao Ying smiled. “I know more than that. You have a cousin to whom you were betrothed. His name is Li Yuanzhi, isn’t it?”
Ding Ling stared at her with wide, clear eyes. “A-are… are you an immortal?”
Qiao Ying shamelessly replied, “That’s right. Everyone outside calls me a fairy.”
Ding Ling clutched her skirt. “Fairy!”
The young man’s quick, cheerful laugh danced through the damp darkness, carrying a trace of mockery.
Qiao Ying suddenly felt embarrassed. But faced with Ding Ling’s complete trust, she could not bring herself to admit it had been a joke.
If she truly were a fairy, the first thing she would do was pin Shen Qingyu to the ground and grind him into it.
The reason she had guessed all this was simple.
The three couples who had appeared in the temple represented Ding Ling and her cousin as children; Ding Ling as an adult beside the grown cousin of her imagination; and finally the two of them in old age, living together until their hair turned white.
Only because Ding Ling had been trapped here for ten years without contact with anyone was she so easily deceived and so willing to believe every word Qiao Ying said.
“Fairy Sister…” Ding Ling fidgeted for a while before finding the courage to look up. “I want to go home. You’re so powerful. Can you help me?”
Qiao Ying felt as if she had picked up a rock only to drop it on her own foot. Her gaze drifted. “Well… that…”
She looked to Shen Qingyu for help.
He only smiled, his silence teasing her to beg him.
Qiao Ying turned to Yan Yanchi instead. “Daoist Master, you’re so powerful. Do you have a way to help her return home?”
The curve that had just begun to lift Shen Qingyu’s lips immediately collapsed.
The instant Yan Yanchi looked over, Ding Ling shrank behind Qiao Ying again.
He said, “Although the dead souls here have been destroyed by my Demon-Subduing Sword, her soul remains connected to this Ghost Temple. If she wishes to leave, that connection must be severed.”
Qiao Ying was excellent at flattering an audience. “The first time I saw you, Daoist Master, I knew your bearing was extraordinary. I wondered if a Celestial Master had descended to punish evil and uphold justice. Your swordsmanship is peerless, and your spells equally profound. You effortlessly destroyed souls that had lingered here for decades. Surely freeing Miss Ding from her prison poses no difficulty to you.”
Yan Yanchi possessed exceptional strength, but his unpleasant temperament meant that he seldom received such extravagant praise. He cleared his throat. “There is, naturally, a way.”
Qiao Ying gazed at him in admiration. “As expected of a Daoist Master. With a man of your virtue in this world, how could peace ever fail to prevail?”
Uncomfortably, Yan Yanchi coughed again. “You flatter me.”
Someone gave a quiet scoff, the half-laugh dripping with sarcasm.
Qiao Ying did not turn around. “Daoist Master, what must we do to help Miss Ding?”
Yan Yanchi wasted no time. He walked out of the main hall into the courtyard.
He grasped his sword hilt and rotated his wrist. The blade left its sheath with a clear dragon-like cry, then plunged three inches into the flagstones with a metallic ring.
In the next instant, dazzling golden light erupted from its edge. It swept outward like a tide, bathing the entire courtyard in a sacred radiance.
As the light passed over Ding Ling, winding black threads emerged across her body. The moment the gold touched them, the icy strands snapped apart inch by inch and dissolved into wisps of black smoke.
Warmth flowed through Ding Ling. Suddenly, she felt lighter than she ever had before.
The Stone Lions crowded around her.
“The formation is gone!”
“Ding Lingling, you’re free!”
“Wonderful! Ding Lingling, you can go home!”
Ding Ling stood frozen, afraid to move.
“Don’t be scared,” Qiao Ying said. “Try walking out by yourself.”
Ding Ling took a stiff step.
She left the hall and entered the front courtyard, carefully circling around the young Daoist. The gate waited directly ahead, and her pace quickened of its own accord.
The instant she crossed the threshold, wind rushed over her. She stared blankly at the earth beneath her feet, unable to believe it was real.