Chapter 199
Chapter 199
All of us were waiting for the Ghost King Butterfly to break free of its chrysalis and draw out Tang Xun’s Souls, then carry them into the Soul-Guiding Lantern with it.
From the moment the Ghost King Butterfly appeared, everyone had taken that outcome for granted.
That was why our eyes remained fixed on the Butterfly Chrysalis Mark on Tang Xun’s lower back.
But after waiting for a full half hour, all we saw was the Butterfly Chrysalis Mark growing fainter and fainter. There was no sign of it breaking open.
Tang Xun, on the other hand, seemed to be in excruciating pain throughout the process.
She lay facedown on the bed with her back arched, biting down hard on her lip as muffled moans escaped her throat.
By then, we had all realized something was wrong.
The men were keeping watch downstairs. Only Tang Tang, Yu Nian, and I were in the room.
Tang Tang said anxiously, “Xiao Jiu, something seems off about Auntie.”
Yu Nian worked her fingers through another divination, then asked in confusion, “How could this be?”
My heart lurched. Tang Tang and I asked almost in unison, “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t calculate Aunt Tang’s Eight Characters anymore.” Yu Nian kept her head lowered, her fingers moving rapidly.
But the longer she calculated, the more violently her hands trembled. “When I calculated her Eight Characters before, the threads of her fate were perfectly clear. Why can’t I read them all of a sudden?”
As she spoke, a line of dark red blood trickled from Yu Nian’s right nostril.
“Senior Sister, stop calculating,” I hurriedly warned her. “Your nose is bleeding.”
The sight reminded me of when Master Hui Quan had calculated my Eight Characters. The longer he worked, the deeper his frown had become, until blood finally gushed from his nose.
I pulled out a tissue and handed it to Yu Nian. “Could it be because the Ghost King Butterfly is drawing Aunt Tang’s Souls out of her body? Is that why you can’t calculate her Birth Date and Time?”
Yu Nian shook her head. “When I try to calculate Aunt Tang’s Eight Characters this time, they feel vague and intangible. It’s almost as if…”
She trailed off and glanced instinctively at Tang Tang, as though she found the words too difficult to say.
Tang Tang urged her, “Ah Nian, just say it. Whatever it is, I can take it.”
“It’s almost as if… as if these Eight Characters never existed in the first place.”
How could the Eight Characters of a real, living person not exist? It was simply inconceivable.
Tang Tang shook her head repeatedly. “Auntie lived with us for years. She was often away, but she was absolutely a living, breathing person! How could her Eight Characters not exist?”
She was right.
It was too hard to accept.
If someone’s Eight Characters did not exist, didn’t that mean the person had never existed in this world to begin with?
Yet Tang Xun was a woman of flesh and blood!
But Yu Nian was almost never wrong when she calculated someone’s Eight Characters.
Since she had said so, there was a very good chance it was true.
The atmosphere in the room instantly turned oppressive.
Just then, Tang Xun suddenly let out another stifled, agonized moan.
We snapped back to our senses. When we turned to look at Tang Xun again, we all recoiled in shock.
Tang Xun’s skin had turned clear and translucent. We could no longer make out her original appearance, but we could sense her body heaving beneath that layer of skin.
The bizarre sight made our scalps prickle. For a moment, none of us knew what to do.
The three of us stood frozen, staring at the figure on the bed.
We watched as her skin changed from clear and transparent to yellow and shriveled. Then, with a soft rip, the skin at the back of Tang Xun’s neck suddenly split open.
The tearing sound was faint, but all three of us jolted violently and rushed to the bedside in alarm.
The tear grew wider and wider…
Starting at the nape of her neck, it spread in both directions. At last, a barely visible figure drifted out from within and hovered dazedly above her… What emerged were Tang Xun’s Souls.
Her Souls were far too faint, almost like Fu Wan’s Souls when they had first coalesced into form.
Fu Wan had offered her Souls to the Soul-Guiding Lantern through a Soul Sacrifice. She should have been utterly dispersed, yet somehow, an Essence Spirit had remained. Nourished by Merit, her Souls had gradually become more substantial.
So what was going on with Tang Xun?
“I see!” Yu Nian exclaimed in realization. “Aunt Tang’s Souls are incomplete. At least half of her Three Hun Souls and Seven Po Souls are missing. That’s strange. How did such fragmented Souls sustain Aunt Tang in the World of the Living all these years?”
She immediately called out to me, “Xiao Jiu, quick! Collect her Souls!”
I hurriedly bit my finger. As blood welled up, I touched it to Tang Xun’s Souls, then pressed my finger against the chamber of the Soul-Guiding Lantern.
Tang Xun’s Souls trembled in midair. The next moment, they vanished into the Soul-Guiding Lantern.
The Soul-Guiding Lantern brimmed with Light of Merit. A deep green spectral form drifted within, nourished by the glow.
At the same time, the outer layer of skin covering Tang Xun split open completely and sagged to either side, revealing a brand-new Tang Xun underneath!
Yes, brand-new.
She was still lying face down. The skin all over her body was as smooth and tender as a freshly peeled egg, so delicate it seemed one could squeeze water from it.
“Huh?”
Tang Tang leaned closer and carefully examined Tang Xun’s right shoulder. “My aunt injured her right shoulder before. She had a scar over ten centimeters long that looked just like a centipede. Where did it go?”
Forget the scar-there wasn’t even a single mole anywhere on Tang Xun’s exposed skin.
The Butterfly Chrysalis Mark left by the Ghost King Butterfly on her lower back had also vanished completely.
She lay there quietly, perfectly still.
We barely dared to touch her.
Yu Nian said, “Turn her over. Carefully.”
Only then did Tang Tang and I reach out and gently roll Tang Xun onto her back.
As we moved her, a faint medicinal fragrance spread through the room. The Ghost King Butterfly, which had once existed only as a mark on her lower back, was now perched on Tang Xun’s lips.
It was enormous, its wings swaying faintly as it rested there.
The sight was eerie, yet breathtakingly beautiful!
Tang Tang instinctively reached out to shoo the Ghost King Butterfly away. “Why is this Ghost King Butterfly sitting on my aunt’s mouth? Could it be draining her vitality?”
“Don’t touch it!”
Yu Nian stopped her at once. “If I’m right, it’s helping Aunt Tang maintain her vital signs. We have to protect this Ghost King Butterfly until Xiao Jiu and the others return from the Netherworld Realm.”
Although I was shocked, I agreed with Yu Nian.
Tang Xun’s Souls had already been drawn into the Soul-Guiding Lantern, though there was something strange about them.
Only Tang Xun’s body remained here now.
In a sense, Tang Xun was already dead.
Yet what we were seeing now was Tang Xun reborn.
She had shed an entire layer of skin right before our eyes.
No, this wasn’t molting. She had broken free of a cocoon!
It was a rebirth, like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis!
Her chest rose and fell ever so slightly, and she looked like Sleeping Beauty lying in a deep slumber.
The Ghost King Butterfly perched on her lips had to be the sole reason she remained in this state!
Once again, I marveled at how utterly unbelievable it all was.
Knock, knock…
Someone knocked on the door. Then I heard Liu Junyan call from outside, “Xiao Jiu, it’s time. We should get going…”