Chapter 85 I, Xie Xun, owe you nothing.

"It seems someone's illiteracy has ruined things."

Fu Qinghuai clicked his tongue in amazement, using the black mist to pick up the tattered pages of the evil magic notebook he had found in the wooden box. "If Xie Yingxuan knew that his secret techniques had been ruined like this, he would probably be so angry that he would come back to life."

Just then, a faint sobbing sound came from deep within the basement.

The two turned their heads simultaneously to look at the corner hidden by the curtain. Xie Xun and Fu Qinghuai exchanged a glance and walked towards that corner.

Fu Qinghuai abruptly lifted the curtain, and the scene behind it made Xie Xun frown.

Behind the curtain was a simple altar, upon which was placed Liu Yuru's memorial tablet. Directly above the altar, a male corpse dressed in coarse cloth hung from the roof beam, long since dried.

The most bizarre thing is that the male corpse's toes were pointing directly at the altar, as if he was repenting to his wife until his death.

"You've really done a lot of harm." Fu Qinghuai raised an eyebrow, his tone mocking.

Xie Xun noticed that the male corpse was clutching a piece of paper in his hand, and he carefully took it off and unfolded it.

[Yu Ru, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have secretly learned evil magic and turned you into a monster. Now I understand, "seven legs" refers to the Big Dipper constellation, not seven legs... I'm sorry, I'm coming to join you now.]

The writing stopped abruptly there, with dried tear stains still visible on the paper.

One can only imagine how much regret and self-blame this man felt before he died.

He found a wooden box next to the altar containing several theater ticket stubs, two gold rings, and a diary.

It seems that people in that era quite liked keeping diaries.

Xie Xun opened it and saw that it was Liu Yuru's diary.

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the peach blossom hairpin that Ah Sheng gave me was lost! It was our token of love... No, I have to find it.

On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, I left a note on the blackboard, hoping that whoever finds it will return it to me.

On the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, the troupe leader said he had found a purple hairpin and asked me to go to his office to retrieve it. I hope it's true...

The diary was interrupted for several days, and when I wrote again, the handwriting had become messy and trembling.

On the 21st day of the first lunar month, I became tainted... I am no longer worthy of Ah Sheng...

On the 22nd day of the first lunar month, the troupe leader threatened me with Ah Sheng's puppet show, saying that if I dared to tell anyone, he would be banned from performing on stage forever. I couldn't say anything...

On the 23rd day of the first lunar month, I bid farewell forever to my beloved.

The last page contained a withered peach blossom, faded and yellowed.

Xie Xun found several torn playbills in the wooden box, which clearly stated: The original puppet show "The Phoenix Hairpin" by Asheng has been cancelled and replaced by a new play called "The Peony Pavilion" by the troupe leader.

The date was exactly one week before Liu Yuru's incident.

Finally, Xie found a yellowed fortune-telling book with annotations in cinnabar:

"Liu Yuru was born at midnight on the seventh day of the seventh month of the Gengshen year. Her fate is extremely Yin, and she will only live to be twenty. If her limbs are severed after she has suffered all kinds of humiliation, and she is refined using the method of extreme resentment, she can be used as a longevity medicine."

The signature was clearly stamped with Xie Yingxuan's personal seal.

"Xie Yingxuan is really ruthless."

Fu Qinghuai glanced at the Book of Fate, clicked his tongue and shook his head, his tone light and airy, "In order to achieve immortality, they actually killed people alive and then made them into medicinal ingredients."

He showed neither anger nor sympathy, as if he were commenting on something that didn't concern him.

After all, in this mirror world, all he felt was intense resentment; he didn't care about the grudges and affections behind it.

Xie Xun gripped the fate book tightly, his fingertips turning slightly white from the force.

It was Xie Yingxuan again.

Why Xie Yingxuan of all people?

He recalled all the bad luck he had experienced since childhood, the resentful look in his grandfather's and father's eyes when they died mysteriously, and the countless nights he had been harassed by ghosts at the paper shop.

He never received any protection from this ancestor, yet he had to bear this endless curse generation after generation.

The cold, damp air in the basement seemed to stagnate, making it hard for him to breathe.

He did nothing wrong, so why should he bear the burden of sinners from hundreds of years ago?

Fu Qinghuai raised an eyebrow at him, smiling, but the smile didn't reach her eyes, and she didn't care at all about Xie Xun's silence.

Resentment is resentment; what does it matter to him who caused it?

After a long while, Xie Xun slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, carefully folded the fate book, and put it into his bosom.

"You're going to keep this unlucky thing?" Fu Qinghuai asked incredulously.

Xie Xun did not answer.

He relit the incense burner, this time with exceptional solemnity. As wisps of smoke rose, he forced out the blood from his bitten fingertip and drew a complex Rebirth Mantra around the incense burner.

"Hey, you..."

This time, Fu Qinghuai rarely showed surprise. "Using pure Yin blood for a ritual? Do you think you're living too long?"

Xie Xun remained silent, letting the blood flow down his fingertips, the incantation glowing faintly with golden light in the blue smoke.

He wasn't atoning for his sins, nor was he repaying anything on behalf of Xie Yingxuan.

He just... can't get over that hurdle in his own heart.

Just as he was concentrating on the ritual to deliver the deceased, the male corpse on the roof beam suddenly trembled violently. Ah Sheng's ghost broke free of its restraints, but froze the moment it saw Xie Xun's face.

"It's you!"

He let out a piercing scream, "Xie Yingxuan! It was you who killed Yuru!"

Xie Xun was taken aback. "You've mistaken me for someone else."

"How could I mistake you! I'd recognize your fox-like eyes even if you were ashes!"

Ah Sheng's ghost rushed forward frantically, but was blocked by Fu Qinghuai's black aura. He could only rage helplessly, "You told the troupe leader that Yu Ru was a pure Yin body! You encouraged him to defile Yu Ru!"

"You caused her a horrible death and dismemberment, so she couldn't be used as an ingredient for the longevity elixir. And then you set your sights on me!"

Ah Sheng cried out in anguish, "You said that as long as we have seven legs, we can revive Yu Ru, but you were actually using my infatuation to incite her resentment!"

Fu Qinghuai couldn't help but laugh even harder, "Two ways to eat one fish, that's ruthless."

Xie Xun remained silent for a moment, feeling a sharp pain in his heart, and said softly, "I am not Xie Yingxuan."

"Then why do you have fox eyes! Why do you know magic! Don't think I won't recognize you just because you've changed your appearance. I'll remember those eyes for the rest of my life!"

Ah Sheng's ghost frantically crashed against the black energy barrier, crying out, "It's all your fault...it's all your fault that Yu Ru has become like this..."

Suddenly, the Spider-Man in the shadows let out a mournful cry, his six arms clutching his head in agony.

Xie Xun's expression grew colder as he listened.

He stepped forward, passed straight through Fu Qinghuai's black aura barrier, and grabbed Asheng by the neck.

"Look carefully, my name is Xie Xun! Not that beast Xie Yingxuan! That damn old beast has long since vanished into thin air, what are you still barking about?!"

Xie Xun's eyes flashed with cold light, and his anger, which had been building up for many years, finally erupted.

"You're miserable? Your wife's miserable? What about me?!"

Xie Xun pointed to his chest, his voice trembling uncontrollably, "I've had the worst luck ever since I was a child, and I've been dirt poor! While other kids were playing, I was learning to draw talismans to save my life! I finally managed to get a job and earn some money, and then I got hit by a truck!"

He became more and more agitated as he spoke, his eyes reddening but he stubbornly refused to let the tears fall.

“I’ve lived in that shabby paper shop since I was born, and I’ve been mocked as a charlatan and a plague god since I was a child! Have you ever tried breaking a steamed bun into pieces and eating it for three days? In winter, I couldn’t even buy a thick quilt! Just because I’m a descendant of Xie Yingxuan, am I destined to live like a rat, hiding and running around?!”

Ah Sheng was stunned by his shout and stood there, not knowing how to react.

"At least you two loved each other and had a family! What about me?"

Xie Xun's voice was hoarse, "My mother died young, and my father wasn't close to me! All he left me was this body that attracts ghosts and endless debts!"

He abruptly shoved Ah Sheng aside and pointed at the Spider-Man in the shadows.

"You want revenge? Fine! After I finish my ritual, I'll take you to dig up Xie Yingxuan's grave and scatter his ashes everywhere!"

"But before that,"

He stared coldly at Ah Sheng and said, word by word, "Don't lump me in with that old beast."

"I, Xie Xun, owe you nothing!"

Fu Qinghuai's playful smile gradually faded.

He quietly watched Xie Xun's reddened eyes and clenched fists, his gaze deepening.

It turns out that this beautiful young woman had such a past hidden beneath her seemingly calm exterior.

Ah Sheng's ghost slumped to the ground, unable to speak. The Spider-Man slowly crawled out, gently patting her husband's shoulder with one arm, but no longer showing the same ferocious intent towards Xie Xun as before.

Xie Xun's voice was a little hoarse after he shouted the last sentence.

He quickly tilted his head back and blinked frantically, trying to suppress the dampness.

It's so damn shameful to shed tears at a time like this.

Suddenly, a strong force pulled him forward, and his face slammed into the cold embrace of the military uniform.

"Promising."

A disdainful voice came from above, "Will crying bring him back to life so I can kill him again?"