Chapter 13 Soul Search, Haha, my wife doesn't like me.
The sutures were neat and tight, and the bloodstains on the skin were wiped clean.
Di Ting leaned closer to sniff and observe. After imbuing his eyes with a layer of magic, he discovered a shimmering golden thread deep within a tiny gap on the neck, invisible to ordinary people.
It silently returned to Jiang Yuzhi's side and rubbed its nose against the back of her hand, indicating that it had discovered something.
The coroner worked quickly and efficiently, and soon Zhou Quan was dressed in his burial clothes.
Jiang Yuzhi slowly approached, trying to maintain her composure in the face of grief over the passing of her loved one. She covered her face and said in a muffled voice, "Can I talk to him? I'm afraid I'll never see him again... Waaah."
The coroner, naturally having no suspicions, stood in a spot neither too close nor too far, leaving himself some space to be alone.
"Uncle Zhou, I will take good care of Madam Zhou and my younger brother for you, so you can go without worry, sob sob sob..." She squatted on the ground, pretending to cry while secretly reaching out and touching the skin closest to the golden thread under the guidance of Di Ting.
The dormant golden threads seemed to come alive, twisting and turning a few times, then darting towards Jiang Yuzhi's fingertips like swallows returning to their nests.
I touched her affectionately, and seeing that she didn't mind, I happily blended in and disappeared into the air.
It is very small, but it is not difficult to identify that it is part of the "Map of the State and the State".
No wonder that vengeful ghost could devour the souls of living people and manipulate their bodies at will.
Poor Zhou Quan suffered innocently, Jiang Yuzhi silently promised in her heart that if Zhou Niangzi and Zhou Yong were in trouble, she would do her best to help them.
She bears some responsibility for everything related to the Sheji Tu (a map of the land and grain).
The goal was achieved, and additional benefits were gained.
"Don't linger too long," the bailiff urged, seeing her dawdling beside the corpse for quite some time.
"Please forgive me, I... I'll leave right away." Jiang Yuzhi acted like a naive and frightened young lady who had never seen the world before.
The constable realized he might have spoken too harshly, so he turned away as if he hadn't seen her and gave her more time.
Jiang Yuzhi stood up, patted her clothes, grabbed the bag in her small bag, and slowly walked to the constable's side. "Thank you for your help."
They disappeared from the yamen runners' sight in two steps at a time.
She often dealt with her brother and He Ji this way when she was alive, but after her death, she did it less often. She hadn't done it for a long time and seemed a bit rusty.
Reaching the corner she had come from, Jiang Yuzhi once again concealed herself, then mounted the enlarged Di Ting.
Di Ting opened its mouth, wanting to say something, but didn't know how to start.
Since it hadn't taken off yet, Jiang Yuzhi patted Di Ting's head in confusion and asked it what was wrong.
Then he pushed off the ground with his hind legs and leaped into the air.
"Zhizhi...did Bai Yan learn his mannerisms from you?"
The howling wind swallowed up most of its already barely amplified sound.
Jiang Yuzhi only heard half of it, so she leaned closer to its ear to ask for details, "What did you say happened to Bai Yan?"
"Nothing!" Di Ting shouted, for some reason not wanting to ask again.
As soon as they landed in the backyard, Jiang Yuzhi grabbed the fur on the back of Di Ting's neck before it could transform back, saying, "Now you can hear me clearly, speak."
Tell me, why are you so curious about Bai Yan?
Di Ting was angry, but there was nothing it could do. If it didn't say something, Zhi Zhi would keep bothering it. "I already said it's nothing. You said yesterday that you wanted to go see Bai Yan. Are you still going?"
Jiang Yuzhi fell silent.
She still didn't know who Bai Yan was interested in, and hadn't figured out how to face him.
Thinking about the details of their time together, Jiang Yuzhi wanted to slap herself twice. She should have listened to He Ji and not read those boring storybooks. Even though she had been dead for so long, the contents of those storybooks seemed to be engraved in her soul.
Without a second thought, he made the presumptuous move towards Bai Yan, and the man didn't refuse; in fact, he even took the initiative to approach him—it was simply...
Oh! How embarrassing. He already has someone in his heart. How come... He's not a good person at heart? What if I see him and can't help but slap him?
If they had a falling out, wouldn't she have no reason to see the Princess? The Princess was so outstanding, resourceful, knowledgeable, and ambitious; she admired her greatly, and it would be such a pity if she couldn't see her.
"Let's talk about it later." Jiang Yuzhi chose to avoid the issue. The day wasn't over yet; she would eventually figure out a solution.
Di Ting nodded and went to play rattan ball by himself.
Nothing to do.
No new guests.
That's a good thing, no new deaths.
I wonder how things are outside of Kyoto.
The map of the land on Bai Yan's body is incomplete, and can only barely protect this area.
I originally thought that the map of the state was only divided into two or three parts, but after returning from the execution ground, I learned that there were also some as thin as silk threads.
It's even harder to piece it all together now.
Jiang Yuzhi lay on the rocking chair for the first time in a long time, raised her hand, and the sunlight shone on her fingertips, making them appear somewhat transparent.
The feeling of touching the gold thread is still fresh in my memory.
It now appears that Bai Yan's body is the main body, while hers is a larger part. It's unknown how many other fragments of varying sizes are outside.
Just thinking about it gives me a headache.
Zhou Quan has fragments on his body, and Zhou Yong has a strange male ghost inside him.
The Zhou family... the whole family came from Zuo Huai!
Perhaps Zuo Huai will have some clues.
"Miss, the clothes you wore back yesterday, have they been washed and put away for you?" Zhi'er asked from a distance, holding a white dress.
This is the only outfit they need to wash. Oh, and later they'll have to add Diting's little clothes too.
My clothes were all burned, so there's no need to wash them.
Bai Yan, Bai Yan, Bai Yan, why does it keep lingering in her ear?
"Let's put it away for now." I haven't figured out how to face him yet.
The woven earring should be placed below.
Jiang Yuzhi kept her eyes closed for a while before lazily getting up. She decided to burn some paper money for Brother Fan and the others and give them a report.
The brazier was brought out again, and several scribbled talismans were thrown into the fire.
Sparks crackled and popped, almost burning the listening device that had come over to see what Jiang Yuzhi was doing.
Di Ting let out two howls and jumped away, "Zhi Zhi, what did you say? The other side is so angry."
"I reported on today's findings." The fire nearly reached half a person's height, turning the white paper to ashes. Jiang Yuzhi picked up the unfinished tea on the table and extinguished it with a whoosh.
The smoldering ashes somehow conveyed a sense of unease and frustration.
Xie Bi'an, who was interrogating a vengeful ghost in the underworld, suddenly found several pieces of paper in his hand, which he immediately recognized as having been burned by Jiang Yuzhi.
Her words revealed that she wanted to investigate Zhou Yong herself and go to Zuo Huai to find other fragments of the Sheji Map.
In reality, Jiang Yuzhi only wrote down a few words, such as Zhou family, Zuo Huai, and Sheji Tu, barely conveying the basic information. The rest was all filled in by Xie Bi'an in his own imagination.
Lost in his own imagination of the White Impermanence, he felt increasingly that this vengeful ghost, who said nothing but hissed viciously, was utterly repulsive.
If Xiaozhi, with her dim-witted dog, sets off on her own, haha.
Xie Bi'an did not hesitate any longer. He lit three sticks of incense and asked the heavens whether this ghost deserved its punishment.
The wisps of smoke rose straight up.
That was an endorsement of his actions.
The vengeful ghost had already been through the oil cauldron several times, and now it was paralyzed on the ground, unable to move, its bloodshot eyes staring venomously at Xie Bi'an, its long tongue licking its sharp teeth one by one, as if it would devour him in the next second.
Xie Bi'an sneered, holding the mourning staff in his left hand and striking the vengeful ghost between the eyebrows with his right.
It let out a sharp howl and finally uttered its first words since being captured, "Official, Your Majesty... save me..." Before it could finish speaking, its two different eyes closed forever.
That's the downside of soul searching: you get the memories, but the soul disappears.
The moment Xie Bi'an received it, the vengeful ghost turned into black ash and was scattered by the wind in the ghost prison.
There aren't many memories belonging to Zhou Quan; his son and wife appear repeatedly, alternating between them.
The part belonging to the vengeful ghost, perhaps because its consciousness had long since faded, was only a blurry silhouette. It prostrated itself on the ground, kneeling before the silhouette, and the remaining fragments were a few scattered words: Zhao... the Emperor... protect...
The message came from Zhao, the Emperor, and Xiao Zhi.
Oh, right, that unruly ghost in the Stone Mill Hell.
Xie Bi'an immediately went to discuss the matter with Fan Wujiu.
Jiang Yuzhi failed to hide from Bai Yan as she had hoped; he came knocking on her door.
Just as Zhi Si brought him in, Jiang Yuzhi had just put away the brazier and walked out of the kitchen.
They looked at each other, speechless.
Bai Yan keenly sensed that something was amiss, and that his wife's attitude had subtly changed.
"Why are you here? Are you feeling unwell?"
"Don't worry, I'm fine. I was thinking that once things were over with Zhou Quan, Yu Zhi hadn't come to see me. Could something have happened?"
They stood still, and neither of them came closer.
Di Ting followed Zhi Si to the front and hid.
"Do you have a favorite young lady?" Jiang Yuzhi felt a little better after speaking her mind so frankly.
"yes."
She stood sideways, her gaze fixed on the graceful willow tree in the courtyard, unable to see the tenderness brimming in Bai Yan's eyes.
"oh."
Why don't you ask who I am?
Who is it?
"you."
As he spoke, Bai Yan slowly walked to Jiang Yuzhi's side. When she turned her head in surprise, they were only half an arm's length apart.
Jiang Yuzhi subconsciously took a half step back, not daring to look at him. "I don't... like you, and you shouldn't like me either. We've only known each other for a short time."
Jiang Yuzhi's attention wasn't on him at the moment, and Bai Yan, too lazy to hide his sharpness, couldn't help but hint at something in his tone, "You have a man you like? Who is it?"
“I don’t know, but it’s impossible for us. How could I possibly fall in love with someone in such a short time? I will continue to help you with your treatment. My previous actions were presumptuous.”
She didn't realize it when she was doing it, but Bai Yan always gave her a strange sense of familiarity. Perhaps it was because of He Ji. The person was gone, but the diagram was still there. In the end, they were all the same.
Unable to resist the urge to get close and intimate, having spent so much time in the underworld, the traditional notion of strict separation between men and women has faded.
This is wrong, and it seems too late to realize it.
Bai Yan was seething with anger, but she still had to maintain her composure.
“No offense intended, from the first moment I saw you… cough cough…” He turned his head and coughed up a mouthful of blood.
"Bai Yan!" Jiang Yuzhi noticed something was wrong, quickly turned around, supported him, and gently patted his back with one hand.
Ha, nothing is impossible. Even if my wife has someone she loves, as long as I swing the hoe well, there's no corner I can't dig up.
A note from the author:
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Sorry, I'm a mongrel.
[Chin resting on hand] I'm on a really bad list, the sky is falling, but I'll keep updating stubbornly.
Bug fixes, minor repairs
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