Chapter 21 The vengeful ghost trims his wife's nails
White light, mixed with black mist, enveloped Jiang Yuzhi, and she fainted.
Only two drops of blood and tears fell: one landed on Fan Wujiu's arm, corroding a round black spot, and the other fell to the ground, making a "sizzle" sound and creating a small crater.
In less than half a year, Xiaozhi fainted twice, and this time she is even going to turn into a vengeful ghost.
Fan Wujiu began to doubt whether his decision to allow her to come to the mortal realm was the right one.
Unable to find out the truth, the two ghost messengers could only conclude that it was most likely the Sheji Tu that was protecting Xiao Zhi's soul and stopping the process of transforming into a fierce spirit.
This wasn't the first time Jiang Yuzhi had encountered this situation. Back when she first entered the underworld and met Zhao Qingyun, her soul collapsed on the spot, but the remnant power of the Sheji Tu (a magical map) forcibly held her back together.
When she woke up again, those obsessions that caused her unbearable pain were buried in the most inconspicuous corner of her soul.
Years have passed, and Jiang Yuzhi's soul has gradually grown stronger, with her resilience increasing day by day. She is no longer the little devil who would be easily annihilated by the slightest stimulation.
Instead, after absorbing the excess residual energy, the current symptoms have appeared.
The young woman in the bedroom had her eyes tightly closed, her face ashen, her lips deathly pale, and her brows furrowed so deeply they couldn't be smoothed out.
Xie Bi'an paced back and forth, then suddenly slapped his forehead, ready to burn paper money for the emperor.
Jiang Yuzhi's condition is hard to define as a vengeful ghost. Her sharp, menacing black fingernails, her half-black and half-white hair, and her inability to wake up make her seem like no ordinary ghost.
If the Great Emperor were to come, perhaps there would still be a way to resolve this.
Struggling to breathe from the suffocation of drowning, she tried to gasp for air and fight for survival, but only brought herself more pain. A hand was pressing down on the back of her neck, making it impossible for her to escape.
After an unknown amount of time, the pain in her neck disappeared. Jiang Yuzhi felt as if she had fallen into a bottomless pool of water, wanting to call for help but unable to make a sound.
Until a familiar, pale hand grabbed her.
When I opened my eyes, I saw the curtains of Zuo Huai's residence.
Her fingers were being gently pinched, and with a "snap," someone was trimming her nails.
Jiang Yuzhi turned her head and saw Bai Yan, whom she had just promised to see less often.
The two-inch-long black fingernails had already been trimmed by this person, and he was intently watching the next finger, preparing to cut.
To be fair, Bai Yan's craftsmanship is quite good. Her nails are cut neatly and rounded, and even polished, but the color is not very nice.
"You..." Jiang Yuzhi was speechless for a moment. What was he doing? Was it time to cut his nails?
Hearing the sound, Bai Yan realized she was awake. "How are you feeling? Do you want some water? Or something to eat? Or should I light some incense for you?"
Her hand was still being held in Bai Yan's palm, with no intention of letting go.
"……Need not"
Jiang Yuzhi turned her head, feeling utterly exasperated. What was wrong with this person? Sigh, what was he trying to do?
Previously, when they knew she was a ghost, they were so scared that their body temperature rose. Now, looking at her like this, even without looking in a mirror, they know that she is no different from those fierce ghosts captured in the underworld. So why aren't they afraid now?
“Your two brothers have been taken away by A-Ting. They'll be gone for a while. I'll stay here and watch over them. Yu-Zhi, tell me what you want to do first. I'll finish trimming your nails. They're this long, making daily life difficult. Although I'd be happy to help Yu-Zhi with harmless things, you probably don't want me to interfere too much, so I…”
"Quarrel."
"..."
It's quiet now.
Di Ting and Hei Bai Wu Chang huddled in a corner outside the house, whispering to each other.
With a gloomy face, Xie Bi'an looked at me as if to say, "I'll see what you have to say," leaving my unconscious sister alone in a room with another man.
"Master Xie is becoming more and more like Master Fan lately. Those little devils will be terrified when they see your expression."
Di Ting was still in the mood to joke, but Bai Wuchang's face was so black it looked like it was about to drip water.
Fan Wujiu said seriously, "Stop talking nonsense."
"Would I harm Zhizhi? She is the closest to me. When Baiyan was sick, Zhizhi was able to save him. If Zhizhi collapses, can't Baiyan repay her? The power that supports their existence comes from the same source. With mutual support, everyone can be fine."
A somewhat indistinct conversation could be heard from inside the house, and those outside knew that they had woken up.
“You’re right, but I still want the Emperor to come and see.”
Xie Bi'an insisted on figuring out Jiang Yuzhi's soul state to prevent any accidents from happening.
Fan Wujiu had no objection to the question of Xiaozhi's safety.
"Why are you looking at me like that? I didn't say I disagreed. I'll go back to the underworld and bring up the Emperor's clone. How can he leave the underworld alone?"
"Can."
Fan Wujiu agreed without hesitation.
The Emperor of Fengdu's access to the underworld is restricted by the Heavenly Dao. Those with excessive power are not allowed to freely travel to the mortal realm, lest they disrupt the mortal realm's fortune.
However, the Heavenly Court and the Underworld are more flexible with each other.
Before leaving, Di Ting instructed Hei Bai Wu Chang not to disturb the person and the ghost inside the house today, in case Bai Yan was not skilled enough and the power backfired.
The original plan to sneak into Zhu Xuanwei at night could only be carried out by Xie Bi'an and Fan Wujiu.
There's no such thing as being unskilled; it's just a backlash of power.
Black and White Impermanence were too worried about Jiang Yuzhi's safety to think twice and were easily fooled by Di Ting.
As long as they come into contact or get close, residual energy will circulate between humans and ghosts, using the strong to compensate for the weak.
Perhaps because the map of the land and the state was more complete, Di Ting heard some things that Jiang Yuzhi and Bai Yan had not yet understood, things that even they themselves had not yet deciphered.
To get revenge on the cunning Bai Yan and the equally wicked Xie Bi'an, Di Ting decided to keep quiet, but worried about Zhi Zhi. Pushing Bai Yan wasn't out of the question, and Fan Wujiu, who was kept in the dark, was just an afterthought.
It hummed a little tune and disappeared from the spot, heading towards the underworld.
The Emperor of Fengdu sat crookedly in the hall, holding a poorly bound book in his hand, reading it with great interest, occasionally making tsk-tsk sounds. On the small table beside him was a pile of cracked melon seed shells.
The big white dog landed silently on its paws. Before it even got close, the Emperor asked without looking up, "Little Ting, what are you doing here? Where's Ksitigarbha? I don't have time to walk you."
Its sharp canine teeth rubbed fiercely up and down. No matter how long they had known each other, the moment Di Ting opened its mouth, it felt like it wanted to slap its face with a claw.
"Zhizhi has something to do; the Black and White Impermanence would like you to go and take a look."
The emperor stopped eating melon seeds and reading, slowly stood up, and after a long while spoke, "What trouble has that young lady caused me this time?"
It's really incomprehensible. When he was in the underworld, he was such a well-behaved girl. She would cook delicious food for him, tailor clothes for him, and come to massage his shoulders and legs from time to time. How come he became like this after going to the mortal world?
The matter of the spirit of the Sheji Tu (a mythical map of the land and grain) had just been communicated to the heavens. Fearing that those brainless gods would send people down to earth to capture the young lady, accuse her of harboring a criminal, and demand that she reveal the whereabouts of the spirit of the Sheji Tu, the Great Emperor, along with several ghost kings, used force to threaten her, and only then was the matter settled.
The matter of spirits is neither a big deal nor a small one. The gods, who consider themselves the representatives of the Heavenly Way, do not allow objects related to the fate of the mortal world to become spirits, for fear that they will bring disaster to the human world.
The real reason is that they are afraid that having more people share the faith of ordinary people will affect their enjoyment of life.
There are so many gods in the heavens that there are no more faiths to go around.
He went up there and made it clear that Turing and Jiang Yuzhi were under his protection, putting things out in the open. If any problems arose, the blame would be placed on the Heavenly Court, and those gods wouldn't dare to act rashly.
If we wait for those so-called gods to discover it themselves, they might use some reason related to the rules of heaven and earth to arrest and imprison Yu Zhi in a place where he wouldn't be paying attention.
Leaving aside the restoration of the Sheji Map, faith is always more abundant in times of chaos.
The underworld operates differently from the heavenly court; as long as someone needs to reincarnate, the underworld will continue to exist.
The more chaotic the mortal realm, the busier the underworld.
In this respect, Heaven and the Underworld are naturally opposed.
Fortunately, the forces in the sky and on the ground were evenly matched, and neither could defeat the other.
"It's nothing, I'm just about to become a vengeful ghost."
"Oh, that's alright... No!? What did you say?"
Just as the emperor was about to sit down, he suddenly stood up again.
"Don't worry, it hasn't changed yet."
Di Ting was frightened and grinned triumphantly.
After it finished explaining the whole story, the emperor's gloomy face was exactly the same as Xie Bi'an's.
"These little devils dare to make such a mistake. I think they all want to go and roll around in the eighteenth level of hell."
The ghost's time of death was suspicious, and it didn't report it. Instead, it was led to the underworld on its own, and the judge didn't notice anything amiss. Most likely, it wasn't even brought to the judge.
In recent years, quite a few new ghost messengers have been added. They're so busy they're practically dizzy. There's definitely something with ill intentions infiltrating them.
The Great Emperor conjured a piece of yellow paper out of thin air, and the Ghost King appeared in the hall.
"You go and have the ghost messengers check the Book of Life and Death. You go alone, and don't let anything else know. If anything seems off, throw them in jail and wait for Judge Lu to come back and investigate."
"Yes, there are so many ghost messengers, but I'm the only one, Your Majesty..." The Central Ghost King secretly glanced at the Emperor's face.
"Nonsense! Go get it done, and I'll give you a few days off."
"Yes, Your Majesty, no problem, Your Majesty."
The Central Ghost King quickly descended.
The Emperor of Fengdu separated a wisp of his consciousness, attached it to a palm-sized wooden figure, flew up onto Di Ting's head, grabbed a tuft of hair, and tugged it twice, signaling Di Ting that it was time to set off.
He was still slumped in the chair, leisurely eating sunflower seeds and reading a book. If you looked closely, you would find that he was a little more dull than before, and his movements were mostly repetitive.
...
Jiang Yuzhi had finished trimming the nails on both of her hands.
She has a bad habit of biting her nails when she's thinking. Although they're not badly bitten, they're not pretty either.
Sometimes, fearing that their uneven nails might snag the fabric, they would usually cut them very short.
No need to worry now, the black nails are neat and clean.
Bai Yan seems to have become addicted to trimming, constantly asking Jiang Yuzhi if she wants her toenails trimmed too.
It wasn't that she was shy, but Jiang Yuzhi felt it was strange to have someone else cut her toenails, so she refused repeatedly.
Bai Yan looked regretful and tried to shift her attention elsewhere.
Hair with strands of black and white.
"Can my hair change back?"
"No, I'm a vengeful ghost now, if you're afraid..."
Bai Yan was about to say that no matter what you become, I won't be afraid, and take the opportunity to clear up the previous misunderstanding.
A voice preceded him, arriving before the person.
No, you are not.
A note from the author:
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I'm late. The paper is almost finalized, time for another painful revision. I'll fix the bugs and revise again later, updates as usual [chin resting on hand].
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