Chapter 112 Funeral Clothing Shop in a Deep Alley
Lu Yao stepped forward and shielded You Qing behind her with her back.
"Stay close to me," she whispered, her fingertips already forming a protective hand seal.
Pushing open the creaking wooden door, a whiff of aged sandalwood mixed with a musty smell wafted out.
The shop was unusually dark, with only a few lamps casting flickering shadows.
Paper-mache boys and girls stood in a row in the corner, their pale faces adorned with scarlet rouge.
Various funeral garments hung neatly, appearing like floating ghosts in the dim light.
You Qing gripped Lu Yao's clothes tightly, the peach wood sword trembling slightly in her hand.
"Ladies," a hoarse voice drifted from the inner room, "would you like to have some clothes custom-made?"
The old woman slowly walked out, leaning on a snake-headed cane, the wooden hairpin in her silver hair gleaming with an eerie blue light.
Lu Yao's gaze sharpened as she saw that the old woman was enveloped in a thick aura of yin energy. This was an old ghost that had lingered in the human world for over a hundred years, its spirit unable to dissipate due to its lingering obsession.
Lu Yao silently shielded You Qing behind her, "Was it you who gave the Soul-Summoning Jade to Li Qingzi?"
The old woman's withered fingers stroked a small-sized burial shroud. "That girl died unjustly... I feel sorry for her mother."
Lu Yao flicked her wide sleeves and said, "Hand over the Soul-Summoning Jade."
The old woman grinned, revealing her uneven teeth: "Young lady, you want to forcibly take the treasure? Unfortunately, the Soul-Summoning Jade has already recognized its master, so no matter how many times it comes, it will always return to my side."
She slowly opened her palm, and a piece of blood jade suddenly appeared.
The piece that had shattered on Yang Chuyue's neck had now returned to her palm intact.
You Qing gasped, "Didn't it break during the live stream?"
Lu Yao remained unmoved; she was all too familiar with this piece of jade.
This was a treasure that Master used to carry with him, used to deliver the souls of the dead and resolve grievances. How could it be broken so easily?
However, if it remains attached to a ghost for a long time, it will nurture resentment and turn into a vengeful ghost.
"Recognize a master?" Lu Yao chuckled, her lips parting slightly as she uttered an ancient incantation.
"The Three Pure Ones serve as witnesses, and the Nine Luminaries serve as the framework."
"O soul, return! Hear my command!"
The summoning jade suddenly burst forth with a blinding blood-red light, trembling violently in the old woman's palm.
With a clear, ringing sound, the Blood Jade broke free from its restraints and flew into Lu Yao's hand like a weary bird returning to its forest.
The moment the jade-like body touched her fingertips, all the cracks healed completely, revealing a warm, lustrous sheen.
"This is impossible!" The old woman's face twisted in pain as she slammed her snake-headed staff heavily on the ground.
The meticulously arranged paper puppets trembled slightly as if in fear.
Having lived through more than a hundred years, from the chaotic Republican era to the peaceful years of today, the old woman has almost forgotten the taste of fear.
However, this seemingly young woman in front of us could actually make the ancient jade abandon her and seek a better match!
The old woman, having lost the summoning jade, swayed, her withered fingers grasping at the air in vain.
Her hunched back seemed to bend even more suddenly.
Lu Yao held the Soul-Summoning Jade in her palm, and the blood-red patterns flowing on the jade gradually turned into clear golden light.
She closed her eyes and focused her mind, and memories of the jade artifact flooded back like a tide.
The wronged souls who had been helped by the old woman, and the hatreds that had been avenged, flashed before my eyes one by one.
“I underestimated you.” Lu Yao opened her eyes and gently stroked the jade body with her fingertips. “For the past hundred years, you have used this jade to help many wronged ghosts.”
A flicker of surprise crossed the old woman's cloudy eyes: "You...you can see?"
“It’s a pity…” Lu Yao sighed, and several ferocious black wisps suddenly appeared in the jade. “You only know that this jade can communicate between the yin and yang, but you don’t know its drawbacks. It can help wronged souls take revenge, but it can also taint the soul with malevolence, eventually turning it into a vengeful ghost that can never be reincarnated.”
"So what!" The old woman suddenly became agitated, slamming her snake-headed staff heavily on the ground, making the paper figures in the room rustle. "Revenge for wrongs, grievance for grievances! Are we supposed to let those poor people swallow their anger and let the wicked go unpunished?"
The old woman's scar on her left cheek turned an eerie bluish-purple as she became agitated. "Just like back then, if it weren't for..."
Lu Yao gazed at her quietly, her eyes as still as a deep well: "It is indeed exhilarating to seek revenge. I have no objection to your choice."
With a light tap of her fingertips, the black mist within the jade gradually transformed into blurry human figures. "But not everyone can afford the price of eternal damnation. Have you asked these souls? Perhaps many of them would prefer a chance to start over."
Youqing suddenly noticed that some of the human figures formed from the black mist were shaking their heads desperately, while others were bowing and pleading—as if they were resisting becoming vengeful ghosts.
The old woman's expression shifted between light and dark, and she let out a cold laugh.
"These souls are just those who haven't tasted enough hatred. If they had experienced true despair like I have, they would understand that the afterlife and reincarnation are all illusions."
Lu Yao stared at her distorted face, and in those deep wrinkles, she saw the suffering buried by the years.
It was too heavy a burden, so heavy that even a hundred years could not erase it.
“The one selling voodoo dolls is your twin sister,” Lu Yao suddenly said.
The old woman's face turned cold. "That's right. She's the one selling all that filth!"
Lu Yao flicked her fingertips, and three copper coins jingled onto the counter. She chuckled softly, "Interesting. You've lingered in the mortal realm for a hundred years, your obsession undiminished, which led you to open this funeral clothing shop. I'd like to tell your fortune."
The old woman looked at her and asked, "What do you mean?"
“It’s a century-old feud,” Lu Yao said, her gaze sharp as lightning. “It’s like two twin sisters, why are they like strangers?”
Suzhou, 1939.
Lin Zhaonan and Lin Zhaobei are twin sisters.
In the dead of night, amidst the drizzling autumn rain, the lights were still on in the attic of the Lin family's embroidery workshop.
Sixteen-year-old Zhao Nan is threading a needle in front of an embroidery frame.
“Abei, look at the lotus heart of this twin lotus,” Zhaonan turned the embroidery hoop toward her sister, “I used a new embroidery technique.”
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