Chapter 17 "Goodbye, Meng Chiwan. I hope..."
"...Sister Dong'er?" The person's footsteps grew lighter and slower as they approached, as if they were sizing her up.
The surroundings were almost deathly silent.
Who is Dong'er?
Is that the girl's name?
Meng Chiwan thought.
"Sister Dong'er! What happened to you?" The voice of the person who came was still a little immature, and it could be heard that he was a young boy.
He stared at her in disbelief for a few seconds, and after recognizing her, his voice unconsciously became a little anxious.
And she said softly, "Huaiji...you are...Huaiji?" She tilted her head slightly, causing the chains in her hands to jingle, as if she were trying to recognize her.
"Yes! I am Huaiji!" The boy's excitement was almost palpable, but his expression immediately turned somber. "But, Sister Dong'er, how did you become like this?"
What does it look like? Are its eyes empty, or does a blank face have the character for "sword" added to it?
A thousand grievances welled up in Meng Chiwan's heart, seemingly reflecting the emotions of this body.
"...Even in this state, you still recognize me?" Dong'er gave a bitter laugh, her voice hoarse, concealing a myriad of emotions. The hand that had severed the chains in her hand began to move again.
“No matter what Sister Dong’er looks like, I’ll recognize her!” Huai Ji said, seemingly moving closer, her voice growing louder. “I’ll take you out first!”
One side of the chain was lifted, its warmth gently touching the wrist, followed by the sound of a key striking the chain.
With a "thud," the cage that had imprisoned Dong'er for countless days and nights vanished. She stood up and groped at the pillar beside her; the ground was smooth and damp.
The moment my fingertips touched something sticky, they were grabbed and pulled up.
"Sister Dong'er, I'll take you out." Huaiji's voice was soft, as if afraid of disturbing her.
"Huaiji, look at how I look now." She paused, not pulling her hand away, but raising her face, speaking to someone she couldn't see, only guessing, "Can I... go back?"
Huaiji's voice was tinged with grief; he could hear the death in her voice, but he still spoke: "...Yes. It's just some things drawn on the surface."
The sword on his back was burning hot, just like his heart.
Dong'er smiled softly, which aggravated the pain in her facial wounds. In fact, the pain had never stopped.
She spoke casually, her words like willow catkins in April, yet all vitality seemed to have vanished: "There's no going back. Ah Ji... just kill me."
"...I can't find my brother, and I've lost all hope of living."
She paused for a few moments, able to hear every sound around her clearly. At that moment, it felt as if everything she had lost had returned.
"It hurts so much. It hurts so much."
“But, Sister Dong’er… I can’t…” Huaiji choked up, but it sounded like she was trying her best to hide it, her voice trembling with sobs.
But Dong'er interrupted him: "But Aji, how do you have the key to this place?"
The sobbing stopped.
Instead, there was a deathly silence.
"Even so, I still can't kill you." His hands trembled as he supported her, his voice muffled as it reached towards the ground.
Even knowing she was blind, he dared not look at her.
"Huaiji, kill me."
"I remember when we were young, Sister Dong'er would always joke with you, asking you to do something. Back then, she was just joking, but now I only have this one thing to ask of you."
"Kill me."
Dong'er's voice was quiet and lonely, as desolate as the moon hanging high in the sky at midnight.
Huaiji remained silent for a long time, without making a sound. After a long while, he finally let out a long breath: "...What if I'm willing to take you to find Brother Shuchun?"
Meng Chiwan could sense that Dong'er's heart skipped a beat when she heard the name, and that feeling of nervous anticipation and unease washed over her again.
But she remained silent for a moment before asking, "How is my brother?"
After a while, seemingly finding it somewhat ridiculous, she changed her words and asked, "Is he better than me?"
As long as I'm better than her, that's fine.
Huaiji finally couldn't hold back any longer and grabbed her hand, his voice trembling with near collapse: "No, no! You're all in trouble! You have to go save my brother!"
You must live!
"Does my brother know I'm here?" she asked again, her cheeks flushing again.
"……have no idea."
"That's good." She smiled gently. "Listen to me, my family has three life-saving lamps. My death may not be the end of the world. If you have the chance to see my brother, tell him that if he really can't hold on any longer, then... then have someone kill him. Dong'er has already lost. Ask him to come back."
"Sister Dong'er..."
"Come on. It's alright, Huaiji. Maybe you'll see me again someday." Her voice was light, as if she were truly about to be free.
She heard the sound of a blade being drawn, its clanging sound like a mournful cry. Something cold touched her neck.
"Sister Dong'er, wait for me." Huaiji's voice was still trembling.
But the next moment, a series of hurried footsteps came, abruptly interrupting the cries of grief.
The chill faded away. The sword was sheathed again.
Dong'er couldn't see. All she knew was that her only chance for escape had passed.
But she couldn't bite her tongue to commit suicide, because that would leave her soul incomplete, and as a ghost she could only mumble "Aba Aba." Nor could she die by banging her head against a wall, because that would shatter her three souls and six spirits, leaving her mentally unstable. Thinking of this, a scene suddenly flashed in her mind, and she unconsciously smiled.
Her brother would laugh at her. She suddenly thought to herself.
She should have just killed him with a knife. But for some reason, she was still thinking about finding her brother. Forget it. Her brother would be terrified to see her like this.
Another point is that, no matter what, she still wants to live. She doesn't dare, and she's unwilling, to do it herself. It would be too ugly.
"Huaiji! What are you doing!" The voice was rough. He seemed to have snatched Huaiji's sword.
He stopped Huaiji, extinguishing her only hope of dying without suffering.
"She killed Master! What are you doing! She should be brought to trial! How could you let her get away with this so easily?!" The voice was still shouting, but Huaiji's voice could not be heard. Was he stunned?
After a long while, she was pulled up again. Someone held her hand, seemingly trying to comfort her, but then let go limply.
He appears to have been knocked unconscious.
Afterwards, Meng Chiwan's consciousness rose and fell along with Dong'er's, and her body was filled with waves of pain.
There were also various sounds in my ears, making it extremely noisy.
They were thinking the same thing to each other: What kind of trial is this? Are they trying to yell at her until she dies or beat her to death?
"Do you even know you're wrong?!"
"Are you willing to atone for your sins?!"
It's so noisy.
Meng Chiwan could feel that her life force was almost gone. But her will had not yet given in.
She heard Dong'er say, word by word, "I did nothing wrong! What is there to atone for?!"
What greeted her was an even more intense pain. Something lashed her body, making her feel burning hot all over, and lightning bolts struck her from who-knows-where, yet they somehow managed to keep her alive!
"Lin Yudong! Do you know your mistake?!"
"I did nothing wrong! He deserves to die!"
"Lin Yudong! Are you willing to atone for your sins?!"
"I don't want to! I did nothing wrong!"
...
What happened next?
Meng Chiwan didn't know whether she had truly been tortured to death or if her consciousness had merely gone through the ordeal. It was a long time before she could see things clearly again.
By this time, she had been wandering the world with Lin Yudong's lonely ghost for an unknown amount of time. Stumbling and staggering, she couldn't find her way home.
But soon, a thread appeared in her mind. The thread carried her, little by little.
Lin Yudong seemed to know that Meng Chiwan was inside her, and she said to her, "It's just an illusion. I'm going home now. Don't be afraid."
Meng Chiwan opened her mouth and suddenly realized that she could speak. She looked down and found that she was also in a spirit state.
"What do you want with me in this illusion?"
But Lin Yudong didn't say anything.
A long time passed. Winter and summer grew and withered together with the rising and setting of the sun and moon, and it was April again, with willow catkins flying everywhere.
She then realized with a start that Lin Yudong had died on a clear winter day. The thunder was a hoax, a judgment that had clouded her judgment.
"I'm home."
Meng Chiwan then entered Lin Yudong's body, or rather, her soul.
Feel what she feels, hear what she hears, smell what she smells, and see what she sees.
Lin Yudong's soul was pure white, even radiating a strong light. In an instant, she was sucked into the lamp. The visible threads finally came to an end.
After an unknown amount of time, Lin Yudong's soul was expelled by the lamp.
Meng Chiwan's gaze cleared along with Lin Yudong's.
The room was spotless, yet not a single ray of light penetrated it. The only source of light was the three lamps placed on the altar.
Of the three lamps, only one was lit. The other two were as dim as the night.
Lin Yudong floated to the side, looking at the lamp on the left, and suddenly began to sob.
In the next instant...
The lamp shattered with a crash. The glass-like shards fell to the ground with a few crisp sounds, like a transparent flower blooming.
Lin Yudong reached out towards the fragments, as if trying to catch them and piece the lamp back together, but her hand passed right through them. Silence surrounded her, seemingly foreshadowing the beginning of a tragedy.
Her eyes were vacant, and a white light emanated from them.
Then she passed through the door, and all the mechanisms and magic arrays set up for intruders seemed to have failed, offering no resistance whatsoever.
Perhaps it's because she can't really be considered a person anymore.
Lin Yudong suddenly spoke up: "I brought you here because I wanted you to be my witness."
Finally, she broke through all the obstacles and arrived in the courtyard.
It was a desolate night, with the moon hanging silently on the branches, its crescent shape like a steel knife piercing the clouds.
At this moment, various magic arrays in the courtyard were flashing a scarlet and dazzling light.
Trapped within the magic array were infants, bright-eyed teenagers in clean clothes, women clearly in great pain yet still protecting the children in their arms, and a man who had turned to skeletal remains and stood in front of him.
Their faces were contorted in pain, and their bodies were almost curled up into a tiny dot.
"Please, spare my son and daughter! Spare these children!"
"Where is my son, Lin Shuchun?!"
"Spare my wife and children!"
All the voices converged, and the magic circle was now more glaring than the prison, with pain and resentment intertwined.
No, it wasn't indifference; tears were about to well up, but there was nothing left to hold back.
“Meng Chiwan. I invited you here to witness all of this. It’s not for you to avenge me or my brother, but before my brother disappeared, he consulted a fortune teller. He said that if I were to die one day, a person with clear eyes who would be willing to save me from dire straits would become my savior. I guess it will be you.”
“I don’t need your help. The moment I saw you, I was already on my way to disappearing. Now I’ve been stabbed by his strange sword… I have only one wish: could you please keep an eye on my brother? If he ever returns, please tell him that Dong’er has been looking for him and that his family has never forgotten him.”
“I can offer you a reward… Three lamps were offered by our ancestors, and they were only fully formed when my brother and I were born. These lamps are called the Life-Giving Lamps. They can summon the soul of the dead and give it new life.”
"Two of the lamps were pledged to me by my brother through blood, which is why I was able to return here after my death. The lamp that belonged to my brother... as you can see, is broken. But there is still one lamp, which is currently enshrined in the Buddha statue underground in the house. Go and fetch it as my gift of gratitude."
Her voice was broken and intermittent, and there was no longer any trace of sobbing. This time, it seemed that she was truly relieved.
"My brother's name is Lin Shuchun. It doesn't sound like a boy's name, right? But it's really nice-sounding, and I like it a lot."
"If you ever have the chance to see him, please call him Lin Shuchun. He will look at you with a smile, his eyes always shining." She smiled, as if a thousand springs had arrived at once.
"If he hadn't said he wanted to go to the immortal sect to cultivate immortality that year... perhaps things wouldn't have turned out this way..."
"Anyway, please help me find him. I haven't seen him in so long... so long that when I was creating the illusion, his face became blurry... Actually, my brother never appeared; it was all just a dream of Dong'er's... Now, the dream is about to end."
"I must have scared you before." She lowered her head and smiled, seemingly a little embarrassed. "After being a wandering ghost for so long, I've picked up some scary quirks. I'm really sorry. But I don't have anything to make it up to you now."
"I wrote a book about my family's affairs when I had nothing else to do, and I put it by your bedside. If you'd like to read it, then read it quickly, because it will soon disappear after I vanish."
Goodbye, Meng Chiwan. It was nice to meet you. I hope... that lamp will never be lit again.
That lamp only activates and lights up when its owner dies.
Her figure gradually dissipated. But Meng Chiwan saw that she seemed to be smiling. The sword on her cheek slowly faded, revealing a beautiful face. Her features were gentle, and she was smiling.
Her eyes seemed to shine with a clear, refined light, as if to say:
Don't be afraid.
A note from the author:
I hope that light will never, ever turn on. [Crying]
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