Chapter 6

The room was clean and spacious, with black and gold gauze curtains separating the inner and outer areas. The lights on the walls were lit, casting a bright glow throughout the room.

Xue Ming was not in the mood to appreciate the room’s decorations and structure at this moment. After locking the door, she climbed onto the bed with weak legs. It took a long time for her heartbeat to calm down and her trembling hands to quiet. Exhaustion seemed to seep into every bone, making her feel extremely tired.

Is this what it feels like to have your yang energy drained?

Xue Ming slowly felt her current state. It felt a bit like excessive blood loss or like she had undergone intense exercise, but there was no pain in her body. Except for the persistent sting of the wound on her lips, which she instinctively licked over and over, everything else seemed not so hard to bear. Nie Xiaoqian said that a good night’s sleep would restore her, and since there wasn’t much time left, Xue Ming dared not delay any longer. She closed her eyes and began to prepare for sleep. She thought that her mind would be restless after tonight’s narrow escape. However, perhaps because she was too exhausted from running for her life and having her yang energy drained, she fell into a deep sleep as soon as she closed her eyes. She slept dreamlessly through the night until birds chirping outside her window, rising and falling, finally woke her up.

Xue Ming woke up groggily and, upon opening her eyes, found herself in her own room. The bed beneath her was hard and uncomfortable, with only a thin blanket covering her. The small box she had clutched tightly to her chest last night was now in the corner of the bed, and the small sword she had taken out was on the floor. The doors and windows were tightly shut, making it seem like everything from last night—Nie Xiaoqian, the little ghost with long claws, and the evil ghost Yu He living in the middle of the lotus pond—was only a nightmare. She rubbed her eyes in confusion and slowly sat up. She noticed she was wearing a black, extremely loose robe with faint gold embroidery. It was wrinkled from sleep, and the collar was completely open, revealing her white chest and the wound on her left shoulder, which was emitting black smoke. A shiver ran from her tailbone to her forehead, and she became fully awake.

So everything that happened last night wasn’t a dream! She had indeed escaped death!

Xue Ming tried to get up, but her legs were in excruciating pain from the intense exercise, and the muscle soreness almost prevented her from standing. After taking a few steps, her calves started to cramp. She grimaced and took a moment to recover, then took out clean clothes from her bundle. After a long while of figuring it out, she wrapped her chest and put on her clothes, tying her hair into a ponytail with a hairband.
Finally, she packed the items in the small box, slung them over her shoulder, and pushed the door open.

Outside, the sun was shining brightly, and it was almost noon. Ning Caichen was sitting under the eaves, seemingly enjoying the scenery or something. He was shaking a folding fan in his hand and looking up at the sky. His two servants were busy weeding in the yard, pulling out the tall weeds, and clearing a large area. The three looked at Xue Ming as they heard her come out.

“Brother, you slept quite a while,” Ning Caichen said while standing up. Dressed in a blue brocade robe and shaking a white paper fan, he looked elegant.

“Mm-hmm,” Xue Ming mumbled in response, then asked, “Did you hear any strange noises in the temple last night?”

When Xue Ming had run out last night, she saw Ning Caichen’s window covered with those little ghosts. She thought he was doomed, but surprisingly, Ning Caichen was fine. She wasn’t sure if the little ghosts hadn’t attacked him or if he was protected because Nie Xiaoqian had taken a liking to him. But with all the ghostly howls and screams while she escaping, any normal person should have heard something.

Ning Caichen looked puzzled and shook his head, saying, “No, did something disturb you? It looks like you have a new wound on your lip…”

Xue Ming instinctively licked her lips, feeling a sting. The image of Yu He’s face flashed in her mind, and her ears turned red. She quickly changed the subject and turned to ask the two servants, Chun Ye and Qiu Sheng, “Did you hear anything?”

The two servants also shook their heads in confusion, saying they had slept through the night.

Xue Ming had a rough idea of what happened. It seemed the three had their ears covered by ghosts last night, so she didn’t ask further. She just cupped her hands in farewell to Ning Caichen.

“Brother, are you leaving already?” Ning Caichen asked in surprise.

Xue Ming made an excuse, “My mother is seriously ill at home. I came here to seek medical help, and I can’t afford to delay.”

Ning Caichen said, “At least wash up and have a bite before you go.”

This sounded ominous to Xue Ming, who was fragile and couldn’t bear to hear words like “go” or “die.” She waved her hands repeatedly. With her life at stake, washing up was the last thing on her mind.

Xue Ming refused firmly and hurried out. After a few steps, she felt a pang of conscience and turned back to Ning Caichen, saying, “Brother, there are ghosts in this temple. Take my advice and leave quickly. Don’t stay here.”

Ning Caichen laughed and said, “Brother, you’re joking. There’s no such thing as ghosts in this world.”

Xue Ming thought to herself that it was hard to persuade someone who was destined to die, so she said no more. Suddenly, she heard voices outside the temple door, and then the door was pushed open. Two plainly dressed men entered first, each holding a door on either side. Following them was a man dressed as a scholar. He appeared to be around thirty years old, average height, and plain-looking. Two servants followed him, carrying a lot of luggage.

Seeing the crowd, Xue Ming stepped back a few paces to make way, planning to leave after they entered. The scholar looked around somewhat critically before finally resting his gaze on Xue Ming. He looked at her repeatedly, smiled, and said, “Young man, you are quite handsome.”

Xue Ming responded with a perfunctory smile and a cupped hand salute.
The scholar continued, “My surname is Zhao, and I come from Lanxi. May I ask where your home is, young man?”

Xue Ming had no interest in making friends. Still, upon hearing his introduction, she suddenly remembered that in the original story, there was indeed a scholar from Lanxi who died very quickly, checking in during the day and dying at night. With this in mind, she looked at Zhao with a hint of pity and added, “Eat something good before nightfall.”

Her words were confusing, leaving Zhao puzzled, but she didn’t explain and strode out of the temple.

Determined to leave, Xue Ming barely stopped after leaving the nameless temple. Despite her legs becoming numb from walking, her strong will to survive kept her going for a long time. Finally, dizzy with hunger, she had to sit down, take a few hard pieces of dry food from her bundle, and swallow them with water from her water bottle.

This was hardly a life worth living.

Xue Ming sighed deeply and set off again after a short rest. Fortunately, this time, she didn’t end up going in circles. After walking for about two hours, Xue Ming’s legs were trembling with exhaustion, but she finally emerged from the dense forest. Walking for another ten minutes, she could vaguely see some houses ahead. Under the scorching sun, no one was outside.

Xue Ming shook her empty water bottle and thickened her skin to knock on the door of one house.

A young child with a bun on his head opened the door, looking at Xue Ming warily through the crack, “Who are you looking for?”

“Child, are your parents home?” Xue Ming asked.

The child retorted, “Who are you calling a child!”

Xue Ming was surprised by the child’s temper and quickly corrected herself, “Little brother, I’m exhausted and thirsty from my journey. Could I trouble you for some water?”

The child looked her up and down, then extended a small, tender hand, “Give me your water bottle.”

Xue Ming handed it over, and the door closed. She muttered to herself about the strange child and waited at the door. After a while, the child returned, opened the door slightly, and handed back the now full water pouch.

Xue Ming thanked him and asked, “Do you know how far it is to the nearest town?”

The child, showing only one eye through the crack, asked, “Did you come from that temple?”

Xue Ming replied, “I did pass by that temple and stayed there for a night.”

The child was silent momentarily, then said, “Just keep walking forward, and you’ll reach the town soon.”

Xue Ming thanked him again and, seeing the child’s wariness, didn’t say more. She slung the water bottle over her shoulder and continued on her way. As the child had said, she began to see signs of dense human habitation ahead after walking for a while. The surrounding houses increased in number, and the path changed from muddy ground to a stone-paved road leading to the town.

At this point, Xue Ming finally breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a sense of escape and survival after a disaster. Although she still couldn’t grasp what kind of world this was, escaping from the clutches of evil spirits was undoubtedly something to celebrate. When she had packed her luggage earlier, she found some silver coins in her bundle. So, the first thing she did upon entering the town was to find an inn and have a good meal.
As night began to fall, the streets were surprisingly bustling.

The crowd was dense, and the sounds of buying and selling were incessant, with many ancient items that Xue Ming had never seen or heard of. She entered a three-story restaurant that looked very luxurious. The waiter stood at the table reciting the menu, but Xue Ming couldn’t understand a word, so she simply ordered two meat and two vegetable dishes. The food arrived quickly, looking and smelling delicious. After walking all day and eating only a few bites of dry rations, she couldn’t resist the fresh hot dishes and ate heartily.

Surprisingly, ancient food was similar to modern food and was even better than some takeout places. She accidentally ate too much, paid the bill while holding her round belly, and booked a room. She almost couldn’t make it up the stairs, her legs feeling useless after walking all day, much like the days after a company team-building hike up Mount Huang.

Fortunately, the restaurant’s service was excellent, and the waiter brought a wooden bucket and hot water. Xue Ming locked the doors and windows, soaked in the hot water, and felt the fatigue in her body ease significantly. She decided to leave tomorrow’s worries for tomorrow. Right now, she was so tired that she just wanted to sleep. She dried herself, wrapped herself in a robe, threw her dirty clothes into the bucket, and climbed into bed, falling asleep as soon as she closed her eyes.

When Xue Ming slept, she couldn’t perceive the passage of time, and there were no clocks here, so she never knew how long she had slept.
Until a soft, charming moan reached her ears, quickly waking her consciousness.

Xue Ming’s eyes moved, but she didn’t open them. Instead, she turned over with a little impatience of being woken up and buried her head in the quilt, trying to isolate the sound. But the opposite happened. The low humming continued, and it was a little louder than before, with a gentle tremor, like pain and joy, coming in a rhythm, accompanied by a few heavy breaths of men and some other strange sounds.

Xue Ming woke up now, opened her confused, sleepy eyes, and cursed in her heart that the restaurant’s sound insulation was so poor. It couldn’t even block the sound of the man and woman doing things next door?

Soon, however, she realized something was wrong and found that things were not simple.