How did Lu Qichun know her body had died?
Yu Ruoyin felt a flicker of guilt, but she quickly realized that Lu Qichun might not be referring to her current self.
She vaguely sensed that Lu Qichun was looking through her at someone else. That gaze was familiar to Yu Ruoyin; she had just felt something similar from Ying Zhu. Of course, Lu Qichun’s eyes were a bit different from Ying Zhu’s—hers held more bewilderment.
Yu Ruoyin knelt halfway in front of Lu Qichun, staring at her unblinkingly. “Do you know me?”
To the same question, Lu Qichun gave a completely different answer from Ying Zhu. “I… I’ve seen you. Probably… no, I don’t know you.”
She had seen her, but did not know her?
Yu Ruoyin thought those two statements contradicted each other. She wanted to press further, to dig out any traces of herself from the jumbled memories of Lu Qichun, but Jiang Huaining stopped her. “A’Yin, she must have seen one of your past lives in one of her incarnations. This tea helped her recover memories from all her reincarnations, but they won’t be that clear. Unrelated people aren’t remembered.”
Jiang Huaining’s explanation made perfect sense, but was the matter really that simple?
Yu Ruoyin’s probing gaze lingered on Jiang Huaining’s face for a moment before she hurriedly withdrew it.
Her expression was normal, which meant Jiang Huaining was not lying.
Ever since she had forced Jiang Huaining to lie, Yu Ruoyin felt inexplicably ashamed every time she judged Jiang Huaining’s honesty this way. It was as if she were bullying Jiang Huaining for being unable to lie.
“Auntie Ning…” A soft, weak voice laced with guilt slipped from her throat. When Jiang Huaining tilted her head to listen, she did not know what to say.
She pretended she had not called out and lowered her head, responding with silence.
Jiang Huaining did not insist on a reply from her. Her attention was mostly on Lu Qichun now.
Yu Ruoyin stayed silent too long, so Jiang Huaining nudged her lower back. Her fingertips trailed upward along her waist, signaling her to look up.
When Yu Ruoyin glanced at Jiang Huaining, she saw that Jiang Huaining was still staring at Lu Qichun.
There was no verbal exchange, but Yu Ruoyin understood Jiang Huaining’s intent.
Suppressing her inner reluctance, she tried her best to soften her voice. “Lu Qichun, do you have any last wishes?”
“Last wishes… Lu Qichun…” Overlaid with memories from countless reincarnations, the chaotic fragments had yet to form a complete self. Lu Qichun seemed dazed when Yu Ruoyin called her name. “Am I Lu Qichun?”
Lu Qichun’s expression grew more pained. She clutched her aching head and murmured softly, “Ghosts! The Plum Yin Messenger betrayed the Netherworld. So many died… so many died… I died too.”
Though she was a spirit medium, she still struggled to face her own death.
Nan He had always been a quiet and obedient spirit. After Lu Qichun drank the tea, she had waited silently for her to remember. Now, seeing Lu Qichun in such agony, she hurriedly made a sound. Ancient Buddhist chants gradually suppressed the restless ghost soul, and her soft embrace tightened cautiously. “Nanchun, don’t think anymore.”
The gentle voice overpowered the pain, and the familiar person evoked even happier memories.
Gou Nanchun’s memories slowly overshadowed Lu Qichun’s. Lu Qichun’s eyes reflected Nan He’s face, and the corners of her mouth curved up unconsciously. “Little Sister.”
Now it was Nan He’s turn to lose her composure.
The term of address was not familiar; it had vanished back when Gou Nanchun was still alive, lost amid the worldly gazes Gou Nanchun had mentioned.
It was too distant, so distant it no longer felt like it was meant for her.
Nan He took a long moment to react before nodding hastily. “I’m here.”
Her response came too late. Gou Nanchun’s memories had already cycled through Lu Qichun’s mind. The memories overlapped repeatedly, and her emotions shifted constantly. That “little sister” was withdrawn. When she smiled again, her eyes held a touch more desolation. “Xiao He, I’m old now, but you’re still young.”
Aging had once been a lingering nightmare for Lu Qichun, and now she was still hung up on it.
This reunion was not like what Nan He had imagined. Of course, her initial uncertainty about whom to seek and what to do afterward was a major reason for the gap between fantasy and reality.
Nan He had never liked hearing Lu Qichun talk this way before, and she still did not now. “Nanchun, you’re not old.”
Lu Qichun’s gaze toward Nan He was tender and focused.
Yu Ruoyin was so close, yet she could not find a place in Lu Qichun’s eyes.
But those gentle eyes were laced with bitterness and helplessness. “Xiao He, you should call me Auntie.”
Nan He bit her lip to hold back tears. “I don’t want to. You’re not Nanchun anymore.”
Lu Qichun blanked out for a moment, then her face filled with regret. “Yeah, I’m not Nanchun.”
Her memories seemed complete at last. She gave a bitter laugh. “Nanchun is dead.”
…
Nan He reached out and unhesitatingly covered Lu Qichun’s mouth.
Lu Qichun raised her hand to pull it away, but Nan He did not let go, her eyes full of stubbornness.
Yu Ruoyin did not know how to insert herself into their reunion or how to persuade Nan He to release her grip. Before she could find a solution, the resolute Nan He relented under Lu Qichun’s efforts.
In truth, Lu Qichun had done nothing but stare intently at Nan He, gazing at her with those gentle, sorrowful eyes until Nan He’s heart softened.
Lu Qichun truly deserved her title as Nan He’s first master; she had her own unique way of handling Nan He.
With the hand removed, Lu Qichun regained her voice. She did not continue the topic that upset Nan He. “Xiao He, has A’Xin been good to you?”
Thinking of Lu Qichun’s daughter deepened Nan He’s resentment. “No, she died even earlier than you.”
Even though she had expected the news of her daughter’s death, Lu Qichun’s expression still filled with grief.
Her silence mourned her daughter and pitied Nan He.
Nan He had already cried over A’Xin’s death long ago, yet now she felt the urge to tear up again. She grabbed Lu Qichun’s arm and mumbled, “Look at you—you couldn’t even give your daughter a long life. A’Xin’s daughter lived a long time, but…”
Mentioning little Gou Nanchun weighed Nan He’s sorrow even heavier.
She could not continue, so Lu Qichun finished for her. “The lives of the living are still too short. Truly… too short.”
Lu Qichun looked at Nan He, her eyes full of regret and heartache. “Xiao He, have you been lonely all these years?”
She was clever enough to realize without Nan He spelling it out that the Gou family line had ended.
Nan He’s nose soured at the question. She awkwardly lowered her eyes. “It’s been fine. I lost my memories, so a hazy thousand years passed just like that.”
“Xiao He, you haven’t dissolved the spirit contract?”
Lu Qichun immediately pinpointed the issue, making Nan He feel guilty. “H-how did you guess?”
Lu Qichun had so much she wanted to say, but her composure made her seek the full truth first. “Xiao He, how did you remember?”
Jiang Huaining was eager for Yu Ruoyin to ask about Lu Qichun’s last wishes, but Lu Qichun herself showed no desire for that. She cared only about Nan He’s matters.
Yu Ruoyin had been reluctant to expend Jiang Huaining’s power to help Lu Qichun in the first place. After asking a few times with no response from Lu Qichun, she stopped pressing. She grabbed Jiang Huaining’s pushing hand and gripped it tighter, silently competing with her. Fortunately, besides Jiang Huaining, no one noticed her childish behavior.
Nan He was an honest spirit. She recounted these years’ events, including how Jiang Huaining and Yu Ruoyin had helped her regain her senses and how Yu Ruoyin had gone to great lengths at the Ghost Market in Yin City to recover her memories.
Perhaps out of gratitude, Nan He infused her narration with strong personal emotions and even exaggerated Yu Ruoyin’s efforts. Yu Ruoyin herself felt embarrassed listening to it, and the outcome was unexpected.
After hearing Nan He’s story, Lu Qichun floated out of her embrace.
She bowed deeply and respectfully to Yu Ruoyin and Jiang Huaining. “Thank you. Truly, thank you for taking care of Xiao He.”
“No…”
Yu Ruoyin started to say it was unnecessary, but then the room piled with corpses emitted a faint noise.
She craned her neck to look, but her peripheral vision caught Jiang Huaining doing the same. Her gaze involuntarily shifted fully to Jiang Huaining. Jiang Huaining’s eyes held confusion, inquiry, and a hint of surprise.
Given Jiang Huaining’s status, few things could surprise her now.
Yu Ruoyin followed Jiang Huaining’s gaze to the same spot: a somewhat damaged and broken corpse that bore an identical face to Lu Qichun’s.
Lu Qichun’s corpse climbed up from the ground and walked toward them step by step.
A mass of green mist swirled at the center of its forehead, nearly bursting through the skin.
The red jade fruit at Yu Ruoyin’s chest grew hotter, the heat spreading until her skin began to feel feverish.
This…
Shock appeared in Yu Ruoyin’s eyes. Before she could speak, she saw Jiang Huaining stride forward. Her reddened index finger tapped the center of Lu Qichun’s forehead. With a wisp of golden light, the thick green mist drilled out from the corpse’s forehead and flew straight toward Yu Ruoyin in an instant.
The green mist touched the skin at Yu Ruoyin’s forehead and burrowed inside, vanishing without a trace.
Once the green mist was gone, Lu Qichun’s corpse lost all vitality and fell again, its body showing signs of disintegration.
Only the abnormally scorching heat at her forehead reminded Yu Ruoyin of the reality of that scene.
Yu Ruoyin had yet to process it when the red jade fruit around her neck suddenly emitted a glow. A mass of golden mist emerged from it and floated toward Jiang Huaining.
The golden mist merged into Jiang Huaining’s body, deepening the red at her fingertip.
This scene was all too familiar.
Not long ago, after they had helped Sang Xi, they had gone through the exact same thing.
The only difference was that the green mist from Sang Xi’s body had been less than from Lu Qichun’s. In Yu Ruoyin’s understanding, this green mist represented the spirit’s power. The mist granted her power to repair her body, and after the repairs, the spiritual energy needed to maintain normalcy decreased, so some golden mist from the red jade fruit went back to Jiang Huaining—it had been her power to begin with.
But… Yu Ruoyin finally understood what had shocked Jiang Huaining.
Lu Qichun’s gratitude had so readily reached the point of granting her power. They had not even fulfilled any extra wishes, yet they obtained the remnant spiritual power from her corpse.
Lu Qichun cared about Nan He far more than any of them had imagined.
Yu Ruoyin now saw Lu Qichun differently. She was a good person—a selfless one.
Lu Qichun paid no mind to her disintegrating corpse. After thanking Yu Ruoyin and Jiang Huaining, her eyes held only Nan He again.
Nan He was somewhat scared—not of the corpse’s changes, but of the soul she could finally grasp vanishing like the body.
