The two rode around the forest several times but found no trace of Jiang Liang’s corpse. They did, however, see many signs of struggle on the ground and trees, as well as a bloodied arm in Daoist robes that had been bitten off. Li Ying murmured, “If Jiang Liang was injured by the North Star Evil-Breaking Talisman, then where is he now?”
Cui Xun said, “He can only be in one place.”
With that, he cracked his whip, and the Kangju horse shot forward like a meteor.
In the city’s burial grounds, weeds grew wild and thorns covered the ground. Broken tombstones leaned in all directions. Wild dogs had dug up shallowly buried corpses and were chewing on flesh that had not yet decayed. Several crows circled a dead tree, their hoarse cries like parched throats. Cui Xun dismounted first. Li Ying, who was considerably shorter than him, found herself in a predicament as the Kangju horse, a tribute from the Western Kangju Kingdom, was known for its imposing height. With her feet on the stirrups, she felt helpless. She looked to Cui Xun for assistance and softly called, “Cui Xun~”
Cui Xun pressed his lips together. Though his eyes remained cold, he extended his arm. Li Ying, trembling slightly, held the reins with one hand while moving her other foot over, then grabbed Cui Xun’s arm and jumped down.
As she jumped, Cui Xun held her slender waist, steadying her as she landed. But the moment she stood firm, he discreetly released her and stepped back. Before Li Ying could even say “thank you,” he had turned and was walking toward Wan Xiang’s grave.
This man, was he still angry with her?
Li Ying shook her head helplessly, then followed closely behind him. She passed one mound of earth after another until, deep in the burial grounds, she saw Wan Xiang’s grave.
Though Wan Xiang’s grave was dilapidated, the area around it was clean, and the wooden tombstone was spotless. This was undoubtedly due to Madam Yan’s diligent care over the past twenty-nine years, keeping Wan Xiang’s grave in such good condition.
Cui Xun suddenly stopped, and Li Ying stopped too.
Because lying in front of Wan Xiang’s grave was a person. The figure was covered in blood, with withered white hair hanging down—it was Jiang Liang, injured by the North Star Evil-Breaking Talisman.
Jiang Liang was barely clinging to life but still dragging his severely wounded body in an attempt to touch Wan Xiang’s tombstone. Even using all his strength, he had only crawled a few steps. When he heard movement, he painfully turned to look in the direction of Cui Xun and Li Ying. Upon seeing Li Ying, his eyes immediately filled with venom, as if he wanted to tear her apart alive. Li Ying, frightened by the deep hatred in his eyes, retreated two steps. Cui Xun, however, calmly said, “He has been struck by the North Star Evil-Breaking Talisman. His soul will soon scatter. You need not fear him.”
Jiang Liang probably knew that his soul would soon scatter. In these final moments of his life, he was unwilling to waste time on his hatred for Li Ying. He turned his head and used all his strength to crawl toward Wan Xiang’s tombstone. Behind him, the soil was marked with long trails of blood. After crawling for what seemed like an eternity, he finally reached Wan Xiang’s tombstone. Jiang Liang extended his withered fingers, trembling as he caressed the old tombstone bearing Wan Xiang’s name. Two streams of turbid tears flowed from his dry eyes. His lips moved as if trying to call out the name of the one he treasured above all, but his life was rapidly fading, and his throat could only produce a hoarse sound—he could no longer speak.
Looking back on his life, he had been captured and castrated at a young age before entering the palace. In the Daming Palace, he couldn’t speak the official language and was from the Miao tribe of Qianzhou, so he was likely constantly bullied. Perhaps only Wan Xiang had treated him as a human being. Even though his body was incomplete, Wan Xiang had not rejected him; instead, she had gradually come to love him and was willing to be his wife in the palace, caring for each other.
For him, Wan Xiang was his salvation, his love, his bodhisattva, the only light in his dark life. But this ray of light that he had so carefully cherished had been beaten to death by the Empress Dowager, as casually as killing an ant. How could he not hate her?
He wanted revenge, revenge for Wan Xiang. As a member of the Miao tribe from Qianzhou, he knew some supernatural arts. He escaped from the palace and nurtured a cat ghost with his own body. Once successful, he managed to obtain the Empress Dowager’s clothing. He had been just one step away from success, but ultimately, his efforts had been in vain.
This revenge had taken him twenty-nine years to plan. The mayfly had finally shaken the mighty tree, but now, having failed, he would never have a second chance.
Jiang Liang’s fingers caressed Wan Xiang’s tombstone, with turbid tears flowing down slowly. Li Ying saw countless white lights escaping from his body—these were fragments of Jiang Liang’s soul. Once the white light dissipated completely, his soul would scatter. Yet there was no fear on Jiang Liang’s face, only endless longing as he stared at the two characters “Wan Xiang” written on the tombstone. He did not fear his soul scattering; he only feared never seeing Wan Xiang again.
The white light was rapidly dispersing, growing weaker and weaker. Jiang Liang’s hand, which had been caressing Wan Xiang’s tombstone, slowly dropped. Li Ying suddenly felt a sting in her eyes. She sniffled, seemingly having made some kind of determination, then stepped forward, removed the Buddha bone relic from around her neck, and knelt to place it in Jiang Liang’s hand.
The Buddha bone relic emitted a dazzling five-colored light that merged into Jiang Liang’s flesh. His soul, which had been rapidly dispersing, slowly began to reconsolidate. His yellowed eyes looked at Li Ying in confusion. He had wanted to kill Li Ying, yet she was trying to save him?
Li Ying said to him, “I know that a Buddha bone relic cannot be exchanged for Wan Xiang’s life, but at least it can prevent your soul from scattering. When you descend to the netherworld, go find Wan Xiang. She has probably been waiting for you for a long time.”
Jiang Liang’s lips moved, and from the shape of his mouth, he seemed to be asking, “Why?” Li Ying said, “There is no ‘why,’ Jiang Liang. I don’t want to argue about who was right or wrong between you and my mother. But as her daughter, I admit that before, I truly despised you and even hoped for your early demise so you wouldn’t harm my mother. But now that you’ve been turned upon by the cat ghost and are at death’s door, unable to do anything more, why should I hold a grudge against a dying man? And for the past twenty-nine years, you’ve lived neither as human nor ghost for Wan Xiang’s sake, only to meet this end. I truly believe that whatever you’ve done, this punishment is enough. I don’t want to hate you anymore. This Buddha relic, although precious to me, is not irreplaceable. But for you, it can prevent your soul from scattering and allow you to reunite with Wan Xiang. I choose to give it to you.”
She paused, then continued, “Jiang Liang, Wan Xiang is in the City of Wrongful Deaths, and since you died from being turned upon by the cat ghost, you may not be able to enter that city. But you’ve persisted in doing one thing for twenty-nine years. I believe that once in the netherworld, you will surely move Lord Wucheng and convince him to let you in. I hope you can successfully find Wan Xiang and rekindle your relationship.”
Tears slowly streamed down Jiang Liang’s face. His throat couldn’t form words, but the look in his eyes toward Li Ying was no longer filled with venom; instead, it carried a hint of pleading. His throat made hoarse sounds as if trying to say something. Li Ying felt a pang of sympathy: “Jiang Liang, what do you want to say?”
Jiang Liang’s fingers trembled as he pointed to the mound of earth where Wan Xiang was buried. Tears continuously flowed from his cloudy eyes. Li Ying suddenly understood: “Jiang Liang, do you want to be buried with Wan Xiang?”
Tears rolled down Jiang Liang’s face one by one, landing on the ground. His chest heaved rapidly. Lying on the ground, he struggled to lift his head, looked at Li Ying, and nodded.
Li Ying looked with pity at Jiang Liang, who was covered in blood from head to toe. Even in his final moments, his last request was to be with Wan Xiang. Li Ying turned her head and bit her lip as she asked Cui Xun, “Cui Xun, could his body be buried together with Wan Xiang?”
She looked at Cui Xun with hopeful eyes. “Cui Xun, this request might be difficult, but could you help him?”
She was afraid Cui Xun would refuse, after all, Jiang Liang was a wanted criminal, and Cui Xun had no relation to him. There was no reason for him to help with the burial. However, when a person is about to die, their words tend to be kind. Regardless of what Jiang Liang and Wan Xiang had done wrong, their feelings for each other had remained steadfast. She hoped he could help fulfill the wishes of this pitiful couple.
But Cui Xun didn’t refuse; instead, he quickly gave a slight nod.
Li Ying finally breathed a sigh of relief. “Cui Xun, thank you.”
She turned back to Jiang Liang and said, “Cui Xun previously promised Madam Yan that he would move Wan Xiang’s grave to be beside her mother’s. When that happens, he will also bury your body next to Wan Xiang and her mother.”
Jiang Liang’s eyes were filled with disbelief. With his hands pressed against the ground covered with dirt and gravel, his lips trembled, and his throat made hoarse sounds. Suddenly, he forcefully pushed himself up and kowtowed to Li Ying three times.
Li Ying was startled. Just as she was about to help Jiang Liang, he tremblingly took out a human-shaped wooden doll from his bosom and handed it to Li Ying.
Before Li Ying could examine the doll, a white light shot out from Jiang Liang’s body. It was Jiang Liang’s soul, repaired by the Buddha bone relic. His soul had been devoured by the cat ghost and then injured by the North Star Evil-Breaking Talisman. Even though the Buddha bone relic had healed it, in the mortal realm, the soul could only appear as a misty white fog, its human form indiscernible. Only upon reaching the netherworld could it consolidate into form. The white mist lingered in the air for a moment before swiftly heading toward the netherworld.
As the white mist disappeared, a black mist escaped from Jiang Liang’s body. Illuminated by the silvery moonlight, the black mist emitted a miserable cry. The sound was so shrill that it made Li Ying retreat several steps in fear. Cui Xun frowned slightly and stepped forward to shield her behind him.
After the piercing cry, the black mist fell heavily to the ground, barely recognizable as a black cat. The black cat’s mouth and nose were covered in fresh blood. Presumably, under the power of the North Star Evil-Breaking Talisman, the cat ghost had been severely wounded. With the Buddha relic’s light entering its body, the cat ghost’s soul had completely scattered, never to harm the mortal world again.
Li Ying sighed in relief. Cui Xun crouched down to examine the wounds on Jiang Liang’s body. There were marks from a peachwood sword and punctures from lightning-struck wood. Cui Xun thought deeply; one of the Daoists in Pei Guanyue’s mansion specialized in using lightning-struck wood.
It seemed that Pei Guanyue had sent a Daoist to silence Jiang Liang.
He stood up and turned around to find Li Ying staring blankly at the wooden doll in her hand. Seeing her unusual expression, Cui Xun took the doll from her. Upon examination, he, too, was stunned.
The doll was dressed in palace attire with dozens of silver needles inserted into it. On the palace attire were written the characters “Year of Xinsi, First Month, Twenty-Seventh Day.” Li Ying murmured, “The year of Xinsi, first month, twenty-seventh day—this is my birthday.”
Cui Xun was shocked. Could this be a voodoo doll?
With Li Ying’s birth date written on it, was this doll meant to curse Li Ying?
But who would want to curse a princess who had been dead for thirty years?