Lang Jiuchuan’s proposal plunged Ning Shaosi into deep contemplation. Young as he was, his brow furrowed, and his slightly pale lips pressed into a thin, straight line.

Sharp-minded from birth, and having endured a string of misfortunes, his mind was far more mature than children his age. After turning the matter over for only a moment, he grasped the full meaning of Lang Jiuchuan’s words entirely.

Ning Shaosi looked at his father lying in the bed, tears flowing without stop.

She was asking him to choose — as a son, to choose on his father’s behalf.

The choice was this: forcibly return the remnant soul to his father’s physical body, then watch that body grow increasingly frail and wasted, and finally die in suffering, with reincarnation yielding only a mentally impaired existence.

Or — allow another person to inhabit his father’s body, nurture his soul, and wait for the right moment to reincarnate as a whole person. If that were the path, it meant his father would have to die now.

Yes — perhaps his remnant soul would live on. But it could never again ruffle his hair and call him “Sier” the way it used to.

A look of grief crossed Ning Shaosi’s face. It was like being asked: when a father lay on the verge of death, should a child still fight to save him?

Liang Jinfeng, too, snapped out of his shock. He instinctively glanced at Ning Shaosi, then back at Lang Jiuchuan. His lips moved — was this not a little cruel?

Lang Jiuchuan remained entirely unmoved.

She already knew what Ning Shaosi would choose.

Ning Shaosi knelt before his father’s bed, clutched his hand, and wept for a long while. Then he pressed his forehead to the floor three times — and rose, drying his tears. He turned to face Lang Jiuchuan: “I agree to your proposal.”

Lang Jiuchuan raised an eyebrow slightly: “Oh? Are you truly willing? Are you not afraid that someone with ulterior motives will use your father’s body to do harm and act recklessly? Once another soul enters this body, he will no longer be your father in any true sense. If this person has a corrupt heart, once he commits wrongdoing with this body, he will bring not a shred of merit — on the contrary, he will be steeped in karmic debt. And your father’s soul will suffer the backlash of that karma equally. Reincarnation would be out of the question — far from coming back an idiot, he might be reduced to nothingness by a Celestial Master’s justice, or cast into the animal realm.”

Ning Shaosi shook his head: “Trust without doubt or doubt without trust — I trust Uncle Liang, and I trust the Master. You would not make such a proposal unless you had someone in mind. And whatever person that is, it must be a good person. A good person would not use my father’s body to commit evil or bring harm to others.”

He paused, then added: “The Master has a very pleasant scent. I believe a person with such a scent would not be bad.”

He reached out again to take Ning Zhe’s hand, his voice choked: “If Father’s soul is already incomplete, what is the use of clinging to this shell? He cannot even reincarnate.”

“Brilliance taken to extremes invites injury — you’re still young. Stop acting like a wizened little old man. It’s not endearing at all.” Lang Jiuchuan patted his head, then turned and addressed the outside: “You may come in.”

Ning Shaosi and Liang Jinfeng looked at each other in bewilderment. Who was she speaking to?

A’Piao walked in and said: “The rumors outside that you’re a demon are nearly turning the whole city upside down, and you haven’t a trace of worry — you’ve truly put yourself entirely above it all.”

“We’ll address that after. Where is the Lingling Pagoda?”

A’Piao glanced at the others in the room, handed over the Lingling Pagoda, and took a step to the side.

Lang Jiuchuan called Ning Zhe out and, seeing that his spiritual soul had become considerably more solid, said: “Your soul essence has been nurtured quite well.”

Ning Zhe smiled mildly: “Tongtian Pavilion has many archived texts. Reading cultivates both the heart and the spirit — it keeps my mind tranquil. Quite good.”

“Has the teacher’s original aspiration never changed?” Lang Jiuchuan looked at him and said: “To establish the heart of heaven and earth, to secure the lives of the people, to carry forward the lost learning of the sages, and to usher in an era of peace for all generations.”

Ning Zhe nodded with a smile: “The original heart, unchanged.”

“Then teacher, your opportunity has arrived.”

Ning Zhe stilled. He followed her gaze — toward Ning Zhe’s body, then toward the remnant soul standing at the head of the bed, and finally, his eyes met the little child Ning Shaosi’s for a long moment. Then he turned to Lang Jiuchuan with a glad and willing smile: “It would be my honor.”

Speaking with someone perceptive required no lengthy explanation. Since both parties were willing, Lang Jiuchuan set about making preparations without delay.

First, she struck a soul-solidifying incantation upon the remnant fragments — the two surviving souls and one spirit — causing them to fuse back together. She then sent them into the soul-nurturing formation inside the Little Nine Pagoda. As she placed them inside, she carefully brushed against the memories of his soul, checking to see if she had left any residual imprint.

She saw his memories from after he fell into the river — exactly as she had envisioned. After falling into the water, an undercurrent had pulled him away. His soul had left his body, with only one soul remaining. Once his soul left the body, he had the misfortune of encountering a ferocious water ghost that lunged at him to feed. His own auspicious literary star energy had shielded him at the critical moment, startling the water ghost into retreat — but he had escaped as a mere remnant soul, too weakened to ever find his way back to his body.

The obsession etched into his very soul was his only son, Ning Shaosi — which was why he had lingered by the boy’s side day and night, unwilling to disperse.

Lang Jiuchuan probed no further. She lowered her eyes and watched as Ning Shaosi fetched a fresh basin of water and a clean set of clothes, intending to bathe his father and send him off with dignity.

She withdrew to the doorway and stood with her hands clasped behind her back. Not fearing one’s own death, but fearing that one’s young child is still unfeathered and unprotected — that is the greatest vulnerability of any parent.

Not long after, Ning Shaosi came out to invite her in. Lang Jiuchuan entered to find Ning Zhe already dressed in clean clothes, his hair combed neat and smooth.

Lang Jiuchuan said to Ning Shaosi and Ning Zhe: “As it happens, you both share the surname Ning — perhaps generations ago you were of the same family. And now you are to become the closest of kin. That too is fate.”

Ning Shaosi was subdued, casting a sidelong glance at Ning Zhe, who was now visible thanks to the incantation Lang Jiuchuan had applied. He appeared different from other people — fine-featured, with a refined and graceful bearing, his every movement suffused with openness and ease, naturally inspiring a sense of goodwill.

He didn’t dislike him. But no matter how good a person he was, he was not Father.

“Ning Zhe has only remnant souls remaining. While they can no longer sustain his body’s normal movement, his life account in the ledger of fate still shows years remaining. Even with only a remnant soul inside, he still lives. Technically, if you enter his body, it constitutes soul-usurpation. Should a skilled master detect it, destroying you would be considered doing heaven’s work.” Lang Jiuchuan looked at Ning Zhe and said: “So if you don’t wish to be discovered — if you don’t want your heart jumping every time there’s thunder and lightning — you’ll need to conceal it somewhat.”

“What needs to be done?”

“Establish a Shared Fate Contract — forged from the very soul, recognized by heaven and earth. You will jointly share this life. In fortune together, in hardship together. Once the contract is made, you will henceforth be one body, two souls. Of course, as his soul is so faint and fragmented that his soul-consciousness can never recover, he will simply remain in a deep slumber. When this body one day reaches the end of its natural life, what kind of family you reincarnate into will depend on the merit you have accumulated. Everything you do will directly affect his soul as well.”

A’Piao said from the side in a cool tone: “One body, two souls — the Heavenly Dao would not easily let you slip through such a loophole. A bolt of lightning could very well come down at any moment and finish you off. The probability of your souls being completely destroyed is extremely high.”

Ning Zhe smiled: “Just as great wealth is sought in the midst of great danger — if we want to seize this one path to survival, we must fight against heaven itself. Is that not right?”

Lang Jiuchuan tilted her head back and looked at the sky: “Indeed — to struggle against heaven is a joy beyond measure!”

A’Piao curled his lip. What a pair of madmen!