Lang Jiuchuan pulled the Old Madam closer to examine her carefully. There was indeed the aura of another living soul present, and so she asked: “How did you come to be here?”

The Old Madam Lang was quite bewildered: “I heard music playing, and then I saw everything bathed in brilliant red — very festive and joyful — so I just followed along.”

Lang Jiuchuan pondered this. From the sound of it, could she have stumbled upon a ghost wedding and wandered through an open spirit gate by mistake?

Lang Zhengping spoke up from the side: “Never mind all that — we’ve found her soul now, so let’s hurry back, shall we?”

Dear niece — this is hardly the time or place for a reunion and questions. Better to get away while we can.

Lang Jiuchuan didn’t press the matter further. A soul that had been separated too long was also dangerous, especially one that had ended up here on the Road to the Underworld — the place with the heaviest yin energy of all. Best to head back first.

She used the Panguan brush to guide the Old Madam’s soul into the paper figure, then wrapped it in the inner garment. She took Lang Zhengping by the hand and had just started to leave when she suddenly paused and looked back.

Several ghostly shadows were lurking there, peering at her furtively. Caught in her gaze, they panicked and wanted to flee — but it was too late.

“You. Come here.”

The few ghost runners cursed their bad luck inwardly as they were pushed and jostled forward, bowing with ingratiating smiles: “Greetings, Miss.”

“Do me a favor and find out for me whether there was a ghost wedding held today — the commotion was enough to open a spirit gate and draw my family’s Old Madam right through it. Find out and report back to me.” Lang Jiuchuan thought for a moment, then added: “Also — there are two new ghosts who arrived recently. One is named Song Chengfu. The other is a woman — what was her surname again, Rong something?”

She looked at Lang Zhengping. He was still staring blankly at the ghost runners in their official robes. Noticing Lang Jiuchuan’s gaze fixed on him, he realized she was asking about the Yiniang from the Lu family — the one surnamed Rong — and said: “Rong Lili. The ‘li’ as in beautiful.”

“Right, those two are water ghosts. Where have they gotten to by now? Have them come to me — I have things to ask.” Lang Jiuchuan said.

The ghost runners looked pained: “Miss, this is against the rules…”

Lang Jiuchuan’s eyes narrowed: “Against the rules? Then I’ll go find Panguan Cui. I have some questions for him too — about whether what he arranged for me back then was in accordance with the rules.”

The ghost runners jumped: “There is absolutely no need to trouble Panguan Cui for this. Song Chengfu and Rong Lili, you said? We’ll go find them right away. Being new ghosts, they won’t have moved on to reincarnation yet.”

The ghost runners scattered in all directions in an instant.

Lang Zhengping watched with his mouth agape, then looked at Lang Jiuchuan with an expression more terrified than the one he’d worn looking at actual ghosts. This is something else — his niece can actually order ghost runners around.

She’s more frightening than a ghost!

Lang Zhengping’s expression was excessively alarmed and fearful. Noticing Lang Jiuchuan’s gaze sweep toward him, he quickly waved his hands: “I don’t mean anything by it — but why are you looking for those two?”

“Someone is trying to move against the Lang Family, and we’ve supposedly got no evidence because the witnesses are dead — well, since I’m already here, I might as well save myself the trouble of calling their souls up again later. That would waste my accumulated merit.” Back then, she had asked Gaoping to find the birth dates of those two specifically for a soul summoning — only Gaoping hadn’t reported back yet, and she had gone off to the Shen family in the meantime, leaving the matter unresolved. But now that she was on underworld territory itself — why wait until she returned and spend merit and cultivation on it?

She was physically impaired, not a fool.

Lang Zhengping was genuinely moved, however. Seeing how she never seemed to fit in or be accepted within the Lang Family, he had assumed there was resentment in her heart. But it turned out that, deep down, this child still kept the Lang Family in mind.

If Lang Jiuchuan knew what he was thinking, she would probably say: you’re reading too much into it. This is entirely for my own sake — after all, if the Lang Family falls, it won’t go well for me either.

The ghost runners returned quickly. Two of them dragged along a pair of wandering souls in chains — one male, one female. These must be Song Chengfu and Rong Lili without a doubt.

“Miss, we found them. They had already made their way to the Stone of Three Lives.”

Lang Zhengping’s expression turned solemn. They had actually been found. “No evidence because the witnesses are dead” — from now on, anyone who said those words, he had a very good rebuttal ready. That rebuttal was called: not necessarily!

Song Chengfu and Rong Lili had been hauled over without warning by the ghost runners, and the two of them were still somewhat dazed and unsettled. When they caught sight of Lang Zhengping and Lang Jiuchuan, they froze for a moment.

“Young Master Lang — you’re dead too?”

Lang Zhengping: “!”

Fresh ghost, can’t you speak like a ghost ought to?

“Since you recognize me, then answer this: before my father’s coffin was sealed for burial, you made a donation of a gilded statue of the Patriarch at Taiqing Monastery — was that your doing, following someone’s instructions to scheme against my Lang Family?” Lang Zhengping demanded sternly.

Song Chengfu looked confused: “What scheme? This commoner doesn’t understand what the Young Master is talking about. The statue donation — I was simply asking for blessings on behalf of the Lu Family’s Old Madam. Wasn’t she nearing her birthday celebration? Isn’t that right, Cousin?” he said, turning to the woman beside him.

Lang Jiuchuan said: “At the time of my grandfather’s coffin sealing, that despicable Daoist intended to perform forbidden rites inside the coffin. We had only just traced the matter back to the two of you when you drowned — the result of your own illicit conduct. Even if you were not the masterminds, someone made you their scapegoats. So think carefully before you speak: how is it that you came to donate a statue at Taiqing Monastery?”

The two ghosts went pale and ashen, as though jolted into recollection. They cried out in shrill voices: “What illicit conduct? We were completely clean in our dealings — and besides, we are blood siblings! How could we possibly have conducted any illicit affair?”

“What?” The ghost runners on the side perked up with interest.

“Lili is my own younger sister. It was only because our aunt had no children that Lili was given to her to raise as a foster daughter.” Song Chengfu said heatedly: “Our Song family made our living in porcelain trade, under the patronage of the Lu Family. The Lu Family’s Old Madam was nearing her birthday, and so I went to donate the statue to pray for her longevity and good health — and it was Lili who suggested it.”

Rong Lili said: “I happened to overhear a maidservant in the household saying that the young mistress intended to do the same to win the Old Madam’s favor. So I told my brother to go and get there first. I truly know nothing about any underworld rites.”

Lang Jiuchuan and Lang Zhengping exchanged a glance. So the trail led back to the Lu Family all along.

Whether the Lu Family was the true mastermind — that was still hard to say. After all, who that maidservant served was an open question.

Song Chengfu’s face blazed with indignation: “So we were wrongly killed — we really were made into scapegoats. Who did this to us, using such a shameless pretext to murder us both — was it the Lu Family?”

A surge of resentment erupted from his soul — thick, dark, and viscous. His expression, previously somewhat composed, began to twist and distort.

This was the beginning of a transformation into a resentful ghost.

Several ghost runners immediately yanked on the soul-binding chains: “Settle down. You dare act as a resentful ghost here? Do you want a trip through the Hound’s Ravine? Whatever injustice you suffered, there are Panguan officials who will hear your case. Every act of good and evil will be laid bare. Whoever did wrong — no matter how well they hid themselves in life, here in the Underworld, no one escapes!”

Song Chengfu was deeply unwilling to accept it.

Lang Jiuchuan then asked Rong Lili whether she could recall which maidservant had said those things. Naturally, Rong Lili could not — she had been eavesdropping besides. Looking back now, it seemed the information had been deliberately let slip within her hearing, so that she would go and compete for that honor.

She had been so foolish.

Rong Lili let out a weeping ghost’s wail.

Lang Jiuchuan had the ghost runners take them away, then looked at Lang Zhengping’s face, which had gone as dark as the bottom of a pot. She said: “Though we’ve gained no direct proof, it isn’t entirely without result either. There is definitely something wrong within the Lu Family. As for who it is — one scheme has failed; there will certainly be another.”

Lang Zhengping stiffened: “Meaning the person behind all this will redouble their efforts against our entire clan?”

Really — the Lang Family had long retreated from the center of power and lived on the margins. Who on earth were they standing in the way of?