The peach wood sword, stained with a trace of blood, pierced through the writhing body of the Undying Corpse. The creature, which had swollen into an enormous mass, suddenly halted and collapsed into a pile of foul-smelling mud, splattering at Mei Zhuyu’s feet.
The mottled ground and walls of the dark alley were covered in this putrid mud left behind by the destroyed Undying Corpse. Only the spot beneath Mei Zhuyu’s feet remained clean.
With a soft patter, a drop of bright red fell on the ground beside Mei Zhuyu. He raised his hand to examine the wound on his palm, then put away the peach wood sword and turned to leave the alley.
Now that the Undying Corpse had been dealt with, it was time for him to return. Perhaps soon, ‘someone’ would come to investigate, and Mei Zhuyu had no desire to encounter them.
In the year since coming to Chang’an, Mei Zhuyu had always kept a low profile, indistinguishable from ordinary people. This was the first time he had taken action in the city. As a member of the Dao sect, with one foot in the world of supernatural beings, Mei Zhuyu was naturally aware of the Spirit Market in Chang’an, where two guardians were enshrined.
These two guardians oversaw and led all the otherworldly beings here, so dealing with evil corpses and malevolent spirits was their responsibility. Mei Zhuyu shouldn’t have interfered and acted on his own, but…
He lowered his head to wrap the wound on his hand, thinking of the Undying Bone that had gone missing. He had taken it from his cousin earlier to prevent harm, as it couldn’t hurt him. But last night, the Undying Bone had mysteriously disappeared. Because of Wu Zhen, his mind had been unsettled the previous night, and he had spent the entire night transcribing sutras in his room. It wasn’t until morning that he realized the Undying Bone at his waist was gone. Unable to find it in his room, he worried that Wu Zhen might have picked it up.
If that were the case, what if she encountered danger? No matter how exceptional she was, she was still an ordinary person. Facing something like an Undying Corpse would still be dangerous for her.
Concerned, he had been restless all day, yet couldn’t bring himself to ask Wu Zhen about it directly. To prevent her from being in danger if she had indeed picked up the Undying Bone, Mei Zhuyu could only choose to act, finding and killing the hidden Undying Corpse to solve the problem at its root. With the Undying Corpse dead, the Undying Bones would soon turn to sand, making it irrelevant whether Wu Zhen had picked one up or not.
In the Goose Tower, Wu Zhen was discussing the Undying Corpse with Snake Lord Liu Taizhen when suddenly, the transparent Undying Bone she was playing with cracked and shattered. Fine grains of sand fell through her fingers onto the smooth black table surface.
Wu Zhen and Liu Taizhen both paused and then Wu Zhen opened the small bag containing the rest of the Undying Bones. She found that they too had crumbled, pouring out onto the table as a small pile of sand.
Wu Zhen tossed the bag aside and leaned back, smiling. “Though I’m not sure what happened, it seems the Undying Corpse is dead?”
Liu Taizhen coughed lightly, her expression solemn. “What’s going on?”
Wu Zhen replied, “The thing died on its own, saving us the trouble. Isn’t that good? Why so serious?”
But Liu Taizhen wasn’t as casual about it. She frowned and said, “It couldn’t have just died for no reason. There must be a cause. We need to find out what happened, in case there are any unfavorable developments we should prepare for.”
Liu Taizhen had always been serious, to the point of being a bit pedantic. Wu Zhen thought she might have inherited her father Liu Yushi’s bad habit. But she didn’t dare say so and had to cooperate with the stern Snake Lord. Resignedly, she stood up and said, “Alright, I’ll go find out what happened and come back to tell you.”
Liu Taizhen also stood up. “I’ll go with you.”
“Come on.” Wu Zhen pushed her back into her seat. “Aren’t you still recovering? Just stay here and rest. This little matter is enough for me to handle alone.”
Liu Taizhen wanted to say more, but Wu Zhen had already leaped out the window. Her silhouette flashed once in the night and then vanished. Liu Taizhen walked to the window, quietly gazing at the bustling Spirit Market outside, and beyond that, the world of ordinary people shrouded in darkness.
The night breeze at this time of year still carried a hint of coolness. Wu Zhen stood at a high point, letting the wind brush her face. Soon, she caught a whiff of a foul odor in the wind. It was a smell imperceptible to ordinary people, but to her, it was unmistakable.
“Tch, stinks,” Wu Zhen grumbled, covering her nose with one sleeve as she stood at the entrance of the dark alley, looking at the mess on the walls and ground inside. Just from this scene, she could guess what had happened here not long ago. The unfortunate Undying Corpse had likely encountered someone from the Dao sect, and a skilled one at that.
In the air, besides the foul stench left by the Undying Corpse, there was a very faint smell of blood mixed with the unique scent of peach wood. This wasn’t ordinary peach wood, but the fragrance of the precious spiritual item, black-boned peach wood, used by the Dao sect. Only an extraordinary Dao practitioner would possess such an item. Wu Zhen wasn’t surprised that such a low-key figure was hidden in Chang’an; in fact, she knew several Dao sect members herself.
However, she was certain that the person who acted this time wasn’t anyone she knew because this Undying Corpse had died too miserably. It was evident that whoever did this was extremely cold and ruthless, unlike the usual methods of those she knew.
Huozhu and the Charlatan were also attracted by the stench. Huozhu covered his nose in disgust, looking disdainfully at the putrid mud. “These things are always so disgusting when they die.”
The Charlatan stroked his white beard and said, “It seems a kind-hearted Dao practitioner has solved our problem for us this time.”
Having confirmed there were no unusual circumstances, Wu Zhen didn’t investigate further into who had done this. She moved her hand, conjuring a dark purple flame in her palm. She threw the flame onto the putrid mud, letting it spread. In less than a quarter of an hour, all the mud was burned clean. This flame only consumed filth; when it extinguished, the dark alley remained unchanged, except for the absence of the splattered mud.
As the foul odor in the air dissipated, Wu Zhen lowered her sleeve. “Alright, let’s head back.”
With this matter resolved, Wu Zhen was in a good mood and didn’t cause any trouble for several days. The Duke of Yu had been staying at the mansion recently due to her marriage arrangements, rather than returning to the temple. He was still not used to his second daughter being so well-behaved and not causing problems. Since the day he had informed Wu Zhen of the marriage, the Duke had been constantly prepared for news of Wu Zhen causing trouble again. Who would have thought that now, with three of the six rites completed, Wu Zhen was still behaving properly without doing anything out of line? She hadn’t gone to cause trouble for the young lord of the Mei family, nor had she firmly rejected the marriage. It seemed as if she had tacitly accepted it.
“It’s not tacit acceptance, I truly agreed. Didn’t I say so?” Wu Zhen spread her hands at her father. “I think that young lord is quite good. Why wouldn’t I agree?”
The Duke of Yu, who had been prepared to make this marriage happen no matter what was moved to tears. He never thought he’d live to see the day his daughter would be so obedient. Touched by this, he immediately moved the wedding date forward by a large margin. What was he waiting for if not to take advantage of his daughter’s current agreeableness to solidify the marriage quickly?
With the strong support of the Duke of Yu and Empress Wu, Wu Zhen and Mei Zhuyu’s marriage proceeded exceptionally smoothly. After the date was set, first Wu Zhen’s friends, and then almost all of Chang’an learned that the Second Miss Wu, known for lingering in pleasure houses and brothels, often dressing as a man, and acting wildly without any sense of propriety, was finally getting married.
She was getting married!
At twenty-six years old, she was the only one among the noble circles of Chang’an to marry at such an age. Wu Zhen already had many friends, and once this news spread, she couldn’t find a moment’s peace. A crowd of acquaintances and strangers, fox friends and dog companions, all came to see her, ostensibly to offer congratulations but mostly out of curiosity about her marriage, seeking information. Faced with various questions and inquisitive gazes, Wu Zhen ignored them all and continued to live as she always had.
As for Mei Zhuyu, he also displayed unusual calmness, diligently performing his duties at work and quietly staying at home, keeping a very low profile. However, despite his discretion, Wu Zhen’s great fame allowed him to experience being the center of attention.
There were suddenly many more people finding excuses to visit the Ministry of Justice, all to observe Wu Zhen’s future husband. Even when riding his horse on the street, curious gazes constantly appraised him. He couldn’t find peace even at home, receiving many calling cards and invitations from strangers. Before this, his residence had never had visitors, nor had anyone invited him to attend any banquets or poetry gatherings.
Even on the days of court assembly held every five days, Mei Zhuyu, who had always been practically invisible, was now called over by His Majesty the Emperor for a curious inspection.
It seemed that everyone expressed disbelief and amazement at ‘Wu Zhen marrying a man’. This amazement could be broken down into two main aspects: “How could Wu Zhen fancy such an ordinary man?” and “How could any man dare to marry Wu Zhen?”
As the group closest to Mei Zhuyu, the officials of the Ministry of Justice had been gathering to discuss this matter whenever they had free time these days, all with air and expression of ‘this is too incredible’.
“I never imagined that Miss Wu would marry Section Chief Mei. These two are worlds apart, how did they end up together?”
“Indeed, Section Chief Mei has been in our Ministry of Justice for so long, have you ever seen him go to a brothel with us? I’ve never even seen him smile. He’s so young, yet so rigid and dull. Even our most playful Vice Minister Du doesn’t dare joke with him. How can such a man tolerate Miss Wu, who’s always hanging around brothels? If they marry, I’m afraid it won’t last long. They might end up arguing every other day.”
“That’s right, Miss Wu is not someone to be trifled with. I heard she once beat a young lord to death in a brothel. If she gets upset, Section Chief Mei might get beaten. The trouble is, I don’t think Section Chief Mei is the type to back down either. Oh my, just thinking about it makes me feel his days ahead will be tough.”
As they were sighing, they suddenly fell silent, looking sheepish.
Mei Zhuyu, expressionless, walked through the group of embarrassed Justice Ministry officials carrying a stack of processed documents as if he hadn’t heard their words at all. However, just as he was about to enter the door, he stopped and looked at a certain clerk in the crowd, saying coolly, “The Second Miss Wu has never beaten anyone to death. There are no related records in the Ministry of Justice archives. Article 35 of the Slander section in the ‘Legal Code’ states that groundless defamation of others can be severely punished. Be careful next time, and don’t spread rumors or cause trouble.”
The door closed, and the faces of those outside alternated between pale and flushed. The clerk who had been stared at by Mei Zhuyu, his scalp tingling, said in a low voice, “I just heard it from others, everyone says so…” He didn’t dare to continue. After a moment of silence, they all slunk back to work, chastened.