On her way back down, Qian Shanyi stopped in Tang Jisheng's living room once more. The puddle of spilled wine had caught her eye, where it was still seeping into the wooden floor, the remains of the shattered bottle scattered around it like little islands of glass in an ocean of red.

Qian Shanyi grimaced. Even if they cleaned it up now, that was going to leave a stain… She'd have to think of how to work it into her story. Now that the man was dead, it would be best to get ahead of any investigation - hide any evidence that was inconvenient, and manufacture whatever would suit them better.

Deciding to worry about it later, she went over to the corner, picked up a new pair of wine glasses and a fresh bottle of wine, and headed down to the kitchens. Two thinking heads were far better than one, after all.

By the time she arrived, Linghui Mei had already been busy preparing dinner for Qian Shanyi, of fried rice and vegetables, humming some tune under her breath. Tang Jisheng owned no icebox, and so there was no fresh meat for her to eat - and according to her, dried meat tended to give her indigestion, so she was staying hungry.

Qian Shanyi stopped at the doors, leaning up against the doorframe. "You certainly look far healthier than before," she said, watching her disciple work. "Tasty soul?"

Linghui Mei turned around with a smile, and nodded. "I haven't felt this nourished in more than a year."

At least it seemed to help her mood. Qian Shanyi was a little worried that she'd be sulking all evening.

"Hm," Qian Shanyi said, then nodded toward the pot in front of Linghui Mei. "Make two portions, will you?"

"Two?"

"Yeah. And some tea, please." Qian Shanyi said, deciding not to elaborate. Best not to tempt fate too much. She sat down, and put her feet up on top of the table. "Did you get anything from his memories?"

"Like what?" Linghui Mei said, pouring more rice into the pot, and hanging a kettle above the flame. "I haven't even fully digested him yet."

Qian Shanyi made a vague gesture in the air, briefly wondering when she could consider Tang Jisheng to be entirely dead. When his soul was gone entirely? But surely if only a couple scraps were left, it should not matter… "Strange occurrences in the preceding weeks, unusual people he met, anything of that nature," she said instead. "Anything that could help us figure out Wang Yonghao's luck, in other words."

Linghui Mei turned back to her with a light frown. "Shanyi, it's not like I have a list," she said. "His memories are still memories, not an open book. I can only say that he remembered something when I try to remember it myself, and even then, the picture is very patchy."

"Point taken," Qian Shanyi said, inclining her head. "Still, think about it, see if you can find anything of use."

Linghui Mei nodded and went back to watching the fire. "I will."

Qian Shanyi set the two glasses she brought along on the table and uncorked the bottle with the pull of a single finger. She poured one glass for herself and paused before the second. "Will you drink?" she asked.

"Perhaps a bit."

Wine poured into the glass, and Qian Shanyi picked up her own, swirling the wine. She looked around the room, gazing through her wine and out one of the windows into the garden beyond. The kitchen was built in the corner of the house, and the windows were merely latched in place - easy to open, if she needed to get out on open ground in a hurry. With her spiritual energy senses fully extended, she had the entire house within her range, but it remained to see if the little fish would take the bait.

"How about this," Qian Shanyi said, turning her attention back to Linghui Mei. "Did Tang Jisheng really meet Zhang Zhuangtian, and if so, did he conceal anything about those visits?"

Linghui Mei tapped a ladle she used to stir salt into the water on the edge of the pot, before closing it up, and taking her seat opposite Qian Shanyi. "They really did meet twice, I think," she said, giving Qian Shanyi a grateful nod when her master used one foot to slide the half-full glass of wine across the table. "But the second time… They had an argument."

"What kind of argument?"

Linghui Mei shook her head. "I don't know. I only have flashes, images, a few words here or there. More of what he felt and saw, far less of what he said."

Qian Shanyi took a careful sip of the wine. Now that she didn't need to be on guard around Tang Jisheng, it tasted even better. "And what did he feel?"

Linghui Mei closed her eyes, frowning slightly. Her spiritual tails bit off another chunk of Tang Jisheng's remaining soul. "Cruel indignation. They argued for an hour. He tried to twist the knife."

"Hmmm," Qian Shanyi said, gazing down into her glass. "He did seem like the type."

She trailed off, and for a moment, they drank their wine in silence.

"What will we do about the body?" Linghui Mei asked, glancing up to the ceiling.

"Just report it to the magistrate, I think," Qian Shanyi said. Once she thought about it, the solution was entirely obvious. "I'll say that the ghost appeared and killed the man, write up the report about my findings. It would explain any leftover signs of our little fight - and we'll clean up the rest."

"Very well, master."

Qian Shanyi gave Linghui Mei a weird look. "What, is that all? I've had a whole speech in mind. You would ask if the investigators would find our cleanup suspicious, and I would tell them that I thought it disrespectful to the late honorable cultivator Tang to leave his dwelling in poor condition -"

Linghui Mei shrugged. "Master would know best what would look suspicious or not," she said, softly interrupting her. "I've never done any such thing myself. Running away always seemed far simpler."

Qian Shanyi snorted in disappointment. "Well, it's true enough," she admitted grudgingly. "Assuming Yonghao is close, then we may do so as well. But I have no plans of staying on the run for the rest of my life, so it would be best if any investigation concluded quickly."

"Then you seem far too calm."

"Why shouldn't I be calm?" Qian Shanyi shrugged. "I have done nothing wrong, and frankly had every right to kill him. The only sticking point is your involvement - as long as nobody looks too closely, we should be fine, and in a week, even your scent would fade. He didn't have a strong family that would seek revenge, did he?"

Linghui Mei closed her eyes again. "Nobody close. He hadn't visited his parents in six years."

"Just about what I thought then."

Linghui Mei nodded, stood up to take the rice out of the pot, and started frying it with the various vegetables.

Qian Shanyi poured herself more wine, still thinking about the ghost. "Indignation… Indignation…" she said thoughtfully, tapping the glass against her forehead. "Why would he feel indignation? And why be cruel about it? What did Zhang Zhuangtian say to him?"

"I can't remember."

"I wasn't asking you, just reasoning out loud. The man himself is sadly not around to be questioned any further."

A movement at the edge of her spiritual energy awareness caught her notice, and her lips split in a grin. The bait had worked out in the end. That made everything so much simpler.

"Then again…" she said, reaching behind herself to open the kitchen door. "Perhaps we can ask the other witness."

Linghui Mei turned around in confusion, hands full with a kettle of tea - but Qian Shanyi had paid her no mind. She turned around in her seat, facing the staircase.

"Zhang Zhuangtian?" she called out, projecting her voice so that it could be heard all the way on the third floor. "If you would only come down here, I'd very much like to talk with you!"

It took their new guest ten minutes to descend down to the first floor. It was little wonder, when he still wasn't used to his new body. It was also more than enough time for Linghui Mei to finish frying the rice. Qian Shanyi had expected another lecture about respecting the dead - but perhaps Linghui Mei held no such qualms about a dead cultivator.

Qian Shanyi kept track of the man, of his awkward, stumbling steps - and of his spiritual energy. It let her eat in peace right up until the moment when he came into sight.

From where Qian Shanyi was sitting, she would have had to turn her chair around to face the staircase. Instead, she simply craned her neck over the back of her chair. She figured it would make her seem a little silly, and quite harmless - which was exactly the impression she wanted to convey.

She also didn't really want to take her feet off the table. This position was far too comfortable.

That was how she laid eyes on Tang Jisheng, descending down the stairs - though from her warped perspective he was walking on the ceiling. He seemed unsteady on his feet, one of his arms twitching at his side, the other one placed against the wall to keep him steady. He had stopped as soon as he saw her, his face seeming far more fearful than before, with not even a hint of that earlier rage.

Qian Shanyi was the first to break the mutual silence. "Zhang Zhuangtian, I presume?" she said, "I am Xing Qiaoli, of the Sky Void Island Temple Sect."

Tang Jisheng's body swallowed nervously. "How do you know my name?" he said.

"I know many things," Qian Shanyi said in her most mysterious intonation. "I even brought your corpse back from the forest."

"That was you?" the man said, before bowing almost to the ground. "I - thank you, honorable immortal."

"Mmm. Will you come around and take a seat?" Qian Shanyi said, gesturing with her chopsticks towards her bowl of fried rice. "My disciple had made some excellent food, and I know for a fact that you have not had a bite to eat for an entire week."

But Tang Jisheng's body made no move towards her. "I don't understand."

"What is it that you do not understand, fellow explorer Zhang?"

He swallowed again, hesitant to speak his thoughts out loud. "You are a cultivator. You tried to kill me in the town square. So why did you kill Tang Jisheng?"

Qian Shanyi sighed. If he didn't see what happened, it was quite reasonable to blame her, and not her disciple. Best not to risk terrifying him about jiuweihu involvement. "Let's just say that we had an unresolvable disagreement about the Dao," she said flatly. "I wish I could say it was because of your situation, but I am afraid it was mostly unrelated."

"So… Will you kill me too?"

"Do I look like I am about to kill you?" Qian Shanyi asked sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Honorable poet Zhang, I'd love to answer any questions you may have - but my neck is starting to hurt. Would you please just take a seat?"

That was a lie on both counts. Qian Shanyi had been ready to kill the man ever since she dragged Tang Jisheng's body all the way up to the third floor. With how tall the house was, she was sure that Zhang Zhuangtian would not expect her spiritual energy senses to stretch that far - and a fresh corpse was an irresistible bait for the ghost. Once he was all the way up there, he would have nowhere to go but downwards, where she was already waiting - and if he tried to flee through the air, then her flying sword would destroy him instantly. An inescapable trap.

She really wanted to talk to the man first. If nothing else, it was only polite. But at the end of the day, there was only one way this could ever end.

As for her neck… It was completely fine. In fact, she could have kept the same position for an entire hour - but the request was difficult to argue with. The bonds of politeness would force Zhang Zhuangtian's hand here - as long as he didn't want to appear discourteous, he should grant her this much. It wasn't unusual for fear of offending to be stronger than even fear for one's own life, after all.

Sure enough, after some hesitation, Zhang Zhuangtian had finally headed towards the kitchen, stumbling slightly on the way. Tang Jisheng's legs must have been longer than the ones he was used to.

"I've left your parents some money," Qian Shanyi said, pushing one of the chairs away from the table with her foot. Not the one opposite her - but to her side. She didn't want to seem antagonistic. "Enough to tide them over for the next year, I think."

Zhang Zhuangtian stopped with his hand on the back of the chair. His lips contorted, and he wiped the tears that suddenly started to well up in his eyes with his sleeve, before bowing down to the ground again. "I am forever in your debt, honorable immortal Xing."

"You can thank me by answering some of my questions," Qian Shanyi said, "We still have some holes we'd like to fill up."

"Okay," Zhang Zhuangtian said, finally sitting down.

Qian Shanyi gestured towards Linghui Mei, and received a glare in response. Linghui Mei had been eyeing Zhang Zhuangtian warily ever since he walked in, and stayed on the exact opposite side of the kitchen from him.

<The rice?> Qian Shanyi signed to Linghui Mei. <You can be scared of our resident ghost on your own time.>

Qian Shanyi wasn't sure if she would be understood - neither of them spoke imperial sign perfectly - but most of it seemed to have come though anyways, because Linghui Mei's lips twitched in anger. Thankfully, she didn't speak back, and got another bowl, piling some rice up for their guest.

"Please pay no mind to my petulant disciple," Qian Shanyi said, when Linghui Mei sat the bowl down on the table with a clank and sent it sliding towards Zhang Zhuangtian, chopsticks sticking out of it as if it was an offering for the dead. At any other time, she'd have thought the insult clever. "She is somewhat unnerved by your nature, that is all."

Perhaps she should have warned Linghui Mei - but this trap of hers was mostly a spur of the moment thing, and she was far from sure if it would even work. Tempting the Heavens by discussing it out loud seemed riskier than not.

"I… understand," Zhang Zhuangtian said, carefully pulling the bowl towards him. "I do not know how to deal with it myself."

Qian Shanyi gave Zhang Zhuangtian some time to dig into the food, pouring him a cup of tea. She didn't entirely trust Linghui Mei not to spill it by "accident".

"We know, roughly, what happened," Qian Shanyi said, setting the cup in front of Zhuang Zhuangtian. "We know about Song Hexiang. We know about your child. Yet why did you try so hard to kill Tang Jisheng? As far as he told us, he had merely told you to wait."

"That bastard!" Zhuang Zhuangtian said, grasping his chopsticks tightly in his fist. For a moment, even his natural fear of her seemed to recede. "Of course he would lie about it!"

Qian Shanyi merely raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.

Zhuang Zhuangtian sighed, and took a careful sip of his tea. "I've met him twice," he said slowly. "The first time, it was with Song Hexiang. She… she is incredible, but sometimes, she is too quick to say the first thing that comes to her mind. And… that time, she said some things..."

"She told me that she threatened Tang Jisheng," Qian Shanyi said. "That if he spoke to anyone, she would say the child was his. Is that what you mean?"

"She actually told you that?" Zhuang Zhuangtian said, his eyes going wide. "I mean - honorable immortal Xing, I apologise for my disrespect, but yes, that is exactly it. I don't think she meant it, but she couldn't take her words back once spoken. Tang Jisheng had thrown us out of his house after that."

"But he didn't tell anybody."

"No. But the next time I met him…" Zhuang Zhuangtian said, clenching his fist again. His whole body shook, an ugly grimace marring Tang Jisheng's face. "I came to ask if there was anything I could do to help - perhaps I could buy the pills for him, from another town. We talked. And he said… He said…"

Suddenly, all the strength seemed to have left his body. Chopsticks clattered onto the table, as Zhuang Zhuangtian covered his face up with both hands. "He said that maybe it was a good idea," he said hollowly. "That maybe he won't even do anything, until it will be too late. Until she couldn't hide the child. And then she won't have a choice but to marry him."

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Qian Shanyi whistled in surprise. Well, that would certainly explain some things.

Song Hexiang's family was not that rich by her standards, but by the standards of this area… If Tang Jisheng married into it, his debt problems would be resolved on the spot. With the security it afforded, he could even get a proper medical education. She very much doubted he was entirely unaware of his own deficiencies.

It was hard to say if Tang Jisheng truly meant it, if Song Hexiang's careless words have made him change his plans - or if he simply used it as a way to taunt Zhang Zhuangtian. If he did mean it, then it would certainly explain his inaction. If he didn't… It might be the influence of Wang Yonghao's luck that made him choose those specific words. But at this point, it hardly even mattered.

"You think he truly wanted to marry her?" Qian Shanyi asked, just to be thorough.

"I don't know. But I couldn't let that happen. I had to do something."

"So you went to gather the sunscythes yourself."

Zhang Zhuangtian shrugged helplessly. "Well, not right away. I asked for some from the herbalists. They told me where to find them."

"Why didn't you ask the midwives for the pills?"

"How could I?" Zhang Zhuangtian said, his lips curling into a bitter grimace. It looked strangely on Tang Jisheng's arrogant face. "They all talk to each other. I have a friend, Wu Fen… When she went to a midwife, within a week, everyone had heard the rumors that she was heavy with a child. It wasn't even true. I couldn't risk that, and if I went to another town, it would be even more noticeable."

"I see."

Zhang Zhuangtian laughed sadly, wiping his eyes again. "It's such cruel luck. If only I'd done it a couple weeks earlier…"

Qian Shanyi raised one eyebrow curiously, finishing up her glass of wine. Why would the time change anything about what he said? "Done what? Gather the sunscythes?"

Zhang Zhuangtian made a vague gesture in the air, still wiping his eyes. "No. The herbalists. They had some sunscythes, but just a few weeks before, they sold out everything they had."

"They… sold everything?" Qian Shanyi repeated slowly, her mind spinning up again. It was a little sluggish from the wine, but only a little bit. "To whom?"

"Some outsider," Zhang Zhuangtian muttered, going back to his rice.

Qian Shanyi leaned forwards, all her attention focusing on the man before her - the man who just said something that absolutely, completely didn't fit. "Honorable Zhang, this is extremely important," she said, "who was it that bought out all the sunscythes in town?"

Zhang Zhuangtian met her eyes, put aback by her sudden intensity. "It was… some cultivator, I think," he said uncertainly. "I tried to find him, to buy some from him - but nobody I spoke to knew him. I think he was just passing through. That's all I know, honorable immortal Xing. I swear."

"Very well," Qian Shanyi said, leaning back, and utterly failing to hide her disappointment. "Would you mind telling me which herbalists you've spoken to?"

Zhang Zhuangtian named a few, all of which she already knew. She would have to question them tomorrow, just in case he missed something. Because this was exactly what she was looking for.

Someone buying all the sunscythes in town… Simply didn't make sense. Ordinarily, they had no use to anyone - that was why herbalists hardly stocked any. That pointed a finger at Wang Yonghao's luck as the culprit. But if his luck was at fault - then it posed a crucial question.

Did Wang Yonghao's luck rely on his own knowledge?

So far, Qian Shanyi had been assuming that Wang Yonghao's luck worked mostly the same as that of any other cultivator, if hypertrophied and with an utterly twisted set of goals, and the luck of an ordinary cultivator depended on their knowledge. The more they knew about the situation, the stronger its influence - after all, if the cultivator couldn't even tell what kinds of outcomes would benefit them, then how could their luck?

But if that was the case… the timeline simply didn't add up. Wang Yonghao should have had no idea where they were until he read Qian Shanyi's letter, and for him to do so several weeks before Zhang Zhuangtian headed into the forest… It would have meant he decided to return almost a month ahead of schedule. Did something happen, or was her assumption wrong on the face of things?

That cultivator was the key. If only she could talk to him, then perhaps…

"If only I'd gone to the herbalists earlier, then I wouldn't have had to die in vain," Zhang Zhuangtian said, pulling Qian Shanyi out of her ruminations.

"Fellow tea-drinker Zhang, you shouldn't be so hard on yourself," she said almost automatically, before realising that she had no tea cup in front of herself. She reached over to the kettle, so that she could avoid being a liar on a technicality. "If you had not died in the forest, I would have never even suspected Song Hexiang was pregnant - and then I could not have helped her. In a way, fate has granted you your wish."

"So it was true. I suspected, but… I couldn't see what happened." Zhang Zhuangtian said, before standing up, and bowing down to the floor once more. "Honorable immortal Xing, I do not know how I could ever repay this debt."

Qian Shanyi's eye twitched, but she kept her mouth shut. "Mm. It was nothing, I merely did what any other cultivator would have done," she said, swirling the tea in her teacup. With all this talk of what happened, with all her thoughts of luck, she almost managed to forget what still had to be done. "Unlike you. It was quite brave, to head so deep into the swamp all on your own. To risk your life. You must truly love Song Hexiang with your whole heart."

"I do," Zhang Zhuangtian said, nodding decisively. "I would die for her. I did die for her."

His voice sounded so hopelessly naive to Qian Shanyi's ears. When he wore Tang Jisheng's face, it was far too easy to forget just how young he really was. The sentiment felt annoying, in an indescribable sort of way, but Qian Shanyi could not deny that his devotion came through, even in the voice of another man.

"Hm. Well, let's not be too hasty. You might still get your chance," Qian Shanyi muttered.

"What?"

"How about your parents?" Qian Shanyi continued, ignoring the question. "You love them too?"

"Of course. I am a good son."

"What an admirable attitude," she said, and downed her cup of tea in a single gulp, before setting it back down on the table with a clean clack. "Tell me, how much do you know about ghosts?"

"I… don't understand, honorable immortal."

"You are a ghost," Qian Shanyi said bluntly, staring in Zhang Zhuangtian's - Tang Jisheng's possessed eyes. "I am asking how much you know about your new condition."

Zhang Zhuangtian flinched, stepping back from the table. He must have realised it already, but to hear it stated so plainly, it was still a great shock. A week of new existence was far from enough time to come to terms with it.

Not that he would get another.

"Please try and remain calm; you are in no danger in this room," Qian Shanyi said, just in case he might decide to try something. He was a little hard to read, partly because he was still unused to his new face - his expression twitched slightly, not quite moving as one would expecting it to. "You are surprisingly coherent, for a ghost. Perhaps out of some instinct, you've refrained from attacking the ordinary people. I commend you on your restraint. But I am afraid it leaves one problem before us."

It was probably the pills to blame - if they were meant to fortify the spirit, then perhaps they've done their job admirably.

"What problem, honorable immortal Xing?" Zhang Zhuangtian asked after a full minute. She waited for him to do so, to give him back some control over the conversation - he would need it.

"Have you ever seen a dam erode away under the flow of water?" Qian Shanyi said, waving her hand in the air and circulating the Crushing Glance of the Netherworld Eyes to draw a picture out of diffuse light right in front of her. "It all starts with a small stream, one that digs into the structure, until more and more of the dam falls away, and you are left with nothing but a roaring river. Right now, your soul is much the same. Spiritual energy recirculates through your meridians, and with every circuit, it erodes your soul. Your thoughts, your memories, your skills - everything that makes you who you are will soon be gone."

Zhang Zhuangtian had backed up against a wall, terror gripping his body. His eyes were open so wide she could swear she could almost see his soul through them.

"Of course, there is a way to slow this process - or even reverse it, to an extent," Qian Shanyi said, lowering her hand, and letting the picture disperse. "Heal your soul back up. Every ghost knows it instinctively. To survive, you must kill."

"No!" Zhang Zhuangtian cried out. "I am not that kind of man!"

"I am not suggesting you are," Qian Shanyi said, before gesturing to his chair. "Sit down, please."

She couldn't afford to have him up against the wall. If he decided to flee through it, it would be far too troublesome. Sitting in a chair in front of her, she was certain that she could pull out her sword and obliterate his soul before it had a chance to disappear through the floor.

Admittedly, she wasn't even sure if he knew how to leave this body again, now that he had possessed it - but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Zhang Zhuangtian's wild gaze flickered across the room, from the door to the windows. In that one moment, he looked almost identical to Tang Jisheng - and yet, there was one simple difference.

He sat down.

"In truth, you won't have a choice in the matter," Qian Shanyi said sadly, pouring the man some more tea. "For now, you are coherent enough to speak. For now, you aren't that kind of man. But once your soul erodes enough, you will forget your morals. The ravenous hunger will consume you, and you will come for those who still hold some place in your heart. Your friends. Your parents." She looked directly in his eyes. "Song Hexiang."

That set Zhang Zhuangtian shaking again. "I - I -"

"We won't let that happen, of course," Qian Shanyi said, before his nerves could get any worse. "You have two choices before you."

She raised one finger. "The empire is greatly interested in researching your condition, for obvious reasons," she continued, "As you are still sane, we can bring you to the ministry of education. You will be taught how to recirculate your spiritual energy, how to be a cultivator, and perhaps you will discover something that other ghost cultivators could not. But I am afraid that your chances are extremely slim. Your new body is in the best possible condition it could be - but sooner or later, it too will start to break down. It will rot, and it will fall apart - and then, you will lose that link once more."

"How long - how long do I have?" Zhang Zhuangtian said, his shaking growing more severe.

"My guess is months - and you will be starting with no foundation, no knowledge to work with," Qian Shanyi continued. "Most likely, you will spend the last few months of your life secreted far away from civilization, observed by other cultivators at all hours of day and night, forced to study arcane secrets even as your very mind comes apart at the seams - until finally, you will be too far gone. Then you will be executed." She paused for a moment. If he was already a cultivator… but no. "I cannot say that I recommend this choice."

"And the other choice?"

"You will allow yourself to be killed right now. It will be painless and quick."

Zhang Zhuangtian sniffled, tears welling up in his eyes once again. He shook his head, pulling back from the table.

"I am truly sorry that you have to go through this," Qian Shanyi said, watching him try to reject the reality directly in front of him. "The truth is, the fates have dealt you a truly rotten hand. You deserve none of it. And yet, none of us can refuse to play this game, whatever cards we have." She sighed, taking a calming sip of her tea. "You can take until midnight to decide - if you wish to join the empire, then we would have to set off right away. And of course, if you have some last requests, I will do my best to fulfill them, within reason. But you have two choices - and decide you must."

That's a lie, her subconsciousness helpfully supplied. To cultivate is to rebel against the heavens. If the fates present you with a pair of doors, then what kind of cultivator will be satisfied until they cut through a wall to make a third one?

The souls of ghosts ripped themselves apart, until they drowned in ravenous hunger. Even a ghost that had possessed a body was merely delaying the inevitable, as the possession damaged the body. That was the common wisdom.

Yet was it true?

Ordinarily, when a ghost possessed a body, it had to rip out the soul that already resided there - which irrecoverably damaged the body's meridians. This damage only grew, until the body succumbed to it and perished. But Tang Jisheng's soul had been consumed by a jiuweihu. In terms of meridian damage, his body might well have been one of the most well-preserved possession targets in history. And Zhang Zhuangtian's soul had been uniquely strengthened, compared to most newly born ghosts.

Could he avoid the fate that plagued all the other ghosts? Could his new body begin to heal in truth, instead of entering the death spiral of accelerating damage? After all, cultivators of higher realms could leave their bodies whenever they wished. It was not inconceivable for Tang Jisheng to be an exception to the rules.

The chance seemed extremely low, but Qian Shanyi could not deny that it was there. And yet, she stayed silent. If she were to bring it up, she would have to reveal the nature of Linghui Mei - and her first responsibility was to her disciple. If Zhang Zhuangtian chose to go to the empire of his own volition, that would be one thing - but she would not risk all their secrets on a maybe.

There were already far, far too many balls in the air for her comfort. One enormous project at a time.

"I could… flee into the swamps, right?" Zhang Zhuangtian begged. "Then I won't be a danger to anyone, I -"

There were many things Qian Shanyi could say to that. That she could not trust him that much, that the empire would need to know what happened to the ghost - but if she wanted the man to listen…

"Would you risk Song Hexiang's life like that?" She said plainly. "On the chance that you won't be able to find your way back?"

That brought him up short. "No," he said, clenching his teeth. "I can't."

"You've been brave enough to risk your life for her before," Qian Shanyi said. "Now you have to be brave enough to make the choice."

Zhang Zhuangtian shut his eyes, his face screwed up in a grimace - but after a minute, he nodded, so quickly as if he was trying to make sure he had no time left to reconsider. "Fine," he said, his voice hollow. "I'll… I'll do it. But… Can I meet Ah Hexiang one last time? Even just to see her from afar…"

"If she is still at home, I will ask her if she'd like to meet you," Qian Shanyi said easily. Some tension left her shoulders too - even if it was possible he could still change his mind, she thought that most of the danger had passed. "Perhaps some closure will be helpful for the both of you. I hope I can count on the honorable Zhang to wait patiently for my return?"

The festival had already started when Qian Shanyi had left Tang Jisheng's house. It had only grown more riotous by the time she returned. Every street in every town and little village had filled up with people, old and young, with dancing, music and fireworks, with cheers, food and drink aplenty. Back in the Golden Rabbit Bay, if you looked down from above, it seemed as if the streets had turned into streams of rainbow colors - but even here, in the Five Sealed Hills region, the impression was magnificent. People dug into their closets for their best clothes, and many of them wore costumes - and of course, everyone was masked.

It made it so much more convenient to move around discreetly, when one wished to.

Qian Shanyi wore a phoenix mask she bought just yesterday - though she wondered how many could mistake her physique for that of another. At least in a crowd, where her height could be somewhat concealed, it made her a little less recognisable. "We should be just a few minutes away now," she told the masked Song Hexiang at her side, as they hurried through the streets of Sickle Springs on their way back.

Song Hexiang did not deign to respond. She wore a cat mask, and a cloak - both bought by Qian Shanyi on her way out. She didn't want to risk someone from the Song estate recognising one of her older masks.

Fate had once again favored her - Song Hexiang had stayed home, and locked herself up in her rooms, pretending to be sick. Perhaps she was still recovering, or perhaps she simply didn't feel up for a celebration - but it played well into Qian Shanyi's hands. She had snuck in through a balcony, and as soon as the first words left her mouth, Song Hexiang outright demanded to be brought to see Zhang Zhuangtian. Qian Shanyi had to carry her in her hands to sneak her out.

Once they left the center of Sickle Springs, the noise had receded into the distance behind them. Tang Jisheng's tower was built overlooking the river, and most people preferred not to trek this far up the hill to get to their house. It gave them a small measure of privacy - at least enough for a little talk.

"The ghostfall seems to be starting," Qian Shanyi said, slowing down and raising her eyes upwards, where white streaks had started to line the sky like strokes of a dry brush. "It's an auspicious timing, I suppose."

"Auspicious?!" Song Hexiang hissed. "It means we are late!"

She grabbed at Qian Shanyi's sleeve, trying to pull her along faster - to absolutely no avail.

"Don't worry, your friend is far too strong to be simply swept away," Qian Shanyi said casually. "I wanted to make sure you understood the situation. If you wish to turn back -"

"No."

"Hmpf," Qian Shanyi said, flicking Song Hexiang on the back of her head. "Let your elders finish speaking before you decide. Friend or not, a ghost is still a ghost. It's impossible for us to entirely guarantee your safety. My disciple will stay nearby no matter what, but if you wish for privacy, then it will be your risk to take."

"You said this already," Song Hexiang said, crossing her arms. She seemed to be visibly restraining herself from outright snapping. "I understand."

"I am not sure you do, frankly, but I suppose it doesn't matter," Qian Shanyi said. "Even if you wish to risk your life out of youthful naivete, it's still your choice, and I've said my part. You will have the time until the sunrise, and no longer."

"Fine."

Qian Shanyi nodded, and turned to head towards the tower. It was only a short walk away now.

She had left Linghui Mei to watch over Zhang Zhuangtian - with strict orders to eat his soul if he ever tried to flee. As long as she stayed right next to the man, he should have posed no trouble. Even if Linghui Mei found dealing with a ghost disturbing in the extreme, she trusted her disciple to follow instructions.

Qian Shanyi had expected to find the two of them still in the kitchens - but as it happened, they seemed to have climbed up to the roof instead. There was a hatch at the very top of the staircase, perhaps left as a way to access the roof for maintenance, or perhaps because Tang Jisheng liked to watch the stars.

It was a perfect day to do so. The stars shone just as brightly as the moons, and the ghostfall above their heads grew stronger with every passing moment - a thick white river streaking out across the sky, splitting off into smaller streams way in the distance.

Qian Shanyi could feel it tugging at her soul, ever so softly. She couldn't before, not until she reached the high refinement stage. It was a strange feeling - like a vertigo for a cliff she couldn't even perceive.

Linghui Mei sat just a few feet behind Zhang Zhuangtian, who watched the sky with rapturous attention. "I never noticed how beautiful it truly is," he whispered when Qian Shanyi stepped out onto the roof.

"Your eyes are better now," Qian Shanyi said by way of calling his attention, while she helped Song Hexiang with the last few steps of the ladder.

Zhang Zhuangtian turned around and froze, seeing his beloved. "They truly are…" he said softly.

Song Hexiang had gazed over the man as well, her eyes narrowing a fraction. The certainty that filled her before had seemed to vanish at the sight of Tang Jisheng's face. Qian Shanyi had told her what to expect, of course, but words were far from the same as seeing it with her own two eyes.

"Who are you?" Song Hexiang had asked, suspicion plain in her voice.

The words had struck Zhang Zhuangtiang directly into his heart. He stepped back, stumbling a fraction. "It's… it's me, Hexiang," he said in Tang Jisheng's voice, tears welling up in his eyes. "It's Zhuangtian."

Song Hexiang's expression did not change any. She glanced at Qian Shanyi, looking for guidance - but the cultivator had none to offer. This wasn't something she had ever had to deal with.

A song broke the midnight silence. It spilled out of Tang Jisheng's mouth, like a waterfall on a bright summer day.

"Ah!" Song Hexiang gasped, and covered her mouth with one hand. Her entire body shook, as her eyes filled with tears, to mirror the ones in the man's eyes. "Zhuangtian… It really is you…"

Zhang Zhuangtian had stepped towards Song Hexiang, hesitantly at first, but growing more certain with every step - until they embraced each other in full.

And above them, the stars fell like tears, soaking the sky in starlight.

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