Chapter 2 A Youth to be Feared

Wuyou was shriveled into a ball, with the trees in the yard casting shimmering shadows, and sounds of the morning call echoing in the distance. Suddenly, a burst of cries came from the yard, followed by a thick smell of blood that made Wuyou nauseous as it was the first time that she had ever smelt such a thing. A man lay in the pool of blood, and Wuyou learned that his name was A Jiu when she drew near. The store entrance was jammed with people asking about how he died, while Wuyou squatted closer to look at the corpse, which was shriveled up like it had been sucked dry. She sent out a Little Lingchong from her palm, which would seek for souls. It shone with a blue light and led Wuyou through the yard to above a straw hut. Wuyou looked around and saw traces of blood in the corner, and when she sent Spirit Power towards it, she was met with a strong smell of blood. The Little Lingchong ducked into her sleeve, and Wuyou blasted open the walls to see a woman in black drinking the blood. When the woman looked up, Wuyou was startled by her half-hidden face and red eyes and the coagulated blood on her skull, which was patching up her face with new flesh. When the female ghost turned around once again, she looked like a young woman. Wuyou sent out Spirit Power towards the ghost, and a halo hung over her head, but it clawed apart Wuyou's dress with steel claws. Wuyou stared coldly at the ghost, who was rushing into the air with the stench of decayed bodies. When the ghost attacked again, Wuyou surrounded herself with magic powers, her dark hair scattering in the air. She looked at the bloodthirsty ghost and punched it harshly. With a booming sound, the wall was crashed down, and the ghost was sent away. Despite being heavily injured, the ghost did not give up while staring at Wuyou. "Are you a ghost?" Wuyou asked. The ghost looked at Wuyou before charging forwards her with a terrifying expression. Her eyes glinted with red lights, and her matted hair turned into vines that curled toward Wuyou. Wuyou closed her eyes and clapped her hands, her long hair fluttering with purple Spirit Power with her body floating in the mid-air. She hurriedly summoned a golden beast from her body, which was a Qilin riding on a ring of fire. Everywhere the Qilin passed turned into a sea of flames and burned the vines. The ghost was caught by horror, and her hair got burnt. When the fires were put out, the ghost was covered with burns and looked even worse than before. She was filled with overwhelming hatred as her beauty was destroyed. The ghost attacked Wuyou with her wrath. Surrounded by Spirit Power, Wuyou punched towards the ghost while looking at her. Seeing this, the ghost flew onto the roof and was sent flying back when she tried to attack Wuyou again. Then, with a loud crash, the roof caved in and sent dust flying everywhere. "A female ghost." Wuyou looked at her coldly and was losing her patience. She sat on top of her Qilin and started to leave, while the ghost was trapped by the Imprisoning Chain. She would suffer more if she tried to break off it. "Who are you and why are you trying to interfere with my actions? There was no grudge between you and me before. Why did you destroy my cultivation?" "Ghost, defeating you is too easy. What can you do?" The Qilin felt his master's anger and blew another ring of fire towards the ghost, which terrified her into begging for mercy. "Go and enter another life." With a move of her finger, her powerful Spirit Power floated in the air and tore open the ground, revealing a small path. A gust of cold wind blew over from the underworld and swallowed the ghost down into the depths. Afterward, it even started snowing. Looking at the thin snow on the ground, the girl in purple flew onto the Qilin's back. "Wake up, Little Lingchong!" The Qilin yanked at Wuyou's sleeve, and the Little Lingchong stuck its head out. Wuyou had exhausted a lot of energy from fighting the ghost and felt thankful for her companions and that she should take a rest. Little Lingchong sat at Wuyou's arms lazily. Looking at the Qilin, which was as small as a bean, it was complacent and forgot that it was just a small bug. Wuyou touched the bug and made antennae grow out of Little Lingchong's head, causing the Qilin to burst into laughter at the amusing scene. Little Lingchong pretended to be dead while looking at its master, covering its face with its antenna and cunning in its eyes. "What a cute little thing," Wuyou thought as she pinched its face. A smile that could amaze Lunar Corona appeared on her face. Seeing the smile, Little Lingchong went to hide with shyness. "Are you a soul messenger?" Wuyou asked. Little Lingchong nodded and waited for a follow-up question. "Do you know where my uncle Jiefei's soul is?" The Little Lingchong was speechless, for it did not want to lie, but it also did not want to put its master in danger by telling her the truth. "Master, I cannot say." Wuyou did not say anything else as she saw its hesitation. Wuyou knew she only needed to read hearts to find Jiefei's soul, but he had already cast a spell on the Lingchong, and there was nothing she could do. The crowd in front of the store had disappeared along with the man's corpse. The yard was full of the smell of blood. The owner of the building was reassuring its tenants that the dead man had been a thief for he feared to be put into prison. The owner then went up to the woman at the door, while Wuyou found an empty spot in the busy lobby to sit down. Little Lingchong crawled out of her sleeve to look around, but when it saw a couple burly men walk over, it shrunk back into her sleeve. These men all gave off a menacing air. Wuyou recognized them as the Wolf King's cronies, probably sent into the mortal world to kill her. Little Lingchong curled up into a ball in her sleeves. She could sense that Little Lingchong was terrified and tried to comfort it. The second floor of the building was lit up with candlelight and covered in luxurious rugs. The door was pushed open from inside. A group of well-dressed men was standing here with fine jades, looking gentle in candlelight. Xu Linghe was dressed much more casually, wearing a white robe embellished with a jade belt. He was in a low profile but also looked like an immortal. The jade belt made him look slender, and he walked around in a pace sometimes slow and sometimes fast, patting the back of his hand with a fan, followed by a young girl in green that spoke in a chirping voice. Xu Linghe looked around on the stairwell and saw a girl, who turned out to be the girl that he had seen from the stone bridge, with her moving figure. He stood there in silence staring at her. Although he had only seen her in passing, he still could not get her out of his mind and wanted to warm her cold heart. "Wait for me, Brother Linghe!" The girl in green tugged on his robe and kept panting and sweating. Linghe relaxed his frown and dismissed his frustration towards her. "Brother Linghe, Lier's voice is going hoarse." The maids in the room were dressing Chiyou in clothes for spring, who stood there passively with eyes closed. Han Mengxi slipped quietly into the room and laughed at the sight of her dazed sister. "You look so happy, sister! Do you have anything delightful?" "You're so young and still unmarried. Here, let me pinch your cheeks." "Sister!" "Let's go outside. Does the little sister want to go with us?" "Come here, let me do your hair." The older sister brushed her younger sister's silky hair, which touched very soft. The young girl in the mirror looked very adorable with round eyes, thick and curly lashes, and red moist lips. She looked beautiful with her hair pinned back. Mengxi straightened out her sister's hem. Han Chiyou avoided her gaze and hastily tried to leave. "Not so fast, give me a smile!" "Stop it!" Han Chiyou smiled widely, revealing her white teeth, and gave her sister a playful hug. "Sister, I'm so hungry." Han Chiyou rubbed her stomach and left with her sister. The path was lined with fresh greenery which was swaying in the breeze since it was an early spring. The branches of the trees were covered with greenery. A gust of wind blew willow seeds into the air, which dotted her hair and clothes with flakes of snowy fuzz. Han Chiyou brushed off the seeds and was thinking about eating when she ran straight into someone. Xu Linghe rubbed his numb shoulders, and Han Qianyi seemed quite nervous and pathetic. Han Chiyou looked at her father in disbelief, since she usually saw him as a powerful man. The man in front of her wore a white robe made of silk, which Han Chiyou knew only extremely high-ranking individuals wore. She could also tell that his fine Hetian jade was exceptional from the looks of it. Han Qianyi saw his daughter's expression and knew that she might get some bad ideas. She tried to signal to her his worry, and she realized it. Xu Linghe did not care at all. He was traveling through the area and felt the need to visit Han Qianyi, who was his uncle as well as the richest man of Yangzhou. It would be impolite if he did not visit him. Xu Linghe followed Han Qianyi into the inner lobby, where all the waitstaff were standing in a line and waiting for their master's order. Xu Linghe sat in the main seat while Han Qianyi stood by respectfully. This made Xu Linghe quite uncomfortable. "How is his Excellency doing?" Han Qianyi took out a letter from his pocket and gave it to Xu Linghe, which he stowed away. Xu Linghe admired the delicious tea in front of him. He was in a good mood as he breathed the steam of the tea in. The green tea leaves floated in his cups, and the water was clean. Those small leaves would sink to the bottom as they opened up. In the soft sunlight, the tea looked even more sparkling. "My father has a message." "Please tell, sir." "We would like you to stay with us for a few days for Holy Mother Empress's birthday." Han Qianyi's spirits sank, and he felt terrified. Was the prime minister getting impatient? He knew how vicious politics could be, and although he was rich, he had no political power. He needed the backing of Xu Yinchang if he wanted to maximize his benefits, as the prime minister dominated Qi Kingdom and would be his best backer. "Does his Excellency have other wishes?" "Take your youngest daughter with you." "That would be inappropriate. My daughter is a common girl and may be laughed at." Han Qianyi understood clearly that the prime minister might not trust him and wanted to use his daughter as a hostage. However, he had no other choices but to obey him. Xu Linghe picked up tea leaves and suddenly turned into a monster that charged towards Han Qianyi. He wanted to test his uncle's power. Han Qianyi felt helpless as the monster came straight for his chest and staggered back a few times before regaining his balance. The monster attacked again, but Han Qianyi responded quickly and finally defeated the monster after exchanging several moves with it. The tea leaves were scattered everywhere. Han Qianyi's anger made Xu Linghe feel quite awkward. "Nephew, you know shape-shifting?" "A little bit." "Really?" Han Qianyi was confused but also felt more cautious around his nephew. After a period of silence, Xu Linghe could tell his uncle was wary of him. The afternoon sun shone through the room, leaving faint sunlight on the wall. Xu Linghe was captivated by the woman in the picture, whose dark hair slanted over her arm. The woman had thick eyebrows and bright eyes which looked like stars. Her face looked cold and proud. Looking at the girl in the picture, he was confused by how similar this girl looked to the one he had seen. Her cheek and red lips must smell sweet. While Xu Linghe gazed on endlessly, Han Qianyi looked grave. He gave up on formalities and angrily yanked up the young man by his collar, instantly waking him up. Xu Linghe instantly realized that he was being foolish for falling for some girl he had just seen. He sighed in secret and wondered what had happened to him. "Now, I've really made myself look like a profligate son of the rich." "Please don't be offended, uncle. I know a girl who looks a lot like this picture." "Really?" Han Qianyi did not believe him, waiting for a further explanation. Xu Linghe had no idea how to explain how he knew her because they were strangers. He felt upset at this. "She is my wife, who died many years ago, Xiaoyou's mother, and my only wife." Han Qianyi stroked the woman in the picture with deep sadness, and Xu Linghe stayed silent. Han Qianyi had wanted to use magic to revive his wife. The man in front of Xu Linghe was so love-struck and miserable, and he could only look bitterly at him and the woman in the picture. "Revival is an Evil Magic. If you force a rebirth, you will lose your loved ones. Do you want that?" Han Qianyi nodded maniacally while looking at the woman in the picture, consumed by his love. For his wife, he did not care if his loved ones lived or died, showing how selfish and evil love could be. Xu Linghe realized his uncle's weakness and wanted to control him by satisfying his wish. If he could find out how to display a Revival, he could make his uncle his puppet. As for his father, he would loosen up eventually. "How convenient." Xu Linghe smiled. A gust of fragrant wind blew past, the peach blossoms in the yard competed in splendor under the sun, and two butterflies flitted through the plants. Xu Linghe brushed past with his spiritual finger, and the butterflies fell into his fan. Han Qianyi was shocked to see his nephew's Spirit Power. He knew that his nephew might look elegant but also had powerful Spirit Power. He had turned into a monster to test his weaknesses. The son of the prime minister was indeed a powerful man. Han Qianyi knew that he should not have exposed his weakness before his nephew, but he could not help but let his guard down for his beloved wife. He would die for his wife, and only she could make him happy. "Does your acquaintance really look like my wife?" Xu Linghe remained silent and did not answer. He knew he could only expose himself further by talking in front of an experienced like Han Qianyi, so he decided to avoid the matter. Han Qianyi thought, "This young man is quite smart. No wonder he is his Excellency's son. He seems gentle but is actually vicious, looks like an upstanding man but has many secret thoughts." "Master, a messenger from the South says our cargo was stolen!" Xu Linghe was also shocked. Han Qianyi was very well-established, and everyone respected him because of his wealth. No one could be resistant to money no matter how noble he was. Xu Linghe wondered that his father must be worried to have a brother like Han Qianyi, and if his father did not have something that Han Qianyi wanted, his uncle would have been long gone. What a special thing money was!