Chapter 70: Alive

I forced a smile, shaking my head, but the tremor in my heart did not subside in the least.

“Come with me.”

Old Madam Li turned and left the small hut, and I followed close behind.

She walked straight toward the ancestral tablets lined up along the inner wall of the ancestral hall, seemingly about to collide with the wall, but she did not stop. Raising her hand, Old Madam Li touched one of the memorial tablets.

In the next instant, a small door opened directly in that section of the wall.

Beyond it was utter darkness, its depth impossible to gauge.

After a pause, Old Madam Li stepped inside. Only once I entered did I realize it was a passageway, much like a corridor.

At first, it was pitch-black, not a hint of light, a constant chill seeping into my bones.

Deeper in, glowing minerals embedded in the walls gave off just enough light to see.

I caught my breath and asked, “Grandma Li, have you been here before?”

She was silent for a moment before answering, “I saw Ninth Uncle come in once. Before we left, he told me there was something very important to him here. If he died, he wanted me to guard this place and wait for someone.”

Her words grew even more subdued.

“Don’t worry, Grandma. Ninth Grandfather is still here. I wasn’t certain before, but when I held his talisman brush just now, I became sure. Haven’t you noticed that after a certain time, Ninth Grandfather’s soul became much weaker? And it never recovered afterward.”

As I finished speaking, Old Madam Li seemed to stand a little straighter. Her voice trembled as she said, “Yes! Ever since the incident with the Ghost Woman more than a decade ago, his soul weakened, as if something was missing. I thought it was because he was wounded fighting her.”

My heart pounded. “The Ghost Woman might have injured his body at most, but when Ninth Grandfather drew that talisman, I couldn’t understand it. That talisman drained most of his soul.”

Old Madam Li straightened completely, turning to me with gratitude shining in her eyes.

I understood well the struggle in her mind: she feared I was gradually awakening as Ninth Grandfather’s old master, yet desperately hoped I was still Xie Yuan. She didn’t want Wang Ninth Master to be enslaved by me; she wanted him to be freed.

These feelings ran so deep in her that even after I’d explained once, her worries quickly returned. But this second explanation clearly lifted her spirits.

Still, to truly restore her to her former self, she would need to see Ninth Grandfather’s soul with her own eyes.

At last, the corridor reached its end.

Before us was another wall, thick and solid as though it were a dead end.

Old Madam Li felt around on the wall for some time before murmuring, “I’ve never come this far. This should be it—there’s no hidden switch.”

But I felt a chill burrowing into me.

Instinctively, I reached out and touched the wall, shivering as a cold current seemed to jolt through me.

There were patterns carved on the surface. As I traced them, I sensed a presence slip into my body, circle around, and then withdraw.

The wall quivered faintly, then began to rise slowly.

Old Madam Li stepped back two paces, her face grave.

After a dozen breaths, the passageway fully opened.

A wavering light spilled out from within.

My pupils narrowed sharply.

At the end of the corridor was a small stone chamber, exactly like the scene I’d glimpsed through the talisman brush.

A coffin rested quietly in the right corner.

Beside the coffin stood a wooden chest.

The moment I saw the coffin, I felt a tugging sensation, as if something inside was pulling me toward it.

But what nearly stopped my breath was at the very center of the stone chamber: a dust-covered stone table.

On the table lay three sheets of paper.

Three filthy talisman papers, their runes unfathomably profound. The more I looked, the more it seemed they might swallow my very soul.

Old Madam Li suddenly swayed. She lifted her foot, about to walk inside.

My expression changed; I wanted to call out and stop her—this place was surely no simple matter. It was so well concealed, housing these items and the body of Wang Ninth Master’s master; he must have made preparations.

Then I realized Old Madam Li’s eyes were vacant, as if she’d lost all consciousness.

I lunged forward and grabbed her shoulder. She shuddered, her gaze clearing, and she said in terror, “Such a sinister talisman—I only glanced at it and lost control of my mind.”

I nodded and whispered, “Grandma, don’t go any further. Ninth Grandfather’s soul is sealed within those three talismans.”

Old Madam Li trembled, her eyes instantly reddening.

“Don’t worry, Grandma, as long as the soul is still there, the talismans can be undone—there must be a way to extract it.”

This was my instinct. The soul-sealing talisman would draw the spirit out, but if one could interrupt that process, the runes would dissipate.

In another sense, it was like painting talismans with a soul.

Once I came across more of Wang Ninth Master’s things and recalled more memories through the soul’s connection, as well as other talismanic techniques, I was sure I’d find a way.

As my words faded, I stepped forward.

Suddenly, a powerful and familiar voice rang out beside my ear: “Intruders—die!”

My heart raced wildly.

One of the talismans on the stone table floated up!

Beside the talisman, a blurry figure appeared—it was Wang Ninth Master!

But he looked younger than the man I’d known, his eyes sharp, his expression cold and ruthless as he grasped the talisman, ready to strike if I dared move.

My breathing grew ragged. Staring at him, I rasped out, “Little Ninth.”

The moment I spoke, Wang Ninth Master’s soul quivered.

I sensed a presence swirl out from the chamber, circling me.

Wang Ninth Master’s soul trembled all the more violently.

“Ma—master?”

A voice both familiar and strange, trembling with excitement and grief.

In the next instant, Wang Ninth Master’s soul knelt.

His voice broke into fragments: “Little Ninth… unworthy…”

Then the soul vanished, and the talisman drifted gently onto the stone table.

The menace within the chamber vanished with it; the talismans’ soul-devouring aura faded, leaving them as ordinary sheets of paper.

My heart surged with excitement—even more so than when I’d seen the coffin and Wang Ninth Master’s master’s belongings. Because Wang Ninth Master’s soul was truly here!

And it was not a dead thing.

He still had consciousness!

Otherwise, he never could have recognized me when I called him Little Ninth.

Yet at the end, I clearly sensed he was somehow bound.

I strode swiftly to the stone table.

Of the three talismans, the first was visibly faded.

The talisman had not struck; Wang Ninth Master’s soul had been forcibly halted and must have suffered in the process.

My voice shook with excitement as I called to Old Madam Li, “Grandma, all three of these talismans contain fragments of Ninth Grandfather’s soul. If we can find a way to extract them, he can live again.”

Old Madam Li was already in tears, whispering again and again, “Ninth Uncle…”

I didn’t touch the talismans. My gaze swept the chamber, finally settling on the wooden chest and the coffin. Instinctively, I approached.

The coffin was sealed tight, not a sliver of a gap.

That tugging sensation was coming from it.

My heart hammered in my chest.

I reached out and placed my hand on the coffin.

With a faint click, the lid began to open.

It slid slowly aside.

My entire body tensed as I stared at the widening gap.

A bloodless face came into view.

What made my heart clench with fear was that this face was almost identical to mine.

He showed no sign of decay, as if merely sleeping.

The tugging sensation only grew stronger.

I felt my hand drawn irresistibly inward.

At that moment, Old Madam Li’s uneasy cry broke out beside me: “Xie Yuan—don’t—!”

Of course, I understood her fear.

She had no way of knowing that I was simply myself.

But suddenly, a jolt ran through me, my scalp prickling.

Because I felt the faintest breath of air, like someone’s exhalation, brushing against my hand.