Chapter Six: Recalling the Past

Chapter Six

The two brothers, having made up their minds, slipped out from behind the side room. Before they could approach Zhao Fusheng, her voice, faint and distant, reached them:

“My parents, they weren’t simply killed in an unfortunate accident as you once said, were they? They too died at the hands of a vengeful ghost, didn’t they?”

Her sudden question caught the Fan brothers completely off guard.

Fan Bishou, who had been ready to seize the initiative and intimidate Zhao Fusheng with his words, was instead frightened by her abrupt directness.

Fan Wujiu’s face took on a wary look. The brothers exchanged glances, their eyes betraying a hint of panic.

“……”

“……”

Fan Bishou, usually the quick-witted one, found his mind utterly blank. It took him a long while to collect himself before he forced a calm reply:

“Yes—”

Zhao Fusheng’s parents were dead; their bodies lay in the mourning hall. Their deaths were the work of a ghost—this much was certain and irrefutable.

“So, I was also killed by a vengeful ghost last night?” Zhao Fusheng continued.

“…Yes.” Fan Wujiu managed to answer, but before he could say more, Zhao Fusheng spoke again:

“Let me speak, and you listen. Tell me if I’m right.”

She stood with her back to them, still wearing yesterday’s bloodstained clothes. When the ghost killed her, it had torn through her heart and lungs, drenching her garments in blood. Now, the dried blood was black and stiff, making her silhouette appear all the more chilling.

Furthermore, if she truly had mastered the ghost, then the specter must now be lurking within her. The more the brothers thought on it, the more uneasy they became, instinctively retreating half a step.

“Go on,” Fan Bishou said, his courage somewhat greater. At this point, he wanted only to cut the knot quickly rather than evade, so he forced himself to nod.

“Normally, the Demon Suppression Authority would have an official in charge—an Inspector or a Commander—to maintain peace in the region. After the death of the Inspector in Wan’an County, there was no reason to appoint a country girl like me to that position.”

Zhao Fusheng had pondered this for a long time. There were ghosts in this world.

She was new to this place. Aside from fragments of the original soul’s memories and last night’s dreams, she knew little of the people or events of this time and place. Though wary of the Fan brothers, she could tell they were equally guarded toward her since her resurrection.

Though she did not understand the deeper reasons, Zhao Fusheng decided to probe them with a bluff, hoping to extract some useful information.

“I suspect your story about being guided to me by the former Inspector was likely a ruse—something you said to deceive my parents and me.”

Suppressing her inner unease, she feigned composure and continued,

“Did something catastrophic happen to the Demon Suppression Authority—a disaster akin to a curse, one that implicated all within its ranks?”

This was not baseless conjecture.

From Zhao Fusheng’s scattered memories, besides the Fan brothers and the later arrival of ‘her’, there had been no other survivors in the Demon Suppression Authority.

By right, the Authority should have been the safest haven; if indiscriminate killing by ghosts brought terror, then surely the area around the Authority should be the most secure. Yet nearly all the people on the surrounding streets had moved away.

The few remaining shops were all coffin-makers, paper money and incense vendors, and these people treated Zhao Fusheng like a plague. Whenever she drew near, they would flee as if avoiding pestilence.

The former Zhao Fusheng, confused and naive, had thought herself disliked simply because she was a country girl out of her depth. The present Zhao Fusheng, however, sensed that these people feared not her, but the deathly curse she seemed to carry.

She recalled the nightmare in which Zhao Fusheng was slain by a vengeful ghost, and felt a chill. Yet, it also confirmed that the ‘curse’ afflicting the original Zhao Fusheng was likely the malevolent ghost haunting her.

Still, she deliberately misstated the case, hoping to mislead the Fan brothers.

Indeed, they were caught off guard by her sudden counterattack. Fan Bishou tried to reclaim the initiative, protesting,

“It’s not a curse…”

He had scarcely begun before Zhao Fusheng nodded,

“No, it’s not a curse—it’s a ghostly disaster, isn’t it?”

“……”

At this, the brothers exchanged a look, both eyes filled with helpless terror.

They had not expected that the timid, ignorant Zhao Fusheng would, after dying and returning, become so keen and sharp.

Her responses left even Fan Bishou feeling troubled, as if she now held the upper hand.

Could it be that mastering a ghost not only enhances one’s power, but also sharpens the mind?

Their thoughts were in turmoil. Fan Wujiu looked to his brother and called out, “Brother—”

Fan Bishou steadied himself, reminding himself to stay calm. He drew a deep breath, suppressing his anxiety.

“You’re right,” he admitted.

He sensed that he and his brother had likely chosen the wrong person to manipulate—hoisting a stone only to drop it on their own feet.

Zhao Fusheng was not merely clever now; her intelligence unsettled him.

“What do you want to know?” he asked, swiftly deciding to try a different approach rather than clash head-on.

“What are you willing to say?”

Their verbal exchange left Zhao Fusheng with the upper hand.

She realized the Fan brothers were yielding to her—not solely out of fear for her resurrection, but perhaps for some other reason she did not yet grasp. The uncertainty unsettled her, but she forced herself to appear composed and reversed the question on Fan Bishou.

Fan Bishou was silent for a moment, then said,

“Very well, I’ll tell you everything from the beginning.”

He wiped his face, then nudged his brother,

“Wu Jiu, go fetch the past records of the Demon Suppression Authority—and bring a chair for the Inspector.”

His words seemed to tacitly acknowledge Zhao Fusheng’s status as Inspector. This made her feel even more uneasy, but she did not object.

Fan Wujiu hesitated, looked at his brother, then at Zhao Fusheng, and finally went inside to fetch the things.

“Three years ago, our Wan’an County’s Demon Suppression Authority consisted of one Inspector, two Deputy Generals, and eight Commanders.”

After their mutual probing, both sides had a rough sense of each other. Realizing there was no longer any point in hiding the truth, Fan Bishou began recounting the events from the beginning.

“In other words, three years ago, the Demon Suppression Authority in Wan’an County had eleven people.”

It was still a small number, but considering that only a rare few possessed the power to deal with ghosts, eleven exorcists for a single county aligned with Zhao Fusheng’s expectations.

“Not just that,” Fan Bishou interjected, perhaps out of frustration from being outmaneuvered in conversation. He sought to reclaim some ground,

“There were also twenty-three menial staff—thirty-four people in total.”

At that time, Wan’an’s Demon Suppression Authority was the strongest in the region.

“I see,” Zhao Fusheng replied indifferently.

Fan Bishou felt like he had punched cotton—his anger rose, but just as he was about to explode, he noticed Zhao Fusheng hadn’t even turned to look at him.

Her gaze was fixed on the main hall. His anger was doused as if by a bucket of cold water, and clarity returned.

Since her resurrection, Zhao Fusheng’s temperament had changed completely.

In their exchanges, she was preternaturally calm, while he and Fan Wujiu seemed unable to keep their composure, always being led by her.

Even something as trivial as a dispute over the number of people in the Demon Suppression Authority, which he would have once dismissed as pointless, now seemed to draw out his frustration uncontrollably.

Realizing this, Fan Bishou frowned, but soon regained his composure.

“There were only eleven who could actually exorcise ghosts,” he clarified.

He was, in truth, a steady man; even after being provoked, he could quickly regain his calm. This made Zhao Fusheng more vigilant as she listened.

“At that time, the Inspector was named Zhao Qiming—he was a ghostmaster.”

When he mentioned Zhao Qiming, there was a subtle complexity in his tone, but it passed quickly as he regained control.

Zhao Fusheng, ever perceptive, caught the nuance and surmised that there must have been a significant history between Zhao Qiming and the Fan brothers.

But she did not press the matter; instead, she turned to a more pressing question.

“A ghostmaster? What does that mean?”

Even though she had returned from death with a sharper mind, she was, until recently, just a village girl with limited experience.

She knew of ghosts and their killings, but nothing of their origins or how to deal with them.

Fan Bishou, hearing her question, felt an odd sense of relief. Her previous, incisive deductions had unsettled him, especially with the possibility of a ghost possessing her.

“Ghosts cannot be truly killed,” he said calmly. “You didn’t know?”

“No.” Zhao Fusheng’s heart skipped a beat at this revelation, but she could not pretend knowledge she did not possess, so she simply shook her head.

Her reaction was natural enough; Fan Bishou mulled over his words, then explained,

“Very few people know this—the court has kept it secret for fear of inciting rebellion.”

Those in the know were members of the Demon Suppression Authority, and they were bound by the Soul Registry under the court’s orders, unable to speak of these matters to outsiders.

He grew serious.

“Ghosts cannot be destroyed. We have only two ways to deal with them.” He paused. “One is to drive them away from Wan’an County.”

“What?” Zhao Fusheng was genuinely surprised.

“Drive them away?”

“That’s right,” Fan Bishou nodded.

“But if you simply drive them away, won’t they continue killing as they go?” Zhao Fusheng asked, perplexed.

Given what happened to her family, the terror of such ghosts was evident. If they couldn’t be subdued and only driven off, wasn’t that merely a temporary fix?

“Exactly. The more they kill, the more resentment they absorb. Some may grow stronger, causing even greater disasters.”

Fan Bishou, seeing her confusion, explained further,

“The larger a ghost’s domain becomes, the harder it is to deal with.”

“And then what?” Zhao Fusheng was dumbfounded.

“There’s nothing to be done,” Fan Wujiu replied.

“If you drive them to another county, what happens to the people there?” she pressed.

“So long as it’s not our Wan’an County, it’s not our concern. The ghosts become someone else’s problem. If the disaster grows too large, then it’s the court’s headache,” Fan Bishou said, his expression cold.

“And if the court has no solution?” Zhao Fusheng, who considered herself hardened by life, was nonetheless shocked by his words.

“If the court is powerless, then that place is simply abandoned—left to its own fate.”

His words left Zhao Fusheng speechless. After a moment’s silence, she could only sigh inwardly, suppress her discomfort, and say,

“Go on.”