Parents' Shrine (4)

Returning to Dasamara's residence in the evening, they saw that a map of the Judicial Commissioner's Office prison and a roster of the jailers' formations were already laid out on the table. Dasamara was shaking a turtle shell in his hands, seemingly divining. When Tan Yangzi entered, three copper coins happened to fall onto the table with a clatter. Dasamara fiddled with them with his fingers, but it was unknown what he read from them.

Tan Yangzi untied the sword from his back, casually placed it on the table, and sat down to look at the simple schematic. Dasamara asked, "How did your investigation go today?"

Tan Yangzi said, "In the first household, Su Liangdi was originally a filial daughter, but she suddenly murdered her mother. Her mother favored sons over daughters and treated her indifferently after learning that she might be divorced by her husband's family, but it shouldn't have reached the point of murder. The second household also involves a filial son, Shen Xialei, who cared for his paralyzed and senile mother for twenty whole years, only to suddenly decide to smother her to death with a pillow. The third household involves the youngest, a seven-year-old child named Liu Xiang, who poisoned his parents with rat poison. In the eyes of the neighbors, he was usually a very obedient and well-behaved child, and even had quite a reputation as a child prodigy. He could write poetry at the age of five and was well-versed in various classics. His family was very strict with his upbringing, and he rarely played with the neighborhood children."

Dasamara said, "So to speak, there are some commonalities?"

"The behavior of these people seems to have no warning signs, as if caused by ghost or monster possession, but if you think about it carefully, you will find problems." Tan Yangzi dipped his finger in tea and wrote the surnames of the three people on the table, pointing to them in turn and saying, "Why did this Madam Su suddenly return from her husband's family? Was it really a loss of feminine virtue as others guessed? Or was it because of something else?

This Shen Xialei is now over forty years old, yet he is still all alone, living in hardship. He originally had some opportunities to go out of town to do business with his brothers, but he gave them all up for his sick mother at home. He has accomplished nothing in his life and is completely penniless. Moreover, his mother hasn't recognized him for a long time and beats and scolds him all day. Having taken care of his mother for so many years, does he truly love her, or is he pressured by the label of being a filial son? With several brothers in the family, why couldn't they take turns sharing the caretaking duties?

As for this child prodigy, no matter how clever and bright he is, he is still only a seven-year-old child. Why wouldn't he want to go out and play with other children? Five to seven years old is precisely the most innocent and carefree time in a person's life, yet he studied as bitterly as a poor scholar. Was it voluntary, or did his family just desperately want him to succeed?"

Dasamara seemed to understand something and said, "Are you saying that it might not be ghost possession, but that they themselves harbor hatred toward their parents?"

"No, ghosts should still be involved. Otherwise, such similar incidents wouldn't be so concentrated." Tan Yangzi said, "My original guess was the same as yours: that it was those Widowed Ghosts born in the Avici Hell due to the sin of patricide or matricide, who are now possessing people to commit murder. But now there is another theory. Could it be that the ghost didn't possess them, but rather pulled the resentment accumulated in their Eighth Consciousness into their active consciousness, prompting a drastic change in these people's temperaments to commit the karma of killing."

Dasamara pondered and said, "The only ghost with such an ability is the Thorn-Heart Ghost you caught in Bianliang before, but even they must insert their tentacles into a person's brain to inject their influence, inevitably leaving marks on the person's body. Kuma and I saw a few prisoners before they were imprisoned in the Judicial Commissioner's Office, but we didn't find any marks."

"These prisoners have no common acquaintances with each other. If it were a Thorn-Heart Ghost, it would first have to find a suitable person to possess, and even if it did, it could only influence many people simultaneously, not one by one like this. Moreover, even if it constantly changed its host, it would be impossible to influence a person to such an extent within three days. If you say there are many Thorn-Heart Ghosts, the ghostly aura in this city would have skyrocketed long ago; it wouldn't have this calm and tranquil atmosphere right now."

Dasamara said, "It seems we still have to find a way to interrogate some things out of those prisoners. Do you have a plan on how to get in?"

Tan Yangzi stood up and said, "I have my ways. Tomorrow, go visit the families of the newly occurred murder cases. Oh, right, Xie Yucheng and Fan Zhuxuan are also in the city, saying they are tracking down the whereabouts of the Life Souls of those who were murdered."

Upon hearing this, Dasamara's face turned bitter. He supported his forehead with his hand, wearing an expression as if it were the end of the world. "Sending Black and White Impermanences is one thing, but why did it have to be these two jinxes..."

Tan Yangzi returned to the east wing where he and Yan Fei were temporarily staying. Earlier when they came back, Yan Fei hadn't gone with him to the main hall, returning to their room silently on his own. Now, entering the room, he saw it was pitch black. Yan Fei, who usually would have long prepared hot water for him to wash his face, had already lain down on the bed and covered himself with a quilt, acting as if he had long fallen fast asleep. But Tan Yangzi could hear that his breathing wasn't as long and drawn out as it was when he usually slept soundly, so he knew Yan Fei wasn't asleep yet.

Since seeing White Impermanence this afternoon, this kid hadn't been acting quite right, and it was unknown what he was sulking about again.

Tan Yangzi picked up the fire stick on the desk and lit a candle, hung his Karma-Severing Sword on the coat rack, took off his outer robe, and then walked over to sit on the edge of the bed, turning sideways to look at the human figure wrapped in the quilt.

"What kind of temper are you throwing today?" Tan Yangzi didn't even have the mood to be angry, just asking with an almost helpless tone.

Yan Fei didn't speak, clearly determined to pretend to be asleep until the very end.

Tan Yangzi sighed. Since when did he have to try every means possible to coax this little brat? If those ghosts he caught and brought back to Hell saw his "subservient" appearance right now, they would probably pop out hundreds of eyeballs staring in shock.

"If you don't speak, I won't take you to the Judicial Commissioner's Office tomorrow."

After he said this, the quilt finally squirmed a little, revealing a face that had turned red from being stifled. Those eyes, which still shone brightly in the dim light, stared at him, seeming to hold some grievance.

Tan Yangzi's mind was full of bafflement. Thinking back carefully, he couldn't figure out where he had offended this brat during the day. "What wrong medicine did you take this time?"

Yan Fei stared at him with that resentful look for a while, and asked, "What is your relationship with that White Impermanence named Xie Yucheng? Why have I never heard you mention him?"

Tan Yangzi inexplicably felt that this child's tone sounded very much like a lawful wife catching an adulterer. "What relationship could there be? It's just that we've worked together for a long time and cooperated on a few errands. Although they, Black and White Impermanences, are called Impermanence just like us, they are immortals, and we are ghosts. We walk different paths."

"Then what was he talking about when he said you collapsed on him and cried?"

Mentioning this embarrassing incident that could rank in the top five of Tan Yangzi's long, long life, Green Impermanence's expression turned even fouler. "That was that one time when the Heavenly Court bestowed wine upon us and I got drunk!"

"I've never even seen you cry..."

Tan Yangzi felt that these words sounded awkward no matter how he listened to them, so he raised an eyebrow and said, "What? You little brat, you think you haven't angered me enough and want to make me cry from anger?"

It was rare for Tan Yangzi to make a joke. As Yan Fei imagined the tall and valiant Green Impermanence before him crying like pear blossoms bathed in rain, he couldn't help but burst out laughing. Seeing him laugh, Tan Yangzi's expression also eased a bit, and his heart settled down.

People all say that young children are the hardest to raise, but he instead felt that these eighteen or nineteen-year-old half-grown youths were even harder to deal with. Their thoughts were simply more fickle than a young girl's.

Tan Yangzi also smiled slightly, shook his head, and took off the jade hairpin on his head, preparing to go to sleep. "Just because of this? You are already at the age where you can take a wife, and you're still acting so petty?"

Yan Fei rarely saw Tan Yangzi smile. Once that cold and stern face smiled, it was like a clear spring formed from melting white snow on the Heavenly Mountains, or an aged wine unsealed during a cold year's chilly month—gentle and slow, making one want to look again with just a single glance, wanting him to smile like this at all times, never having to furrow those sword-like eyebrows slanting towards his temples again.

He knew that Tan Yangzi had already lived for over a thousand years. He knew that he was just a brief, inconsequential interlude in his endless life, and he also knew that no matter how hard he tried, there were certain parts of Tan Yangzi's life he would never be able to reach.

Like the Red Impermanence who died three hundred years ago.

Tan Yangzi had never mentioned it, but Yan Fei knew that this person definitely meant a lot to him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have insisted on operating alone for three hundred years, absolutely unwilling to let anyone take that person's place.

Thinking like this, sorrow welled up from within. He himself was a human, and he would eventually die. When he entered reincarnation and forgot everything, would Tan Yangzi remember him just as he remembered that person? Or would he easily forget him, as if he had never existed?

Thinking like this, those eyes that were originally gazing blankly at Tan Yangzi were once again covered in sorrow. He lowered his long eyelashes, looking entirely desolate despite his young age. Tan Yangzi hung his outer robe on the coat rack and turned around to see Yan Fei hugging the quilt with a bleak air around him, wondering what was wrong again. If it were in the past, he absolutely wouldn't have this patience to coax someone, but after raising Yan Fei for so many years, he had increasingly spoiled and indulged him in recent years.

"Master." Yan Fei suddenly raised his eyes and looked at him earnestly. "One day when I die, will you forget me?"

Tan Yangzi glared. "At such a young age, what are you talking about dying or living for?"

"Will you?"

Tan Yangzi looked at that beautiful face mixed with fear, infatuation, and sorrow, and faintly realized what Yan Fei had been worrying about all day. The thought that Yan Fei would die one day, drink Meng Po Soup, and completely forget him, caused his heart to suddenly clench.

"...No."

"But... I will forget you..." Yan Fei's eyebrows furrowed tightly, and he shook his head vigorously. "I don't want to forget you. I want to follow you forever."

Tan Yangzi blew out the candle, lifted his side of the quilt to sit on the bed, and reached out to pat the back of Yan Fei's head. "Stop thinking about nonsense all day long. You want to follow me now, but once you start a family in the future, I'm afraid you will have long tossed me, your master, to the back of your mind." After speaking, he sighed in a self-deprecating manner and lay down with his clothes on. "It's late, go to sleep."

Yan Fei had no choice but to lie down gently. Waiting until Tan Yangzi was fast asleep, he finally turned around, gazing in the darkness at Tan Yangzi's side profile outlined by the faint night color. He reached out a hand, carefully tracing—while maintaining a subtle distance—down along that smooth forehead, straight nose bridge, resolute jaw, prominent Adam's apple, broad chest, and down to his flat abdomen. The scent on Tan Yangzi's body carried a trace of musk that could only be smelled at such a close distance. Like a charming poison, it was intoxicating and soul-stirring, making one addicted.

"I will never forget you..." Yan Fei mouthed silently in the dark. On his face was an intense desire that did not belong to a youth, and his beautiful brows and eyes looked somewhat menacingly wicked due to extreme obsession. "Because... you are mine."