Chai Shuxin, of course, had no intention of getting involved in their fight. He brought his hands together inside his sleeves and bowed to Song Wentong, speaking calmly.
“He said just now that he can use the Flower Coins to determine the Star Lodge Child’s location. Mozi, there’s no need to be anxious.”
His tone was neither hurried nor slow, but he had hit the nail on the head. Song Wentong’s expression softened somewhat. He pointed his knife at Mu Geshen.
“You fucking coward, stop hiding behind someone else! Hurry up and cast the divination!”
“When I was the one who went missing, I didn’t see you being this enthusiastic.” Mu Geshen rolled his eyes so hard they nearly reached the heavens.
He stepped out of the Chai residence and walked all the way to the main road junction, where he took out a Flower Coin and began flipping it like a coin toss. He walked and stopped as he tossed it, over and over.
Song Wentong had seen Mu Geshen perform divinations before, but he had never seen him do it this way. Suspicious, he asked, “What exactly are you calculating?”
“Where Fifth Brother is.” Mu Geshen gave him a look as though he were asking something completely obvious. “Follow the coin. Heads, turn left. Tails, turn right.”
The three of them reached a crossroads. Mu Geshen flicked the Flower Coin into the air, but the copper coin spun several times before landing upright on its edge, standing perfectly straight on the ground.
Neither heads nor tails. Neither left nor right.
Seeing this, Chai Shuxin asked, “What does this mean?”
“This is the place.” Mu Geshen picked up the Flower Coin, raised his hand, and laid out a divination pattern. He made rapid calculations with his fingers. After a moment, he said, “There’s good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear?”
Song Wentong had no patience to waste time with him and immediately replied, “The good news.”
“The good news is that Fifth Brother is right here.” Mu Geshen pointed at the concrete road beneath their feet.
“Are you fucking playing me?” Song Wentong looked around. “There isn’t even a single chicken feather here!”
“The bad news is…” Mu Geshen ignored him and continued, “Fifth Brother isn’t here.”
Song Wentong looked ready to draw his knife and chop Mu Geshen to pieces, but Chai Shuxin raised a hand to stop him. After a moment’s thought, he said, “You mean the Star Lodge Child is here, but not in the world of the living?”
“Exactly.” Mu Geshen clapped his hands. “As expected of someone born in the dead of winter.”
If someone was here but not in the world of the living, there was only one possibility left.
Song Wentong froze. “Fifth Brother ran off to Fengdu?”
Fengdu—the capital of the ghost kingdom, the seat of the underworld, and the place where the six paths of reincarnation converged.
The Ten Kings of Hell guarded the city, assisted by the Ten Great Yin Marshals and the Four Great Judges. It was the final destination of all karmic causes and consequences.
It was also half the ancestral home of the Yin-Yang School.
“Did Third Brother take him there?”
“No.” Mu Geshen shook his head. “Today is the fifteenth. The earth’s spiritual veins are unstable, and rifts between yin and yang are more likely to form. Fifth Brother is the Star Lodge Child, and the Vermilion Bird can travel between the three realms. He probably stumbled in there by accident.”
As he spoke, he looked at Song Wentong.
“Second Brother, it’s your turn.”
Although the Mohist School did not possess half-spirit bodies like the Yin-Yang School, its members could still travel freely between the two realms. The Mohists specialized in crafting weapons, and the Red-Licking Saber in Song Wentong’s hand was an ancient divine weapon. With a single strike, it could split yin and yang apart.
Mu Geshen scattered four Flower Coins to determine the exact position. Song Wentong leaped into the air and drove his saber into the point where the four lines intersected.
In an instant, a gust of wind suddenly rose, forming a vortex. Song Wentong took advantage of the momentum and stirred the blade, drawing the wind downward. The ground cracked open, revealing a flight of steps.
Song Wentong returned his saber to its sheath and walked straight down.
“Come to think of it, it’s been three or four years since I last went down there.” Mu Geshen leaned forward to peer into the opening, then tugged at Chai Shuxin. “Come on, born in the dead of winter. I’ll take you on a nighttime tour of Fengdu.”
The staircase descended endlessly, the mist growing thick and damp around them.
“The Yin-Yang Stairway is very long. For an ordinary person, it would probably take a full day and night to walk down it.”
The three had already been walking for quite some time. Song Wentong led the way at the front, then somehow produced three small lamps. They ignited on their own, carried by the wind, and floated above their heads, one over each person.
“These are Little Heavenly Lanterns,” Mu Geshen explained. “They can conceal the yang energy of the living.”
Starting with the Mohist leader two generations before the current one, the Mohist School had developed a style of doing whatever it pleased, without regard for rules or restrictions. Song Wentong disdained hiding his identity in Fengdu.
However, Chai Shuxin was the Spirit Pivot Child. The Yao family’s medical arts could bring the dead back to life and forcibly extend a person’s lifespan, leaving quite a few messy accounts with the underworld authorities. Their relationship with the underworld was therefore rather awkward.
Moreover, they had come here to look for someone. It was best to keep a low profile.
Chai Shuxin understood the intention behind this gesture. “Thank you.”
“No need.” Song Wentong was clearly in a bad mood. “That feather-brained brat, Fifth Brother, does nothing but give people a headache.”
“And yet you raised him like your own son.” Mu Geshen teased him. “Next time, have Fifth Brother take a godmother at Guanshanyue. You’ll get a great deal out of it for free.”
“Would it kill you to keep your mouth shut for two seconds?”
Caught between them, Chai Shuxin listened to the two bicker back and forth and began to understand Wu Zixu’s daily predicament. Just as the two were talking, they would suddenly feel like fighting. But then, the sound of water abruptly came from the distance.
It wasn’t the sound of dripping water or a babbling brook, but the slow, vast flow of a great river.
The long staircase came to an abrupt end. The three stepped onto level ground, and Mu Geshen pointed into the distance.
“That’s the River of Forgetfulness.”
The great river flowed leisurely, its waters reflecting blue lanterns as countless figures moved to and fro.
Mu Geshen noticed Chai Shuxin’s gaze. “Born in the dead of winter, is this your first time in Fengdu?”
“Yes.”
“Normally, when people go to be reincarnated, they follow the River of Forgetfulness.” Mu Geshen raised a hand and pointed ahead. “Up front is the Ghost Gate, which is also the city gate of Fengdu. The River of Forgetfulness flows through the city, and the Ten Halls of the Kings of Hell are arranged along its course. Ordinary people entering Fengdu follow the river from beginning to end, undergoing judgment one step at a time. Finally, before the Tenth Hall, they drink Granny Meng’s soup and cross the Naihe Bridge. After the final judgment, they enter the six paths of reincarnation.”
“Fengdu is a great city. Aside from the Ten Halls of the Kings of Hell along the central axis, the other areas are much like towns in the world of the living. Ghosts, gods, and underworld officials live there, along with those who died unjustly before their allotted lifespans had ended and rogue ghost immortals who cultivate on their own. Although the endless night never ends, the place is still bustling with activity.”
Song Wentong stopped walking, as if he had just remembered something. “Today is the fifteenth.”
“Right! How could I have forgotten?” Mu Geshen realized it as well. “The Hour of Zi has already passed, so it should be the sixteenth now.”
Chai Shuxin looked at the two of them. “What happened?”
“Nothing much. We just happened to arrive in time for a major event.” Mu Geshen smiled. “At the end of the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth, a hundred ghosts emerge from the waters of the River of Forgetfulness. We’ve arrived just in time for the River of Forgetfulness Ghost Market.”
The River of Forgetfulness had several tributaries running through Fengdu. One of them flowed past Sansheng Ward and the Office of Yin Laws, making it one of the busiest areas in Fengdu. Every first and fifteenth day of the lunar month, a ghost market opened, but it wasn’t held along the riverbank. Instead, boats gathered in clusters, forming a floating market on the waters of the River of Forgetfulness.
The three walked onto the dock. Mu Geshen rented a boat and tossed the oar to Song Wentong. Holding a Mountain Ghost Flower Coin, he gestured with it as though he were digging at something.
“Set sail. Row forward.”
The sound of oars faded into the distance. Boats crowded the water, packed together from bow to stern. The place was extraordinarily lively, and a lotus lantern hung at the bow of every boat.
“The lotus lanterns at the ghost market all have different colors, and each color represents a different kind of business,” Mu Geshen explained. “Red lanterns mean business involving money. If you have gold, you can buy things. White lanterns mean business involving the underworld, and you can only purchase things with underworld banknotes or incense offerings. The business under blue lanterns is the strangest of all. You have to exchange your lifespan or cultivation for whatever you want.”
As he spoke, he told Song Wentong to stop the boat. In front of a small boat hanging a red lantern, he bought a mask shaped like a fox with slanted eyes.
Mu Geshen put on the mask and turned toward Chai Shuxin. His mouth stretched into a grin, making him look as though he had just put on a painted human skin.
“Do you want one?”
“No need,” Chai Shuxin replied. “Why wear a mask?”
“Because he has too many enemies here.” Song Wentong snorted coldly. “The first time Fourth Brother entered Fengdu, it was during the ghost market, too. He started gambling right away and almost won half the entire ghost market. In the process, he offended nearly half the people in Fengdu. In the end, the whole city issued a warrant for his arrest. Even now, there are still storybooks about him in Fengdu’s teahouses.”
“Why?” Although Chai Shuxin had no interest in gambling, he knew that accepting the outcome of a wager was only natural. To be hunted down simply for winning too much money seemed excessively unreasonable.
“Because he belongs to the School of Heavenly Calculations,” Song Wentong explained. “With the Mountain Ghost Flower Coins, he can calculate everything without a single mistake. He knows how to win even with his eyes closed.”
“Don’t just focus on mocking me. You were part of it, too.” Mu Geshen bought a bowl of something he couldn’t identify and ate as he spoke. “Back then, when I was the banker, what I put up as collateral was the Red-Licking Saber.”
Chai Shuxin looked at the bowl in Mu Geshen’s hand. Its contents glowed an eerie green.
“…What is that?”
“Longevity Soup. It’s made with Granny Meng’s soup as the base, simmered with green lotus seeds from the River of Forgetfulness.”
Mu Geshen slurped it all down in no time.
“But this place is a scam. Although that’s what the sign says, it’s actually just lotus seeds boiled in plain water. Still, it’s pretty sweet. Hey, Second Brother, turn the boat around. I want to try Granny Ghost’s cold jelly.”
“Eat shit. Hurry up and find Fifth Brother.”
“He’s at Granny Ghost’s cold jelly stall.”
The cold jelly stall Mu Geshen mentioned was set up on a large boat. There were numerous stalls aboard, all brightly illuminated. There was also a variety show being performed on the boat. A young girl with her hair styled in two buns bent and twisted her waist, playing with two colorful balls atop a twelve-tiered platform. Her face was painted white, her lips red, and it was impossible to tell whether she was human or ghost. A large crowd had gathered around her, and they, too, were impossible to identify as human or ghost. In any case, the entire place was filled with cheers and applause.
Mu Geshen was holding a bowl of cold jelly and hadn’t even taken a bite when Song Wentong grabbed him by the collar and hauled him out of the crowd. The latter sounded as though he was about to explode.
“You fucking think about nothing but eating! I’ve already looked everywhere. Where the hell is Fifth Brother?”
“It’s rare to see you have such poor eyesight.” Mu Geshen pointed with his hand. “Isn’t he right there?”
The two looked in the direction Mu Geshen indicated. At a large table not far away, dishes of food covered the entire surface. Beside the table, a feather duster was wolfing down food.
The thing looked human enough at first glance, but its head was covered in a riot of multicolored feathers. It ate like a starving animal, devouring everything in sight with astonishing speed.
Beside the table stood a sign bearing eight large, gleaming characters:
Variety Show: The Starving Ghost’s Feast!
No wonder Song Wentong hadn’t recognized him at first. Zhu Yinxiao had not yet completely taken human form. He had barely managed to transform into the shape of a young child, yet he was still covered in a mass of miscellaneous feathers. It was hard to tell whether he was a person wearing chicken feathers or a chicken wearing human skin.
He had probably been captured because people thought he was some kind of mutant creature, then mixed in with a bunch of demons and monsters, where he served as an oddly drawn extra to fill out the cast.
Chai Shuxin: “……”
The dignified Star Lodge Child was begging for food at a ghost market under the name of the Starving Ghost. What an absolute disgrace.
“He’s probably starving. After all, he didn’t eat dinner.” Mu Geshen watched the scene with amusement. “Fifth Brother was kidnapped to a pretty good place. Food and lodging are included.”
“Does anyone really exist who would keep working for the people who sold him?” Song Wentong was furious. “At home, this thing is so picky about food that he acts like he’s above the heavens. Is this stuff better than what I cook?”
The two of them were focusing on entirely the wrong things. Chai Shuxin had no choice but to speak up and remind them, “Everyone, our most urgent task is to take the Star Lodge Child away. We must handle this matter…”
Before he could finish, a fierce gust of energy erupted out of nowhere, howling as it swept through the area. Half the variety show stalls were overturned in an instant. By the time everyone recovered their senses, Song Wentong was standing in the middle of the wreckage with his saber in hand, holding Zhu Yinxiao, who still had a chicken leg in his mouth.
“…discreetly,” Chai Shuxin finished his sentence.
The crowd immediately erupted.
“Who is this guy? How dare he wreck the ghost market?”
“I can’t tell where he’s from… Is he alive or dead?”
“That face is even prettier than a woman’s. That skin would fetch a good price…”
“Second Brother has never known the meaning of discretion. Back when we caused a huge disturbance in Fengdu, we could actually have waited for Third Brother to negotiate a solution. Instead, this fellow insisted on drawing his saber and cutting down half the city’s ghost officials.” Mu Geshen finished his cold jelly and wiped his mouth. “Don’t just stand around. Get ready to fight.”
“You’re going to fight?”
“We’ve wrecked the ghost market, so there’s no way this will end peacefully. But they were the ones who kidnapped Fifth Brother first, so we’re not in the wrong for beating them up…”
Mu Geshen had just rolled up his sleeves when the crowd parted, and the young girl who had been bending and twisting her waist while playing with the balls walked out.
“Which family’s little brat are you? Why would you dare to cause trouble right on our Tai Sui’s doorstep?”
Mu Geshen’s expression changed instantly. He grabbed Chai Shuxin and took a step back.
“Let’s go, let’s go. We’re not fighting this one.”
Chai Shuxin had already removed half of his glove. “Why?”
“Lord Tai Sui! What a beauty, and what a calamity.” Mu Geshen shook his head repeatedly. “I don’t know this girl, but there’s only one person in Fengdu who dares to call herself Tai Sui—Lord Tai Sui, Wu Nie. We can’t afford to provoke her. If we fight her, Master will scold us to death when we get back.”
“Is this girl an old acquaintance of Master’s?”
“Not exactly an old acquaintance. She’s several hundred years older than Master.” Mu Geshen explained, “Her surname is Wu, and her name is Wu Nie. She belongs to the Yin-Yang School and settled in Fengdu more than nine hundred years ago. She’s one of the highest-ranking elders of the Wu clan today. She’s also Third Brother’s great-great-great-great-grandmother’s… damn it, there are too many generations to count. Anyway, she’s one of Third Brother’s ancestors going back eighteen generations. We absolutely cannot offend her.”
As Mu Geshen spoke, he was about to step forward and intervene. But then he saw Wu Nie stop in front of Song Wentong.
She was just about to speak when Zhu Yinxiao suddenly bent forward and vomited all over her.
He had turned Lord Tai Sui, the one person they absolutely could not afford to offend, into a stinking spittoon.
They were done for. There was no saving this situation.
Mu Geshen grabbed Chai Shuxin and immediately turned to run.