Chapter 4

An Ping struggled through half a bowl of instant noodles. When he raised his head again, he discovered that the space around him had quietly changed.

The room’s furnishings had transformed into an antique style. Folding screens surrounded him on all four sides, with a square table for four in the middle and a revolving lantern hanging overhead. The air was filled with a slightly chilly fragrance, something like the scent of plum blossoms.

Before leaving, Mu Geshen had said that he could return after eating the noodles. However, An Ping was certain that the scene before him was definitely not anything from the world of the living.

Feeling uncertain, he inevitably began to panic again. Had something gone wrong with the procedure? Had he eaten the noodles before they had finished soaking? Or had he failed to add enough seasoning packets?

The surroundings were silent.

An Ping wrestled with himself for a while before deciding that Mu Geshen probably wouldn’t deliberately screw him over.

After all, he hadn’t paid him yet.

That meant what was happening might actually be normal. Perhaps this was some kind of transit station, and he could return simply by opening the right door.

An Ping stood there stupidly for a moment before realizing that the room probably wasn’t fully automated. There was no magical teleportation function that would send him home while he stood still. If he wanted to leave, he would have to take the initiative.

He pushed one of the folding screens aside slightly and discovered that there was actually a corridor outside. Red candles illuminated the passage, and long lattice windows lined both sides.

The scene was practically tailor-made for a haunting.

An Ping’s scalp prickled. His first instinct was to turn around and run, but there were no other exits. Whether he wanted to court death or flee from it, there was only one path available.

He gritted his teeth, steeled himself, and tiptoed into the corridor. Holding his breath, he darted forward, alternately running and hopping like a grasshopper with burning feet.

At the end of the corridor stood a door.

An Ping didn’t dare stop. Otherwise, he knew he would end up standing outside it, too frightened to enter, for ages. So he simply gathered all his courage and charged straight through.

After nine years of compulsory education, this was a rare moment of bravery for him. Unfortunately, before his heroic spirit could even surge, his courage collapsed halfway through.

An Ping stared wide-eyed at the scene inside the room and let out a strange, strangled cry.

Candles on the altar table, red silk curtains draped over the bed—

This was actually a bridal chamber!

The overwhelming sea of red was almost painful to look at. It wasn’t that An Ping was overthinking things. There were countless horror stories about haunted bridal chambers, and, as luck would have it, this one was designed in an antique style. It looked festive yet sinister, and the more he looked at it, the more terrifying it became.

He immediately decided to retreat.

Unfortunately, his foot caught on the threshold, and he went sprawling onto the floor. He crashed straight into the offering table beside the door, sending bottles and jars clattering everywhere.

As stars danced before his eyes, An Ping thought despairingly, I’m finished, I’m finished. Please don’t let a female ghost appear and drag my soul away!

Dazed and dizzy, he lay sprawled on the ground and struggled to open his eyes.

In the distance, the curtains billowed open. Layers of sleeves embroidered with gold and colorful patterns came into view, extending upward until they disappeared beneath a bright-red bridal veil.

Only then did An Ping realize that someone was sitting inside the room.

Judging by the outfit, there was no doubt about it. It was the bride.

Great. Exactly what I was afraid of. I’m doomed.

After all that running, combined with his terror, the sea of red before his eyes gradually blurred. Unable to catch his breath, An Ping’s eyes rolled back, and he finally fainted.

By the time An Ping opened his eyes again, daylight was already streaming through the windows.

“You’re finally awake. You certainly know how to sleep.” Mu Geshen’s voice came from nearby. “How are you feeling?”

Still groggy, An Ping slowly sat up. It took him a long time to regain his bearings.

“Are we… back?”

“We’re back. You’re in the genuine, authentic world of the living now. No counterfeits.” Mu Geshen sat on a desk in the front row and handed him a steaming enamel mug. “It’s already eight in the morning.”

An Ping accepted it blankly.

“It’s the next day already?”

“That’s right. Our esteemed client has a wonderfully carefree mind. You slept straight through the entire night.”

“I had a really strange dream.” An Ping still hadn’t quite come to his senses. Hugging the enamel mug, he took a sip. “What is this? It actually tastes pretty good.”

“Brown sugar water with sweet osmanthus. Nourishes the qi and replenishes the blood. Specially for women.”

“…Well, thank you very much.”

After a moment of speechlessness, An Ping returned to the main topic.

“I dreamed I went into a room. It was one of those ancient-style bridal chambers, and there was a bride inside.”

“An Ping’er, are you sharing the details of your erotic dream with me?” Mu Geshen raised an eyebrow. “What was the bride like? How was the experience?”

An Ping nearly choked on his drink.

“It wasn’t an erotic dream! It was more like a horror movie! I was scared half to death. Could it have been that Three Paths Interstice you mentioned? Did some weird thing from inside it possess me?”

“If you want to know, you can.” Mu Geshen smiled pleasantly. “For an additional fee.”

“Can’t you provide any after-sales service?” An Ping was utterly exhausted. “How much?”

“Talking about money hurts our relationship. Just do this round of homework for me, and we’ll call it even.”

Mu Geshen took out his phone.

“But don’t worry. It’s common for ordinary people to have strange dreams after coming out of the Three Paths Interstice. It’s nothing serious. You’ll be fine in a few days.”

Only then did An Ping relax a little.

After thinking for a moment, he took the key ring Mu Geshen had given him out of his pocket.

“What should we do with these sunshine dolls? Are you going to piece the class representative’s soul together from them?”

“Not piece her soul together. Summon it.”

Mu Geshen took the key ring.

“Our after-sales service is excellent. Just leave the rest to me. The class representative should wake up in a few days.”

“That’s great. At least all that effort wasn’t wasted.”

An Ping finally let out a sigh of relief.

“By the way, you said earlier that the class representative attracted the Three Paths Interstice because of an unresolved emotional knot. Do you know what that knot is?”

Mu Geshen glanced at him.

“You want to know?”

An Ping hurriedly waved his hands.

“Sorry, sorry! I don’t know the rules of your line of work. If it’s not appropriate for you to answer, forget I asked.”

“You’ve misunderstood me.”

Mu Geshen took out another handful of coins.

“I can divine the answer, but it’ll cost extra.”

An Ping: “…”

“Don’t look so miserable, little boss. Are you out of money? I can give you a discount.”

“I just feel that it’s not very nice to pry into someone else’s affairs. The class representative might not want me to know.” An Ping scratched his head. “But since things have come this far, I suppose learning a little of the truth wouldn’t be too unreasonable. We’re classmates, after all, and we’ve always gotten along pretty well.”

“So?”

“How should I put it? I feel like the class representative has such a deep-seated emotional knot, yet she usually acts as if nothing has happened. I think…” An Ping looked conflicted. “Maybe someone should take the initiative to help her. She might not want to talk about it, but things have already gotten this serious. Someone should reach out and pull her back.”

“The more I talk, the weirder it sounds.” An Ping waved his hand. “My brain just goes in too many directions. Don’t laugh at me.”

“I can tell.” Mu Gesheng smiled and handed An Ping his phone. “After-sales service. You’re welcome.”

An Ping took the phone in surprise and discovered that it actually contained the class representative’s file. His gaze stopped on one line. “This is… Where did you get this?”

“After repeating three years of school, I’m pretty familiar with digging through student records,” Mu Gesheng said. “Before entering high school, she took a year off. Or rather, she delayed her enrollment by a year.”

“She was sent to a rehabilitation center for internet addiction because she was in an online relationship.”

An Ping was speechless.

“The things we saw in that room in the Three Paths Realm might have been memories from the year she took off school.” Mu Gesheng took the phone back from An Ping. “While you were asleep, I did some digging. The place she went to really wasn’t anywhere good. It’s not surprising that it attracted the Three Paths Realm.”

“…Is there still hope for the class representative?”

“She can wake up, and her body can recover,” Mu Gesheng said. “As for everything else, that’s none of my business.”

“Then whose business is it?”

“Her own, her parents’, or someone else’s. Anyway, these are matters of the human world. I’m just a deadbeat student who keeps repeating grades. What right do I have to pass judgment?”

“I think the class representative’s parents treat her very well.” An Ping seemed unsure what to say. “But when it comes to something like this… Sigh, I don’t know. Who do you think is right and who is wrong?”

“How would I know? I can’t even tell which of the four options, A, B, C, or D, is correct on a practice exam.” Mu Gesheng shrugged. “Without knowing the cause and the full story, you shouldn’t pass judgment rashly. It’s easiest to follow what everyone else says. Sometimes, staying silent is the difficult part.”

“That’s true. I spoke too hastily.” An Ping sighed. “Forget it. I’ll think about it some more.”

“There are too many things in this world that you can’t figure out. Take your time.” Mu Gesheng thought for a moment. “We can’t say who’s right and who’s wrong, but the class representative is the most innocent person here. Perhaps you could say she was young and didn’t know any better, but for someone in their teens, falling in love for the first time isn’t a mistake.”

“If someone does something wrong, of course they should be punished. But this isn’t punishment. This is killing her.” Mu Gesheng gave his assessment. “They went too far.”

“Then do you think her parents were in the wrong?”

“I told you, I don’t know.” Mu Gesheng looked helpless. “An Ping, why are you so stubborn?”

An Ping stared at him without saying a word.

“Fine, fine.” Mu Gesheng sighed. “Do you know why the class representative could still be rescued?”

Without waiting for An Ping to answer, he answered his own question. “Forget it. You definitely don’t know.”

“It was because of that bowl of pickled cabbage noodles. The bowl the class representative ate back then left behind a trace. That was how we managed to enter and rescue her, and it was also how we managed to escape afterward.”

“I just checked. That day was the class representative’s birthday.”

“You said her mother brought her that bowl of noodles. Then it should have been the longevity noodles her mother made herself.”

“The class representative developed an emotional knot because of what her parents did, yet she was saved by a bowl of noodles from her mother.”

Mu Gesheng tossed the coin in his hand, the crisp clinking sound ringing out repeatedly.

“They gave her life and raised her, then raised her only to destroy her, and finally destroyed her only to save her. Who was right, and who was wrong? Acting out of concern but doing something blindly—what difference does forgiveness make? And what difference does refusing to forgive make? Every little thing adds to a tangled mess of accounts. There are too many things in this world that simply cannot be sorted out. Otherwise, why would the vengeful ghosts of Fengdu roam everywhere, their resentment reaching the heavens? The Judge of the Underworld can pass judgment on all the affairs of the world with a single stroke of his brush, but whether you accept that judgment or not is something only you can decide for yourself.”

“An Ping, you won’t be able to figure this one out, and asking me won’t help either. The only people who can resolve it are the people involved.” Mu Gesheng ruffled An Ping’s hair. “You’d better focus on finishing the assignments you’ve been given these past few days first.”

“So you’re saying you don’t want me to help her?”

“How can you be this stupid?” Mu Gesheng said helplessly. “I’m telling you not to overthink it. There are many things in this world where right and wrong can’t be clearly determined. If you want to do something, then do it. If you make a mistake, take responsibility for it. Tell me, have you studied so much that your brain has turned to mush? Why are you fussing over everything like a little wife?”

The first few sentences had sounded fairly reasonable, but that last remark made An Ping choke outright. He coughed so violently that it sounded as though he might turn the world upside down.

“Then I sincerely apologize.”

“Not at all. It’s rare for a top student to come to me for advice. Anything else you’re unclear about?”

An Ping hesitated. “Can you tell me what you actually do?”

“Repeat grades, muddle through life, and wait to die.” Mu Gesheng waved his hand grandly. “I also do fortune-telling on the side. Returning customers get a discount.”

“Fine.” An Ping was already used to this man talking absolute nonsense. “Anyway, thanks for your help this time. I’ll bring you more homework if I get the chance.”

“Sure thing.” Mu Gesheng smiled. “Remember to bring your student ID. Half-price admission.”

The two parted ways at the school gate. The sun wasn’t particularly strong that morning, but Mu Gesheng still looked up at the sky with distaste. He borrowed an umbrella from the guardhouse and ambled back toward West City Street, sticking to the shady spots along the way.

West City Street was an old neighborhood. Some elderly people had already set up chess stalls along the roadside. Mu Gesheng stood watching for a while, egged one of the players into a winning move, and then continued walking until he entered a shop.

“Anyone here?”

It was a hot pot restaurant with a spacious storefront and an antique-style interior. Hot pot restaurants rarely opened this early in the morning, and no one answered him in the enormous two-story building.

However, Mu Gesheng acted as though he were in his own home. He went into the kitchen, prepared the soup bases, arranged a whole tableful of ingredients, and brewed a pot of Biluochun tea in an enamel mug. He lit the burner, and steam began rising from the pot.

He had prepared a split yin-yang hot pot. One side was like green mountains and clear waters, while the other was a sea of crimson.

As the steam grew thicker and thicker inside the room, the broth finally came to a boil. Mu Gesheng used his chopsticks to sweep aside the white mist drifting over the edge of the table. A figure appeared opposite him, on the other side of the split hot pot.

No one knew when the person had sat down. They were already dipping pig’s trotters into the spicy broth.

“Are you done being annoying? You called me back again. What do you want this time?” The person was chewing on a pig’s trotter, making their words somewhat indistinct. Their voice sounded like that of a teenage boy. “If you have nothing better to do, go find a way to get yourself killed. Stop ordering me around every single day.”

“Daughter, where have you been?” Mu Gesheng asked with a beaming smile, hugging his enamel mug. “Collecting rent? Have property prices in Fengdu gone up lately?”