Chapter 64 Pitiful People Often Have Despicable Traits

The moment Elder Ke died, his soul drifted out of his body and lunged furiously at Lang Jiuchuan, burning with monstrous resentment.

"It was you! You are the one who killed my god!" Black Qi engulfed Elder Ke—the terrifying and malevolent aura of an aggrieved ghost.

Even in death, he refused to acknowledge his wrongdoing.

Lang Jiuchuan produced the imperial chime and gave it a gentle shake. The startling resonance, like the tolling of bells from a Buddhist hall in the highest heavens, instantly battered his newly severed soul, making it turn pale and insubstantial.

"Even assuming what you said about her being a god is true, I am capable of slaying gods—do you really think I can't deal with you?" Lang Jiuchuan sneered with utter contempt. "And let me make this clear once more: she was no god. She was an evil entity, one nurtured and fed by your own hands, fashioned using the very bones of your own mother."

"No, she is a god..."

"Red Lotus never wanted to be a deity from beginning to end. She never harmed anyone. In death, had she reported to the Underworld, she could have been reincarnated. But now, she has been utterly obliterated—dispersed while carrying a lifetime of infamy."

"You understand nothing! This is what they owed her. She was so pure, so kind, yet this village destroyed her. So what is wrong with an eye for an eye? It was merely a life for a life. They are steeped in sin, so what is wrong with them atoning for it?"

Lang Jiuchuan gazed at the white bones and said, "An eye for an eye may not be wrong in principle, but are you certain this is what she wanted? Did you ever ask her?"

Elder Ke froze.

"Having suffered such trials, it would be no surprise had she despaired of all hope. She would have wished only for time to reverse, that those horrors had never happened," Lang Jiuchuan said calmly. "Yet what did you do? Your so-called sacrifice was no different from what her abusers did. With your own hands, you heaped more filth onto her soul, ultimately turning her into a monstrous entity."

Elder Ke's eyes widened. He lowered his head to stare into the skull's empty sockets. "Was I wrong?"

"If you truly sought vengeance, you should have burned this wicked village to the ground, and I would have respected you as a dutiful son. At the very least, you should have forced them to kowtow before her grave until they drew their last breath, rather than offering those people up for her to consume," Lang Jiuchuan looked at him with cold detachment. "You were not creating a god; you were desecrating your own mother!"

Stunned by the blow, Elder Ke staggered backward, his gaze brimming with venom.

Without wasting further words, Lang Jiuchuan drew the judge's brush and conjured a ghostly gate with three swift strokes. She shouted into the opening, "Are there any ghosts about? Time to escort a wandering soul!"

A ghost official hurriedly drifted out, tossed a heavy chain, ensnared Elder Ke, and dragged him away.

The moment the ghost gate slammed shut, Lang Jiuchuan's vital energy and spirit drained away. She collapsed straight onto the ground, utterly exhausted.

The mountain god temple fell silent, save for the whistling wind.

Lang Jiuchuan turned her head and saw Shen Qinghe and the others staring at her as if they had just seen a ghost. She forced a smile and said, "It's all over."

Everyone: "!"

Honestly, she really shouldn't have bothered smiling; it was deeply unsettling.

So the conversation she had just carried on with empty air, and the things she had said, were actually spoken to Elder Ke on the ground?

Better not to dwell on it. To think about it too deeply was truly terrifying.

"Was he truly Red Lotus's son?" Shen Qinghe asked Lang Jiuchuan.

Lang Jiuchuan nodded. "If Your Honor wishes to gather evidence and close the case, you can only ask the village elders. Only they would know Elder Ke's origins, seeing as it happened so long ago."

Shen Qinghe walked over to the pile of white bones and inspected them closely. The slender skeletal frame made it immediately clear that these were the remains of a woman. One could only imagine the state of mind Elder Ke must have been in when he gathered his own mother's remains, sealed them in earth, and had people worship them day and night.

Perhaps in the beginning, he was driven solely by hatred—hating the villagers not only for abusing his mother, but finally sacrificing her to a god. It was the men of the village who harbored evil intentions first; why should the one branded as a public enemy be an innocent victim?

Was it simply because she was beautiful, and a fragile widow besides?

So he hated. He hated the villagers for conjuring a god out of thin air. Since they wished for a deity, he would forge one. He sealed Red Lotus within a clay statue, employed tricks to make the "deity" manifest, and willingly led the villagers to bow before the mountain god in pious devotion.

And yet, what he ultimately conjured was not a deity at all—no, it was an evil entity!

Shen Qinghe did not know what to say. Was it true that every pitiful person had hateful traits?

Hearing Jiang Che's reminder, Lang Jiuchuan added, "Oh, right—behind this mountain god temple, there is a sheer cliff with piles of corpses at the bottom. This cave probably connects to it; there is a draft flowing through." She paused, then continued, "Those two young noblemen may be in grave danger, because when Red Lotus appeared, the stench of blood was overpowering."

Everyone's complexion shifted, especially the guards who had accompanied them from the two noble households.

Shen Qinghe instructed Qian Cheng, "Split up. Take one group to investigate this cave..." He cut himself off halfway, turned to Lang Jiuchuan, and asked, "Now that both Elder Ke and this evil entity have been slain, is this temple still dangerous?"

"It's safe now," Lang Jiuchuan replied. "Just exercise some caution, especially near the cliff edge, so no one loses their footing."

Only then did Shen Qinghe feel reassured. He assigned tasks to his men—some to search the temple, others to summon the people waiting outside the village, and someone to fetch the magistrate of Tongcheng. After all, Daughter Village fell under his jurisdiction, and now that such a massive incident had occurred, he could not shirk responsibility.

There was also this pile of white bones; since the dead deserved the utmost respect, they needed to be properly collected.

Shen Qinghe put on a pair of gloves, cupped the skull in both hands, and intended to reunite it with the rest of the bones. But the skull, which had been intact until now, met with a sudden gust of wind the moment it touched his hands. Like drifting dust and sand, the skull slowly dissipated right in his palms, along with the rest of the pile on the ground.

Shen Qinghe froze entirely. His hands trembled slightly as he looked rather nonplussed at Lang Jiuchuan. "?"

He hadn't done it.

"Dust to dust, earth to earth. This is the best destination for her," Lang Jiuchuan said, her expression serene as she watched the bone ash scatter in all directions.

Shen Qinghe pressed his lips together and sighed softly.

Thump, thump, thump.

Hasty footsteps echoed from behind the lotus pedestal. It was Qian Cheng, returning in a rush. His face was pale as death as he stammered, "My lord, Miss, in the back, in the back..."

The two exchanged glances and hurried over to follow him.

True to Lang Jiuchuan's words, the mountain god temple held hidden mysteries. A path wound through the cave, concealed behind a secret stone door that led straight to the edge of the cliff. Inside, the walls were hung with oil lamps, festive red silk, and small lanterns.

Yet the deeper they went, the heavier the stench of blood became. At last, they reached a recessed chamber entrance, where two guards were leaning against the doorframe, vomiting violently.

At the sight, Shen Qinghe's heart sank.

Reaching the doorway, he was hit by an overwhelming wave of iron-scented blood. He was forced to cover his nose, and upon stepping inside, his hands involuntarily clenched into fists.

Lang Jiuchuan peeked inside as well. A sea of red met her eyes. Every conceivable accessory for a woman was fully stocked. An offering table held dragon-and-phoenix candles, assorted fruits, and other items, alongside a pair of grand red mandarin duck goblets and red wine cups—all of them bearing unmistakable testimony to the nature of the chamber.

A bridal chamber.

And on the floor lay three fresh mummified corpses. Drained of blood and stripped of their spirits, they were nothing more than skin draped over bones, their flesh seemingly sucked dry and devoured through their very pores. Their deaths were horrifying to behold.

Shen Qinghe had already recognized two of them as the young masters from the Earl of Chang'le's estate and the Prince of Kang'le's manor.

The trouble was colossal. Both families belonged to the imperial nobility. Upon seeing such corpses, they would likely lose their minds and petition the throne to raze Daughter Village to the ground.