A chilly breeze swept past, sending shivers down everyone’s spine.
“Where did that ghost come from!” Gu Feng smacked the man beside him on the head. “I bet it’s some shameless woman sneaking out to meet her lover! Come on, let’s go see!”
“Hey, hey, Brother Gu!”
Gu Feng shook off the man in green’s hand and staggered forward.
“Little lady, what are you doing here all alone?” He teased her, “Could it be you’ve lost your way? Would you like your brother here to show you the way back?”
The woman who was carrying something paused and replied softly, “Really?”
“Of course it’s true!” When the few men behind him heard the delicate, gentle female voice, their hearts tingled with excitement. “What are you carrying? We’ll help you!”
The woman in red gracefully turned around, her beautiful face making the men’s hearts pound wildly.
“H-have we met before…” Gu Feng suddenly asked.
“Hehe, my lord, you really know how to joke.”
The others ignored his clumsy attempt at flirting and rushed to offer help.
“I’ll do it!”
“I’m stronger, let me!”
“Get lost!” Gu Feng snapped angrily. “You all didn’t want to come earlier, and now you’re fighting me for it? Move aside!”
They fell silent, unable to argue, and simply stared at the woman in front of them.
Gu Feng walked around behind her, bent down, and reached to lift the black mass on the ground.
The moment his hand touched it, his heart stopped. His blood seemed to freeze.
Moonlight spilled over the scene.
Thud!
He fell backward, staring in horror first at the woman, then at the thing on the ground—frozen in place.
“What are you doing? If you can’t lift it, I’ll do it!” The man in blue rolled up his sleeves impatiently and pushed Gu Feng aside.
“…”
When he saw the face of the person on the ground, terror twisted his features. He turned toward Gu Feng’s blank stare.
“G-Gu Feng…”
“There’s… there’s a ghost…”
“G-ghost!”
The man in green scrambled away in terror.
Gu Feng, startled by the screaming, suddenly remembered who the woman’s face resembled.
“Fang Wuyan…”
The woman in red smiled sweetly at him.
The others, seeing the body on the ground clearly, sobered instantly from their drunken haze.
“G-Gu Feng!?”
The living Gu Feng, the dead Gu Feng— which one was real!?
The woman in red looked at them and smiled. “My dear Gu Langjun, how forgetful you are. Have you forgotten even me?”
Every step she took forward made them retreat in fear.
“You were dead—why are you still here!?”
“Didn’t you say you’d marry me?” The woman in red smiled tenderly, but in their ears her soft voice sounded like that of a vengeful spirit crawling out from hell. “So I came to find you. Gu Langjun, when will we hold our wedding?”
“Fang Wuyan! You ugly woman without salt—you think you can be the Gu family’s mistress? Dream on!”
“Ugly… without salt…” Her lovely face suddenly twisted. The right half of her face began to rot and stink, revealing ghastly white bone beneath. “Ah! My face, my face!”
“Gu Feng! Return my life to me!”
The beautiful woman turned into a resentful ghost and lunged at them.
The shrill cries echoed along the lakeside as the men fled in panic.
“Ahhhh!”
“Ah!”
“There’s a dead man! A dead man!”
“There’s a corpse in the lake!”
“Tch, who knows how many this month already! Each died differently…” One unafraid passerby craned his neck to watch. Seeing the mangled corpse clad in a red dress over green garments, he tutted in amazement. “Drowned, hanged, fallen to death…”
“Whose young master is this one? Tsk, poor lad…”
“Could it be a vengeful ghost collecting lives?”
“What nonsense! There’s no such thing as ghosts!”
“It’s that wine-seller woman! They say she hanged herself! There was blood before her burial—likely her spirit couldn’t rest, so she’s come looking for replacements! I’ve heard those who hang themselves in red are the fiercest kind!”
The old man telling the tale frightened the curious young men around him.
“Is that true?”
“There haven’t been this many deaths in Furong Town for years! If it’s not a ghost seeking revenge, what else could it be?” The old man grumbled, shouldering his vegetables. Before leaving, he added one more scare, “Right after that wine-seller woman was buried, another man hanged himself. Then every few days, another one dies… Heh, young man, you’d best be careful. The ones dying lately are all handsome lads like you!”
“You’re talking nonsense, old man!” The young man’s face turned pale, and he stormed off, walking fast as if afraid something might chase him.
The old man chuckled proudly. “So easy to scare.”
“Old Wei, stop frightening people,” a middle-aged man nearby scolded. “That ghost only kills those loafers who used to bully others!”
Old Wei laughed. “It’s just a bit of fun! Those scoundrels got what they deserved. At least they won’t be lonely on the road to the underworld!”
He turned to leave—
“Old man, wait! Don’t go yet, tell us more.” A bright male voice sounded eagerly behind him.
The old man turned and nearly jumped out of his skin—three faces were peering close at him. “Heavens! You nearly scared my soul out! What more do you want! I’ve business to tend to!”
“How about five taels of silver for your story?”
The old man hesitated. “A handsome lad like you likes listening to countryside ghost tales?”
Cui Mingcan grinned. “I love ghost stories the most! So, deal?”
The purse of silver jingled before his eyes.
The bystanders’ eyes lit up. “I’ll pay too!”
The old man shoved him aside. “Shoo!” Then he laughed so wide that his wrinkles bloomed. “I’ll take it! Of course I will! Let’s find a place to sit, and I’ll tell you everything.”
Cui Mingcan raised his brows at Bai Yuhen and Cen Ying.
Both of them: “…”
“That woman in red was pitiful,” the old man began. “Everyone called her Fang Wuyan, ‘Wuyan’ meaning ‘without salt,’ because the right half of her face was covered in red scars. The left side, though, was beautiful as a fairy’s. Strange, isn’t it? One side hideous, one side divine…” He sighed. “She lived at the end of Cat Alley, near the lake. She sold wine for a living. Orphaned young, she survived on her fine brewing skills. And let me tell you—her wine smelled heavenly!”
The old man rambled without much order, but after an hour of listening at a tea stall, the trio pieced together the brief life of a strong and kind-hearted woman.
Fang Wuyan, age nineteen, was unmarried due to her disfigured face. Having lost her parents early, she ran a small wine shop alone. Withdrawn and quiet, she had little contact with others, though she seemed to have a friend from the brothel named Peony.
About a month ago, she was found hanging in her shop, dressed in red, already dead three days when Peony discovered her.
At the burial, Peony tried to smash her head against the coffin in grief. Blood was spilled, delaying the interment for days. Then, mysteriously, the coffin disappeared.
Five days after Fang Wuyan’s body went missing, the first young man was found hanged in his home—wearing the same red clothes she died in.
People whispered that since Fang Wuyan died unmarried, her ghost roamed to find herself a husband, killing the men she fancied and dressing them in wedding red.
After hearing the tale, Bai Yuhen and her companions decided to visit Fang Wuyan’s abandoned wine shop.
The shop was at the very end of Cat Alley—remote but once lively, for her wine had been famous.
As they approached, they spotted a tall, slender man standing before the door.
“Li Tiankuo?” they exclaimed.
The refined man turned, his gaze cold and unsurprised, and nodded slightly.
Cui Mingcan, ever sociable, stepped forward with a grin. “Brother Li, you were sent to Furong Town too?”
Li Tiankuo gave a cool nod. “Mm.”
Cui Mingcan paid no mind to his indifference. “Didn’t expect you’d arrive before us! Shall we join forces? The four of us together will surely capture that ghost!”
Li Tiankuo looked at him properly for the first time, meeting his eager eyes. His thin lips parted. “No need.” He glanced at Bai Yuhen and Cen Ying. “Too many people will only be a burden.”
Bai Yuhen, Cen Ying, and Cui Mingcan: “???”
“Hey! What’s with you!” Cui Mingcan glared at him as he entered the shop, fuming.
“Hmph! What’s so great about him! Doesn’t he know teamwork makes strength? You’ll see—we’ll catch that ghost before he does!”
Cen Ying quickly stopped him, slapping his shoulder. “Are you a firecracker? One spark and you explode?”
Cui Mingcan winced. “Ow!”
“Enough,” Bai Yuhen said with a smile, pulling the two apart. “If you keep bickering, he really will beat us to it.”
The taunt worked; they fell silent, glaring at each other but keeping distance as they marched into the half-open shop.
“I’m going first!”
“Why you!”
“Because I’m stronger!” Cen Ying said, flicking her sleeve. A puff of smoke hit Cui Mingcan’s face, making him dizzy and stumble back.
“What did you do to me?”
“Nothing.” She strutted in proudly. “See? You’re fine now.”
Cui Mingcan steadied himself, realizing she was right. “Hmph! Childish!”
Smirking, Cen Ying linked arms with Bai Yuhen and walked inside.
Li Tiankuo had already searched the small house thoroughly.
The wine shop had three parts: the front room for selling and storing tools, a small courtyard pond with koi and blooming flowers showing the owner’s refined taste, and three back rooms—a bedroom, a storeroom, and a kitchen.
Though small, the place had everything.
Fang Wuyan had hanged herself from the beam before the bedroom door—visible straight through from the courtyard.
The once-bustling shop was now cold and desolate, the pond exuding a chilling aura.
After circling the place and finding nothing suspicious, they stopped at the courtyard. Bai Yuhen frowned, glancing at the white silk still hanging from the beam.
“Yuer, what are you doing?” Cen Ying gasped as Bai Yuhen took down the silk ribbon.
“Step back.”
Bai Yuhen moved to the courtyard’s center. “My heart reflects the truth, illusion reveals the shadow—manifest!”
She wrapped the white silk around her wrist, swiftly forming seals. As her final syllable fell, a golden serpent two fingers wide shot out, its mouth open, striking the beam.
The three jumped in surprise, staring.
Whoosh!
In the sunlight before the bedroom appeared a faint silhouette.
Cui Mingcan and Cen Ying cried out together, “It’s Fang Wuyan!”