"Huh?" a soft cry of surprise came from outside. "There's someone else here?"
Then the voice abruptly turned fierce. "Leave at once!"
Along with the voice came a rush of wind.
"Crack!"
A dark roof tile flew inside, striking the wall three chi away from Lin Jue with tremendous force and shattering to pieces.
The scattering shards struck Lin Jue in the face.
"..."
Lin Jue turned his head toward the impact on the wall. Measuring the distance between the shattered tile and himself, he touched his stinging cheek. His eyes flickered, but he remained still.
In the village elders' tales, the fox spirits, ghosts, and monsters that occupied human dwellings often acted like this, throwing tiles and bricks to scare people off. Some would beat people until their heads bled, and some would even trade curses and argue with them.
This creature, it seemed, held back out of various considerations or scruples, not daring to take human life lightly.
Putting this together with what he knew—though the Wang Family had lost their ancestral hall, they had never reported it to the county magistracy, nor had there been word of anyone losing their life here—he grew all the more certain:
The creature only wanted to frighten him away.
Not that it mattered.
"Still not leaving?" the voice called from outside once more.
"Crack!"
Another roof tile hurtled in, shattering to pieces.
Right in the same spot.
"I see you are young, possess an upright aura, and have not offended me, so out of goodwill I urge you to leave," the voice outside threatened. "If you still refuse to go, you will lose your life right here!"
Lin Jue's eyes flickered. At last, he slowly stood up, his gaze still fixed on the outside.
"I know not whether you are demon or ghost," he said, "but if you wish to make me leave, throwing a mere roof tile will never suffice."
"Is that so?"
A flurry of cracks resounded as several more roof tiles came hurtling in. They slammed into the wall even closer to Lin Jue, flying with greater force than before. The impact knocked the whitewash loose from the wall, sending clouds of dust and debris spraying outward.
Lin Jue blinked instinctively, but when he opened his eyes, he took a deep breath and did not spare the wall beside him another glance.
"Why not show yourself?" he called out.
"I fear I would scare you to death!"
"Why not try?"
"Do you have a death wish?"
"Or do you have no other skills to show?"
"Hmm? Now I'm angry!"
"Thud!"
A dull, heavy impact echoed.
This time, what flew in was a blue brick. It smashed viciously against the wall, a mere chi away from Lin Jue.
Lin Jue even felt the rush of wind it stirred.
Had that brick struck his head, it would have caused grave injury if not death.
Lin Jue still did not turn to look. He feared that looking would awaken cowardice within him, so he kept his eyes locked on the outside, guarding his resolve.
"Surely," he said, hardening his tone, "you must have more to offer than this?"
"You brat! Infuriating!"
A brief pause followed, accompanied by a sound like gnashing teeth and strained effort.
"Whoosh..."
A violent gust roared, and the sky overhead suddenly went dark.
Then came a heavy, thunderous crash!
From somewhere, the creature had hauled in a massive blue flagstone—the kind used in villages to pave roads or build steps. As if to flaunt its immense strength, it had actually heaved the stone over the eaves, sending it crashing down through the courtyard skylight.
After smashing down, the flagstone rolled over once, skidded forward, and came to a halt at Lin Jue's feet.
This time, he could not avoid looking.
It lay right at his feet.
Even in the dim moonlight, it was plain to see.
Lin Jue lowered his head slightly.
The slab was nearly as long as a grown man, a chi wide, and almost a chi thick. Looming dark on the ground, it surely weighed far more than a person.
Had it struck him, he would have been smashed into meat paste.
"..."
Lin Jue drew a deep breath, but said nothing.
"You're still not leaving?" the voice outside threatened again.
It was a threat, but also an urgent prod.
"..."
Lin Jue was silent for a moment before slowly shaking his head.
"I'm not leaving..."
"Huh?"
"I'm not leaving."
This time, his voice was clearer and firmer.
"Hmm?"
The voice outside grew astonished.
At the same time, fog seemed to rise outside, taking distinct shape under the bright moonlight as the wind drove it drifting into the back hall.
Lin Jue immediately felt a strange sensation.
Before he could examine it, his head spun. The scene before him rippled like water, and the ground rolled beneath his feet, making him feel as though he were standing upon the open sea. His thoughts grew sluggish and muddled, and in that haze of confusion, doubt crept in. His courage and resolve withered away, replaced by mounting terror and the urge to flee.
Lin Jue braced a hand against the wall, struggling to stand straight.
'There really is a demon stirring up trouble in this ancestral hall!'
'This creature isn't weak. I probably won't be able to best it tonight. Why not leave first, then think of another way once I'm home?'
'How can a mortal fight a demon or ghost?'
'Eldest Uncle treated me so well—first saving my life, then raising me...'
'Saving my life... raising me...'
'No! I cannot leave!'
Lin Jue struggled desperately, locked in an internal battle against the fear and urge to flee that gripped his heart.
'Wait, no!'
This was the monster's spellcraft.
With that sudden jolt of realization, his battle shifted from fighting himself to resisting the monster and its sorcery. Gritting his teeth, Lin Jue drove away the chaotic thoughts, allowing his reason and original purpose to reclaim control.
"I'm not leaving!" Lin Jue said once more.
As his words fell, as if the spell had lifted or the monster's sorcery had been broken, he felt his heart gradually settle. Yet having suffered his very first encounter with magic, the shock to his body and mind still left his heart pounding wildly.
"Why? Are you not afraid?"
"I am not!"
"Not even of death?"
"You already have the power to take my life with ease," Lin Jue said, his voice youthful yet steady as he looked down at the stone slab by his feet. "Yet you should know, such power does not belong solely to spirits, demons, and deities. Plenty of strong men in this world—even that fellow earlier—could beat me to death with their bare fists. Am I supposed to fear every single one of them?"
"Ha! Intriguing! How much money did the Wang Family give you to make you this unyielding?"
"Not much. Just enough to save a life."
A plain, ordinary sentence, yet bearing the weight of a thousand jin, bringing even the demon outside—who could heave a massive stone over the rooftop—to a momentary silence.
"Life-saving money?"
Panting, his hands trembling slightly, Lin Jue fumbled to light the oil lamp beside him.
"My eldest uncle saved my life first," he said. "Last year by the river, I slipped and fell into the water. It was only because he risked himself to pull me out that I had a second chance at life. Afterward, he took on the duty of a father, providing me with food, clothing, and schooling."
He seemed to be explaining it to the demon outside, yet also reciting it to himself, drawing strength and resolve from his own words.
Thinking of his eldest uncle lying bedridden, tormented by sickness, having nearly died, Lin Jue felt his heart settle into true stillness.
"Now he is stricken with a terrible illness, his life hanging by a thread, waiting for this medicine money to save him," Lin Jue continued.
"Old Master Wang is a charitable squire known far and wide; I doubt he would cheat me of such small coin. If I die, perhaps he would even offer extra compensation. So even if I am to die today, I must die here in this ancestral hall. Consider it trading my life for my uncle's."
With every word he spoke, his voice grew steadier and firmer, until in the end, fear left him entirely.
Even setting aside blood ties and speaking only of gratitude, it ought to be so.
It ought to be so.
And so his hands ceased their trembling.
He only gripped the Firewood Chopper tightly in his hand, keeping his eyes glued to the outside, watching for any brick, tile, or flagstone that might come flying in.
"If you truly wish for me to leave," Lin Jue said, "why not come in and fight me face-to-face?"
"..."
Outside, only silence reigned.
There was no telling what it was doing.
Only after a long while did a sound emerge.
"Pfft..."
And then, all fell still outside.
No one knew how much time passed.
Lin Jue remained leaning against the wall. While replaying the bizarre encounter and the spellcraft in his mind, he quietly watched and waited. No matter how exhausted he grew, he refused to fall asleep, not daring to let his guard down.
Yet tonight, weariness weighed on him heavily.
In this world, most people went to sleep shortly after dark and woke before dawn. Counting the hours, it was nearly the time when folk would begin to stir.
On top of staying awake the entire night, resisting the spell had drained far too much of his mental energy. Gradually, his eyelids grew heavy, refusing to obey him any longer.
Falling asleep happened without his realizing it.
And once asleep, a dream followed.
In the dream, there seemed to be nothing at all, giving the sensation of a vast, white haze. Yet amidst that white haze stood an indistinct figure, seemingly visible yet also invisible. Lin Jue only knew he was there, and that he was speaking to him, his voice just as impossible to describe.
Most dreams were like that, it seemed.
"That Wang Family possesses some clever tricks after all," the figure said as soon as he spoke. "I disturbed their peace and drove them away, so they found others to disturb mine and drive me off."
"Who are you?" Lin Jue asked.
"Didn't you just spend the whole night dealing with me?" the figure said, a hint of amusement in his voice.
"So it's you..."
Dreams were truly wondrous things. Lin Jue felt neither that this was a dream nor that it was reality. He didn't ponder who the other party was, nor did he wonder why he was here. He simply conversed with him naturally.
"Why are you here?" he asked.
"It is a long story..."
"A long time ago, I lived here, back before this village even existed. Later, matters called me away for a time, and these people named Wang built their houses here. Still, all things in heaven and earth do not belong to any one person, and I had left no mark behind, so at first I had no thought of taking back my dwelling or seizing their home. It's just that as I grew older, I wished to return."
The figure paused, then continued, "Besides, the ancestors of this lineage possessed considerable virtue, and staying in this ancestral hall felt comfortable to me, so I attempted to claim it back."
Claiming it, yet taking it back—a rather contradictory notion.
"Now, those Wang folk have brought in many people. Though most were cowards, they still disrupted my peace. On top of that, I've run into people like you—three in total now—who refuse to leave all night. It's truly vexing. I suppose spending my twilight years here is out of the question." The figure paused, then added, "Seeing that your five qi, while not as pure as a Sage's, are hardly impure, and that you possess great courage at such a young age, with an open heart and a filial mind, which is rare indeed, I came into your dream to tell you: I will depart tomorrow. You may inform the Wang Family; perhaps you might even receive an additional reward to purchase medicine and save your eldest uncle's life."
"Then I must thank you!" Lin Jue in the dream said with heartfelt sincerity.
"The credit is yours, not mine."
"I must thank you nonetheless."
"You are quite well-mannered after all!"
"I have done some studying."
"Studying is a good thing."
"You mentioned earlier that there were three of us," Lin Jue asked, naturally following his curiosity. "Who were the others? I have only heard of one."
"You count as one. The others were a butcher, and an Old Master who teaches in Shu Village," the figure explained. "That butcher possessed abundant vital blood, rendering my Qi Exhalation useless against him. He arrived drunk, collapsed, and slept like a corpse. I had no wish to maim or kill him, yet I couldn't wake him either, so I had no choice but to let him have his way."
"The Old Master of Shu Village?" Lin Jue's interest was piqued. Wasn't that the teacher who had taught him?
"Indeed. That Old Master has little scholarship, but his nature is upright and strict. In all his life, he has never committed a single evil deed—a truly rare virtue! Alas, even many gods and spirits would yield before such a man, to say nothing of a monster like me with only a modest cultivation and a few meager tricks."
Lin Jue was momentarily taken aback.
This answer was far beyond what he had expected.
Only then did he realize that this was no ghost, but a demon.
"But isn't Old Master Wang also a charitable squire known far and wide, having performed many good deeds?"
"He has done some good deeds, yes, but the truly benevolent ones were his ancestors. He is merely wealthy, carrying on the family tradition by performing acts of charity to amass a reputation for profit." The figure's voice paused. "There is nothing wrong with that, nor is it evil—it might even be considered good—which is why I never sought to harm or strike him. But to expect me to hold him in high esteem and yield to him because of it? Impossible."
"So that is how it is..."
Before he could ponder the subtleties of this conversation, the dream receded swiftly, like mountain mist pierced by sunlight and scattered by the wind.
Only a drifting sentence lingered at the very end:
"Seeing that you understand propriety and treat me with respect, I will leave you with one piece of advice: your soul is strong yet unstable. You must take great care of your health, and it would be best to seek out a Soul-Pacifying Method to settle your mind and spirit."
In a daze, he woke.
Dawn was near.
He was still inside the ancestral hall, leaning against the wall. The bricks and tile fragments still surrounded him, with fallen whitewash scattered over the ground. His feet rested against the blue flagstone in front of him, and the gouges scraped into the floor tiles by its tumbling and sliding were faintly visible in the dim light. Yet he was completely unharmed.
After a momentary daze, Lin Jue scrambled up and walked outside.
Dawn was indeed breaking.
Roosters were already crowing outside.
At the base of the wall, he caught sight of a figure roughly knee-high to a man. In the faint light, it was hard to tell whether its fur was yellow or mottled gray; he only saw that it walked upright like a human, carrying a bundle on its back, before vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Lin Jue froze once more.
Snapping back to his senses, he faced in that direction, clasped his hands, bowed deeply, and gave a solemn salute.
Yet his brow furrowed, deep bewilderment filling his heart—
'Just what kind of world is this?'