The great-grandfather no longer looked anything like the pitiful figure from their dreams. He was dressed in fine brocade, glowing with vitality, exactly as he’d looked in life, plump, his face full of good fortune, sharp and vigorous.
When everyone saw him walk through the door, their first reaction was fear.
But the old man wore a gentle smile, explaining that he’d only been weeping at the door recently because he missed his family.
Seeing him behave just as he always had, kind and courteous, everyone let their fear settle, and began speaking with him.
The great-grandfather told them that, having done many good deeds in life and died a natural death, and now honored with proper offerings by his devoted descendants, he had become a household guardian spirit, watching over the peace of their home. Over the years, he’d not only protected the Zhang family, but had quietly done a great many good deeds, sheltering nearby households as well, and had built up considerable merit.
The Sovereign Lord of Heaven, seeing how diligently he’d served, was preparing to elevate him to the immortal realm, to become a Wandering Immortal. And the Heavenly Emperor had even granted permission for him to bring a few family members along with him.
Fengxue honestly didn’t know what to say to that.
Ascending to immortality wasn’t something that happened so easily. Even her own Master, Immortal Lingyun, considered to be a single half-step away from ascension, had been stuck on that very half-step for who knew how long.
And being allowed to bring family members along on the ascent, just how much face would that take?
“So you all agreed to it?”
Zhang Xingzhi sighed. “Not exactly. Only my second brother, who’s always been impulsive, let something slip while drunk and agreed to go to the immortal realm. Afterward, our great-grandfather wanted us all to attend his ascension banquet, my eldest brother put him off with vague excuses. That night, I had another dream. In it, our great-grandfather still looked gaunt and ragged as before, and he looked at me, weeping silently. Except this time, what he wept was tears of blood.”
“I woke with a start from the dream and went to discuss it with my eldest brother, and found his corpse instead.”
At this point Zhang Xingzhi’s voice caught, and he could barely continue.
Fengxue said, “It seems what you saw at your banquet last night wasn’t your real great-grandfather at all, it was some ghost or spirit impersonating him. It stole the offerings meant for him, then took on your great-grandfather’s appearance to deceive you.”
As for their actual great-grandfather, he was rather pitiable too, his own offerings stolen by someone else, trying to warn his descendants of the coming disaster through omens, and in the end still unable to spare them from it.
Zhang Xingzhi’s expression turned somber, he seemed to have already guessed as much himself.
He pressed his palms together, dropped to his knees, and prostrated himself fully on the ground before Fengxue, pleading, “Immortal Master, is there any way to bring back my family?”
Fengxue circled the coffins a few times. “That’s difficult. Their souls have all been seized, who knows where they’ve been taken?”
Zhang Xingzhi said, “I’ve heard of a soul-summoning technique. There’s an account in a book, someone was crossing a great river when he was swept into the water by wind and waves and drowned, his bones sinking beneath the surface. Those searching for the body dragged the river for days with no success, but when his mother came to the riverbank and wept, the traveler’s body drifted up out of the water on its own. The same book also says that when a child suffers a fright and loses part of their soul, the family calls out for the soul along the path the child had walked, and can summon it back.”
Fengxue glanced at him. “Why don’t you try weeping, then?”
Before Zhang Xingzhi could answer, the woman standing beside them covered her face and threw herself onto the first coffin, wailing in grief.
“This is my eldest brother’s wife,” Zhang Xingzhi said, his eyes reddening. “My brother and his wife were always deeply devoted to each other, and their two children are still so young, I don’t know what will become of them.”
Two children in mourning clothes clung to the woman’s side, tugging obediently at their mother’s sleeve. They couldn’t have been more than four or five, their expressions bewildered, unable to understand what had happened, or why their mother was so distraught.
“Mama,” the little girl said, innocently, “why are you crying? Papa just went along with Grandpa. It won’t be long before Grandpa comes to take us too!”
The woman looked down, horrified. “Sweetheart, what did you just say?”
The girl said with a smile, “Grandpa said he’s going up to heaven to become an immortal. He just needs a pair of little attendants to scatter flowers along his path. He’ll be back soon to take me and little brother too!”
The woman’s body swayed, a wail of pure despair tore from her throat, and she collapsed to the ground.
Zhang Xingzhi rushed to catch her and had the maids carry her back to her room to rest.
Once that was settled, he looked at Fengxue, distressed. “Little Immortal Maiden, what should we do now? That monster seems to have set its sights on my eldest brother’s orphaned children.”
Fengxue said, consoling him, “That’s not surprising, really. Whatever monster your family has stirred up sounds like it has considerable power, with a vicious ghost like this, wiping out an entire family wouldn’t be unusual.”
Zhang Xingzhi swayed slightly, his face going pale.
After a moment, he said, trembling, “I don’t care for my own life. But my eldest brother’s widow and children… I beg the Immortal Master to protect them.” A thought crossed his mind, and his eyes suddenly brightened. “Immortal Master, you said I carry a protective aura of uprightness, could that aura be passed on to them?”
Fengxue sat on the coffin lid, sword cradled in her arms, chin propped on the hilt, looking at him with no small amount of exasperation.
“I’m right here. If that monster actually shows itself, that’s a good thing, I’ve been worried I wouldn’t be able to find it at all.”
Zhang Xingzhi said, “Of course, with the Immortal Master here. But… I fear that vicious ghost won’t show itself so easily. And the two children, they won’t just vanish silently the way my brothers did, will they?”
Fengxue smiled. “If it really wants some flower-scattering attendant to go wherever it’s going, why not let me stand in for the little girl?”
Zhang Xingzhi said, “But isn’t it Azhi and Aman it’s after specifically?”
Fengxue pulled out two yellow talismans. “These conceal one’s presence. Have the two children carry them, and the ghost won’t be able to find them.”
Zhang Xingzhi let out a breath of relief, a hint of a smile finally crossing his face. “I see. Although those two are quite the troublemakers, getting them to hold onto the talismans and not run off might be a challenge in itself.”
Still, at least there was now a way to protect them.
Zhang Xingzhi asked, “But Immortal Master, how will you stand in for them?”
Fengxue kept her chin propped on the sword hilt. “Give me a lock of their hair, and a piece of clothing they’ve worn close to the skin. I’ll use a small technique to disguise myself. That way, when the ghost tracks the scent, it’ll only find me. It’s just… the ghost specifically named two children…”
“But the Immortal Master is only one person,” Zhang Xingzhi said, his expression turning resolute. “Then let me stand in for Azhi, and travel alongside the Immortal Master!”
Fengxue said, “You can’t.”
Zhang Xingzhi drew himself up straight. “Why can’t I? Immortal Master, I may not know any techniques, but I’m not afraid of ghosts and spirits. The books say, heaven and earth carry a righteous qi that takes many forms, below, it becomes rivers and mountains, above, it becomes the sun and stars. I… I carry a body full of noble, righteous qi. I’m not afraid of vicious ghosts. Not only am I not afraid, I intend to fight them! To avenge my dearest family, for as the old saying goes, one does not live under the same sky as the enemy of one’s father, one does not delay taking up arms against the enemy of one’s brother, one does not share a country with the enemy of one’s friend… huh? Immortal Master, where did you go?”
…
Fengxue took out the talismans she’d bought on the mountain, folded them into small triangles, and, guided by a young maid, made her way into the room where the lady of the house rested.
Along the way, she chatted a while with the maid, and confirmed that everything Zhang Xingzhi had said was true, the Zhang family really was well known for their decency, and the great-grandfather in particular had been famous for his kindness and generosity while alive. One year, when famine struck nearby, the old man had sold off his own possessions at a loss to open the granaries and relieve the starving. Later, when Cloud-Weaving House caught fire, many of the neighbors had rushed to help put it out on their own, and afterward had volunteered to help rebuild the workshop for him.
It had become something of a local legend, kindness repaid with kindness, gratitude returned in full.
In short, the great-grandfather had been a rare and truly good man, and the family’s upbringing was honest and upright. Of the four Zhang children now, the eldest had been simple and kind-hearted, the second impulsive, the third a bookish sort, and the youngest gentle and good-natured, all decent, unpretentious people.
Arriving at the door, Fengxue knocked and stepped inside.
The Zhang family’s little boy was named Zhang Zhi, and the girl was named Zhang Man.
They sat by their mother’s side on the bed, small heads bent together, playing with a tangram puzzle. When they saw Fengxue come in, the children looked up and hurriedly stuffed the puzzle pieces behind their backs.
Fengxue smiled. “I won’t tell anyone. Go ahead and play.”
Children always liked good-looking people. Zhang Man held her gaze for a moment, the corner of her mouth curving up, and pulled a piece of candy from her sleeve. “Big sister, do you want some rice candy?”
Fengxue ruffled the girl’s hair, her gaze moving past the children to the woman lying on the bed.
The woman was still unconscious, her brow tightly knit, tear tracks still visible on her pale face.
Fengxue touched a finger to the woman’s sleep point, letting her rest undisturbed until morning.
Zhang Zhi asked, “Big sister, when will Mama wake up?”
Fengxue lowered her voice. “Shh, she’s very tired. Let her sleep.”
She took out the yellow talismans folded into triangles and handed them to the two children.
“What’s this?” the little boy asked, taking it obediently.
Fengxue crouched down to their eye level and instructed them seriously, “These are protective talismans for your mother. She’s frightened and exhausted, and her spirit is unsettled, tonight, a Night-Wandering Spirit may come to seize her soul and try to carry her away.”
Both children’s eyes went wide, welling up with frightened tears.
Fengxue said, “So I’ve drawn these two talismans especially for you. You must carry them on you at all times, and stay right by your mother’s bedside, guarding her. That’s the only way to keep her safe from the Night-Wandering Spirit.”
Thoroughly frightened, the children clutched the yellow talismans tight, not daring to move.
Fengxue asked, “Do you want to protect Mama?”
Zhang Zhi and Zhang Man nodded earnestly.
Fengxue patted their small shoulders. “Then stay right beside your mother tonight. The Night-Wandering Spirit will try to trick you by pretending to be someone else’s voice, don’t believe it, and whatever you do, don’t leave this room, or Mama will be taken away. Understand?”
The children nodded so hard it looked like they’d shake their heads loose.
Fengxue had them tuck the talismans into their inner pockets, then snipped off a lock of hair from each, spinning a few more thoroughly made-up details about the Night-Wandering Spirit’s terrifying appearance, until the children scrambled up onto their mother’s bed in fright.
“Pfft—”
A soft laugh came from outside the window.
Fengxue strode over and pushed open the carved wooden window, bright sunlight falling across her face.
A youth in red leaned lazily against a peach tree below. He said with a grin, “Hey now, little Immortal Maiden, even lying to children?”
Fengxue’s eyes widened slightly. “What are you doing here?”
“Qingming Mountain got too boring.” Ye Pengzhou tossed a gourd up to her. “Not a single drinking companion to be found. I was going to head down the mountain for a drink, and halfway through, I suddenly thought of the little Immortal Maiden.”
He smiled, warm as a spring breeze. “I thought, wouldn’t it be nice to share a cup with her? So here I am.”