This is the world of all beings, not merely the realm of humans.
The first time she met Lin Quan was in the thick fog where the Water Ghost was feeding. She dreamed of an evil spirit pulling her out of the Sea of Blood.
The second time she met Lin Quan was outside the door of her room. She dreamed of an evil spirit standing before her, its black robes fluttering wildly in the night wind. It said—I’ve kept you waiting.
Both times she met Lin Quan, she had such dreams. Could it be mere coincidence? If not, then who was the evil spirit in her dreams?
“Where’s your car? After the crash, you didn’t go to the hospital or call the police, yet you still had the mind to show up at Chengho Medical College. You said you hit your head and forgot some things, but what about your family? Don’t they care about you? Or did you forget them too after hitting your head?”
“Lin Quan.” The more Tao Tao spoke, the more she felt something was off about Lin Quan. She stated firmly, “You’re not Lin Quan, are you? Who are you?”
Tao Tao watched his every expression without leaving any gaps. If Lin Quan truly had a problem, hearing such words would surely cause him to reveal a flaw in his hurried, unprepared state.
But Lin Quan showed no panic. His eyes were misty: “I am me, yet not me. At times, even I cannot tell who I am.”
“Are you an evil spirit?”
“What if I am? What will Tao Tao do?” Lin Quan did not deny it. His peach blossom eyes glanced down, settling on the soft, fluffy hair at Tao Tao’s temples. Those fine strands were unlike her cold demeanor—they were innocent, soft, and curled at the ends with a charming lift.
He smiled and asked, “Kill me?”
Tao Tao: “Evil spirits slaughter living beings and bring calamity to the human world. Should they not be killed?”
“This is the world of all beings, not merely the realm of humans. For thousands of years, conspiracies, desires, betrayals, wars—which of these has not resulted in rivers of blood and corpses strewn for miles? When it comes to slaughtering living beings, whose hands are stained with more blood than humans? If you wish for this world to prosper eternally, to flourish without decline, who exactly should be killed?”
Tao Tao fell silent for a moment. “Are you admitting it?”
Lin Quan: “After Lin Quan was dragged into the water by the Water Ghost and drowned, I made a deal with him. I would ferry him to the afterlife, freeing him from suffering eternally at the bottom of the water. In return, his body and memories would belong to me. Although some parts of the memories are missing, they are enough for me to navigate this world.”
The wind brushed against the wind chimes, creating a tinkling sound that disrupted the tranquility of the room.
“Tao Tao, I am waiting for you to kill me.” His tone was so calm, as if he were discussing something as trivial as the weather. “Once the spirit-hiding body awakens, it will be disturbed day and night. You must hate evil spirits to the core. Why haven’t you acted yet?”
Tao Tao recalled the figure from her dream again. “So, who exactly are you?”
“Is it important?”
“A name must be left on the tombstone after death.”
Lin Quan smiled. He should no longer be called Lin Quan.
“Nangong.” He gazed into the girl’s eyes. “Nangong Chen.”
A completely unfamiliar name.
Tao Tao reached behind her back and grasped the hilt of Tao Yao.
It was strange. She hadn’t known him for long, nor were they close, yet many memories remained vividly fixed in her mind.
…
“Your life was snatched from the hands of a deity. Will you discard it so easily here?”
“You long for companionship, yet fear that trusting others will bring bitter fruit, so you simply refuse to trust.”
“You don’t believe anyone could love you. You don’t believe anyone would disregard life and death, defy fate, and stake countless cycles of reincarnation just to stay by your side in this world…”
“Even the solitary star of the Widow’s Lodge will one day be touched by moonlight.”
“The mist has already begun to spread across the mortal world, but no matter how thick or deep the fog, some things cannot be concealed.”
…
He could tell at a glance that she harbored thoughts of death in the Anatomy Building, aware of the loneliness she yearned for yet dared not connect with others. How could an evil spirit of unknown origin seem to understand her better than she understood herself?
But an evil spirit was still an evil spirit. She hadn’t forgotten the experiences of her youth, nor would she forget the mission of the Chaotic Tomb.
Tao Tao ignored the fleeting sense of reluctance that arose in her heart: “I won’t kill you. I’ll let Luo Hou do it.”
“Luo Hou cannot kill me,” Nangong Chen said. “Mortals, Spirit Masters, evil spirits, even deities—none can do anything to me. In this world, there has only ever been one person capable of killing me.”
Tao Tao: “Me? Why?”
Nangong Chen: “Because my heart belongs to Tao Tao.”
He drew Tao Yao from behind her back, took her hand to grip the hilt, and pressed the tip of the sword against his chest: “Kill me, and there will be one less evil spirit in the world.”
He didn’t give Tao Tao time to think, slowly pressing Tao Yao forward.
“Wait—” Tao Tao’s mind was in chaos. She hadn’t expected that her mere probing question would lead this evil spirit before her to reveal everything. He had said so much, yet she understood little of it. She hadn’t even figured out his purpose—how could she let him die by Tao Yao just like that?
She tightened her grip on the hilt, refusing to let him move, but the next moment, she saw a teasing glint in the man’s eyes.
“So, Tao Tao is reluctant after all.”
He smiled like a cunning child, deliberately and playfully drawing out her thoughts.
Tao Tao was stunned, then realized that his demand for her to kill him was a ruse.
—He was also testing her, probing to see how Tao Tao would react upon learning his identity. Now he knew.
“I’ve made things difficult for you.”
Though Nangong Chen wore Lin Quan’s face, that familiar glint in his eyes when he smiled instantly reminded Tao Tao—in her dream, that man had smiled at her the same way.
“You…” She was about to speak when she was caught in a faint red light.
Nangong Chen said gently, “If it troubles you, then forget it.”
…
Tao Tao shook her head and saw Lin Quan waving his hand in front of her eyes.
She had just spaced out for a moment. She only remembered Lin Quan untangling the wind chime string from her hair, and then? Then it was now, but something felt off, as if she had missed something during that brief lapse.
Why did she remember suspecting Lin Quan just now? But what was there to suspect about Lin Quan? Had something happened?
It seemed not.
The space by the window was small, and the man was very close to her. He carried a faint, pleasant scent that drifted to her nose.
What was he doing? And what was she doing? Why were they suddenly so close? This didn’t seem like the appropriate distance between a man and a woman. Was Lin Quan taking advantage of her?
Tao Tao wrinkled her nose and pushed Lin Quan away: “Why are you so close? Get away.”
Just as Tao Tao began to wonder if her memory was faulty, her watch rang with an incoming call.
Jin Youchen’s first words immediately irritated her: “If you need money, I’ll give it to you. Why work in a place like that?”
Tao Tao immediately hung up the phone. The child persisted in calling, and by the twenty-third call, Tao Tao finally answered impatiently: “Young master, can’t you live a little more like a normal person? If I don’t work, how will I earn money? Without money, how will I survive? Also, how do you know what I’m doing? Are you spying on me again?”
Jin Youchen: “I’m not. It was Butler Li who saw a video of you dancing outside a foot massage parlor on Douyin, so I found out.”
Tao Tao remembered the man in the suit earning a monthly salary of 150,000 yuan and thought Butler Li’s salary must be even higher. Feeling annoyed, she said, “Is Butler Li’s job too easy? Is he being paid too much with nothing to do? Why does he have time to scroll through Douyin?”
“Don’t change the subject, Tao Tao,” Jin Youchen said sternly, his young face already showing a hint of authority. “If you need a job, you can choose any position in the Jin Clan Consortium except for the board of directors. I can offer you a very high annual salary…”
“Don’t say such childish things,” Tao Tao interrupted him. “I grew up in Qingfengguan, never left the mountain or went to school. I only learned the denominations of banknotes the day before yesterday. What could I possibly do at the Jin Clan Consortium? Be kept by you, live off your charity, or be treated like a young mistress?”
Jin Youchen: “That’s not what I meant. It’s just that working in such a place must be very hard.”
“There’s no hierarchy in work. As long as the money is earned with my own hands, I’m happy even if it’s hard,” Tao Tao said earnestly. “Xiao You, you’ve been a young master since childhood, so you wouldn’t understand. For ordinary people like us, happiness is actually very simple. As long as work goes smoothly and the future looks bright, it brings a sense of fulfillment.”
Jin Youchen looked at her: “Are you serious? I really don’t understand how foot massages can bring happiness.”
“Of course you don’t understand. This is my current aspiration. Yesterday, I resolved to become the top foot masseuse at the Yelaixiang Foot Massage Parlor. Just thinking about having feet to massage every day and money to earn fills me with motivation. So please don’t interfere with my choices anymore, okay?”
Jin Youchen fell silent for a long time before reluctantly conceding: “Fine, since it’s something you enjoy, I respect your choice. Tao Tao, remember to call me when you have time. Also, don’t forget to use the phone I gave you. There’s a surprise I prepared for you inside.”
Tao Tao hung up the phone and turned to find Lin Quan looking at her: “Another call from your husband?”
“Do I look like a pedophile to you?”
“If not, why does he refer to himself that way?”
“It’s just what he thinks. I saved him once before, and he’s been clinging to me ever since, but I have no intention of having that kind of weird relationship with him.”
“But you’re very patient with him.”
“Where did you get that idea? I just hung up on him twenty times. Oh, if your attitude is the benchmark for patience, then I suppose I am very patient with him. He’s just a child. He doesn’t know any better—should I really be harsh with him?”
Tao Tao remembered the phone Jin Youchen mentioned before hanging up. After the man in the suit delivered it last time, she had casually tossed the bag into a corner. She dug it out and turned it on, only to find that the wallpaper had been set to a photo of Jin Youchen and her. She was fifteen, and he was eleven—still very much a child, with a grumpy expression on his face as if someone owed him money.
Tao Tao still remembered the year when the roof of the Daoist Temple was washed away by heavy rain. Li Sanjiu went down the mountain to raise funds but failed to collect any money, leaving them to spend every night in a drafty, leaky house.
It was winter, and the nights were cold enough to freeze a person to death. So, a week before Li Sanjiu’s birthday, Tao Tao carried Tao Yao on her back and descended the mountain.
She wanted to earn some money to repair the roof for Li Sanjiu. Coincidentally, she ran into people from the Jin Clan Consortium at the entrance of Yelaixiang and, through a twist of fate, took on the task of finding the young master.
Back then, Jin Youchen appeared to have run away from home, but in reality, he was a casualty of internal family strife, entangled with terrifying supernatural forces.
If Tao Tao hadn’t arrived in time, he would never have survived that snowy winter night.
She no longer wanted to recall how difficult and grueling the process had been. What she hadn’t expected was that, after that incident, the young master would develop a “deep-rooted affection” for her. Tao Tao’s mindset was far more mature than her peers, so she simply dismissed it as an immature joke from a child and let it pass.
The smartwatch was a gift from Jin Youchen that year. It could make calls and video chat, which was more than enough for Tao Tao. She wasn’t very adept at using smartphones. Just as she was about to tuck it back into the bag, she noticed Lin Quan staring at it.
“I’ve never seen you use a phone before. It didn’t break in the crash along with everything else, did it?”
“Yeah.”
Tao Tao handed the phone to Lin Quan. “My salary hasn’t been paid yet. If you need it, you can use this for now. Just return it to me after you buy a new one.”