Chapter 86: He Came from the Abyss

The group relaxed a little when they saw it was Xie Yun. They all knew he was Tan Xueci’s primary doctor.

Still, there was some wariness. Outside, the sky was heavy with dark clouds and pouring rain, and evil spirits were running rampant. Everything was a mess. Why would Xie Yun come looking for them at a time like this?

Tan Chongchuan furrowed his brow as he looked at Xie Yun. He had never visited Tan Xueci at the hospital and had only met Xie Yun once. But there was something about Xie Yun’s demeanor that was very soothing, hard to forget.

And he remembered Xie Yun used to have short hair. Now it was long, almost down to his waist.

Xie Yun’s long black hair hung loose, and his silver-rimmed glasses gave him a refined look. His skin was very pale, his phoenix eyes slanted upward. He was striking, almost delicate in his features.

A face that was hard to find fault with. But maybe because Xie Yun stood at the door, with the dark, oppressive night and pelting rain behind him, he seemed somewhat sinister.

Gao Ying and Nanny Zhang hid behind Tan Chongchuan. Gao Ying’s lips were pale. She looked at Xie Yun’s face and felt a sense of familiarity she couldn’t place. She couldn’t help but shiver.

She felt she had seen Xie Yun somewhere before.

Not at the hospital.

Tan Chongchuan’s voice was still cold, his brows tightly knotted. “Doctor Xie, is there something you need?”

“Don’t be so nervous.” Xie Yun’s dark eyes were hidden behind his lenses. He curved his lips in a reassuring smile. “I just wanted to see you. After all, we probably won’t meet again.”

Tan Chongchuan’s heart leaped. He had a very bad feeling. But Xie Yun had already walked in as if he owned the place.

Gao Ying and Nanny Zhang almost screamed. Even Tan Chongchuan’s palms started to sweat, and he couldn’t stop himself from taking a step back.

“Why are you so afraid?” Xie Yun seemed surprised to see them backing away, and he laughed. His pale face was shrouded in the gloomy rain. He placed a hand over his chest and bowed to them. “I’m just here to thank you. I am very grateful to you for helping me raise my child.”

Then he looked up at Gao Ying again. His tone was gentle, but there was a hint of mockery. “Madam, just as I expected. You really are a happy family.”

Gao Ying’s face twisted.

Tan Xueci’s body was drenched in sweat, his organs spasming. He felt like he was dying. But He Xunye pressed firmly on his lower abdomen, and the black mist behind him held him tightly, with its jaw resting in the crook of his neck, nuzzling affectionately. Neither of them would back down.

Tan Xueci was sure he was bleeding. He reached down to touch, but He Xunye grabbed his hand and pressed it over his head.

The black mist took his wife’s hand from He Xunye, lowering its head to tenderly kiss the back of it.

“Baby’s like a little dog,” the evil spirit said, his dark peach-blossom eyes lowered as he looked at his wife’s flushed face and tear-blurred eyes. His heart felt soft and itchy. He tapped his cool fingertip on Tan Xueci’s lower abdomen and chuckled. “How can he not even hold his pee?”

Tan Xueci trembled, his eyes glazed. The spirit’s icy hand stroked down, and his urge to pee grew stronger. He lifted his wet, reddened face, utterly wronged, tears streaming down.

“Don’t be afraid.” The evil spirit continued to caress his sweat-dampened back. He bent down to kiss his already crimson lips. His narrow black eyes curved, a hint of malice in them, coaxing him in an infuriating way. “It’s okay if baby is a little dog. Hubby loves you no matter what.”

Tan Xueci’s tears fell in big drops. He felt like he had been torn open. When He Xunye finally let him go and went to get water to clean him up, he quickly reached down to check.

Good, it was fine.

Tan Xueci finally breathed a sigh of relief. If it had been damaged, he’d have to go to a nursing home and get beaten by the attendants.

He Xunye came back with water, lifted him into his arms, and carefully wiped him clean. Tan Xueci couldn’t even be bothered to lift his legs. He lay completely limp in He Xunye’s arms, still sniffling.

“How can you cry so much?” He Xunye couldn’t help but laugh. He lowered his head and rubbed noses with him.

He didn’t know how much water a person’s body could hold to be able to cry so much every day.

Tan Xueci would cry every day, big sobs that would suddenly burst out.

Tan Xueci’s eyelids were swollen from crying. He lifted his wet eyes to look at He Xunye, his voice thick with mucus, wrinkling his face in grievance. “But I want to cry.”

“Cry, then,” He Xunye said, bending to kiss his face. His gaze was tender. He pinched his chin. “Hubby will wipe them.”

Tan Xueci felt like crying again at those words. The damned tenderness made his heart ache even as tears flowed.

But he probably wouldn’t get the chance. He wanted to go back to arguing on the forum. He’d said he was a happy wife, that his husband would wash his underwear and loved him very much.

Tan Xueci and He Xunye clung to each other, sticky and sweet, as if they didn’t care about anyone else, or the flood and chaos outside.

Until He Pinglan hurried over to knock on their door. Tan Xueci separated from him, but reluctantly.

“There’s flooding on the Yan River,” He Pinglan said, not knowing what they’d been up to. She told the others. “Many places are submerged. The casualties are severe.”

Yu Qingxu’s expression tightened. Ignoring his injuries, he grabbed his ritual tool and rushed out. Yu He followed.

Tan Xueci and He Xunye heard it too. They exchanged a glance and fell silent.

He Xunye kissed him gently, like kissing a baby, very soft and careful.

Tan Xueci didn’t try to dodge. When it was over, he tugged on He Xunye’s sleeve and hugged him.

He buried his face in He Xunye’s chest. His voice was a little muffled, but it sounded cute. He lifted his head to look into He Xunye’s eyes and whispered, “Hubby, I never asked you before.”

“Hmm?” He Xunye stroked his head.

Tan Xueci’s eyes were still wet and red. He said even more quietly, “Are you happy being with me?”

“…” He Xunye was stunned for a moment, his eyes becoming even gentler. The evil spirit’s voice was hoarse as he looked at him. “Happy. Marrying Little Lamb makes me very happy.”

Tan Xueci beamed with joy. He proudly lifted his face, feeling very accomplished.

He took He Xunye’s hand and they walked out together. Master Xuanshen had also arrived, holding a few sheets of paper that were wet and yellowed.

“The Yan River flood,” Master Xuanshen said, “has washed out many coffins from the bottom. I just found these.”

Tan Xueci leaned in to look, but he couldn’t make sense of it. Others could, though. It seemed to be a village chronicle. Some of the writing was blurred by water, but most was still legible.

“In ancient times,” Lu Qi read aloud, stroking his chin, as he leaned in for the little illiterate, “Gong Gong’s rage caused him to strike Mount Buzhou. The heavens tilted northwest, and the earth sank southeast. Stones from the sky fell, scattering and tumbling down into the wilderness. The ones that piled up became mountains, and the ones that split became abysses.”

Master Xuanshen clasped his hands and sighed, explaining, “The mountain mentioned is Yan Mountain. The deep pit formed by the impact became the Yan River. The Yan River is said to be tens of thousands of feet deep, called the Abyss by the local villagers.”

Lu Qi’s palms were sweaty. He felt like he had stumbled upon something huge. He continued reading, “General Jie??, stationed northwest, resisted the southeast. He camped near Yanxia Village for over a year. At that time, war raged everywhere, but the village remained peaceful. The villagers were grateful and called him a god descended to earth. They built a temple and a statue for him. When the general left, the whole village, young and old, knelt by the road, weeping and seeing him off.”

Master Xuanshen explained further. It seemed to be from some vague dynasty, deliberately erased. The area around Yanxia Village, including the capital city and its surroundings, was on the northwestern border at that time, plagued by constant war. The people suffered greatly.

General Jie??’s camp was close to Yanxia Village, and he protected the area. After he left to fight elsewhere, the villagers still missed him.

They even erected a statue of the general, worshiping it day and night, praying for his victory and safety.

Lu Qi knew Xie Yun. Seeing that name, he looked at Tan Xueci with some alarm.

But Tan Xueci’s pale face was lost in the dim night. He was very quiet, saying nothing.

Only half a night had passed, but the number of evil spirits had multiplied several times. The entire capital was a sea of fire and flood. Corpses lay everywhere. Little ghosts dragged people’s entrails along.

Even the area near Qilian Temple was overrun. It would soon reach the temple itself. He Xunye held Tan Xueci’s hand, brought it to his lips and kissed it, then gave him one last, deep look.

Then he turned and left with Master Xuanshen.

Tan Xueci reached out to grab him, but couldn’t. He Xunye’s cold fingers slipped from his palm. His face grew even paler as he watched He Xunye’s retreating figure under the moonlight.

Most of Qilian Temple’s monks had gone out to rescue people. Only a few remained, along with He Pinglan, guarding those left in the temple.

The little girl ghost tugged at Tan Xueci’s clothes. He patted her head and sat with her in a corner, holding her. She looked up at him, blinked, and pulled out a tape recorder.

Her father had recorded it for her when she was sick. He would deliver food at night, so he recorded this to help her sleep.

She felt happy whenever she heard her father’s voice, so she wanted to play it for Tan Xueci.

The recording was of a man’s gentle, slightly hoarse voice, as if recorded by a bedside lamp. “Little baby, go to sleep, the moon accompanies you into dreams. Little baby, go to sleep, when will you grow up…”

The little girl ghost happily propped her chin up to listen. But Tan Xueci’s eyes slowly turned red.

Because her father was already dead. And she would never grow up.

The heart and hand inside his abdomen had merged. They seemed to sense his emotions and pressed against his soft abdominal wall like a little dog, rubbing.

Tan Xueci reached out to stroke his lower abdomen.

His husband was never coming back either.

His butt still ached. That dead spirit always went wild when he did it, crazy and erratic. But he had to admit, He Xunye was a very gentle person. Tan Xueci felt that a husband should be like He Xunye.

Zhang Chengye’s face was grim, still looking outside. The rain hadn’t stopped, but the moon was visible in the sky, faintly red, then turning blood-red.

The capital had fallen, and the moon seemed to be sinking. Other places also had evil spirits appearing.

Jiang Caiwei had just learned to draw simple exorcism talismans. She looked up at Tan Xueci. She knew he was worried about He Xunye. She squatted beside him, wanting to comfort him but feeling helpless.

“Thank you,” Tan Xueci said, taking her fingertips and shaking them. He suddenly smiled and whispered, “Thank you for liking me.”

“Ah,” Jiang Caiwei blushed fiercely and stammered, “It’s nothing; it’s the least I can do.”

She felt it was only natural to like Tan Xueci. And she hadn’t done much; he was the one who had saved her family.

While Tan Xueci was talking to Jiang Caiwei, Lu Qi suddenly cried out in terror, his words incoherent. “Holy shit, there are so many soldiers outside, ancient ones in armor…”

“Damn,” said Zhang Chengye’s father, who was older and more experienced. His brow furrowed. “Ghostly soldiers passing through.”

In ancient times, war was common. The souls of defeated soldiers would become ghost soldiers, carrying heavy malevolence and death. They usually appeared in deep mountains or forests.

For them to appear on the streets and roam freely meant that too many people had died here, and the yin energy was almost as strong as in the underworld.

Tan Xueci got up to look. The soldiers were in cold armor, with grim blades, formed in ranks, drifting forward like ghosts, leaving death and injury in their wake.

He Pinglan’s expression was heavy. She stared at the ghost soldiers for a while, then turned her head and froze. She demanded of Lu Qi, “Where’s Xiao Ci?!”

Lu Qi had been dumbstruck by the ghost soldiers and hadn’t noticed Tan Xueci. Now he went pale.

He Pinglan’s heart raced. She rushed over to rummage through her luggage. The three thousand talismans He Xunye had drawn before he died were gone. Tan Xueci must have taken them.

She didn’t blame him for taking them. She was just afraid he had gone out to find He Xunye. Those talismans wouldn’t be enough.

Tan Xueci sneaked out of Qilian Temple’s main gate. Once outside, he saw the devastation: buildings collapsed, fires raging, the streets littered with rubble and debris. Many people knelt on the ground, crying in panic. Ghosts and monsters were everywhere.

Tan Xueci also saw a group of people marching, likely from those cult websites the little ghost’s father had seen. Their symbol was a black goat.

They were even artificially creating monsters. They were insane, believing they were ushering in the end of the world.

They would use machines to neatly sever human arms and attach blades like a mantis’s. They used other body parts to make what they thought were beautiful objects.

For example, bowls from human skulls, chopsticks from finger bones, or they would cut off the slender calves of teenagers, put white lace stockings on them, and display them as decorations in shop windows.

When Tan Xueci went out, he saw a man with a fanatical expression placing a pale, bloodless calf into a shop window. He stared coldly at him.

The man noticed Tan Xueci, and his gaze turned infatuated.

Even though Tan Xueci was wearing thick clothes that hid his legs, just looking at his face made the man imagine his legs must be beautiful.

“Do you want to try too? Sacrifice yourself to the evil god,” the man said, walking toward Tan Xueci, his eyes roving over him with fervor. “I can make you a little lamb. Can you imagine? I’ll replace your limbs with goat’s hooves.”

The man genuinely believed that the people he modified weren’t dead; their souls had gone to the evil god.

Tan Xueci was disgusted. His pale face cold, he raised his hand, the one with the ring, and slapped the man hard, sending him to the ground.

Then he turned and walked away.

Many monsters had come from the Abyss to the human world. The streets were chaotic, ghosts chasing people everywhere.

Tan Xueci saw a ghost baby with sickly pale skin sitting on the ground, apparently spotting its mother.

It happily climbed onto her back. The woman turned around, saw the ghost baby’s pale, purplish face covered in spots, its mouth full of black, sharp teeth, and was nearly scared to death.

She screamed and desperately tried to shake it off, then scrambled away.

The ghost baby sat on the ground, confused for a moment. When it realized it had been abandoned by its mother, it let out a piercing, shrill cry.

Gray clouds pressed down in the dark night. Everywhere was fire and disaster. It was heartbreaking to look at.

Tan Xueci struggled to breathe. He looked around blankly. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw He Pinglan’s expression as she cleaned the Buddha lamp, heard the little ghost’s cries, saw the tears and hope of others, felt He Xunye’s embrace and his kiss before leaving.

He knew that to He Xunye, this world didn’t matter. He Xunye would probably be more comfortable being a ghost king. He only did it for Tan Xueci.

Because Tan Xueci liked being around people, because he wanted to be a big star. If everyone died, turned into mindless, wandering, killing ghosts, he would never get what he wanted. That was why He Xunye was going after the evil god.

Tan Xueci’s nose stung. He had been with He Xunye for some time now, but he felt he had always bullied him, never been very good to him.

His husband had been suffering the whole time, hadn’t gotten anything good yet. How could he die like this?

Tan Xueci clutched his little lamb plushie and walked on. Then he ran into He Sui.

He Sui’s parents had been killed by monsters. Many people in the He family had died. At such a critical moment, even though He Wuling held the life tablets of everyone in the He family, he couldn’t control them anymore. They were all going to die anyway, they might as well fight.

The junior branches of the He family had fought over He Xunye’s corpse, which had been used to suppress evil, dividing it up among themselves or giving it to the younger members to use for escape.

He Sui carried one of He Xunye’s arms. When he met Tan Xueci head-on, he froze for a moment, but before he could speak, he couldn’t help stepping back.

The boy looked up. His face was cold and beautiful to an extreme. But the shadow behind him stretched and twisted, writhing and changing on the ground and walls, looking eerie and sinister.

His dark, moist little lamb eyes turned cold and bewitching. Finally, they became blood-red horizontal pupils. White fur grew on his snow-white hands, his black nails curved and elongated. He walked toward He Sui without expression.

Cold sweat dripped down He Sui’s back. His last sight was Tan Xueci’s black claws suddenly striking him.

So he really did have a secret.

He Sui thought, just before it happened.

But he never expected Tan Xueci’s secret to be so terrifying, filling his heart with fear.

He Sui felt a tearing pain. When he opened his eyes, he was still standing there. For a moment, he thought Tan Xueci hadn’t hurt him. But then he looked down and saw his own body, split in two, bloody and raw.

He was dead.

Tan Xueci grabbed He Xunye’s arm and didn’t bother with the dead He Sui. He kept running.

The shadow on the ground gradually took the shape of a little lamb, its black legs long and powerful.

Then it grew larger, its limbs more agile. The black goat horns on its head reflected its blood-red eyes, carrying a chill like that from hell.

The ghost baby was still sitting on the ground, crying in a shrill voice. Its skin was grey, dried out, and scary.

The woman was frightened out of her wits, too weak to stand. Panicking, she picked up a stone to throw at the little ghost.

Only after she had been throwing for a while and realized the ghost didn’t seem to want to hurt her did she calm down a bit. Her lips trembled. She knelt in the rain and said in a shaking voice, “Baby?”

The more she looked at the ghost baby, the more familiar it seemed. It looked a lot like the child she had lost a few years ago.

She was still trying to recognize it when a green-faced, fanged evil spirit suddenly leaped out, trying to bite the ghost baby. Her mind went blank. Without thinking, she rushed forward, covering the ghost baby with her body.

She thought she was dead for sure. But all she heard was the evil spirit’s screech. She hugged the ghost baby and looked up tremblingly to see black mist surrounding them.

Inside the mist, she couldn’t tell what kind of creature it was. One moment she saw black goat hooves, different from ordinary goats, with claws of a wild beast. A cold, terrifying black goat walked toward her in the dark night. The next moment, it seemed to blur into a human shape, like a slender, graceful youth.

Finally, a snow-white hand of a youth reached out from the black mist.

She grabbed it without thinking. The scene was terrifying: oppressive, thick, chaotic black mist nearly blotting out the sky; the youth’s hand was deathly pale, like a corpse, illuminated by the blood moon above, like a demon from hell.

But strangely, she wasn’t very scared.

She held the ghost baby in her arms. By the time she realized what was happening, she was lying on the goat’s back. There were still tears on her face. She hugged the black goat’s neck. Its limbs were long and powerful, making her feel like she was flying under the storm and blood moon. From above, she looked down at the great fire and the human hell below. The ghost baby in her arms sucked its fingers, opened its big black eyes, and curiously peered out.

Xie Yun left the Tan residence and came to Qilian Temple.

The ghostly aura around him was thick. Before he even set foot inside the temple’s gate, everyone in the temple felt a strong oppressive force, their bodies tensing up.

As soon as Xie Yun entered the courtyard, black flames surged toward him. He retreated a step to dodge, then through the dark fire met the evil spirit’s cold eyes.

He Xunye had sensed Xie Yun approaching Qilian Temple and rushed back. But before he could speak, the door behind him opened. He Pinglan’s voice was tight as she told him, “Xiao Ci is gone!”

He Xunye’s black eyes darkened. He wanted to ignore Xie Yun and leave the temple to find him, but Xie Yun blocked his way.

“No,” Xie Yun said, his long black hair fluttering in the cold wind and rain. He smiled. “You need to wait a little longer.”

The black goat set the mother and child down. It looked up and suddenly saw fire like black-red lotus blossoms in the direction of Qilian Temple. The image reflected in its little lamb eyes. The two hearts in its body beat simultaneously. It turned and ran toward Qilian Temple.

He Xunye’s blood surged through its body. Distant memories, shrouded in mist, gradually cleared.

Tan Chongchuan, Gao Ying, and Nanny Zhang stumbled through the streets, fleeing for their lives. They hadn’t even had time to grab the jewelry at home, only the talismans Tan Chongchuan had bought.

They didn’t know Qilian Temple had also fallen. They were still heading in that direction.

Gao Ying was weak. If Nanny Zhang hadn’t been supporting her, she wouldn’t have been able to walk at all. Tan Chongchuan walked quickly ahead, and if he hadn’t thought safety in numbers, he would have abandoned them long ago.

Gao Ying’s face was pale. Thinking of what Xie Yun had said, she was still trembling and crying in fear.

After Xie Yun had said those words, Gao Ying had frowned and asked, “What do you mean, your child?”

“Xiao Ci, of course,” Xie Yun replied.

Gao Ying had wanted to ask more, but when she met Xie Yun’s eyes, she somehow didn’t dare. The ghostly aura around Xie Yun surged, his long black hair flaring with malevolence. His appearance gradually merged with that of the statue she worshiped.

Finally understanding, Gao Ying was terrified. She tightly gripped Nanny Zhang’s hand and tried to back away.

“Why are you so surprised?” Xie Yun laughed instead. His eyes were dark and cold, the smile not reaching them. “Worship an evil god, receive a ghost baby. Isn’t that normal?”

Ghost baby.

Cold sweat poured down Gao Ying.

It all made sense now. No wonder Tan Xueci had such heavy yin energy. He was a ghost baby, of course, his yin would be heavy. No child in the world could have more.

Thinking back, the ghosts might not have been trying to scare him. Maybe they just felt close to him, since he was one of them. in their minds, they were probably just playing with him.

Tan Xueci remembered. Actually, he had always remembered. But trapped in a human body, worn down by years of torment, and with Xie Yun constantly telling him he was mentally ill, he couldn’t tell if he was a ghost or just crazy.

When he first opened his eyes, he was in the Abyss, a world of chaos. The evil god held him in its arms. He was just a formless mist of ghostly energy.

The evil god had given birth to him.

Xie Yun received a believer’s prayer, drew a mass of ghostly energy from his abdomen, turned it into a ghost baby, and prepared to bestow it upon the Tan family.

Of course, it was all a deception.

The whole substitute death thing? He was an evil god; the child he bore was already dead. When the yin messengers came to claim souls and found Gao Ying using a little ghost to die in her place, they would feel mocked and would kill the entire Tan family.

He would find it amusing.

But that ghost baby was naughty from birth. It would often go and bully the ghost soldiers in the Abyss, get spanked, and cry miserably. The entire Abyss, where dead air roamed, was filled with the sound of a little ghost’s wails.

Xie Yun was about to send it to the Tan family when he found it had run off, leaving the Abyss.

“Bad child.” The evil god’s cold, dark eyes lowered. He laughed instead, raised his hand, and punished the little ghost.

Since you want to run, run. You will taste all kinds of bitter fruits and still not escape your fate.

But the gods love their children, even evil gods. Xie Yun decided to give it one chance to escape its fate.

The little ghost didn’t understand. It only knew it had finally escaped that dark, fish-smelly place.

It happily drifted forward under the moonlight. But it hadn’t expected there to be ghosts outside the Abyss.

It got bitten by an outside ghost. Crying loudly, it stumbled on.

The evil god was a master of disguise.

It was a mass of the evil god’s energy, in a way, sharing blood with him. It really was his child.

It saw, under the dark night, a piece of black lamb skin by the roadside, as if someone had skinned and thrown it away. The stench was awful. The lamb had been dead for a long time.

But it didn’t mind. It quickly crawled inside, turned itself into a lamb, and kept running.

It was a very small ghost, unable to restore the lamb to its living form.

In the end, after struggling, the little black lamb suddenly grew eight octopus-like legs, spinning like a blur.

It kept hiding and running. Then it met a little girl.

“A lamb!” The little girl didn’t see its many legs in the dark. Delighted, she brought cookies to feed it.

The little black lamb stretched out its neck, took a bite, and immediately spat it out.

Terrible.

It ran on. Next it met an old man.

“What a good lamb,” the old man said, half-blind, not seeing clearly. They were in a village, and he thought it was heading to the sheep pen. He teased, “Whose lamb is this?”

The little black goat tilted its head, its small horns tilting too. It thought it must be very cute. Everyone liked it. It puffed out its little black chest.

The ghost chasing it stopped halfway, no longer sensing any ghostly aura. It only saw a dark, strange shape running ahead. Scratching its head, it let the little ghost go.

But the little black goat didn’t know. It kept running for its life, all the way to Qilian Temple.

It smelled something fragrant inside, which made its little lamb eyes turn bloodshot.

Qilian Temple was dangerous for ghosts, but its ghostly aura came from the evil god. The temple’s Buddha light couldn’t kill it, had no effect. So it dove right in.

Its eyelashes were stuck together by blood, and it couldn’t see anything, only smelled the fragrance.

Like lotus incense.

It looked up, its hooves cautiously pawing the ground. Then it approached that person and let out a soft bleat, almost coquettish, with a hint of charm.

After all, ghosts are naturally seductive.

It thought this person would find it cute too. But the person, with long black hair falling over his shoulders, looked down at it and sighed. “How ugly.”

The lamb: ??

Lambs good, humans bad!

The little black goat angrily pawed the ground, ready to ram the young man with its horns. But the young man gathered his wide monastic sleeve and suddenly picked it up.

The fragrance overwhelmed it. This person smelled so good. It was starving to death. It bleated softly, then raised its little hoof and bowed to him.

The young man seemed about seven or eight years old, but his fingers were already long and slender. He lifted a lampshade to cover the candle flame, blocking the moths fluttering around. He seemed to chuckle, then extended his finger.

The little black lamb eagerly buried its head to lick, its small body heaving. It nestled in the young man’s arms, suckling blood like nursing. Then footsteps suddenly came from outside.

One of the lamb’s ears perked up. It seemed a Taoist priest had arrived. The Buddha light of Qilian Temple was gentle, but this priest carried a bloody, murderous aura.

Even though the priest might not be able to kill it, the lamb was weak. It jumped off the young man’s lap, bristling, and ran off without even getting a good look at the young man’s face, fleeing Qilian Temple.

Yu He lifted the curtain and entered the meditation room. His eyes sharpened immediately. He drew his peachwood sword. “Ghostly aura!”

He Xunye sat unmoved, holding prayer beads, chanting sutras. Though young, he was as steady as an old monk.

He Pinglan’s child had died a few days before, so he had moved to Qilian Temple and met Yu He.

They had discussed it and agreed that the sudden surge of evil spirits in the capital was no accident. There must be someone plotting, or some evil spirit planning something.

He Xunye’s birth chart was pure yang, naturally repelling ghosts. But that also made him attractive to ghosts, like a pure yin person. If they could eat him, it would be a huge boost.

Of course, they would have to be able to do it.

They thought the evil spirit might take the bait. Young and reckless, He Xunye removed the prayer beads that masked his aura, let a little blood, and with Yu He standing guard outside, they thought they might catch the evil spirit.

Yu He waited outside for a while, saw nothing, and decided to check inside. He sensed ghostly aura around He Xunye and asked suspiciously, “Didn’t you see any ghosts?”

“Quiet your heart,” the young man said with eyes closed. “Nothing will happen. Your heart is restless; anyone looks like a ghost.”

The young man seemed to smile slightly, then put the prayer beads back on to block his aura. “Amituofo.”

Yu He: “…”

Damn it.

That’s why he hated monks. He Xunye wasn’t bald yet, but at this rate, he would be soon.

The little black goat ran out of Qilian Temple and didn’t know where to go. It could sense many ghosts outside, more than usual, many with the same aura as in the Abyss. But it shook its little head, too tired to think, and gave up.

It saw a few little ghost children huddled together by Qilian Temple, looking up and listening to the sutras, as if trying to free themselves. It ran over.

It was a baby ghost too, so of course it belonged with the kids.

It pawed the ground with its little hoof. It wondered if the Taoist was gone. It wanted to go back to find that fragrant person, but it couldn’t smell the fragrance anymore. That person seemed to have left Qilian Temple.

While it was hesitating, a little green-faced ghost came up and sniffed it, as if recognizing a familiar scent. It said happily, “Mama!”

That was the first time the lamb had heard that word. Was blood any different from milk?

It thought of the young man’s black hair and decided that the person who had fed it must be its mother.

It decided to find its mother.

But finding mother was hard. And if the lamb appeared where many people were, it would be made into lamb skewers. So it had to shed its lamb skin.

It wandered around, becoming a cat, sleeping with the little cat ghosts at night, or a little mouse, sleeping in the sewers with wet fur.

Once it accidentally got washed away. Dripping wet, it raised a little paw to wipe its face. It looked up and met a huge dog’s head. Startled, it squeaked and jumped back.

It recognized that kind of dog. A little cat ghost had told him it was a big-eared monster donkey, very scary.

It searched for a long time. Finally, it passed an orphanage and heard a voice inside. A gentle old voice, talking to someone.

“Baby, I’ll find you a mother, okay?”

Mother?

It quickly slipped in and saw the orphanage director, an old woman, holding a baby.

The baby had just died. It had been premature, with oxygen deprivation, weak breaths, and jaundice. Its skin was purple, blue, red, and yellow, hard to tell what it looked like. The director hadn’t noticed the baby was dead.

The little baby ghost had just died, scared and confused. Seeing the lamb, it hurried over to it.

They both rested their heads on the director’s shoulder.

The lamb watched the director. She looked gentle, holding the baby. The lamb thought she must be a mother. It happily crawled into the baby’s body. Before it could understand what was happening, Gao Ying and Tan Chongchuan came to the orphanage.

Its eyes went wide. It sucked its finger and mewed at Gao Ying like a kitten.

It wanted to show off that it had found a mother.

But to its surprise, Gao Ying started crying when she saw it. Her face was covered in hot tears. She reached out with trembling hands and held it to her chest, as if it were her own lost child.

The little ghost was confused.

It didn’t understand anything. It was adopted by Gao Ying and her husband. It quickly left the baby’s body, turned into a lamb, put the little baby ghost on its head, and ran toward Qilian Temple to send him to the other ghost children.

It liked those ghost children because they told it it could find its mother.

The little baby ghost clung to its neck, not wanting it to leave. The lamb sternly refused. It couldn’t stay. It had more important things to do.

It went back, got into the Tans’ car, and took another look. It remembered its mother was a male mother. These mothers were nice, but not its mother.

But it didn’t expect that after it left, the baby’s body quickly grew cold. Gao Ying thought it had died. She cried in the car. Her hot tears were heart-wrenching. She cried like a mother who had lost a child, so helpless, her throat trembling.

The lamb couldn’t help but stop.

It felt pity for her.

Mothers were all the same, weren’t they? Maybe it should stay.

When it was a little cat ghost, it had met a mother cat whose kitten had been run over.

That mother cat treated every kitten in the neighborhood as her own, licking them. She had licked the lamb too.

So staying here wouldn’t be a problem.

Happily, it crawled back inside and even pinched a face for itself. First it made little lamb eyes; it liked being a lamb. Then it tried to imitate Xie Yun, since he knew him best.

But it didn’t like Xie Yun, so it kept adjusting based on other humans it had seen until it was satisfied.

Now it wasn’t ugly anymore, the lamb vowed. The next time it saw that person, it would dazzle them, make them kneel and beg.

Then it would let them kiss its little hoof.

Gao Ying and the others didn’t really care what it looked like, as long as it lived. Anyway, it had been all purple and blue at first, impossible to see clearly. So when it turned out beautiful, even eerily so, nobody found it strange.

And so it stayed with the Tan family. It thought this was good. Gao Ying must be a good mother.

It didn’t know. This was the choice the evil god had given it, the last chance to determine its fate.

Under the dark night, Tan Xueci watched the fire at Qilian Temple. Tears flowed from his little lamb eyes.

He should have left. He should have gone to find his husband. Why had he stayed with the Tan family?

But he didn’t regret it. If he hadn’t stayed, he wouldn’t have met his brother, or Lu Qi. No one would have taken him to eat malatang. He wouldn’t have met Uncle Wang. No one would have touched his head in the hospital and told him not to cry.

Around age seven, he couldn’t take it anymore. He wanted to kill Gao Ying and leave the Tan family.

Back then, he hadn’t been to the hospital yet, hadn’t seen Xie Yun. No one had said he was crazy. He thought Gao Ying was just temporarily angry, that she would love him again. So he stayed.

But the longer he stayed, the clearer it became that this mother might never love him.

Before he could leave, the old monk came to the Tan family. He sensed the murderous aura in him, gave him the name “Ci”, and sealed him, trapping him in that body.

At first, he was furious. He thought the monk was trying to harm him. He hated that name.

Now, he thought maybe it wasn’t a bad thing.

If he had killed and run away, some Taoist might have caught him, and he would have been doomed. As a human, he hadn’t been very happy, and he wouldn’t have met He Xunye.

But now…

The black goat looked up. Tears soaked its eyelashes and fur. It kept its eyes fixed on the direction of the fire at Qilian Temple.

Too many injured people were outside Qilian Temple. The smell of blood was strong, attracting even more ghosts.

The little cat ghost leaped to bite them. The little girl ghost grabbed her head and bashed the ghosts with it.

Jiang Caiwei’s hair was a mess, her face tear-streaked. She held a peachwood sword, standing in front of her family.

She was terrified. But she thought Tan Xueci must have gone out to save people. That was why he said goodbye.

She had liked Tan Xueci before because he was cute, especially when he acted spoiled with He Xunye. But he wasn’t annoying; he was like a baby, making her maternal instincts surge. Now she realized he was gentle and strong. So shouldn’t she be brave too?

Lu Qi panicked when he found Tan Xueci was gone. He screamed like an old monkey. He was sure the evil god had taken him, just like before.

He Xunye’s prayer beads were still in his hands. Bracing himself, he grabbed the beads and a few talismans. He took a deep breath, then ran out crying.

To hell with you, evil god or whatever! Give him back his child!

Without Tan Xueci, he was just a middle-aged, useless corporate s*ave, ignored and bullied everywhere. He would have lived and died alone.

But with Tan Xueci, he was a father now!

Xie Yun’s gaze seemed somewhat pitying as he looked at the raging fire and the rampaging ghosts. He lifted his head to meet the evil spirit’s dark, watery face. Finally, he smiled.

The Yan River flooded violently. Qilian Temple was also submerged. Everyone had to climb Yan Mountain to take refuge at the summit.

The stone tablet on the mountaintop finally emerged in the storm.

Lu Qi wiped the rain from his face. He hadn’t found Tan Xueci. The water was up to his chest, and he had to evacuate. When he reached the tablet, he froze.

The tablet read:

The general fought a hundred battles, his might shaking the border. Suddenly, slander accused him of betraying his country, leading the enemy through the pass. The ruler knew it was false, but with groundless charges, he was convicted of treason. Alas, tragic!

Xie Yun also looked down at the tablet, his face expressionless. A general’s great fame, a decade of deeds, turned to dust.

He had returned from a campaign victorious, but only a few hundred of his men remained. He promised them rewards, that their families would be taken care of for life.

But before they entered the city, they were accused of treason. They were shot at from the city walls.

Wounded and unsuspecting, they suffered heavy casualties. He led the last dozen or so of his men and fled toward Yanxia Village.

The village had once promised that if he ever needed help, they would do anything.

He wanted to hide there for a while, recover, and plan. But the villagers had believed the rumors. They thought he had colluded with the enemy, that his battles were a charade to deceive them.

They stopped him and his men, driving them to the Yan River. His soldiers couldn’t bear the injustice. With a cry of despair, they jumped into the river, swallowed by the waves.

Xie Yun tried to explain, but the villagers only beat him with sticks, their eyes full of suspicion. Under the dark night, his face was covered in tears and scars from years of battle. Finally, he followed them into the river.

This was also recorded on the stone tablet.

The general cast himself into the river in grief and became a water ghost. People often said that at night, near Yanxia Village, one could hear the clashing of weapons and beating of drums, as if soldiers were fighting.

After Xie Yun jumped, he became a water ghost like the others. They would drag people down to take their place, but Xie Yun couldn’t.

At first, he refused to drag anyone. But eventually, he couldn’t resist the water ghost’s nature and pulled someone. Yet he found his obsession too deep; even dragging others couldn’t let him reincarnate.

He was trapped in the Yan River day and night.

Yanxia Village had a tradition of drowning people. Women who lost their chastity, men who committed crimes, anyone who offended the village chief, would be thrown into the river.

They brought out the general’s statue from centuries ago, claiming he was the river god. They said they weren’t killing people, but sacrificing to the god. Otherwise, the god would get angry and cause floods.

Though it was greed using the god’s name, Xie Yun did receive a lot of faith. Over a thousand years, he became an evil god. The Abyss was where he resided.

Another millennium passed. He grew tired of being an evil god, of being trapped in the Abyss.

He wanted to see the outside world.

But the human world had monks, Taoists, and various occult sects. He couldn’t easily leave. He could only send ghosts to create chaos.

Xie Yun raised his hand. Thick black mist attacked the evil spirit, and within it, he showed He Xunye how Tan Xueci had been killed by Gao Ying.

The evil spirit’s throat tightened. His crimson eyes blazed with murder. His dead, sluggish heart constricted. He hadn’t known that feeding Tan Xueci that mouthful of blood would make him want to find a mother.

And then suffer so much.

“Other ghosts are stupid, mindless, only know killing. I was bored, so I gave him some of my soul,” Xie Yun said with a laugh of lament. “If you go by your human measure, the soul weighs 21 grams. I gave him one gram of soul, or maybe an ounce of bone. That one gram of soul was filled with jealousy, hate, anger… all kinds of ugly emotions.”

He paused, his gaze finally complex as he looked into the evil spirit’s dark, misty red eyes, a hint of surprise in his. “And then he used that one gram of soul to love someone.”

Gao Ying and Tan Chongchuan fled to the area near Qilian Temple. Looking up, they saw a black goat pass by them. The goat seemed to be saving people, but it deliberately avoided them.

Gao Ying’s lips trembled. There was absolutely no resemblance, yet she inexplicably knew it must be Tan Xueci.

“Ha…” Tears rolled down Gao Ying’s face. She laughed out loud. “Hahaha…”

Tan Chongchuan and Nanny Zhang were startled. Tan Chongchuan shouted, “Have you lost your mind?!”

Gao Ying felt she had never been saner. Finally, she understood the meaning of the old monk who had named Tan Xueci.

He had given him the name Ci. When asked about it, the old monk, with his white beard and eyebrows, placed a finger on Tan Xueci’s forehead and said in a voice like a bell:

“A little compassion can save a world of suffering.”

She hadn’t understood and wanted to ask more. But then the old monk looked at her and Tan Chongchuan, raised his palm, and said, “Compassionate father and mother, treat him with compassion, and you will be rewarded.”

Gao Ying’s face was ashen. She laughed bitterly, like a madwoman.

So this was the reward. Because they had never shown him compassion, he would not save them.

They were going to die.

Tan Chongchuan had had enough of this crazy woman. He reached for her hair, but before he could grab it, he felt a sudden pain in his chest. He looked down to see a ghostly hand through his chest, its black nails clutching his heart.

He turned his head and saw a small, blue-faced ghost standing behind him.

The little ghost giggled, climbed over Tan Chongchuan’s body, tore through Gao Ying and Nanny Zhang’s chests as well, then held three crimson hearts, chuckled eerily, and left.

Tan Xueci just glanced back and then looked away.

Fire suddenly blazed in the evil spirit’s hand, burning fiercely, from black to red, nearly lighting up half the sky.

He set his face toward Xie Yun. Only by killing him could his little lamb escape this fate.

Xie Yun remained calm. He even looked up at the dark sky before smiling. “He’s here.”

A black goat came charging through the night, covered in red flames. But looking close, one could see it was three thousand talismans burning with golden light and blood aura.

It ran over the flames, passing by He Xunye without even a glance, and rammed straight into Xie Yun. The ground split, opening to an endless abyss. The goat’s tears flowed freely.

Whatever mother or anything, to him, all the love in this world had only one name.

He Xunye.

The evil spirit looked up, stunned. His heart seemed to freeze. He couldn’t stop it. He could only watch as it fell. A choked whisper seemed to pass by his ear, calling his name. His eyes turned red.

Xie Yun didn’t resist much. He was still smiling, a hint of wistfulness in his eyes. He looked up at the night one last time.

He had saved so many, killed so many. He had been a water ghost and an evil god for two thousand years.

Finally, it was over.

In his eyes reflected the blazing fires of the human world, their anguished wails. He held his child and fell into the Abyss.

Tan Xueci wouldn’t die, of course. Gao Ying could never kill him. He was the blood of the evil god. Only the evil god could truly kill him, and only Tan Xueci could kill the evil god.

They came from the Abyss. They were demons, evil spirits. They never belonged in the human world.

Leaving together now might be a good outcome.

Xie Yun closed his eyes.

Countless vengeful ghosts in the Abyss howled and shrieked, carrying millennia of blood and tears, their unwillingness. Countless ghostly hands reached out from below, like vines, grabbing them tightly.

Tan Xueci didn’t hesitate. He perished together with the evil god in this abyssal hell of his birth.

No wonder Xie Yun called him a monster, Quasimodo. But even if he was a monster, he had come to save his princess. But he didn’t want to jump off the building with his princess.

He would kill all these people, so his princess could live.

“You die,” Tan Xueci said fiercely, his black-tinged red eyes fixed on Xie Yun. His claws dug into the god’s shoulders. His mouth was full of blood.

In the past, he might have saved people too. But he would have resented them, cursed them to die, saved them, often while feeling bitter. Now, he didn’t have so much resentment.

Maybe because He Xunye had been so good to him. He was happy, and it had made him softer and more forgiving.

Only one thing hurt. He was afraid Xie Yun would fight back, so he held on tight and didn’t dare look back.

In the end, he didn’t get to look at him one more time.

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