Chapter 26: The Martial World

Is the woman in the bridal gown human or ghost?

At this moment, I could not be sure. Could this creature be the culprit behind the death of Brother Hu’s son? I longed to rush forward, tear away her red veil, and see what she truly looked like. I wanted to demand who she was and why she was doing this. Was it simply because Uncle Hu had helped me that she sought to slaughter his family?

Unfortunately, my Profound Yang Qi had not yet reached the realm of celestial enlightenment, and I possessed only a single wisp of divine consciousness. The black snake to which my consciousness was tethered had buried its entire head in the dirt out of sheer terror; when I tried to force it forward, it resisted.

Just as I felt helpless, the woman in the bridal gown seemed to sense my presence. She shifted her body, turning her head toward me. Although she was obscured by the crimson veil, I could feel her cold, piercing gaze fixed upon me.

"Chen Qiyue, leave the provincial capital. If you stay, you will die."

"This is my advice to you. I hope you take it to heart."

Her voice drifted into my ears from afar, sounding hollow and bizarre, as if it were an evil, spectral whisper rising from the depths of the underworld.

This woman was warning me. Though I did not know what treacherous schemes she was plotting, I would never do as she wished. The fact that she had killed Uncle Hu’s son once was enough for me to ignore her words entirely. My grandfather had treated the inheritance of the Qingma Physiognomy as his life’s work—more important than his own existence. Even though he was gone, I was determined to carry that legacy forward. I had to stay in this city.

The woman in the bridal gown seemed to have anticipated my defiance. She shook her head and suddenly reached up to grasp the red veil covering her face.

This sight made me instantly tense. I held my breath, not daring to exhale. Slowly, she lifted the veil. I endured the agonizing sensation of my soul being torn as I stared unblinkingly at the woman in the bridal gown before me. I had to see what she looked like.

As the veil was raised inch by inch, I caught a glimpse of half of a beautiful woman's face. It was not a ghost; this was a tangible, living body. This only deepened my curiosity about her identity. Soon, the veil reached the bridge of her nose. I was on the verge of seeing her true face, and my heart hammered with nervous anticipation. But just then, I felt a sudden, instinctive sense of unease.

Suddenly, a bizarre force slammed into the black snake carrying my consciousness, and my soul was yanked back by an overwhelming power.

"No, I’ve been baited!"

I barely managed to shout those words before my vision went black and I lost consciousness.

I awoke back in Uncle Hu’s courtyard, but the sharp, stabbing pain in my chest and abdomen forced me to cough up a mouthful of blood. Uncle Hu was keeping watch by my side; seeing me stir, he hurried to help me up.

"Qiyue, what happened? You scared me to death."

Uncle Hu spoke with genuine concern, feeding me some water. I didn't answer his questions; my mind was entirely focused on what had just occurred. Who was that woman in the bridal gown? Did she come to see me only to warn me to leave? And just as I was about to see her face, who had intervened to stop me? Was it the woman herself? Did she not want me to see her face? Was she toying with me? That seemed unlikely—if she didn't want me to see her, she simply wouldn't have lifted the veil. Or was there someone else involved?

I couldn't make sense of it. The affairs of the Liu family were tangled in far more secrets than I had imagined; it was far more complex than I had anticipated. Taking a deep breath, I decided to stop spiraling. I turned to Uncle Hu and asked directly:

"Uncle Hu, are there any large graveyards around here? The kind with lonely, abandoned tombs?"

Uncle Hu did not hesitate. After a moment of thought, he replied, "There are. Deep in the mountains not far from here, there is such a place."

"Is that place sinister? Have there been any reports of supernatural occurrences?" I asked solemnly.

"Let me think... I have heard herbalists say they’ve seen the Yellow Immortal bowing and giant snakes speaking with human voices in those woods," Uncle Hu said, his expression serious.

After hearing this, I was certain that the place my consciousness had visited was indeed the graveyard in the nearby mountains.

"Qiyue, did you go to those desolate graves across the mountain? Is the fiend that harmed Hu Jun hiding there?" Uncle Hu frowned, gripping his broadsword tightly.

"I’m not entirely sure yet. Let’s go and see after dawn," I said slowly. The night was too far gone, and it was better not to venture out now. Too much had happened tonight, and I needed to gather my thoughts.

Snake corpses. Ghost messengers. The woman in the bridal gown. Everything that had transpired today required careful reflection.

"Qiyue, you should rest. Thanks to you tonight, if you hadn't stepped in, Little Jun might have left me forever. He is my life. If he were gone, I’m afraid I..." Uncle Hu bowed to me, his gratitude unspoken but clear.

"Uncle Hu, we are family. Helping each other is only right. If it weren't for your help, I fear I would have been..." A face suddenly flashed into my mind: Chen Yanlong. Could all of this be his doing?

"Uncle Hu, how much do you know about the Chen Mansion? What kind of people are they?" I asked with a heavy expression. I was beginning to suspect that the people inside the Chen Mansion were behind everything.

"The Chen Mansion is the largest gathering place for feng shui masters in the provincial capital," Uncle Hu explained. "Chen Yanlong is the head of the organization. Those inside are mostly people with profound mastery in feng shui. The Miao poison master and the blade-feeder you encountered before are both people from that mansion. But what they are gathering to do? That, I do not know."

His words made it clear to me: if I wanted to survive in the provincial capital, my first priority was to topple the Chen Mansion. As long as they existed, the [Qingma Physiognomy] my grandfather passed to me could never be truly carried on.

"I understand, Uncle Hu. You should get some rest too. Hu Jun is out of danger; he will be fine." I spoke softly and turned to head to my room.

As I turned, Uncle Hu called out to me, his voice serious:

"Qiyue, you have great ability, and I admire you for it. But there are a few things I must warn you about. In the world of feng shui, the most dangerous things are not the demons and ghosts, but the human heart, the pursuit of profit, and the seizing of fortune! From now on, remember to keep a low profile. It will do you no harm."