Vindicated After a Wrongful Death - Chapter 1

The secret realm was shrouded in eternal night.

A gust of howling wind, cold enough to freeze one’s very marrow into shards of ice, swept through the land. Even the countless ferocious beasts that usually dominated the realm retreated into hiding to escape its bite.

Behind a massive, withered tree, a group of cultivators huddled to avoid the gale. Fire-spirit stones were scattered around them, forming a large protective array to ward off the bone-chilling cold.

Xiang Zhongjing approached the array at a leisurely pace, braving the wind while wrapped in a tattered black robe.

He wasn’t particularly skilled at casting illusion spells. His right hand had turned a bruised blue from the freezing wind, and it took him several tries before he succeeded. He nearly botched the hand seal, almost casting a “rolling red waves” charm by mistake before finally getting it right.

Under the cover of his illusion, he moved as if through an empty field, stealthily slipping into the group of cultivators.

It was too cold, and the wind was too sharp; he simply wanted to escape the draft. He planned to leave as soon as the gale passed.

Fortunately, these cultivators were young and their cultivation levels weren’t high, so they didn’t notice an intruder among them. They seemed to be disciples of some noble house, their clothes embroidered with rose patterns. Each had a flickering, bean-sized flame encased in a glass bottle beside them.

The youth leading the group was still chatting away, his face full of animation.

“This secret realm is dangerous everywhere, and there are so many beasts. If you aren’t careful, you’ll lose your life. I heard someone even saw a ‘beautiful ghost’ at the Exquisite Ruins in the north.”

Before his companion could respond, Xiang Zhongjing, who had just found a corner to sit cross-legged, couldn’t help but chime in, “A beautiful ghost? There are actually beautiful ghosts in this realm?”

Xiang Zhongjing could never keep his mouth shut. Having been trapped in this secret realm for sixty years, he had nothing to do but talk to himself out of boredom. Now that he had finally encountered so many people, the words leaked out of him like a sieve. If he weren’t afraid of exposing his identity, he would have loved to talk for three days and nights straight.

Fortunately, the youth needed someone to play along to build suspense, so he didn’t think twice and continued.

“Exactly. They say the ghost wears red robes and is surrounded by blue ghost-fire. It claims the life of anyone it meets.”

Xiang Zhongjing rested his chin on his hand and let out a lazy “Whoa.”

In sixty years, he had traveled to almost every corner of the realm. Aside from beasts and the spiritual winds that could shred a person’s soul, he had never encountered a single beautiful ghost.

His interest piqued, he huddled in his black robe and drifted a bit closer.

With that movement, a corner of his tattered red clothes showed from beneath the black robe. The slightly curled tips of his hair fell over his shoulder, hidden in the darkness where no one noticed.

These cultivators were all high-spirited youths. Hearing about a beautiful ghost, they all crowded around, talking at once.

“A beautiful ghost? Is she extremely pretty?”

“Do beautiful ghosts count as ghost cultivators? I’ve never seen one. Once the wind dies down, should we go and have a look?”

“Let’s go, let’s go! If there’s a beauty, we definitely have to see. Otherwise, it’s a huge loss,” Xiang Zhongjing added, joining the excitement.

The youth said mysteriously, “Do you know who that beautiful ghost is?”

Everyone shook their heads, no.

Xiang Zhongjing shook his head along with them.

The youth lowered his voice, as if afraid of disturbing something. “Sixty years ago, that Sword Deity Xiang, whose single strike stunned the nine provinces, wasn’t he trapped in this realm by those two to fend for himself?”

The group of youths seemed to have courage no larger than a needle. Just hearing the name caused them to gasp in unison.

“Xiang Zhongjing actually turned into a vengeful ghost?!”

Xiang Zhongjing, who had stealthily grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds from a small plate and was happily cracking them, said, “…”

Huh? Who?

Xiang Zhongjing?

Oh, me.

Xiang Zhongjing had been trapped for too long, and his memories were a bit blurred. He tilted his head in deep thought, vaguely remembering that he used to be a swordsman back in the day.

But now, his left hand couldn’t even lift a sword, and even casting a basic spell was a struggle.

Xiang Zhongjing didn’t mind. He continued cracking seeds, treating the conversation like a storytelling session. To him, anything anyone said now was incredibly interesting.

The youth continued, “I heard Sword Deity Xiang was breathtakingly beautiful, much more so than that Qu Weixian.”

Xiang Zhongjing didn’t remember who Qu Weixian was, but hearing someone praise him, he couldn’t stop nodding.

Mm-hmm, yep, definitely.

“My elders once said that when Sword Deity Xiang was thrown into the realm, he was covered in blood, his cultivation was gone, and even the white bone of his left hand was showing. Everyone traveling with him was on good terms with him, yet not a single person saved him,” the youth said, clicking his tongue in pity. “Even in that state, those two still personally extinguished his Xizhao ghost-fire.”

The youths, who all carried Xizhao ghost-fire, seemed to feel his pain. They asked in horror, “Without the Xizhao, wouldn’t he be unable to leave the realm?!”

Xiang Zhongjing tilted his head and thought about it. He stared at the Xizhao ghost-fire beside the youth for a long time, finally realizing why he had wandered for sixty years and couldn’t find a way out of this boundless realm.

So, he needed the Xizhao fire.

“How tragic, how tragic,” Xiang Zhongjing said, cracking seeds and marvelling at the story as if it were about someone else.

The others followed suit, “How tragic, how tragic.”

After the “tragedy” talk, the youth closest to Xiang Zhongjing seemed to notice something and glanced at him.

“But then again, who told him to collude with that evil dragon?” the youth added. “Back then, there was an evil dragon coiled in the darkness of the realm. A single breath of its dragon fire could destroy the core of a Great Enlightenment stage cultivator. Yet Sword Deity Xiang was bold enough to sign a contract with it, even seriously wounding Qu Weixian and turning into a demon right in front of everyone!”

The group immediately started hissing in shock, like a nest of snakes.

Xiang Zhongjing also gasped, shaking his head in lament. “How wicked, how wicked.”

The others followed, “How wicked, how wicked.”

After the “wicked” talk, the youth next to Xiang Zhongjing gave him another strange look.

The youth brought the topic back, “So, that beautiful ghost might just be Sword Deity Xiang’s restless soul looking for revenge. We better not go meddling over there.”

Someone suggested in a small voice, “But if that ghost really is the ‘Xiang Spirit Mine,’ it shouldn’t be hard for a group of us to catch one ghost, right?”

Xiang Zhongjing tilted his head.

Xiang Spirit Mine? He didn’t remember having another name.

The youth sighed, “Ninety percent of the cultivators coming to the realm this time are here for that sky-high spirit stone bounty. Do you think with our measly Foundation Establishment cultivation, we’d be anything more than a snack even if we bumped into a Golden Core cultivator?”

Everyone: “…”

The “snack” quietly lowered his head and didn’t dare speak again.

The campfire suddenly popped with a small cluster of sparks, faintly illuminating half of Xiang Zhongjing’s face.

The youth who had been beside Xiang Zhongjing all along looked puzzled and asked, “Senior brother, do you know what Sword Deity Xiang looks like?”

“Of course I do!” The senior brother was boisterous and loved to show off. He said proudly, “My family has a portrait of Sword Deity Xiang on glazed paper!”

Someone muttered, “Didn’t you say he colluded with an evil dragon? Why do you still have his portrait hanging?”

The senior brother sighed, “No other reason, that face is just too good-looking.”

Everyone: “…”

Judging by looks! How shallow!

Xiang Zhongjing was still cracking seeds. Hearing this, he reached up to touch his own face, revealing a string of rusted bells on his wrist.

In this realm, there was darkness everywhere, and he had long forgotten what he looked like.

“What does he look like?” someone asked.

Xiang Zhongjing also nodded, “Yeah, yeah, what does he look like?”

The senior brother thought for a moment and described him piece by piece, “In that glazed paper portrait, Sword Deity Xiang wears red clothes with fire patterns, red and blue ghost-fires float above his shoulders, he seems to have some foreign blood, the ends of his hair are slightly curled, and he wears soul-leading bells on his wrist…”

As he spoke each sentence, the youth next to Xiang Zhongjing stole a glance at him, his expression shifting wildly.

Xiang Zhongjing was still listening with great interest.

The gale was almost over. The residual wind blew his wide black hood back a couple of times, offering a faint glimpse of his porcelain-carved face.

His illusion spell was truly too clumsy; holding it until now was his limit. Moreover, once it caught someone’s attention, it would gradually lose its effect.

In the eyes of the youth beside him, the beggar-like person in front of him was transforming like a beautiful portrait being unrolled, slowly changing his appearance.

This man was draped in a tattered black robe, faintly revealing the remnants of fire-red clothes beneath. Above his shoulders, a red and a blue cluster of ghost-fire floated, their flickering light illuminating that bright and alluring face.

His features were exquisite. At the corner of his eye, there was a winding, black shadow. His hair, crudely tied up with a withered branch, fell in a lock, the ends slightly curled.

A string of rusted gold bells hung from his wrist, no longer making a sound.

The youth: “…”

The youth gasped, his eyes rolling back as he nearly fainted.

Xiang Zhongjing was closest to him and quickly caught him, asking in confusion, “What’s wrong? Did you catch a chill?”

The youth had almost regained his breath, but when Xiang Zhongjing caught him, that breathtakingly beautiful face was right in front of him. He was so terrified his eyes rolled back again, and he fainted completely.

Xiang Zhongjing: “…”

Although his memory was hazy, Xiang Zhongjing vaguely knew that this was likely the first time someone had fainted from fright upon first seeing him.

Quite rare, actually.

Xiang Zhongjing said to those around him, “He’s…”

He turned his head, and the wind blew half of his black robe open, revealing a face as seductive as a beautiful ghost’s.

Everyone stared at him blankly. Their gazes moved in perfect unison from his face, to the twin ghost-fires, to the tips of his hair, and finally to his wrist. Then, they all gasped in a synchronized chorus.

Thump, thump, thump. A whole pile of them fainted.

Xiang Zhongjing: “…”

Xiang Zhongjing said dryly, “Bless, bless them.”

Look at how scared these kids are.

Xiang Zhongjing had managed to scare a pile of youths unconscious with nothing but his face.

The leading youth was worthy of being the senior brother. He didn’t lose face by fainting. Instead, after his eyes stayed glazed for a long time, he suddenly slammed his head against the ground with a loud Klong, startling Xiang Zhongjing so much that he dropped his seeds all over the floor.

The youth trembled and said, “This junior was… was blind! Deity… Deity Xiang, spare me!”

Xiang Zhongjing didn’t feel offended, “It’s… it’s fine.”

The youth: “…”

The youth trembled even harder.

Xiang Zhongjing touched his face, wondering if he had grown ugly or deformed over the years. Why else would his appearance scare someone into such a state?

The two clusters of ghost-fire on his shoulders had developed a consciousness of their own. At that moment, they were fighting above his head, sparks flying everywhere.

Xiang Zhongjing was used to it. He propped up his chin, the corner of his eye lifting slightly. “So the ‘beautiful ghost’ you were talking about was me? Blessings, blessings, I happen to be a living creature who can still manage a breath.”

The youth’s face was deathly pale, but he blinked in a daze upon hearing this.

Xiang Zhongjing had been so badly injured back then, yet he managed to survive this long in a secret realm filled with danger?

He shivered and summoned his courage to look up. He noticed that under the light of the Xizhao ghost-fire, Xiang Zhongjing still had a shadow, though it was tiny—only about the size of a palm—which looked quite strange.

The red and blue ghost-fire seemed dissatisfied with the youth staring at Xiang Zhongjing’s shadow. They suddenly transformed into a massive, hideous beast’s face, fangs bared, and let out a roaring “Awoo!” at the youth.

The youth: “…”

The youth nearly fainted again, prostrating himself once more in terror. “Deity, spare me!”

Xiang Zhongjing helplessly reached out and slapped them. The hideous beast face turned back into two clusters of ghost-fire, which then rubbed affectionately against his cheek.

Xiang Zhongjing noticed the spiritual wind had passed and estimated the time was about right. “I won’t hurt you. Just answer a few questions for me.”

The youth was terrified and choked out, “Please ask, Deity. This junior will tell you everything I know.”

“Which sects have come to the secret realm this time?”

The youth blurted out the names of dozens of sects, large and small, like he was spilling beans.

Xiang Zhongjing racked his brain but found he didn’t recognize a single one.

“The one you mentioned earlier, Su…”

Su-what was it?

The youth quickly filled in, “Chief Su.”

“Right,” Xiang Zhongjing said. “Who is he?”

“Chief Su is named Su Cansheng. He is the Chief of the Three Realms.”

Xiang Zhongjing softly murmured the name, “Su Cansheng…”

This name stirred a tiny fragment of memory buried deep in his mind.

Su Cansheng was one of the enemies who had imprisoned Xiang Zhongjing in this secret realm. The pain of his left hand never being able to hold a sword again, and the sixty years of humiliation trapped here, were all caused by this man.

Xiang Zhongjing’s eyes darkened. “Is he in the realm?”

The youth hesitated for a second, then said carefully, “As the Chief of the Three Realms, Su Cansheng was supposed to be at the Path of Infinity preparing for the Great Beast Taming Ceremony in seven days. But for some reason, a few days ago, he suddenly charged into the realm and even.”

Xiang Zhongjing frowned. “And even what?”

The youth gave him a timid look and muttered, “And even offered a sky-high spirit stone bounty to find… Sword Deity Xiang, dead or alive.”

Xiang Zhongjing: “…”

Xiang Zhongjing silently sucked in a breath.

Su Cansheng really was ruthless. Cutting off his path to life and trapping him here for sixty years wasn’t enough; now he wanted to hunt him down and finish him off.

Why? Was he afraid he hadn’t died thoroughly enough?

A sky-high spirit stone bounty?

Why would he go to such lengths?

This wasn’t good. He had to run quickly and avoid being caught.

Xiang Zhongjing pushed away the flames in front of him and reached out toward the youth. “Your Xi…”

Xi…

The youth: “…”

This Sword Deity’s memory… didn’t seem very good.

Terrified of being killed, the youth didn’t wait for Xiang Zhongjing to remember. He hurriedly handed over the glass bottle he was carrying and said timidly, “Deity, this is the Xizhao ghost-fire. It can find the path to the Spirit Tree Ladder in this realm.”

Xiang Zhongjing hummed and shook the bottle. He noticed the bean-sized flame inside was lit by a fragment of something like stone, likely a rhinoceros horn.

The youth looked at Xiang Zhongjing with an expression that said he was about to cry.

This realm was unique, shrouded in ink-like darkness. Anyone entering through the Spirit Tree Ladder had to carry Xizhao ghost-fire. If the fire was lost, they would never reach the ladder to leave, even if their companions were right beside them.

The youth knew Xiang Zhongjing’s Xizhao fire had been destroyed sixty years ago. He assumed Xiang Zhongjing was going to steal his fire to escape—after all, anyone stuck in this dark place for sixty years would do anything to get out.

But if he lost the fire, the youth would almost certainly die in the realm with no one to save him.

He sobbed quietly, suppressing his desperate cries for fear of showing his reluctance to Xiang Zhongjing.

The youth was on the verge of a breakdown, trembling as he began to think about how many pages his suicide note should be for his master, when Xiang Zhongjing suddenly tossed the glass bottle back to him.

“Mm, I see,” Xiang Zhongjing nodded absentmindedly. “Thanks.”

The youth held the Xizhao fire in a daze, staring blankly at the disheveled yet elegant man before him. For a moment, he didn’t know how to react.

He… he didn’t want to steal the fire and escape the realm?

Anyone else who had suffered what Xiang Zhongjing had, being locked up for sixty years, would have gone mad or become a sinister villain. Yet Xiang Zhongjing was returning the “pass” that would lead him out of this misery.

The youth felt a wave of relief. In that moment of daze, he realized that the legendary Sword Deity Xiang, who supposedly colluded with evil dragons, didn’t seem as detestable or terrifying as the rumors suggested.

Xiang Zhongjing looked up at the sky and asked, “What time is it?”

“It’s…” The youth snapped back to his senses and pulled out a palm-sized spiritual tool—a lotus clepsydra—from his robes. “It’s almost the third watch.”

Xiang Zhongjing nodded and pointed a slender finger at the lotus clock.

“Can you trade that to me?”

The youth hesitated, “The clepsydra?”

“Yes,” Xiang Zhongjing nodded. “I’ll trade a spiritual tool for it.”

A clepsydra was just a tool for telling time. Outside the realm, they were everywhere; no one would even bend over to pick one up off the ground.

The youth stared for a while, then hurriedly said, “No need, I’ll give it to you.”

Xiang Zhongjing curled his lips into a smile. His lashes, like crow feathers, fluttered slightly. In the shadow of his hood, a snake-like shadow flickered near the corner of his eye.

He said, “Well, that’s a bit embarrassing.”

Despite saying that, Xiang Zhongjing shamelessly reached out and took the clock.

The youth: “…”

For decades, Xiang Zhongjing had been called the disgrace of the Three Realms. Even in the pamphlets used by major sects to preach about the evils of demonic cultivators, he was used as the primary example, cursed by countless people.

But seeing him in person, the youth felt almost bewitched, feeling that such a person couldn’t possibly be the villain everyone wanted dead.

The youth thought to himself, “Rumors can’t be trusted. He must have had his reasons!”

Xiang Zhongjing squinted at his new gadget. Just as he was about to say thanks, the two ghost-fires competing for his attention suddenly erupted into massive flames. The sound of the roaring fire startled the youth, who had just begun to relax.

The fainted disciples nearby were also woken by the noise, rubbing their eyes and feeling as though they were in a dream.

Xiang Zhongjing’s expression turned serious. He tilted his head slightly, looking toward the pitch-black sky.

The youths saw his face and almost fainted again.

The two flames almost entirely enveloped Xiang Zhongjing, trembling as if they were terrified.

A wolf’s howl erupted from not far away. A ball of snow-white light, like a falling star, tore through the night sky. Trailing a sharp, sword-like tail of light, it charged aggressively toward Xiang Zhongjing’s position.

The youth didn’t have time to comfort his terrified juniors. He gathered his courage and tugged on Xiang Zhongjing’s sleeve, whispering urgently, “Deity! That’s Chief Su’s snow wolf!”

Xiang Zhongjing: “…”

Su Cansheng?

What a narrow encounter.

Support Vindicated After a Wrongful Death