Vindicated After a Wrongful Death - Chapter 37

A burst of white light suddenly exploded in Xiang Zhongjing’s mind. His soul, which had been unstable since childhood, felt as though it were being forcibly drawn out, merging with that stray wisp of spirit with agonizing difficulty.

Countless memories flashed past like drifting clouds and fleeting shadows.

Xiang Zhongjing strained his eyes, desperate to see the fragmented memories clearly, but it felt as though someone were shielding his vision. He could only catch glimpses of the most brilliant shards through the gaps.

He saw a quiet residence. A man in red, draped in a floor-length cloak, sat on a stone stool. He coughed a few times and asked softly, “You want to learn?”

On the stone table before him, a tiny peacock exerted all its strength to fan out its tail, nodding its head. “Yes.”

The man smiled, resting his chin on his hand as he watched the peacock with a gentle gaze. “Very well,” he said lazily. “Being ill is quite dull, and Suyu won’t let me go out anyway. I might as well teach you.”

The peacock watched him expectantly.

The man in red slowly opened his half-lidded eyes. His beautiful pupils bloomed like clusters of flowers, revealing a glimmer of seductive spiritual power.

The moment the peacock’s eyes met his, it stood frozen and motionless.

This was Soul-snatching.

Having taken control of the peacock, the man in red parted his pale lips and whispered, “Come, little bird. Roll over on the table.”

The peacock obediently rolled over.

The man in red burst into a muffled laugh, as if he had seen something hilarious.

Soul-snatching, a forbidden art capable of controlling the human heart, was being used by him as a mere parlor trick.

His laughter lasted only a moment before he faced the consequences, a dry cough racking his body as a thin trail of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

Seeming accustomed to it, he wiped the blood away carelessly and continued to play with the peacock.

The scene shifted. The thin man in red stood at the peak of a high mountain. From his perspective, the Great Jiuzhou Rivers seemed enveloped in a dark, murky smoke.

A peacock broke through the haze and landed on the man’s slender finger.

With an indifferent expression, the man whispered, “Are you leaving too?”

The peacock bowed respectfully, speaking in a human tongue. “I do not wish to turn into a common creature. Unless Master uses Soul-snatching on me, I will surely follow you.”

The man gave a light laugh. “If I did that, how would I be any different from the Three Poisons?”

With a gentle flick of his finger, he let the peacock take flight. “Go,” he murmured.

“All of you, just go.”

Left all alone, he watched the peacock fly further and further away. It was a long time before he laughed, his tone full of loneliness.

Behind him, a massive spiritual tree continued to grow.

A hawk soared into the sky. When the scene panned down again, the man in red was sitting on a withered tree, his robes fluttering in the wind. The Nether Fire flickered on his shoulder as he stroked a small dragon. His voice was soft, but Xiang Zhongjing could sense the mischief in his tone.

“So it’s just a little black dragon. What a beautiful color, like a stroke of ink.”

“I’ll call you… hmm, Congxu.”

The dragon was still young and couldn’t understand why a black dragon would be named after willow fluff. It only knew to stare blankly at its gently smiling master and nod its tiny head obediently.

The man in red smiled even more tenderly at the sight.

The man on the withered tree and the ink-like dragon slowly dissolved into mist. The final fragment of memory was actually Xiang Zhongjing’s own face.

Sixty years ago, the high-spirited youth was at the Funeral Pavilion, handing a drop of his heart’s blood to Song Youqiu.

Song Youqiu held the blood carefully. “People don’t die in the Sandu Secret Realm. Why are you buying a coffin for yourself?”

Xiang Lian downed his wine in one go, his face void of emotion. “The Demon Clan won’t hand the position of Sect Leader to someone with a male partner. Jin Chuling is ambitious; if he wants to lead the demons, I’m the first person he has to kill. The Quyi Sect likely has no place for me either. Isn’t the secret realm the perfect place to silence someone for good?”

Song Youqiu frowned as he crafted the life lamp. “Then you could just not go. Can they put a sword to your throat and force you?”

Xiang Lian poured himself another cup. “I have to go.”

“Why?”

The hand holding the cup paused. After a long daze, he murmured to himself, “That’s right. Why… do I have to go?”

Knowing the secret realm was a death trap, why was he so insistent on going to his end?

Xiang Lian was completely baffled.

Song Youqiu finished the lamp and asked in confusion, “Are you still going then?”

“Yes,” Xiang Lian replied, almost without thinking.

Song Youqiu was stunned. “But why, exactly?”

Xiang Lian didn’t even know why himself. He stared into the distance for a long time before saying hesitantly, “It feels like there’s… something very important I must find in that secret realm.”

Yet he had no idea what was actually inside.

The Xiang Zhongjing trapped in the memories couldn’t understand either, but in the final moment of vision, he finally caught the answer.

In a brightly lit room, Xiang Zhongjing stood expressionlessly before a water mirror, his eyes blooming like flowers.

“Go and bring him out. Don’t let him die.”

“Forget…”

The words that followed were lost as Xiang Zhongjing gasped for breath and snapped awake.

These memories seemed to span an eternity, but in reality, only a second had passed. Xiang Zhongjing hadn’t even fully collapsed yet.

A wave of dizziness washed over him again. He had no strength left and was bracing for the pain of hitting the ground, but an instant before impact, a pair of strong arms hooked around his waist.

His lashes fluttered as he struggled to open his eyes, meeting Gu Congxu’s face, which was full of disbelief.

Xiang Zhongjing smiled at him, about to thank him for the catch, when Gu Congxu suddenly let go as if he had touched a hot potato.

Caught off guard, Xiang Zhongjing fell straight onto the ground.

Xiang Zhongjing: “…”

Gu Congxu was in a state of total panic. Clutching the now-dark dragon bone, he paced frantically around the cave, murmuring incoherently to himself.

“No, he can’t be Master!”

“How could he be my master? My master was more ethereal and celestial than the immortals above the nine heavens. He… it’s impossible!”

“But why did the soul fragment go into his body? Ah, right, souls can be drawn to each other. But, but… cough cough.”

He was so panicked he choked on his own breath, coughing incessantly while still whispering that it was impossible.

Xiang Zhongjing had truly hurt his back this time. Propping himself up, he watched the pacing Gu Congxu with a half-smile. “Congxu, is this how you treat your master?”

Gu Congxu looked at him as if he were seeing a ghost, his voice cracking. “N-No!”

Sitting cross-legged on the ground while rubbing his waist, Xiang Zhongjing said with a smirk, “Our Sange looks like a stroke of ink; let’s call him Congxu.”

Upon hearing this, the horror on Gu Congxu’s face intensified.

“Why are you still holding onto that bone? The soul fragment is gone.” Xiang Zhongjing reached out toward him, curling his lips into a faint smile. “Come and hold me instead.”

Gu Congxu: “…”

His dragon horns suddenly popped out, his entire face turning a deep crimson. He stood frozen, not knowing what to do.

Just as he was about to use his old trick of fleeing back into the sea of consciousness, Xiang Zhongjing saw through him. He said slowly, “If you hide in there and give me the cold shoulder again, do you want to bet on whether I’ll ever speak to you for the rest of my life?”

Gu Congxu: “…”

His body stiffened, and he didn’t dare move again.

Seeing that he wasn’t going to flee, Xiang Zhongjing beckoned with a finger. “Come.”

Gu Congxu didn’t dare get close; instead, he took several steps backward, clutching his dragon bone and not daring to make a sound.

Xiang Zhongjing’s lip twitched. Seeing him so terrified and dazed, he kindly stopped pushing him.

“Do you understand what the peacock meant with its final words now?”

Gu Congxu watched him warily while slowly backing away, as if he wanted to be as far as possible. Hearing the question, he paused his retreat and found a safe spot, hiding almost his entire body behind a large boulder.

Only after finding a sense of security did he ask, “What did he mean?”

Xiang Zhongjing: “…”

Seeing that he was about to hide outside the cave entirely, Xiang Zhongjing had to raise his voice. “He said he didn’t withdraw the Soul-snatching, yet I didn’t succumb to it. What does that tell you? Tch, why are you so far away? I’m not going to eat you.”

Gu Congxu curled into a ball behind the boulder and muttered, “Just talk from there.”

“What did you say?!”

“I said, just talk from there!”

Xiang Zhongjing had no choice. He couldn’t use spiritual energy to project his voice, so he had to raise it again.

“When I was a child, I was always pestered by ghosts. That likely wasn’t because my soul was unstable, but because it was incomplete!” Xiang Zhongjing shouted. “Before the secret realm, I couldn’t escape the peacock’s Soul-snatching! But after coming out, I was unaffected. It’s likely because I merged with that missing piece of my soul while in the Soul-Stabilizing Coffin! Cough cough cough.”

Gu Congxu: “…”

The True Dragon’s hearing was sharp, and the volume of Xiang Zhongjing’s voice made his ears ring.

After a long hesitation, he frowned and poked half his head out. “I can hear you. You don’t have to be so loud.”

“What?! What did you say?! Louder”

Gu Congxu: “…”

He thought for a while before slowly emerging from behind the rock, moving to a spot about ten paces away and crouching down. He whispered, “Can you hear me now?”

Xiang Zhongjing had shouted himself hoarse before the dragon finally came out, and he shot Gu Congxu an angry glare.

Clutching the bone, Gu Congxu didn’t dare look at him.

Xiang Zhongjing was a bit lightheaded from the shouting, his mind buzzing. “Where was I?”

Gu Congxu reminded him: “Cough cough cough.”

Xiang Zhongjing: “…”

He couldn’t help it; he picked up a rock and threw it at Gu Congxu’s head.

The head was fine, but the rock crumbled into powder.

It was the first time Xiang Zhongjing had been this angry. He murmured “don’t stoop to his level, stay calm” several times before fully settling down.

“I saw some memories from that soul fragment just now. The peacock was taught Soul-snatching by a man in red.” Xiang Zhongjing took a deep breath and continued, “The peacock’s final words were likely a hint to me. The reason I’m immune to his control is because I’m the one who taught it to him.”

Gu Congxu tried to make a final stand. “But how can an incomplete soul enter the cycle of reincarnation?”

Xiang Zhongjing replied, “If you’re asking me, who am I supposed to ask?”

Gu Congxu was choked by the response.

Xiang Zhongjing watched him quietly for a moment. “You don’t believe me?”

It wasn’t that Gu Congxu didn’t believe him; he knew Xiang Zhongjing wouldn’t lie about something like this. He just couldn’t accept it all at once.

His elegant, gentle-as-a-spring-breeze master, and this irreverent, nonsensical Xiang Zhongjing…

Who would ever think they were the same person?!

Gu Congxu let out a whimper, feeling he needed some time to process.

Without a word, he vanished on the spot and returned to the sea of consciousness. Biting his tail, he began to stir things up, wishing he could take back all the times he had so confidently stated that Xiang Zhongjing wasn’t his master.

This was so embarrassing for a dragon.

The current Xiang Zhongjing was also someone who never let anyone off. He would surely be mocked for his past stupidity every other day.

At the thought of this, Gu Congxu felt his future was dark and bleak.

However, the fact that his master hadn’t become a lonely ghost made Gu Congxu’s heart feel alive again, thumping so hard it almost jumped out of his chest.

Within moments, the dragon who had been heartbroken was brought back to life, leaping around with excitement and sending the lamps in the mind drifting everywhere.

Left in the dark cave, Xiang Zhongjing looked at the spot where Gu Congxu had vanished. For once, a look of bewilderment appeared on his face.

He stared blankly for a long time before suddenly letting out a laugh.

“That’s right,” Xiang Zhongjing thought, his heart feeling cold and indifferent. “Why do I feel the need to prove who I am to him? Isn’t this just like when I tried to prove my innocence? Those who don’t believe won’t believe no matter how much I explain. It’s completely meaningless.”

Why bother distinguishing things that are meaningless?

Xiang Zhongjing was not one to pester. Since Gu Congxu refused to believe despite so much evidence, saying more would just be a self-inflicted humiliation.

He stumbled to his feet, clutching his splitting head, and walked slowly toward the exit of the cave.

Sensing his mood, the Nether Fire circled him anxiously, pressing itself against his cheek as if trying to comfort him.

Xiang Zhongjing smiled as he stroked the flames. “You’ve recognized the wrong person,” he murmured.

The fire became even more frantic, seemingly wanting to surround and warm him.

Gu Congxu, who was still causing a storm in the sea of consciousness, sensed something was wrong. He looked up at the countless lamps in the mind.

With one glance, his vertical pupils shrank to the size of pinpricks.

The lamps in Xiang Zhongjing’s sea of consciousness burned year-round. Only a few had gone out earlier when he felt coldness toward Qu Xing, but they had quickly relit.

Now, those thousands of lamps were being snuffed out one by one by an invisible force.

Gu Congxu watched in shock.

The lamps continued to go out, one after another. In no time, more than half of the vast space was in darkness. The usually brightly lit sea of consciousness now looked as if twilight had arrived, with very little light remaining.

Doubting his own eyes, he quickly checked on Xiang Zhongjing.

Xiang Zhongjing had left the cave and was carefully using the Nether Fire to burn away the harmful array. Even without the dragon bone and soul fragment, he burned it just in case.

Once finished, he followed the path cleared by the fire toward the Quyi Sect, appearing to be in a good mood.

Xiang Zhongjing was used to being alone. No matter how much he feared the surrounding darkness, he didn’t let it show on his face; he only quickened his pace unconsciously.

Inside the mind, Gu Congxu dazed reached out to catch an extinguished lamp. After a long moment, his heart felt a sharp, aching pain.

The back mountain was too dark, and Xiang Zhongjing was walking so fast it was as if a ghost were chasing him. That nameless terror felt like a giant hand squeezing his heart, making it hard to breathe.

Just then, a hand suddenly appeared out of thin air and grabbed his wrist.

Xiang Zhongjing’s entire body jolted. He was so terrified his legs nearly went out, and he didn’t even dare turn his head.

Several more lamps in his mind were snuffed out by the shock.

Seeing this, Gu Congxu said quickly, “It’s me.”

Hearing the familiar voice, the heart that had almost jumped out of his chest slowly settled back down. He breathed a subtle sigh of relief and feigned composure, turning to look at Gu Congxu by the light of the fire. “What is it?”

Gu Congxu looked up at him occasionally, only to quickly look down again, appearing very hesitant.

Xiang Zhongjing’s eyes were cold, lacking any of his usual impulse to tease the dragon. He frowned. “Speak. I’m going back.”

Afraid that he was angry, Gu Congxu bit his lip, his jaw clenched tight. He whispered a sentence hesitantly.

“Will you?”

Xiang Zhongjing hadn’t heard clearly. “What?”

Gu Congxu looked up tentatively, meeting Xiang Zhongjing’s cold, glass-like eyes. Suddenly, he made up his mind. He closed his eyes and shouted at the top of his lungs.

“I said: do you want to see me bite my own tail and swallow myself?”

His voice echoed through the mountains, scaring away the nearby spirit beasts.

Xiang Zhongjing: “…”

Xiang Zhongjing: “???”