Vindicated After a Wrongful Death - Chapter 5

Xiang Chongjing was on the verge of a breakdown. Dealing with Su Cansheng was already enough, so why was there another one?

Escape? Where could he possibly go? The road to the underworld?

As his mind raced in a frantic mess, another line of text appeared on the coffin wall.

“That dog Su destroyed your golden silk cedar coffin. It has nothing to do with me. Remember to collect the debt from him.”

Xiang Chongjing, “…”

Dog Su?

The handwriting was familiar. In all of the Nine Provinces, the only person bold enough to call Su Cansheng “Dog Su” was that famous little brat, Song Youqiu.

Xiang Chongjing vaguely recalled that Song Youqiu was supposed to be the one coming to collect his corpse. He felt a pang of disappointment. He had finally encountered someone he didn’t have a blood feud with, only for it to be a money-grubbing little monster who cared for nothing but coffins. Completely useless.

Just as he was pondering how to flee, a deep voice suddenly echoed within the stone coffin.

“Do you want to get out?”

Xiang Chongjing arched an eyebrow, “Gu Sangeng?”

The Evil Dragon, “…”

The dragon replied coldly, “My name is not Gu Sangeng.”

“Then tell me your name.”

“In your dreams.”

“Fine, then I’ll keep calling you Gu Sangeng.”

Gu Sangeng, “…”

Back then, Xiang Chongjing had been in such a rush to seal the dragon that the formation had a fatal loophole, allowing the dragon a few moments of freedom every night at the third watch (Sangeng). Adding that to the fact that he had once tricked the dragon into revealing his surname, Xiang Chongjing had simply started calling him “Gu Sangeng.”

Likely realizing he needed to negotiate, the dragon reluctantly muttered, “My name is Gu Congxu.”

Xiang Chongjing blinked in surprise.

Not wanting to waste any more words, Gu Congxu commanded, “Enter your sea of consciousness.” With that, the voice vanished.

This was the first time in sixty years that Gu Congxu had reached out to him. Xiang Chongjing hesitated for a moment before sinking his consciousness inward.

The sea of consciousness was vast and infinite. Beneath his feet was a deep blue surface, with countless lanterns of various styles floating around. The massive form of the dragon drifted slowly through the space, crowding the lanterns so much they scurried toward Xiang Chongjing for safety.

Xiang Chongjing sat cross-legged, casually hugging a lantern in his arms. “I do want to get out,” he said with interest. “Do you have a way?”

The dragon scoffed, “Even ten Su Canshengs are no match for me.”

Xiang Chongjing listened patiently to his boasting. During the third watch, he had played Gu Congxu for a fool. He had expected a storm of rage upon entering his consciousness, but Gu Congxu was surprisingly calm, acting as if nothing had happened.

When things were too calm, there was usually trouble. Xiang Chongjing was clever, he tilted his head and thought for a moment. “You’ll help me out, but what do you want in return?”

“I like doing business with smart people,” Gu Congxu said, his lantern-like eyes burning with intensity. “It’s simple. I want your body.”

Xiang Chongjing, “…”

The dragon knew nothing of human social graces. He simply followed his instincts and said exactly what he wanted.

Xiang Chongjing looked at him strangely for a long while, then hugged his lantern tighter, subtly pulling his robes closed. “You perverted dragon,” he whispered.

Gu Congxu, “???”

The dragon had no idea how that was “perverted.” He growled dangerously, “Do you want to die?!”

“Your seal is on my spiritual form. If I actually die, you won’t survive either.”

Xiang Chongjing realized the dragon hadn’t meant it in a lewd way. To annoy him, he shifted into a more provocative pose, his collar slightly loosened. “To live in the same bed and be buried in the same hole, that’s something only Daoist partners do. Tsk, being tied to a dragon as tasteless as you, I’m really getting the short end of the stick.”

Gu Congxu, “…”

“Xiang Chongjing, you certainly have some nerve,” Gu Congxu said grimly. “Sooner or later, I am going to eat you.”

“I told you, a beauty like me is too good for an evil dragon,” Xiang Chongjing replied. In this space, the master controlled everything, so he wasn’t afraid. “Besides, I’m a man with a fiancé. Talking about eating me like that isn’t good, people will misunderstand and ruin my reputation.”

Gu Congxu, “…”

How did this man have such an infuriating mouth?

Gu Congxu was naturally a man of few words. For sixty years, his soul had been trapped in that soul-fixing coffin with this chatterbox, forced to listen to him talk to the ghost fire, talk to himself, and sometimes even talk to the formations on the coffin wall like a madman.

Gu Congxu had suffered unspeakably. Only the brief moments at the third watch offered him peace. Finally, his silence had reached a breaking point.

“Fiancé?” Gu Congxu sneered, delivering a rare long sentence. “You mean Jin Chu’ling, the one who trapped you in this coffin? Weren’t you discarded before the grand ceremony could even take place? My dear ‘beauty’?”

He spat out the word “beauty” through gritted teeth.

Xiang Chongjing, “…”

In the beginning, unable to bear the loneliness of the secret realm, Xiang Chongjing would either talk to himself or the ghost fire, rambling incessantly. His fiancé, Jin Chu’ling, had definitely been a topic. He hadn’t expected the dragon to remember it after all these years.

Xiang Chongjing turned his head away, uncharacteristically silent. He pulled his tattered robes together and asked, “What do you want my body for?” He had assumed the dragon wanted him to break the seal.

“I am bound by the Heavenly Dao and cannot leave the San-du Secret Realm. Even if the seal is broken, I cannot descend the spirit tree’s ladder,” Gu Congxu explained. “Your soul is unstable and your soul-fire is missing. You have the perfect body for possession.”

After a long silence, Xiang Chongjing asked, “You want to possess me to leave this place?”

Gu Congxu nodded.

Xiang Chongjing smiled and beckoned him with a slender finger.

After a moment of hesitation, the dragon transformed into a human. He wore black robes with dragon patterns, his figure tall and lean. He swept the surrounding lanterns away with a wide sleeve and walked slowly toward Xiang Chongjing.

This was the first time Xiang Chongjing had seen the dragon’s human form, and he blinked in surprise. He had always imagined the dragon as some ancient, wizened monster, but the human before him looked quite young, perhaps in his early twenties. He was inhumanly handsome, with a pair of golden, vertical pupils that stared at Xiang Chongjing with a cold, predatory arrogance, as if he were looking at a side dish to go with his wine.

Gu Congxu looked down at him coldly. “Well?”

Xiang Chongjing raised an eyebrow and, without a hint of fear, grabbed Gu Congxu by the collar and pulled him down forcefully.

Gu Congxu had never been so insulted. “Presumptuous!” he barked.

Xiang Chongjing let out a low, flirtatious laugh. Because they were so close, the dragon’s scales almost bristled in shock. Gu Congxu felt a surge of humiliated rage, this man was a living, breathing disaster.

The “disaster’s” breath brushed against Gu Congxu’s ear like a butterfly’s wing. His voice was low and raspy, carries a seductive lilt. “You perverted dragon, if you save me, I’ll give you my body in a different way.”

Gu Congxu, “…”

Xiang Chongjing’s dark hair fell over his shoulders, his lips still stained red from the previous bloodstains. His appearance was like a willow made of snow and skin of glass, a fragile masterpiece that could only be forged on a mountain peak.

He gazed at Gu Congxu with eyes full of affection, as if he had long been deeply in love. But in Gu Congxu’s eyes, this man was like snow, no matter how beautiful the smile, the depths of his eyes remained an endless, frozen wasteland. To him, the world and all its affairs were no heavier than a falling leaf.

Gu Congxu stared at him for a long time before asking, “What way?”

Xiang Chongjing smiled and reached his hand into Gu Congxu’s collar. He seemed to know instinctively how to make someone lose their mind. His fingers moved suggestively as he lowered his voice, his eyes shimmering with fake devotion. His pale lips parted slightly, “Save me, and I will teach you the ultimate pleasures of the mortal world.”

Gu Congxu’s gaze darkened. He grabbed Xiang Chongjing’s restless hand and pulled it out, saying coldly, “Don’t play games with me. There is no deal other than possession.”

Xiang Chongjing smiled, “Alright then.”

Gu Congxu thought he had agreed, but before he could react, Xiang Chongjing’s seductive expression vanished. He stood up casually, as if discarding something utterly trivial. With a flick of his finger, he sent the bright lantern flying into the air to join the thousands of others.

“Then you can just be buried with me,” Xiang Chongjing said nonchalantly. “Having a true dragon as a funeral companion is a fair trade.”

Gu Congxu, “…”

“You…” Gu Congxu was stunned.

Xiang Chongjing was resolute. Without waiting for a response, he vanished from the sea of consciousness.

Outside the stone coffin, Jin Chu’ling had finally arrived. The snow wolf had returned early and was crouching by Su Cansheng’s side, its head hanging low.

The spirit tree shook slightly. The snow wolf sensed something, its ears pricking up as it let out a menacing howl toward the branches below.

Su Cansheng calmed the terrified wolf and looked down toward the tangled branches. The spirit tree was hundreds of feet tall, and the branches grew sparse toward the top. From the peak, one could usually only see a blur of green, but soon, something could be felt pushing through the foliage.

A giant silver snake burst through the branches, coiling upward and reaching the entrance of the secret realm in an instant. Upon landing, the snake shifted into the form of a youth of sixteen or seventeen.

The moment Su Cansheng saw him, a look of disgust crossed his face, as if he couldn’t stand being in the same space as such a person.

Jin Chu’ling, looking youthful and delicate, landed lightly. When his eyes caught sight of the familiar white jade coffin, his handsome face froze, and two rows of tears immediately began to fall. Like a butterfly, he threw himself toward the coffin. Without even checking which end was which, he collapsed against it, sobbing piteously. “Brother!”

To anyone else, it looked like he was mourning at a grave.

Su Cansheng, “…” Song Youqiu, “…”

Jin Chu’ling looked harmless and far more submissive than Su Cansheng. However, even Song Youqiu, who dared to be sarcastic to the Great Venerable Su, quietly took a few steps back, not daring to provoke him.

Jin Chu’ling cried until his eyes were red, his broken sobs enough to make anyone pity him. But Su Cansheng knew exactly what kind of person he was and impatiently interrupted the act. “Stop the nonsense. Undo the seal on the stone coffin.”

Sixty years ago, Jin Chu’ling had been a small, newly transformed snake. Because the Yiyi Sect wanted to foster ties with the demon race, they had forced a marriage contract between Xiang Chongjing and Jin Chu’ling. Jin Chu’ling hated cultivators but had no choice but to comply. Being someone who never suffered a loss, he took his resentment out on Xiang Chongjing—back then, he had used this same “pitiful little thing” act to wrap Xiang Chongjing around his finger.

Now, Jin Chu’ling was the Lord of the Demons, a decisive and ruthless ruler. Yet, standing by the coffin, he was once again that tragic, fragile boy. He looked up, his face covered in tears, and choked out, “Will Brother still want to see me?”

Su Cansheng frowned in disgust. “He can’t see your acting right now anyway. Save the crying for when he comes out.”

Jin Chu’ling’s tears didn’t stop, they fell even harder. “What if he blames me?”

Su Cansheng finally looked at him properly. Jin Chu’ling’s voice was hoarse from crying, and it didn’t look like an act at all. Su Cansheng felt a jolt of realization. Could a cold-blooded demon like Jin Chu’ling actually feel guilt and regret toward Xiang Chongjing, whom he had treated like a toy?

The thought felt like a slap to Su Cansheng’s face. If Jin Chu’ling felt this way, what about himself?

Jin Chu’ling wiped his face and said softly, “I’ll undo the seal first.” He raised his hands to form a seal.

Seeing that things were about to escalate, Song Youqiu immediately moved to use the ghost fire to write a warning. But as soon as his finger moved, a small, multicolored snake appeared on his shoulder, hissing at him with cold eyes.

Song Youqiu froze and looked at Jin Chu’ling. Jin Chu’ling, still covered in tears, gave him a gentle smile. “Don’t move. I haven’t made the antidote for this snake’s venom yet. Do you want that coffin for yourself?”

Song Youqiu immediately raised his hands in surrender. Only then did Jin Chu’ling look away. He really is a madman, Song Youqiu cursed internally.

The madman named Jin Chu’ling casually broke the seal while staring intently at the red shadow beneath the jade coffin. He didn’t even blink. The snake coiled around his wrist seemed to mirror his obsession, its eyes filled with a frantic, burning desire to consume the person inside.

Su Cansheng also stared at the coffin, lost in thought. When Xiang Chongjing came out, what would he say? An apology? Compensation? But how could sixty years of humiliation and pain be compensated so easily? The more he thought, the more terrified he became, almost wanting to retreat.

But Jin Chu’ling was fast. Within ten breaths, before Su Cansheng could change his mind, the heavy coffin lid let out a faint click as the seal shattered.

Jin Chu’ling let out a joyful cry and rushed forward, patting the lid. “Brother! Brother!”

Inside, Xiang Chongjing, having failed to strike a deal with Gu Congxu, had heartlessly fallen asleep. Hearing the long-lost voice, he thought he was dreaming and opened his eyes in a daze. The soft, youthful voice of Jin Chu’ling pierced through his haze, waking him instantly.

“Brother! It’s me, A-Ling!”

Jin Chu’ling was fearless, he had even slaughtered his own clan, but now he didn’t even dare to open the lid. He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to handle Xiang Chongjing’s reaction, so he could only beg him to come out on his own.

Xiang Chongjing listened to the voice and finally let out a long sigh, as if accepting his fate. “If I die, I die,” he muttered. “I should have been dead long ago anyway.”

With that thought, he steeled himself and threw the coffin lid open with all his might.

Jin Chu’ling, who was leaning over the lid to look in, was caught off guard. The lid slammed directly into his face with a dull thud. He let out a muffled groan and was knocked backward, tumbling onto the ground in a heap.

Su Cansheng, “…” Song Youqiu, “…”

Song Youqiu almost burst out laughing, but he saw the snake on his shoulder and choked it back.

Inside the coffin, a hand covered in blood suddenly gripped the edge. Su Cansheng froze, taking an involuntary step forward.

Xiang Chongjing, imprisoned for sixty years, slowly rose from the stone coffin. He leaned against the edge and took a deep breath of the fresh air. He slowly turned his gaze and saw Su Cansheng, who looked like he didn’t know whether to cry or laugh.

Xiang Chongjing, “…”

That expression was too gruesome. He was practically gnashing his teeth. Did he really hate him that much?

Xiang Chongjing scanned the area and saw Jin Chu’ling sitting on the ground, clutching his nose. Although Jin Chu’ling looked delicate, he was incredibly tough. Being hit in the face by a stone lid only made his nose a bit red. He looked at Xiang Chongjing with a face full of tears and wailed, “Brother Xiang!”

Xiang Chongjing, “…”

Sixty years ago, when Jin Chu’ling had sealed him in the coffin without hesitation, he had used that same “pear blossoms in the rain” look, calling him “Brother Xiang” as he trapped him in darkness.

Xiang Chongjing gave them a casual nod. Realizing he really couldn’t win a fight against them, he calmly flicked his wide sleeve, signaling the ghost fire to retrieve the coffin lid.

Under the stunned gazes of the three men, Xiang Chongjing lay back down in the coffin with a straight face. The ghost fire placed the lid back on, sealing the stone coffin once again.

Goodbye.

Su Cansheng, “…”

Jin Chu’ling, “…”

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