Chapter 28.2: My wife……is a bit powerful.

Chapter 28 Part 2

A gust of evening wind blew, Xi Jia suddenly remembered his task for today and said aloud, “Master Ye, I’m here to find my classmate’s ghost and ask him about the truth of what had happened that night. Since this ghost has appeared here, is it related to that case? Should we…….”

“Great master!!!”

A screaming voice sounded from behind them, interrupting Xi Jia. He turned his head in surprise, only to see the male ghost that was covered in head to toe in blood. Who knew when it had reattached its head. It kneeled by the elevator doors as eerie white lights shined down onto its body, giving off a strange atmosphere.

At this moment, it was kneeling straight on the floor and held up a rough paper scroll, lifting both hands up high above its head. Its voice was hoarse as it shouted, “Sir! Mt. Lian in exchange, thus a deed was formed. Jurisprudence as a boundary, thou shalt not pass beyond the dried lake! I’m begging you, please save Old Ghost! I’m begging you, please save him! Only you can save him, only you!!!”

Xi Jia looked at the ghost, not understanding.

Ye Jingzhi brows slowly wrinkled. He walked in front of the ghost and extended his hand, taking the paper scroll from the male ghost’s hands.

『Mt. Lian in exchange, thus a deed was formed. Jurisprudence as a boundary, thou shalt not pass beyond the dried lake.』

On the bottom left corner of the paper, there’s a bloody handprint, and written next to it was a single “Ye” character. Following that was a single “丿” stroke with no more words after.

Xi Jia turned to look at Ye Jingzhi. He could see the bloody handprint, but couldn’t tell who it belonged to. However, the word written next to it should be Master Ye’s name. Only, he didn’t know why he only wrote half and didn’t continue.

Xi Jia quietly asked, “Master Ye?”

Ye Jingzhi nodded at him, clenching the paper into his palm. His looked down at the male ghost that’s still kneeling and not rising. After a long time, he coldly said, “I know. You tell me just what has happened.”

Half a month ago, that kind of frightening case had happened. At night, there was no one who dared to walk at night in this neighborhood.

In the neighborhood’s garden, Xi Jia and Ye Jingzhi sat by the pond. Occasionally there were office workers returning late who passed by the garden and glancing at them strangely. They couldn’t seem to understand why these two men didn’t go home early and were still sitting in the garden in a daze. They naturally didn’t know that at this moment in Xi Jia’s eyes, that male ghost covered all over in blood was kneeling in front of them and wouldn’t rise no matter what.

After these two entered the garden, this male ghost kneeled and didn’t get up, constantly kowtowing.

Xi Jia had seen wandering and wild ghosts, malicious ghosts and evil spirits, but this was his first time seeing a ghost kowtowing to a human. He hurriedly tried to make this ghost stand up, and if there were words to say, it should say them properly. However, this ghost wasn’t willing to stand and wanted to kneel in front of Xi Jia and Ye Jingzhi, kowtowing continuously.

It wasn’t until Xi Jia had said, “If you kowtow one more time, we’ll leave right now,” did the little ghost raise its head to look at Ye Jingzhi. Ye Jingzhi nodded, agreeing to Xi Jia’s words. The little ghost immediately didn’t dare kowtow again but continued to kneel.

“Sir, this little one is truly sorry. This little one only wanted to scare you so you wouldn’t dare to check on this case again and didn’t mean to offend you.”

Xi Jia waved his hand.

The ghost continued to talk, “I’m called Old Six. During the war in the last century, I died in a battle in S City. When we were battling, a bomb came down. Intact corpses simply couldn’t be found, and we rarely would have a grave. I’ve always been a wild ghost, wandering at the edge of S City. Afterwards, I met Old Ghost.”

Xi Jia suddenly thought of a question. He really wanted to ask this ghost how did it survived several decades of Ling Xiao’s questions, and how it had never received Ling Xiao’s punishments, thus preserving its soul. However looking at the ghost’s grieved expression, he still hadn’t opened his mouth and continued to listen.

“Sir, a month ago, you went to the broken temple we once stayed at to take a look. Amongst us wild ghosts, Old Ghost is the strongest. Old ghost has already been dead for 300 years, and its magic power is profound. When I first experienced Ling Xiao’s questions, it was Old Ghost that told me what I should do. Only then, did I correctly answer the three questions and didn’t get punished by Ling Xiao.”

Ye Jingzhi nodded, “En. A ghost with 300 years of cultivation, even if it’s not a malicious ghost, is worthy of vigilance. It’s qualified to sign a Mt. Lian contract.”

The male ghost nodded, “Right. Mt. Lian in exchange, thus a deed was formed. Jurisprudence as a boundary, thou shalt not pass beyond the dried lake. Only ghosts with profound magic power have the right to sign Mt. Lian contracts with you Sirs.¹ From then on, Sirs won’t make things difficult for us. However, we absolutely mustn’t harm humans. Or else, Ling Xiao will execute the Mt. Lian contract and hit us until our souls disperse if we dare harm a human.”

Ye Jingzhi indifferently said, “A month ago, when I was signing the Mt. Lian contract with that ghost, a small accident happened. The contract didn’t succeed. The handprint was pressed, but I haven’t signed. This Mt. Lian contract isn’t effective.”

The male ghost’s face showed a difficult smile, “Yes. Sir, you suddenly had something to do and didn’t have the time to sign your name. If you really signed your name, Old Ghost would’ve already been punished by Ling Xiao’s laws, scattering its soul.”

Xi Jia’s pupils trembled, picking up a certain thing that he heard.

Ye Jingzhi also pursed his lips, no longer talking.

The male ghost smiled sadly for a long time. Finally, it raised its head, saying, “Yes. Sir, Old Ghost killed someone. Half a month ago, Old Ghost killed a man from here. That man was hitting his wife. His wife was about to get beaten to death by him. I kept on pulling Old Ghost to prevent him from taking action. However, my magic power couldn’t compare with Old Ghost, and Old Ghost killed that man……”

Xi Jia asked, “Was that man called Li Xiao?”

The male ghost nodded.

Xi Jia softly sighed.

He just knew. Not to mention that Wang Ru was an ordinary woman, even if she was a man, she couldn’t be able to hack apart a grown man’s skull in one strike.

The murderer in this case was really not Wang Ru, rather, it was a ghost. A wild ghost possessing 300 years of cultivation, it’s no wonder it could hack Li Xiao’s skull into two halves and making him die so miserably.

Xi Jia thought of something, “I just went to Li Xiao’s house to find his ghost, but couldn’t find anything. Do you know what’s going on?”

The male ghost lowered its head, “When we ghosts kill people, we generally won’t rest until they’re dead. I heard that after a malicious ghost kills someone, it will eat the person’s ghost soul. Sir, please don’t misunderstand, Old Ghost didn’t eat that man’s ghost. However, that man had entered reincarnation last week. Sir, you came late, that man isn’t here anymore.”

Ye Jingzhi explained, “Although that man died very tragically, his resentment is stronger than ordinary people. However, if his determination isn’t firm, it’s also possible he won’t stay in the mortal world for too long and will enter reincarnation instead.”

“It was like that, precisely like that.” The male ghost continued to speak, “Ever since Old Ghost killed that man, that woman just ran out of house as if she was crazy. It was Old Ghost’s first time killing a person, and he has became a malicious ghost. I didn’t dare approach him, and Old Ghost also didn’t care for me. After that day, Old Ghost ran, and I haven’t seen him since. But, I heard a few wandering spirits say that there are Sirs investigating this matter, so I wanted to come here to take a look at the situation. If there really is a Sir who wants to take care of this matter, Old Ghost’s soul definitely would scatter if caught.”

Ye Jingzhi looked at the ghost with an ice-cold gaze, “When a malicious ghost kills a person, they must pay with their life. If light, they will be sent to the 18th layer of Hell and suffer from torture. If heavy, their soul will scatter, forever unable to reincarnate. In this Xuanxue World, as long as it’s a malicious ghost that had killed someone, their soul generally would immediately scatter once they are caught.”

“Sir! Does Old Ghost’s soul have to disperse?”

Ye Jingzhi hesitated for a moment, “Not really. Under Ling Xiao, when a malicious ghost kills a person, they can enter the 18 Layers of Hell and suffer hardships to pay for their sins. However, the guilty offense is up to Ling Xiao to decide. The majority of Celestial Masters will ask Ling Xiao for a trial after they have captured an evil spirit. But, Ling Xiao is harsh. 90% of evil spirits aren’t qualified to go to Hell, only ending with their souls dispersing. So, some Celestial Masters would immediately eliminate malicious spirits.”

The male ghost once again started banging its head against the ground, kowtowing.

“Sir, please save Old Ghost! I’m begging you to save him! Old Ghost killed to save the woman, please save him! He didn’t mean it. He didn’t kill anyone for 300 years. This was the first, this is really the first one! If the Celestial Master who catches him doesn’t give him a chance and directly makes his soul disperse, then he will forever be unable to reincarnate!”

Ye Jingzhi hesitated for a moment, looking at Xi Jia.

Xi Jia thought for a moment and asked, “Do you know why the old ghost wanted to kill Li Xiao? Why would he help Wang Ru?”

The male ghost thought for a long time with difficulty. In the end, it shook its head, “Sir, I don’t know. It was my first time seeing those two humans, and I didn’t expect to come across this situation.”

Xi Jia nodded, turning his head to face Ye Jingzhi.

Their gazes met, and Xi Jia said, “I want to meet with Wang Ru.”

After leaving the neighborhood, Xi Jia told the male ghost that it didn’t need to follow him, “We’ll first go hear the statement of the person involved. Li Xiao has already reincarnated, and Wang Ru is still in prison. Go back to where you should go. If we can help, we will definitely help. However, you shouldn’t come out to harm humans in the future.”

The male ghost felt guilty, “Sir, I only wanted to scare you. I really didn’t want to hurt you. Please forgive me.”

Xi Jia looked at the ghost’s head that was floating above its neck. He lightly coughed twice and waved his hand with a guilty conscience, letting the other leave.

In the deep night, Xi Jia and Ye Jingzhi left the neighborhood together. Ye Jingzhi held the paper scroll in his hand, and Xi Jia was curiously looking at it. Ye Jingzhi explained very considerately, “This is a Mt. Lian contract.”

“Mt. Lian contract?”

“En. When a malicious ghost’s resentment is extremely strong, it will get rejected by Ling Xiao. They won’t experience Ling Xiao’s questions and can only stay in the mortal world, murdering humans. When a Celestial Master encounters a malicious ghost, they don’t have to reason with them. Just immediately catching or eliminating them will suffice. But in this world, there are some lonely souls and wild ghosts that will loiter in the mortal world, unwilling to reincarnate. Each time they pass Ling Xiao’s questions, their magic power will grow more profound. But they aren’t evil ghosts.”

Xi Jia somewhat didn’t understand, “Didn’t Cengxiu-zhenjun say that of the ghosts that he had seen that were able to pass Ling Xiao’s questions, they passed three times at most? That ghost just now said that it was dead for several decades, and the ghost that killed Li Xiao seems to be dead for at least 300 years.”

Ye Jingzhi said, “What Senior Cengxiu had said was that if they need to endure heart tribulations. They can endure three times at most before they can’t handle it anymore, and their soul will scatter. However, Ling Xiao is lenient towards wild ghosts. If they really can’t remember their name or think that they’re already dead, it will not send a heart tribulation. Besides this, if the ghost’s reason for being unwilling to reincarnate receives Ling Xiao’s approval, Ling Xiao won’t ask it questions again, allowing it to exist in this world.”

Xi Jia just now clearly understood the relationship amongst these matters.

Ziying’s and Old Ghost’s situations were not alike. Ziying’s reason for not reincarnating was really too far-fetched. If he said, “Because my dad hates me and doesn’t want me to smoothly reincarnate,” Ling Xiao would either think that he’s talking nonsense and doing things half-heartedly, or it would punish Qin Shi Huang, giving this unreasonable father of his a couple slaps to make him clear-headed.

These two types of situations, no matter which type, Ziying wasn’t willing to see it through, so he was incapable of confronting Ling Xiao’s questions.

However in this world, everyone had their own life and stories. Old Ghost wasn’t willing to reincarnate. It probably had its reasons, and this reason had touched Ling Xiao. It received Ling Xiao’s acknowledgement, and then freed from the heart tribulations.

After seeing that Xi Jia understood, Ye Jingzhi continued to say, “This kind of wild ghost with profound magic power, they won’t hurt people. Once they hurt someone, they will become a malicious ghost and we can immediately catch them. But because of their high strength, the Xuanxue world cannot brush it aside. That’s why there’s a Mt. Lian contract. The Xuanxue world’s Celestial Masters can’t harm the ghosts that have signed the Mt. Lian contract. They can live freely because there’s Ling Xiao restricting them. Once they hurt someone, Ling Xiao will naturally scatter their souls.”

Saying this, Ye Jingzhi gave Xi Jia the paper scroll that was in his hands.

Xi Jia read the writing on the Mt. Lian contract. Finally, his gaze landed on Ye Jingzhi’s signature. He curiously asked, “Master Ye, why didn’t you finish writing your name?” Did something happen at that time, causing Master Ye to not have the time to even sign his name?

Ye Jingzhi was slightly stumped for words, dodging his gaze. After a moment, he said in a tiny voice, “……I thought you were in danger.”

Xi Jia didn’t hear it clearly all of a sudden, “What?”

Ye Jingzhi’s voice became even smaller, “I…..I thought you were in danger.”

Xi Jia frowned, “Master Ye, can you speak a little louder, I didn’t hear it clearly.”

Ye Jingzhi loudly said, “While I was signing the Mt. Lian contract with that old ghost, I suddenly sensed that you were in danger. So I dropped the contract and went back to save you. After settling that doppelgänger evil spirit, I temporarily forgot about this matter. And then going to Chang’an, I didn’t even think of this unsigned Mt. Lian contract.”

Xi Jia blushed all of a sudden.

What…what the hell!

How could it actually be to save him?

In order to save him, there’s not enough time to even sign a name?

Translator’s Addition:
Mirror: Wife is number 1! Wife is priority! *tosses everything else to the side*
C+: OMG, I’m the reason? *face reddens*

Translator’s Notes:
¹ The term used here is 大人 daren. It’s used to address someone superior with respect and is often translated as Sir/Madam. However, in this case it is plural. Sirs/Sires/Lords? But none are gender neutral. Does anybody know a gender neutral term for Sir/Madam? Also, all these “Sirs” in this chapter is referring to Celestial Masters. ↵