After death, a person’s three souls each have their destined places to go.
Yet the human soul that should have remained here was gone, while the earth soul that should have entered the underworld still lingered in the world of the living. That was why that Daoist had told Qi Yi that her soul remained—because in a sense, it truly did.
But why had his master lied?
Mo Xuanli didn’t understand for the moment. Still, whatever his master said, he would follow along.
“Young Master Qi, we’re here to help. Once we ask you some questions, we’ll be going to Star-Stepping City to investigate. We hope you’ll cooperate as best you can.”
But Qi Yi had yet to recover. The servant, unable to bear it, said to them, “Honored Daoists, if you have questions, this humble one can help answer. If I can’t, then ask the young master. But in his state now, he may not be able to speak clearly.”
So the three avoided questioning the broken Qi Yi.
Mo Xuanli asked several key questions.
First: Did the two brides know each other, or did they share anything in common?
Second: Was the bride’s blood drained or did it simply flow out?
Third: Did the maid who went mad say anything?
Fourth: What did the bride’s family say?
The first two were easy to answer. Apart from both being from the same city, the brides had nothing in common—not even acquaintances. As for the second, the blood had flowed out. When the maid’s scream was heard, everyone saw the red of the wedding gown deepen, clearly dyed with blood. The coroner confirmed it was the full blood volume of one person.
As for the third and fourth, the servant could not say.
At that moment, after a long silence, Qi Yi suddenly spoke: “That maid said she was just chatting and laughing with Little Yan when she suddenly fell unconscious. When she woke, Little Yan was slumped at her side, unresponsive, and blood was already staining her neck, as though pierced by a sword… But the bridal sedan never stopped, and no one could have broken in. It must have been an evil spirit that harmed her.”
Qi Yi forced himself upright and said, “Whatever you wish to know, I can tell you everything. I can even take you to Little Yan’s home to investigate. But I have one condition: take me with you. If we find the culprit—even if it’s an evil spirit—let me personally avenge Little Yan.”
He had surely made this request of every Daoist who had come before, but none had agreed.
Gu Baiqing, however, looked into Qi Yi’s eyes—lifeless, like ashes—and said, “Fine. But you must obey our commands.”
Mo Xuanli was stunned; he hadn’t thought his master would involve a mortal.
But Qi Yi’s eyes instantly lit up, as if he had found the will to keep living.
In the end, Qi Yi hastily gathered his things to set out with Mo Xuanli and Gu Baiqing. His servants, unwilling to let him go alone, insisted on accompanying him. Along the way, one even rode back to inform Old Master Qi and Madam Qi.
So this time, with a Qi family servant driving the carriage, Qi Yi rode inside with them, explaining in detail.
“At that time, the maid was half-crazed already. She kept muttering that she had dreamt of a voice inside the bridal sedan saying: Since you want to die, I’ll help you.” Qi Yi’s voice broke with pain. “How could Little Yan ever want to die? How could she bear to… No, it must have been an evil spirit that killed her.”
Mo Xuanli frowned slightly, as if grasping something key. The maid’s progression—from clear recollection, to half-crazed, to utterly mad—was unnatural.
Either one is frightened into madness from the start, or one gradually recovers. But to worsen like this suggested some malignant influence was gnawing at her mind.
And since the blood had not been collected or used—just left to flow—it wasn’t some curse or sorcery. There truly had been a malevolent spirit that entered the bridal sedan, killed Little Yan, and took her soul away.
Qi Yi continued, “Actually, Little Yan’s parents never approved of our marriage. They were strongly against it, saying we must wait a few more years.”
“They disliked you?” Gu Baiqing asked curiously.
Qi Yi shook his head. “No, they said the fortune-teller warned that these years were inauspicious for marriage, with bloodshed fated. But I made a mistake.”
He slammed his fist against his head in remorse. “I got drunk and couldn’t restrain myself—I wronged Little Yan, and she became pregnant. Her family wanted her to hide it and abort the child, but she couldn’t bear to. She told me instead. With that, we had no choice but to marry. So Little Yan still entered the bridal sedan. Who would have thought the blood disaster would truly come? If only I had waited to marry… if only I hadn’t made that mistake… this is Heaven’s punishment upon me.”
After speaking, Qi Yi held his head and wept bitterly. Still drunk, he eventually cried himself to sleep.
“It seems this heart-knot won’t be so easily untied,” Gu Baiqing remarked.
Only then did Mo Xuanli finally ask the question on his mind: “Master, why did you say that just now… You must know Miss Little Yan’s soul…”
“If I told him, and gave him hope—then what?” Gu Baiqing asked back, uncharacteristically wistful. “We both know: if Little Yan’s soul lingers in the mortal world, it can’t be a good thing. She might be suffering, or forced, or on the verge of being scattered. None of the outcomes are good. And even in the best case, if we find her soul—what then? He won’t see her, he can’t touch her. It would only bring another layer of despair. Why bother? Better to let him think she has reincarnated peacefully. Isn’t that kinder? Better short pain than long. His parents are already in such a state. He should recover sooner rather than later.”
In truth, Gu Baiqing deeply disapproved of that earlier Daoist’s words. Not only Qi Yi—even cultivators cannot keep a spirit lingering, unless with vile arts of binding. What must go, must go. To tell him otherwise only leaves him crazed and unwilling to let go. What use is that?
Mo Xuanli gazed at Gu Baiqing in a daze.
No matter how cold and ruthless his master’s words, he could almost see the trace of tenderness lingering at the corner of his master’s eyes.
“Then bringing him along was…”
“Seeing how he later had that kind of relentless determination, I thought letting him take revenge himself might bring him greater release.”
Although the original text didn’t go into detail about why they brought Qi Yi along, in the end, Qi Yi did go on the journey with them.
Gu Baiqing thought, given how the original was someone strict with himself, he probably wouldn’t have easily dragged a mortal into a matter involving evil spirits—unless he held the same thought as he did now: that by involving Qi Yi, he could help, see things clearly sooner, and find release. That would count as a merit.
And now Gu Baiqing was even more inclined to do so, because he knew the ins and outs: it was actually a resentful spirit, unable to disperse, that had absorbed demonic energy and turned into a monster, causing constant harm. In the original, Mo Xuanli had already fallen into demonic cultivation, and catching a low-level monster was simple for him, so he resolved the issue quickly before heading to a wild spirit vein to look for spirit crystals.
Although the current Mo Xuanli wasn’t so useful, the method was essentially the same—lure the monster out and capture it.
The monster itself wasn’t that strong, so once subdued, letting Qi Yi take revenge would fulfill his wish.
The carriage swayed as it finally entered Star-Stepping City.
At the moment they passed through the city gate, a powerful pressure descended.
Mo Xuanli’s face suddenly darkened, forcing himself to adapt. It seemed this was the city-guarding formation of Star-Stepping City.
Star-Stepping City didn’t fall under the protection of any sect, and only the city lord’s line had access to cultivation. Under such circumstances, the city still remained safe because of a massive formation left behind by the ancestors. Any cultivator or monster entering the formation would be subject to a degree of suppression; the stronger one was, the greater the restraint.
It was like an ordinary person entering the city only to find twenty jin sandbags suddenly tied to his body. Meanwhile, the city lord’s bloodline was exempt, so even if his cultivation was average, as long as he was within the city, he could deal with opponents several levels stronger.
In the past, Star-Stepping City wasn’t without incidents, but they could usually resolve things themselves. Those with spiritual power found staying here uncomfortable, so whether good or bad, everyone avoided coming whenever possible.
“How does it feel?” Gu Baiqing asked from the side.
Mo Xuanli forced his eyes open, let out a breath, and stared blankly at Gu Baiqing for a moment before realizing—his master, who now had no spiritual power, was unaffected by this formation. And since Three Bean’s spiritual power was linked to his master, it was unaffected too, clinging worriedly at his side.
“Disciple is fine, just needs to adapt a little.” Mo Xuanli gave a faint smile. “Just now, disciple thought, if this formation exists, then the culprit is more likely to be local than an outsider.”
Gu Baiqing nodded. It seemed Mo Xuanli would soon uncover the truth.
They soon arrived at Little Yan’s home. Qi Yi was awake now but didn’t dare go in with them. Instead, he climbed a nearby tree and stared blankly toward the house. According to the servants, that direction was Little Yan’s boudoir. In the past, whenever Qi Yi followed his father into the city, he would always climb this tree to call Little Yan. Every time, it scared her half to death, but no matter how many times she scolded him, he never changed. When pressed, Qi Yi would say it was the fastest way to see her, otherwise he’d have to go all the way around to the front gate.
Each time, he’d call Little Yan from the tree, and then the two of them would run to the gate to meet as quickly as possible. He would bring her fruit wine from Qingshui Village, and Little Yan would prepare snacks from Star-Stepping City for him. No matter what the adults said, they always sat at the stone table in the courtyard, lost in their own little world.
Gu Baiqing and Mo Xuanli knocked at the door, which was answered by a young boy. Based on Qi Yi’s description, this should be Little Yan’s younger brother.
“Who are you looking for?”
Mo Xuanli stepped forward to explain their purpose. The boy immediately frowned. “Why are you here again? Brother-in-law really can’t let it go. It’s not like that at all—better wait for the city lord to handle it.”
From the way he blocked the doorway, it was clear he didn’t want to let them in.
“Not like that? Then does this young brother know the truth?” Mo Xuanli asked.
“The bride’s curse. There’s no murderer.” The boy was saying this when a voice from inside called him, and an older woman came out.
“Eh? Did that child Qi Yi send you again? We no longer blame him for dragging Little Yan down. Can’t he just let the child rest in peace?” The woman looked as if she were still sunk deep in the grief of losing her daughter.
“Young Master Qi only hopes his wife can rest in peace,” Mo Xuanli said seriously.
“Rest in peace… ha. Then why didn’t he listen to us back then, just wait a few more years? We told them not to marry in these years.” The woman grew emotional, but finally, sorrow overcame her. “It’s our fault too. We thought her pregnancy would change her fate. Who knew… we wronged her.”
As the woman broke into tears, the boy hurried to comfort her.
“Why the need to wait a few years? Who told you that?” Mo Xuanli pressed, frowning. “Does this have something to do with the ‘bride’s curse’ you mentioned?”
But as soon as he asked, the woman looked stricken, as though about to faint.
Mo Xuanli wanted to question further, but the woman only said, “You outsiders wouldn’t understand. Please leave. Star-Stepping City’s affairs will be handled by ourselves.”
With that, she shut the door firmly, unwilling to say more.
Mo Xuanli and Gu Baiqing returned to the carriage, where Qi Yi climbed down to ask what had happened.
“Bride’s curse?” Qi Yi froze for a moment when asked.
“You’ve never heard of it?” Mo Xuanli asked curiously. “I think the fortune-telling talk about not marrying in recent years was just what the family told outsiders. Little Yan and the girl who married before her both had accidents—most likely caused by this so-called bride’s curse.”
Of course, what commoners called a curse was different from the curse arts known to cultivators. Folk beliefs leaned more toward retribution; the culprit was likely an evil spirit directly killing people.
“I… I’ve never heard of it. I always thought Little Yan’s worries before marriage were because of the fortune-telling. But she said since she was pregnant, it should be fine, so she still went through with it.” Qi Yi stammered, then suddenly paused. “I don’t know if it’s related, but… not only the two girls who married into our Qingshui Village—some years back, when I came to Star-Stepping City, I also heard of bride deaths. But it wasn’t that frequent, and the news never spread widely.”
For someone to die once a year was not such a big deal. Besides, in ancient times, most marriages were arranged by parents; many women were unwilling to marry, and those who couldn’t take it anymore were not rare cases either. What’s more, death itself was already an ill matter, so the exact circumstances of the death were things outsiders would never know.
Qi Yi had never even thought of linking it to any kind of curse.
“Looks like we’ll have to change places to investigate.”
Since Qi Yi didn’t know the details, the only choice was to ask the locals. So they turned toward the liveliest tavern in Star-Stepping City.
Once seated in the tavern, Qi Yi grew impatient. He immediately grabbed a waiter and asked if he knew anything about the bride’s curse. Neither Mo Xuanli nor Gu Baiqing had expected the boy to be so restless, but they let him ask anyway. Sure enough, the waiter’s expression changed slightly, then he shook his head and laughed:
“Guests must be from out of town, right? Did you hear some kids’ nonsense? Just because a few brides happened to die unfortunately, rumors started spreading. There’s no such thing. To be honest, several Daoists have come here before, but none of them ever found any curse. It’s all fake.”
After saying that, the waiter left with a smile.
Qi Yi grumbled impatiently, “Why don’t we just go ask the city lord directly? The city lord is very approachable; he’ll definitely know about this bride’s curse.”
Mo Xuanli and Gu Baiqing exchanged a look, then both shook their heads at him.
Mo Xuanli said, “Little Yan’s younger brother already said to leave it to the city lord. That means the city lord is probably already investigating this matter. Unless he himself calls on Daoists for help, our interference will only cause resentment. If we’re not driven out of the city, we’d already be lucky.”
“That makes sense.” Qi Yi nodded dazedly. “Then I’ll go sit downstairs. That way, I’ll have more chances to overhear things from both floors.”
As Qi Yi went downstairs, Mo Xuanli turned back and saw Gu Baiqing watching him.
Mo Xuanli looked embarrassed. “Master, I…”
“You weren’t telling the truth just now, were you?” Gu Baiqing said.
Mo Xuanli nodded and explained: the reason they wouldn’t go to the city lord came down to a few points. First, indeed, to avoid conflict. Second, since the city lord was himself a cultivator, he would definitely suspect they entered the city with the excuse of investigating but with the real aim of targeting the spiritual vein. Third, Mo Xuanli felt that even if they did go, the chance the city lord would tell them the truth was slim.
If there really was a bride’s curse, why would the city lord allow marriages to go on? And as a cultivator himself, why would it take him years just to deal with a single evil spirit? It didn’t add up. So, for the moment, Mo Xuanli felt it best not to seek him out.
In truth, this was unjust to the city lord—but Gu Baiqing could not spoil the story. He could not possibly know more than Mo Xuanli, so he kept silent. After all, the city lord’s help was not necessary anyway.
Seeing his master’s silence, Mo Xuanli thought Gu Baiqing found the matter troublesome.
“There is actually a simpler solution,” Mo Xuanli said earnestly, “but with so little information now, I’m afraid of drawing the wrong conclusion and wasting our efforts, even alerting the culprit.”
As he spoke, Gu Baiqing suddenly remembered something, his face turning slightly awkward. “Then let’s just take it slow.”
But Three Bean couldn’t hold back his curiosity and whispered, “Xuanli, quickly, what solution?”
Mo Xuanli lowered his head and smiled. “Actually, if we just hold another wedding procession, the evil spirit will show up. Then we can capture it directly, without needing to dig through all these complicated details. Whatever secrets this city has, they don’t concern us.”
Three Bean’s eyes lit up instantly. “Xuanli, you’re so clever! That really is a once-and-for-all solution. Let’s do it quickly, then we can move on to our real business.”
Ever since entering Star-Stepping City, Three Bean had been restless. The spiritual vein, full of aura, was nearby, and he wanted to experience that bliss as soon as possible.
Gu Baiqing’s temples were already throbbing. Just as he was about to change the subject, he heard Three Bean say: “So, who will play the bride and groom? Are you two going to do it?”
Mo Xuanli froze. He hadn’t thought of that. Right—who would play them? Surely they couldn’t let ordinary mortals take the risk.
But his master had no spiritual power… among the two roles, the most dangerous was the bride. Should he play that role himself? Then… his master would be the groom?
Mo Xuanli’s gaze instinctively fell on Gu Baiqing.
Gu Baiqing’s face stiffened, his mind filled with the original storyline.
Heh. Of course. Just as expected. In the original text, Mo Xuanli was the groom, his master the bride. Killing monsters was only incidental—what it really staged was Mo Xuanli marrying his master. After catching the evil spirit, he didn’t even bother to slay it before dragging his master straight into the bridal chamber, claiming his poison had flared up, leaving his master no time even to remove the wedding robes.
All of it—just a setup, a setup!
Though things couldn’t possibly play out the same way now, to make him play the bride, to follow the same ambiguous routine, to forcibly pair him with his disciple…
Gu Baiqing could only think: Over my dead body.
He was just about to find an excuse to abandon the fake-wedding plan and slowly investigate instead, when exclamations rose around them.
“Heavens, reckless! Someone really dares to hold a wedding here?”
“Yes, it’s happening three days from now! The wedding shops are all in a frenzy—apparently the couple paid generously for a rush arrangement. And both bride and groom seem to be from out of town, probably unaware of the situation.”
“Maybe it’s a runaway couple who came here to marry. I wonder if the city lord will step in to stop it.”
“Even if he’s the city lord, he can’t forbid people from marrying. At most he’ll send someone to warn them. But since they’ve already picked the date, and it’s so soon, they likely won’t change it.”
Mo Xuanli listened, murmuring, “This is an opportunity…”
But Gu Baiqing felt uneasy. No, something was wrong. In the original text, no one got married before Mo Xuanli resolved the case. This plot was not unfolding as it should.
