Chapter 14: Relative? Nemesis?

As soon as these words were spoken, the two ghost officials who had accompanied Zhou Mang visibly showed signs of anxiety. It was clear they too were reluctant to let Xu Ye join their banner.

“Sir, did Xu Ye ever tell you why he wanted to become a ghost official?” Zhou Mang did not refuse outright but instead turned the question back to Judge Wu.

“The Xu family has fallen, and he has a younger sister to care for. He simply wants to find a way to make a living.” Judge Wu truthfully relayed Xu Ye’s reasoning.

Zhou Mang was momentarily taken aback, then shook his head with a bitter smile. “He’s an interesting fellow. But I suppose he doesn’t know that ghost officials earn their bread with their lives.”

“Zhou Mang, will you take him or not? Give us a clear answer—don’t keep the judge waiting,” Sun Wuchang interjected, glancing at Zhou Mang in impatience.

“I’ll take him, sir. Anyone willing to stake his life for a meal is someone I, Zhou Mang, won’t turn away.” Zhou Mang agreed, his smile resolute.

“Then it’s settled.” Judge Wu nodded, casting a deep, inscrutable look at Zhou Mang before striding toward the carriage waiting at the yamen gate.

“Congratulations, Zhou Wuchang, on gaining another stalwart,” Sun Wuchang said, cupping his fists with a smile.

Zhou Mang turned to Sun Wuchang, a look of contempt flickering across his face, before turning away in silence. Unlike Sun Wuchang, Zhou Mang wore his likes and dislikes openly.

“When I become a judge, my first order will be to reassign you to the Ghost Gate in the western suburbs,” Sun Wuchang hissed, shooting Zhou Mang a venomous glare.

...

Half an hour later.

Fengtian Institute.

“Cough, cough... Wu Lie, what brings you here so suddenly today?” A scholarly man clad in a thick sable robe coughed violently, then placed a chess piece on the board without looking up, addressing the judge kneeling below.

“My lord Yan, by chance today I found a young man with the bearing of the Broken Sword.” As he spoke, Judge Wu raised a tray high with both hands. Resting upon it was the broken righteous sword.

At these words, a flash of silver lit the sickly man’s eyes, and he looked up at Judge Wu. “From which family?”

“He is Xu Ye, second son of the Xu family, the one that was slaughtered,” Judge Wu replied at once.

“So, the Xu family.” The man’s brows furrowed, then relaxed. “Great tribulation begets great courage; it’s not without precedent.”

“My lord, I’ve come to confirm once more: may we truly accept Xu Ye into the Ghost Suppression Bureau and let him walk the martial scholar’s path, igniting his martial courage? After all... the Academy has long sought a disciple with the Broken Sword’s bearing.” There was hesitation in Judge Wu’s words.

“The Broken Sword’s bearing is not the sole province of the literary path. Why should we yield him to them?” The sickly man sneered.

“With your word, my lord, I am reassured,” Judge Wu grinned.

“What reassures you?” The sickly man’s beautiful eyes suddenly fixed on Wu, smiling slyly.

“Why, I am reassured to bring one with the Broken Sword’s bearing under the command of the Ghost Suppression Bureau.” Judge Wu answered, puzzled.

Silver light suddenly flickered in the man’s eyes, like flames trailing from their corners. He smiled again at Judge Wu, asking, “I’ll ask you once more: what reassures you?”

“Reporting, my lord Yan: now that I know Xu Ye’s background is clean, I am at ease to bring him into the Bureau.” Judge Wu replied with utmost respect, his composure unchanged, as if this had been his answer all along.

“Go. Such minor matters need not be brought to me again.” The sickly man waved him off.

“Yes, sir!” Judge Wu bowed and left.

“If those old pedants at the Academy ever learn that the one they’ve sought for over a hundred years has become a ghost official in my bureau, they’ll be hopping mad.” Watching Judge Wu’s departing figure, the sickly man’s lips curled in a wry, mischievous smile.

...

Meanwhile, back to Xu Ye.

“Miss Buyu, sorry to keep you waiting.” Returning to the Mingzi Camp’s infirmary, Xu Ye immediately spotted Lin Buyu daydreaming beside the garden.

“Which of your eyes saw me waiting for you?” Lin Buyu pouted and shot him a glare.

“I’d say it’s probably this one.” Xu Ye grinned, pointing to his unbandaged eye.

“You seem awfully cheerful. Did you get some benefit from Commander Wu?” Lin Buyu changed the topic.

“In a way, yes—he agreed to let me serve at the Mingzi Camp,” Xu Ye replied.

Lin Buyu frowned at this. “It’s not a good job. The pay isn’t bad, but you’ll be dealing with spirits and ghosts all the time. Who knows when your luck will run out?”

“So long as the pay is good. My life’s worth little anyway,” Xu Ye said, unconcerned.

Lin Buyu’s face showed displeasure, but she didn’t argue.

“For healing that Wuchang and capturing Liu Laosan, your merits aren’t small. You can’t be granted rank, but any reward in money or goods will be yours in full. I won’t owe you a favor.” Lin Buyu paused, then added.

“Since you put it that way, I won’t refuse.” Xu Ye accepted without protest.

“Then come with me to the city infirmary. I’ll take you to see your sister.” Lin Buyu stood, brushing the dust from her clothes.

“Much appreciated.” Xu Ye beamed as he walked to stand beside her.

“By the way, there’s something I’ve always wanted to ask you, Miss Buyu.” As they walked toward the infirmary gate, Xu Ye turned to her.

“You have so many questions,” she muttered, frowning at him.

Xu Ye merely chuckled, unfazed by her look. “Miss Buyu, have you ever heard of the sun, moon, and stars?”

“Any literate person has, except for an ignoramus like you,” she replied without looking back.

“Then why is it that our world has no sun, no moon, no stars, and only sacred relics for light?” Xu Ye looked at her expectantly.

At this, Lin Buyu stopped in her tracks, giving him a ‘are you an idiot?’ look. “The sun, moon, and stars—like the Huaxia divine lands—are merely legendary things from the Six Classics. They wouldn’t appear in our world.”

With that, she quickened her pace, her hair swinging with each step, every strand spelling out her disdain for Xu Ye.

Xu Ye paid her disdain no mind; rather, her words had truly startled him. He thought in alarm, “Even in another world, how could there be no sun, moon, or stars? That’s not possible!”

He simply couldn’t imagine how a world without sun, moon, or stars could function.

“Hey, hurry up—the carriage is waiting at the gate,” Lin Buyu called, seeing Xu Ye lag behind.

“Coming, coming!” Xu Ye jogged after her.

“Miss Buyu, do you think our world might once have had stars and a sun and moon, but now they’re gone?”

“You’d have to ask the old scholars in the Tower of Ten Thousand Scrolls. I’ve never seen any mention of it in the books I’ve read.”

“But—”

“Xu Ye!”

Just as Xu Ye was about to press her further, an angry female voice rang out from the gate.

“Huh?” Xu Ye looked up, confused, and saw a fierce-looking woman standing at the infirmary entrance.

She wore her hair in a high ponytail, her figure tall and straight, dressed in men’s attire, exuding an air of martial valor.

“Is she... a relative? An enemy? A creditor?” A string of guesses and flashes of memory ran through Xu Ye’s mind, until finally, four words surfaced—

“Distant female cousin.”

As Xu Ye tried to confirm her identity, the woman strode up in a flash, raised her hand, and slapped him hard across the face, then shouted in furious anguish, “Why wasn’t it you who died?!”