Chapter 96

Chapter 96: Old Friends (Part 2)

Fengdu has always been a place with a sinister and deep landscape, filled with thick Yin energy, making it the capital of the ghost realm.

Here, during the Zhongyuan Festival, the effect is unparalleled—something that no other ancient capital in China can match.

—This is clearly stated in both the history textbooks and the Yin-Yang theory textbooks.

Mingyue recited the material fluently, looking at the familiar face of her older brother, smiling in the Yin-Yang path. She couldn't help but feel a thousand, ten thousand thanks to Fengdu in her heart.

Thank you to the impermanent gods.

Thank you to the righteousness of the underworld.

For giving me the chance to see my brother again.

Ming Erge's face was covered with tears, and seeing him, "Ming Ye" felt anxious but helpless. "Be good, sis."

"—Yueyue, don't cry."

"Today is supposed to be a happy day, right? Don’t cry."

"I'm bad with words, can't say anything else."

He looked at Mingyue pleadingly, with a gentle and playful expression. Mingyue, who had been used to seeing the Wheel King's icy face for years, couldn’t help but smile.

"That’s more like it."

Satisfied, her brother pulled Mingyue to sit on a stone in the forest.

Inside and outside the Yin-Yang path, there were still two different worlds, faint sounds of wind and thunder echoed in the ears. In the middle of the golden barrier, a faintly visible city shape appeared, with flying eaves and hanging bells.

"……"

Mingyue had her backpack beneath her, and she suddenly remembered the things she brought. She quickly pulled them out and showed them to her brother one by one. "Brother, look, I made these paper offerings."

"Clothes, paper money."

"Grains, livestock…" She placed small models of pig heads and beef in front of him, but she couldn’t hold back her tears again.

"Ming Ye" gazed gently at his blood-related sister.

"……"Mingyue sniffed, wiped her tears, and used a fire talisman to burn the paper offerings scattered across the ground. The flames quickly consumed the yellow and white paper, along with the words “Ming Ye” and “Ming Dinghai Couple” written on them.

“You even prepared for Dad’s,” Ming Ye said.

Mingyue nodded, feeling a sense of loss. “I originally thought Dad would also be in the Wangsui City.”

“How could that be? Silly.”

Ming Ye shook his head, smiling. His brows and eyes were clear and handsome, his aura open and carefree.

Mingyue looked at him timidly, feeling both a sense of nostalgia and heartache.

This was the older brother she had known when she was young—bright, playful, and smart. He had a weak body but a sharp mind, never forgetful. He wasn’t the so-called useless person that people spoke of. If you really thought about it, now, at twenty years old, Mingyue had already grown older than “Ming Ye,” and her older brother would forever be sixteen.

Yes, Mingyue thought.

He is “my older brother.”

But now, I am older than him.

It should be my turn to take care of him.

Thinking of this, tears once again welled up in Mingyue's eyes.

As the flames burned, the paper offerings were quickly “touched” by Ming Ye. He fiddled with the little piglet. “Dad wasn’t a wrongful death. Wangsui City wouldn’t take him in.”

“Besides, when I died, Dad was buried with me. The Wheel King took such a huge advantage from our family; how could he let Dad's soul linger in the underworld?”

“You’re asking for it.”

“It’s better to reincarnate sooner rather than later.”

“No matter how long the underworld’s hands are, as long as the soul is reincarnated and goes to the surface, they won’t be able to control it.”

At this point, Ming Ye turned to look at Mingyue. He blinked, his eyes similar to hers but with sharper contours. “Yueyue, how much do you know?”

“Oh no, why are you crying again?”

“Here, have the piglet. Don’t cry anymore.” After saying this, he handed the virtual piglet to Mingyue.

Mingyue couldn't hold back her tears. She sniffled and said, “You said it yourself. I came here to burn paper for you, so how much do you think I know?”“Ming Ye” looked up at the vast and distant Yin-Yang Path, the two barriers parting as the “Heaven and Earth Opened.” He thought to himself that she was indeed not wrong. “Alright, I won’t introduce the background.”

Saying this, he reached out and pinched his sister’s chubby little face, comforting and yet jealous as he spoke, “You’re eating well, it seems the King of Hell has been feeding you nicely. Now I can rest assured.”

Mingyue's eyelashes trembled. “Brother, do you know he is the King of Hell?”

Do you know? The one who drinks your blood, eats your flesh, takes your body, and makes your soul die young, wrongfully?

Aren’t you resentful?

“Ming Ye” chuckled, his youthful face breaking into a smile, the angle of his jaw still retaining the rounded curve of his ungrown youth.

“Why wouldn’t I know?”

“I’ve shared a body with him for sixteen years.”

“Compared to how much I know about the Wheel King, even Dad can’t match me.”

Mingyue bit her lip, remaining silent, the little tuft of hair on her head swaying in the night wind, much like her conflicting and solitary feelings at that moment.

“Ming Ye” thought for a moment, then added some details about their father’s whereabouts.

“Don’t worry about Dad. Even when the Wheel King was expelled from the underworld, reincarnation was still his territory, a place where his influence could reach. Sending Dad to reincarnate sooner was actually for his own good.”

“If he followed the normal underworld process, he wouldn’t have gotten past King Qin Guang’s domain.”

“Sis, think about it, what did Dad do? He dug up a King of Hell during the underworld’s internal strife, and after he died, going down to the underworld, what do you think would happen?”

“You can open the Yin-Yang Path, so you must have entered the Ghost-Slaying Institute. Think about it—what kinds of tortures are described on the eighteen levels of hell in the textbooks?”

“Even though people like Judge Cui, Bai Wuchang, and the others are all the Wheel King’s confidants, they couldn’t protect Dad.”

“So, reincarnating sooner is a good thing.”

Mingyue gave a soft, bitter laugh. “Brother, why are you still speaking for him?”

“Who?”

“The Wheel King?”

Ming Ye laughed.

Mingyue didn’t respond.

In the darkness, she nodded imperceptibly.“Ming Ye” remained silent for a moment.

“If I said I didn’t resent it at all, that would be lying to both people and ghosts.”

“However, seeing that you’ve been well taken care of, I can rest easy.”

“There’s always a trade-off, I suppose.”

Mingyue’s eyes turned red. “What trade-off?”

“All my family is dead. What have I gained?”

It’s been so many years.

What have I gained?

Why did all of you die, leaving only me behind?

Wouldn’t it be more carefree to just leave me as the only big ghost?

Mingyue couldn’t understand.

Her brother lowered his head and gently patted his sister’s head. It wasn’t hard, but it made Mingyue’s tears flow even more.

“You’re still the same as when you were little, stubborn with your thoughts but soft-hearted, always overthinking.”

“Things like cause and effect can’t be changed by human strength.”

“I know, you’re upset for me, and you blame our father.”

“However, the ship has sailed. The course of events, or the heavy responsibilities that have arrived, won’t change because of your suffering or exhaustion.”

“Ming Ye” wiped away his sister’s tears, “Just think of it as the price we, the Ming family, have to pay to rise again.”

“You’ve worked hard, Yueyue.”

Mingyue’s face was red from crying. Her tears flowed in streams, soaking her collar and wetting the fabric. She could hardly catch her breath as she spoke:

“Who cares about some big responsibility…”

“You all are dead…”“Only me left…”

The ghostly figure shed blood tears, and “Ming Ye” felt his sister wipe away the blood-red tears from his face, smiling faintly:

“You were always an unexpected part of the plan.”

“Father tied the whole family to the grand cause of Yin and Yang, and mother, to ensure the Ming family’s legacy, gave birth to you.”

At the time, looking at the little girl in the swaddling clothes, who resembled a small red monkey, “Ming Ye” couldn’t express how much he liked her.

Gender didn’t matter.

What mattered was, I have a little sister now.

The young brother clenched his fist.

Mingyue: “…”

Mingyue stared at her brother in disbelief.

“What?!”

“Was father planning on cutting off our line completely? Does he want to die?!”

Ming Er Ge immediately sprang to life, looking like he was about to explode.

Being angry was better than crying.

“Ming Ye” sighed deeply in his heart.

“The situation with the internal chaos in the underworld far exceeded what father had anticipated.”

“The Jun family, the Zhao family… the uncles and elders who fought together with us became distant.”

“Father was determined to die.”

“Our family had already become the smallest impact zone.”

Mingyue stared at her brother. “What do you mean?”

“Ming Ye” laughed softly, his young face showing wisdom and calm beyond his years. “I’ll say this only once, Yueyue.”“Can’t be sure, I also heard this from others.”

“Back then, there were definitely others who helped save the Wheel King, not just Father, and not just our Ming family.”

“Each family contributed their skills, but the underworld isn’t the realm of the living… It’s completely normal that there were limitations.”

“Grandfather’s family gave the entire Li family a wish symbol formed with their collective will. This symbol has been passed down through three generations.”

“One wish per generation, and it’s supposed to come true.”

Mingyue fumbled with her words. “I... I know about the curse of the wish symbol, Father borrowed and didn’t repay.”

“What... what wish did he make?”

“Ming Ye” ruffled his sister’s hair, which was messed up by the strong wind, “Guess.”

Mingyue, honestly, began guessing. “It must have been a wish to help the Wheel King cross over successfully.”

“Ming Ye” nodded.

Mingyue hesitated, then whispered, “Maybe he wished for Mother to have a smooth delivery...?”

“Ming Ye”: “There’s a slight difference, but it’s pretty close.”

Mingyue struggled for a while. “I can’t guess anymore.”

“Ming Ye” smiled, a hint of the youthful brilliance of Ming Dinghai showing in his expression.

“Come, come, come, I’ll say it only once.”

“This is something I heard when I was chatting with the Wheel King back then—yes, we were sharing a body at the time, and we’d chat sometimes, hahaha.”

“The first wish, Father hoped the Wheel King would successfully cross over—he didn’t specify the method, just wished for the general direction.”

“The second wish, Father hoped for a smooth birth, with both mother and child safe.”

“The third wish, Father hoped that the Reincarnation Pool would be intact.”

He paused for a moment, then “Ming Ye” put his arm around Mingyue’s shoulder, their heads gently leaning against each other. The ghostly body was cold, but Mingyue didn’t shy away even as she trembled from the cold.

“Little sister, think carefully.”“Do these three wishes have any loopholes?”

“They overlap, but at the time, Father was desperate and didn’t account for the power of the impermanence of Heaven. Playing with the lives of mortals was simply too easy.”

Mingyue’s face turned pale; she didn’t want to voice the possibility.

“Ming Ye” smiled, “What are you afraid of?”

“I’m already dead, and you’re still afraid to talk about things that have already happened?”

Her heart felt like it was thrown into the Arctic and sealed for ten years. Mingyue heard her own voice respond:

“Y-yes, that’s right.”

“The method of fulfilling the first wish, and the process of realizing the second wish—overlapped.”

“To make a King of Hell who has been in the underworld for millions of years escape, the best way is to be born into the human world, enter reincarnation, and completely free oneself from the control of the dark earth, coming to the light.”

“So where would he be born?”

“Exactly where the second wish came in.”

“Father was a famous ghost-slaying master in China, well-versed in yin and yang, so being the guardian of the King of Hell was the perfect role for him.”

“Ming Ye” nodded, “Correct answer.”

“My little sister is so smart.”

Mingyue, with her red eyes, stared at her teasing brother like a rabbit.

“So, Father didn’t intentionally let you…” Let you take the place of the Wheel King, did he? Mingyue asked.

“Yeah.” “Ming Ye” sighed, “But what can we do? The wish symbol’s wish must come true.”

“Father realized too late…”

No, that wasn’t right.

What kind of expansion influence is this?

What does “sacrificing our whole family was the least impactful method” even mean?

Mingyue thought about what her brother had said earlier."What about the third wish?" she asked, her tears not affecting her train of thought.

"The Reincarnation Pool was already intact, why would there be a need to make a wish?"

"Ming Ye" curved his lips into a smile, a trace of coldness in his expression. For a moment, it resembled the face of the Wheel King from over a decade ago:

"Sis, think carefully."

"How could the Reincarnation Pool possibly swallow a soul like the King of Hell's?"

"It is the Wheel King's accompanying artifact. How could a house dog ever eat its master's food?"