Chapter Fifty-Seven: The Shadow Army Borrows the Road

“I think I just saw my grandfather,” I said, gazing toward the edge of the cliff.

As soon as I spoke, Weiyang turned her head, looking in the same direction. She didn’t seem to notice anything, but still replied, “Alright, I’ll go with you to take another look by the cliff.”

I stared at the precipice, trying to confirm if that figure truly existed. Yet, when I fixed my gaze directly on that spot, the dark silhouette was nowhere to be seen.

“Weiyang, never mind. I must have been seeing things,” I said, thinking to myself that my grief over Grandfather’s passing had clouded my mind, and perhaps I was simply missing him too much.

“Come on, let’s check again just to be sure,” she insisted.

I nodded, and together we returned to the bluff’s edge.

The mountain wind was sharp and biting; the summit remained empty and desolate, with no sign of the shadow I thought I’d glimpsed before.

It was indeed just my imagination.

“Let’s go, Weiyang.”

She murmured her assent, and together we left the cliff, making our way back to the Forest of Returning Secrets. In less than half a day, the forest had become thick with Red Spider Lilies, their blooms a sea of blood-red stretching endlessly, with no longer any corpses scattered about. Even so, the air still reeked heavily of blood.

Weiyang waved her hand, and the Red Spider Lilies parted, revealing a pebble path. We followed it, and as we neared the cottage, I felt as if something was following us. The sensation was stark, almost palpable—I could even feel it tugging at my sleeve.

I turned around immediately, but saw nothing.

The Forest of Returning Secrets had been a field of corpses; could it be that some lingering spirit was trailing me? After all, Weiyang had told me that those slain Daoists had not yet had their souls scattered; they would eventually cross into the underworld to be reborn, but until then, they wandered as ghosts.

Seeing me pause, Weiyang asked what was wrong.

I saw nothing, so I merely shook my head and said it was nothing.

We returned to the cottage. When Flower Girl saw us, she said, “Master, the inner room is ready.”

“You should rest as well,” Weiyang instructed her. She nodded and returned to her room. The cottage was small, so Niu Dahuang slept on a straw mat in the main hall, and Li Nanhua sat in meditation, silent and seemingly asleep.

After Flower Girl left, Weiyang started toward her room. Seeing that I didn’t move, she turned and asked, “Lin Yi, why are you just standing there?”

I hesitated. “Is there a mat? I’ll just sleep on the floor.”

“Have you forgotten? We are husband and wife,” Weiyang reminded me. She came over, linked her arm with mine, and together we entered her boudoir. That night, we lay together in the same bed, yet before we could exchange a word, we both drifted off to sleep.

In the night, I dreamt I was searching for a toilet. The urge woke me, so I got up to relieve myself. Weiyang was still sound asleep, and I crept out quietly, yet I still felt as though something was following me.

But every time I looked back, there was nothing.

“Who’s there?” I called.

There was no reply.

Just then, I heard hoofbeats in the distance. In the stillness of the night, the sound was sharp and jarring.

The thunder of hooves rumbled like muffled thunder. Circling around the back of the cottage, I followed the sound. What I saw made me freeze: at some unknown hour, an army of underworld soldiers had arrived at the Forest of Returning Secrets. These soldiers were different from the ones I’d seen before; in addition to bronze hooks and chains, they wore bronze armor, not the paper robes of before.

Whenever there is large-scale slaughter, such as war, underworld soldiers appear to collect the lost souls. The so-called “underworld soldiers borrowing the way” is to gather the souls left by conflict, since the regular reapers are far too few to handle such carnage and must rely on the underworld troops.

Yet, this often serves as a pretext for the underworld to meddle in the affairs of the living.

These underworld soldiers were clearly far stronger than the ones I’d seen before. Upon entering the forest, they began searching for wandering spirits. Most of these were Daoist ghosts, and upon seeing the underworld soldiers, they all rushed forward to complain, blaming those who killed them.

The leader of the underworld soldiers said, “No need to explain. We are here for two reasons: to escort you into the underworld, and to capture the remnants of those who practice the Ghost Way.”

“Sir, they haven’t left yet—they’re all gravely wounded, still hiding in the cottage!”

“That’s right, they’re all inside.”

The Daoist spirits pleaded, and the underworld leader immediately commanded, “Surround the cottage. Let no one escape. If any resist, execute them under the Black Kill Edict.”

Seeing the situation, I slipped back through the cottage’s rear entrance and woke Niu Dahuang and Daoist Li. Then I knocked on the doors of Weiyang and Flower Girl’s rooms.

They all woke quickly.

Weiyang and Flower Girl emerged. Weiyang glanced outside and said, “Back then, the underworld had a hand in this as well. Since they have come, we will kill them!”

Her eyes were red as she spoke.

But Daoist Li quickly intervened. “Miss Weiyang, we are all exhausted. If we fight again, I fear we cannot hold out.”

“Yes, Master, you are still badly injured—you mustn’t fight again!” Flower Girl added at once. I hadn’t realized Weiyang was so gravely hurt.

I looked at her. She said, “It’s just a minor wound, nothing serious.”

She paused, then added, “You all escape through the path behind the mountain. I’ll stay behind!”

“Master…”

“Say no more!” Weiyang clenched her fists, staring at the underworld soldiers outside.

“Weiyang, you promised you’d make it up to me. If you stay behind, who will be my wife in the future?” I countered.

She hadn’t expected this. She turned, frowning at me.

Niu Dahuang stepped up. “Miss Weiyang, don’t hesitate. Preserving our strength is what matters. Now that the boy is back, we have hope. There will be other chances to deal with those underworld scum, right?”

“That’s right, Miss Ye. There’s no need to rush things,” Li Nanhua agreed.

I went over and took Weiyang’s hand.

Her bloodshot eyes gradually returned to their original dark shade. She nodded slightly. “Very well, we’ll let them go this time.”

I nodded.

“You, go behind the cottage. The rest, flank from both sides. Let no one escape!” came the underworld soldiers’ shout from outside.

“Go!” Niu Dahuang urged.

We slipped out the backdoor. On my way out, I grabbed my conical hat. But as soon as we stepped outside, four underworld soldiers in bronze armor blocked our path, each astride tall paper horses.

“Sir, they’re all here!” one soldier cried to his commander. Yet before he could finish, his head tumbled to the ground. In that instant, Weiyang had formed a hand seal, and a red silk ribbon whipped like a scarlet blade, severing his head.

The red ribbon flashed like lightning. It was my first time witnessing Weiyang’s martial prowess—truly astonishing.

Compared to Weiyang’s swift attack, Flower Girl was even more direct. She charged, knocking a soldier from his horse. When he tried to fight back, she blew a breath at him and he collapsed. She inhaled deeply, and in a blink, he was reduced to a skeleton, which she kicked aside, the bones scattering.

Li Nanhua held a yellow talisman in each hand, each glowing purple. With a flick, the talismans flew out, knocking the remaining two soldiers to the ground.

“Go!” Li Nanhua urged.

We dashed into the woods behind the cottage. There was a narrow path, and we hurried on, deeper into the mountains of the Ancient Boundary Range. The underworld soldiers, though mounted, could not manage the rugged mountain trails. They pursued us, but could not catch up. At last, we shook them off.

Our only refuge now was the Mountain God Temple deep within the range. The temple was well-hidden, protected by a maze array my grandfather had set—an ideal place to hide.

Once we had our bearings, we hurried on.

When we arrived, I suddenly saw a black figure carrying a shoulder pole, inspecting a couplet carved on the rocks flanking the temple.

The Peddler—what was he doing here?

Niu Dahuang and I knew him, but Weiyang and the others did not.

As Weiyang prepared to ask, I stopped her, whispering, “He’s an underworld constable.”

The Peddler heard us and turned around, surprised to see me. Setting down his load, he said, “Young man, we meet again!”

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“I must say, you’re quite capable. Never mind that you tricked me into prison before. Now you’ve married a ghost bride, making a union of yin and yang—against the laws of the underworld. As for the others, I can overlook them and let them go, but you two, come with me!” the Peddler declared.