When they made their way to Man Zui's residence, the rain had eased. The sound of three people's shoes against the wet slippery path, as well as the occasional trickle of water from the roof eaves were what Xu Yejing focused her mind on.
A part of her was still feeling disconcerted; He Xiang's memories had now become hers as well. Recalling the memories of 'Ye Jing' she had obtained in the imperial palace vault, was it truly her own? Or just some ghost she had not met?
Darkness had set in; apart from the two guards still stationed outside the front gate, there was no one else in sight. In contrast to the noisy clamor earlier during the day, the residence currently felt much more despondent.
Only the sound of flowing water made its way to everyone's ears. Like a sigh of ten million unspoken grievances.
Xu Yejing walked past the front door and paused slightly under the beams, her fingers hung in mid-air, as though she was touching something invisible. Fu Yan and Fu Chun threw her a glance; the former did not say anything, but Fu Chun nodded in understanding, "What you've just felt is the barrier set up by Fu Yan. The fact you are able to feel it, it means your true essence has begun to stir."
She then whispered towards Fu Yan, "Pan Lang and He Zhanyi might have acted without orders, but Yejing's experience turned out to be a fortune. In that vault, some sort of trigger has awakened her core."
Fu Yan merely scoffed in response, thus Fu Chun tactfully said nothing further. As the three walked in, they found Man Zui sitting to the side of He Xiang's coffin. The tea on the table had long gone cold, but Xiao Yang was nowhere in sight.
Fu Chun set a few fire charms to light some lanterns; fire licking from behind the blurry glass cast creepy swaying shadows of people and furniture on the wall.
With a corpse inside the room, a normal person would be frightened and even expected some sort of horror occurrence. However, Xu Yejing knew more than anyone, He Xiang had never meant anyone harm in life, and would not in death as well.
"I thought about it again and again in my mind," Man Zui spoke without looking up, "I still cannot fathom, why would he harm He Xiang? He always said... he had a life debt... . Then, why did he harm He Xiang?"
Fu Yan took out his whip. It was no more than a baton at the moment; but Xu Yejing knew perfectly well, with an instill of its master's qi, the whip would immediately brighten even the darkest night.
"Duhan's Left General Man Ge-ershu," Fu Yan spoke, "You possess as much brain as you do martial arts. When you know the answer, perhaps the woman's soul can finally rest."
The three of them, followed by Man Zui, walked to a different courtyard. This separate small building housed the kitchen. From the fuzzy sensation Xu Yejing felt as she left the corpse room and into the kitchen, she knew she had entered another barrier-protected area.
In the kitchen, the pot on the stove still emanated faint smoke, but the fire underneath was already nothing more than dying embers. Xiao Yang sat calmly on a stool in a corner. From the strewn wood blocks, burnt objects on the floor, and cut impressions on the wall, one would know he had tried to escape earlier. A kitchen knife lied silently on his lap, probably the instrument he had used to cause those deep indentations on the door frames.
In fact, the kitchen door was always ajar. But without the barrier master's explicit consent, the one trapped within would not have a chance to get out. Of course, this would be useless if the person possessed higher cultivation than the barrier master.
While they were heading towards the kitchen, Xu Yejing heard the story from Fu Chun. Before fetching Xu Yejing in the nearby river, Fu Chun had told Man Zui that Xiao Yang was the main suspect, but had not said any explanation apart from the fact the tea served to them had been drugged with hallucinants. Before Man Zui could recover from his surprise and ask questions, Fu Yan had dragged Fu Chun away to wait for Xu Yejing by the riverside.
He merely set a barrier to trap Man Zui in the living room. Because Man Zui was not a cultivator, he would not be able to wander outside the living room by himself. This was in accordance to the Fu sibling's intent; they did not want to take any chance for Man Zui to seek answers or revenge on his own, especially when they had not yet had the chance to evaluate Xiao Yang's true ability.
Xiao Yang, on the other hand, had been trapped inside another barrier Fu Yan set around the kitchen's proximity.
Casting a glance at the burnt objects on the kitchen floor, even mortals could tell they were all sorts of talismans. Xiao Yang had probably used them to attempt to break through the barrier.
Xu Yejing stood behind Fu Yan and Fu Chun, the siblings' intention to protect her was apparent. Her uneasiness dispersed completely when Fu Chun said, "Just a petty trick. Don't worry, he's not a powerful cultivator."
A cultivator who could not break through the entrapment array; it was clear at least Fu Yan was much stronger than Xiao Yang was.
Man Zui clenched his fists and asked Xiao Yang directly, "Did you murder He Xiang?"
The usually honest-looking young man looked up, his gaze especially steady, not betraying any sign of his past humble and yielding demeanor.
Xiao Yang laughed, "I told you, didn't I? I have a life debt. General Man, did you really think you could kill thousands of people and live happily afterwards?" He spat hatefully, "I don't care what you want to do to me. Kill me if you want. You killed my sister three years ago. This is your comeuppance."
"Three years ago... ," Man Zui's face was blanched white, "You... ."
"A whore and a murderer. What a wholesome pair!" Xiao Yang laughed as he raised the knife to his throat. "Even to the day my soul disappear, I will never let you go!"
With a swift movement, Xiao Yang punctured his own neck with the blade. Even as the blood spurted everywhere, some splatter caused the dying embers to hiss, the smile did not leave Xiao Yang's face.
Fu Yan snorted and waved his hand, his whip glowing sparks of blue bolts. With a flick of his wrist, the bolts swayed towards a direction, as though finding its target.
Somewhere in the room, everyone could hear an inhuman scream. As the whip retracted back, the sparks dissipated, bringing the scream to silence.
"Just a petty trick, you think you can escape by splitting your soul again?" Fu Yan murmured.
Man Zui's face was still pale as he asked, "'splitting souls'? What do you mean?"
"A human being possesses three souls and seven spirits, collectively known as ten souls altogether(1)," Fu Chun clucked his tongue, "I'd never have guessed, someone in the lower realm would know the method to split their souls."
Xu Yejing suddenly gained an understanding, "Then, the Xiao Yang who had left with Laoban to the tavern, and the Xiao Yang who had appeared and ... killed He Xiang-jie in the river... they are both his souls?"
"Yes. I don't know if he had the ability to split more than two. I was not even sure if it was really a matter of splitting souls, or if he could procure a puppet," Fu Yan said, "I initially thought it was just a puppet. For someone in the lower realm to be able to split souls... ." His expression darkened, but he was no longer willing to finish his sentence.
"What's so dire about splitting souls?" Xu Yejing wondered.
Man Zui, "Then... Xiao Yang's soul... has it gone somewhere else?"
Fu Yan glanced at him, "Follow me."
They headed towards the main courtyard of the house, the same one which walls had been vandalized by chicken blood. The red smear on the walls were now faint, washed away by the earlier rain.
Upon Fu Yan's order, Fu Chun affixed a few talismans on various locations in the garden and made a series of movements with her sword. Then she returned by Fu Yan's side. Fu Yan nodded, "Not bad."
Fu Chun's face flushed slightly in delight.
Fu Yan then put his thumb and little finger together and brought it to his lips. As he blew, a pitch sound emanated. It was unlike anything else Xu Yejing had ever heard; the whistle was almost indiscernible to her ears, yet the pitch caused her own heart to stir, as though her very soul was ordered to succumb to the sound.
The two guards ran from outside the gate, their faces were pale as white sheet, "G-g-g-ghosts!!"
It was truly an eerie sight: a bluish flame slowly floated from a distance, followed by two more larger flames. The two flames were as though they were guarding the smaller one. As they came nearer, Xu Yejing widened her eyes. To the side of the smaller blue flame, was exactly the demon infant they had seen before. The deformed baby crawled on its four limbs, its head glancing upwards sometimes, as though communicating silently with the blue flame.
Even without knowing the real form, Xu Yejing immediately knew who the blue flame was.
With another pitched whistle from Fu Yan, the three floating flames and one demon infant made their way to the courtyard until they finally stood in the middle of the array Fu Chun had made earlier.
Fu Chun asked Xu Yejing, "Do you want to see?"
She nodded, before balking in horror. Fu Chun had cut herself with her blade, "Close your eyes."
As Xu Yejing did so, she felt a gentle touch of Fu Chun's fingers on her eyelid. Fu Chun had dabbed smear of her own blood on each of Xu Yejing's eyelid.
"You can open them now. For cultivators who have not yet gained the experience to see a soul's physical form, only the master of the 'Life and Death Link' array can bestow the gift of sight."
When she opened her eyes, Xu Yejing could precisely see the woman she had seen in the coffin, and in the river.
He Xiang was still wearing the same garment she wore when she died, even the bloodstain on her dress was there. She was as beautiful as she had been when she was living, but her complexion was paler than washed bone. With a soft pair of eyes filled with tender affection, she was looking at Man Zui.
Yet Man Zui could not see her.
"Chun-jie, can you do the same to Man Zui?" Xu Yejing asked.
Fu Chun shook her head, "Only someone who had awakened their synergy with the nature's qi could be bestowed this ability. Man Zui is a normal mortal. He can only see a soul orb."
But Man Zui seemed to already know who the small blue flame and the demon infant were. Tears poured down his face, until finally he buckled down to the ground and prostrated before the two, "I... am so sorry. I'm sorry."
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Notes:
(1) The belief is a person possesses three 'hun' - which is one's spiritual soul (yang aspect).
The seven 'po' form a person's physical soul (yin aspect).
Although sometimes they are referred as 'three souls and seven spirits', some literature (especially english ones) just refer them as 'ten souls'. The complexity is much more deeper than that, but I don't use them in this story. I just make up stuff from the concept.
http://daoistgate.com/understanding-the-human-soul/