Chapter 231: Fate Entwined
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation.
“My lady…”
“It is I, the one who meets you every night…”
“Each evening, I visit you in your dreams. Do you miss me? Why did you not come sooner?” The man’s low laughter echoed as the wind swirled the snow around Wen Ning’s feet.
Wen Ning was terrified to her core.
The Sunshine Sword shrank into a small blade, perfectly fitting Lu Chao Chao’s height.
Clutching the sword, Lu Chao Chao slowly walked toward a grave mound.
What a coincidence.
The last time she ran away from home, wasn’t this the very grave she had slept on?
“Chao Chao, come back this instant!” Wen Ning’s heart nearly stopped as she saw the little one climb onto the grave.
Lu Chao Chao waved her hand dismissively.
“Why are you haunting my sister?” she asked crisply.
The little figure stood atop the mound.
“Ah! Chao Chao, he’s right behind you!!” Wen Ning shrieked in terror, nearly fainting, pointing at the figure looming behind Lu Chao Chao.
The man’s hair was disheveled, his head hung low, and his arms dangled lifelessly as he stood by the grave.
His garments were drenched, water pooling at his feet.
Drip. Drip. Droplets fell from his body.
“A drowned ghost?” Lu Chao Chao murmured.
“She and I are bound by fate. She is my chosen wife—none shall take her from me!”
“Without a substitute, I cannot reincarnate. What is wrong with finding a wife to accompany me?”
“She accepted my betrothal gift, and so she is mine… Heh heh heh…” The man lifted his face, revealing a complexion mottled with corpse spots. A massive red birthmark marred his skin.
The maidservant witnessing this collapsed in a dead faint, falling into the snow.
Wen Ning trembled violently, yet she still stood protectively before Chao Chao.
“Chao Chao, you must leave now!”
Lu Chao Chao held onto her small sword, her expression calm.
“Just two paper figures?”
“You’re penniless!” Lu Chao Chao looked utterly shocked.
She pulled out paper figures from her sleeve and tossed them at the ghost’s feet. The moment they landed, they ignited into flames without any spark.
The wandering spirit screamed in agony as the flames touched him, his expression contorted with fear.
“Mortal fire should not harm me!” The ghost clutched his feet, wailing in pain. His very soul was burning.
“It’s the Power of Merits! You carry the Golden Light of Merits!” When her aura was repressed, it was almost undetectable.
But now, the wandering spirit recoiled in sheer terror.
“Why, why?! I cannot find a scapegoat, I only wish for a woman to accompany me—why must I suffer?!”
“Marquis Zhongyong, Marquis Zhongyong, you shall die a wretched death!!” The ghost’s eyes turned blood-red, on the verge of transforming into a vengeful specter.
Lu Chao Chao paused.
“Who did you say? You know Lu Yuan Ze?” Just as she was about to unsheathe the Sunshine Sword, her hand halted mid-motion.
The ghost let out a chilling wail. “If not for him, would I have ended up like this?!”
“Damnable Marquis Zhongyong!”
“He held beauty in his arms and wedded a noblewoman, yet he drowned me in the moat. I refuse to accept this fate! I refuse!” The ghost’s aura darkened, the resentment thickening as he lost all reason.
Lu Chao Chao did not draw her sword. Instead, she struck his soul with the Sunshine Sword’s scabbard.
Puff…
The fragile soul wavered, nearly scattering into nothingness.
Almost dissipating on the spot.
Instantly, the ghost regained clarity.
He dropped to his knees, no longer bearing the arrogance from moments before.
“You know Lu Yuan Ze?” Lu Chao Chao’s patience was running thin.
Wen Ning looked between Lu Chao Chao and the subdued ghost.
Good heavens, at this moment, Chao Chao’s aura is heavier than the ghost’s…
It was hard to tell who was more terrifying.
Tears of blood streamed from the ghost’s eyes. “Lu Yuan Ze of the Marquis Zhongyong’s Manor—I would recognize him even if he turned to ashes!”
“Years ago, he set his sights on Miss Xu and ordered me to disguise myself as a bandit to attack her carriage. He played the hero, taking a stab for her, forging a perfect romance.”
“He promised me a thousand taels of silver, so I could leave the capital forever.”
“But instead, he slaughtered all my brothers. I fled beyond the city, yet in the end, I could not escape…”
“Before I was even dead, he drowned me in the river, turning me into a water ghost haunting the moat.”
“Only by finding a substitute could I reincarnate.”
“Lu Yuan Ze, I will haunt him even in death!”
“But ever since he married Madam Xu, his fortune soared. I could never approach him. I hate it… He is a deceiver, yet the heavens protect him!”
“Only after his divorce last year did I finally draw near.”
“But the city is filled with an overwhelming power—I dared not reveal myself.” And so, he latched onto Wen Ning.
Wen Ning’s birth chart aligned with his, allowing him to enter her dreams.
Lu Chao Chao glanced at the Sunshine Sword. Just as expected…
The Sunshine Sword subdued all malevolent spirits.
“Please, have mercy, child. Spare me, I will never do it again!” The ghost looked at the small sword in terror. The Sunshine Sword was indeed the bane of evil spirits.
Wen Ning pressed her lips together, realization dawning upon her.
“Chao Chao, my aunt was deceived all her life. He was an accomplice—he cannot be spared!” Wen Ning glared at the ghost with deep hatred.
The ghost trembled. “You are…?”
Lu Chao Chao’s lips curled into a cruel smile. “The daughter of Madam Xu.”
The ghost instantly dissolved into black smoke, attempting to flee, but Lu Chao Chao unsheathed the Sunshine Sword. Though short, it plunged straight into the grave.
“AHHH!!!”
A piercing scream filled the night.
With a simple swing, the Sunshine Sword split the grave mound in half.
Revealing the bleached bones within.
His skeleton had been uncovered years ago when the river was dredged.
Otherwise, he would have still been submerged in the icy moat.
“Do you feel no remorse for what you did to my mother?” Lu Chao Chao’s fury erupted.
“Go to her and repent!”
She took a Jade Bottle from her pendant. Within it, a faint blaze flickered.
The moment the spirit was sealed inside, she snapped the lid shut.
Silencing his wails.
This fire would burn for a thousand years—it was the flame Lu Chao Chao had once used in alchemy.
Wen Ning carried the unconscious maid, while Lu Chao Chao silently climbed into the carriage.
The little one felt heartache for her mother.
“Chao Chao, thank you. Without you, I wouldn’t have known what to do…” Wen Ning shuddered at the thought. She had been so foolish to seek out the man from her dreams.
“I promised Second Brother to take care of you.”
“Sister Ning, my Second Brother is earning military merits for you!”
“He said he will return in glory and wed Sister Ning properly.”
Wen Ning held Chao Chao close, her voice gentle. “I know, I know.”
She walked Chao Chao to the gate. “I am too disheveled to visit Aunt Xu tonight. I will come tomorrow.” Snow and wind had soaked her garments.
Lu Chao Chao nodded, then ran toward the main courtyard, clutching the Jade Bottle.
Madam Xu was lighting incense for the Bodhisattva.
Praying for Lu Yan Shu’s success in the imperial exams, praying for Lu Zheng Yue’s safety and health…
“Chao Chao, you skipped school again!” Madam Xu turned, her eyes narrowing at her daughter’s filthy appearance.
“Did not! Told the teacher I was taking a leave!” The little one argued righteously.
“That’s not asking for leave. That’s just informing him!” Madam Xu huffed in exasperation.
Lu Chao Chao blinked innocently, then carefully eyed her mother.
“Mother, do you remember how you first met that scoundrel father of mine?”
Madam Xu glanced at her. “Why do you ask?”