The atmosphere in the room turned stifling in an instant.
Lu You studied him, puzzled, and answered, “A human.”
He Zhuchun’s grin widened. “Correct! How impressive.”
Lu You took the phone back from his hand.
He Zhuchun clicked his tongue, looking disgruntled. “And here I thought I could scare you. Even after Yang Yun told you I was off, you’re not scared of me at all.”
“If something were wrong with you,” Lu You said flatly, “the one who should be afraid wouldn’t be me.”
He Zhuchun considered Lu You’s abilities for a moment and clicked his tongue again. “Fair point, actually.”
Lu You opened his phone to check whether Yang Yun had sent anything else—the call had been cut off so abruptly, and he didn’t know if she’d worry. He asked He Zhuchun, “You heard everything she said just now?”
“I did,” He Zhuchun answered honestly. “Have I never told you? My Seven Apertures are unusually sharp. Never mind here—even if you’d gone outside the main door to take that call, I’d have heard every word.”
Lu You lifted his eyes from the phone, amber pupils studying his face for a good while, and said, with something pointed beneath it, “Indeed.”
He Zhuchun squirmed under the gaze and touched his own cheek. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Presumably worried something unusual had happened on Lu You’s end, Yang Yun didn’t dare send a single message—she was probably already tearing around her home in an agony of not knowing what to do.
Lu You didn’t answer. Right in front of He Zhuchun, he dialed her back.
He Zhuchun, seeing this, asked, “Want me to step away?”
“No need,” said Lu You.
The ringtone sounded twice before the call connected. Yang Yun didn’t speak first, waiting quietly for Lu You.
Lu You gave a “Hello.”
Yang Yun let out a long breath of relief. “Lu You, are you all right? Why did the call cut off just now? Is He Zhuchun next to you, or someone else? You’re not hurt, are you?”
“I’m not. Not hurt,” Lu You said.
Yang Yun was worried sick. “I just sent Xiaopao over to check on you. Did you see him?”
At that, Lu You felt something stir. He walked to the window and pulled the curtain aside—sure enough, a little weasel was crouched at the sill, gnawing its paws, waiting for the window to open.
Lu You let Huang Xiaopao in. “I did. It was crouched right outside the window.”
Yang Yun relaxed completely. “As long as you’re both fine.”
Lu You looked at the little weasel and asked her, “What did you even send Xiaopao over for? With that attack power, isn’t it just feeding the enemy kills?”
Yang Yun giggled. “It’s the fastest on its feet. If anything’s wrong, it can call for backup in time.”
Lu You was speechless for a moment.
“What just happened?” she asked again.
“He Zhuchun heard everything we discussed. He hung up the call.”
He Zhuchun blinked, not expecting Lu You to sell him out so casually.
Yang Yun demanded, “Didn’t I tell you to keep your distance from him!”
“I hid. Didn’t manage to hide,” said Lu You.
Yang Yun was silent a moment. “Fine. Heard is heard. If he actually tries anything, just beat him to death on the spot.”
“Okay,” said Lu You.
“…Hello? You two, I’m still right here. Could you maybe have this conversation behind my back?”
“He Zhuchun, good that you heard. I have some questions for you.”
The call was switched to speaker, and Yang Yun’s voice came through clearly: “Tell Sister the truth. Are you actually human?”
He Zhuchun took the phone from Lu You’s hand, helpless. “I’m human. If not human, what else would I be?”
“Then why did I see your name when I went down below to look into matters of the dead?”
“I don’t know,” He Zhuchun answered truthfully.
He paused, his tone faintly helpless. “But I’m fairly sure I’ve never died.”
Lu You added, “He doesn’t register as a Yin Entity. I’ve performed Evil Exorcism on him, and he’s touched my Talismans—nothing happened either time.”
“Now that’s strange.”
Yang Yun had known Lu You for years; she knew perfectly well what his Talismans and Ritual Services could do. Never mind ordinary Ghosts and Monsters—even a creature with some Dao Attainment would be left rolling in agony after touching one. She murmured, “Then where exactly is the problem?”
“If we can’t puzzle it out, set it aside for now,” Lu You said. “Anything else you turned up?”
“Oh right, one more thing. Yesterday I took Liu Yingying home and examined her inside and out. Remember the scent on her you mentioned to me before?”
“I remember.”
“Liu Yingying doesn’t just carry the incense targeting Li Jiayuan for the soul swap,” Yang Yun said. “There’s another kind.”
Her distinctive voice crackled through the static into their ears: “That one is potent—it governs Soul Division.”
Both He Zhuchun and Lu You startled.
“And since that incense is linked to the Little Ghost on Liu Yingying, we can reasonably conclude: the incense is the key ingredient in the Little Ghost impersonating He Zhuchun.”
Yang Yun continued, “Lu You, you say He Zhuchun isn’t dead. I know your abilities, so I choose to believe you. But what I saw yesterday couldn’t have been fake either. That leaves only one possibility: He Zhuchun was done in long ago, somewhere he’d never think to look.”
A spark flashed through Lu You’s mind, and a decision formed. “You mean…”
Yang Yun gave an “mm.” “Deceiving King Yama—trying to palm off a counterfeit in the real one’s place.”
The call ended. He Zhuchun was utterly lost, and looked habitually to Lu You. “Explain, please, Great Immortal Lu.”
“Where did you lose the thread?”
“From ‘Soul Division’ on, I didn’t understand a single word.”
“Do you know a person has Three Souls and Seven Po?”
He Zhuchun nodded.
Lu You explained, “A person has Three Souls—the Heaven Soul, the Earth Soul, and the Human Soul. They’re also known by the names Taiguang Soul, Shuangling Soul, and Youjing Soul.”
“I’ve heard you mention the Youjing Soul once,” He Zhuchun said. “I remember you said it’s the one that governs sexual orientation.”
“Mm,” Lu You said. “It’s complicated to explain. Let me walk you through it slowly.”
“By common principle, after death the Heaven Soul returns to Heaven, the Earth Soul descends into the Netherworld, and the Human Soul keeps watch over the grave.”
“What we usually mean by ‘going to the Netherworld after death’ and ‘queuing for reincarnation’—all of that is the Earth Soul’s task. The Earth Soul is also called the Karma Soul, for it carries the good and evil karma of this life. After death, the Earth Soul is escorted all the way before the Underworld Judge to weigh its merits and faults—reward for merit, punishment for fault—and once the ledger is settled, it queues for reincarnation. The wait is long; several decades to a century or more is normal. During that time, they live in the Netherworld, and their livelihood comes from two sources: the Gold Ingot Paper and Paper Money sent up by the living, and the living wages they earn working in the Netherworld itself.”
That steady voice, Lu You’s alone, continued on.
“The Human Soul is the vessel of our seven emotions and six desires—the only soul that belongs solely to this one life. After death, the Human Soul keeps watch at the tomb. What we call ‘our ancestors’ blessing’ refers to that soul’s energy. A Human Soul with nowhere to return to will drift through the world until its energy runs out and it fades away. Patron Clients used to ask me why ghosts are so numerous in this world—whether it meant the Netherworld was managing things poorly. In truth, it isn’t. What we commonly think of as ghosts are mostly Human Souls drifting through the world of the living. They have little offensive power, and usually disperse on their own after enough sun.”
He Zhuchun cut in. “Then what about that Negative Yin Peach Blossom Karma of mine?”
“And the ghosts we commonly run into—the ones with actual power, the kind that bring people harm—are combinations of Human Soul and Earth Soul. Since they carry Grievance Qi, where does that Grievance Qi come from? From the Earth Soul, naturally.”
“These ghosts and monsters generally come into being two ways. First: after death, Grievance Qi runs so deep and the heart so unreconciled that they tear free of the Impermanence Envoy’s restraints and willingly become Wandering Souls to work their harm. Second: on the fifteenth of the seventh month, the Hungry Ghost Festival, when the Ghost Gate opens, the Netherworld releases Earth Souls back to the world over the course of that month to visit their families. Any Earth Soul that fails to return within the allotted time and lingers in the world will merge with a Human Soul and become a ghost or monster.”
He Zhuchun digested that, then asked, “Then the Heaven Soul?”
“The Heaven Soul is the chief of the Three Souls. It governs the origin of a person’s life and their Spiritual Aptitude and wisdom. Think of it as the record book of everything you’ve accomplished across all your lifetimes. Every time the Earth Soul reincarnates, the Heaven Soul rejoins it and enters the new body. What we call the Primordial Spirit is, at its base, the Heaven Soul memory corresponding to the lifetime in which your cultivation across your cycles of Samsara ran highest.”
Lu You went on, “This is why we always encourage people to get more sun—it replenishes the Heaven Soul’s Yang Energy. When the Heaven Soul’s strength grows, a person’s whole spirit, Magnetic Field, and fortune trend for the better.”
“Look at you,” He Zhuchun muttered, “all scholarly.”
Lu You smiled. “Every craft has its masters.”
He Zhuchun thought for a moment. “Then what did you two mean by ‘Deceiving King Yama’?”
“Back in the villages there was a saying,” Lu You said. “If a family bore a child with a special Fate Chart, they would find ways to cheat King Yama and beg for a chance at life.”
“A special Fate Chart?”
“Say a child is born fated not to survive childhood. Or fated to live only to adulthood. Or destined for one great calamity at three years old, or six, or nine, or twelve. In cases like these, the village elders would change the child’s presented gender.”
“If the family bore a boy, he’d wear skirts and braided hair from childhood, raised as a girl all the way to eighteen, and be forbidden for life from setting foot in temples, Daoist temples, or on Mount Tai. That’s called hiding from Heaven and Earth, snatching back your Yang Lifespan—Deceiving King Yama.”
He Zhuchun pointed at himself. “But that’s not my situation…” He stopped mid-sentence, and his eyes blew wide despite himself. “I think I get it!”
“Mm.”
Lu You nodded once. “Different circumstances, same principle. Your case is the operation run in reverse.”
The village elders hid the dying and fought tooth and nail for a way to live. He Zhuchun was meant to live—but someone had schemed with all their cunning to shove him down the road to death. His Yang Lifespan was nowhere near spent, yet through someone’s tricks he had been boxed into a position where he was as good as dead.
He Zhuchun asked again, “Then what exactly does Soul Division mean? Splitting my Three Souls apart from each other?”
At that, Lu You sank into thought despite himself. “If they used Soul-Splitting Incense for the Soul Division, it most likely means the other side covets one particular soul of yours.”
He Zhuchun suddenly remembered. “Oh right—didn’t Auntie Yang say before that my Fate Chart was complete and untouched? Doesn’t that contradict all this?”
Lu You frowned. “What was tampered with is your soul, which naturally has no bearing on whether your Fate Chart is whole. What I’m trying to work out is which soul of yours is so attractive that they’d forgo such a fine Fate Chart just to go after it instead.”
Ever since first seeing the computer chat logs, Lu You had defaulted to assuming they meant to pull something big on He Zhuchun’s Fate Chart or fortune and steal it away. But Yang Yun’s words had clearly shattered that line of thinking, forcing him to reconsider from an entirely different angle.
He Zhuchun looked lost too. He blinked. “So what am I now, living or dead?”
Lu You lifted his eyelids. “If you want to die, I can have a Netherworld Envoy hook you and drag you down right now.”
“Then I’ll pass.” He Zhuchun laughed again. “I’ve always thought being alive is a pretty fine thing, Great Immortal.”
The laugh faded, and worry crept back in. “Then am I going to die? My name’s already registered down below—am I down to my last few days?”
“By all normal logic, yes.”
Watching He Zhuchun’s face go rigid with horror, Lu You added, “But your case is special.”
The strength drained from He Zhuchun’s voice. “Special how?”
