Thousand Dusts Ferry Me - Chapter 17

[Shocking! The ghost of Mingyue Tower struck again, brutally killing two powerful Daoists from noble families!]

Fan family’s old lady and young madam were both frightened into illness. The young madam remained unconscious, with doctors helpless to treat her. They feared the worst!

This news spread faster than a plague. Within a day, it caused citywide commotion and quickly reached the authorities.

Officials sent people to question the Fan family, but the clerk who went didn’t dare to actually approach the house. He merely glanced at the tightly closed gate from a distance and, as if contaminated by bad luck, fled immediately.

He ran to a nearby teahouse and chatted with people for hours, recording all the “eyewitness accounts” concocted by the idle patrons through their imagination, then returned to report to his superiors.

Meanwhile, Fan Erlang, the head of the Fan family, was utterly anxious. Both his mother and wife were ill. He had to consult doctors and arrange medicine while also handling the funerals of the two Daoists.

Fan Erlang was quite clever. With two Huayang sect disciples dead in Mingyue Tower, he feared being blamed, so he sought help from Jiang Baiyu.

By now, he had lost interest in catching ghosts—without ghost-catching, a few strangers merely had nightmares; with ghost-catching, people died! He only sought Jiang Baiyu, the young master of Huayang sect, to mediate and prevent his family from being held accountable by the sect.

Yun Qing, however, was very enthusiastic about ghost-catching—three hundred taels was a lot of money!

They hadn’t spent much while cultivating on Longshou Mountain before, but now, traveling the world, everything required money.

And Fu Xue loved to eat. Should her junior sister only watch while other children enjoyed sugar-coated haws and osmanthus cakes?

In Yun Qing’s view, the ghost in Mingyue Tower came and went without a trace, showing remarkable intelligence and caution. The spirit-trapping formation wouldn’t catch it. To find it, they needed to investigate the causes of Zhou Shitan and Luo Shuilan’s deaths.

Of course, another possibility existed: someone else killed these two. But without sufficient evidence, Yun Qing could only temporarily assume that the evil spirit in Mingyue Tower was responsible.

Since Zhou Shitan and Luo Shuilan died from backlash, they must have cast some powerful curse.

Last night at Mingyue Tower, she had wondered why they were chanting when no demon had appeared. Now it seemed they were reciting incantations.

These incantations encountered something formidable, causing fatal backlash.

So, the key question was—

“What did Zhou Shitan and Luo Shuilan do before their deaths? Or who did they interact with?” Yun Qing asked Fan Erlang.

Fan Erlang glanced at Steward Sun behind him.

Steward Sun answered, “The two Daoists visited Mingyue Tower twice. The rest of the time, they stayed in the courtyard. I assigned two servants to attend to them, and all meals were prepared in the kitchen and delivered. The Daoists always lived ascetically and didn’t go anywhere else.”

After finishing, Steward Sun carefully added, “The Daoists disliked having servants around and often closed their doors tightly. What they did behind closed doors remains unknown.”

Yun Qing also questioned the two attending servants, whose answers matched Steward Sun’s. She didn’t discover anything unusual. They then searched the small courtyard where the Daoists had stayed but found nothing.

“This is strange.”

Just then, another doctor arrived. Fan Erlang left them hurriedly to meet the doctor.

…..

The old lady had awakened and could eat porridge and take medicine, though she remained weak. Fan Erlang wasn’t too worried about her.

The problem was Yun Niang, who had been unconscious for a day and two nights, neither eating nor drinking. She vomited all the medicine they tried to feed her, suffered from continuous nightmares, and was drenched in sweat, her face deathly pale.

Fan Erlang was so anxious that he developed two large sores on his gums, making drinking tea painful.

Steward Sun suggested, “Young master, could it be that the madam offended the entity in Mingyue Tower?”

Fan Erlang frowned, “How could she offend it? She never went to Mingyue Tower.”

“What if the Daoists angered the entity while capturing it, and it escaped? I notice the madam also shows symptoms of nightmares.”

Fan Erlang lowered his head in thought. “I wonder if those Huayang sect Daoists know how to exorcise evil spirits.”

When mentioning Huayang sect, his tone carried some distrust. The two Huayang sect Daoists had died rather promptly, suggesting their abilities were quite ordinary despite their boastful claims.

The young master looked delicate and young, nothing like someone with great abilities—more like a pretty boy.

Steward Sun offered a suggestion, “I have a distant relative called Sun Liu who works as a peddler. My family’s old woman said his son’s nightmares were cured by two passing fairy maidens. Perhaps I should inquire about their whereabouts?”

“Go quickly and return quickly.”

As it happened, Sun the peddler probably hadn’t left yet.

Steward Sun rode a horse, bringing two packages of pastries and a package of tea to find Peddler Sun. After exchanging pleasantries, he asked about his son’s condition.

He learned that the fairy maidens indeed cured that rascal’s nightmares. Not only that, but they also helped the rascal quit gambling!

Heavens! He had encountered a miracle! Steward Sun felt a bit jealous, thinking that Peddler Sun didn’t deserve to meet the fairy maidens.

His heart pounding with excitement, he nervously asked, “What were the fairy maidens’ Daoist names? Where did they go?”

Peddler Sun smiled innocently, “The fairy maidens came and went by riding clouds. How would I know where they went? I only know one was called Yun Qing and the other Fu Xue.”

Hearing this, Steward Sun was thunderstruck. His expression changed dramatically as he jumped up from his chair and rushed out.

Peddler Sun hurriedly chased after him, “Stay for a meal before leaving…” By the time he reached the courtyard, Steward Sun was gone, with only the sound of galloping hooves fading into the distance.

Peddler Sun stood dumbfounded, “Brother, did you grow wings…?”

Steward Sun returned to the Fan residence like a gust of wind. He found Yun Qing and Fu Xue, and overcome with excitement, tears filled his eyes as he fell to his knees with a thud.

Being overweight, his sudden kneeling sounded like a heavy millstone hitting the ground, startling everyone.

“Fairy maidens!!!” His gaze was frighteningly fervent.

Fu Xue quickly helped him up, “P-p-please speak calmly.”

“Fairy maidens, this humble servant’s brain was truly greased with lard and eyes blinded by dog dung, unable to recognize true divinity!” He continued with his emotional comments.

Seeing his unstable mental state, Yun Qing had to intimidate him, “State your business. If you continue rambling, this fairy maiden will strike you with lightning.”

This worked. Steward Sun immediately changed his expression, his eyes becoming calmer as he explained rapidly, “Fairy maiden, it’s like this—our young madam has also started having nightmares. The Master wishes to ask for your help.”

“Why didn’t you say so earlier!”

Steward Sun looked somewhat aggrieved. “We didn’t know earlier. Who could imagine someone would offend that entity while staying safely at home?”

…..

Yun Qing’s group hurriedly went to the back courtyard, meeting Fan Erlang along the way as he was sending a servant to invite them.

At this point, propriety regarding gender separation was disregarded. The four of them entered Fan Erlang and Yun Niang’s bedchamber without hindrance.

Fan Erlang sat by the bed holding Yun Niang, his brow furrowed and eyes reddened as if he had been crying. He was wiping Yun Niang’s sweat with a handkerchief.

Yun Niang’s eyes were tightly closed, her lips cracked. She muttered something softly, her face completely bloodless.

The maid Chunxiang used a silver spoon to feed her medicine, but it all flowed back out.

Seeing everyone enter, Fan Erlang looked as if he’d seen saviors, “You’re here! Young master, please see what’s wrong with Yun Niang.”

Seeing too many people in the room and fearing she would be in the way, Chunxiang withdrew.

All four approached to examine Yun Niang, then exchanged glances.

Fu Xue asked uncertainly, “Senior sister, it doesn’t seem like she’s been cursed, right?”

“Correct. She hasn’t been cursed or possessed. She’s just having nightmares. However, three of her souls are already unstable, which is indeed extreme,” Yun Qing’s delicate eyebrows slightly furrowed as she asked, “Did she experience any shock?”

“She wasn’t shocked. The night before last, we had planned to…” Fan Erlang stopped mid-sentence. “She said she was tired and went to sleep early. She’s been asleep ever since.”

Yun Qing found this strange. “What had you planned?”

Fan Erlang’s face reddened.

Jiang Baiyu covered his face with his hand, turned slightly away, and whispered, “Don’t ask further.”

Yun Qing suddenly understood, “Oh, you mean conjugal relations? Why be embarrassed about that? The union of yin and yang is the way of nature.”

Well, with that one sentence, she silenced all three men in the room. Cheng Suiyan secretly gave Yun Qing a thumbs-up, thinking she was indeed a woman who could treat men as trophies.

Fu Xue asked, “Senior sister, what should we do now?”

“We just need to wait for her to wake up.”

Fan Erlang became anxious. “What if she never wakes up?!”

Yun Qing had to admit that was a possibility. This woman clearly appeared weak and lacked vitality.

When people had nightmares, they became trapped in fear, and their life force gradually drained. Most would wake up in time, ending the draining process. But for someone physically weak who already lacked vitality, if the nightmare lasted too long and too much life force was lost, they might never wake up.

Yun Qing could only say, “Then I’ll have to work harder and go in to wake her up. But remember, this will cost extra.”

Fan Erlang was stunned. “Go in? Go in where?”

“In her dream.”