89. The Underworld (Golden Sands Pool)

“These ten taels of gold are merely a greeting gift,” said a young heir of a wealthy merchant, dressed in luxurious robes, his face showing disdain as he looked at Zhu Erdan.

“Very well, please tell me your grievance,” Zhu Erdan replied, ignoring the gold.

“My surname is Chu. Yesterday morning, I quarreled with my father. By nightfall, he was dead from poisoning,” the man surnamed Chu said indifferently.

“You dared poison your own father?” Zhu Erdan smiled faintly.

“Hey, I didn’t say that, Master Zhu. Don’t jump to conclusions. But my two brothers insist it was I who killed him.”

“What evidence do they have?”

“Evidence? None, actually.”

“That makes things easier, then.”

“There is a witness.”

“Who?”

“Our household maid. She claims she saw me pouring wine for my father.”

“That complicates matters.”

The man surnamed Chu placed the ten taels of gold on the table.

“Perhaps there’s a way to escape conviction,” Zhu Erdan said with a cold smile, noticing the extra gold.

“Not perhaps—certainly. I must be acquitted,” insisted the man.

“Let me think,” Zhu Erdan mused.

“If you can win this case for me, I’ll increase your deposit tenfold!” the man declared.

“A hundredfold!”

“Haha, good. It’s a deal.”

“Then tell me everything, from beginning to end,” Zhu Erdan said, coldly smiling.

The Underworld.

“I… damn it!” The Judge Lu, furious, spat on the ground.

“How dare you, for the sake of a little dirty money, defend a parricide and help him escape punishment? If I don't gouge out your eyes and rip out your tongue today, I am not Judge Lu!” he raged, rolling up his sleeves and stomping forward. Suddenly, he stopped, slapping his palm in anger.

“Sir Situ, Sir Situ, lucky you were promoted and left, or we’d both be disgraced, stumbling like old horses. I didn't heed Brother Li's advice,” Judge Lu paced back and forth in the dim ghostly fire.

Zhu Erdan’s home.

“Lord Lu, please bless Zhu Erdan, help him solve Young Master Chu’s case soon. My deepest gratitude,” Zhu Erdan prayed in front of Judge Lu.

Just then, several people arrived—students who had studied with Zhu Erdan at the academy. They invited Zhu Erdan and Ke Shaorong to join them for an outing.

“Let’s guess lantern riddles!” Ke Shaorong tugged at Zhu Erdan.

Zhu Erdan looked uneasy, scanning his surroundings.

“You barely know your characters—how can you guess lantern riddles?” Zhu Erdan didn't want Ke Shaorong to come out.

“Husband, what is this written here?” Ke Shaorong asked coquettishly.

“A dot, a long horizontal line, a diagonal stroke to the south, a person in the south, less than an inch long—guess the word. Isn’t that easy?” Zhu Erdan replied after examining it.

“Easy? We’ve all tried for ages and couldn’t figure it out. What’s the answer?” a scholar beside them interjected.

“The answer is ‘Prefecture’, as in government office,” Zhu Erdan chuckled.

“Sir, you’ve solved it. Here’s your reward, please accept it,” said the shop owner, handing him a comb.

“Husband, you’re amazing!” Ke Shaorong exclaimed with excitement.

“Wife, I’ll give you this comb,” Zhu Erdan said, handing it over.

“Thank you, husband.”

Ke Shaorong accepted the comb.

“Can we go home now?” Zhu Erdan whispered.

“No, I want to play more,” Ke Shaorong turned and left.

“Wife!” Zhu Erdan called after her, but he couldn’t stop watching his surroundings. He spotted Chen Yuanwen and Bai Yang.

“Come, wife, let’s go home,” Zhu Erdan, fearing exposure, pulled Ke Shaorong—who was admiring her comb—into the crowd.

“I don’t want to go home. I want to guess more lantern riddles and win a mirror!” Ke Shaorong hadn’t noticed Zhu Erdan’s rising panic.

“I’ll make up a hundred riddles for you at home, okay?” Zhu Erdan was now flustered.

“No, I don’t want to go home. Home isn’t fun. Husband, look!” Ke Shaorong pointed behind Zhu Erdan.

He thought Chen Yuanwen and Bai Yang were approaching, quickly turned to look—no one was there. When he returned to himself, Ke Shaorong had slipped away.

Zhu Erdan could only search everywhere.

Bai Yang wandered aimlessly; Chen Yuanwen was uninterested, feeling bored without Li Xintian. Bai Yang seemed like a soulless shell.

On the road, Bai Yang bumped into someone eating candied hawthorn, who looked remarkably like Zhang Xiaoman, and chased after her.

“What’s going on?” Chen Yuanwen watched Bai Yang run off, confused.

“Stupid Zhu Erdan, do you only love my beauty?” Ke Shaorong reached the pavilion, sat beside it, gazing at her reflection on the water, unhappy.

“Is that you, Xiaoman?” Bai Yang called to Ke Shaorong’s back.

Ke Shaorong stood up, saw Bai Yang, and turned to leave.

“Xiaoman, where are you going?” Bai Yang shouted as Ke Shaorong tried to depart.

“Sir, sorry, you have mistaken me,” Ke Shaorong replied.

“Xiaoman, I miss you so much, it’s been so hard,” Bai Yang approached, gazing at Ke Shaorong with deep affection, gently touching her cheek.

“I’m really not Xiaoman,” Ke Shaorong turned her head away.

“If you’re not Xiaoman, and I’m not Bai Yang, then we’re the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, meeting on the Magpie Bridge,” Bai Yang insisted, thinking Zhang Xiaoman was denying him.

“Are you drunk?” Ke Shaorong asked.

“I’m not drunk. This is a dream, a blessing from Heaven. I hope I never wake from it,” Bai Yang gazed at her lovingly.

“If only my husband Zhu Erdan were half as affectionate,” Ke Shaorong thought silently.

“I believe that in this dream, we’ll find a place to belong, where we can be together forever. Come, let’s find a world just for us,” Bai Yang said, taking Ke Shaorong’s hand to lead her away.

“Sorry, sir, you really have mistaken me,” Ke Shaorong broke free and ran off. Bai Yang tried to chase her but couldn’t keep up.

By daylight, Ke Shaorong secretly slipped out of Zhu Erdan’s house.

She wandered aimlessly through the streets, eventually arriving at the Hall of Benevolence.

Meanwhile, Zhang Xiaoman, now a ghost, had escaped the Underworld, her face deathly pale, lurking in the shadows. She too arrived at the Hall of Benevolence.

At the back door, Zhang Xiaoman tried to enter but was blocked by the guardian spirit.

“That’s my face!” Zhang Xiaoman saw Ke Shaorong in the backyard, wearing her face. She touched her own.

As Ke Shaorong tried to knock on the door, a fellow student of Zhu Erdan saw her and hurried back to inform him.

Zhang Xiaoman glared at Ke Shaorong, furious that she wore her face, but was stopped by the guardian spirit.

Just then, Bai Yang opened the back door and saw Ke Shaorong.

“Xiaoman, you’re finally here,” Bai Yang greeted her.

“I… I’m not Xiaoman, I’m… Let’s go inside to talk,” Ke Shaorong said, entering the backyard, Zhang Xiaoman following.

Bai Yang closed the door and hurried in as well.

“You really aren’t Xiaoman?” Bai Yang asked, watching Ke Shaorong.

“Don’t speak, listen to my explanation, just listen,” she pleaded.

“I’m really not your Xiaoman. My name is Ke Shaorong, I’m Zhu Erdan’s wife. Actually, I didn’t always look like this. One morning, I woke up and had turned into this. My husband said it was a blessing from the Lady Guanyin. That’s my explanation. I’m leaving, goodbye,” Ke Shaorong said, patting Zhang Xiaoman’s head, mentioning the Lady Guanyin, making a respectful gesture, then waving to leave.

“Xiaoman!” Bai Yang suddenly hugged Ke Shaorong from behind.

Ke Shaorong was terrified, shrieking.

“Xiaoman, why won’t you acknowledge me? Why do you deceive me? Xiaoman, do you know? I can’t live without you, I really can’t live without you, Xiaoman,” Bai Yang clung to her, tears streaming down his face.

“Bai Yang,” Zhang Xiaoman’s ghost stood at the door, watching, her eyes full of tears.

“Let me go!” Ke Shaorong struggled, throwing Bai Yang to the ground, then rushed straight toward Zhang Xiaoman’s ghost, who entered Ke Shaorong’s body.

Ke Shaorong’s eyes rolled back and she collapsed.

“Xiaoman!” Bai Yang scrambled to her side.

Zhang Xiaoman propped up Ke Shaorong’s body, tears falling to the ground, slowly turning around. Bai Yang dared not approach.

“Xiaoman.”

“Bai Yang.”

They stepped forward and embraced.

“Bai Yang, I can finally hold you again. I truly thought I would never see you again,” Zhang Xiaoman said, her eyes brimming with tears.

“Xiaoman, me too. We’ll never be apart again, never, for life and eternity,” Bai Yang cried.

“Yes, for life and eternity.”

“Bai Yang, Xiaoman now is no longer who I once was,” Zhang Xiaoman released Bai Yang, her tears streaming.

“I really don’t understand,” Bai Yang shook his head.

“Bai Yang, you must avenge me. That day, I went to the Temple of King Yue outside the city to meet you. On the way, the villain Yang Danian accosted me. He… he tried to violate me. I fought desperately, and he killed me,” Zhang Xiaoman wept.

“That villain, Yang Danian!” Bai Yang spat angrily.

“And even worse, Judge Lu—after my death, he transferred my head onto Ke Shaorong’s body!” Zhang Xiaoman continued.

“How can that be?” Bai Yang couldn’t believe it.

“But it’s true. That ghost official threw me into the Golden Sands Pool, and I struggled tremendously to return to the mortal world. Bai Yang, you must seek justice for me.”

The Golden Sands Pool was a place for imprisoning souls awaiting rebirth, where the shifting sands battered the spirit, as painful as salt on wounds.

As Zhang Xiaoman finished, Judge Lu and the Soul Collector appeared.

Zhang Xiaoman retreated in terror, collapsing to the ground.

Bai Yang saw her fear and turned to look, but saw nothing.

“Xiaoman, what’s wrong?” Bai Yang asked.

“You impudent little ghost, how dare you come here? Is this a place for you? Take her away!” Judge Lu commanded with authority.

“No! Please, no!” Zhang Xiaoman cried out in terror.

The Soul Collector beside Judge Lu hooked Zhang Xiaoman’s spirit with his scythe and led her away.

Ke Shaorong lay unconscious on the ground.

“Xiaoman!” Bai Yang shook the fallen Ke Shaorong, calling Zhang Xiaoman’s name.

“Stop shaking me—my head hurts so much!” Ke Shaorong sat up, rubbing her temples.

“Did I faint?” she asked Bai Yang.