The moon was bright, and the wind was light.
The leaves covered the window lattice.
There was the sound of water dripping in the small, dark room.
It went pitter-patter.
No, it was not water but blood.
Qiang was staring at his fist while gritting his teeth. He could not stop the grief and resentment from surging in his heart.
"Why? Why is this world so unfair?" he raised his head and asked.
He once had a childhood sweetheart.
Her name was Zhen.
The two had grown up together since they were young, and for more than a decade, they only had each other in their eyes.
He had long regarded Zhen as his wife, and Zhen had long regarded him as her husband.
He thought when he saved enough for a bride token, all this would happen logically.
But a few days ago, he heard Zhen was going to marry a wealthy man in the county.
He could not believe it. So he ran to Zhen's house, wanting to find out the truth.
But Zhen's parents did not let him in.
They told him he should not come to find Zhen again.
'Why?'
He said that no one had a deeper feeling for Zhen than him.
He did not lie; he always believed that no one in this world loved Zhen more than he did.
But Zhen's parents just sneered at him.
No matter how deep his love for her, nothing beat a handsome bride token.
Today was the day Zhen got married.
Qiang had run over like crazy and stopped the bridal sedan chair.
He had finally seen Zhen.
He just wanted to know if Zhen was not also willing to marry that old man.
As long as she said yes, he would elope with her and no longer care about other things.
But Zhen told him, "Don't come to me again in the future, lest my husband will misunderstand."
He could not believe that she was marrying that old man of her free will.
Was her feeling towards him for all these years fake?
He was beaten black and blue by those servants of the wealthy man before being thrown into the stinking ditch. It was not until midnight that he crawled out of the ditch and staggered back home.
But the physical pain was not even one ten-thousandth of his heartache.
He felt as if someone had cut a chunk out of his heart, and nothing could heal that wound.
He felt like an idiot who Heaven had fooled for over ten years.
"Why? Why are you doing this to me?" He tore his clothes apart in agony.
Just then, a ghostly voice suddenly came to his ears.
"Hey, that's because you are too weak."
"Who is it?"
Qiang was wide-eyed. But the room was empty. No one else was here.
'Who's talking? Is it an illusion?'
"Because you are too weak. You are destined to be trampled upon. You hate them, you hate that wealthy old man. It is unbecoming at his age to take a young and beautiful girl as his concubine. You hate that stinky girl. She has never cherished her relationship with you. She didn't have the slightest pity when she saw you being beaten almost to death. You hate her parents, who despise you yet behave servilely in front of the wealthy. There are too many people you hate, but you can only hate but do nothing."
That voice was still in his ears, clear and definitely not fake.
Qiang's heart was pounding as he flustered. "Are you a human or a ghost?"
"Human or ghost—does it matter?" That voice was erratic, but it was full of endless temptations. "The important thing is that I have the power to make all these people you hate pay with their blood."
"Power? W-W-What are you talking about?" Qiang leaned against the wall and shivered.
"You have been destined to be a nobody in your life. Even if someone tramples you into the mud, you can't fight back. You can only die with resentment. But I have the power to make you stronger, them regret in the next life for bullying you, and this unfair world trembles for you. Do you want it?"
Qiang's eyes were wide open as he gasped and trembled for a while. "Yes…"
"Then… are you afraid of dying?"
As that voice became more beguiling, a strange look gradually appeared in his eyes, and he fell into a strange emotion.
He was like a traveler who had been hungry and thirsty for over ten days in the desert and suddenly saw wine and barbecue in front of him. A strong, uncontrollable desire burst out of him.
"I'm not afraid."
"Then you only need to perform a simple transaction."
"How to transact?"
"Turn your head around."
Qiang felt a little strange when he heard that. He knew his back was leaning against the wall.
But he still looked back as told.
What he saw horrified him.
It turned out that there was a face on the wall behind him.
The facial features were clearly visible, the eyes moving. It was a face of a living being!
"Hey, were you in fear just now? Remember this fear, as the fear that you will bring them in the future is a thousand times of what you have just had. Aren't you looking forward to it?"
That face gradually emerged from the wall. And then what followed next was its body. A strange figure in a blue faint robe appeared in front of Qiang.
"Who are you?" Qiang asked, still trembling.
In fact, he had guessed that the figure was not a human being. Perhaps it was more appropriate to ask what kind of ghost it was.
"I am a messenger from The Realm of Ghosts. I am here to help you, my friend."
As the ghost continued to speak with a soft, luring voice, it took something out of his arms and handed it to Qiang.
It opened its hand, and Qiang saw a small dirty copper coin in its sharp-nailed palm.
"Take it, and you will possess a terrifying power. But you have to sell your life to me. This is a rare fair deal in this unfair world. Do you… agree?"
Qiang was scared. He wanted to turn around and run.
But another voice in his heart told him to take the copper coin and revenge.
Death was no big deal.
He just needed to bring those people along with him.
"I—"
Just when his heart was pounding violently, a clear voice suddenly came from outside the window. "I don't agree."
"Huh?" The ghost frowned, looked out the window, and suddenly emitted a chill to the air. Qiang could not help shuddering.
He turned his head and saw a handsome young Daoist, wearing a brand-new cyan Daoist robe, a bamboo hairpin casually inserted in the bun, standing outside the window in an incredibly suave manner.
The first thought that came to Qiang's mind was, 'If I look like him, maybe Zhen would not have left me.'
But he quickly overthrew this idea.
If he looked like the young Daoist, he would not have wanted her.
While Qiang imagined things, the young Daoist spoke. "I'm sorry, the door isn't open, so I got in by climbing over the wall."
Qiang just nodded in a daze.
The blue-robed ghost squinted. "How dare you young Daoist come here? Aren't you afraid of dying?"
As it was about to lift its hand to kill this young Daoist, something flashed across its mind all of a sudden.
'Wait a second. Daoist?'
'This Daoist… can it be… that Daoist?'
It studied Li Chu and the iron sword on his back.
'There was nothing unusual.'
"Young Daoist, have you ever been to the haunted house of the Liu Family?" asked the ghost out of caution.
"I have been there several times. Why? Are you related to the ghosts there?" Li Chu asked back.
He did not mind chatting with the ghost if the ghost wanted to chat with him. But it would be even better if he could figure out its origin and purpose of concocting Vengeful Spirits.
But his wish fell through.
When he finished saying, "I have been there several times", the face of the ghost drastically changed. It trembled like a terrified cat puffing up its fur and ran!
The ghost ran so quickly that it almost faded into a beam of blue light.
Not wanting to let it escape, Li Chu could only draw his sword and strike.
The blue-robed ghost had summoned all its strength to flee. But the terrifying pressure of the sword behind it made it realize that death was certain.
It only had time to send a message into the distance with all its strength.
"I bump into a Daoist priest! Ahhhhhh—"