Day two. Nothing unusual had happened.
Chu Xun sent guards to tally the number of straw men in the city, make sure that it matches the number of people, while the people busied themselves packing what few possessions they had. Just one more night, and then they will leave first thing in the morning to take refuge at PuTuo according to Chu Xun's plan.
Mo Ran sat by the gate of the governor's residence, watching the people come and go. He sighed: "Chu Xun's plan is watertight; without someone leaking the info, the average ghost wouldn't have the brains to figure out that it's all decoy puppets left in the city. Someone must have told, then. Shidi, what do you think?" No response.
"Eh? Shidi?" Mo Ran turned around. Without him noticing, his little shidi had wandered off to watch a cavalry of riders getting ready, and in his place was Chu-gongzi's son, sitting with his cheeks in hand.
"Da-gege..." Mo Ran almost jumped at his sudden appearance: "What is it?" The little guy pointed at an old paulownia tree to the side with a kite dangling from a high branch, articulating with some difficulty: "Mama gave it to me, it got stuck, can't reach. Da-gege help me?" "No prob no prob." Mo Ran leapt nimbly to the top of the tree using light footwork, retrieved the butterfly-shaped kite, and landed steadily back on the ground, smiling as he gave it back, "Here you go, don't lose it again, okay?" The little guy nodded.
Mo Ran watched him wandering around all alone for a bit, thinking about how Chu Xun probably doesn't have the time to look after his son, so he asked:
"Where's your mom? It's a bit messy here, I'll take you to your mom." "Mama? Mama is at the mountains in the back." Mo Ran, mystified: "What's she doing in the mountains?" "Sleeping." The little guy looked at him guilelessly and answered in a soft voice, "Mama's always sleeping there. Papa takes me to see her when the flowers bloom in the spring." "Ah." Mo Ran uttered quietly, at a loss for words.
But the little guy didn't mind; he was still too young to understand what death meant. He played happily with the kite in his hands for a bit, then looked up at Mo Ran and shuffled over, saying in a whisper: "Gege, thank you, I'll give you... I have something to give you." He dug around in his pocket as he spoke, and finally dug out a small, halfpiece of pastry wrapped in reed leaf.
No one in the city had enough to eat these days, it was a mystery how the little guy managed to save a piece of pastry. He broke it in half, and handed the smaller piece to Mo Ran.
"Da-gege, for you... shh, don't tell anyone else, I don't have any more." Mo Ran was just about to accept it when the little guy suddenly changed his mind and took the smaller piece back, offering him the bigger half instead.
"It's really yummy, there's sweet bean paste inside." The small act made Mo Ran's heart feel all warm and fuzzy; he was used to being treated poorly, but didn't quite know how to respond to kindness. He reached out and took the sweet with a mumbled thanks. The little guy seemed quite pleased, grinning brightly, the curve of his dark eyelashes filled with warmth and kindness.
Mo Ran couldn't bear to eat the flower cake, so he wrapped it up using a leaf from the paulownia tree and tucked it into his robes. He was going to talk some more with the little guy, but he was a little kid with a little kid's attention span after all, and had already bounced away into the distance.
Chu Wanning came back around then, only to see Mo Ran standing there staring off into space. He raised an eyebrow: "What's up?" Mo Ran watched the little guy disappear into the distance, sighing: "I was just thinking, all these people... how come they all had to die?"
Night descended. Dark clouds covered the skies, with occasional bolts of lightning ripping through the heavens, and as the night grew deeper, a terrible gale howled amidst a torrential downpour.
Rain and its attendant Yin energy enhanced the powers of ghosts and other fiends; Chu Xun gathered all the survivors of Lin'an near the residence, and bid them stay inside the Shangqing barrier at all times.
Due to the rain, many of the areas that could usually make do as a resting place no longer served.
Mo Ran was keeping an eye on Xiao Man, but then more and more people crowded inside to take shelter from the rain, and Xiao Man ducked out of view.
Mo Ran muttered: "Damn." Chu Wanning was small, and immediately said: "I'll go after him." Saying that, he dove into the crowd and disappeared in no time.
He returned after a while with an irate expression: "He got away." "Outside the barrier?" "Mn." Mo Ran fell silent, looking at the downpour outside and the people bustling to and fro.
All of it was only an illusion of things that had already come to pass two hundred years ago.
But he suddenly felt so wretched; the people around him had such hope on their faces, believing that Chu Xun will take them away from this ghost-infested hell to go to PuTuo just as soon as dawn breaks. In the pouring rain, guards dressed in white and red were putting their everything into making the final preparations so that they will be ready to move at daybreak.
None of them knew how little time they had left.
The night grew later still, and the noise died down as people dozed off,
leaning against each other.
But Chu Wanning and Mo Ran were wide awake. Their task was to wait for the Ghost King to appear and to kill him. Since Xiao Man had already left the barrier, the turning point must be tonight.
Mo Ran turned to glance at Chu Wanning: "Why don't you get some rest, I'll wake you if anything happens." Chu Wanning: "I'm not sleepy." Mo Ran stroked his hair: "Then eat something? We haven't eaten since coming here." "I'm..." Looking at the pastry Mo Ran took out, the words 'not hungry' got replaced by a gulp.
Mo Ran handed it over: "Here you go." Chu Wanning accepted the sweet and broke it in half, giving the bigger half back to Mo Ran and keeping the smaller portion for himself. Mo Ran stared blankly at him, face unreadable.
Chu Wanning took a bite, uttered a questioning 'hm?' then asked: "Is this from the Peach Blossom Springs? The flavor is a bit different from the ones before." "How so?" "It tastes of osmanthus flowers."
Mo Ran forced a smile: "Oh? Chu Xun's son gave it to me, it's probably Lin'an flavored." "It is indeed Lin'an flavored." Chu Wanning was opening his mouth to take another bite when he froze abruptly as if suddenly having realized something,
and all the color drained from his face.
"That's not right!" Chu Wanning shot to his feet, eyes wide and expression ghastly.
Mo Ran hadn't the slightest what the problem was: "What's not right?" Chu Wanning didn't answer, instead walking into the courtyard and looking around in the pouring rain before picking up a sharp rock and cutting firmly into his own arm; blood gushed out instantly.
Mo Ran grabbed him in a hurry: "Are you crazy?" Mo Ran stared at the blood trickling down his arm for a while before his head snapped up, eyes intense: "Have you still not caught on?" He said harshly,
"Someone's trying to maim us!" Blood ran down his arm non-stop, crimson diluted by the rain.
Chu Wanning's face was pale in the deluge, his dark brows knitted tightly together, drenched through and through in the ceaseless downpour.
Thunder rumbled and lightning split the skies, harsh light turning night into day for an instant.
The sudden clap of thunder jolted Mo Ran into realization. He subconsciously took a step back.
He knew what wasn't right.
Nothing in an illusion was real, however realist it might seem.
It should be impossible for a pastry to have any taste, for a weapon to actually cause an injury. In short——it should be impossible for anything within the illusion to affect them.
"Someone actualized the illusion." Chu Wanning said quietly.
Actualizing an illusion, also known as "illusion manifestation", was no easy task. The ones most skilled in this technique were those of the Guyue'ye Sect,
whose motto was "Medicine for the people, divine physician for the heart", the latter half referring to the fact that some among them specialize in the art of actualizing illusions—many people are unable to accept the passing of a loved one; through illusion manifestation, the dead can yet accompany the living.
However, such manifested illusions were extremely difficult, so generally speaking, only short, individual scenes could be created, such as sharing a drink or taking a nap together, just one thing at most.
But with the extensive and continuous nature of this illusion constructed by the feathered tribe, alongside the large variety of happenings, even Guyue'ye's own sect leader might not be able to manifest it all.
Mo Ran immediately thought of someone——could it be that fake Gouchen from Jincheng lake?
But before he could think on it further, a strange sound burst forth from the skies above.
The dozing people jolted awake like startled birds, looking around with wide eyes before finally looking up.
It was deathly silent for a moment, then screams erupted like the explosion of water droplets in boiling oil.
Everyone tried to flee every which way, only to discover there was nowhere to go, and screams came from all directions. There was a fracture in the sky, and an enormous, blood-red ghost eye was staring unnervingly from right above.
The eye was so close it was practically up against the barrier.
A harsh, garbled voice thundered: "Chu Xun, how very bold of you, a mere mortal daring to deceive this Venerable One." Mo Ran muttered: "Ghost King..." There were nine kings in the ghost realm, some far stronger than others. The one before them now had yet to show himself, so there was no way to tell which one he was. That eyeball alone loomed in the sky, dripping with blood as it stared at the building below: "Such arrogance, absurd! Pathetic mortal——you want to save them? I might not have wiped out the city before, but since you wish to go against me——I'll kill every single one of you! None shall be spared!" With a shrill shriek, a blinding red light burst forth from the ghost eye, aimed directly at the barrier!
Red clashed against gold and for an instant all the other colors of the world ceased to be. The force of the impact sent debris flying into the howling gales and relentless rain, the branches of the trees in the courtyard snapping one after another. The people inside the barrier were hysterical, wailing as they huddled together.
The Shangqing barrier withstood the first hit, but another flash of red followed immediately after, striking the same spot. The barrier held out, but a crack appeared.
"How arrogant——insufferable!!!" The red light struck again and again, impacts thundering and sparks flying.
Seeing the barrier on the edge of collapse, Chu Wanning's blood ran cold—— now that the illusion has been actualized, an attack in here would be no different from one in the real world. If that attack were to land, both Mo Ran and himself might die here!
Golden light gathered at his fingertips.
This would surely blow his cover, but the situation being what it was, there was no other choice. He was just about to summon Tianwen and get it over with when a resplendent bolt of light flew across the sky like an arrow, headed directly for the epicenter of the cracks in the barrier!
The crowd turned to see Chu Xun standing on a tall roof.
He cradled a phoenix harp, fingertips dancing across its strings and sending bolts of light sweeping forth to gather at the barrier, each sound sharp and powerful as the rupturing of metal, instantly reinforcing the Shangqing barrier that was on the verge of failing.
"Gongzi is here!" "Gongzi!" The people below exclaimed one after another, some even crying with joy.
Chu Xun held his own against the eye of the Ghost King, the two already having exchanged a hundred moves in an instant, the Ghost King completely unable to encroach on the barrier.
The cold voice rang even more menacingly across the sky.
"Chu Xun, with your skills, you could have easily escaped by yourself. Why do you insist on meddling in unrelated matters and making an enemy of the ghost realm!" "Your majesty wishes harm upon my citizens, how could anything be less unrelated to me?" "Ridiculous! We ghosts feed on the souls of the living, there is no difference between us eating souls and you eating meat! You will understand soon enough,
once you're dead!" Chu Xun didn't miss a beat, the notes of the harp never pausing: "Then we will just have to see if your majesty can take this head on my shoulders." As he spoke, the chords beneath his fingers rose to a crescendo until a brilliant light pierced through the heavens right into that bloody eye in the sky!
"AH——!!!!!!" The terrifying scream shook the very ground they stood on.
Fetid blood sprayed out from where the eye had been burned by Chu Xun's spell, the downpour of blood mixing with the shrill shrieks. In his anger, the Ghost King unleashed a blade of light many times stronger than those before,
striking out amidst the rain of blood. Chu Xun moved to block, but this attack was unlike the others, and the force of the impact forced him back several steps, the notes of his harp stuttering.
"Gongzi——!" "Crack! There's a crack! The barrier is going to break!" "Mama——Mama——" The crowd panicked; those with families huddled together crying, those without cowered in corners trembling.
Chu Xun grit his teeth, fire in his eyes, refusing to give up so easily. Just as he was locked in stalemate with the Ghost King, lights flared to life on either side of him. He glanced to the side to see Mo Ran and Chu Wanning standing with him, scarlet and golden light flowing steadily into his own, once again sealing the barrier.
A terrifying roar came from above.
The ghost eye disappeared.
The three of them descended to the ground. The sky rained rotten blood for a while longer before finally returning to clear water.
Chu Xun, face pale, bowed to Mo Ran and Chu Wanning: "Many thanks for your help." "Don't mention it." Mo Ran waved his hands, "Go get some rest, you look terrible." Chu Xun nodded, he had indeed burned through too much of his reserves,
so Mo Ran supported him to the corridor. The people that were in disarray only a moment ago, seeing that Chu-gongzi had repaired the barrier and saved them,
all gathered in gratitude, offering him water and draping clothing over his shoulders.
Someone said: "Chu-gongzi, you're all drenched, please go warm yourself by the fire."
Chu Xun thanked them one by one, but was really too exhausted to move,
and so could only turn down that person's invitation. Undaunted, the people carried branches over and made a bonfire next to him instead.
Things gradually quieted down, save for the crackling of the fire. Suddenly,
someone asked: "Gongzi, we took so many precautions, but the Ghost King still somehow saw through it all... ai, what should we do?" "Yeah, yeah..." "How did they know we were going to leave? Gongzi said these ghosts can't tell the puppets apart from real people, so how did this happen... could it be..." The person's voice died down and he snuck a glance toward Chu Xun,
clearly wanting to say that maybe Chu Xun was wrong, maybe he messed something up somewhere.
The white-attired guards saw that glance, and one of them immediately rebuked with furrowed brows: "What are you trying to say! It's obviously because someone couldn't keep their trap shut and leaked the plan to the Ghost King!" The person mumbled: "Who would tattle to the ghosts though? It's not like there's anything to be gained from that..." And then, seeing all the angry glares directed his way, he stopped talking, disgruntled.
A while passed in silence before someone else asked:
"Gongzi, that damn ghost definitely won't just leave it at that, what should we do?" Chu Xun, exhausted, didn't open his eyes, but his voice was gentle still: "We just have to hold out until dawn and then be on our way, there's nothing they can do in the daylight." "But we have so many people, the elderly, the young, and some injured too,
can we make it to PuTuo Mountain in one day?" Chu Xun, softly: "Don't worry about that. Get some rest. Just focus on the journey tomorrow, I'll take care of the rest." Chu-gongzi had always protected them; since he said so, everyone listened and did as told. A little kid came over holding a piece of sesame candy and offered it to Chu Xun. Chu Xun opened his eyes slightly and pat his head with a smile, and was just about to say something when a guard ran over in a panic,
shouting: "Gongzi! Gongzi, it's terrible!" "What happened?" "The little gongzi, little gongzi——Xiao Man——outside the ChengHuang Temple——" The guard was in too much shock to even speak a complete sentence; he stammered some more, then abruptly fell to his knees and started crying miserably.
Chu Xun shot to his feet, what little color remaining on his face draining completely as he rushed into the rain.