“Someone has to follow.”
The bloody writing on the wall was still dripping.
No one said a word.
Hạnh Nhi looked at Mạnh Ái’s wrist.
The black line had stopped halfway up her arm.
But it hadn’t disappeared.
That was the frightening part.
“You said three days.”
Mạnh Ái tried to keep her composure.
“I’ll die in three days?”
“No.”
Hạnh Nhi answered quickly.
“You won’t die.”
Mạnh Ái looked at her.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m not sure.”
“But I won’t let that happen.”
Mạnh Ái gave a faint laugh.
“That sounds more trustworthy than ‘You’ll be fine.’”
Hạnh Nhi didn’t answer.
She bent down and picked up the bronze box.
The lid had closed again.
The character for MỆNH was gone from its surface.
In its place was a new symbol.
A circle divided into three sections.
Hạnh Nhi studied it for a long time.
Tô Tuấn stepped forward.
“You know that symbol?”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
“The Three-Fate Wheel.”
Tô Tuấn frowned.
“What does it mean?”
“Three people.”
“Three people?”
“The one who receives the fate.”
“The one who loses the fate.”
“And the one who takes the fate’s place.”
Tô Tuấn looked at Mạnh Ái.
Then he looked at Hạnh Nhi.
“So right now...”
Hạnh Nhi nodded.
“You’re the one who receives it.”
“Mạnh Ái is the substitute.”
“Then who’s the one who loses it?”
The air in the room grew colder.
Hạnh Nhi didn’t answer.
She looked toward the box.
Only after a while did she say:
“We don’t know yet.”
The Tô family immediately sealed off the house.
No outsiders were allowed in or out.
Using cinnabar, Hạnh Nhi drew a large circle around the main residence.
Mạnh Ái stood beside her and watched.
“What are you trying to do?”
“Seal in the Yin energy.”
“Will it work?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Two days.”
“And after two days?”
“Draw it again.”
Mạnh Ái nodded.
“Okay.”
Tô Tuấn approached from behind.
“My father’s awake.”
Hạnh Nhi immediately turned around.
“What did he say?”
“Not much.”
“Does he remember what happened?”
“No.”
“Then ask him about your mother.”
Tô Tuấn froze.
“My mother?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“There’s female Yin energy in your father’s room.”
Tô Tuấn fell silent.
“But my mother is dead.”
“How long?”
“Seven years.”
“How did she die?”
“An illness.”
Hạnh Nhi looked at him.
“Are you sure?”
Tô Tuấn didn’t answer.
Mạnh Ái frowned.
“You mean...”
“I didn’t say anything yet.”
“But you’re suspicious.”
“Yes.”
Tô Tuấn turned around.
“Let’s go.”
Hạnh Nhi followed him.
Mạnh Ái followed too.
“Where are you going?”
“My father’s room.”
“Okay.”
Tô Tuấn took a few steps, then stopped.
“But I want to ask you something.”
“What?”
“Why did you save me?”
Hạnh Nhi looked at him.
“Because you’re alive.”
“That’s all?”
“Yes.”
“No other reason?”
“No.”
Tô Tuấn gave a faint smile.
“Okay.”
Mạnh Ái stood behind them.
She looked at Tô Tuấn.
Then she looked at Hạnh Nhi.
A strange feeling suddenly surfaced in her heart.
She didn’t know what to call it.
But she knew...
It seemed that ever since Tô Tuấn appeared, something in Hạnh Nhi’s gaze had changed.
Master Tô lay on the bed.
His face was still deathly pale.
But he was awake.
The moment he saw Hạnh Nhi, he asked:
“Daoist master...”
“Do you still remember what happened last night?”
Master Tô closed his eyes.
“I remember...”
“There was someone.”
“Who?”
“A man.”
“Wearing black?”
He nodded.
“Yes.”
“You’ve met him before?”
“A long time ago.”
“How long?”
“About twenty years.”
Hạnh Nhi froze.
“Where?”
“At Mao Mountain.”
The room fell completely silent.
Tô Tuấn looked at his father.
“You went to Mao Mountain?”
Master Tô didn’t answer.
Hạnh Nhi asked:
“What did you go there for?”
“To ask for a talisman.”
“For whom?”
“My wife.”
“Was she sick?”
“No.”
Master Tô opened his eyes.
“My wife was pregnant at the time.”
Tô Tuấn was stunned.
“Mother was pregnant?”
“That child...”
Master Tô looked at his son.
“Wasn’t you.”
Tô Tuấn stood there, utterly still.
Mạnh Ái was equally bewildered.
Hạnh Nhi said nothing.
Tô Tuấn stared at his father.
“What did you say?”
“The child your mother was carrying...”
“Wasn’t you.”
“It was a baby girl.”
Tô Tuấn took a step back.
“A girl?”
“Yes.”
“Then where is she?”
Master Tô closed his eyes.
“She’s dead.”
“How long after she was born?”
“Three days.”
Tô Tuấn fell silent.
Hạnh Nhi asked:
“Why did she die?”
Master Tô trembled.
“No one knows.”
“But after the baby died...”
“Strange things began happening.”
“What kind of things?”
“Every night, we heard a child crying.”
“Small footprints appeared throughout the house.”
“Lanterns lit up on their own.”
“And your mother...”
Master Tô paused.
“She began talking to someone who didn’t exist.”
Tô Tuấn asked:
“Who?”
“Her daughter.”
“And then?”
“Seven years later...”
Master Tô looked out the window.
“Your mother died.”
No one said anything.
Hạnh Nhi looked around the room.
She walked over to the altar.
There was a family photograph on it.
Master Tô.
Madam Tô.
Tô Tuấn as a child.
But in the corner of the photograph...
There was another child.
A little girl.
Her face had been torn away.
Hạnh Nhi reached out and touched it.
Immediately...
A stream of cold Yin energy ran across her fingertips.
She saw a room.
A woman holding a child.
The child wasn’t crying.
The woman was.
“Don’t take my child.”
A man’s voice rang out.
“This child doesn’t belong to you.”
The woman screamed.
“Give my child back!”
A figure in black robes stepped inside.
In his hand...
Was a silver ring.
Hạnh Nhi immediately pulled her hand away.
The photograph fell to the floor.
Tô Tuấn rushed over.
“What happened?”
Hạnh Nhi looked at the photograph.
“Your little sister didn’t die.”
Tô Tuấn went rigid.
“What did you just say?”
“I saw your mother’s memory.”
“She’s still alive?”
“No.”
“Then what do you mean, she didn’t die?”
Hạnh Nhi looked at him.
“The girl died.”
“But her soul never left.”
“Someone kept it here.”
Tô Tuấn clenched his fists.
“Who?”
“Huyền Sát.”
Night fell.
Hạnh Nhi wouldn’t let anyone sleep.
She placed a small table in the middle of the courtyard.
Seven candles stood on it.
Each one represented a portion of the Yin energy within the Tô family home.
Mạnh Ái sat beside her.
“What are you doing?”
“Calling a soul.”
“Whose?”
“Tô Tuấn’s little sister.”
“She’ll come?”
“If she’s still here.”
Mạnh Ái looked at the seven candles.
“Is it dangerous?”
“Yes.”
“For whom?”
“For everyone.”
“But especially you.”
Mạnh Ái lowered her head and looked at her wrist.
The black line had spread farther.
She sighed.
“Ever since I started following you, all I do is run into trouble.”
“You can go home.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Mạnh Ái looked at her.
“Because if I go back...”
“You’ll be alone again.”
Hạnh Nhi fell silent.
Mạnh Ái smiled.
“Besides, I already paid for the trip.”
Hạnh Nhi looked at her.
“You really do love money.”
“No.”
Mạnh Ái pointed at Hạnh Nhi.
“I like investing.”
“Investing in what?”
“Investing in you.”
Hạnh Nhi didn’t understand.
Mạnh Ái didn’t explain.
She only smiled.
Exactly at midnight.
The first candle went out.
Poof.
The second.
Poof.
The third.
Poof.
Hạnh Nhi immediately sat up straight.
“It’s here.”
Mạnh Ái gripped her hand tightly.
A child’s voice rang out.
“Big brother...”
Tô Tuấn ran out of the room.
“Little sister?”
The voice came again.
“Big brother...”
A small shadow appeared beneath the tree.
A little girl in a white dress.
Her feet didn’t touch the ground.
Long hair covered half her face.
Tô Tuấn stood there, frozen.
“My little sister...”
Hạnh Nhi raised a hand to stop him.
“Don’t go near her.”
The little girl raised her head.
“Big brother.”
Tô Tuấn’s voice trembled.
“Is that really you?”
The girl nodded.
“I missed you.”
“Where are you?”
“Underwater.”
Hạnh Nhi immediately asked:
“Where?”
The girl turned toward her.
“Âm Giang.”
Hạnh Nhi’s expression changed.
“You know Âm Giang?”
The girl nodded.
“Someone took me down there.”
“Who?”
The girl fell silent.
Hạnh Nhi took another step forward.
“Who took you away?”
The girl pointed at Mạnh Ái’s wrist.
“The person who will take her away.”
Mạnh Ái froze.
“Me?”
The girl nodded.
“In three days.”
“She’ll die.”
Hạnh Nhi immediately asked:
“How do we save her?”
The girl looked at Hạnh Nhi.
“One life must be exchanged.”
“Exchanged with whom?”
“Someone who has died.”
“Who?”
The girl pointed toward the family photograph.
“The mother.”
Tô Tuấn turned around.
“My mother?”
The girl nodded.
“Mother is waiting.”
“Waiting for what?”
“For someone to come home.”
“Who?”
The girl hadn’t finished answering when...
A laugh rang out.
From beneath the ground.
Hạnh Nhi immediately stood up.
“Back away!”
Boom!
The ground split open.
A black hand clawed its way out.
Then another.
A figure slowly crawled out.
It wasn’t Huyền Sát.
It was a woman.
Dressed in white.
With long hair.
Her face was identical to Madam Tô’s in the photograph.
Tô Tuấn trembled.
“Mother...”
The woman raised her head.
“Tuấn.”
Hạnh Nhi looked at her.
“She isn’t your mother.”
Tô Tuấn froze.
The woman smiled.
“Don’t you recognize your mother?”
“You’ve grown so much.”
“Come here.”
Tô Tuấn took a step forward.
Hạnh Nhi immediately grabbed him.
“Don’t.”
The woman looked at Hạnh Nhi.
Her gaze instantly turned icy.
“You.”
“You’re interfering again.”
Hạnh Nhi looked at her.
“Who are you?”
“I’m the one who died because of you.”
“No.”
Hạnh Nhi shook her head.
“You’re only a fragment of a soul.”
“Someone else is using you to maintain the formation.”
The woman laughed.
“Smart.”
“But too late.”
All seven candles suddenly burned blue.
The little girl beneath the tree vanished.
Mạnh Ái suddenly clutched her chest.
The black line on her wrist spread straight up to her shoulder.
“Hạnh Nhi!”
Hạnh Nhi turned around.
Mạnh Ái dropped to her knees.
A stream of black Yin energy was spreading across her entire body.
Hạnh Nhi immediately ran over.
“Don’t close your eyes!”
Mạnh Ái struggled to keep them open.
“It... hurts.”
“Look at me.”
“Okay.”
“Don’t look at anything else.”
“Okay.”
Hạnh Nhi drew her peachwood sword.
But before she could do anything...
Tô Tuấn suddenly dropped to his knees.
A sharp crack rang out.
On his wrist...
The old black mark had reappeared.
Mạnh Ái looked at him.
“Hạnh Nhi...”
“What is this?”
Hạnh Nhi looked at the two of them.
One was a vessel.
The other was a key.
But both of them had been cursed.
She understood at once.
“It isn’t one formation.”
“It’s two.”
Tô Tuấn asked:
“What does that mean?”
“Huyền Sát never wanted to kill just one person.”
“From the very beginning...”
“He wanted to use the two of you to open a door.”
Mạnh Ái’s voice trembled.
“The door to Âm Giang?”
Hạnh Nhi nodded.
But just then...
A bell rang outside the gate.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Three times.
A servant ran in.
“Daoist master!”
“What is it?”
“Someone delivered something.”
“Who?”
“We don’t know.”
“Where?”
“Outside the gate.”
Hạnh Nhi walked out.
A small wooden box sat on the doorstep.
There was no sender.
She looked at the box.
Written across the lid were the words:
FOR HẠNH NHI.
Mạnh Ái stood behind her.
“Don’t open it.”
Hạnh Nhi nodded.
“I know.”
She lightly touched it with her peachwood sword.
The box opened by itself.
Inside...
Was a jade bracelet.
Mạnh Ái recognized it immediately.
“This bracelet...”
Hạnh Nhi looked at her.
“You’ve seen it before?”
“In a dream.”
Hạnh Nhi fell silent.
The jade bracelet was identical to the one on the wrist of the woman in the mirror at Thanh Hà Town.
But beneath the bracelet...
There was a scrap of paper.
Hạnh Nhi unfolded it.
It contained only one sentence:
IF YOU WANT TO SAVE MẠNH ÁI, COME TO MIẾU VÔ DANH BEFORE THE MOON SETS.
Below it was a symbol.
Huyền Môn.
Tô Tuấn looked at the note.
“A trap.”
“Yes.”
“Then why go?”
Hạnh Nhi put the note away.
“Because he wants me to go.”
“And?”
“I want to meet him too.”
Mạnh Ái asked:
“When?”
Hạnh Nhi looked at the sky.
The moon had risen high.
“Right now.”
The three of them looked at one another.
None of them knew that at Miếu Vô Danh...
Someone was waiting for them.
And beside him...
Was a nine-year-old girl holding a red lantern.
The girl looked at the man in black.
“Will she come?”
Huyền Sát smiled.
“Of course.”
“Why?”
“Because someone like Hạnh Nhi...”
“Never leaves her people behind.”
The red lantern swayed gently.
The shadows of the two figures stretched across the ground.
In the distance...
Three figures were heading toward the shrine.
Hạnh Nhi led the way.
Mạnh Ái followed behind her.
Tô Tuấn silently brought up the rear.
None of them knew that...
Tonight, a secret about Mao Mountain would be revealed.
And perhaps...
The dead would not be the only ones to return.