The Husky and His White Cat Shizun

Chapter 109: Master's Second Earth Soul

His mind was in chaos, buzzing with confusion. Mo Ran felt his limbs turn icy cold as he stood there, dazedly cradling Chu Wanning's soul and descending the stairs.

"Doctor..."

"It's you again? What now?"

"Are you sure... that the soul upstairs is my master's Earth Soul? You're absolutely certain, right?"

The Ghost Doctor sounded somewhat impatient. "Of course it is. Could I be wrong?"

Mo Ran still wasn't convinced. "What if it's the Wisdom Soul, or perhaps..."

"What else could it be?" The Ghost Doctor clicked his tongue. "A person only has three souls: Earth, Wisdom, and Human. I've been practicing medicine for 150 years. If I can't tell these three apart, wouldn't King Yama have sent me back to the cycle of reincarnation long ago?"

Mo Ran pressed his lips together, suddenly struck by an uncertain thought.

"Doctor, in your 150 years of practicing medicine, have you ever seen a person with two Earth Souls?"

"You're insane!" the Ghost Doctor snapped. "Your mind seems to be just as deranged. Why don't you stay and let me take your pulse?"

Of course, Mo Ran couldn't allow the Ghost Doctor to examine him. Although Master Huai Zui had cast a spell, there was still a chance his secret could be uncovered if he wasn't careful. Apologizing hastily, he clutched the lantern filled with human and earth souls and rushed out of the Soul Healing Pavilion.

The sky in the Netherworld was perpetually dim, and the only way to distinguish day from night was by looking up at the heavens. If a tepid sun was hidden behind rosy clouds, it was daytime; if a cold moon hung high, it was night.

It was already dark, and the streets were growing deserted.

With the Soul Guiding Lantern in his arms, Mo Ran walked alone with his head bowed. The more he walked, the more lost and helpless he felt.

This feeling of helplessness and confusion had been with him since he was very young, and he didn't like it one bit. He even recalled some of the people he'd known back when he was still living in the pleasure district. When the Drunken Jade Tower burned down, everyone had perished except for him...

Calculating their ages, everyone else should still be in the cycle of reincarnation, and he wondered who he might encounter if he continued on like this.

Then, he thought of Xue Meng.

He remembered how Xue Meng had shouted at him, trying to snatch away the Soul Guiding Lantern, and called him a "plague god."

— "How dare you? How could you have the audacity?"

With the Soul Lamp in his arms, Mo Ran's pace gradually slowed until he stopped by a wall. His eyes couldn't help but turn red as he gazed down at the gentle golden light, whispering softly,

"Master, did… did you really not want to come back with me?"

The lamp remained silent, only burning quietly.

He stood there for a long while before finally calming down.

In this vast Netherworld, he had no idea where to find someone he knew. Suddenly, he thought of Chu Xun and it was like grabbing onto a lifeline. He rushed to the Smooth Wind Tower.

When he arrived, the tower was just about to close. A ghost wearing a mask was preparing to lock up. Mo Ran hurriedly stopped him, anxiety etched on his face. "Sorry, please wait!"

"It's you?"

The masked figure was the same one who had led him upstairs earlier. Startled, they asked, "Why are you back?"

"I have an urgent matter. Please trouble you…" Mo Ran, having run hastily, was panting. His gaze was bright and anxious. Swallowing, he rasped, "I want to see Mr. Chu Xun again."

Chu Xun was in the pavilion, lost in thought as he gazed at a peach blossom in a slender white porcelain vase. Seeing Mo Ran return, he was greatly surprised.

"Why did the young master return? Was it because you couldn't find anyone?"

Mo Ran replied, "I did find him, but... I... I..."

Seeing his distress and hesitation, as if he had a secret to hide, Chu Xun invited him into the house and closed the door. "Sit down and tell me."

Worried that Chu Xun might notice something unusual about the Soul Summoning Lamp, Mo Ran put it away in his Qiankun Pouch.

He didn't believe Chu Xun was an evil ghost, but a living person entering the Netherworld was something best kept from the ghosts here unless absolutely necessary.

"You went to the southeast?"

"Mm-hmm."

"..." Chu Xun pondered for a moment before saying, "Was it in the Hall of Illness?"

Mo Ran nodded and took a moment to gather his thoughts before continuing, "Master, I saw him in the Hall of Illness, but he was an incomplete Earth Soul. He couldn't move or speak, and he was even different from other ghosts. He was translucent, visible yet untouchable."

"An Earth Soul that's damaged often appears like that," Chu Xun said with a faint look of sadness. "Some spirits who have been deeply affected can have their souls scatter, making it nearly impossible for them to reunite."

Mo Ran bit his lip and stammered, "The physician from the Soul Ground Pavilion said that those with incomplete souls will have weaker fates when they're reincarnated. But the person I'm looking for... was perfectly fine in life, so I wonder if there might be some mistake."

Pausing, he lifted his gaze to Chu Xun.

"Mr. Chu, is it possible for someone to have two Earth Souls?"

Chu Xun was taken aback. "Two Earth Souls?"

"Mm-hmm."

Unlike the physicians at the Illness Soul Pavilion, he didn't immediately dismiss Mo Ran's notion. Instead, he lowered his eyes in deep thought, carefully considering for a moment before saying, "I think... it's not entirely impossible."

Mo Ran's heart raced, and he shot up, his eyes gleaming brightly in the dim candlelight of the room.

"Are you serious, sir?!"

Chu Xun nodded. "Ordinary people have three souls and seven spirits, but I once knew a woman who had two Memory Souls."

"I'd like to hear more about this."

Chu Xun shook his head, his eyelashes casting a gentle tremble as they fell. After a moment of silence, he spoke softly, "It was a long time ago, and I don't wish to dwell on it. That woman is now suffering in the Seventh Hell. When a soul is damaged, and Yama discovers it, they are sent to the Seventh Hell to be slowly torn apart."

Hearing this, Mo Ran grew even more anxious. The dim light hid the pain in Chu Xun's eyes as he asked, "Why did that woman have an extra Earth Soul? For ordinary people, only three souls and seven spirits are needed to reunite the soul after seven days. If someone has an extra Earth Soul, does that mean all four must be gathered for it to be effective?"

"Indeed, that seems to be the case."

"And the lady you mentioned earlier..."

"She passed away and was then manipulated by the Ninth Prince to forcefully return to the living world..." Chu Xun paused, his slender fingers slowly curling into a fist on his knee, "To consume her own child, alive."

An exclamation escaped Mo Ran as he suddenly recalled the old events in Peach Blossom Spring, realizing that the "woman" Chu Xun had mentioned was actually his wife – the very source of his greatest pain.

So Chu Xun remained in Nankang Village, refusing reincarnation, perhaps waiting for his deceased wife's extra soul thread to return from the seventh level, so they could reunite and enter the cycle of reincarnation together?

Mo Ran found himself unable to continue asking questions.

Chu Xun fell silent. The casual mention of "consuming one's own child" after two hundred years, even by a ghostly entity, could not suppress the quivering in his throat.

He closed his eyes.

"The woman's soul was in disarray, intertwined with the child's spirit," he continued after a long while. "So what she possessed extra was actually that child's spirit, trapped between her three souls and seven spirits, gradually assimilating with her until it became inseparable, taking on her appearance entirely."

This person, whether in life or death, would always endure his own pain to help others whenever someone sought his assistance.

Seeing this, Mo Ran felt even more pained. He couldn't express it directly, so he said, "Master, there's no need to elaborate further. I... I understand now."

"My intention in telling you this is to inform you that if the Young Master Chu you're searching for truly has two earth souls, then one of them originally doesn't belong to him."

After some contemplation, Mo Ran asked, "Is it impossible for one earth soul to split into two halves?"

"It's possible, but not in your situation."

"Why?"

Chu Xun replied, "I've seen instances where a soul splits into two, but that's another story altogether. Usually, such individuals commit heinous crimes, slaughtering countless lives. If their three souls can't bear the burden, they shatter. But in those cases, it's the human soul, which embodies kindness, that breaks apart. It could never be the earth soul or the spirit soul."

"....I see," Mo Ran muttered.

Upon hearing 'heinous crimes' and 'slaughtering countless lives,' Mo Ran was certain it had nothing to do with Chu Wanning. Instead, he wondered if, when he himself truly died and arrived in the Underworld, his human soul might split into two as a form of retribution for his deeds.

Chu Xun continued, "Moreover, if it truly is one soul split in two, the other half of the Earth Soul wouldn't be able to move and would have been sent to the Illness Soul Pavilion. Since Young Master only saw a damaged Earth Soul there, I believe the other half must be an intact soul, unharmed."

Mo Ran, enlightened by Chu Xun's words, hastily replied, "Thank you, Mister Chu! Then… then I'll search again!"

"Alright. Earlier, the Compass of South pointed towards the Illness Soul Pavilion but also slightly veered northeast. Why don't you try walking northeast? However, in this vast Land of Nankang, countless wandering spirits come and go amidst the hustle and bustle, all awaiting their destinies..."

Chu Xun let out a sigh.

Looking into his gentle eyes that held a hint of pity, Mo Ran knew what he was implying.

In this vast Land of Nankang, there were thousands of displaced ghosts.

Even with the knowledge of heading northeast, how easy would it be to find a single Earth Soul?

If fate did not bring them together, even on a brightly lit, never-ending street, they could pass each other by, one going east and the other west, without ever seeing or acknowledging the other.

In the silence of the netherworld, it would be even more difficult.

Yet, Chu Xun remained kind. He raised his hand and patted Mo Ran's shoulder. "Young Master's sincere heart will surely reunite with it."

His appearance bore an uncanny resemblance to Chu Wanning, and as he spoke, the candlelight flickered, casting his features in a blur.

In that blur, Mo Ran seemed to see the gentle expression on Chu Wanning's face and hear him say that they would meet again.

Mo Ran felt a pang of emotion, causing his eyes to mist over.

He quickly bowed his head and said in a hoarse voice, "Master, thank you."

But Chu Xun remained silent. Even after Mo Ran turned to leave and closed the door behind him, Chu Xun stood there, still dazed, a hint of astonishment shimmering in his phoenix-like eyes.

Did... he just see tears in that young man's eyes?

Ghosts didn't cry. Had he been mistaken? Or...

He turned back and gazed at the peony blossoms in the vase, which were quietly in full bloom. Mortal flowers found it incredibly difficult to withstand the hellish yin energy; despite careful nurturing, one petal had already drifted away, landing on the rustic wooden table.

Chu Xun approached and plucked the fragrant petal. It quickly withered, crumbling into dust that scattered from his fingertips.

"Someone, come."

"Mr. Chu," a masked figure promptly entered, standing respectfully by the side.

Chu Xun didn't turn around. He gazed at the peach blossoms and asked softly, "Has that person come to Fengshun Tower on their own lately?"

"No, it's still the same. They come once every ten days with a peony. They don't dare enter Fengshun Tower, always sending someone from afar instead."

"..."

"Sir, what's wrong? Was there something off about the young master who just came? If that person dares to send anyone else to bother you, you can always report them to Yama..."

"There's nothing." Chu Xun snapped back to reality, interrupting his subordinate. He turned his head and gave a faint smile, then sighed. "It's nothing. He probably wasn't sent by that person. Even if he was, that child only wants to find someone, and it has nothing to do with me."

"But if he was sent by that person into the Realm of Ghosts, why would—"

"No guilt should be imposed on the innocent." Chu Xun stood quietly beside the flower branch, his clothes as white as snow. "Let him be."

The streets were deserted. Mo Ran left Fengshun Tower and headed northeast. He carried an image of Chu Wanning and inquired door-to-door, but it was like searching for a needle in a haystack; he couldn't get any useful information.

Most of those who saw the portrait waved their hands repeatedly, some not even wanting to look at it before avoiding him.

"The person in this portrait? Never seen him before."

"Never seen him, never seen him. Don't bother me while I'm doing business."

"Get out of the way! You're so annoying! Can't you see it's late? Scram, scram! What portrait? I don't want to see it! Take it away, take it away!"

Though everyone in Nankang Village was a ghost, their emotions and desires remained unextinguished. Living together, they mostly returned to the semblance of mortal life. They would find friends or family during these long years of waiting, or at the very least, adopt a dead cat or dog - all to live as they did in the mortal world. Thus, even though they didn't need sleep, they would still rest in bed when the moon climbed high into the willows.

As night fell, fewer and fewer were willing to engage with him, let alone provide any information or guidance.

Alone, he visited each house along the seemingly endless street in the northeast, head bowed and a smile on his face...

"I've said it already! I made a mistake! On second thought, I don't think it was the person in the portrait after all. Can't you just leave me alone?"

This bearded man was preparing to rest with his ghostly wife and children, ready to close the courtyard gates.

Earlier, when he had returned from outside, Mo Ran had run into him on the street and asked if he had seen the person in the portrait. The man had thought for a moment and said that he seemed to recall seeing someone similar near the East Market a few days ago. But when his wife gave him a look, he immediately fell silent, as if he'd had a realization. He waved his hands, saying he knew nothing.

Mo Ran believed the man was hiding something and was reluctant to give up. He pleaded with the man all the way to his doorstep.

The man roughly pinned him against the door, tugging at the wooden bolt. Mo Ran pleaded anxiously, "Can't you think again? Which part of the East Market? Where did the person in the painting go later? Please..."

"I don't know!"

The surrounding ghosts, attracted by the commotion, peered over. The man bellowed angrily, ignoring Mo Ran's hand still wedged in the door frame as he violently tried to shut it.

His fingers were crushed painfully between the closing doors. Ignoring the agony, he stubbornly refused to withdraw them and instead struggled to push and pry the door open even more.

"Please, I beg of you, just think about it one more time. I only want to know where he went later..."

But the man abruptly flung the door open, oblivious to Mo Ran's bleeding fingers. He forcefully shoved Mo Ran aside and yelled, "I said I don't know, I really don't! Scram!"