Chapter 2 — Obsession at the Banks of Reincarnation

I stood alone before the threshold of the house, waiting from morning until nightfall. Afterward, I wept and asked why no one remembered me. Yet the moment my lips parted, reproaches were hurled back at me.

You are no longer a child of three.

Meng Meng has only just arrived at this home and lacks a sense of security; why must you contend with her?

Have you not possessed us for all these years, and is that still not enough?

At that time, I longed to ask them. Enough of what? Enough to be forgotten? Enough to be misunderstood? Enough to ensure that though I was their true flesh and blood, I lived like a stranger? Yet in the end, I asked no more. Before I drew my final breath, as I cast one last look upon the mortal realm, only a single thought remained within my heart. If there should ever be another lifetime, I would never wish to be a member of the Quy family again. The second chime rang out. I halted my steps, my voice chilling as I offered a solemn reminder.

The trial has now begun.

Quy Meng was still weeping, stubbornly refusing to take a single step forward. Her elder brother coaxed her with a few gentle words to no avail, before turning his gaze toward me.

Lord Ghost Envoy, Meng Meng is in an unstable emotional state; might we pause this temporarily?

We can delay our reincarnation until she has calmed herself.

She is timid and has never faced such matters entirely alone.

I looked at him, suddenly finding the scene rather absurd. Back then, when I was locked within the abandoned building, my hands covered in blood, crying until my voice grew hoarse, I was merely eighteen years old. Yet not a single person ever asked whether I was afraid. I withdrew my gaze.

The sooner this is finished, the better.

For a moment, the surroundings were filled only with the sobbing of Quy Meng and the soothing murmurs of her mother. Yet her elder brother kept his eyes fixed intently upon me. His gaze lingered on my mask, as though he sought to pierce right through its blackened surface. After a long silence, he finally spoke.

My Lord, have you too journeyed to this place alone in the past?

I raised my eyes, and he hastily offered an explanation.

I am merely curious. You appear so very young; why choose to remain and labor in the netherworld?

Are you waiting for someone, or is there still something you cannot bring yourself to let go of?

The tips of my fingers paused slightly. When I first died a violent death, it was indeed because my lingering obsession was too profound, preventing me from immediately entering the cycle of reincarnation. Yet over the past three years, my colleagues in the netherworld had cared for me remarkably well. Whenever I lacked offerings of food from the living, they would invariably share a portion of theirs with me. During every festival, they would present me with new garments that had been burned as offerings. Clearly, they were merely unfamiliar wandering souls. Yet they felt far more like family than my own flesh and blood had when I was alive. Thanks to them, as I looked back at my elder brother now, my composure was unsettlingly serene.

There is no one left who is worth my waiting.

In life, I was essentially an orphan. My family abandoned the need for me long ago.

The Supreme Judge was merciful, granting me a task so that I might continue to exist within this place.

The look in my elder brother's eyes grew even more profound.

Perhaps it was not that they had no need for you, but merely ordinary grievances between family?

As long as one person is willing to bow their head, a path forward will naturally appear. What family bears grievances that last past nightfall?

Indeed. Before the appearance of Quy Meng, they placed me above all else in every matter. Yet the ones who began by cherishing me were they, and the ones who later drove me to such agony that I wished for death were they as well. Unwilling to dwell further upon the past, I turned on my heel, intending to depart. Yet a gust of nether wind whipped through my sleeves, revealing a crescent-shaped birthmark upon my inner forearm. Before I could pull my sleeve back down, my elder brother stiffened. His eyes locked onto my arm, and the rims of his eyes turned crimson.

My Lord, why do you possess a birthmark identical to that of my younger sister?

My movements froze, just as I prepared to speak. Yet he lunged forward directly, attempting to tear the mask from my face.

Quy Ying Ying, how much longer do you intend to play these divine ghosts and spirits?

The very instant his hand neared my mask, I raised my soul-locking chain, striking fiercely across his wrist.

I am a guiding ghost envoy appointed directly by the Judge.

Does a soul newly perished dare to commit sacrilege against the nether realm?

My elder brother winced in pain, yet his gaze remained pinned upon me.

Then how do you explain that birthmark? And your voice, and your reactions as well.

If you are not her, why do you dare not let us gaze upon your face?

Could it be that you still harbor resentment toward us and purposely came to escort us, wishing to exact revenge upon Meng Meng?

He looked as though he wished to see completely through me, while I felt only a profound sense of amusement. Three years had passed. Upon encountering someone resembling me in the netherworld, their very first reaction was neither to ask why I was here nor to inquire whether my years had been lived well. Instead, their sole fear was that I had returned to exact vengeance upon Quy Meng. I forced down the final ripple of emotion within my chest, my voice turning thoroughly ice-cold.

The honorable Judge has been waiting for quite some time.

If this delay continues, you shall bear the consequences yourselves.

My elder brother still wished to utter more, but a deep, resonant chime suddenly echoed from within the hall. The voice of the Judge rang out closely behind it.

The wandering soul Quy Meng, step into the mirror.

The complexion of Quy Meng instantly drained of all color. With almost instinctive terror, she cowered behind her elder brother, clutching frantically at his sleeve.

Father, Mother, Brother, I do not wish to go, I am so afraid.

The features of her elder brother contorted with heartache as he hurriedly glanced toward the Judge.