Love Beyond the Grave

The world's tides ebb and flow, lands shift like seas to mulberry fields. Now the thirty-six provinces are divided by the Guan River, with north and south locked in stalemate. To the south lies the Great Liang, the orthodox Han dynasty of the Central Plains, while to the north stands the Danzhi Kingdom established by the nomadic Huqi people.

Alas, the seventeen provinces north of the Guan River were once the heartland of the Han people, landscapes praised in countless poems by literati and scholars. Decades ago, the land changed hands and became the territory of the Huqi.

Though the soldiers of Great Liang were far inferior in combat to the Huqi warriors from the grasslands, the natural barrier of the Guan River—and the Huqi's lack of naval prowess—kept the two sides in uneasy peace for years. But who could predict the whims of heaven? This year, the ever-turbulent Guan River suffered a once-in-a-century winter freeze, its stretches through Liang and Yu Provinces completely iced over.

This delighted the Huqi. Their armies swept south, crossing the frozen river as if it were flat ground. Within ten days, they seized Liang Province's capital and over a dozen counties under its jurisdiction. Another ten days, and they swallowed half of Yu Province, advancing straight toward the Southern Capital.

For He Simu, a four-hundred-year-old Evil Ghost, such human turmoil was nothing new. Whether the mortal world enjoyed peace or drowned in the bloodshed of war, it made little difference to her. Yet she knew these battles intimately—all because of one peculiar habit.

She was a picky eater among Evil Ghosts, craving only those on the brink of death, and never the sickly. This left her with a narrow selection of prey, and battlefields were the most reliable hunting grounds.

So wherever war broke out, it was like a banquet bell ringing in her ears, and she would gladly rush to the feast.

Originally, she had been occupied with other matters and missed the Huqi's initial victories, where they crushed Liang's armies and seized two provinces. By the time she wrapped up her affairs, the once-triumphant Huqi had suffered a crushing defeat in Liang Province. The Great Liang forces launched a surprise attack, driving them back north of the Guan River before they could even regroup with Danzhi's troops in Yu Province.

Unwilling to spit out the meat they had already swallowed, the Huqi slaughtered the capital of Liang Province as they retreated. Half its people perished under their blades—the very scene He Simu had witnessed earlier.

He Simu propped her chin on her hand, twirling a jade pendant between her fingers as she waited for the little one on the bed to wake.

The governor of Liang Province had been killed by the Huqi, leaving his estate vacant. The young general had temporarily taken up residence there, and after her current body fainted, she too had been settled in one of the estate's courtyards. She had been unconscious all day before finally coming to.

The young general was a considerate one—he had actually followed her request before she passed out and rescued the child from the pile of corpses, placing them in the same courtyard. But though the child had slept for hours without any serious injuries, they still showed no sign of waking.

Two knocks sounded at the door. Before He Simu could even say "Enter," it was flung open with force—clearly, the person outside was not the patient sort.

A female warrior in gleaming armor strode in, her high ponytail tied with a purple ribbon. Her sharp brows and eyes exuded a fierce, almost masculine energy. In her right hand, she carried a food box. She cast an indifferent glance at He Simu, seated by the table, then set the box down and spoke in a flat tone.

"Awake? The physician examined you. You and your brother are merely exhausted—nothing serious. Once he wakes, you’ll both leave the estate."

Leave the estate?

She hadn’t even gotten any information about the young general yet. How could she let go of this little amusement she’d just stumbled upon during her leave?He Simu took the female general's hand, adopting an expression of admiring maidenly charm as she said smoothly, "Sister, your heroic bearing is so dashing. Though a woman, you can serve as a general in the army—I truly envy you. May I ask your name?"

The female general looked down at He Simu, her upturned phoenix eyes sharp as she answered curtly, "Meng Wan."

She didn't ask for He Simu's name in return. In the flickering lamplight, her expression remained cold, clearly wanting to end the conversation quickly.

Yet He Simu gave her no chance, gripping Meng Wan's sleeve tightly without changing her expression. "Pleased to meet you. This commoner is named He Xiaoxiao. My brother and I are currently weak and wish to rest in the residence a while longer. Could Sister please inform the general and ask for his leniency? Ah, by the way—what is the name of the general who saved me today?"

Meng Wan narrowed her eyes—already sharp, they now seemed to carry blades. She slowly lowered her head to meet He Simu's gaze directly, as if trying to peel back her skin and see her true form. He Simu didn't flinch, her eyes smiling.

"You're not right," Meng Wan said.

"Oh? What's not right?"

"Everything. Liangzhou was massacred, your brother lies unconscious—yet you show no fear at all?"

He Simu tilted her head, perfectly composed. "How does Sister Meng know I'm not afraid? This is just how I look when afraid. Besides, having survived the hell of Liangzhou's massacre, and now with the general descending like a heavenly deity, shouldn't we feel all the more at ease?"

Meng Wan seized He Simu's wrist, her voice darkening. "My instincts are never wrong—you're no good person. Why are you approaching our general? Are you perhaps..."

He Simu's eyes glimmered as she smiled at Meng Wan.

"...one of Duke Pei's people?"

...Huh? What duke?

He Simu froze momentarily before bursting into laughter. "Sister, what are you talking about? What kind of nonsense duke is that? I've never even heard of him."

Though she hadn't spoken a single truthful word since the beginning, this statement was absolutely genuine.

What did the highest-ranking nobles and officials of the mortal world have to do with her?

The powerful weren't particularly tasty—unlike Yan Ke, master of the Ki-Demon Hall, who specifically targeted officials holding authority.

Meng Wan clearly didn't believe her. Releasing He Simu's wrist, she said fiercely, "Whatever scheme you're plotting, abandon it now! Our young master is of such noble birth and talent—only his sincere, unguarded nature allowed villains like you to nearly ruin his future! This isn't the imperial court but the battlefield. I'd stake my life before letting you harm a single hair on our young master!"

Meng Wan's righteous, impassioned speech left He Simu momentarily speechless, feeling like an enormous false accusation had been dumped on her head.

Yet Meng Wan's words reminded her of the hands that had offered her a handkerchief—neatly trimmed nails, pale and slender, yet covered in scars.

They looked like hands meant for holding brushes, not for battle.

Hearing Meng Wan call the young general "young master," it seemed they'd known each other before he became a general.

"Listening to you, the general sounds quite unfortunate?"

"Stop pretending..."Meng Wan was about to speak when a clear stomach growl sounded. The two women turned to see the little one on the nearby bed had woken up at some point, staring intently at them—or rather, at the lunchbox between them.

Xue Chenying, who had slept for a full day and night, had been awakened by the aroma of food.

He Simu watched the child devouring his dinner and comforted him, "Eat slowly, no one's competing with you. You said you're eight years old, called..."

"Xue... Chenying..." the child mumbled through a mouthful of food.

"Ah, then I'll call you Chenying."

"Okay... Sister, who are you...? Where's my father?"

He Simu thought for a moment, reluctant to ruin his appetite, and said, "I'm He Xiaoxiao. As for your father... finish your meal first, then I'll tell you."

Chenying nodded and buried his little face back into the rice bowl.

Propping her chin on her hand, He Simu mused that this kid had no guard up at all—food was his closest companion.

Meng Wan, busy with military affairs, left after delivering her stern words, leaving a few guards to watch the courtyard. Chenying, solely focused on the food, had scurried off the bed the moment Meng Wan left, asking He Simu if he could eat those dishes.

Now, as he wolfed down his meal, He Simu watched his shining eyes and casually remarked, "Is it fragrant? Tasty?"

"Fragrant! Tasty!" Chenying's cheeks bulged as he stole a glance at He Simu, who was picking at her food without enthusiasm. "Sister... don't you like it?"

"Ah... can't say I like it, can't say I dislike it either..." He Simu halfheartedly poked at her meal, as if fulfilling a duty.

After all, Evil Ghosts had no sense of taste—they couldn't discern flavors. Human flesh and Soul Fire weren't exactly delicacies either, merely sustenance.

Come to think of it, being a ghost was rather bleak.

Finally satiated, Chenying set down his bowl and let out a loud burp, his big eyes blinking at He Simu.

"Thank you, Miss Xiaoxiao. I'm full now. Where's my father?"

He Simu studied him. The boy wore coarse clothes patched with clumsy stitches, a clear sign of poverty. The rough needlework suggested his father might have done the mending, implying his mother was likely no longer alive.

Though thin, the boy had a pleasant appearance—a round face and round eyes, giving him a somewhat endearing, simple charm.

"Aside from your father, do you have any other family in this world? Mother, grandparents, aunts, uncles?" He Simu asked.

Chenying shook his head honestly, his head drooping. "Most of my family is gone. It's just been me and my father."

He Simu rubbed her temples. The boy's Soul Fire seemed intact, yet his misfortune rivaled those missing theirs.

"Do you remember what happened before you passed out?"

Chenying froze, as if resisting the memory, his face draining of color. He grabbed He Simu's hand and said, "Bad people... bad people kept killing... My father... he was... stabbed in the stomach... He bled so much..."

So he finally remembered.

He Simu let him shake her hand, speaking calmly yet earnestly, "Your father is dead. Tomorrow, I'll take you to bury him."Upon hearing the words "he's dead," Chen Ying's eyes widened instantly, then his lips quivered as tears began to fall uncontrollably, his face a mix of panic and sorrow.

"Is it true? Sister, can you think of a way... Can my father come back to life? My dad got cut by a sickle before, a huge gash on his leg... He bled so much... But then the doctor came... and the bleeding stopped... He could even work in the fields again... Back when my mom was still around, she said small injuries were nothing... Everyone gets little bumps and scrapes..."

The more panicked the child became, the more he rambled, crying and talking, talking and crying, as if his mouth had a mind of its own, words tumbling out in a torrent. He went from his father to his mother, then to his grandparents, as if desperately searching for any shred of evidence that his father could survive being stabbed through the stomach.

He Simu simply watched him quietly, neither speaking nor moving, observing as he cried himself breathless, his words growing increasingly incoherent, his voice fading to a whisper.

Finally, Chen Ying stopped talking, took a deep breath, and asked hoarsely, "My dad said... once someone's dead, they can't come back. Is that true?"

This time, He Simu finally spoke. She nodded and said, "It's true."

Chen Ying's eyes trembled, but he didn't cry anymore—just looked utterly lost.

"Then... who are you, sister?"

"Your father once gave me a meal. Since you have no family left, I'll take care of you for a while and find you a good home."

Chen Ying weakly shook his head, then nodded. For no apparent reason, he whispered, "My dad always said I cried too much, that I wasn't manly at all."

He Simu patted his head and said, "When my parents died, I threw such a fit I nearly turned the world upside down. If I could've cried, I would've cried harder than you. You're already doing much better than I did back then."