Love Beyond the Grave

The fall of Jicheng in Shuozhou on the other side of the Guan River came as a surprise.

Xia Qingsheng had been promoted to Lang Jiang, and the city bustled with frequent movements of troops and provisions. Everyone was saying war was imminent again—likely due to urgent battles in Yuzhou, with Liangzhou's forces being sent to reinforce it. But two days later, when battle reports arrived, it became clear something was amiss. The Snow-Treading Army had actually crossed to the other side of the Guan River.

Duan Xu led Wu Lang Jiang in a feigned attack on Yuzhou's northern city while secretly dispatching Xia Qingsheng to take advantage of the heaviest snowstorm at night, when the Hú Qì people's archery was hindered, to cross the frozen Guan River and capture Jicheng in Shuozhou by surprise.

Once Jicheng fell, Duan Xu immediately abandoned the northern city of Yuzhou and, without looking back, led the main Snow-Treading Army north to rendezvous with the forces in Jicheng. There, they fought fiercely against Danzhi's troops in Shuozhou.

When these reports reached He Simu, she wasn’t surprised. From the moment Duan Xu had asked her about the wind direction, she had known what he intended to do.

The Hú Qì people were notoriously fierce and warlike. For this young general to strike at Danzhi’s homeland—his courage was certainly bold. Whether his luck would hold, however, remained to be seen.

To Chen Ying, these events were anything but ordinary. Propping his chin in his hands, his eyes filled with admiration, he even slowed his pace of nibbling sunflower seeds and peanuts. "General Duan is amazing!" he exclaimed. "They say he’s the first general from Great Liang to cross the Guan River!"

He Simu thought to herself, Indeed. Whether in martial prowess or strategy, he doesn’t seem like someone raised in a family of scholars for three generations.

"I want to be like General Duan when I grow up! I’ll defend our homeland and avenge my father!" Chen Ying clenched his small fists.

Spitting out a seed shell, He Simu turned to study Chen Ying for a moment. This might not be a bad path for him, she mused.

"Do you want to follow Duan Xu?" she asked.

Chen Ying looked bewildered. After a pause, He Simu continued, "I’ve looked around the city these past few days. Life is bleak for most—no decent families worth entrusting you to. Duan Xu, however, is a good choice. I helped him by reading the winds, so if he returns alive, I can arrange for you to stay with him. His family is influential—you’d never go hungry under his care, and you might even rise in rank. Well… isn’t that what mortals want?"

As she spoke, she noticed Chen Ying’s expression shift, his eyes welling up. He tugged at her sleeve and said, "Big Sis… are you giving me away? I… I want to stay with you… I can eat less… I won’t even ask for peanuts or seeds…"

He Simu regarded him calmly for a moment before wiping his tears away. With a gentle yet firm tone, she said, "That’s not possible. I told you from the start—I’ll only take care of you for a while."

What a joke. The living and the dead walk separate paths—how could a living person stay with a dead one forever?

Chen Ying’s face fell, and he fell silent.

He Simu pinched his cheek. "You think you can just follow Duan Xu if you want? He might die in Shuozhou and never return."

Chen Ying lifted his eyes and let out a despondent "Ah…" as if struck by a second blow—unable to accept that his hero might perish.

"If General Duan dies… what will we do?"

He Simu considered this a good question. She still had many curiosities about Duan Xu. If he died and became a Wandering Soul, his name would appear in the Ghost Records, and his life story would be laid bare before her.

She found herself somewhat looking forward to it.Next was the Illusion-Breaking Sword in his possession. She certainly didn't want her uncle and aunt's treasure to be buried underground with him, never to see the light of day again.

He Simu then asked Chen Ying, "Do you remember a few days ago when we were chatting with the neighbors, there was someone who was the widow of a suona craftsman... called..."

"Widow? What's that?" Chen Ying looked puzzled.

"It means someone whose husband has died."

"Oh! Song Da Niang?"

"Yes, go invite her over for some melon seeds, and bring her suona along."

Chen Ying obediently jumped off the stool and scampered away.

Before long, he led a woman in her forties into the courtyard. The woman carried a box in her hand and wore a white flower in her hair. Her slightly plump figure made her appear somewhat clumsy, and her expression was downcast.

She lifted the curtain and entered the room where He Simu was. He Simu invited her to sit, and she placed the box on the table before asking, "Miss, what do you need the suona for...? Seeing this thing always makes me sad these days."

She stroked the box and said, "My husband spent his whole life performing at weddings and funerals for others, but in the end, no one played a funeral tune for him..."

This Song Da Niang's husband had been the only suona craftsman in the city, who died during the massacre.

He Simu placed melon seeds and peanuts in front of her and quietly waited for her to compose herself before speaking.

"Song Da Niang, could you lend me the suona to play for a bit?"

Song Da Niang was surprised. "Miss He, you can play the suona?"

"I learned a little in the past," He Simu said with a smile.

Song Da Niang immediately agreed. He Simu took the suona, moistened the reed, and after recalling for a moment, raised it to her lips and played "Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix."

Song Da Niang was astonished, clapping her hands as she listened, her eyes reddening. She said she never thought she'd hear the suona played again.

"Song Da Niang, did my playing stay in tune?" He Simu asked after finishing the piece.

Song Da Niang nodded eagerly. "Your technique is excellent, Miss. It was perfectly in tune."

He Simu then asked Chen Ying, whose eyes sparkled with admiration. He also said it sounded great and didn't go out of tune.

Thankfully, it was passable—she couldn't tell if it was in tune or not.

He Simu then asked Song Da Niang if she could borrow the suona for a while.

"What do you need it for?"

"I know someone who's in grave danger. If he dies, I plan to send him off," He Simu said casually.

If he died, his coffin would surely be transported from Liangzhou back to the Southern Capital. It would be rather bleak to have no funeral music along the way.

A funeral tune in exchange for his Illusion-Breaking Sword.

After all, he'd be dead by then and couldn't protest. It was just an even trade, not against her principles.

Before the man had even died, He Simu had already planned the funeral arrangements and secured the suona's rental for a month with half a basket of eggs.

Chen Ying saw Song Da Niang out and came bouncing back. Standing on tiptoe, he leaned on the table, eyeing the suona in the box with curiosity.

"Big Sis, you can do everything! You can even play the suona!"

"Just had too much free time," He Simu said, spinning the suona in her hand. "My father taught me this when I was little. There's hardly any instrument he couldn't play."

Though she was born an Evil Ghost, before inheriting the Ghost King's throne, she had been raised among humans. Her parents seemed to have wanted her to live like a living person. So much so that now, she could barely pass as human without giving herself away.Of course, encountering that little fox Duan Xu was another matter entirely.

"Big sister, what does your father do?" Chen Ying hopped onto a small stool, sitting upright as he asked.

He Simu thought for a moment, twirling the horn in her hand a few times before finding an appropriate description: "My father... used to be the head butcher. In my hometown, there was a place where all the residents were butchers."

If her father—the former Ghost King—heard this analogy, he'd surely clap his hands in admiration, calling it absolutely brilliant.

"Ah, a butcher, like Uncle Zhang who sells pork on the street?"

"Something like that." He Simu smiled, her gaze turning somewhat distant. "Butchers are quite difficult to manage, you know."

"Then, big sister, how did your parents pass away?"

Chen Ying was still at that age where children speak without restraint, asking whatever came to mind, unaware that some questions were inappropriate.

He Simu glanced at Chen Ying, and the dark clouds in her eyes frightened him into silence.

She simply smiled and ignored the question, sending Chen Ying to fetch two taels of soy sauce from the street. The boy immediately fled as if granted amnesty.

After Chen Ying left the courtyard, He Simu took out the trembling Bright Pearl from her sleeve and asked, "Feng Yi, what is it?"

"Just reporting to you, old friend," came the cheerful voice of a young man.

"I've investigated Duan Shunxi in more detail. Among the four children of the Duan family, he's the third son. Even as a child, he was known for his talent, possessing a photographic memory and able to recite hundreds of poems and songs. When he was seven, his grandmother in Dài Province fell seriously ill, so he was sent to care for her. During this time, his writings often circulated, making him quite famous in Dài Province. All this is fairly ordinary. The only unusual part is that when he returned to the capital from Dài Province at fourteen, he encountered bandits."

"All his servants and attendants were killed, and only he escaped death, trekking all the way to the Southern Capital. It was only then that he settled down there."

He Simu tapped her fingers on the table thoughtfully. "All his servants died, and only he survived? What happened to the Duan family's grandmother afterward?"

"Not long after Duan Shunxi arrived in the Southern Capital, the old lady passed away."

So, nearly everyone who knew him during those seven years in Dài Province was no longer alive.

What a coincidence. Could the world truly have such coincidences?

Or was he trying to hide something?

He Simu cracked sunflower seeds, thinking this little general was truly a treasure trove—the more she dug, the more she uncovered. Coincidentally, she was feeling a bit hungry lately and could head to the frontlines in Shuozhou for a meal. She might as well check whether the little general was still alive and well.

The night was deep, and before the walls of Shuozhou's prefectural city, the clamor of battle shook the heavens as blades clashed.

He Simu concealed her true form, strolling leisurely amidst the flying swords and bloody struggles. She wore her favorite red-and-white triple-layered robe, the jade pendant at her waist glimmering brightly.

Endless deaths, endless flashes of Soul Fire, bright lanterns ascending to the heavens—reincarnation in motion. The blood-soaked battlefield, in the eyes of an Evil Ghost, was like a grand festival of floating lanterns.

She crouched on the ground, selecting a Hú Qì man with a well-formed skull who was on the brink of death. With two fingers, she brushed over his eyes, and as he blinked, he saw the Evil Ghost before him.

"I can grant you one wish before I devour you. Is there anything you desire?" He Simu asked him in the Hú Qì language.Seeing his usual bewildered expression, she briefly explained the pros and cons in the Huqi language. The Huqi man clutched at her robe with trembling hands and called out weakly, "Azure God..."

He Simu tilted her head slightly. "I am no Azure God."

"Azure God... kill that... bastard!" The Huqi man raised a finger, his face so bloodied his features were indistinguishable—only the hatred and fury in his eyes were unmistakable.

Following his finger, He Simu looked out into the world illuminated bright as day by the Soul Fire in her vision. There, Duan Xu rode a chestnut steed, armored and armed, cutting through the crowd with blood spraying three feet high.

His expression was calm and indifferent, devoid of anger or hatred. Yet beneath that serene surface, something seemed to lurk.

Something she couldn't quite discern.

"You want me to kill that man?" He Simu pointed at Duan Xu and turned back to her would-be meal.