Chapter Forty-Four: A Night in the World of the Living

The girl's footsteps were light as air as she followed me inside. Ghosts are always like this, and since Wei Qi and I had visited her home before, I wasn't afraid of her.

Entering the main room, Shangguan Wan'er saw the corpse on the bed that Wang Ying's soul inhabited, and asked if this was my wife. I told her the truth: it was my wife, merged with another's body. She observed for a while, then comforted me, saying we would surely find the Blood Ganoderma, or something similar.

After seeing Wang Ying, she wasn't in a hurry to leave. Instead, she sat across from me and began to chat. Shangguan Wan'er wore a white Han-style dress, ethereal and stunning, with a faint layer of gauze revealing a water-red undergarment beneath, adding to her allure. She was beautiful in life, and her ghost retained that beauty. Her beauty was different from Wang Ying's. Wang Ying's was modern, bold and radiant; Shangguan Wan'er's was classical, reserved and gentle. Though we sat close, I dared not look at her too much; she was a young woman, and from ancient times at that, so any misunderstandings would be awkward.

We talked about many things. Shangguan Wan'er was most interested in dynasties, asking me to tell her about ancient Langya and its great families. This was local history, and though I lived near ancient Langya—near Linyi—I didn't know much. So I told her what I knew about China's dynastic changes, though not comprehensively.

Even so, Shangguan Wan'er listened as if spellbound, marveling at the world's wonders and expressing a wish to remain among the living. I don't know why, but I said, "You can stay in the human world. Your body hasn't decayed, and your soul can inhabit it. My blood can sustain you."

As soon as I finished, I regretted it. Wasn't I just inviting trouble? Wang Ying hadn't recovered yet, and now I'd be keeping another beautiful female ghost here—what would people say? But once the words were spoken, there was no taking them back. Besides, the girl was frank and generous; she had given me the blood amber without hesitation.

Shangguan Wan'er pondered for a moment, then looked up at me. "Brother Wang, are you sincere? Won't this cause you trouble? Won't Sister Wang Ying misunderstand?"

I felt it was inconvenient, but as a man, I had to keep my word. "My wife and I trust each other, and you have helped us, so there’s nothing to misunderstand."

Shangguan Wan'er smiled, her face bright with happiness. "Brother Wang, actually, I don't just want to stay for the excitement; I'm looking for Zi Yi. Despite two thousand years of dynastic changes, I believe he will be reborn among the living. A birthmark doesn't change—even if he's reborn as a pig or dog, I believe I will find him."

I understood what she meant; she remembered Zi Yi's birthmark and wanted to find him in this world. Seeing her so devoted, I resolved to let this ancient girl’s soul wander the world with me. "If you wish, tomorrow night Wei Qi and I will unearth your body. You can inhabit it, and as long as you drink my blood every so often, your flesh will not decay."

Shangguan Wan'er was moved, her eyes reddening with emotion. "Brother Wang, how can I thank you?"

"You’re too polite. You helped me and Wang Ying, so this is the least I can do." I truly meant it; whether person or ghost, one should treat others sincerely. She helped me so selflessly; helping her was only right.

We chatted a bit more, and then Shangguan Wan'er said it was getting late—if she stayed too long, she wouldn't be able to return, so it was time to go. We agreed that tomorrow night, Wei Qi and I would help her unearth her body.

I assured her it was no problem. After seeing her off, I stood alone in the courtyard, gazing at the gray-blue night sky, feeling as if I were dreaming. Suddenly, a thought struck me: if Shangguan Wan'er comes, where will she stay? Her soul is strong, and if she drinks my blood, she’ll be no different from a living person. Would she live with me?

That couldn't work. Wang Ying already gets upset when I linger over her inhabited body; if she knew I lived with Shangguan Wan'er, her soul would be even more fragile.

So far, I don't claim to be a good person, but I have no selfish or improper thoughts about Shangguan Wan'er—she helped me, and I help her, nothing more.

Standing in the courtyard for a while, I returned to my room. Seeing Wang Ying’s body again, those thoughts vanished completely. I lay on the sofa and drifted into sleep, thinking about Wei Qi's return tomorrow and the need to unearth Shangguan Wan'er’s grave that night, as promised. Her body was underground, and if it decayed, it would be too late.

After thinking for a while, I was about to turn off the lights when there was a knocking at the door outside. I paused, wondering if the female ghost had changed her mind. She’d already been here once—why knock? She could just float in.

When I got dressed and opened the door, it wasn’t Shangguan Wan'er outside, but Wei Qi, standing at the threshold, covered in dust and looking utterly dejected.

"Uncle Qi, what's happened?" I asked, puzzled by his appearance.

"Do you have any wine?" Wei Qi pushed his way in.

"There’s wine left, but it’s nearly dawn—why drink now? Wait, didn’t you go to the county to find Shang Xiaoyun? Why are you back?" I was starting to understand.

"Don’t mention it. Just drink with me," Wei Qi said as he entered the main room. He saw the bottle of wine on the coffee table, grabbed it, and gulped it down without bothering with any food.

"What’s wrong? Did she ignore you?" I guessed that must be the case. His mood was so different from when he left.

Though I was still tipsy myself, seeing Wei Qi so disheartened, I joined him for a drink. There were leftover snacks in the cupboard, and we drank straight from the bottle. As we drank, Wei Qi told me what had happened in the city. He’d tried calling Shang Xiaoyun but couldn’t reach her, so he waited outside her villa until midnight. Then he saw her come home, embraced by another man. He didn’t show himself and just left.

I smiled wryly, unsure how to comfort him. In fact, Yingzi was quite good—beautiful, lively and sharp, efficient in everything, a professional poultry farmer, financially secure, and treated Wei Qi well. But he just didn’t care for her. Now that Shang Xiaoyun was with another man, he’d probably give up.

"Uncle Qi, what’s so great about Shang Xiaoyun? Yingzi is wonderful!"

Wei Qi shook his head. "Nephew, let me tell you. Love is a feeling. The moment I saw Shang Xiaoyun, I knew she was the one I wanted. Too bad she has a man already. I should have realized it earlier. If she didn’t have a man, would she need to arrange a ghost marriage for her dead husband? Enough about that. What are your plans? When will you set out to find the Blood Ganoderma?"

I instinctively shook my head. "The day after tomorrow. Tomorrow we have something to do—we need to unearth Shangguan Wan'er's grave."

"Shangguan Wan'er? Who's that?" Wei Qi looked at me in confusion. I then explained Shangguan Wan’er’s visit that night and my intention to let her stay.

Wei Qi frowned, saying I acted too emotionally, not considering the consequences—bringing a female ghost with a body home would make life complicated.

I was indeed troubled, especially about living arrangements. In the end, Wei Qi came up with a solution: Shangguan Wan'er would stay at my house with Wang Ying, while I would live with him.

Wei Qi's decision was reasonable. The night passed without incident; both of us were thoroughly drunk and only fully sobered up by noon the next day.

After drinking, my stomach burned and I felt nauseous. If Wang Ying were here, there would surely be chicken soup or hangover cures, but she wasn’t, so there was nothing. If Yingzi knew Wei Qi was back, she’d probably come to take care of him, and I could benefit too, but she didn’t know, so no one looked after us.

I managed to cook some porridge, which helped a bit. Remembering last night’s promise to Shangguan Wan'er, Wei Qi and I hurried to the village chief’s house to negotiate. Repairing the grave had been difficult, and now we had to dig it up again, so we had to explain clearly. Besides, Wei Qi and I were good at ghost marriages, but digging up graves was not our specialty—we needed the villagers' help.

The village chief listened to us, eyes wide in astonishment, asking if there really was an undecayed corpse beneath. I assured him there was. The chief quickly found six strong villagers, and we were to direct the operation.

Late at night, we began digging up Shangguan Wan'er's grave. The village chief was present. Digging, opening the coffin—a lifelike corpse was revealed before us. Since we had explained beforehand, no one was very frightened, just amazed, privately asking how the body hadn’t decayed after all these years. I simply said it was a secret that couldn’t be revealed.

After thanking the village chief and the villagers, Wei Qi and I carried Shangguan Wan'er's body back to my house. Once the door was closed, her soul followed us in. Under my guidance, she entered her own body. Her corpse slowly rose to its feet.

Perhaps she had never experienced this before; seeing her own body stand up, she was stunned, tears streaming down her face in excitement.

Watching the graceful Shangguan Wan'er, I bit my finger and offered it to her. “Drink. From now on, your body will be sustained by my blood. Without it, your body will decay.”

Shangguan Wan'er didn’t seize my finger with the urgency and greed that Wang Ying had shown, but gazed at me, hesitant. “Brother Wang, isn’t this too much? I owe you so much.”

I smiled. “It’s nothing—just mutual aid.”

Only then did Shangguan Wan'er gently and cautiously suck my finger, so different from modern girls, reserved and restrained, possessing a unique beauty.

After drinking my blood, her pallid face turned rosy, almost indistinguishable from a living person.

“All right, tonight you can sleep here. With my blood and your own body, you need not fear. As long as you don’t expose yourself to the sun or go where the energy is too strong, you’ll be no different from anyone else. Wei Qi and I will sleep over there, and you can keep Wang Ying company.” Seeing that Shangguan Wan'er had drunk enough, I felt it was time to go. I needed to consult with Wei Qi on how to search for the Blood Ganoderma to save Wang Ying’s soul, which was my real goal.

Shangguan Wan'er hesitated slightly, but nodded and saw us out.

“Da Chuan, I just thought of something. If you take Shangguan Wan'er in, what will you do when you go out searching for the Blood Ganoderma?” Wei Qi asked as we walked.

Yes, what would I do? If I wasn’t around, she wouldn’t get my blood in time, and if her body decayed, it would be disastrous. I said, “Uncle Qi, since things didn’t work out with Shang Xiaoyun, and you don’t care for Yingzi, why not let Shangguan Wan'er stay with you?”

Wei Qi shook his head firmly. “Impossible. I’ve raised A-Ling and A-Li, two little female ghosts, and look how miserable they are. I’m not like you—your blood is special and can sustain her, mine can't. So she can't stay with me.”

I thought this made sense and fell silent. When we got to Wei Qi’s house and were about to close the door, Shangguan Wan'er followed us.

“Why did you come?” I asked, unsure what she wanted.

“Brother Wang, it’s my first night among the living, and I’m so scared. Could you stay with me—just for one night?” Shangguan Wan'er pleaded pitifully.