Miss Fairy, Please Hear Me Out

Dusk had arrived, and the golden light of the setting sun spilled over the deathly gray-white forest, a place thick with ghostly gloom.

Night was coming. Since he had no idea how long the battle between the two soul bodies below would last, Xu Yuan took Ran Qingmo back to the carriage to wait. But when they returned to the shaded forest path from earlier, the carriage was gone.

After a careful search, he finally discovered that the flamehoof carriage had somehow been led to a stable tucked away in the woods.

Xu Yuan’s first thought was that Xu Changge had done it. After all, other than Gui Qi, there were no other living things in this ghost fog. But when Xu Yuan saw the feed trough, filled with carefully mixed fodder, dried fruit, and other horse feed, he immediately dismissed the idea.

Xu Changge might drive a carriage. But the image of his older brother calmly preparing horse feed was just too absurd to picture.

Xu Yuan grabbed the redwood handle of the carriage and shook his head. “The feed is mixed pretty well. I didn’t expect Gui Qi to have such refined taste.”

“Thank you for your praise, Third Young Master. This old servant spent his whole life leading horses and driving carriages for the Chancellor. Apart from killing people, this is the only skill I have left.”

Xu Yuan froze. The hoarse voice, rough as old bark scraping together, suddenly rang out. His hand stiffened on the redwood handle.

Then that bark-like voice came again from behind him, dull and strange. “If I have startled you, Third Young Master, please forgive this old servant.”

Xu Yuan steadied his mind and slowly released the handle. But what he glimpsed from the corner of his eye made his heartbeat stumble for an instant.

The stable was very simple, nothing more than a few wooden posts with a wooden roof over them. Wind blew through from every side, and the view was open enough to see the twisted gray-white forest all around.

But at this moment, the once fairly bright woods around him were being swallowed at a visible speed by some seeping black fog.

In the span of a few breaths, everything around him seemed to vanish into thin air, leaving only pitch-black darkness.

And Ran Qingmo, who had been standing barely a meter away from him moments ago, had disappeared as well. Aside from the stable, the only thing beside him was a soul body that looked almost solid, standing there quietly.

But it did not look like Gui Qi. It was the Sage’s soul body, and on his fingertip was the pitch-black soul ring.

At the sight, Xu Yuan’s pupils narrowed slightly. From beginning to end, he had never cared whether the Sage’s remnant soul lived or died.

The Sage’s remnant soul had indeed lived for over ten thousand years, but as for the useful information he knew... He might not necessarily know more than Xu Yuan himself.

What Xu Yuan truly cared about, from beginning to end, was only the Sage’s remnant soul and the strength it possessed, strength that could keep him alive.

After all, no matter how strong Ran Qingmo was, she could not merge with him. If they really ran into some powerful enemy and a fight broke out, he would only become Ran Qingmo’s weakness. While fighting, she would still have to worry that the shockwaves from the battle might accidentally rattle him to death.

The Sage’s remnant soul, on the other hand, was the perfect portable old grandpa. It could possess him and fight on his behalf. Fully AI-controlled. No need to worry about getting killed by splash damage either. The perfect bodyguard.

That said, Xu Yuan had originally planned to bind the Sage’s remnant soul to him through mutual benefit. He knew very well what kind of bastard this Sage’s remnant soul was, and he also knew exactly what the remnant soul wanted.

But now, it seemed Xu Changge had other ideas. Xu Yuan did not know what his elder brother was planning, but judging from the situation, Xu Changge seemed to want Gui Qi to simply devour the Sage’s remnant soul, seize the nest, and then have him protect Xu Yuan instead.

The problem was... could a Yin ghost really be trusted?

The Sage’s remnant soul was unreliable, yes, but at least he could be bound through logic and interests. A Yin ghost, however, was the sort of existence born for destruction.

The scene before him caught Xu Yuan completely off guard. Thoughts flashed rapidly through his mind. Was this also part of Xu Changge’s plan? Surely not, right? Throwing a seventh rank Bone Tempering weakling like him straight into a face-to-face meeting with a second rank Yin ghost was a bit much, even for a difficulty spike.

But if this was not Xu Changge’s plan...

Xu Yuan quietly circulated his cultivation technique and chose his words with care. “Are you Old Gui?”

The Sage’s soul body no longer had any whites in its eyes. Both pupils were filled with black so dense it seemed almost solid. His voice remained dry and hoarse. “There is no need to be nervous, Third Young Master. For now, it is still this old servant.”

Xu Yuan silently let his cultivation technique fade. A ghost of this rank did not need any reason at all if it wanted to kill him. But what did he mean by that?

“For now?”

“Yes.”

“Where are we?”

“This is a ghost domain this old servant created using the Sage’s source soul.”

“The Sage’s source soul... What about Luo Daofan?”

“For the moment, this old servant has suppressed him.”

“You didn’t devour him?”

“Naturally not,” Gui Qi answered without hiding anything.

Xu Yuan paused, his tone carrying a hint of uncertainty. “Then from now on, will the two of you be sharing one soul body?”

He knew that bodies in this world could be shared by two souls. But whether a soul body could be shared as well... That question had wandered straight into the barren desert of his knowledge.

Gui Qi fell silent for a moment. His voice had no rise or fall at all. “No. This old servant is about to dissipate.”

Xu Yuan’s pupils shrank. “Dissipate? Didn’t Xu Changge want you to devour that Sage’s soul body?”

Gui Qi’s cracked lips seemed to move, but in the end, he only shook his head slightly. “This old servant naturally wished to protect the Third Young Master as you traveled the world. I also wished to continue leading horses and driving carriages for the Chancellor. But with this ghost body, I fear that is no longer possible. If the Eldest Young Master had not arrived a month ago, this old servant would likely have already become a mindless ghost. Even with a secret art binding my soul, I have now reached my limit.”

In the pitch-black ghost domain, Xu Yuan stood quietly for several breaths, then asked in a low voice, “If that is the case, then what was the point of all this?”

“To fuse souls.” As he spoke, Gui Qi slowly turned his eyes and raised a hand, pointing at the soul body he now occupied. “If it had succeeded, this Sage would have sworn loyalty to our Chancellor’s Manor.”

His rough, muffled voice echoed with ghostly heaviness. “But this old servant was incapable. I failed. Still, Third Young Master, please rest assured. Though I could not make him loyal to the Chancellor, I have already carved the thought of protecting you into his consciousness.”

Xu Yuan’s mind trembled at those words. He had used his life to buy a... mental brand? As that thought flashed past, he finally understood what Xu Changge had been trying to do. But looking at Gui Qi, who remained so utterly calm before him, he fell silent again.

A loyalty that had not changed, even after becoming a Yin ghost. After a long quiet, Xu Yuan said softly, “Old Gui, you came to find me because there is something you want me to tell Father, isn’t there?”

He remembered what the other party had asked of him back in the cavern.

Gui Qi nodded slightly. “Yes.”

Xu Yuan took a deep breath. “Say it. I will pass it on exactly as you tell me.”

“Thank you, Third Young Master.” Gui Qi bowed his head in a solemn salute. His dry, withered voice carried a faint tremble. “I was incompetent. I have failed the Chancellor.”

With that, Gui Qi slowly straightened.

Xu Yuan was silent for several breaths. “That’s all?”

“This old servant has stained himself with the blood of his comrades. I have no face to say more.” Gui Qi shook his head. When he finished speaking, the soul ring slipped from his fingertip and flew to hover before Xu Yuan.

And in the next moment, the ghost domain dissolved.

A stooped, faint shadow, so thin it seemed ready to vanish at any moment, separated from the nearly solid Sage’s soul body and drifted toward the sky.

The dying sun was red as blood, just as it had been sixty years ago.

The stooped old man stood among the mountain forest, then knelt one last time in the direction of the imperial capital.