Volume One, Chapter 12: The Fruit of Lu Jiasu's Choice

The boy ghost’s thoughts returned, and his small face was already streaked with tears. “This highway was sealed with a spell by that feng shui master long ago. In just fifty years, everything will be wiped away.”

“I thought I would slowly fade away, but a year ago, I noticed the spell around me seemed to weaken. Even when the moon wasn’t full, I could come out.”

“Later…” The boy ghost opened his mouth, his large, tear-filled eyes rolling around, and continued, “I overheard people say I’ve become an earthbound spirit, unable to leave this place. They said I’d only be able to escape if I grew very powerful…”

“So you let your dogs devour passing travelers?” Qin Yu frowned, disapproving.

“But the safety of this highway is bought by me and my dogs. What’s wrong with us eating a few people? We only want to leave this place.”

The boy’s expression turned venomous, the ghostly aura around him growing ever more murky. “Sister, do you know how cold it is there? When I first died, maggots crawled over my body again and again, my flesh rotting away bit by bit as they gnawed at me. In the end, all that was left was bare white bones.”

“Whenever I hear the laughter of children passing along the road, I can’t help but wonder why it couldn’t be me who stayed alive?”

“Their parents are with them, so happy! But where is my happiness?”

The boy ghost squatted on the ground, hugging himself, head buried in his knees, his small body trembling as he sobbed.

Behind him, the dogs seemed to sense his sorrow, whimpering incessantly.

Qin Yu sympathized with his plight, but none of this could justify harming others.

Moreover, this little ghost had been trapped on the highway for years—where could he have heard people talk about earthbound spirits?

“Wife, please help him—he’s so pitiful! He’s done nothing wrong from start to finish. He’s innocent and loving; if he were alive, he’d surely be a good child!”

“Don’t kill a child ghost. As a mother, I really can’t stand it.”

“Those who are pitiful always have something hateful about them. He may be pitiful, but aren’t the travelers he murdered pitiful too?”

“But he only went astray because he desperately wanted to see the world—and he’s still just a child.”

“A thirty-six-year-old child?”

“But his intelligence is only that of a six-year-old, isn’t it?”

“No matter what, killing is wrong. All those sanctimonious defenders should stop making excuses.”

“Unless you’ve suffered yourself, how can you advise others to be kind? Imagine if your own son were murdered and couldn’t find peace after death—would you really think this way? No one is perfect, let alone a ghost.”

…

Qin Yu watched as comments flooded the live-stream, her lips pressed together in thought. She said, “Your hands are already stained with blood. Seeking a peaceful end is impossible for you now…”

The little boy cried until his vision blurred, but hearing Qin Yu’s words, he wasn’t afraid at all. His calmness was heart-wrenching. He wiped his tears with the back of his hand, his eyes red, and said, “Sister, I never expected a peaceful end from the start.”

Qin Yu’s heart was touched. She waved her hand. “That may be so, but I’m a kind person. I can grant you one wish before sending you on your way.”

The little boy was stunned. “Any wish?”

Qin Yu gazed into his bright eyes, nodded deeply and mysteriously.

Lu Jiashu—whether you choose destruction or redemption, the choice is yours.

“I want to leave here!”

Qin Yu snapped her fingers. “No problem!”

In an instant, Lu Jiashu felt his body lighten.

Realizing the seal was lifted, Lu Jiashu was overcome with joy and knelt with a thud, bowing deeply to Qin Yu. “Thank you, big sister.”

Just as he was about to leave, Qin Yu’s soft voice came, “Lu Jiashu, I hope you’ll return and tell me in person who taught you to use murder to increase your ghostly power.”

Lu Jiashu paused, but did not look back.

Qin Yu looked at the swarm of black dogs, pressed her palms together, and began solemnly reciting the scripture for the dead.

What fault is there in living things?

With every recitation, the restless pack of dogs gradually calmed. White moonlight spilled down like a silver canopy from the horizon, and the black dogs faded away under its glow. The ghostly barrier vanished, revealing the boundaries of the highway.

“Why didn’t you kill that murderous ghost? You just let him go—aren’t you afraid he’ll kill more people? If so, do you even deserve the title of Celestial Master?”

“Didn’t that little ghost head toward Lu Jia Village? Maybe he really will go kill more people, just as some commenters suggested.”

“My god, if that’s true, then Master Shanqiu is basically letting a ghost kill people!”

Qin Yu smiled gently, waved at the screen, and said goodbye. “Thank you all for watching today. See you tomorrow!”

With that, she decisively ended the livestream.

Mu Ling bounced over to Qin Yu’s side. “You let Lu Jiashu go on purpose, didn’t you?”

Qin Yu didn’t answer, only instructed, “Go find all the victims on this highway. I need to recite prayers for them.”

That would help offset some of the sins Lu Jiashu had committed.

Qin Yu looked up at the sky and sighed softly. “Lu Jiashu, don’t make me regret this.”

—

Nan Qiao stared at the suddenly closed livestream, unable to send the words he’d typed on his keyboard.

That hateful woman! She didn’t get rid of Lu Jiashu!

He angrily threw his phone.

Suddenly, a cold wind blew in from outside the window, making Nan Qiao’s heart skip a beat.

He got up to close the window in fear, but behind the curtain, the vague outline of a child stood.

Nan Qiao thought of the recently released Lu Jiashu and ran without hesitation.

But just as he reached the door, Lu Jiashu’s twisted face appeared before his eyes.

“Nan Qiao, I died so miserably! That deep pit was cold and damp, all kinds of bugs crawling across my skin, burrowing into my flesh. Over there, I had no one to talk to, so you’ll come keep me company! You’ll suffer everything I did!”

Nan Qiao’s legs gave out and he dropped to his knees with a thud, a yellow stain spreading from his groin. He knelt and begged, “Lu Jiashu, it was wrong of me to push you down back then. I thought you’d be able to get out. I was only ten and didn’t know any better!”

“And me? I was only six! Did I deserve to die because you were ignorant?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

Nan Qiao knocked his head against the floor, apologizing again and again, but it brought no forgiveness from Lu Jiashu.

“My peaceful life was ruined by you!”

Lu Jiashu laughed, blood streaming from the corners of his eyes.

Nan Qiao died a terrible death—kneeling at the doorway, his body froze into a block of ice on that sweltering summer night.