Chapter 3: Erlang, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill

“Could it be that the ghost had seen through my plan all along?”

A chill crept over Xu Ye’s heart, his hairs standing on end.

But at that very instant, a heavy hand clamped down on his shoulder, and he heard a familiar voice roar out with all its strength:

“Iron Fortress!”

It was the voice of his eldest brother, Xu Yuan, as Xu Ye remembered it.

“Big Brother... you’re alive?”

Stunned, Xu Ye slowly lifted his head and saw Xu Yuan spreading his arms wide, using his tall frame to shield him. In Xu Yuan’s right hand was that very measuring rod.

Boom!

As soon as Xu Yuan shouted “Iron Fortress,” a gale like a giant’s palm swept out from the ancestral hall, flinging all the monstrous shades from within. The wind then formed a barrier inside the hall itself.

For a moment, the courtyard rang with ghostly wails.

Seeing this, joy flashed across Xu Ye’s face. Though he couldn’t yet fathom how Xu Yuan had survived, it was clear that not only had he been waiting for this moment to enter the ancestral hall—so had Xu Yuan, who had feigned death.

“Wait, Lady Man appears unharmed!”

Just as Xu Ye relaxed, a flicker out of the corner of his eye caught Lady Man, the ghost, still standing motionless inside the hall, having only retreated a few steps.

“You think I didn’t know you were alive?” Lady Man crossed her arms, sneering as she stepped forward. She let the gales brush her cheek, unflinching even as her skin began to split.

“That measuring rod of Xu Jiugé’s has been in your family for nearly three centuries, hasn’t it? That bit of righteous energy, spent but not replenished, has been squandered by you unfilial descendants, nine-tenths gone. And now you’ve exhausted the last of it. Soon, I’ll be able to enjoy it at my leisure.”

Her smile was chilling.

“Hmph, you think I’m unaware of your scheming?” Xu Yuan’s voice had grown hoarse. He gripped the rod and raised it above his head, his other hand quietly reaching out to grasp Xu Ye’s.

“Brother, give me the rod—”

“Immunity to All Poison!”

Xu Ye had just begun to share his plan, hoping they could join forces against the ghost, when Xu Yuan cut him off.

A resonant hum filled Xu Ye’s ears at those words. It felt as though an invisible force gripped him, but in the next instant, a refreshing wind seemed to wash over him, sweeping away the weakness and numbness that had plagued him.

The poison that Lady Man had planted in him was gone!

“Second Brother, run!” Xu Yuan suddenly shouted, twisting his head toward Xu Ye.

And as the word “run” left his lips, his flesh split open and his pupils went slack.

Horrified, Xu Ye looked down to see a woman’s hand thrust through Xu Yuan’s chest, holding a steaming heart.

Even so, Xu Yuan’s lips continued to move, mumbling softly,

“Go... Second Brother... go...”

It had happened so quickly that Xu Ye hadn’t even had time to react. He could only watch as the light faded from Xu Yuan’s eyes.

“Neither of you brothers is leaving,” Lady Man said, her face spattered with blood as she leaned out from behind Xu Yuan, gazing at Xu Ye with greedy, entranced eyes.

“With such power, why didn’t you flee? Why save a wretch like me?” Xu Ye stared blankly at Xu Yuan’s dying gaze. Strangely, now that he’d witnessed his brother die before him, Xu Ye felt no fear—only bewilderment at Xu Yuan’s actions.

Xu Yuan’s consciousness was fading, but his lips still moved, repeating,

“Second Brother... go... tell... A Ruo... I regret nothing of knowing you in this life... May we meet again beneath the golden elm in the next...”

Hearing this, Xu Ye fell silent for a moment, then raised his head once more.

Facing Lady Man’s gaze, he lifted the measuring rod forced into his hand by Xu Yuan.

“Be good, Second Brother. Put down that rod and I’ll let bygones be bygones,” Lady Man said, still bewitching and unafraid.

Xu Ye remained unmoved.

“Though I can’t yet touch that rod, its righteous energy is spent. It can’t threaten me anymore. If you don’t want to die now, just put it back where it belongs,” she said coldly when her seduction failed.

“Heaven gives birth to all things to nourish man.”

At last, Xu Ye spoke—not in answer to Lady Man, but reciting a line of poetry she’d never heard.

“You think poetry can restore righteous energy? Go on, let’s see if the doggerel of a wastrel like you can conjure any at all,” Lady Man mocked, arms crossed.

“All men still blame Heaven for being unkind,” Xu Ye intoned the second line.

At that, Lady Man’s sneer faded. Her expression shifted from disdain to wariness as she took a step back.

“Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill!”

As Lady Man retreated, Xu Ye spat out the word “kill” seven times, each one slow and deliberate. The fear on Lady Man’s face intensified at each utterance.

Without a moment’s hesitation, she whirled and leapt out of the ancestral hall.

Boom!

She had barely crossed the threshold when seven gales, sharp as blades, slashed forth from the measuring rod in Xu Ye’s hand.

Crash!

With a deafening sound, Lady Man was struck down, tumbling across the ground as deep wounds, cut to the bone, appeared on her back.

The other ghosts caught in the tempest fared even worse—their bodies were cleaved in two, flames consuming them until their screams faded into ashes.

“Impossible! It can’t be! How could a scoundrel like you compose such lines?” Lady Man shrieked hysterically as she retreated, her voice cracking.

“Heaven gives birth to all things to nourish man; all men still blame Heaven for being unkind—kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill!”

Xu Ye’s chant came again, this time brimming with anger rather than stiffness.

It was the fury that had built within him over more than half a month, after witnessing member after member of the Xu family die before his eyes.

Boom!

As the verse left his lips, the gale surged, whipping up dust and forming armored soldiers wielding swords and spears. Guided by Xu Ye’s will, they charged fiercely toward Lady Man, cutting off her escape.

Crash!

Another thunderous blow. Lady Man was sent flying by the assault of the armored warriors, her body a bloody, mangled ruin when she hit the ground.

“They do not see the locusts devouring the world, nor the suffering of all who serve the king—kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill.”

“Among men, there are those noble and those base; the noble ever favored by Heaven’s grace—kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill.”

“The disloyal shall be slain!”

“The unfilial shall be slain!”

“The unkind shall be slain!”

“The unjust shall be slain!”

“Those lacking in propriety, wisdom, or faith—kill, kill, kill!”

As though venting all the emotion in his heart, Xu Ye’s voice no longer paused. Righteous gales surged from the measuring rod, armored soldiers of wind and dust gathering in the courtyard, wielding blades, halberds, and spears as they slaughtered the ghosts in the rear courtyard with wild abandon.