Unable to move forward, and incapable of retreat.

Xie Qingfa saw this and didn’t ask anything more, obediently standing by Ji Ningzhao’s side in silence.

When Ji Ningzhao had told him that day she would be coming to the abandoned campus with Chen Yiming, she had already informed him what talismans to prepare and what his task would be.

He was to follow the directions she gave, find the scattered remains of the revenant’s body in the mountain, and seal them with the talismans.

Thus, as soon as they entered the deserted campus, Xie Qingfa had already separated from them.

Yet, even he didn’t know when Chen Yiming had been replaced by a paper puppet by Ji Ningzhao. He simply assumed Chen Yiming was overly nervous and didn’t notice when he left, never imagining that the person following him was not Chen Yiming himself.

Ji Ningzhao had spent so long speaking with the revenant precisely to give Xie Qingfa time to act, so she could trap this spirit and question it.

Otherwise, there was no need for her to bring Xie Qingfa along; if she merely intended to kill the revenant, she could have managed it alone.

Once the revenant’s body, which continuously drew energy from Jingtai Mountain, was sealed by the talisman, it could no longer go anywhere. Now, it had no doubt that Ji Ningzhao had the power to annihilate it completely.

After a moment’s hesitation, it said, “I can tell you, but if I do and you still intend to kill me, what then? You must swear an oath.”

In truth, this method hadn’t been given to it by anyone; it had discovered it itself within an ancient tomb deep in Jingtai Mountain. But if it revealed that, Ji Ningzhao would immediately destroy it, excavate its scattered remains from the mountain, and expose them to the sun.

The revenant refused to resign itself so easily. It could hint that Ji Ningzhao was being directed by forces greater than itself, hoping to bargain for survival.

Once an oath is spoken, it leaves a mark between heaven and earth. The more cultivated a person is, the more seriously they take such matters, and the more fearful they are of breaking their word. As long as Ji Ningzhao swore, the revenant had nothing to fear.

Even if it were to be suppressed and sealed, so long as it wasn’t utterly destroyed, perhaps there might be another chance.

Yet, just as it considered Ji Ningzhao’s urgent desire to know, she suddenly laughed, as if she found its words amusing.

Though she laughed, her eyes were as calm as a still lake. The revenant heard Ji Ningzhao ask, “Are you trying to bargain with me?”

But as she finished speaking, Ji Ningzhao suddenly turned her gaze in another direction, as if sensing something.

The revenant wanted to speak further, but when it opened its mouth, no sound came out. At the same time, it was struck with terror as it realized its body was gradually dissipating.

Xie Qingfa noticed the surrounding fog was receding and instantly became alert. “Someone moved the talismans I placed.”

Ji Ningzhao shook her head, pulling Xie Qingfa back two steps. She knew someone didn’t want the revenant to continue speaking.

Even the most careful plans have their flaws; she admitted she had forgotten to guard against the hidden figure behind all this. But now, it was too late to act.

The most crucial parts of the revenant, which served as pieces in the geomantic game, had been destroyed by someone’s intervention. It would soon vanish from this world.

Never mind, there are always other ways to learn the truth.

Ji Ningzhao and Xie Qingfa stood where they were, feeling the ground beneath them tremble violently. Then, the thick fog gradually dispersed, and the revenant vanished with a final shriek.

It was already deep into the night. Outside the dormitory building, even the sound of cicadas had faded away.

From beginning to end, they had remained outside the building, never entering.

Xie Qingfa rubbed his face in frustration. “We were careless. The talismans weren’t protected, so someone easily moved them.”

The most pressing questions had gone unanswered, rendering Ji Ningzhao’s earlier efforts futile.

Ji Ningzhao remained calm. Not everything happens as one expects; she was long accustomed to such situations.

She looked up at the sky, where the North Star shone unusually bright. “Let’s go. It’s too cold here.”

At night, the mountain’s temperature dropped much lower than in the city. Seeing Ji Ningzhao’s face pale further from the cold, Xie Qingfa asked if she wanted to borrow his coat.

Ji Ningzhao shook her head, declining his kindness, and turned to say, “Now that the Chen family’s matter is resolved, I won’t go there. If you have time, let them know.”

Whoever moved Xie Qingfa’s talisman papers, the revenant was now gone without a trace and could no longer haunt Chen Yiming.

As for the deeper matters behind all this, they were beyond the Chen family’s concerns. In any case, she had fulfilled their request.

Xie Qingfa agreed and looked at the dilapidated dormitory, unable to resist sighing. “Still, it’s a school. Even if nothing’s here, it’s scary enough. I wonder where those people found the courage to explore here at night—ignorance truly is fearless.”

Before he came to the mountain to learn his craft, Xie Qingfa had attended university as any proper student.

A closed campus, shadowy corridors, cramped dormitories, and a history of murder—such familiar environments, lived in and taken for granted by everyone, become all the more uncanny when something abnormal occurs, triggering most people’s deepest fears.

Ji Ningzhao quietly said, “I never went to school.”

When she learned to read, schools didn’t even exist as a concept, and as for anyone who could truly qualify as Ji Ningzhao’s teacher, their memorial tablet still sat in the dark little room of her home.

Perhaps the revenant taking the form of her mother tonight had stirred memories of long-ago events, and Ji Ningzhao’s emotions, for once, were unsettled.

Old friends, lost lands—all had vanished in the torrent of time, leaving her alone, as if frozen in the stream of years, unable to move forward or retreat.

Though such words might sound like false modesty to most, for Ji Ningzhao, immortality was never her wish.

If she could, she would rather have died on that night in the twenty-ninth year of Great Chu.

Xie Qingfa said nothing more. Moreover, though Ji Ningzhao was skilled, she did not look well, and he dared not let her remain chilled any longer, quickly urging her to leave.

But Ji Ningzhao did not know that shortly after the two departed, the once silent, empty dormitory building echoed with footsteps once more.

Someone stood where Ji Ningzhao had just been. After a moment, a soft laugh mingled with the night wind and faded away.

Where the revenant had disappeared, a transparent bead had quietly appeared, glinting faintly in the moonlight.

A hand, slender and pale, reached out and took the bead.