WBICDPH Chapter 26 part 1

Chapter 26: Preconceptions

Lin Jin froze for a moment, then turned around—only to realize that, aside from himself, there was another source of light behind him. It came from the spirit butterfly hovering beside Liu Fuxin.

The butterfly fluttered around her, its wings glowing with a faint blue-white spiritual light.

Liu Fuxin raised her hand and gently brushed the spirit butterfly aside. She studied Lin Jin closely, her expression a mix of surprise and uncertainty.

“It really is you? How did you end up here?”

“Uh…”

That was a good question. Lin Jin himself didn’t quite know how to explain it.

“I’m not sure either. Han Ao and I were in the back alley behind Manting Spring when a sudden blizzard hit. In the wind and snow, someone reached out to me. I took her hand, and when I opened my eyes again, I was here.”

Hearing this, Liu Fuxin frowned slightly.

“Could it be that my judgment was wrong? That her obsession isn’t the woman in white inside Manting Spring?”

“It should be right. Look at me—”

Lin Jin gestured at his clothes, but only when he looked down did he realize that his white cloak was gone. All he was wearing now was green.

He awkwardly withdrew his hand and added an explanation,

“I did have a white cloak earlier. But… sigh, never mind. Miss Liu, why are you still here?”

He raised his hand and tested the wind coming from the ghost domain’s exit.

“I saw that green-flame ghost earlier. She was a young woman. She didn’t hurt me—she actually led me to the exit, like she wanted to send me out.”

Liu Fuxin nodded.

“I encountered her as well. I assume you’ve already realized that she didn’t harm us, and may never have harmed anyone at all. A ghost domain is the best way to understand a ghost’s past and its obsession, so I wanted to stay and learn more about her—see if there’s any way I can help.”

“That may be true, but…”

Lin Jin looked around at the endless darkness, about to say more, when he suddenly felt a cold gust rush straight toward him.

In the next instant, both the small spirit lamp in his hand and the spirit butterfly’s glow beside Liu Fuxin went out at the same time.

Lin Jin jumped in fright. His first reaction wasn’t to panic, but to toss the lamp aside and quickly lift Qiuqiu off his shoulder, tucking the puppy safely into his clothes.

With the only two light sources extinguished, Lin Jin was completely deprived of sight. All he could feel was the wind around him, and faintly hear the same sound as before—the soft dragging of a skirt across the ground.

“Master Lin, are you all right?” Liu Fuxin’s voice came from nearby.

“I’m fine—ah!”

Before Lin Jin could finish speaking, he suddenly felt someone shove him hard at the waist, forcing him to stumble several steps toward the ghost domain’s exit.

Right after that, he heard the sounds of fighting. Most distinct was the clear, continuous clinking of the twin bracelets on Liu Fuxin’s wrist as they struck against each other.

Unsure, Lin Jin called out tentatively,

“Miss Liu?”

“I’m here.”

Her voice sounded a bit strained, her breathing slightly hurried. It seemed she wasn’t in great shape.

“Sorry, Master Lin. I may have run into a bit of trouble. You go ahead—I’ll follow shortly.”

“Do you need help—ah!”

In the pitch-black ghost domain, Lin Jin couldn’t see a thing. Judging only by sound, it seemed Liu Fuxin was fighting the ghost woman. He caught that same heavy scent of blood again, along with a faint fragrance that felt oddly familiar.

But Lin Jin didn’t have time to recall where he’d smelled it before, because he was shoved forward yet again.

Whoever it was kept pushing him until Lin Jin stepped onto some kind of threshold. A blast of cold wind surged up, dizziness washed over him, and he lost his footing, collapsing face-first onto the ground.

A bone-chilling cold seeped through his sleeves. As he emerged from the darkness and opened his eyes, the sudden brightness of the outside world made him momentarily uncomfortable.

“Lin Lin!”

Lying in the snow, his head spinning, Lin Jin heard Han Ao’s voice and dazedly lifted his head.

It was then that he realized he was still in the back alley behind Manting Spring.

It was already dawn. Without realizing it, they had stayed up the entire night. Now the sky was gradually brightening, the world washed in a pale blue hue at the boundary between night and day.

But after leaving the ghost domain, why had he returned to the same spot? Shouldn’t he have appeared at the location corresponding to the domain’s projection, as the tutor had taught?

Lin Jin hadn’t yet wrapped his head around what was going on when the spiritual energy around him suddenly grew chaotic. In the next second, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a white figure materialize out of thin air. Wide sleeves fluttered like falling petals as the figure teetered, about to collapse.

“Miss Liu!!!”

This time, Han Ao’s voice shot up several pitches higher than when he’d called for Lin Jin.

He had originally been running over to help Lin Jin up, but the moment he saw Liu Fuxin, he immediately changed direction and reached out to catch her before she fell.

“…”

Lin Jin didn’t know how to comment on that.

He could only get up on his own, brushing the snow off his clothes and shaking out his sleeves, now soaked with melted snow.

But as he did, his hand brushed against something sticky on his shoulder and back.

Seeing the glaring red on his fingers, Lin Jin paused, then quickly said to Han Ao,

“Han Ao, take a look—what’s on my clothes?”

Han Ao had just helped Liu Fuxin steady herself. Hearing this, he spared Lin Jin a glance amid the chaos.