He thanked the three of them properly, then turned back toward the City Administration. This time, he didn’t rush. His steps were unsteady, but each one was firm.
Lin Jin watched his retreating figure for a long time before finally looking away. Beside him, Han Ao glanced between Lin Jin and Xiao Wu, then scratched his head.
“I’m completely confused now. Which version of the ending is actually true?”
Liu Fuxin pressed her lips together.
“I believe the clerk. His emotions felt genuine, and his account seems closest to the truth. For a living soul to turn into a ghost requires an extremely powerful obsession and resentment. Such spirits usually suffer immense despair, often dying after great torment. Moreover, blue-flame ghosts aren’t like soul-stealers or red-clad ghosts—they can’t move freely. Low-tier ghosts like that are generally bound to the place of their obsession or death. Since the ghost is still at Mantingchun, it means she lived and died there, never leaving.”
“I’m voting for Xiao Wu too,” Lin Jin said.
He glanced at the wrist Xiao Wu had grabbed.
He could still feel the trembling from that moment. Xiao Wu had held on so tightly that deep creases were left in the fabric at his wrist.
Lin Jin smoothed them out.
“We can’t be sure yet what really happened. But there’s one way to find out.”
—
“What Dong Si? Still talking about Dong Si? That little slut ran off long ago with her lover!”
Mantingchun was far quieter in the morning than it was at night. The first-floor hall was filled mostly with servants cleaning up the remnants of the previous evening.
When word came that guests had arrived, the madam forced herself awake. Seeing that Lin Jin and the others weren’t there to spend money, her anger flared, and her tone grew sharp.
Lin Jin had known she wouldn’t tell the truth. He shot Han Ao a look, and Han Ao immediately understood. With a casual lightning-attracting spell, he blasted the large lantern hanging at Mantingchun’s entrance, scorching it black.
The madam jumped in fright, her small eyes bulging. Lin Jin found her reaction quite satisfying. He casually pulled over a chair, sat down, and crossed his legs, his posture arrogant in the extreme.
“Let me be clear—we are not ordinary mortals. We were guided here by the immortal mountains, having sensed deep resentment in this place. There is clearly a grave injustice buried here, and we have been ordered by Heaven to cleanse wronged souls and restore peace. If you cooperate, all will be well. If you refuse, and we are unable to deliver the soul, then one day, when the ghost grows strong enough, she may entangle you until you can neither live nor die. That would be… unpleasant.”
His words left the madam stunned. Her face went pale. After a moment, she shook her head violently.
“Don’t try to scare me! What cleansing injustices? Your job as immortals is to slay demons and exorcise ghosts! We do have an evil ghost here—she’s killed countless people over the years. Instead of dealing with her, you threaten me? What kind of logic is that? Are you really going to bully a powerless old woman for the sake of a ghost? Oh heavens! Lightning from the sky, is it? Go on, strike me dead then! Let me become a ghost too and come claim your lives!”
“….”
Lin Jin raised his brows but didn’t argue.
Seeing his silence, the madam thought she had gained the upper hand. She slapped her thighs, wailed, and rolled about, her shrill voice nearly lifting the roof. The noise drew flower girls upstairs and passersby outside, all crowding around to see what was happening.
As more and more eyes gathered, Lin Jin finally stood up. He walked over and looked down at the madam, who was squeezing out tears, and said loudly:
“We cultivators do not exist solely to slay ghosts and demons. When dealing with ghosts who have not committed grave evils like murder or arson, our priority is to guide them—to clear their grievances, uncover the truth, resolve their obsessions, and send them back into the cycle of rebirth.
“Our investigation shows that Miss Dong Si has not harmed a single person in all these years. Even if, for the sake of argument, she had—why did you, knowing this, conceal it for so long and refuse to report it? Could it be that you deliberately allowed her to harm others?”
At the heart of the matter, the madam’s half-crying, half-acting expression froze.
Her mouth hung open. After a few seconds, she scrambled up from the ground.
“Impossible! Don’t slander me! I’m just a mortal—how could I consort with ghosts?!”
Lin Jin’s lips curved slightly, though he quickly hid the smile.
He nodded. “Oh? Then it seems I misunderstood you. But there’s something I don’t quite understand. Why is Miss Dong Si so fixated on a woman in white, instead of all the other girls in this building?”
Relieved that Lin Jin seemed to be backing off, the madam blurted out:
“Well, that’s because—!”
She stopped halfway through, suddenly realizing something. Her entire body stiffened, the unfinished words stuck in her throat.
Lin Jin’s smile deepened.
“Because what? Oh, right—you said earlier that Miss Dong Si ran off with her lover. If that’s the case, why did she end up staying here as a ghost?”
The crowd at the doorway erupted in an uproar.
Lin Jin lifted his gaze to the second floor, where the girls were leaning over the railing to watch.
Their reactions were very different from those of the onlookers below. The atmosphere among them was subtle—some exchanged glances, others fell into thought. Not one of them seemed particularly interested in the spectacle downstairs.
That was exactly what Lin Jin wanted.
If Dong Si’s death was truly connected to the madam, it was unrealistic to expect her to confess on her own. It would be better to draw the truth out through others.
Dong Si had once been so famous. There had to be more people than just Xiao Wu who knew what really happened. Many must have been quietly watching all along. If the matter was stirred up enough, someone would eventually step forward and speak. With enough voices, they might piece together the full story.
As for the flower girls of Mantingchun, they surely knew far more than the onlookers—but they had tacitly agreed to keep the secret. Lin Jin hadn’t understood their reasons before, but now he did.
They were protecting Dong Si. They feared that outside cultivators, if they learned the truth, might harm her—might cause her to dissipate completely, erased from existence.
So Lin Jin needed them to understand that he hadn’t come to hurt her, but to give her justice, to free her from the suffering of her obsession.
The madam fell silent, unable to utter another word. That was fine.
Lin Jin waited quietly, waiting for the first person brave enough to step forward and speak the truth.
The commotion inside and outside the building continued for some time. Then, suddenly, a small stir arose upstairs. Lin Jin looked up to see the flower girls parting to make way.
Descending the stairs slowly from behind them was none other than Miss Zhuetang, the girl they had hidden in a room the day before.
She looked unwell, her complexion poor from sleeping too long. The flower in her hair was crooked, her appearance slightly disheveled, her dress wrinkled and untidy.
She walked down slowly, her eyes fixed on Lin Jin the entire time.
After a long moment, she spoke:
“Is what you said true, sir? You won’t harm Dong Si—you’ll uncover the truth, resolve her obsession, and save her from suffering?”
Lin Jin immediately straightened and gave her a proper bow.
“If these words are false, I am willing to be struck by heavenly lightning, my cultivation halted forever, my immortal bones—”
“That won’t be necessary,” Zhuetang interrupted.
“There’s no need for such a vicious oath. Thinking about it, that young lady must have already seen Dong Si yesterday. If you were only here to exorcise a ghost, you wouldn’t be standing here today. I believe you.”
She returned Lin Jin’s bow.
“My name is Fang Qingtang. I pay my respects to the three Immortal Lords. Today, I am willing to reveal every secret of the past—only I beg you, please save my young lady.”
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152