So, what exactly is the situation now?
Special Affairs Bureau field agent Xing Hechou, his face a wooden mask, clenched his long halberd. He and the equally stupefied Wanli Fengdao watched Li Ang chatting merrily with the female ghost, with no sign of them coming to blows.
The ghost's name was Chai Cuiqiao. She was born into a scholarly and esteemed noble family. Her grandfather had once served as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, her father was currently a Secondary Minister in the Ministry of War, and various uncles also held official positions. The Chai family was considered a powerful and influential elite in Nanjing City, the secondary capital.
Regrettably, Chai Cuiqiao's birth mother had once been a famous courtesan on the Qinhuai River. After becoming pregnant, she was bought out of her contract and brought into the Chai household, only to be forced into a life of subservience. Subjected to the tyranny of the principal wife and the scorn of servants loyal to her, Chai Cuiqiao and her mother never saw a kind face, enduring every manner of purposeful difficulty and adversity. For over a decade, they tasted the fickleness of human relationships and grew accustomed to the dirt and filth within the walls of grand households. Despite Chai Cuiqiao's desire to escape this gilded cage, she was powerless to do so.
When she came of age for marriage, following a matchmaker's recommendation and the Chai family's principle of making the most of available resources, Chai Cuiqiao, the daughter of a concubine, was betrothed to the second son of a wealthy salt merchant surnamed Jia in Nanjing City, in exchange for a hefty dowry. Chai Cuiqiao had hoped to adapt to her husband's ways, reconciling herself to a life devoid of the poetic and divine romance often depicted in fairy tales. She intended to be a dutiful wife, look after her husband and children, and live honestly as a rich man's spouse.
However, to her shock, the Jia family's second son harbored a preference for male liaisons and was known for his homosexual pursuits. He had indulged too fiercely before marriage, resulting in certain incapacities. Even on their wedding night, the groom spent the evening with a handsome page in his study, accessed through a secret passage from the marital chamber.
Three months passed. Chai Cuiqiao witnessed, with wide-open eyes, her nominal husband either frolicking with "refined scholars" or romping with delicate catamites within their home. He hardly exchanged a word with her, let alone met her face to face. Although the salt merchant Jia's family had married Chai Cuiqiao into their clan with the intention of connecting to her influential family, and the Chai family needed a puppet to generate profits, the arrangement was merely one of convenience for both parties. However, the birth of a son or daughter was still needed to solidify their mutual interests.
Faced with mounting pressure at home, and her mother having mentioned her unspoken sufferings several times, Chai Cuiqiao eventually recalled hearing from friends about the Lonely Cold Temple's reputation for granting children to those who prayed. Keeping it in mind, one day, in a state of desperation, she went to the temple to pray, accompanied by her maids and attendants.
To pray for a child at the Lonely Cold Temple, female devotees were required to kneel before the statue of Guanyin for an entire night. While Chai Cuiqiao was earnestly praying, her attendants waiting outside the temple, she saw a hidden panel beneath the Arhat statues open, and a group of monks with lecherous smiles emerged.
Miss Chai, reared in the sheltered confines of the inner quarters, had read too many novels filled with sentimental romances and tragic lovers. She vowed to resist to the death. In an act of extreme chastity, she slammed her head against a pillar and died on the spot.
The monks, panicked by the sight of blood and deciding to go all the way, took knives and, right before the Shakyamuni Buddha Statue, hacked Miss Chai's body into pieces. They buried her remains behind the mountain of the Lonely Cold Temple and lied to her family when they came inquiring, claiming Chai Cuiqiao had never visited.
Unable to find her, her family reported it to the authorities. The monks, having crossed the powerful Chai family, were imprisoned and subjected to the brutal sandalwood punishment. Under interrogation, the weak-willed monks, in front of the local elders and townsfolk gathered outside the County Government office, exposed all the temple's dark secrets.
The scandal spread rapidly, reaching throughout the county and Nanjing City. Families where women had visited the temple to pray for a child faced dire consequences. Husbands laughingly wrote letters of repudiation. Wives fled back to their parents in shame. Newborn infants were drowned in copper basins or wells. Slightly older children were cast out and sent to childless farming households.
The wealthy families who had successfully prayed for children at the temple and generously donated money and goods could not stomach this disgrace. They leveraged their connections, prompting county officials to imprison all the monks from the temple. These monks were slated for execution after autumn, and all temple property and land were confiscated and sold at low prices to local notables.
The Chai family, being a distinguished lineage, and the Jia family, also local gentry, were desperate to avoid family disgrace. They insisted that Chai Cuiqiao had never gone to the Lonely Cold Temple but had instead vanished into the dense woods mid-journey. They even refused to claim her remains, fearing it would disturb their ancestors' rest in the family mausoleum.
Heartbroken by the loss, Chai Cuiqiao's mother died in anguish. Chai Cuiqiao herself, wrongfully accused, abandoned by her family, and her body left unburied, harbored a deep resentment and anger. This lingering hatred coalesced over time, transforming her into a vengeful Fierce Ghost haunting the skies above the Lonely Cold Temple.
Local hooligans with malicious intentions, thinking to ransack the temple for valuable gilded Buddha statues and Buddhist Magic Artifacts, were all killed by Chai Cuiqiao, their bodies chopped into pieces and scattered in the woods outside the temple. The County Government sent people to investigate, but they too were badly frightened by the havoc-wreaking Earthbounded Spirit and hastily withdrew.
Over time, the rumors of the Lonely Cold Temple being haunted spread far and wide, potent enough to stop children from crying at night. Neither local villagers nor passing merchants dared to venture within half a step of the temple. Li Ang and his group were the only people to have set foot in this place in the past six months.
Li Ang clasped his hands together, speaking with great earnestness, "Although the five of us are mountain Bandits, we have diligently studied the Eight Honors and Eight Shames, and the core values of socialist ideology. Miss Chai, your heroic deeds of chastity and unyielding spirit have moved us profoundly. We admire you greatly. If you have any unfulfilled wishes, please do not hesitate to instruct us."
"...." Wanli Fengdao's expression shifted as he clutched his sword hilt tightly. He had nearly died at the hands of this Fierce Ghost just moments ago. Yet, listening to Li Ang, it sounded as if he intended to propose a truce and coexist peacefully with the ghost.
He stealthily exchanged a glance with Xing Hechou, his fingers subtly pointing to the chilling white bones beneath their feet. The meaning of their silent exchange was clear:
We've already collected the Ghost's bones. Wouldn't it be better to just burn them? Not only would it solve our problem for the next seven days, but we could also earn a hefty Experience Point reward directly. It's better than risking more complications down the line.
Xing Hechou silently shook his head, thinking to himself, Things are probably not that simple. The task given by the System is to survive for seven days. This originally meant for us to struggle under the Fierce Ghost's wrath until the time limit expired. In other words, the System initially believed our entire team would have great difficulty contending with this Fierce Ghost. Although Wanli Fengdao did injure Chai Cuiqiao's resentful spirit in front of the Daxiong Bao Hall, her shoulder wound seems to have completely healed now. It's not just that we haven't revealed all our trump cards; Chai Cuiqiao has also hidden some of her strength. She was only forced to appear and cooperate because we found her remains. If negotiations fail and we resort to burning her remains, we might win, but the question of how many of us would survive still looms large...
Having made up his mind, Xing Hechou returned Wanli Fengdao's glance with one of his own, signaling him to be patient and see what Li Ang would manage to achieve.
Chai Cuiqiao's eyes flickered uncertainly as she observed the group, her gaze lingering for a few moments on Wanli Fengdao's gloomy face. Then, she gracefully bowed to Li Ang and said softly, "There's a great divide between the living and ghosts. I, a humble woman, dare not ask for anything..."
"Humans fear ghosts for their terror; ghosts know the venom in human hearts. Hell is empty; malicious spirits roam the world." Li Ang swung his arm boldly, disregarding the taboos between men and women, the living and the dead. He directly grasped Chai Cuiqiao's icy hand. "Miss Chai, in my eyes, you are truly a heroine among women, more alive than those hypocrites who preach benevolence and righteousness but are full of deceit."
"Then... may I speak?"
"Please, feel free."
Chai Cuiqiao performed a deep bow, her voice filled with immense sorrow. "Although the many lecherous monks of the Lonely Cold Temple have been brought to justice, the mastermind remains at large. Master Taozhi of the Lonely Cold Temple was a demon in disguise. He faked his death to escape the government's pursuit, renounced his monkhood, and now roams the world under the name Wang Guan! Seven days from now, that evil monk will host a feast for the mountain demons at the Lonely Cold Temple. I implore you, sir, to uphold justice for me!"