Qiu Yunru cleared his throat and tried to put on a respectful face. "This humble disciple apologizes for the commotion. I was...caught off guard. Can Miss hear me?"
Of course, he couldn't tell whether this thing was a "Miss" or a "Mister" by looking at it--it was a hunk of rotted flesh! But the quest had called it a "her", so he went with "Miss".
The ghost corpse tilted her head, blinking those shiny milky eyes. Her unhinged jaw seemed to crackle and grind, swinging thing way and that at she struggled to speak. Slowly, she raised a bloated hand and held it out to him.
Qiu Yunru's face went white like milk. Did she want him to hold her hand?! Would he even be able to? If he could...his stomach turned over at the thought, wailing. Still, he gritted his teeth and put on a smile, reaching out to touch her fingers that were plain bones.
As soon as he touched the tip of her finger, an oppressive sensation shivered through his body. It was like walking through a heatwave, where the air shimmers and rises strangely--only, it was a freezing sensation that rippled through his muscles. Qiu Yunru keeled over and threw up on the ground.
As he did, he wept internally. How many Reputation Points had he lost? Even if he hadn't lost any, his face was chipped!
When he looked up, the corpse looked completely different. It was glowing brightly, and he had to cover his eyes momentarily to adjust in the darkness of the cavern. When he could finally see properly, this is what he saw:
Standing before him was a young woman around his own age. She had a kind face and a strong build, and she wore the white and jade robes of the Jade Clouds sect. In her hand was a silver sword. Though her form was much more put together now, her skin was still pale and blue in certain parts, her hair and robes waterlogged and dripping. She tilted her head at him, seeming confused.
"What happened?"
Qiu Yunru lit two candles for himself: one for having just vomited, and one for his other realization: that drowned corpse ghost had really just sapped some of his spiritual qi in order to temporarily take on its past form. Had he ever consented to that? Wasn't it rude to just suck up spiritual qi without asking first? And now this ghost didn't even know where she was!
Continuing to smile weakly, Qiu Yunru said: "We are in the Lan Bing Caves. Does shijie remember anything?" He was careful not to mention that she was dead. Who would want to hear that when they didn't seem to remember their own death? The girl rubbed her chin thoughtfully, looking him up and down.
"I don't remember you, shidi. Though there are so many new disciples at the sect lately; this shijie is sorry for not remembering your face. Though..." She frowned, leaning towards him curiously. "You would think I would remember a face like this..."
Qiu Yunru almost spat blood. Was she saying he was ugly? Or that she found him pleasing? A little clarification goes a long way! He knew his face was pleasing to the eyes of most, but everyone's tastes are different! "It's all right, shijie," He said quickly, leaning backward. "This disciple is new. But, ah...why is shijie wet? Did shijie...fall into some lake?"
She squinted her eyes at him, crossing her arms. "You keep calling me 'shijie', 'shijie'--do you even know your Head Disciple's name? It's Fu Qiuyue!" She looked down then, seeming puzzled at the dripping state of herself. "And as for this...I really can't remember..." Her expression grew perplexed. She seemed to recall something, snapping her fingers. "Ah! That's right! I fell into the Sword Lake!"
Qiu Yunru raised an eyebrow. The Jade Clouds Sect's Sword Lake, where disciples who had formed Golden Cores received their personal swords, was freezing cold. Perhaps this explained the blue tinge to her fingers and nose. "Fu-shijie fell in?"
"Yes, that's right. I--" Suddenly, her eyes widened, and she clutched her head. "No, no...that's not right." She shook her head this way and that, seemingly trying to catch ahold of some thought that was evading her. "I didn't fall...That's right. He pushed me! That horrible man!"
Ah! Here was the good stuff. In terms of learning someone's story, surely learning who they hated and who had killed them was significant! "That horrible man...?"
"That's right. Shizun loves him very much, but I'm telling you, he's a demonic cultivator! He thinks he can walk all over our sect and Shizun just because of his powerful position, but he's rotten to the core!" Qiu Yunru didn't even have to pry with more questions--it seemed this girl's hatred of this man ran so deep that she went on and on all on her own: "Leader of the Eight Purple Winds Sect, my ass! Even if they insist it's only a rumor, we all know he killed his mother and took the sect from her! How else could she die so unnaturally? Li Guiren, that piece of shit! I'd heard bad things, but I didn't believe them because Shizun speaks so well of him. But then I saw him..." Her face seemed to crumble as she remembered something. "I saw him..." Like a wilting flower, she crouched on the ground and covered her face. As if too tired to go on, her glowing form flickered, revealing the drowned corpse underneath. Qiu Yunru quickly reached out to touch her shoulder lightly and subsequentially swallowed down another near-vomit as she sucked in more of his qi, her glow growing stronger again. He was about to ask her what she saw, when he was filled with horror. She was...sobbing!
Qiu Yunru lit three more candles for himself. Soon enough, wouldn't he be more skilled at comforting crying girls than at cultivation? He crouched down next to her, feeling his stomach turn. "What's wrong, Fu-shijie?"
Suddenly, she reached out and grasped his collar, pulling him close. Qiu Yunru held in a yelp. He also held back from screwing his face up in disgust. The closer she pulled him, the more he could smell the rotting of the corpse...She looked at him with wide, frenzied eyes. "Shidi! You have to get help! Maybe Shizun can do something! Maybe Fu Yao Peak can! He--" She choked up, eyes spilling over. "He killed my shimei!"