NOVEL NEXT 033 Whose Young Man Steps Home in Spring?
The sweet fragrance of rice wine filled the air in the grand courtyard of the He family mansion, where tables and chairs were arranged in neat rows. The harmonious sounds of guqin and se(a pair of traditional Chinese instruments) grew louder, gradually resounding near and far, like a heavy hammer striking the skull of Ning Zhe again and again.
The guests invited to the banquet believed they were toasting the Serpent God, but in reality, they were toasting him. In this very moment, the rules of the ghost were triggered hundreds of times, and the false perceptions formed a medium for stealing identities. The chaotic memories of the Serpent God flooded into Ning Zhe’s mind.
However, there was no time to slowly sort through these overwhelming pieces of information now. With such a ruckus, the ghost was bound to have noticed.
“No, maybe it’s already been aware since I stood by and did nothing about Lin Zhiyuan’s death…”
Because, in a certain sense, the ghost was the Serpent God.
In Hejia Village, Ning Zhe had uncovered two mysteries:
1. Why did the Serpent God go mad?
2. How did the ghost steal another’s identity?
Ning Zhe had already solved the second puzzle, and as he had stolen the Serpent God’s identity to a certain extent, he was finally able to confirm that the answers to these two mysteries were actually the same.
“The Serpent God went mad because, even before I acted, His identity had already been stolen by the ghost.”
Ning Zhe curled up inside the Serpent God’s throat, his small body trembling slightly.
As he felt the massive flood of memories from the Serpent God crash against his consciousness, he momentarily felt as though he was the green jade snake with horns growing from its head, its long body winding like a river through the quiet countryside, enduring an immeasurable span of time. Then, one day, an unnamed wandering ghost arrived, gradually destroying the peaceful days.
The invisible ghost wandered around Hejia Village, twisting people’s perceptions bit by bit, slowly stealing the Serpent God’s identity, His long body decaying in the process of being replaced, until everyone who knew of the Serpent God began to mistake the ghost for Him… And so, the true Serpent God went mad.
The long memories of the Serpent God slowly faded, ultimately dissipating like a dream, awakening gently.
The time Ning Zhe experienced in the Serpent God’s memories felt so long—so long, in fact, that it seemed as if the 18 years he had lived as Ning Zhe were but a dream.
“That was dangerous…” Ning Zhe suddenly opened his eyes, as if waking from a dream.
Using the ghost’s rules to steal another’s identity and life experiences may seem intriguing, but in reality, it was incredibly dangerous. His previous attempts were mere trials, but the Serpent God was different. The vast memories and long life of the Serpent God came rushing at him like a torrential flood, eroding Ning Zhe’s own memories and personality.
Sadness, anger, fear, joy, madness… The Serpent God’s emotions surged within Ning Zhe’s mind like a tempest. He nearly forgot who he was.
Ning Zhe quickly repeated the ghost’s rules in his mind to steady himself:
[When someone mistakes the ghost for someone they know, the ghost can use this ‘false perception’ as a medium to steal the person’s identity, along with all related information.]
When the stolen identity is complete enough, it can even fool the Serpent God, transferring the punishment for breaking taboos onto the one whose identity has been stolen.
Gu Yunqing and Ye Miaozhu both died this way, and Ning Zhe himself almost fell victim to it, getting lost in the long memories and mistaking himself for the Serpent God.
“But if this stolen identity almost fooled me, can it really fool the Serpent God?” Ning Zhe quietly asked himself.
But then he sighed. “…Who knows? Here goes, whether I live or die depends on this.”
Ning Zhe struggled to crawl out from the Serpent God’s throat. His black-and-white wings were stained with blood, the feathers dirty and greasy, covered in dark mold.
Before the hundreds of guests in the He family mansion, the magpie that had crawled out of the Serpent God’s mouth shed its dark feathers, transforming into a handsome young man, battered and bruised.
In the grand hall of the mansion, one left and one right sat two nobles, a man and a woman, who were the master and mistress of this large house.
The eerie melody continued to play, the headless servant still shaking his head as he played the suona, while cups of wine remained suspended in mid-air.
Below the lotus platform, two maids dressed in brocade held the arm of a delicately dressed woman, who stepped forward with small, delicate steps. Her graceful, slender figure was wrapped in a loose, bright red gown, her pale face adorned with a faint red plum blossom. Her lips held a subtle, almost imperceptible trace of sorrow.
Higher up, no other features were visible.
The woman, with jade-like eyebrows and a flowing, calm elegance, kneeled before the Serpent God, her face a blank canvas with no features, her extravagant attire a stark contrast. With a soft voice, she began to speak:
[But ask not why you come, ask not why you leave…]
“I don’t even know why you married a female. I could at least understand if the Serpent God was male,” Ning Zhe casually remarked, then gasped for breath as he kneeled before the shattered body of the Serpent God, silently extending his hand.
In the oppressive silence of the hall, Ning Zhe’s fingers gripped a corner of the old almanac, the sorrowful song lingering in his fingertips.
“I now possess three important identities… Serpent God, Ghost, Ning Zhe…” Ning Zhe murmured quietly to himself, closing his eyes as he flipped the yellowed page, revealing tomorrow’s date.
The next moment, Ning Zhe opened his eyes. “So, which identity will bear the punishment for breaking the taboo?”
Ning Zhe’s question went unanswered.
The instant he turned the page of the almanac and looked down, everything before him shattered.
It was as if someone had struck the mirror on the bathroom wall, and the fine cracks spread across the surrounding air.
Two previously independent, unperturbed rules collided fatally due to Ning Zhe’s action, like two misaligned gears grinding against each other, causing the world built on rules to collapse and shatter.
Just before losing his sight, Ning Zhe felt as though he heard someone scream, someone mournfully wail, but he couldn’t distinguish who was who, nor could he tell if the cry came from someone else or from himself.
When Ning Zhe’s consciousness cleared again, the soft, fluffy sunlight poured into his eyes. He was momentarily stunned.
Looking down, Ning Zhe saw that his feet rested on a worn, uneven wooden threshold, his hand gripping an old door knocker, covered in copper paint. Before him was a heavy, ancient red-painted door that he had just pushed open.
Ning Zhe casually stepped inside, instinctively casting his gaze to the right, where he saw the old camphor tree he had often climbed with the children of his neighbors when he was young. An old wooden table stood under the tree’s shade, covered with fresh red and yellow fallen leaves that hadn’t been swept in what seemed like a long time.
Ning Zhe took a deep breath of the familiar air and walked along the overgrown path.
“I’ve come home.”
At this moment, he had just pushed open the door of his family’s old house and entered Hejia Village.
Since the real Ning Zhe had not died, it was clear that the ghost or Serpent God were at least one of them dead.
Or perhaps both of them were?
The eerie world of Hejia Village had shattered due to the collision of rules, but the Serpent God and the ghost might not both be dead. Either one of them was extremely dangerous, and no matter what, Ning Zhe had to figure out their current state…
Suddenly, a flash of insight crossed Ning Zhe’s mind, and he stopped, thoughtfully looking up.
In the next moment, a magpie flew up to the crown of the camphor tree.
At the same time, an enigmatic word appeared in Ning Zhe’s mind. No one had ever explained its meaning, but Ning Zhe instinctively felt that it was a name.
The name of the ghost who had stolen the Serpent God’s identity:
“Its name is… Tai Yi.”
The Serpent God’s name was Zhao You, and the ghost’s name was Tai Yi.
Did their names hold any special meaning?