Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Ghost Gate opens wide on the night of the full moon.

An eerie wind blows outside Shi Mo Village.

Jiang Xiaoxiao sits on a grassy mound, pinching a candy figurine in her hand and a gleaming cleaver at her waist.

On the village path nearby, a handsome youth in a blue shirt carries a basket on his back and hurries home, lantern in hand.

The youth is the "noble person" Jiang Xiaoxiao came down the mountain to find.

There's not a noble air about him. A gloomy aura even lingers over his head.

Truly a magnet for bad luck.

Behind the youth floats a hideous female ghost in red.

The ghost spies her chance and is about to strike the youth.

Jiang Xiaoxiao gives a "crunch" and bites off the head of the candy figurine.

The sound of her noisily chewing reaches the ghost's ears.

The ghost looks back, fixing her gaze on Jiang Xiaoxiao, then lets out a string of eerie laughter.

Jiang Xiaoxiao holds out the candy, asking the ghost, "Want some?"

Hearing this, Xie Xun on the village path glances back. Not far away on a grassy mound sits a figure.

The moonlight is hazy and he can't make out her face, but judging by her voice, it seems to be a girl.

A rather slow-witted girl.Diisscover new chapters at novelhall.com

Xie Xun has been able to see ghosts since he was little.

It's precisely because he knows a ghost follows behind that he hurries home. He didn't expect to run into such a silly girl halfway.

It's the middle of the Ghost Festival in July. Everyone else hates to even leave their doors open before dark to avoid attracting dirty things.

Yet she sits brazenly outside the village, seeing a ghost but not running away.

With the female ghost's attention completely captured by the silly girl, Xie Xun keeps his head low and continues on his way.

He doesn't have the habit of heroically coming to the aid of strangers.

What's more, he's facing a fierce ghost. He can hardly protect himself.

But he hasn't gone more than a few steps when suddenly shrieks of agony come from the ghost behind him.

Xie Xun whips around to see the girl has jumped down from the mound, still holding the headless candy figurine in one hand and raising a cleaver in the other.

She moves with great agility, chasing the ghost around the mound at high speed for half a lap before pivoting sharply and slicing at the ghost who has suddenly darted behind her.

The blade traces a dazzling arc of golden light, chopping straight into the ghost.

"Ah--- Ah ah ah---"

An evil wind rises around them.

Yet such an innocent, foolish girl has a vicious cleaver at her waist, which just chopped a fierce ghost to death!

Jiang Xiaoxiao doesn't care how Xie Xun looks at her. She just licks the candy figurine and repeatedly glances skyward, repeating her plea for him to take her home as the moon nears its zenith.

Xie Xun narrows his eyes as a shred of ferocity leaks out.

Every villager treats him like a plague god or evil star, wishing they could drive him from the village.

This is the first time someone has dared propose coming home with him.

"Can you take me home?" Jiang Xiaoxiao asks again.

"No!"

Xie Xun coldly throws down the refusal and leaves Jiang Xiaoxiao alone on the village path as he turns and walks away.

...

In a dilapidated thatched hut east of the village, an oil lamp lights up.

Xie Xun sets down his basket and sees the bruises at the corner of his mouth and on his arm reflected in the copper mirror under the lamplight.

Bandits had robbed him of the money from his day's sales of mountain goods when he was returning, and beat him up too.

That's why he was so late getting back today.

In all these years, something goes wrong every time he leaves home. It's become the norm.

When he was born, the entire imperial palace was bathed in auspicious glow, a sign of the imperial star's descent.

Yet at three, someone used evil arts to forcibly steal his purple gold dragon aura. His mother soon died in anger.

Everyone believed him inauspicious. The national master's remark that "If the Third Prince remains in the capital, it may harm the fortunes of the state" made him a target of public condemnation.

Thus his once exalted identity as eldest son by primary empress Murong Xun was overturned. He was banished to the countryside to take his mother's surname, the pitiful Xie Xun.

Since then, nothing goes smoothly no matter what he does. Misfortune befalls anyone close to him.

Even the wet nurse who came to care for him was affected by the ill fate around him. She fell ill and died.

Villagers see him as a plague god and evil star, avoiding him at all costs.

Xie Xun finds it a miracle he's even lived this long.

...

There is medicine in the house. After simply applying some, Xie Xun goes to the kitchen to start a fire.

It's too late to cook so he washes some sweet potatoes and puts them in the steamer.

When the potatoes are done, Xie Xun inadvertently glances out the window. The moon has reached its zenith, the hour of deepest yin energy.

That silly girl kept stressing the moon would soon reach its zenith. He wonders what she meant.

Shaking the thoughts from his mind, Xie Xun heads back to his room to fetch a plate for the potatoes.

But just as he reaches the threshold, he sees a sight even more terrifying than a ghost.