The New Year’s Eve in the mortal realm is always the liveliest time of the year. Countless fireworks bloomed above the night sky of Nandu, with every household adorned with lanterns and decorations, presenting a festive sea of red as far as the eye could see. Fang Jian Ya’s mansion was rather quiet due to the few residents, so he decorated the manor together with his servants. While hanging lanterns at the front door with He Zhi, a cluster of fireworks rose in the distance, illuminating a brilliant scene.
Fang Jian Ya gazed at the fireworks for a moment. When he lowered his head, he unexpectedly saw Duan Jingyuan standing at the entrance. She wore an orange fuzzy cape, her face flushed and slightly out of breath as she looked up at him. Her maid stood behind her, carrying a lacquered wooden box.
Fang Jian Ya came down from the ladder and bowed to Duan Jingyuan: “Miss Duan.”
Duan Jingyuan curtseyed in return, glancing at him somewhat awkwardly before saying, “Lord Fang… we made extra dumplings at our mansion. I thought since you don’t have family in Nandu, I’d bring you a bowl.”
Her maid then handed the food box to He Zhi. Fang Jian Ya opened the lid to see the steaming bowl of dumplings, looking at Duan Jingyuan in surprise, momentarily at a loss for words.
Duan Jingyuan, however, thought he didn’t believe her and was about to reject her goodwill. She rounded her eyes and puffed her cheeks, picking up a dumpling and eating it herself. Blowing on it as it burned her mouth, she mumbled, “See… I’m eating it myself. I didn’t poison it.”
Fang Jian Ya froze for a moment before breaking into a smile. He closed the food box and said to Duan Jingyuan, “How could I suspect poison? Thank you for your kindness, Miss Duan.”
The distant fireworks illuminated Duan Jingyuan’s face. Her eyes glistened with light as she avoided his gaze in embarrassment and said, “What kindness… we just made too many at home.”
With that, she turned around straightforwardly, leading her maid back to her sedan chair and returning home. Fang Jian Ya watched her leave, smiling and shaking his head.
He Zhi held the food box and asked curiously, “Why would Miss Duan bring you dumplings, my lord? Doesn’t she rather dislike you?” After a pause, he added, “And Miss Duan arrived by sedan chair, so why was she out of breath?”
Fang Jian Ya took the food box and smiled at He Zhi, “You can hang the lanterns yourself.”
With that, he carried the food box inside.
Why was she out of breath? The Duan mansion was some distance from the Fang mansion, yet the dumplings were still hot. She must have hurriedly scooped them into the food box right after they came out of the pot and ran out the door.
Fang Jian Ya couldn’t help but smile as he thought about it, thinking that this New Year wasn’t bad, and hoping next year would be even better.
While the mortal realm celebrated a bustling New Year’s Eve, Yan Ke was bound by enchanted ropes, kneeling in the grand hall of the palace with his hands tied behind his back. These binding ropes were a treasure from He Jia Feng Yi, who had finally redeemed himself by capturing Yan Ke.
All the hall lords who had followed He Simu’s call to defend the throne were present. The interrogation and sentencing had concluded, with Yan Ke naturally sentenced to disintegration. Dealing with his remaining followers was merely a matter of days.
Now only He Simu and Yan Ke remained in the great hall. He Simu stood up from the throne and slowly walked down the steps to stand before Yan Ke. She bent down to look into his anger-filled eyes and said calmly, “Yan Ke, you have ultimately failed.”
Yan Ke gritted his teeth and said, “Flaying the soul to merge with the Ghost King’s Lamp—either success or lamp destroyed and soul damaged—I naturally don’t have your ruthlessness.”
“In your eyes, the Ghost King’s Lamp is a precious treasure, a supreme sacred object. In my eyes…” He Simu pointed to the silent silver-inlaid locust wood throne on the high platform and said, “It’s no different from that seat, merely an object.”
From Yan Ke’s life to his death, his five attempts at rebellion had all failed. His desires ran too deep—pursuing in life and seeking in death, tripping over his own feet, the more he sought, the more unattainable it became.
Yan Ke lowered his head, then raised his eyes to look at He Simu. His eyes still held unchanging anger, but his voice trembled slightly, “When did you… know it was I who killed your father?”
“I suspected from the beginning and confirmed it when I banished Bai San Xing to the Nine Palace Maze Prison.”
“So back then you… so for these three hundred years, your dependence on me, your trust, your closeness… were they all false?”
“Yes, all false.”
Yan Ke’s hopes were mercilessly shattered, but he still forced out words through his clenched throat, “But you appointed me as Right Chancellor, allowing me to implement the Golden Wall Law…”
“You are indeed capable, and you enjoyed the sight of all hall lords following your commands when you implemented laws as Chancellor, didn’t you?” He Simu crouched down, smiling faintly as she said, “I had to give you some sweetness. As the saying goes, make full use of what’s available.”
In the light of candles and night pearls, her features were deep and her smile shallow, with something seemingly unbreakable hidden in the depths of her eyes. She was still so beautiful, just as when he first fell for her.
Just as when he was first deceived by her.
Yan Ke’s eyes turned pitch black, the ghostly energy around him surging as he let out a roar, trying to get closer to He Simu. But he was firmly bound by the enchanted ropes, unable to move, his furious cries echoing through the great hall, wave after wave.
He Simu did not avoid him. She blinked and even smiled, saying, “You look like you’re in pain. Good.”
To make an evil ghost who couldn’t feel pain suffer, she had indeed put in considerable effort and over three hundred years. She had elevated Yan Ke, and after his departure, she would need to find another evil ghost to fill his position of power to prevent chaos. So only after Feng Yi created a magic tool that could control Bai San Xing were all preparations truly complete.
Her finger touched Yan Ke’s forehead. Yan Ke’s eyes trembled, finally revealing confusion and sorrow as he asked, “If I hadn’t killed the previous king, would things between us… be different?”
“If you could have done that, you wouldn’t have become an evil ghost,” He Simu said flatly.
He said softly, “I did like you. I truly liked you very much.”
He Simu smiled slightly.
“I know.”
Your affection for me was true but shallow, your greed for power deep and long-lasting.
“You don’t want to be the Ghost King.”
“I don’t want to be, but I won’t hand this world over to someone I dislike.”
The Ghost King’s Lamp at He Simu’s waist emitted a blue light. Her fingertips ignited with blue flames that burned from his forehead down to his shoulders and body, engulfing him in fire.
“Farewell, Yan Ke.”
He Simu stood up and bid him goodbye.
Yan Ke gritted his teeth, refusing to let out cries of pain. Through the flames, he stared fixedly at He Simu, as if seeing the street a thousand years ago where he was drawn and quartered, his pain and resentment, his ambition and grand aspirations departing with his limbs and life.
Such hatred he felt, such intense hatred. He had been so close, so very close to success.
The roaring flames consumed everything. At the end of his bone-deep agony, he suddenly wondered, was it so close? Would that truly have been a success? The things he had pursued for a thousand years—would obtaining them have brought happiness?
He had gone too far to have the chance to start anew.
The obsession that had confined him to this world gained freedom as it turned to ashes.
He Simu looked up at the fine ashes on the ground, waved her hand to open the hall doors, and the wind swept the ashes away quickly, carrying them to the distant corners of heaven and earth. The clear moonlight streamed through the hall doors, falling at her feet. He Simu gazed at the night sky outside the window and slowly walked into the light.
No moon was visible, yet she could see the moonlight.
In the moonlight, she turned into blue smoke, and when she reappeared, she stood at the top of Mount Xusheng, before the two tombstones of her parents.