Li Ying’s eyes widened. In disbelief, she asked: “Why?”
The ferryman simply replied: “Did you truly find the person who killed you?”
“Of course.” Li Ying declared with certainty. “It was Wang Ranxi, Zheng Yun, and Wang Tuan’er who conspired together. Wang Ranxi was the mastermind, Wang Tuan’er pushed me into the water, and Zheng Yun…” She pursed her lips. “Though he intended to harm me, he also tried to save me… That’s the truth.”
“Is that so?”
“Isn’t it?” Li Ying asked in surprise. “Wang Ranxi herself confessed that she ordered Wang Tuan’er to kill me. The evidence is conclusive; these are the facts!”
The ferryman lowered his bamboo hat and sighed deeply. “I don’t know why she confessed. I only know that the person who sent you to the netherworld is not good.”
Li Ying was stunned. Suddenly, the ferryman hushed her, gesturing for her to quickly hide behind the reef. Though confused, Li Ying followed his instructions and hid behind the rock. No sooner had she hidden than she saw a squad of green-clothed ghost officials floating by, carrying chains. The officials looked around: “Strange? Wasn’t Princess Yong’an just here?”
Li Ying heard them searching for her. Though she didn’t know why they were looking for her, seeing the fierce ghost officials with chains in hand made it clear this was nothing good. She immediately became very nervous, but the ferryman beside her whispered: “Don’t panic.”
A ball of green ghostfire rose from his hand, illuminating Li Ying. The squad of ghost officials walked back and forth along the riverbank several times but somehow failed to see her.
One ghost official muttered: “How is this possible?”
They craned their necks and shouted at the ferryman: “Hey, ferryman, have you seen a beautiful young woman pass by?”
The ferryman shook his head: “No.”
“Strange.” The ghost officials searched a while longer, then reluctantly said: “Forget it. She probably went back to the Path of Life and Death. She won’t be able to get out anyway. Let’s report back to the Great King like this.”
The green-clothed ghost officials dispersed, and Li Ying finally sighed in relief. She said to the ferryman: “Boatman, thank you.”
After a pause, she couldn’t help but ask: “Why were these ghost officials trying to catch me?”
“They are officials from the City of Wrongful Deaths. Those who die unjustly carry resentment, and their souls cannot wander outside, or they will become vengeful ghosts and bring calamity to the human world. So they want to take you back to the City of Wrongful Deaths for imprisonment.”
Li Ying was dumbfounded. “But isn’t it said that an unjustly killed soul, once it finds its killer and sees that person punished, can dispel its resentment and be reborn? I’ve already found the person who killed me, and Wang Ranxi has been executed. Why do they still want to take me back?”
The ferryman said word by word: “It’s simple. This means Wang Ranxi was not your true killer. You’ve been deceived.”
Li Ying was thunderstruck. She shook her head immediately: “No, that’s impossible.”
The ferryman sighed deeply again. He pointed behind Li Ying: “Since you don’t believe it, why not ask the ‘perpetrator’?”
Li Ying turned around and froze. The person who had arrived was none other than the deceased Wang Tuan’er.
Wang Tuan’er was wearing the same narrow-sleeved cyan short jacket and yellow-blue multi-colored skirt she had worn thirty years ago. Her expression was dazed and confused. She unconsciously walked to the riverbank, and the ferryman said, “She has been in the City of Wrongful Deaths for thirty years. Now she has left and is about to cross the river to be reborn.”
The killer Wang Tuan’er could cross the river, but she, the victim, could not?
Li Ying didn’t understand.
Since she didn’t understand, she would ask until she did.
She stepped out from behind the reef: “Wang Tuan’er.”
Only then did Wang Tuan’er see Li Ying. Her eyes widened instantly: “Princess Yong’an?”
Wang Tuan’er panicked, her knees weakened, and she knelt. Shamefully, she said: “Princess, it was Tuan’er who wronged you…”
Li Ying took a deep breath: “We had no grievances, yet you killed me out of loyalty to your former mistress. You have indeed wronged me.”
“Killed the Princess…” Wang Tuan’er murmured. “No, I didn’t kill the Princess.”
The ghost beasts bo’er xiang in the Nai River leaped up to devour souls, seeming to roar, the sound like thunder in Li Ying’s ears. Wang Tuan’er bowed her head, not daring to look at Li Ying. She stammered: “I have wronged the Princess, but I didn’t kill the Princess. Otherwise, after leaving the City of Wrongful Deaths, the King of Gucheng would not have sentenced me to reincarnation, but would have thrown me into the eighth level of purgatory to suffer.”
Several bo’er xiang tore apart a ghost’s body in the river, and the black water of the Nai River was again stained red with blood. Li Ying stared at Wang Tuan’er, who lay prostrate on the ground, not daring to look at her: “You say you didn’t kill me?”
Wang Tuan’er raised her head, filled with remorse: “I was coerced by Miss Wang, planning to kill the Princess on the sixth day of the tenth month. But… but… I dared not…”
She wept with tears and mucus flowing: “To harm the Princess, what a grave sin that would be! I truly dared not…”
She wept in guilt, and Li Ying gritted her teeth: “Continue!”
Wang Tuan’er wiped away her tears and continued: “That day, I saw the Princess dressed in full regalia, going to the Lotus Pond to meet with the Prince Consort. According to Miss Wang’s plan, I was supposed to follow the Princess and, when she wasn’t paying attention, push her into the Lotus Pond. But I was too afraid, I didn’t dare follow her in… That night, I heard that the Princess had fallen into the Lotus Pond and drowned. Daming Palace was in chaos. I was extremely frightened. I didn’t know if it was the Prince Consort who killed the Princess, or if it was Miss Wang. I only knew that if either of them implicated me, I would die without burial.”
“Later, Your Majesty ordered the Dali Temple to investigate the Princess’s case. The Prince Consort was arrested by Lord Cui. He confessed to killing the Princess, but surprisingly, he didn’t implicate me. I was both afraid and relieved. At this time, Miss Wang asked me to leave the palace, saying she had important matters to discuss. I went to meet her, only to find that she killed me to silence me… After I died, my soul was brought to the netherworld and imprisoned in the City of Wrongful Deaths for thirty years, unable to leave until today…”
Li Ying leaned against the reef, barely managing to keep herself upright. She steadied her emotions: “Is what you’re saying true?”
“Already being a ghost, what Tuan’er says is naturally true.”
The ferryman sitting by the small boat also spoke: “Although Wang Tuan’er had the intention to kill, she didn’t carry out the act. Because of her foolish loyalty, she died, and her soul was imprisoned for thirty years. This punishment is enough, which is why the King of Gucheng sentenced her to reincarnation. If she had truly killed you, the King of Gucheng would not have judged so.”
Li Ying felt dizzy. A terrible suspicion was forming in her heart, now vaguely becoming fact: “Did Wang Ranxi know you didn’t kill me?”
Wang Tuan’er nodded: “When I met Miss Wang, I told her. She naturally knew.”
“Then why did she confess?”
Wang Tuan’er didn’t know, but Li Ying did.
Wang Ranxi was already imprisoned. If she hadn’t killed Li Ying, she had no reason to confess, unless someone forced her to.
And who could force Wang Ranxi in the Investigation Hall?
A name floated into Li Ying’s mind.
Li Ying’s chest felt painfully tight, unable to express whether it was disappointment or anger. She gritted her teeth: “Since you can leave the City of Wrongful Deaths, it means Wang Ranxi is already dead. Let me ask you, how did Wang Ranxi die? Was she executed by the Empress Dowager?”
“No.” Wang Tuan’er shook her head. “From the high point in the City of Wrongful Deaths, I could see clearly. Wang Ranxi just died in the Investigation Hall prison due to a fire.”
Just now? Fire? Burned to death?