IBGSW Chapter 23
Poaching My People
Ghost fog had now appeared in Wan'an County. Fan Bisi himself had warned that the appearance of ghost fog dramatically increased the chances of a malignant ghost being born—and the simultaneous reanimation of the Zhao couple was terrifying proof. And the Wan'an County bureau was no longer the talent-rich place it had once been. It had fallen on hard times. Not even counting Zhang Chuanshi, whom she'd dragged in today to make up the numbers, there were only three people. Zhao Fusheng had been handed the post in a crisis. The Fan brothers were mere order envoys, and what mattered most was that they were bent on running away.
The court had abandoned the place too. By custom, a general-rank figure should have laid down an imprint at the cemetery in the west of the city to suppress the revival of ghosts, and now there was none.
"If the ghosts at the West City cemetery revive, what do we do then?" Zhao Fusheng's expression darkened.
Fan Bisi didn't answer, but thought: If things weren't so dire, would we brothers be planning to run?
He didn't say it aloud, but Zhao Fusheng read it in his eyes anyway. Her gaze made him uneasy. He turned his head away, not daring to say what he was thinking. After holding out a while, he tried to reassure her.
"Don't worry. When Zhao Qiming came last year, he traveled with General Zhou Cong, who reinforced the ghost seal then. That was the middle of the eighth month1, so there's still over a month left before a full year is up."
"..."
Hearing this only made Zhao Fusheng more uneasy.
"And what happens after that month?"
Fan Bisi didn't know how to answer and chose silence.
"Have people who died many years ago ever shown signs of reviving as malignant ghosts?" Zhao Fusheng asked.
"We've been at the bureau for many years, and we've never heard of such a thing," Fan Bisi said.
He thought she would keep questioning him about the cemetery, but as soon as he finished, she changed the subject.
"Have you brothers been at the bureau a long time?"
Her mind was quick and her thoughts leaped around, her questions coming one here, one there, completely beyond his expectation. He wasn't the least bit prepared, and without noticing, many things were being pried out of him. This sense of losing control unsettled him, but luckily the question wasn't a secret. If she wanted, she could find out with a little asking around. He had no thought of hiding it.
"We've been at the bureau for nearly nineteen years..."
As soon as he said it, he sharply sensed that her gaze had changed.
"No wonder you're so familiar with so many things," Zhao Fusheng said with a slight nod. Then she asked:
"I looked at some of the case scrolls in the side chambers and picked out a few ghost cases. Just as you said, the process of investigating them is full of danger, and the mortality rate for order envoys is especially high."
At this Fan Bisi's whole body jolted. He looked up at her in utter astonishment, disbelief in his eyes.
Jiumen Village was a village under Wan'an County, and most of its people were tenant farmers living in poverty. The Zhao family had been poor for generations, with no rice to put in the pot, or they wouldn't have sold their daughter at such a low price. Raised in those conditions, the original Zhao Fusheng had little exposure to the world and should not have known how to read.
Earlier today, when she inquired about the case archives—specifically the Liu Clan Ancestral Hall incident from forty years ago—Fan Bisi had pointed her toward the side chamber where the scrolls lay piled in chaotic heaps, fully intending to stall her. He had never expected her to actually comb through them, much less carry herself like someone who genuinely comprehended every word inscribed on those official records.
Books were precious in those days, and very few people could read. Many of the ghost-controlling chief commanding officers of the past could not read or write. So back when the Wan'an County bureau was still thriving, the yamen had kept a dedicated secretary just to copy out case details for the chief commanding officer and report them to the imperial court.
"I haven't seen the order envoy rosters for recent years, but I skimmed through some and found that turnover among commanding officers is especially high. In the records of those who died, most of them held the post only half a year to a year."
Zhao Fusheng noticed Fan Bisi's suspicion but made no attempt to hide her intentions. What mattered most to her right now was to seize every moment to learn more and keep herself alive. As for Fan Bisi's doubts, they were of no consequence. Since she had taken a ghost into her body, the brothers' attitude toward her had changed completely, which showed that in this world the strong were respected. As long as she stayed alive and kept her strength, what could their suspicions possibly do to her?
"...Yes." Fan Bisi hesitated for a moment, then swallowed his doubts and nodded. "By normal reasoning that's how it is, but our situation is special."
"Wait." Zhao Fusheng suddenly remembered something. "Nineteen years ago? If I remember right, you said this morning that nineteen years ago the chief commanding officer of the bureau was named Zhao Duan..."
Sweat broke out on Fan Bisi's forehead, and his guard toward Zhao Fusheng rose even higher. She was completely different from the old Zhao Fusheng: careful, sharp, remembering every word he had said and comparing them over and over. It was truly terrifying.
"Yes. Zhao Duan adopted us back then and brought us into the bureau," he admitted helplessly.
"Mm." Zhao Fusheng nodded. Nineteen years ago, Zhao Duan had adopted the twin brothers and brought them into the bureau. No wonder the brothers' expressions had been odd earlier when they mentioned Zhao Qiming.
"Even with that connection, Zhao Duan died not long after taking charge of the Wan'an County bureau."
By rights, the official in charge on the spot counted for more than any connection. Once Zhao Duan died, whoever succeeded him would hardly care about his ties.
True, with the mortality rate among the bureau's commanding officers and envoys so high, they all knew that when one fell, the others suffered. Each feared that their wives, dependents and children would be left without care after their own deaths, and so they might be willing to look out for one another's families. But why had children adopted by Zhao Duan, like the Fan brothers, been able to grow up safely and remain in the bureau for as long as nineteen years?
Who knew how many commanding officers had come and gone since Zhao Duan. Whatever goodwill he'd left behind had long since worn away over so many years. Moreover, Fan Bisi himself had said that most chief commanding officers were ghost-controllers, men who lived beside ghosts and whose natures had long been warped by the malignant ghosts into gloom, cruelty, and violence, nearly impossible to get along with.
With envoys dying at such a rate and the bureau always short-handed, how had the Fan brothers managed to survive?
Yet their names were in the Soul-Life Register, and that couldn't be faked.
Doubt showed in Zhao Fusheng's eyes. Fan Bisi swallowed his rising irritation and answered:
"That's right. After Zhao Duan adopted us, we were only registered at the bureau and did not stay there. Before he died he made arrangements for us and sent us to the Zhao family, and we were raised by Brother Qiming."
"A year ago, Brother Qiming received a court transfer and brought us with him to Wan'an County," Fan Bisi said calmly.
In the end Zhao Qiming had died, the ghost in his body had run out of control, and the two brothers had survived to this day.
Having cleared up the story, Zhao Fusheng felt fresh doubts rising. Fan Bisi's eyes were already wary, and he was guessing what she would ask next, composing his words and calculating how to deal with it, when she changed the subject once more.
"Brother Fan..."
Fan Bisi's body went rigid. Before he could speak she went on.
"The cemetery's imprint in Wan'an County isn't very stable now. My parents' bodies already show signs of ghosts reviving. If they're buried in the cemetery, will it cause a disturbance?"
"..." Fan Bisi had racked his brains over a great many questions, but had never thought she'd spend so long asking about the brothers' origins and then turn back to the cemetery. It was as if he had loudly erected his defenses and she had feinted and walked away. He drew a deep breath, forcibly pressed down the stifled feeling in his chest, and after a while forced out a smile.
"Perhaps there's no problem for now..."
"They're revived malignant ghosts, after all. I've suppressed them for now, but that isn't secure." Zhao Fusheng waved a hand to cut him off, and went on.
"You want to go to Baozhi County. Given that the Soul-Life Register can't stay away from the ghost curse's oversight for long, Baozhi County can't be far, can it?"
At her question, alarm bells rang in Fan Bisi's head and he blurted out.
"What are you planning?"
As soon as he'd said it he saw her purse her lips in a smile and regretted it at once. In this exchange she was calm and he had lost his composure, putting him at a disadvantage.
"Why do you ask about Baozhi County?" he said, forcing down his unease and adjusting his tone to ask again.
"Oh, it's like this." Zhao Fusheng smiled warmly. "You've said yourself that malignant ghosts can't be killed. There are only two ways: drive them off, or suppress them for a time so that they fall into 'sleep.'"
Fan Bisi shifted his shoulders uneasily, swallowed, and with difficulty gave a nod.
"So I've been thinking that Baozhi County is somewhere you thought worth throwing in your lot with, and you mentioned there's a Lower General there, Deputy Commander Zheng, who controls a Vicious-tier ghost and holds the post."
She turned to him with a smile. "I didn't mishear, did I?"
She had heard it after all!
However sharp and quick-witted Fan Bisi was, being questioned again and again like this threw him into confusion. When the brothers had been discussing their future at the bureau, thinking she was dead, what they said had reached her ears.
"We were only talking idly..." he said with difficulty.
"Don't panic, Brother Fan." Zhao Fusheng reached out and patted his arm. Fan Bisi flinched as if he'd touched a malignant ghost and backed several steps away, putting distance between them.
"I don't mean to blame you. People climb up, water flows down2. Wan'an County wasn't doing well, and you wanted to leave. That's not your fault." Zhao Fusheng ignored his wariness and smiled mildly. "But things are different now."
"..." The Fan brothers looked at each other blankly, their faces expressionless.
"Now that the Wan'an County bureau has me, you naturally can't leave. But this Deputy Commander Zheng in Baozhi County isn't very decent. He's in Baozhi County with the court's backing and still isn't satisfied. He wants to dig out the corner of my wall3." Zhao Fusheng gave a cold snort. "I'm a petty person. I can't let this grudge go unpaid."
Fan Bisi felt she was saying this to him, and was trembling when she went on:
"I've been thinking my parents' bodies underwent a ghostly change. Even if suppressed for now, it isn't safe to bury them in the cemetery."
"Our Wan'an County is in a troubled season, with a pile-up of malignant ghost cases, too few people, and the court not caring for now..."
"What do you intend to do?" The more Fan Bisi listened the worse he felt. His eyelid twitched, and a bad premonition rose in his heart.
"I think Baozhi County is bigger and Deputy Commander Zheng is highly capable," Zhao Fusheng said earnestly. "Why not carry my parents' bodies to Baozhi County for now and bury them in their cemetery? Even if the ghosts revive again, with a master like Deputy Commander Zheng stepping in, I think it would be foolproof."
Fan Bisi was speechless, and the other corpse bearers looked uneasy too. Zhao Fusheng added:
"And if Deputy Commander Zheng can't hold, the court is behind him to clean up the mess, isn't it?"
"..."
