Chapter Sixteen: A Pair of Jade Bangles

"Ah—"
The villagers screamed in terror, huddling together in a frenzy, some even fainting from fear.

"It's finally here."

With the Ghostbane Dagger held in reverse, Fang Mu unleashed the nine threads of true energy within him and charged straight ahead. He noticed with sharp eyes that the hair of the woman in green had grown even longer, now reaching down to her calves.

The power of the nine threads of true energy had multiplied several times, and Fang Mu's strength was greatly enhanced. The Ghostbane Dagger, now enveloped in a surge of true energy, emitted a faint yellow flame.

A sizzle sounded.

The hair of the woman in green, moving without wind, wrapped itself around Fang Mu's Ghostbane Dagger.

Fang Mu was startled—she had grown much stronger; she was no longer as weak as a defenseless animal.

He fixed his gaze on the hair entwined around the dagger, recalling that the woman's hair now reached her calves, and a thought struck him.

The longer her hair, the stronger she seemed to become.

But for now, it was still far from enough.

Fang Mu poured even more true energy into the Ghostbane Dagger. The terrifying flames blazed, and the hair of the woman in green was engulfed in a pungent smell of scorching, instantly reduced to ashes.

Seizing the moment, Fang Mu advanced and executed the Hairpin Stab technique. The Ghostbane Dagger split into five afterimages, thrusting toward the woman’s head, neck, chest, abdomen, and loins.

With a bang, the woman in green dissolved into mist, leaving behind only a pile of her hair.

With the nine threads of true energy, Fang Mu could see a shadow flicker and vanish in an instant. He was about to pursue it, but the remnant shadow had already disappeared from sight.

The chilling sensation gradually faded. Fang Mu sheathed the Ghostbane Dagger and returned to the ancestral hall.

"Don't kill me, please, don't kill me!"
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have forced you, and I shouldn't have cut your hair while you were gravely ill..."
"Please, I'm begging you—don't kill me!"

The ancestral hall was filled with wailing, the pleas of remorseful villagers.

The middle-aged man was among them, sobbing. When he saw Fang Mu, it was as if he had glimpsed a ray of hope; scrambling and crawling, he rushed over. "Master, please save us!"

Fang Mu kicked the man aside and produced the emerald bracelet. "Now, can you tell me what this is?"

"It's Xiaoyu's bracelet," the man wailed. "The bracelets are a pair, passed down in Xiaoyu's family for generations. When the famine first struck, Xiaoyu pawned one of them."

"Heirlooms?" Fang Mu put the emerald bracelet away. "Do you know where the other one is?"

"I don't know." The man shook his head, then suddenly nodded wildly as if remembering something. "I do! After selling her hair and getting money, Xiaoyu redeemed the bracelet. There's a tradition in her family: the pair of bracelets, one for herself, the other for her beloved. She couldn't bear to wear it, so she kept it at home."

"At home?" Fang Mu asked. "Where is her house?"

The man hurriedly replied, "Her house is the last wooden cabin at the edge of the village."

Fang Mu rose to his feet and turned to leave.

"Master," the man pleaded, "please save us, we don't want to die!"

Fang Mu shook his head, stepped out of the ancestral hall, and said coldly, "To live is fortune; to die is fate."

Inside the ancestral hall, the villagers watched Fang Mu's departing figure and glanced at the pitch-black night outside. None dared to follow. Instead, they shut the doors, clustering around the hall’s lone candle, as if its small flame was their only comfort.

...

With the information from the middle-aged man, Fang Mu made his way to the village's edge and indeed found a solitary wooden hut. It was dilapidated, covered in dust and fallen leaves, clearly long untended.

He approached and pushed open the door.

A wave of musty, moldy air assaulted him, making him uncomfortable.

The reek came from the old furniture; thick dust lay on every surface, cobwebs layered in every corner.

Fang Mu wasted no time and began his search.

Soon, he found a chest beneath the bed, its lid secured with a rusty padlock, and no key in sight.

With a snap, he smashed the lock with the Ghostbane Dagger.

Inside the chest lay a jade-green bracelet.

He took out the bracelet from his pocket and compared it carefully with the one in the chest; they were identical.

On one side of each was a serrated edge. Looking at these, Fang Mu was struck by a sudden idea and placed the two bracelets together.

The jagged edges fit together perfectly, clicking into place to form a single, larger bracelet.

"One half for each," Fang Mu mused, examining the seamless join where there was not even a hint of a gap.

At that moment, a light shone from the hollow center of the bracelet.

Fang Mu gripped the Ghostbane Dagger and readied himself.

The light shot upward, and slowly, a large swath of writing appeared in midair.

Holding the Ghostbane Dagger in reverse, Fang Mu read carefully...

"My name is Xiaoyu, just an ordinary person. If you’re reading this, I may already be dead.

"I died in agony, my flesh melting away, as if a blade was slicing my body piece by piece.

"I am filled with hatred. Why did I trust that traveling merchant? Beware the merchant!

"A traveling merchant?"

Fang Mu frowned—this was not the first time the merchant had been mentioned. The merchant was shrouded in mystery.

Suppressing his thoughts, Fang Mu read on.

"The merchant told me I was just a commoner, but that I had gained a strange power and become a mystic. My power was my hair, and he wanted it, so he made a deal with me.

"He gave me a potion to make my hair grow at an incredible rate. I agreed, because I didn’t want the villagers to die of famine.

"But even after the famine had passed, they still wanted my hair, saying it was to help the village recover.

"The merchant told me the first dose would enhance my power without harm, but the second time and beyond, the side effects would grow ever more severe.

"I thought, just once would be fine. But some things were beyond my control. They kept asking, again and again. Even the white-haired village chief knelt before me in supplication. I relented.

"By the time I understood, it was too late. I was so weak then, and they held me down and cut off all my hair.

"Stranger, if you see this, leave at once. They are more terrifying than any ghost!"

Here, the writing ended.

The light faded, and all returned to normal.

Looking down, Fang Mu saw that the bracelet in his hand had turned to ash.

"People more terrifying than ghosts..." Fang Mu murmured to himself.

Suddenly, screams echoed through the night, rising and falling.

He turned back—the cries came not from anywhere else, but from the direction of the ancestral hall!

"So you’ve finally come?"

Holding the Ghostbane Dagger in reverse, Fang Mu charged out at once...