Chapter 78: A Method to Become the Uncanny

Fang Mu nodded with certainty. “You will die.”
The words were spoken with absolute finality, leaving no room for negotiation.
Duan Gen shook his head. “Then I won’t say anything.”
If death was inevitable, what was there left to discuss?
Fang Mu pointed to the spot where the apparition had just stood and smiled. “You saw your own apparition a moment ago. Death is simple, but there are many ways to die.”
Duan Gen was stunned.
Fang Mu continued, “My blade can be swift—some deaths are painless. But my blade can also be slow. It might take hundreds or thousands of cuts before you’re truly dead, your consciousness lingering to savor unending agony. So, tell me—would you rather it be quick, or would you prefer to endure limitless torment?”
“Can’t you just let me go?” Duan Gen forced a bitter smile.
Fang Mu narrowed his eyes. “Does that sound plausible to you? Or would you like a taste of that pain first?”
The butcher’s knife flashed, and a cascade of blade light spread along Duan Gen’s arm.
In the blink of an eye, only the white bones of his left forearm remained.
When a blade is too swift, pain comes with a delay.
Duan Gen stared in shock for a moment before unleashing a blood-curdling scream.
“Suicide takes courage.” Fang Mu raised the butcher’s knife again. “If you have the guts to kill yourself, I’ll admit defeat. But you won’t get many more chances. I’ll start with your limbs, and you’ll be left a mere torso. I am a coroner, skilled at dissection… I’m very good at it.”
Cold sweat streamed down Duan Gen’s forehead. In his eyes, Fang Mu was more terrifying than any ghost.
“I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything!” Duan Gen couldn’t withstand the torment and began to beg for mercy.
Fang Mu nodded approvingly. “Good. I appreciate those who know when to yield. After all, I’m not a bad person by nature.”
“It was me! I killed them all!” Duan Gen’s face was pale, his words tumbling out in haste. “Even the maid…”
A resounding slap landed on his face, swelling it grotesquely.
“Tell the truth,” Fang Mu said slowly. “The maid had two fatal wounds. One was a ligature mark on her neck. Sun Wei owed gambling debts; perhaps the maid discovered his misdeeds, so he killed her.”
“That’s not wrong!” Duan Gen protested, aggrieved. “I saw him kill the maid, but she wasn’t completely dead, so I finished the job and framed him for it.”
Fang Mu mused, “That does seem to make sense.”
Duan Gen: “…”
If that’s right, why did you slap me? Isn’t that a bit excessive?
“So you’re saying you did everything?” Fang Mu asked. “But what was your motive?”
“Apparitions!” Duan Gen ground his teeth. “I’m from the Duan family. The Sun family and mine have a feud. Killing them would create an apparition, killing two birds with one stone.”
“Why not just kill Madam Zhao directly?” Fang Mu frowned.
“Apparitions aren’t so easily made,” Duan Gen explained. “Only those who die in extreme agony are likely to become apparitions! Gouged eyes, severed hands, torn tongues—only death in endless torment is most…”
Another slap landed on his other cheek, swelling it to match the first. Duan Gen was dazed.
Fang Mu shook out his hand. “I understand the situation now. Very well, next question—who’s behind you?”
Duan Gen looked puzzled. “Behind me? Who… ah—”
The blade flashed, revealing the white bones of his other hand.
Fang Mu smiled. “You’re not being honest. You looked awfully surprised before.”
Cold sweat poured down Duan Gen’s forehead, yet he kept his mouth shut, refusing to utter a word.
“Not talking?”
“Go ahead and kill me,” Duan Gen said, closing his eyes, resolute in his silence.
Fang Mu shook his head, silently acknowledging the cleverness of the ploy.
Knowing he was doomed, Duan Gen took all the blame himself to lessen his suffering. He seemed fiercely loyal to the one pulling his strings.
The blade flashed again, slicing through Duan Gen’s legs. In moments, only his torso remained, the rest a skeleton.
But Duan Gen kept his lips sealed and his eyes tightly shut, saying nothing.
Fang Mu made no further moves. He brought over a stool and sat quietly.
“Kill… kill me!” Duan Gen forced open his eyes, pleading in agony. “End it, please.”
Fang Mu shook his head. “No hurry.”
Blood gushed from Duan Gen’s mouth as Fang Mu’s unhurried composure drove him half-mad. His injuries worsened, his consciousness fading.
“You said…” Fang Mu spoke coolly. “That those who die after great torment are likely to become apparitions.”
“You—” Duan Gen glared at Fang Mu with endless fury.
This wasn’t cold-bloodedness on Fang Mu’s part; it was necessity given his position.
That mysterious figure seemed to have his eye on him too—the ghost’s touch was proof enough.
Since that was the case, he would drag the culprit out into the open.
Once Duan Gen became an apparition, corpse-touching techniques could be employed.
As for his methods… different people warranted different measures. For someone with a trail of corpses behind him like Duan Gen, Fang Mu felt no hesitation.
Time passed; Duan Gen’s breath gradually weakened until life left his body.
“He didn’t trust me! Why did he go to you!”
With his last breath, Duan Gen let out a furious roar.

Fang Mu sat on the stool, quietly waiting.
Night slowly fell…
The first night, nothing happened.
The second night, still nothing.
Time crept into the third night…
In the darkness, Fang Mu lit an oil lamp and took his seat once more.
Ah Bai crouched silently on his shoulder, occasionally nuzzling Fang Mu’s neck.
In the dead of night, a sudden cold wind blew.
Though the windows and doors were tightly shut, the wind arose without warning.
Ah Bai let out a cry toward the corpse on the floor.
Fang Mu’s gaze sharpened as he noticed a change in Duan Gen’s body.
Tendrils of black mist emerged from the corpse, and as they gathered, the body slowly turned to ash.
The black mist swirled, coalescing in midair into a vague, ghostly silhouette.
Once formed, the ghostly figure noticed Fang Mu and drifted toward him.
“I’m scared… so scared…”
A chilling voice emanated from the apparition, drawing ever closer to Fang Mu.
“If you’re scared, then just die…” Fang Mu replied coolly.
A flash of gleaming blades swept out, the net of blades enveloping the ghost.
The apparition screamed in agony as the fiery true energy from the blade net seared it.
A ripple swept through Fang Mu’s mind as he reached out his hand…
A prompt sounded—
[You have touched a vengeful spirit and gained a trace of true energy.]
[You have touched a vengeful spirit and acquired a clue—secret letter.]
Ah Bai spat out black mist, completely devouring the apparition.
The room grew empty and silent, leaving only Fang Mu and Ah Bai.
Fang Mu extended his hand, and a sheet of paper appeared out of thin air.
When he opened it, the contents began to reveal themselves…