The midsummer morning breeze always carried a subtle fragrance. The Miao people typically left their main doors wide open after waking up, both to let the scented breeze drift inside and to allow light to illuminate the interior. Due to the poor malleability of building materials, these slate houses rarely had windows, and even then, they were usually very small. The main hall of the elder woman's residence, however, had no windows at all, so the main door remained open throughout the day. I entered without knocking, walked directly through the courtyard into the hall, and knelt down to offer three deep kowtows to the elder woman.

Now, regarding the topic at hand, everyone held their breath, afraid to speak loudly. The open doorway seemed to cast a shadow over everyone’s heart, a dread of being overheard by someone outside, which might, like the four guards, invite fatal disaster.

“Shut the door and light the lamps,” the elder woman commanded. Old He hurriedly rushed to secure both the main and secondary doors. Hua Gu took several candles from the cupboard, used the last sliver of light lingering in the door crack to strike a match, lit the candles, and handed one to each of us.

The elder woman set down her pipe, sat up slightly straighter, and spoke with gravity: “Hua Jinlan has possessed Wang Jue. There are only two paths for her now: either she is guided to peace, or she must find a way to obtain an immortal body. If she intended to find peace, she certainly wouldn't be killing people. A vengeful spirit that has died can forge a contract with the Sea of Departed Souls, exchanging ninety-nine lives for an undying form. I fear she has already established that contract and is now fulfilling her promise.”

It turned out the elder woman also knew of the Sea of Departed Souls. Recalling everything that had transpired in that place—the grief of losing friends—washed over me again. First Da Yong, then Wang Jue; that world teeming with demons and wicked spirits had tormented me until my heart was filled with sorrow.

However, the sudden appearance of someone else familiar with the Sea of Departed Souls was an unexpected turn of events. I stared at her with wide eyes, as if she could deliver me from my suffering, and asked, “You know about the Sea of Departed Souls?”

“That was a very, very long time ago. Have you perhaps seen an old photograph where a man holds a book, leaning next to an empty chair? That photograph should be in your Ming Xiong’s residence,” the elder woman murmured, nodding toward Xiao Shu with her mouth.

I never expected her to know about the old photograph! That picture was the very first thing I saw upon entering Li Xiaohao’s villa, and Old Shao had mentioned it later, so it was deeply imprinted in my memory. Furthermore, she knew Xiao Shu had a Ming Xiong, something we hadn't mentioned a single word about since we arrived. It seemed she knew far more than we did.

Xiao Shu’s face was equally stunned, unprepared for this complete stranger of an elder woman to discern her background at a mere glance.

“Actually, I am the person sitting in that chair. I should have been on the photograph, resting eternally in the grave with my husband,” the elder woman said softly, a faint smile touching her lips as she mentioned her husband, which looked slightly eerie under the candlelight.

No one spoke, waiting quietly for the elder woman to continue her terrifying tale of vanishing from the photograph.

“The beauty of life lies in the fact that no one escapes the final end. When all your loved ones have departed, the myth of immortality becomes a nightmare, leaving you behind in an alien world to endure the eternal pain of solitude and the sorrow of parting, accepting punishment for the mistakes born of resentment. An undying body is the treasure you long for, but it is also the millstone dragging you into a nightmare swamp, the very culprit that keeps you wandering without a moment's peace.” The elder woman sighed, glanced at Hua Gu standing nearby, and continued, “One day, Hua Gu will also leave me, just like the others, leaving me alone immersed in the sadness of past memories. Resentment brings endless torment. That is why the promise I needed Xiao Yu to fulfill that day was to help me find release, to escape this nightmarish, undying form.”