In the dead of night, Zhang Bin and Ma Rufei flew swiftly through the sky.
Soon, they left Yanjing City and came to the outskirts, landing in a dense forest.
Before them stood a lonely grave, without so much as a headstone.
Indisputably, this was the resting place of Hanbing Yun.
Zhang Bin had thought it over and still felt uneasy, so he came to have a look.
Since it was not yet dawn, he would have been quite frightened to come alone, which was why he had brought Ma Rufei along.
The reason he felt a chill was, of course, his suspicion that the woman he had seen that night was a ghost—the ghost of Hanbing Yun.
A Luminous Pearl suddenly appeared in Zhang Bin's hand, emitting a bright light that illuminated the surroundings as if it were day. He began to scrutinize the grave with an intense gaze.
Ma Rufei, however, let out a sharp shiver. He saw the solitary grave before him and heard the strange cries of birds in the forest, and a feeling of sheer terror suddenly overwhelmed him.
"Senior Brother, why… why are we here?" Ma Rufei stammered, his teeth chattering nonstop.
"To find that beauty, of course."
Zhang Bin carefully circled the grave, observing it from all angles.
Even though he had buried her at night, he remembered the grave he had personally dug very clearly because of his exceptional memory.
If Hanbing Yun had been resurrected and emerged from the grave, she would have certainly left a hole. Even if she had restored it, it would still be slightly different from how it was. He was there to see if he could spot any such differences.
"Senior Brother, how could the beauty be here? This is just a lone grave, right?"
Ma Rufei felt his skin crawl and tightly clutched Zhang Bin's sleeve, sticking to his heels.
"Because that beauty comes from this grave."
Zhang Bin finally completed his observation, finding the grave perfectly intact, exactly as it had been before.
He secretly let out a sigh of relief. He could now tentatively conclude that Hanbing Yun hadn't come back to life and hadn't crawled out of her grave.
As long as Hanbing Yun wasn't resurrected, there was nothing to fear. She wouldn't turn into a demon and cause the extinction of humanity.
So, at most, the woman was just a ghost, the soul of Hanbing Yun.
Perhaps she came to get revenge on me. However, I clearly remember Hanbing Yun saying at the moment of her death that she forgave me and held no resentment. Logically, her soul wouldn't come back for revenge, would it? Could Hanbing Yun's soul be trying to go home?
"Senior Brother, don't scare me. She was clearly a living, breathing beauty. It's just that her hand was freezing cold, with no warmth at all," Ma Rufei stammered. He recalled the intense chill he had felt when their hands brushed as he gave her money that night. He hadn't thought much of it then, but now, the memory sent a shiver down his spine.
Could that woman really be a ghost? Did I actually give money to her? She isn't going to start haunting me now, is she?
"You touched her hand?" Zhang Bin asked, shocked as he turned to look at Ma Rufei.
"When I gave her the money, I accidentally touched her hand. It was so, so cold, like a piece of ice..." Ma Rufei said, his face filled with terror.
"Like a piece of ice?" A contemplative look crossed Zhang Bin's face.
"Right, Senior Brother! When I got a close look at her, I noticed something off about her face. It was deathly pale, with no trace of color. My heart skipped a beat right then, and I got a little scared. That's why I didn't stick around and left immediately," Ma Rufei said fearfully, suddenly slapping his forehead.
"Holy shit, you aren't just making this up to scare me, are you? We're in the desolate wilderness. It's easy to scare someone to death out here," Zhang Bin said, feeling a chill himself.
"Senior Brother, it's true, I'm not lying! Though the woman was beautiful, her face truly had no color, like a dead person's," Ma Rufei said, shivering uncontrollably.
Damn it... Now that I think about it, I also felt there was something off about her. Her face was far too pale. It couldn't really be a ghost, could it?
"Master, you're right," Tutu said in Zhang Bin's mind. "I recorded her image, and upon close observation, her complexion is clearly abnormal, just like Hanbing Yun's face when she died. Could it really be Hanbing Yun's soul?"
I'll have to visit the Maoshan Sect and ask about ghosts next time, Zhang Bin thought.
He took a plastic bag from his Space Ring and pulled out candles, incense, and Joss Paper. These were, of course, the items he had taken from the grocery store.
He lit the candles and incense, placed them before the grave, and then began to burn the Joss Paper. He thought, Hanbing Yun, I know you died with regrets, but that's just fate. You said it yourself that you don't blame me and that if you were in my shoes, you would have done the same. Your soul doesn't need to linger in this world. You should go to the Netherworld, report in, and be reincarnated to start a new life.
"Senior Brother, was that beauty really a ghost? Is she buried here? Does she have some grievance? Should we help her get revenge?" Ma Rufei asked in surprise from the side.
"That's right. That beauty most likely came from here. This is her grave. She doesn't have any grievances; she just ran out of money and came out to ask for some. You gave her RMB, which she can't use in the Netherworld, so it's better to burn some Joss Paper for her," Zhang Bin lied.
To Ma Rufei's ears, however, the explanation sounded perfectly reasonable and seamless.
He believed it and hurried over to help burn the Joss Paper, murmuring, "Beautiful lady, oh beautiful lady, I don't need you to repay me. Please, don't come to repay me! I can't take it; you'd scare me to death for sure."
Zhang Bin didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He felt that Ma Rufei was quite the entertaining fool.
Once they finished burning the Joss Paper and the candles and incense were extinguished by the night breeze, Zhang Bin prepared to take Ma Rufei and head back immediately.
However, Tutu quietly spoke up in his mind, "Master, it doesn't quite make sense for that woman to be Hanbing Yun's soul, because their faces are different. I just searched online for information about ghosts, and there's nothing that says a ghost's appearance differs from when they were alive. If that's the case, then there are only two possibilities: it's the soul of another woman, or Hanbing Yun has been resurrected. She probably changed her appearance as soon as she left the tomb, fearing you would recognize and harm her. Therefore, I suggest you open the grave and check."
"Let's not do that. I don't want to dig up a grave," Zhang Bin refused. He couldn't do something like that; if he exhumed the body and Ma Rufei saw it, it would cause a huge problem.
"Then you could use your Wall-Piercing Ability to enter the tomb and see for yourself. That way, you can confirm which it is," Tutu suggested again.
Forget it. I've already checked the tomb and there's nothing out of the ordinary. I'm certain her body is still lying safely inside. That woman wasn't a ghost. Even if she was, she wasn't formed from Hanbing Yun's soul. I really don't want to see Hanbing Yun's body again, so there's no way I'm phasing into the tomb to look.
He just wondered if he would regret this decision in the future.
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