CHAPTER 84: CHAPTER 83: SOUL-LOSS SYNDROME

"No wonder I haven’t seen you for a while. So this is where you’ve been," Yu Nianzhao stepped into the courtyard, and as soon as her foot touched the ground, she knew something was amiss.

She flicked her finger, and Wei Zhao broke free from under the locust tree, quickly floating behind Yu Nianzhao.

"So the Soul-locking Array is here. How deep must the hatred be to suppress someone’s spirit in the place where you dwell!"

She walked forward two more steps, and black mist rose from the ground.

Xie Yunzhe heard her words, his face darkening, "Are you saying the Soul-locking Array you mentioned earlier is right here in this courtyard?"

"Correct!"

"The Soul-locking Array was set by my mother, to trap a vengeful spirit?"

"Obviously!"

"Absurd, it’s utterly absurd! Ever since she gave birth to me, my mother set up a Buddhist shrine in the mansion, living a life of vegetarianism and chanting scriptures every day, never harming a living being. And you tell me she trapped someone’s soul? Do you think I’ll believe that?"

"Haven’t you already begun to doubt?" Yu Nianzhao stared at him, her eyes penetrating. Xie Yunzhe’s mocking expression froze, a fleeting panic in his gaze.

"Brother, what are you doing outside? Mother suddenly went crazy, smashing things in the room, just like last time! Aren’t you going to come in quickly to see?" Xie Jiarou heard their voices and hurried out to urge him.

"Where is the Guanyin statue I brought back last time? Didn’t you set it out?"

"I did, but this time it was of no use at all."

"Pei Yunzhi just sent a consecrated Guanyin statue, quickly fetch it!"

"Okay."

Xie Jiarou hurried to fetch the Guanyin statue, and as soon as she brought it into the room, the sound of something crashing heavily came from inside.

"Ah! Get out, get out quickly! Stop chanting by my ear, don’t let me see such things!" Princess An Nan’s voice came from within, hysterically like a madwoman.

"Where is Princess Consort Su?" Prince An Nan’s steady voice came from inside the room.

Yu Nianzhao stood leisurely at the door and saw Princess An Nan with bloodshot eyes, crazily smashing things as if she didn’t recognize anyone. The place was a mess, with hardly any room to walk.

"Princess Consort Su, are you truly proficient in the mystic arts?"

"This is Soul Separation Syndrome. Her soul is unstable! This situation should have started last month, and it has recurred no more than three times." Yu Nianzhao didn’t answer his question, merely stating it calmly.

"You even know this?" Prince An Nan’s breath slowed, looking at Yu Nianzhao with surprise, solemnly asking, "This matter is highly confidential, known only to a few in the An Nan Royal Mansion. No one outside knows about it. I trust you now. What exactly is this Soul Separation Syndrome you speak of?"

"People have three souls and seven spirits. Losing any one of them can be termed Soul Separation Syndrome."

"Then how can we retrieve her soul?"

"Finding the soul isn’t difficult, the challenge is... to understand what kind of grudge exists between her and the vengeful spirit sealed here."

"What vengeful spirit?" Prince An Nan asked in horror.

"It seems none of you know," Yu Nianzhao said. "With the presence of a Soul-locking Array in this courtyard, strange things must have frequently occurred in the mansion since Princess An Nan went mad, right?"

Xie Jiarou said fearfully, "Yes, the mansion is fine during the day, but once night falls, especially around midnight, people often hear a woman’s crying, one after another. Someone once bravely went to look, and... found a female ghost in red curled up in a corner crying. The servant was so frightened they lost their mind and were sent to a rural estate the next day."

"Not only that, shadows often flitted past the door after nightfall. Later, I had guards stationed at the door to restore peace," Prince An Nan continued.

"The chanting in the shrine is useless. The Guanyin statues my mother has been placing for years are starting to crack, with fissures as if something is trying to break free from them. My mother is terrified, thinking she’s offended Buddha, and had me carve new Guanyin statues," Xie Yunzhe smiled bitterly, recounting the events.

"No wonder I encountered you at Mr. Zhang’s place, but you later demanded a Guanyin statue carved every ten days because the cracking accelerated?"

"Yes, the cracking is increasing at an alarming rate. It’s truly bizarre and I’m worried it will lead to my mother being possessed, so I have Mr. Zhang deliver a Guanyin statue every ten days."

"But you didn’t know the Guanyin statues you brought back weren’t consecrated and are useless against evil spirits, right?"

"Of course I understand that. I only need to fetch the statues, and as for consecration, the nanny beside my mother takes care of it."

"Oh? Really? Did you actually see her take them for consecration? See it with your own eyes?" Yu Nianzhao raised an eyebrow, looking at him with a playful smile.

A shiver ran from Xie Yunzhe’s feet straight up to his head!

He trembled, forcing words out of his throat, "No... didn’t see it with my own eyes."

"Ha, then they were never consecrated," Yu Nianzhao pointed to the shattered remains of the Guanyin statue on the ground, "This consecrated Guanyin statue, Princess An Nan absolutely hated it. She never wanted a consecrated one in the first place."

"But why exactly is that?"

"You should ask the spirit in the Red Jade Earring!"

"The Red Jade Earring? So there was indeed something wrong with the Red Jade Earring," Xie Jiarou gritted her teeth, mustering the courage to glare at Yu Nianzhao, questioning her, "Why did you take the Red Jade Earring to give to my mother, what’s your intention?"

"Tsk, who gave me the Red Jade Earring in the first place, why don’t you mention that?" Yu Nianzhao’s light words made Xie Jiarou speechless.

"What are you talking about?" Prince An Nan and Xie Yunzhe were perplexed.

"One of the Red Jade Earrings was indeed a token of love from Prince An Nan to Princess An Nan, and the other I had a Persian merchant replicate. They weren’t originally a pair but were among the jewelry given as compensation by Jiarou County Lord," Yu Nianzhao stated teasingly, "Turns out, it was the Jiarou County Lord who brought trouble upon me, giving me a ghost as an apology gift."

Xie Jiarou teared up, "I truly didn’t know that earring contained a ghost!"

"I gave the Red Jade Earring to Princess An Nan, so why is there a ghost in it? Could it be that the disturbances before were also caused by this ghost? What kind of grudge does it hold against the Princess?" Prince An Nan was utterly confused.

"Why don’t you ask her yourself?"

Yu Nianzhao took the Red Jade Earring and summoned the ghost inside.

The female ghost floated out from the Red Jade Earring, and the Soul-locking Array in the courtyard immediately reacted. She fell to the ground in pain, her spirit greatly weakened.