59: The cause and effect are resolved, and the soul returns to dust.

The morning mist dispersed as the morning sun rose.

The light in the cemetery gradually brightened, but the atmosphere in front of these two adjacent graves in Area C became increasingly heavy. After Liu Ruyan's Soul finished speaking, it became even more transparent, almost merging into the morning light.

"My time is running out," she said softly. "My Soul has been out of my body for too long, and without an obsession to sustain it, it will soon dissipate."

Chen Shuyi floated in front of her, looking at her aged but gentle face. "Sister Ruyan, do you... have any other unfulfilled wishes?"

Liu Ruyan smiled slightly. "No more. To be able to see you again and speak the truth of that year with my own mouth, I no longer have any regrets."

She paused and looked at Li Muchen. "Daoist, thank you. If it weren't for you, these secrets, these injustices, I'm afraid no one would ever know."

Li Muchen nodded slightly. "It was just a small effort."

“And...” Liu Ruyan's gaze turned to Chen Shiru's tombstone, her eyes complex. “That curse was the last thing I could do for him. To let him never be reincarnated, to atone for his sins in darkness forever. But is this really... right?”

Li Muchen did not answer this question.

Right or wrong, sometimes it doesn't matter. What matters is that Karma must be settled.

Liu Ruyan's Soul began to dissipate, points of white light floating up from her body like fireflies in the dawn.

"Shuyi," she said finally, "forget him. Forget all of this, and go where you belong."

"And you?"

"Me..." Liu Ruyan's smile was very warm, "I want to go see my mother. For all these years, I've always wanted to say sorry to her—because of me, she married into the Chen family; because of me, she passed away so early..."

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Before she could finish, her Soul completely dispersed, turning into countless spots of light, drifting into the sky and disappearing into the morning light.

In front of the tombstone, only that faint, warm energy remained—her final attachment to her loved ones.

Chen Shuyi watched those dissipating spots of light, speechless for a long time.

After a long while, she turned around and looked at Chen Shiru's tombstone.

This time, her eyes were no longer confused or sad; only a resolute calm remained.

"Abbot," she said softly, "I want to see him."

Li Muchen nodded. "Okay."

He walked to Chen Shiru's tombstone, his right hand forming a seal and his left hand pressing against the surface of the stone.

“In my name, I call upon your Soul.” Li Muchen's voice echoed in the cemetery, carrying a certain ancient rhythm. “Chen Shiru, if you have a spirit, appear!”

True Essence poured into the tombstone like a tide, extending downward along the stone, penetrating the soil, penetrating the coffin, and reaching that cursed skeleton.

The black energy at the glabella began to react violently under the stimulation of the True Essence.

The curse was triggered.

The temperature in the cemetery dropped suddenly; clearly it was the height of summer in July, yet a thin layer of frost formed around them. The sunlight seemed to dim significantly, and the entire Area C was shrouded in a sinister shadow.

"Wooo—"

The sound of the wind became shrill, like someone crying.

The tombstone began to crack, with fissures spreading out from where Li Muchen's palm was pressed. From the cracks, a black, viscous liquid seeped out, emitting a pungent, rotting stench.

Lin Wenyuan and Zhao Xiaowen instinctively backed away, their faces turning pale.

Only Chen Shuyi floated in front of the tombstone, motionless, staring intently at those cracks.

"Bang!"

The tombstone exploded.

It wasn't an explosion, but rather it was burst open from the inside by some kind of force. Rubble flew everywhere, revealing the dark, hollow grave below.

A dense black mist surged out of the grave, condensing and twisting in the air, finally forming a blurry human figure.

That figure wore a long gown from the republic of china era and gold-rimmed glasses, looking refined and elegant—but that face was full of pain and distortion. His eyes were pure black, without pupils, only endless darkness. His body was wrapped in black chains, the manifestation of the curse, binding him firmly.

This was Chen Shiru's Soul.

A Soul that had been imprisoned by the curse for decades, never to be reincarnated.

He slowly opened his eyes—if they could still be called eyes.

"Who... who is calling me?" His voice was hoarse and unpleasant, like a worn-out bellows.

"It's me." Chen Shuyi floated in front of him.

Chen Shiru's Soul gave a violent jolt.

He recognized this voice.

It had been over ninety years, but he had never forgotten this voice, this face—or rather, he wanted to forget, but couldn't.

"Shu... Shuyi?" His voice trembled with disbelief. "You... you're still..."

"I'm still 'here'," Chen Shuyi said coldly. "Thanks to you, I stayed at the bottom of the well for ninety years."

Chen Shiru's Soul began to tremble, the black chains clinking.

"No... impossible... you're already dead..."

"Yes, I'm dead." Chen Shuyi smiled, a very cold smile. "Killed by you. Pushed down the well by you, along with my child, to die in the freezing water, to die in endless darkness."

"I... I didn't mean to..." Chen Shiru tried to defend himself. "I... I was forced by circumstances..."

"Forced by circumstances?" Chen Shuyi's voice suddenly rose. "Forced by circumstances so you had to kill? Forced by circumstances so you had to push a seventeen-year-old girl down a well? Forced by circumstances so you had to kill an unborn child?"

At this moment, her resentment completely exploded.

Chen Shuyi's Soul began to change.

The Indanthrene Blue Cheongsam on her body was gradually stained dark red—the color of blood. Her braids came undone, her black hair dancing wildly in the air. Her eyes turned blood-red, and her fingernails became sharp.

The ball of light representing the infant in her arms also burst forth with a blinding light at this moment, then merged into her body.

Mother and son were connected in heart, their resentment merging into one.

Black resentment surged from her body, even denser and more terrifying than the black mist of the curse on Chen Shiru. The entire cemetery was shaking, trees withered, flowers and grass wilted, and even the sky darkened.

Li Muchen did not stop her.

He just took a step back and watched quietly.

Karma settled, resentment dissipated—this was the only way. Forcibly suppressing it would only deepen the resentment and eventually lead to a greater disaster.

"Shuyi... Shuyi, listen to me..." Chen Shiru's Soul was almost collapsing under the pressure of the resentment. "Back then... back then I had no choice... the Miss Zhang... my future... I couldn't ruin it..."

"So you ruined me?" Chen Shuyi's voice became sharp and piercing. "So you killed me and my child?"

"I... I can compensate you..." Chen Shiru pleaded, "I can burn paper money for you, I can set up a tombstone for you, I can..."

"Set up a tombstone?" Chen Shuyi laughed loudly, her laughter shrill. "Chen Shiru, do you think I care about a stone? What I want is justice! I want you to confess! I want you to say with your own mouth that you were wrong!"

She reached out her hand, which had turned into sharp claws, and grabbed the chains on Chen Shiru's Soul.

"This curse was placed by Sister Ruyan. She wanted you to never be reincarnated." She said coldly, "But I think that's not enough."

Black energy spread along the chains and poured into Chen Shiru's Soul.

"Ah—"

Chen Shiru let out a shrill scream.

That black energy was not just simple resentment, but the pain, despair, and unwillingness accumulated by Chen Shuyi over ninety years, and... the longing for that unborn child.

These emotions were like countless steel needles, piercing into the depths of Chen Shiru's Soul.

He 'saw' it—saw that dark night all those years ago, saw Chen Shuyi's struggle as she was dragged out of the basement, saw her despair as she fell to the bottom of the well, saw her breath slowly fade in the cold water, saw the final movement of the child in her womb.

He also 'felt' it—felt the cold at the bottom of the well, felt the sensation of suffocation, felt the pain of a mother losing her child.

"No... don't..." he screamed, "Let me go... please..."

"Let you go?" Chen Shuyi's voice was as cold as iron. "Did I ever beg you back then? Begged you not to lock me up, begged you not to abort the child, begged you not to kill me—did you listen?"

"I was wrong... I was really wrong..." Chen Shiru knelt down—although a Soul doesn't have real knees, his posture was kneeling. "Shuyi, for the sake of... for the sake of our past feelings..."

"Affection?" Chen Shuyi laughed. "Chen Shiru, there has never been any affection between us. For me, you only had exploitation, deception, and... murderous intent."

The strength in her hand increased.

Chen Shiru's Soul form began to collapse, and the black chains snapped inch by inch—it wasn't that the curse was lifted, but that his Soul could no longer withstand such pain and was about to dissipate completely.

At that moment, Chen Shiru suddenly turned toward Li Muchen.

Using the last of his strength, he cried out hoarsely:

"Daoist! Save me! Don't you practitioners say that saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda? Please, save me!"

A blanket of silence fell over the cemetery.

Everyone's gaze landed on Li Muchen.

Li Muchen looked at Chen Shiru, his eyes calm and without a ripple.

Then, he spoke slowly, his voice clear and cold:

"What you're talking about is Buddhism."

"What does that have to do with my Daoism?"

Chen Shiru was stunned.

"What my Daoism believes in is Karma," Li Muchen continued, every word like an icicle piercing Chen Shiru's last hope. "As you sow, so shall you reap. Since you have done evil, you should receive punishment."

"But... but I'm already dead..." Chen Shiru wailed. "I've already been punished..."

"Not enough." Li Muchen shook his head. "Your punishment has only just begun."

After saying that, he ignored Chen Shiru and looked at Chen Shuyi instead:

"Do what you must do."

Chen Shuyi nodded.

She took one last look at Chen Shiru; in that gaze, there was no hate or resentment, only a total indifference.

"Chen Shiru, farewell forever."

The black energy erupted completely, swallowing Chen Shiru's Soul form whole.

"No—"

A shrill scream echoed through the cemetery, then gradually weakened, and finally vanished.

The black energy dispersed.

Chen Shiru's Soul form was gone.

It was not passing on, nor was it Reincarnation, but—complete dissipation.

Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, never to exist again.

He didn't even have a chance at Reincarnation.

The resentment on Chen Shuyi also began to dissipate.

The dark red gradually faded, and the cheongsam returned to its original blue. Her wildly dancing black hair fell back down, braided once more into two plaits. Her blood-red eyes also changed back to a clear black.

She had turned back into that seventeen-year-old girl. Only in her eyes, there was an extra sense of relief, a sense of liberation.

The ball of light representing the infant in her arms appeared again, but this time, the light was warm and soft, like the first ray of sunlight at dawn.

"Child..." Chen Shuyi said softly, "We... can go now."

The ball of light flickered slightly as if in response.

She turned, looked at Li Muchen, and bowed deeply:

"Abbot, thank you."

"No need." Li Muchen shook his head. "This was your own choice."

"Can I... ask one last question?"

"Speak."

"My child..." Chen Shuyi looked at the ball of light in her arms, "Can he pass on?"

Li Muchen looked at the ball of light, remained silent for a moment, and then nodded:

"He can."

"Unborn Infant Spirits are originally the hardest to transcend. But your resentment has dispersed, and you have let go of your obsession with him. He can go where he belongs and wait for a chance to start over."

Chen Shuyi smiled.

It was her first sincere smile in over ninety years.

"That's good," she said.

She looked at Lin Wenyuan and Zhao Xiaowen and bowed to them as well:

"Professor Lin, Young Miss Zhao, thank you. And... tell Xiaoyu I'm sorry for me."

Lin Wenyuan's eyes reddened slightly as he nodded.

Finally, Chen Shuyi looked toward the sky.

The morning sun had fully risen, and golden sunlight flooded the cemetery, dispelling all the gloom.

"It's dawn," she said softly.

Then, her Soul form began to glow.

It wasn't a black light or resentment, but a pure, warm white light.

The infant ball of light in her arms merged into her body. Mother and child were one, with no more barriers between them.

The light grew brighter and brighter, completely enveloping her Soul form.

"Abbot," she said finally, "if there is a next life... I want to be born in an era where women can choose freely."

Li Muchen nodded. "It will happen."

The light burst apart, turning into countless specks of light that drifted toward the sky.

They were brighter and purer than Liu Ruyan's light specks, like a galaxy on a summer night.

The light specks circled in the air, finally converging into a beam of light that shot straight into the sky and vanished into the clouds.

Tranquility returned to the cemetery.

The sun was bright, and the birds were singing amidst the flowers.

It was as if everything that had just happened was only a dream.

Li Muchen looked in the direction where Chen Shuyi had disappeared for a long time before slowly speaking, his voice deep and solemn:

taoist greeting.

Lin Wenyuan and Zhao Xiaowen also pressed their palms together and prayed silently.

After a long while, Lin Wenyuan finally spoke: "Abbot... is it over then?"

Li Muchen nodded. "The Karma is settled, and the resentment has dispersed. Chen Shuyi has gone to her next life, and her child will have a new beginning."

"Then... what about Chen Shiru?"

"Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, never to exist again," Li Muchen said indifferently. "This is what he deserved."

Zhao Xiaowen asked softly, "Abbot, you said just now... Daoism doesn't believe that 'saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda.' Then what does Daoism believe in?"

Li Muchen glanced at her:

"Daoism believes in the Heavenly Dao, in nature, and in Karma."

"Good is rewarded with good, and evil with evil. It's not that there's no retribution, but that the time has not yet come."

"Chen Shiru sowed evil causes and reaped evil results. This is the cycle of heavenly principles, the way of nature. If I were to forcibly interfere, that would be violating the Heavenly Dao."

He paused. "Practitioners are not indiscriminately 'good' people. Saving those who should be saved and punishing those who should be punished—that is the Righteous Path."

Zhao Xiaowen nodded, only half-understanding.

Lin Wenyuan looked at Chen Shiru's shattered tombstone and sighed deeply:

"Ninety years of grievances have finally been settled."

"Yes," Li Muchen said. "But there are countless Chen Shuyis and countless Chen Shirus in the world. Love, hate, and grievances go on endlessly."

He turned and walked toward the exit of the cemetery.

"Abbot, where are we going next?" Lin Wenyuan followed and asked.

"Back to the Quiet Garden," Li Muchen said. "The resentment on Lin Xiaoyu has dispersed, but her body is still very weak. She needs to recover."

"Then... what about this pen?" Zhao Xiaowen took out the republic of china fountain pen.

Li Muchen took the pen and felt it for a moment.

The resentment in the pen had completely vanished, leaving only a faint, sad attachment—that was Chen Shuyi's last memory of this world.

"Return it to its original owner." He handed the pen to Lin Wenyuan. "Find a place to bury it properly. Consider it... an ending for this past story."

Lin Wenyuan took the pen solemnly. "I will."

The three of them walked out of the cemetery.

The old gravekeeper was still reading his newspaper. Seeing them come out, he looked up and asked, "Finished visiting?"

"Finished," Lin Wenyuan nodded.

"Oh." The old man looked back down. "Come again next time."

Next time?

Lin Wenyuan smiled bitterly.

He hoped there would never be a next time.

They got into the car and drove away from Nanshan Cemetery.

In the rearview mirror, the cemetery grew further away, finally disappearing into the green trees.

No one spoke in the car.

Everyone was thinking about everything that had just happened, about the fates of those two women, and about that past story that had been buried for ninety years.

After a long while, Zhao Xiaowen asked softly, "Abbot... will Chen Shuyi and Liu Ruyan reincarnate?"

"Yes." Li Muchen looked at the scenery flying by outside the window. "Liu Ruyan's obsession has vanished, so she can pass on peacefully. Chen Shuyi's resentment has dispersed, so she will also have a new beginning."

"Then... will they still remember the things from this life?"

"They might remember some fragments, but they will no longer be trapped by these memories," Li Muchen said. "That is the meaning of passing on—to let go of the past and start anew."

Zhao Xiaowen was silent for a moment, then asked, "Then... will they be happy?"

This time, Li Muchen did not answer immediately.

He looked out the window at the bustling and busy city, at the pedestrians passing by in a hurry.

Everyone has their own story, their own joys and sorrows.

Happiness is never given by others; it is earned by oneself.

"They will," he said finally. "As long as they learn to let go and learn to look forward, they will definitely be happy."

The car drove into the city and merged into the flow of traffic.

Sunlight streamed through the car window, shining on everyone.

Warm and bright.

As if to say:

The darkness has passed.

Light will eventually arrive.