Hua Qian Gu and the two evil spirits stared at each other in surprise. She decided to put on a brave face and shouted at them for disturbing her sleep. The skeleton yelled back so she quickly used the Emotionless sword to cut off his hand.
The evil spirits were not cautious because they saw her as a little girl so Hua Qian Gu’s sneak attack was successful. The skeleton picked up his chopped off hand and reconnected it. The evil spirits could not assess Hua Qian Gu’s fighting ability, but they became more respectful after seeing the power of the Emotionless sword.
Hua Qian Gu introduced herself as Mount Mao’s Sect Leader. The two evil spirits did not believe her. The skeleton laughed so hard his teeth fell out so he had to pick them up off the ground and put them back inside his mouth. Hua Qian Gu showed them her palm and conjured up the white palace feather. At the same time, the red mark of Sect Leader appeared between her brows. The two evil spirits immediately knelt and bowed to her, apologizing for having been disrespectful.
Hua Qian Gu asked about their competition. The red face bragged that he won so the skeleton had to obey his orders from now on. Hua Qian Gu said the red face won because it had the advantage of having the ancient flute, not because its ability was better.
She wanted to compete with the red face. If she won, both evil spirits would have to obey her. Hua Qian Gu retrieved the Ling Ji zither that Teacher had given her from her internal coffer. Having witnessed the red face’s musical ability, she knew his strengths and weaknesses. Moreover, he was tired from fighting with the skeleton so Hua Qian Gu was able to defeat him.
The two evil spirits said they were from the Underworld. They could not remember their names because they had not used their names for a long time. Hua Qian Gu decided to call the red face Xiao Hong and the skeleton Xiao Bai. The gates of Hell remained open for seven days so they would do whatever she asked of them during this time. Hua Qian Gu ordered them to discreetly follow her and get rid of demons and evil spirits.
————————————————
The next evening, Hua Qian Gu walked into a small town. She did not see Xiao Hong and Xiao Bai. Nevertheless, she knew they were quietly protecting her because she was not harassed by demons and evil spirits anymore.
Hua Qian Gu felt hungry and wanted to eat something. She panicked because she did not have any money. At that moment, Shuo Feng appeared, dangling a money purse. He said Luo Shi Yi was worried so sent him to find her. Hua Qian Gu told the two evil spirits to show themselves for a moment and introduced them to Shuo Feng.
After Hua Qian Gu and Shuo Feng ate, they strolled around town. The streets were deserted. A lot of the shops were closed. Most homes had a table outside offering fruits, food and wine. When Hua Qian Gu’s father was alive, he did not allow her to go out during the Ghost Festival so she did not know this was the ritual.
Shuo Feng explained the Ghost Festival was a celebration for spirits similar to the New Year for humans. Both festivities included lanterns. However, spirits were different from people so people would hang lanterns during New Year but would float lanterns on water during the Ghost Festival. Hopefully, the lights of the lanterns would lead spirits to the Bridge of Helplessness for reincarnation.
After hearing this, Hua Qian Gu ran to a shop that was still opened and bought a lot of lanterns. She wrote a lot of good wishes for her parents, put them into the lanterns and went to float the lanterns. She hoped her parents would know how much she loved and missed them.
Hua Qian Gu asked Shuo Feng why he did not write anything. Shuo Feng said he did not have relatives or friends. He joked that he was like the Monkey King, who was born out of a rock.
Shuo Feng did not understand why Hua Qian Gu was so afraid of evil spirits. Hua Qian Gu explained she was afraid because she had been harassed by evil spirits for as long as she could remember. In this world, she was afraid of two things: Bai Zi Hua and evil spirits.
Shuo Feng said one day she would discover that Bai Zi Hua might be more terrible than evil spirits. Hua Qian Gu immediately defended Bai Zi Hua. Her Teacher might seem cold, but he was kind and treated her very well.
Shuo Feng told Hua Qian Gu her weakness was fear itself. She had been afraid for so long, but she needed to know she was more powerful than the evil spirits. She should not be afraid of them. Instead, they should be afraid of her. Bai Zi Hua knew this so he sealed the hook jade and forced her to confront her fear.
At that moment, Hua Qian Gu finally understood that she did not need to defeat the evil spirits, what she needed to do was defeat the fear inside her heart. She promised she would do this so Bai Zi Hua would not be disappointed in her.
On the way back, Hua Qian Gu asked Shuo Feng over and over if he could take off his mask and show her his face, but he refused.