Chapter 036: Seventeen Hundred Years

Red Vengeful Spirit!

This was my first time encountering a Red Vengeful Spirit.

In my imagination, a Red Vengeful Spirit should be a terrifying figure, exuding an icy, chilling aura from head to toe.

Yet standing before me now was a woman—a woman who looked no different from any ordinary person. She wore a pale green long dress, covered with a translucent veil. Her jet-black hair was styled in a cloud-like bun, adorned with a verdant jade hairpin. Below, a pair of delicate, fair feet were exposed.

Her appearance resembled an actress just stepped off the set of a period drama.

But I knew she was neither an actress nor an ordinary person. She was truly a ghost, a Red Vengeful Spirit with extraordinarily strong resentment.

“So, you’re not planning to run anymore?” Her lips curled into a smile as she looked at me.

This female ghost was stunningly beautiful. I believed any man, by any aesthetic standard, would find her an exceptionally rare beauty. If not for the fact her heels didn’t touch the ground—her toes barely grazing the floor—I might have truly mistaken her for a living person.

“You… you… I…” For a moment, I didn’t know what to say.

After all, she was a Red Vengeful Spirit. Even Shang Wuyong was no match for her; I certainly wouldn’t be. If she decided to harm me, I would undoubtedly die.

“I mean you no harm! You don’t need to be afraid!” she said, smiling gently.

Looking at her smile, I almost felt as if a spring breeze were brushing my face.

Really, this woman was beautiful—especially when she smiled.

There’s a phrase for this—what was it?

Right, a smile as lovely as a flower.

Yes, that’s exactly it.

“You… you… what do you want?” I summoned my courage to ask.

“Hehe… I told you, I mean no harm! No need to be so tense,” she chuckled, covering her mouth with the back of her jade-like hand. That casual gesture somehow made her even more alluring.

I couldn’t help but marvel in my heart; when she was alive, she must have been a true siren.

“Then… why are you looking for me?” I asked.

She didn’t answer, but instead asked, “Are you a geomancer?”

“Uh… yes, I am. Why?” I nodded.

“Hm, it seems I found the right person!” She smiled again.

“Do you… do you need my help with something?” I asked boldly.

She lowered her hand from her mouth and said, “Let’s talk about that later. Let me introduce myself first. My name is Emerald Pearl, and I’ve been dead for over seventeen hundred years…”

“What? Seventeen hundred years? That…” I was instantly petrified, or perhaps dumbfounded.

Was this a joke? Seventeen hundred years—she couldn’t just be a Red Vengeful Spirit. She must be at least a Ghost King.

“Indeed, according to your current calendar, I died in the year 300 AD. It’s been over seventeen hundred years,” she said.

My goodness, this… she was a thousand-year-old ghost?

My luck was unbelievable. I casually encountered a millennium-old ghost.

Suddenly, a thought struck me, and I quickly asked, “Wait, what did you say your name was again?”

“My name is Emerald Pearl,” the ghost woman said, bending slightly to give a traditional ancient salute.

I stared, astonished.

It wasn’t her gesture that shocked me.

It was—

Emerald Pearl!?

She said her name was Emerald Pearl! Dead for over seventeen hundred years!

This… this… was too outrageous.

“Hehe, it seems you’ve heard of me,” she smiled again.

Damn right I had! Who hadn’t? Her name was legendary!

I wasn’t sure if she was the Emerald Pearl, but if it wasn’t just a namesake, and she truly was the Emerald Pearl, then… then… then… incredible…

I was getting excited.

“You… you… are you really that Emerald Pearl?” I stammered, my fear completely replaced by excitement.

“My husband’s surname was Shi, given name Chong,” she replied.

Yes! Yes! She really was!

“You… you… you really are… Oh my god! This is… I…” I pointed at her, overwhelmed.

I was more excited than if I had met a lifelong idol.

How could I not be? Any man in my position would be excited.

Her name was Emerald Pearl, her husband Shi Chong, dead for seventeen hundred years. Who else could she be?

Emerald Pearl, one of the four great beauties of ancient times!

Some may insist the four great beauties were Xi Shi, Wang Zhaojun, Diao Chan, and Yang Yuhuan—the ones commonly known as “sinking fish, falling geese, eclipsing the moon, shaming the flowers.”

But there’s another version.

I happened to know this alternative list.

In 1909, in Gansu, a woodblock print from the Southern Song period was discovered, titled “The Sui Dynasty’s Delicate Beauties Presenting Their National Grace,” also known as “The Four Beauties Picture.”

The four beauties depicted were Wang Zhaojun, Zhao Feiyan, Ban Jieyu, and Emerald Pearl. This was the earliest known artifact grouping four beauties together, and the oldest extant woodblock print of its kind in China.

Of the familiar four beauties—Xi Shi, Wang Zhaojun, Diao Chan, Yang Yuhuan—only Wang Zhaojun appears in this version.

Emerald Pearl was among them.

The Tang poet Du Mu even wrote an elegy for her:

Splendor fades like fragrant dust,
Flowing waters indifferent, grass springs anew.
At dusk, the east wind laments the crying bird,
Falling petals resemble the one who fell from the tower.

The “one who fell from the tower” refers to the Emerald Pearl before me.

Because Emerald Pearl died by jumping from a tower.

The ancients did not deceive me! For Emerald Pearl to be counted among the four great beauties, she truly possessed extraordinary looks.

“How are you here?” I tried to control my excitement and asked Emerald Pearl.

Upon hearing my question, her smile vanished. A faint sorrow creased her brow.

Her change in expression instantly stirred pity within me.

How to describe it? Each of her expressions, every smile or frown, seemed to tug at one’s heartstrings.

“I… Actually, I’ve been in intermittent slumber. I awoke again thirty-some years ago. As for why I’m here—well, that’s a long story. It can’t be explained in just a few words. If you’re willing, please follow me, and I will tell you everything,” Emerald Pearl said.

Awakened thirty years ago?

It seemed she had somewhat adapted to our era. Though she still used the occasional archaic phrase, communication was no obstacle.

“Well… sure! Where to?” I asked.

My easy agreement wasn’t due to infatuation.

Firstly, I couldn’t beat her.

Secondly, knowing she was the legendary Emerald Pearl, I was terribly curious.

Thirdly, at least so far, she’d been very kind to me, showing no malice.

Of course, most importantly—I couldn’t beat her.

“Let’s go back to the room you were staying in,” she said.

“Oh, alright then!” I nodded.

“Please, sir!” Emerald Pearl gestured invitingly.

Uh…

I glanced at the unconscious Shang Wuyong, then said to Emerald Pearl, “Um… my friend…”

“Oh! Sorry, I forgot! Well… how about this: you settle your friend first, then meet me in your room,” she said.

“Uh… is that okay?” I asked.

Emerald Pearl smiled sweetly, “Of course!”

With that, she turned to leave.

“Wait, was that your doing?” I pointed to the high heels on the steps.

She’d died over seventeen hundred years ago—high heels…

“No, those were put there by the two girls. Sorry!” Emerald Pearl replied.

“The two girls? Which girls?” I asked.

“They… sigh… I’ll tell you about them once you’ve settled your companion. Like me, they are trapped here,” Emerald Pearl said.