CALID Chapter 49

Labyrinth

After finishing his sentence, Duan Xu suddenly turned his head, smiling brightly at Jiang Ai, “I didn’t quite catch that earlier. Did you say I’m… straightforward?”

Jiang Ai nodded.

Considering the boy’s words just now, she was re-evaluating him. She replied, “Isn’t that so?”

The young man in front of her shook his head, the black veil on his headdress swaying with the motion. His voice carried a hint of amusement and a touch of mockery, as if he had heard something amusing.

“I’m not a good person. I have countless blood debts on my hands. I’ve killed many people I didn’t know, unarmed, begging for their lives, some even unable to utter a sound. I did these things without any noble reasons, only to save my own life. If these laws were applied to me, I might not escape unscathed.”

“But I’ve also made a vow. I will save more people in the future, protect more people, and grant them freedom. I will risk my life to do so.”

Jiang Ai was taken aback. She knew that children of this age often had grand ambitions, full of enthusiasm, eager to reach for the sky and grasp the moon, but in the gambling dens, there were many wealthy young men who squandered their wealth, always confused and restless.

But this child was different. His lofty ideals seemed overly clear-headed.

Before she could evaluate his description, she saw the boy take a few steps back and change the subject with a smile, “You mentioned earlier that this is the second most detested place for the evil spirits. What’s the first? Is it the legendary Nine Palaces Maze Prison?”

Jiang Ai felt her eyelids twitch. She forced a smile and said, “Are you suggesting you want to go to the Nine Palaces Maze Prison?”

No evil spirit would like the Nine Palaces Maze Prison. Or rather, all evil spirits avoided it like the plague. Even entering it was unthinkable, let alone passing through its gates.

“Could I trouble Left Minister to show me the way?”

Duan Xu made a seemingly innocent gesture of request.

Lately, Jiang Ai had come to realize that this child’s innocence was always filled with traps and troubles.

The Nine Palaces Maze Prison was located beneath the Virtue-Bearing Mountain, with its entrance on the mountainside. It was a large black locust wood door, resembling the door of an ordinary warehouse. There were no decorations, standing there plainly without any indication of its terrifying reputation, and there were no evil spirits guarding it, not matching its renowned name in the slightest.

Jiang Ai and Duan Xu stood in front of this famous maze prison once again. She confirmed once more, “Are you sure you want to go in?”

Duan Xu replied, “Didn’t He Simu allow me to go in?”

“She never said that, but if the guards won’t let you in, there’s nothing I can do.”

Jiang Ai knocked on the door, the rhythm three long and one short. The plain black door lit up with a spell, and then white lines began to appear on the door, resembling the veins bulging on someone’s forehead when they exerted themselves.

Following the direction of the white veins, a pair of huge, pure white eyes, about three feet in diameter, opened on the two doors. They swivelled around agilely, looking in various directions, as if observing something.

“State your name, visitor.”

The voice seemed to emanate from the eyes themselves, resonant and powerful like a tolling bell.

“Jiang Ai, attendant of the Ghost Palace.”

The eyes moved closer to Jiang Ai, examining her, and chuckled, “Jiang Ai, what brings you here? Why haven’t I received any orders from the king?”

Jiang Ai waved her hand dismissively, laughing nervously, “Xusheng, what are you talking about? As a well-educated and law-abiding good ghost like me, why would I end up in prison?”

Xusheng was the spirit of Virtue-Bearing Mountain, and the entire mountain was formed by his body. His eyes were currently above the gate of the Nine Palaces Maze Prison, which was located within his skull.

“I just want to go in and take a look, and I’m bringing my friend with me.”

Jiang Ai gestured to Duan Xu behind her.

The giant eyes suddenly stood upright and rushed towards Duan Xu. Duan Xu instinctively tried to dodge, but then stopped and stood still, allowing the pale eyes to scrutinize him.

“He carries the aura of the king, a strong aura,” Xusheng said.

“He has the king’s charm on his headdress,” Jiang Ai replied.

“Not only that.”

Xusheng suddenly withdrew his eyes and casually rotated them on the door. “He’s a living person. I don’t allow living people inside.”

Jiang Ai was relieved to hear this, as she was just about to tell Duan Xu that it wasn’t her refusing to help him, but rather Xusheng refusing to let him in. But then Xusheng continued, “However, is the king going to marry you? Are you the king’s fiancée?”

Jiang Ai hesitated, slightly surprised by the question. Before she could respond, the boy spoke with a reaction speed surpassing that of an ordinary person, “That’s right, we’ve already pledged to each other for life.”

**Jiang Ai: Σ(°ロ°)

Being pledged for life was indeed being pledged for life.

Xusheng spat disdainfully, rolling his eyes if they weren’t already entirely white.

“Looks like it indeed is. The previous living person who was deeply tainted with the aura of the Ghost King was none other than her highness the former ghost queen,” Xusheng remarked. “Alright, then come in.”

As the young man turned around, Jiang Ai couldn’t see his expression, but she could imagine him smiling smugly. Pressing her temples, she thought about how hard it was to earn those hundred boxes of gold bricks from the palace treasury. Next time, if Simu gave her such a task again, she’d have to ask for more. But taking a stroll in the Nine Palaces Maze Prison, apart from being uncomfortable, wasn’t a big deal.

She knocked on the door and said, “Xusheng, give me two Heart Candles.”

“Alright.”

Red mist surged in the pure white eyes, resembling the crimson clouds at dawn. It condensed into two red tears, flowing down Xusheng’s eyes and transforming into two red candles in Jiang Ai’s hands.

Jiang Ai waved her hand in the air, conjuring a golden candlestick. She inserted one of the candles into the candlestick and handed it to Duan Xu. As soon as Duan Xu took the candlestick, the candle ignited on its own.

“Take good care of it; this is your Heart Candle,” Jiang Ai said.

Jiang Ai prepared another Heart Candle, which also lit up with a flame. However, the flame of the candle in Duan Xu’s hand was red, while the flame of Jiang Ai’s candle was blue.

Duan Xu asked, “Is this your Heart Candle?”

“Exactly. Only with a Heart Candle can you avoid getting lost in the Nine Palaces Maze Prison.”

The door opened slowly, revealing boundless darkness behind it. Holding her Heart Candle, Jiang Ai said, “Stay close after you enter. There’s nothing interesting inside, and you’ll be out in half an hour after making a round.”

Duan Xu nodded and followed.

As the name Nine Palace Labyrinth suggests, it is arranged according to the Nine Halls and Eight Trigrams¹: one Kan, two Kun, three Zhen, four Xun, five forms the Taiji, six Qian, seven Dui, eight Gen, and nine Li, weaving a maze of worldly desires.

Jiang Ai walked ahead with her candle, and as Duan Xu entered the maze, he saw faint light emanating from the ground, forming the character “坎” (Kǎn) before fading back into darkness. Distant cries and screams echoed, reverberating into countless overlapping sounds. Wandering souls occasionally stumbled into the dim candlelight.

It felt like sailing on a vast sea in the dark night, surrounded by tumultuous waves, yet everything around them was pitch black.

Duan Xu asked, “Why is it so dark in the Nine Palaces Maze Prison?”

Jiang Ai replied leisurely, “Because this place reflects the darkness of human hearts.”

Jiang Ai’s earlier statement about the Nine Palaces Maze Prison not being interesting was not an excuse; indeed, holding the Heart Candle and entering the maze only revealed endless darkness. While they could hear the miserable cries of the exiled ghosts, they were unlikely to encounter any directly, making the journey quite dull.

It was only when the Heart Candle extinguished that one could truly see the Nine Palaces Maze Prison.

Without the Heart Candle, ghosts would immediately fall into the illusions woven by the maze, forgetting the boundaries between reality and illusion. They would be immersed in endless cycles of rebirth, suffering from the pains of old age, sickness, death, resentment, separation, and unfulfilled desires.

“Ghosts do not feel pain, but did you see how Fang Chang screamed when he was burned to death?” Jiang Ai explained. “That’s because the ghost fire from the Ghost King’s Lamp can evoke memories of all the pain they experienced when they were alive and multiply it by tenfold. Tormented by these vivid memories, the ghosts suffer unbearable agony.”

“In the Nine Palaces Maze Prison, the punishment is hunger.”

All ghosts are driven by desires; those with extremely deep desires become ghosts after death. However, can they attain what they desired in life after death?

In fact, the desires of ghosts can never be fulfilled. All ghosts are eternally hungry. Eating humans can alleviate hunger but cannot cure it. This is the punishment inflicted upon ghosts for their stubborn desires.

The Nine Palaces Maze Prison magnifies the desires and cravings in the hearts of ghosts, creating the most painful and unbearable illusions.

“Ghosts exiled in the Nine Palaces Maze Prison without the Heart Candle are like donkeys chasing carrots dangling over their heads in the illusion, endlessly pursuing but never obtaining. If a ghost is sentenced to spend only a few years in the maze, their Heart Candle will be preserved by Xusheng outside the Life Gate, ready to awaken and lead them out when the time comes. But if their Heart Candle is completely extinguished within the maze, they will be lost forever, consumed by the maze until they vanish into ashes.”

Jiang Ai introduced the maze, designed specifically to exploit the desires of evil ghosts. Duan Xu listened quietly, without interrupting or asking questions.

As Jiang Ai finished her explanation, she watched the thoughtful expression on the young man’s face and felt the urge to tease him again. She smiled and said, “Young man, our affairs in the Ghost Realm are vastly different from those in the human world. Earlier, you seemed curious about the past of our King. Do you know that she has lived for four hundred years? Although she is still very young in the Ghost Realm, it’s an unimaginable length of time for mortals.”

“Four hundred years, that’s over one hundred and forty-six thousand days and nights. It’s enough to fill a book with over one hundred and forty-six thousand pages, sufficient for you to read for a lifetime. Moreover, she’s such a complex character. Can you truly understand her?”

The steps of the young man behind her paused briefly. Under the cover of darkness and his black veil, his expression was indiscernible, but it seemed he wasn’t smiling as usual, and his voice was calm.

He said, “Indeed, it’s not an easy task. She said she didn’t need me to understand, probably because she believes I can’t do it.”

Jiang Ai wondered if the young man’s words meant he was considering giving up.

After a pause, the young man said, “Left Minister, do you hear something?”

Jiang Ai was taken aback. She was about to ask what sound he meant when she realized she hadn’t heard anything. With a sudden realization, she detected the rapidly approaching sound. Within the range illuminated by the Heart Candle, a figure suddenly rushed toward Jiang Ai. She immediately drew a charm to resist. In the moment of confrontation, she managed to glimpse the appearance of the evil ghost illuminated by the faint light.

His hair and eyelashes were snow-white, and his skin was excessively pale, making him look like a man in his thirties. Numerous scars adorned his pale skin, making them particularly startling.

The only vivid colour on his entire body was a pair of pitch-black eyes.

Jiang Ai was stunned. She said, “Bai Sanxing… You haven’t turned to ashes yet?”

This evil ghost should have been immersed in illusions. His expression was bewildered. In the moment Jiang Ai was stunned, he broke her charm, grabbed her wrist, and attempted to snatch the Heart Candle from her hand.

“I want to get out… I want… to get out…” he muttered.

Seeing that Jiang Ai’s Heart Candle was about to be taken away, the young man quickly moved forward. He bit his own candlestick with his mouth, drew the Sword of Delusion, and slashed at the evil ghost’s wrist. The evil ghost immediately retracted his hand to dodge, then shifted his attention and began to struggle with the young man.

Only then did Jiang Ai snap out of her shock. She knew that no matter how skilled the young man was, he wouldn’t be a match for Bai Sanxing. She immediately began to draw charms and shouted, “Kid, don’t…”

Before she could finish her sentence, she heard the sound of metal hitting the ground. Amidst the clash, Bai Sanxing’s sleeve fluttered, and with it, a faint flicker of candlelight rose into the air.

It was the Heart Candle of Duan Xu, severed at the waist.

Jiang Ai widened her eyes, her hand halted in mid-air. If she had a heartbeat, it would have stopped now. In this urgent moment, the young man suddenly spoke, “I heard that Left Minister enjoys gambling, and gambling dens are everywhere.”

He turned around, and amidst the fluttering black veil, Jiang Ai saw a pair of bright eyes. “Left Minister, would you like to make a bet with me? If I can come out alive from the Nine Palaces Maze Prison, tell me about Simu’s childhood.”

The author has something to say: Seeing everyone saying that Duan Xu is very affectionate, I’m a bit confused… He’s just curious, entered the maze, got his Heart Candle cut off by the prisoner inside. Since it’s already cut, he finally made a bet with Jiang Ai, believing he can overcome the illusion and come out… He’s just that kind of guy who is particularly daring and confident, where do you see affection…

1 – The “Nine Halls and Eight Trigrams” are concepts from Chinese philosophy, integral to Daoism and Feng Shui. The Eight Trigrams consist of eight symbols, each made of three lines, representing fundamental aspects of reality like heaven, earth, water, and fire, and are used in the divination system of the I Ching. The concept of “Nine Halls” is more variably interpreted, often referring to a division of space into nine parts, each associated with different life aspects or environmental sectors, according to Feng Shui principles. Together, these systems are used to understand and harmonize with cosmic and life patterns, often depicted in Chinese literature and cultural practices to convey spiritual or existential themes.