Chapter 20. Peach Jade

Tao Yu gave a faint smile as she leaned down to look at the hunched-over Meng Zichang. With a sympathetic expression, she said, “Don’t blame me now—blame yourself for being blinded by appearances. Sister has always been by your side, but you betrayed her for a lifetime. This is the price you both must pay for betraying me.”

“Why... why did you do this?!” Meng Zichang seemed overwhelmed with anguish, curling up his body and trembling violently in anger.

“At first, I still loved you, but later, I began to feel disgusted by you,” Tao Yu shook her head and laughed bitterly, her eyes filled with sorrow. She continued calmly, “All these years, I could only see you through my sister’s eyes. But what I saw in your eyes was always Tao Yuan!”

Tao Yu’s eyes turned blood-red, and she suddenly became frenzied. The wind whipped her knee-length hair, spreading her ghostly energy everywhere. She clawed at the air and roared, “Why! How dare you! I fell into the ghostly path because of you, enduring daily torment all for your sake! But you?! You only ever thought of Tao Yuan!! Even when it was my sister beside you, as long as she bore my name, she couldn’t win your love! How could you do this to me?! I hate you! You will pay the price—I’ll destroy this Yangchun Manor completely!!”

“Did you kill all those people?” Zhong Xu asked coldly.

“Yes! Everyone in this manor, do you really think they all moved away?” Tao Yu let out a long, chilling laugh. “Hahahaha—they were all killed by me, then sealed inside Buddha statues or hidden in the cellar. Though I committed these sins, she shares the blame too! She shouldn’t escape heavenly punishment either!!”

“You!” Lord Meng suddenly convulsed violently. Zhong Xu, caught off guard, watched as he collapsed to the ground, his eyes wide open but clearly unconscious.

“Lord Meng—” Zhong Xu immediately knelt down to check on him.

Tao Yu covered her mouth and chuckled, speaking slowly and deliberately. “Don’t worry, he won’t die. He’s under my curse—alive yet wishing for death, unable to find relief even in dying!”

“Was that curse placed by you? What about that sorcerer from the south?” Zhong Xu glared at her, his eyes burning with rage.

“Hahahaha—what southern sorcerer? Tao Yuan told you that just to keep me hidden from your sight. She’s so foolish, even in death shielding me from calamity!” Tao Yu’s eyes shimmered with amusement, though there seemed to be tears glistening in their corners.

She continued, “It was me. I used my own spiritual energy to fulfill his wish for immortality. Didn’t he want to see Tao Yuan again? She was right before his eyes, near yet far! But alas, he couldn’t recognize her until she turned to ashes, scattered by the wind—he’ll never see her again! Hahahaha—”

“Who said he’d never see her?” A barely audible sigh echoed through the air.

“Who’s there!” Tao Yu shouted, sending a bolt of light streaking toward the sound, but it dispersed into the black mist like hitting cotton.

“Alas… Why do you persist?” Another deep sigh sounded. They turned around to see their surroundings enveloped in fog. From the darkness emerged a figure clad in white—it was none other than Di Jiang.

Di Jiang held a lantern in her right hand, her left hanging naturally at her side, clutching a peach branch made entirely of black jade. The flickering flame of the Everlasting Lamp illuminated her face, casting shifting shadows that made her appear ghostly and ethereal.

“Who are you?” Tao Yu glared at her, squinting as she studied her for a moment, then exclaimed in shock, “You’re not human… You’re…”

“It doesn’t matter who I am. What matters is that I won’t let you have your way.” Di Jiang smiled sweetly, interrupting her. She then raised her left hand and blew gently on the black jade peach branch. The layer of black coating shattered like glass, falling away in pieces.

Once the blackness had completely faded, the original texture and color of the branch were revealed. On its once barren surface bloomed a delicate white peach flower.

“Tao Yuan is here.” Di Jiang lifted the peach branch slightly.

“How… how can this be? My sister is already dead!” Tao Yu’s eyes widened in disbelief. Moments later, her astonishment turned to fury. She shouted, “Why?! Why does everyone help her?! Who are you?!”

Di Jiang smiled faintly and didn’t answer her question about her identity. Instead, she said, “Falling from grace as an immortal means nothing. As long as her heart remains kind, she is still the Peach Blossom Immortal she once was. But you… your mind and soul have fallen into the demonic path. It will be hard for you to return.”

“Hmph, if it’s hard to return, then don’t return! I don’t see anything wrong with how I am now. In fact, I’m freer and happier than before, don’t you think?” Tao Yu chuckled softly, shaking her head. “You’re not a fish—how can you know the joy of a fish?”

“Are you truly happy?” Di Jiang stared intently into her eyes, trying to discern even the slightest hint of regret within those dark pupils.

But she failed.

In Tao Yu’s eyes, there was only hatred, resentment, a sense of injustice, and an intense murderous intent.

Di Jiang continued calmly, “You were both formed from the essence of peach blossoms, born as immortals, untouched by worldly affairs. It’s no surprise that you were drawn to mortal love and emotions.”

“You speak as if you’re an expert on such matters.” Tao Yu sneered, followed by a bout of wild laughter. Finally, she turned her gaze to the peach branch in Di Jiang’s hand and said, “Do you really think I took it upon myself to alter fate for you because I couldn’t bear to see you fall from grace? You’re wrong!”

“We cultivated together, ascended to immortality together, and wandered the mortal realm together—and yet we both fell in love with the same person. But Meng Lang paid no attention to me; his eyes were always on you! Back then, I tried everything to seduce him, but I never succeeded. That was when I realized that even if you died, I would never win his heart. So I resolved to take your place in falling from grace. Even as a wandering ghost, I would live forever in the deepest part of his heart!”

“...” Di Jiang closed her eyes, maintaining a faint smile, as though she had already known the reasons behind all of this.

Beside her, Zhong Xu seemed unable to accept what he was hearing. He had unknowingly killed Tao Yuan, the woman Meng Zichang had longed for all these years—a deed he could never forgive himself for.

“Do you think I’m responsible for all those deaths?” Tao Yu gave a sly smile. “For years, I’ve been trapped beneath this mansion, witnessing countless vile deeds. Meng Zichang’s descendants, driven by greed for wealth, resorted to harming their own siblings, killing one another, even turning father against son. Over the years, they either died or scattered, leading to the downfall of Yangchun Manor!”

“You’re lying!” Meng Zichang, who had regained consciousness at some point, glared at her furiously.

“Lying? Why would I lie about such a situation? Do you think Zhang Siyao was truly killed by me? You’re wrong! She was murdered by the second wife—I merely used her yin-aligned destiny to free you, intending to let you suffer endlessly. And Liu Si? He was silenced by Meng Changxin for assisting the second wife in killing Zhang Siyao. Such incidents have occurred countless times over the decades—too many to count! Hah! This is your lineage!”

“What about Shuxiang?” Di Jiang asked. “Why did you kidnap my bookkeeper and cook?”

“Shuxiang?” Tao Yu paused, then laughed. “You mean that little boy and that piece of rotten wood? I don’t know how they ended up in Yangchun Manor, but it seems they were the ones who led you here… But so be it. Things must come to an end. After all these years of entanglement, it’s time to draw the curtain.”

After speaking, Tao Yu looked down at Meng Zichang on the ground and mocked, “It was your descendants who committed these acts. If you hadn’t been so promiscuous, there wouldn’t be so many of them! All of this is your fault! My sister thought I was secretly causing trouble, but she forgot—peach wood drives away ghosts. Trapped beneath these ten miles of peach groves, even though hatred kept me awake night after night, I couldn’t act unless others harbored malicious intent. I simply fulfilled their wishes! Fifty years ago, I bound you in a spiritual curse within your dreams, making life unbearable and death impossible. Wasn’t that fulfilling your wish?”

“So the curse ensured that without seeing Tao Yuan, he would neither truly live nor die.” Di Jiang raised her head and spoke indifferently.

“Exactly. He wanted immortality, so I granted it. He didn’t want to die, so I let him live. That way, he’d be eternally by my side, suffering alongside me, tormented endlessly! As long as he doesn’t let go of my sister, he’ll never find peace!”

“But he only wanted to see Tao Yuan. He hasn’t done anything wrong to you.”

“I never stopped them from meeting. They lived under the same roof; she was his wife. Yet he never recognized her. Isn’t that laughable? Hahahaha—” Tao Yu laughed uncontrollably, her laughter shaking like trembling flower branches. But as she laughed, tears began to stream down her face, one after another, slipping down her cheeks and landing on Meng Zichang’s hand, leaving no trace or ripple.

She was nothing more than a wandering ghost.

Di Jiang and Zhong Xu stared at her silently, unable to utter a word for a long while.

Meng Zichang, too, sat frozen, his expression dazed—whether from grief or regret, it was unclear. His soul seemed to have been drained, leaving him motionless. His eyes were blank, his pupils devoid of life, radiating an eerie stillness. The pain in his expression far surpassed anything before. Tao Yu’s words were like a sharp blade, shattering all his hopes into fragments.

Tao Yu continued to laugh, wildly and unrestrainedly, as if releasing decades of pent-up emotion. For years, she had lived underground—watching her sister endure torment, knowing she held no significance in Meng Zichang’s heart, and observing the coldness of human nature. Now, back in the light of day, reunited with old acquaintances, she didn’t even know where to begin recounting her suffering. Love and hatred had long dissipated with time…

“I’ll kill you!” Suddenly, Meng Zichang leapt to his feet, snatched the sword from Zhong Xu’s hand, and thrust it upward. The blade pierced through Tao Yu’s body, emerging from her back.

Tao Yu’s laughter froze on her face, her expression filled with sorrow. She lowered her head, gazing at the aging Meng Zichang before her. The hatred in his eyes burned stronger than ever, yet strangely, it brought her a sense of peace.

If she couldn’t be the one he loved most, then she would become the one he hated most.

In a way, that was also a kind of resolution.