Don't ask where people go

Chapter 2021 Submission
The hidden door closed, and candlelight illuminated the surroundings. Fang Zilan stood up and was surprised to see two statues of deities enshrined in the niches on either side.

Just as she was about to take a closer look, she heard a hoarse voice come from behind the screen on the other side, "Who goes there and why do you want to see me?"

Fang Zilan straightened up, casually brushed the dust off her clothes, and instead of answering, asked, "So you're Manager Du?"

"Young lady, I ask, you answer; don't break the rules." Manager Du sneered. Fang Zilan chuckled, "Who made these rules? So what if I break them?"

"There's a coffin shop right outside, and they have no shortage of coffins," Manager Du said sinisterly. "Little girl, I can let you die here quietly."

"Manager Du, you're actually a pretty nice person." Fang Zilan said sarcastically, "You even know how to collect corpses after killing someone, which is far superior to the people from the Ghost Gate."

Manager Du said in a deep voice, "What is your connection with the Ghost Gate?"

"Speaking of which, that man just mentioned there's another manager named Du who'll be in his coffin soon," Fang Zilan said, changing the subject. "He wasn't talking about Du Ruohan, was he?"

"Have you seen Du Ruohan?" Manager Du's voice deepened as he pressed, "Who exactly are you?"

"I'm here to do business." Fang Zilan composed herself. "As long as I can close this deal, it doesn't matter which Manager Du you choose."

She paused for a moment, then continued, "However, judging from the current situation, this Manager Du really doesn't seem to have any sincerity."

"You..." Manager Du began angrily, but Fang Zilan interrupted him, "In that case, I might as well go find another Manager Du—Du Ruohan—and say goodbye."

After she finished speaking, she turned and left. Manager Du behind her angrily said, "What do you think the Du Family Pawnshop is, that you can come and go as you please?"

"Many people have said this to me," Fang Zilan straightened her sleeves, "but none of them could persuade me to stay."

As she spoke, she raised her hand, and the statue in the niche fell to the ground with a crash, shattering into pieces.

Then came her voice, "What makes Manager Du think you'll be an exception?"

"How dare you smash the statue of my Du family!" Manager Du was furious. Fang Zilan's face was as cold as frost. "What wouldn't a dead man dare to do?"

She turned her head and stared intently at the figure behind the screen, each word dripping with chilling killing intent, "Fu Mingyue, the daughter of the Wen family's ghost marriage, has come to seek revenge and take my life."

"Who do you say you are?" Manager Du stared at Fang Zilan in disbelief. "Fu Mingyue is dead..."

“Yes.” Fang Zilan approached the screen step by step. “But I died with my eyes open, so I came back from the underworld.”

"The person who killed you was Wen Ran, and the idea of ​​the ghost marriage was his..." Manager Du suddenly changed his tone halfway through his sentence, "In short, it has nothing to do with my Du family, so why are you coming to me?"

"Du Ruohan handed me the keys to the Du family pawnshop, wasn't it just to shift the blame?" Fang Zilan pushed over the screen, and Manager Du behind it, fearing he would be injured, quickly dodged.

Fang Zilan, however, had no intention of letting him go. The screen pressed down on his clothes, causing him to stumble and fall to the ground. "If that's not the case, why would you send people to kill me on the way to the wedding, and then have martial arts practitioners impersonate me to assassinate Wen Ran?"

"It wasn't me..." Manager Du's eyes lit up the moment he saw Fang Zilan. "You're not Fu Mingyue!" "Just because I'm not Fu Mingyue doesn't mean I won't kill you." Fang Zilan stepped onto the screen and stomped on Manager Du's hand, which was frantically trying to pull at his clothes. He cried out in pain.

"What is your relationship with Du Ruohan?" Fang Zilan leaned down. "Uncle and niece?"

"You can't fool the heroine..." Manager Du's withered face crumpled up, whether from pain or pleading for mercy, it was hard to tell.

Fang Zilan smiled slightly, "A person from the Ghost Gate, dares to call herself a female knight-errant?"

"You...you are a member of the Ghost Gate?" Manager Du's eyes widened, his expression clearly showing fear.

“Yes,” Fang Zilan nodded. “Now, does Manager Du still want me to die here quietly?”

"No, no..." Manager Du shook his head like a rattle drum. Fang Zilan raised her foot. "Then put away your thoughts and don't try anything under my nose."

"Why?" The high priest looked at Fang Zilan, as if asking her, but more like asking the Fang Zilan of the past through her.

“I asked her the same question once.” The high priest looked away and casually picked up a honeysuckle from the side. “She told me that she was probably afraid.”

"Afraid?" Fang Zilan murmured the word, somewhat incredulous. Zixiu, the number one assassin in the world and the third young lady of the Fang family of the Prime Minister's Mansion, would actually say "afraid."

“She dared not die, for fear of being unable to face the people who had given their lives for her. Yet she also dared not kill her enemies, for she could not bear to.” The high priest shook his head helplessly. “She hesitated and looked back, and in doing so, she had worn herself down to the point of being afraid of everything.”

Fang Zilan pursed her lips and slowly closed her eyes. "So, she came to find you?"

"She somehow learned the art of summoning spirits and begged me to find another soul for her to live on in her place," the high priest said thoughtfully. "However, I never expected that she would find you."

"Am I any different?" Fang Zilan suddenly opened her eyes, her expression as cold as ice. "I'm just being used by her, by you, and by everyone else."

“After the ritual of summoning the spirit, I performed a divination for her, but I couldn’t predict anything,” the high priest said, letting out a barely perceptible sigh. “Originally, the first time I saw her, I knew she would live a miserable life and die a lonely death, but everything changed after you took her place. Now, do you still feel like you were used?”

Fang Zilan bit her lip. "High Priest, what exactly are you trying to say?"

"You were poisoned by Gu, and you have been seriously injured many times. You have walked through the gates of hell countless times, but you are still alive. It is a miracle." The high priest's voice deepened. "After the soul-summoning technique, it is not only Fang Zilan's life that has been changed."

Fang Zilan remained silent, listening as the High Priest continued speaking to himself, "I thought it was an accident. Until just now, in front of the Wuji Hall, at the moment when you jumped into the deep pit to save Prince Zhongzheng, I heard the voice of the gods."

Her expression was solemn, as if the gods were close at hand. "This is the first time I have sensed a divine message since I succeeded as High Priest."

"I don't believe in ghosts and gods." Fang Zilan suddenly spoke, but her words were like a cold winter wind and snow, chilling people to the bone. "High Priest, your gods, divine pronouncements, and divine prophecies can manipulate anyone, but don't even think about manipulating me."

"You may not believe in ghosts and gods, but you cannot disbelieve in destiny." The high priest stared intently at Fang Zilan, as if possessed by a deity, and declared emphatically, "The Northern Frontier will rise, and the Northern Frontier will fall. The cycle of destiny is nothing more than this. The world will be settled only after a great massacre."