If There Are No Ghosts in This World, I'll Create Them Myself
As dusk settled and the setting sun cast a blood-red glow, the mass graves on the outskirts of the city were stained a desolate crimson.
Tilted coffins and broken, decaying bones lay scattered among the weeds, the stench of decay mingling with the chill of the night, a cold wind rustling through the withered grass.
Gao Yunyi stood in the center of the chaotic graveyard, the pitch-black Ten-Thousand-Souls Banner swirling around him.
Black mist billowed and surged around the banner, with countless tiny, fragmented ghostly figures rising and falling and howling within its fabric. The restless, vengeful spirits sent chills down one's spine.
He lightly flicked his Method Formula to activate the Law Treasure.
Buzz--
The Banner of Ten-Thousand-Souls Banner trembled, and black smoke surged into the air, transforming into a huge banner filled with Yin Qi and overwhelming Sha Qi.
However, the spectacular and awe-inspiring scene of countless ghosts sweeping across the land and souls raging did not materialize as imagined.
[Skill failed to activate, missing ghost.]
Upon seeing the system notification, Gao Yunyi frowned slightly.
The Ten-Thousand-Souls Banner Law Treasure in the game doesn't exhibit this behavior, so could it be that the system secretly changed the settings again?
No, we can't always use the game's mechanics to measure reality.
The Ten-Thousand-Souls Banner in the game is just a virtual game item.
However, this Law Treasure is real and needs to be plausible.
Although the banner can hold the spirits of the dead, it cannot create ghosts out of thin air.
To trigger a surge of souls and open the Dark Realm Gate, the banner must contain a sufficient number of departed souls.
While the Ten-Thousand-Souls Banner appears to be filled with countless vengeful spirits and howling ghosts, this is merely a special effect of the Law Treasure; it is all show and no substance.
"Lack of ghosts?" Gao Yunyi muttered to himself, his gaze sweeping over the desolate graves around him.
Do ghosts even exist in this world?
Gao Yunyi has been here for so long, and he has never seen one.
He walked slowly among the desolate graves, trying to find a trace of a ghost.
Just then, a faint, almost imperceptible groan came from beneath a pile of rubble.
Gao Yunyi turned his gaze and moved over.
A young man was lying under a pile of rocks.
His clothes were already torn to shreds, his body was covered with wounds from beatings, his chest was caved in, blood soaked into the soil, and he was barely breathing, on the verge of death.
The man's Zhao Bufan.
He was originally from an ordinary family in a suburban village. His family owned several acres of fertile land, and his parents made a living by tending the fields.
A wealthy local man, Master Zhou, coveted their fertile riverside field and tried to seize it by force, but the family refused to give in.
Zhou Fuhu bribed the constables and fabricated charges of colluding with bandits. Overnight, his servants stormed into the Shen family home. The father was beaten to death in front of the hall, and the mother, unable to bear the humiliation, drowned herself in the river.
The youngest sister in the family, only twelve years old, was kidnapped by the Zhou Family, suffered endless humiliation, and died tragically within three days.
Even her bedridden grandmother was roughly dragged out of the house, broke her bones, and died that night.
The entire family perished overnight.
To eliminate any future threat, Zhou Fuhu ordered his men to capture Zhao Bufan, break his legs with clubs, and slit his throat, leaving him only a breath to endure excruciating pain.
Once they confirmed that he was on the verge of death, they took advantage of the darkness to drag him to this desolate mass grave, casually tossing him under a pile of rubble, waiting for him to slowly bleed to death in pain and despair.
Zhao Bufan's remaining consciousness was hazy, and his vision was blurred.
He saw Gao Yunyi, dressed in green, standing amidst the desolate graves in the twilight, surrounded by billowing black mist, like Demon God emerging from the underworld.
The excruciating pain of impending death and overwhelming hatred sustained his last vestiges of sanity.
He struggled, using all his strength, reaching out his blood-stained hand to plead with Gao Yunyi, his voice hoarse and broken:
"Demon God... It's Demon God... I beg you... I beg you to avenge me!"
Looking at the dying young man, who was tortured beyond recognition, Gao Yunyi felt no sympathy or pity, only a slight disappointment.
Perhaps seeing the coldness in the Demon God's eyes, Zhao Bufan, who had finally grasped at a straw of revenge, immediately roared with all his might:
"I'm willing to give up my soul, everything I have! I'll do anything to make my enemies pay for their crimes!"
Although his body was broken and battered, his eyes burned with an inextinguishable resentment.
Gao Yunyi looked down at the young man, his eyes remaining calm, but he did not turn to leave.
I can give you two choices.
Gao Yunyi spoke slowly, his voice calm, clearly reaching the young man's ears amidst the bleak, cold wind.
He raised his hand, and two Pills appeared in his palm, one white and warm, the other black and cold.
"This is the Dust-Forgetting Pill. After taking it, it will erase the excruciating memory of your family's destruction and death. I can also heal your injuries, allowing you to travel far away, live in anonymity, find a place where no one knows you, and start anew, living out the rest of your life in peace. All past blood feuds will be forgotten, and when your lifespan ends, you can enter the cycle of reincarnation."
The luminous Pill lay Jingjing in his palm; it was a path to survival.
Then, with a slight turn of his fingertip, wisps of cold mist rose from the jet-black Pill.
"This is the Nether-Soul Pill. Once ingested, your soul will leave your body and transform into a vengeful ghost. No one can restrain your actions, and you can personally seek revenge against that wealthy family. However, the price will be heavy: your soul will leave your body, becoming a rootless wanderer, never to be reincarnated."
Two paths lie before us.
One path leads to letting go of hatred and being reborn; the other leads to seeking revenge and severing the cycle of reincarnation.
Zhao Bufan struggled to lift his eyes, his gaze first falling on the luminous white Dust-Forgetting Pill. In that instant, the image of his entire family's gruesome death exploded in his mind. The sight of his parents and relatives lying in pools of blood, the sinister smiles of the wealthy family's servants, tore at his heart.
His soul was filled with a deep-seated hatred. To live on, to eke out a living with oblivion? He couldn't do it.
If hatred is forgotten, then the deaths of loved ones are in vain.
Without the slightest hesitation, he gritted his teeth, his gaze fixed on the Nether-Soul Pill, and kowtowed heavily, his forehead striking the gravel, drawing blood.
"I choose the Nether-Soul Pill!"
"I will never forget! I will take my own revenge! Whether I am reborn for eternity or my soul is scattered to the winds, I only want my enemies to pay with their lives!"
A torrent of rage and grief erupted from his mangled body in an instant.
Gao Yunyi looked at him Jingjing, nodded slightly, and tossed the Nether-Soul Pill over.
Zhao Bufan raised his hand with trembling hands, grabbed the Pill, and swallowed it without hesitation.
The moment the Pill entered his throat, a chilling power instantly swept over his entire body.
His body quickly lost its vitality and collapsed onto the pile of rocks.
A pitch-black soul slowly rose from the physical body, its face distorted, its eyes bloodshot, and billowing resentment and malevolence swirling around it, transforming it into a ferocious and malevolent ghost.
"Thank you... Lord Demon God!"
The ghostly voice shrieked, and the eerie wind made the wild grass dance wildly.
The pitch-black soul's eyes, as red as burning charcoal, gazed in the direction of the Zhou Family mansion in the town, its body surrounded by billowing, swirling black mist of resentment.
"After the little devil has avenged his blood feud, he will return to repay the master's kindness."
He bowed deeply to Gao Yunyi, then transformed into a dark, swift shadow, carrying boundless hatred as he cut through the twilight and sped towards the town, disappearing into the desolate graveyard in an instant.
Gao Yunyi watched the ghost fly away, a slight smile playing on his lips.
"If there are no ghosts in this world, then I'll create my own."