The moon shone bright; the breeze was gentle.
Leaves shaded the window lattice.
In the cramped, dark room, the sound of water dripping echoed.
Drip. Drip.
No, it was not water, but blood.
A Qiang stared at his own fist, gritting his teeth as grief and resentment churned relentlessly within him.
"Why? Why was this Human Realm so unfair?" he asked, tilting his head back.
He had once had a childhood sweetheart.
Her name was A Zhen.
The two had grown up together. For more than ten years, they had seen no one but each other.
He had long regarded A Zhen as his wife, and A Zhen had long regarded him as her husband.
He had thought that once he saved up enough for a betrothal gift, everything would fall into place as naturally as water flowed downhill.
But a few days ago, he heard that A Zhen was going to marry a county magnate.
He could not believe it, so he ran to A Zhen's home to ask her.
But A Zhen's parents would not let him through the door.
They told him never to come looking for A Zhen again.
Why?
He said that no one's feelings for A Zhen could be deeper than his.
He was not lying. He had always believed that no one in this world loved A Zhen more than he did.
A Zhen's parents sniffed at that.
No matter how deep, could it be deeper than someone else's bride price?
Today was the day A Zhen was getting married.
A Qiang charged over like a madman and stopped the bridal sedan chair.
At last, he saw A Zhen.
He only wanted to ask her one thing: did she also not want to marry that old man?
As long as she said yes.
He would take her and flee to the ends of the earth, never caring about anything else again.
But A Zhen said,
"Don't come looking for me again. I'm afraid my husband will misunderstand."
So she had been willing?
So all those years of affection had been false?
The Magnate Family's servants beat him half to death and threw him into a stinking ditch. It was not until midnight that he staggered back home.
But the pain in his body was not even one ten-thousandth of the pain in his heart.
It felt as if a piece of his heart had been gouged out, a void that could never be filled.
He felt like a fool, as though he had been toyed with by this damned old Heaven for more than ten years.
"Why! Why did you treat me like this?!" he cried, painfully tearing at his clothes.
Then, a sinister voice suddenly sounded by his ear.
"Heh heh, because you are too weak."
"Who?"
A Qiang's eyes flew wide open. The room was empty; there was not a second soul in sight.
Who was speaking? Was it an illusion?
"Because you are too weak, you are destined to be trampled beneath others' feet! You hate them. You hate that damn magnate—an old lecher who still wanted to marry a young and beautiful concubine at his age. You hate that stinky woman. She forgot all your old affection and showed not the slightest pity as she watched you get beaten nearly to death. You hate her parents. They looked down on you, yet bowed and scraped before the magnate. Hahaha, there are too many people you hate. But all you can do is hate. There is nothing you can do."
The voice remained by his ear, incomparably clear. It was absolutely not fake.
A Qiang's heart pounded as he asked in panic, "Are you human or ghost?"
"Human or ghost, does it matter?" The voice drifted ethereally, yet seemed filled with endless temptation. "What matters is that I possess a powerful force, one that can make every person you resent pay the price in blood!"
"Power... Y-you, what are you talking about?" A Qiang pressed himself against the wall, trembling all over.
"You are destined to be an ant for the rest of your life. Even if someone tramples you into the mud, you cannot struggle free; you can only carry this resentment until death. But I possess a power that can make you strong, make them regret provoking you for their next life, make this unfair world tremble for you. Do you want it?"
A Qiang's eyes opened wide. After panting heavily for a long while, he said in a trembling voice, "I... do..."
"Then..."
"Are you afraid of death?"
The voice grew ever more enticing. A strange light gradually appeared in A Qiang's eyes as he sank into an odd state of mind.
He was like a traveler who had thirsted for more than ten days in a desert, suddenly seeing fine wine and roasted meat ahead of him. An intense, uncontrollable desire burst forth from the depths of his heart.
"I'm not afraid."
"Then all you need is a simple transaction."
"What kind of transaction?"
"Turn around."
A Qiang found those words strange. His back was clearly against the wall.
But he obediently turned his head to look.
That single glance left him horrified.
There was a face on the wall behind him!
Its features were distinct, its eyes lively—a vividly alive face!
"Heh heh, were you afraid just now? Remember that fear. When you think of how the fear you bring them in the future will be a hundred, a thousand times greater, don't you crave it?"
That face gradually bulged from the wall, then drew out the body below it. Soon, a bizarre figure clad in a ghostly blue robe appeared before A Qiang.
"Who are you?" A Qiang asked, trembling.
In truth, he had already guessed that the other party was not human. Perhaps asking what kind of ghost it was would have been more fitting.
"I am an emissary from the Ghost Kingdom. At the same time, I am here to help you, my friend."
The ghost continued in a soft, seductive voice. At the same time, it took something from its robes and offered it to A Qiang.
It opened its hand, revealing a filthy Small Copper Coin in its sharp-nailed palm.
"Take it, and you can possess a power that inspires terror. But you must sell me your life. In this unfair Human Realm, this is a rare fair trade. Do you... agree?"
A Qiang was so frightened that he wanted to turn and run.
But another voice in his heart told him to take that copper coin and seek revenge on them.
Death was no great matter.
He would drag those people down to death with him!
"I..."
Just as his heart hammered wildly in his chest.
A clear, bright voice suddenly came from outside the window. "I don't agree."
"Hm?"
The ghost frowned toward the window, and a chill abruptly bloomed around it, making A Qiang shudder.
He turned his head and saw an absurdly handsome Little Daoist Priest standing outside the window. He wore a brand-new Azure Daoist Robe, with a bamboo hairpin casually securing his topknot. His bearing was indescribably dashing.
A Qiang's first thought was actually... If I looked like that, maybe A Zhen wouldn't have left me.
But he quickly overturned that thought.
If I looked like that, would I even want her?
While he was lost in wild thoughts, the Little Daoist Priest said to him, "Sorry, the door wasn't open, so I climbed in over the wall."
"Ah... oh." A Qiang nodded blankly.
The blue-robed ghost narrowed its eyes. "Where did this Little Daoist Priest come from? You truly do not know whether you are alive or dead."
It was about to raise its hand and take the Little Daoist Priest's life when a flash of lightning suddenly passed through its mind.
Wait, a Daoist?
Could this Daoist... be... that Daoist?
It carefully examined Li Chu, as well as the Iron Sword on his back.
He seemed utterly ordinary?
But out of caution, it still asked, "Little Daoist Priest, have you ever been to the Liu Family Ghost Building?"
"I've been there a few times. What, are you connected to the ghosts inside?" Li Chu countered.
If this ghost wanted to chat, he did not mind talking with it a little. It would be even better if he could learn its origins and why it created Vengeful Spirits.
But his wish came to nothing.
The moment it heard him say "been there a few times," the ghost's expression changed drastically! Like an animal whose fur had suddenly stood on end, its Ghost Body shuddered before it turned and fled!
It was astonishingly fast, almost streaking away as a blue beam of light!
To keep it from escaping, Li Chu could only hurriedly draw his sword and slash out!
The blue-robed ghost had already summoned the strength of several lifetimes to flee in an instant, but when it sensed the terrifying pressure of the sword behind it, it still realized that death had arrived.
It only had time to send a message into the distance with all its strength.
"I ran into a Daoist! Aah—"
Thanks to "Dream Sansan Full of Top Energy" for the hundred reward.
Before you continue