Slaying

A chill wind whispered; ghostly shadows loomed.

The dead woman stood before him once more.

Yet Li Jue was strangely unafraid in the face of it all. Perhaps neither death nor ghosts could compare to the torment of his own inner condemnation.

The ghost that Situ Yan had become finally spoke in a hollow voice.

"I never hated you, and I cannot kill you." Her voice was cold as ice, as though it had risen from the Nine Springs.

"I..." Li Jue looked at her, momentarily at a loss for words, not knowing what to say.

Then Situ Yan suddenly shouted with desperate urgency, "Run!"

"What's wrong with you?" Li Jue was somewhat terrified, seeming to have frozen in place. He still sat collapsed on the ground without retreating.

"Ah—"

Situ Yan let out a piercing howl toward the sky. The sinister wind roared all around, and the trees swayed wildly.

In an instant, the lakeside became bitterly cold, like a realm of ghosts, while her eyes gradually began to shine with a scarlet light.

"No..." Yet such hoarse words squeezed from her throat again, as if she were struggling. She raised her head and roared at Li Jue once more, "Run!"

Only then did Li Jue sense that something was wrong. He staggered to his feet and fled backward.

But as she watched him leave, Situ Yan's black hair abruptly flew up, revealing a ferocious, terrifying ghost face covered in black veins!

"Stay." Her voice turned utterly sinister and cold.

Her demeanor changed in an instant.

With a raised hand, her ghostly figure pounced toward Li Jue in a flash.

On the other side, Song Qingyi, who had been watching in secret for a long while, no longer stood idly by. She said to Chu Liang, "I'll deal with it."

With that, she darted forward, and surging azure radiance burst from the jade ruler in her palm!

The Hall of Gentlemen possessed an ancient divine weapon ranked among the top hundred on the Myriad Treasures Record, called the River-Measuring Jade Ruler. The one Song Qingyi wielded was an imitation of the River-Measuring Jade Ruler, named the Inch-Heart Ruler.

There were quite a few such imitations in the cultivation world. Generally, only the original owner of a treasure could replicate it, and high-quality replicas of supreme treasures were often not low-grade themselves.

The Inch-Heart Ruler overflowed with righteous energy as it descended through the air. Situ Yan was just about to pounce on Li Jue, and caught off guard, she nearly got struck.

Fortunately, she was now a ghost, her body drifting and elusive. In the blink of an eye, she shifted several yards sideways, narrowly evading it.

But Song Qingyi's attack followed close on its heels. With a flick of her hand, she threw out the jade ruler. The blow landed squarely on Situ Yan's waist with a muffled thud.

Bang—

Struck in her incorporeal form, the painted-skin ghost's body scattered a cloud of black qi before crashing heavily to the ground.

The jade ruler spun back into Song Qingyi's palm. Just as she was about to press the advantage, a figure flashed before her and blocked her path.

Li Jue spread his arms to shield Situ Yan and pleaded, "Instructor Song, don't kill Situ Yan. She isn't a bad person. She's so pitiful..."

"Li Jue!" Song Qingyi said anxiously. "Situ Yan is already dead! Now that she has turned into a ghost, only by dispersing her can she enter reincarnation properly. If you let her continue like this, she will only be unable to find rebirth for all eternity!"

"Ah?" Li Jue's body jolted at her words.

Song Qingyi was not deceiving him. The consensus in the cultivation world was... when dealing with ghosts, there was no distinction between good and evil. Dispersing them and sending them into reincarnation was an absolute act of kindness.

During this brief delay, Situ Yan, who had been lying on the ground, recovered. She let out a shriek and flung a mass of black qi toward them!

The black qi swelled violently in the wind, instantly turning into a boundless black fog that engulfed the entire lakeside.

"Trying to run?" Song Qingyi immediately leaped high into the air, escaping the fog's range. With another wave of her hand, she suspended half a page of golden scripture above her head. Clear radiance constantly shone down below, ensuring that the painted-skin ghost within the fog could not use the chance to escape.

Yet no figure emerged from within.

After a long while, as the night wind swept through, the black fog by the lake gradually dispersed, and Song Qingyi landed once more.

But the sight before her made her freeze.

Li Jue sat collapsed on the ground with a dazed expression. Clearly, what had just happened had left him rather bewildered.

Beside him, another Li Jue wore the same blank expression as he looked around.

That was right—there were two Li Jues by the lake!

"Wh-what is going on?" Li Jue A cried in panic.

Li Jue B was equally terrified. He immediately moved away, keeping far from his other self, then looked toward Song Qingyi. "Instructor Song..."

Song Qingyi looked at the two identical Li Jues before her, her brows tightly furrowed.

Which one was real?

"I'm the real one...""I'm the real one!" The two Li Jues spoke in unison.

Song Qingyi had no answer for the moment.

At that moment, footsteps sounded from the bushes not far away, and a handsome young man with a smile on his face slowly emerged from there.

Chu Liang made his dazzling entrance.

He walked to Li Jue A's side and said with a smile, "I have a way. The fake Li Jue has never seen me. Whoever can say my name is the real one."

"You're Chu Liang!" Li Jue A beside him immediately answered.

Li Jue B froze for a moment, left speechless.

At that instant, Chu Liang, Song Qingyi, and Li Jue A all turned their gazes toward him.

And at that very moment, Chu Liang suddenly struck. Half a golden brick smashed fiercely toward the back of Li Jue A's head—bang!

With that blow, black qi surged forth. Li Jue A clutched the back of his head and let out strange howls, instantly reverting to the painted-skin ghost's appearance!

Chu Liang gave her no room to struggle further. A brick appeared in its true form in his left hand, while a sword gleamed with chilling white light in his right!

Shhk—

The longsword pierced through the painted-skin ghost's body, and cracks immediately spread across her incorporeal form!

"Situ Yan..." Li Jue called softly.

The painted-skin ghost turned her head and looked at Li Jue. A flash of release suddenly passed through her eyes.

Bang.

Her ghostly body shattered, turning into dust.

"You..." Song Qingyi asked curiously, "It clearly said your name. How did you know it was the fake one?"

"I didn't," Chu Liang said with a smile. "I just figured that since the painted-skin ghost had been lurking in the academy every day, it might well have heard my name. Asking was only to get close to it. Smacking it with a brick was still the safer choice."

"We truly have to thank you for this," Song Qingyi said.

Without Chu Liang here, the painted-skin ghost's trick would have caused her no small amount of trouble.

"We're all righteous cultivators. Slaying demons and banishing evil is simply our duty." Chu Liang waved a hand.

Come to think of it, he had to thank this painted-skin ghost for stirring up one last twist. If Song Qingyi had simply subdued it, he really would not have had a good opportunity to interfere. After all, this was the Confucian school's territory.

Now he had naturally snatched the kill, and Song Qingyi even had to thank him. Not bad at all.

Only Li Jue stood there utterly lost, blankly staring at the spot where Situ Yan had vanished, not knowing what to do.

Chu Liang stepped forward and said, "If you truly wish to atone, then turn yourself in to the authorities and confess to the accidental killing. Seeking death will not let you escape everything."

"Mm..." Li Jue nodded softly.

There was also a trace of sorrow in Song Qingyi's eyes. She felt that Situ Yan's life had been pitiable, yet she had committed many wrongs as well. She did not know how to judge her.

The calm lake rippled beneath the night wind, helpless and beyond remedy.

"Damn it!"

Not far from there, in an inn within Yan Suburb City, a black-robed figure suddenly smashed the lamp on the table. Inside the lamp was a black candle that had already gone out.

Crash!

The lamp fell to the ground and shattered. The black-robed figure gritted their teeth.

"I spent so much effort refining that painted-skin ghost. If I used it to gather a few more living souls, I could have taken first place at the next Soul Gathering Assembly and had a chance to advance!"

"It's only been a few days, and it was already slain..."

"How hateful!"

"I want to see just who dares lay a hand on my painted-skin ghost..."