The Great Battle

Bang! Wang Heng's entire corpse was sent flying!

I froze for a moment before realizing that Wang Heng had lunged at me, the person with the heaviest yin energy, only to be slapped away by Xijun.

I had no idea where Xijun had found the strength, but she had actually managed to send that hundred-and-sixty-to-seventy-pound body flying.

The sight jolted Wang Cheng, Lin Feiyu, and the others back to their senses.

"There's no other way. If you can't handle it, I'm opening fire... We can't let him out of the morgue, or one or two people outside will definitely die. I can't shoulder that responsibility!" The weather wasn't even that hot, but Huo Dazhong's face was covered in sweat. His gun was already loaded.

"Brother Wang, I'll have to risk my life too. Otherwise, none of us are getting out. Kid Xia, cover me—don't let it ambush me!" Lin Feiyu gritted his teeth, crouched down, and took a bundle of rusty nails and a scalpel from the safe.

I couldn't make head or tail of what Lin Feiyu was trying to do, but this was no time to ask. I could only order, "Xijun, keep blocking it. Don't let him get close to us!"

Xijun snarled like a wild beast. Just as during her first attack on me, she fixed her eyes on Wang Heng, who had crashed into the corpse locker and was climbing back up. Her slender hand shot out like a bamboo pole!

Bang!

Wang Heng's entire chest was pierced through. Yet the evil ghost inside his body crawled out as well. Its whole body was black and red, yin energy streaming from it as it twisted into a strange posture and wrapped itself around Xijun.

Xijun had never been an evil ghost specialized in combat. She might have overdrawn her strength, and once she was entangled, her soul-body began to flicker unsteadily. If even she disappeared, I truly had no idea how I would face my dead grandmother.

I immediately looked toward Lin Feiyu and Wang Cheng. "Are you two done yet?"

"Done!" Lin Feiyu dragged the scalpel across his middle finger, opening a wide gash. Blood splattered all over the nails. "Wang Cheng! Aren't you going to bring out your gear? Do you want me and Kid Xia to die? A father beating his son is only right and proper!"

"Your grandmother! What the hell are you yelling for? It isn't your son! A-Dong! Bring over the dog blood I prepared!" Wang Cheng shouted. He pulled a red whip from inside his coat and snapped it, the crisp crack ringing through the room.

Wang Dong's trembling body had gone limp, but his father's roar brought him back to his senses. He crawled and stumbled out the door, opened it, and returned with a bucket of dog blood. "Dad! The blood's here! What do I do?"

"Splash me!" Wang Cheng roared, then closed his eyes.

Without a second word, Wang Dong threw the entire bucket of dog blood out!

With a whoosh, the dog blood splashed all over Lin Feiyu's head and face. Lin Feiyu had been performing a ritual, and the splash disrupted it completely. He immediately began cursing without regard for anything else. "I'll be damned, you useless brat! Splashing your father would've been enough—why the hell did you splash Uncle Lin?"

"Uncle! I didn't do it on purpose!" Wang Dong was so frightened that tears shot from his eyes. Who told you two to stand so close together?

Wang Cheng also froze, but this did not stump him. Seeing the dog blood that had yet to dry on the floor, he instantly raised his whip and lashed at it. Then, without caring whether it was filthy, he rolled across the floor until his entire body was bright red. "First, draw the living spirit and dye it in blood!"

"Second strike: when the life dies, the three souls perish!" Wang Cheng gave a strange cry and snapped the whip upward, sending blood from the floor into the air. It dyed a line red as it lashed toward the evil ghost!

With a crack, the evil ghost was struck by the whip and twisted in agony. This old Wang is pretty capable. If he had this trick, why didn't he use it sooner?

"Third lash: seal the coffin and split the white bones!" Wang Cheng swung the whip downward again, striking the evil ghost with another crack and leaving it grievously wounded.

"Fourth bind: till the thunder and destroy the seven souls!" The final lash wrapped around the evil ghost. It shrieked and struggled wildly.

"Lin Feiyu! Are you done or not?! I can't hold it for long!" Wang Cheng roared.

"Your grandmother! It's all because of that bear of a brat from your family! He ruined all my stock!" Lin Feiyu threw away the rusty coffin nails and went back to rummage through the safe, grumbling and cursing.

Seeing the crisis, I recalled Xijun. Just as Lin Feiyu took a scalpel from the safe, I snatched it away. Lin Feiyu instantly lost his temper. Why is everyone making things difficult for me today?

I ignored Old Lin, gritted my teeth, and cut open my middle finger. I quickly drew a diamond-shaped talisman on Xijun's forehead, with the final stroke extending straight into her mouth!

This was a method of forcibly sending one's vital blood essence to a cultivated evil ghost. According to the book, its effect was not particularly obvious, but given our current situation, I had no choice but to try.

Xijun's eyes immediately turned red. Her hair rose into the air as if it had been electrified, and then, as though injected with chicken blood, she lunged at the evil ghost that had been bound.

After Xijun savagely tore and bit at it, the evil ghost—whose soul had almost entirely emerged from Wang Heng's body—had part of its soul-body eaten away.

Wang Cheng hurriedly withdrew his whip. Xijun, meanwhile, devoured the black ghostly creature like a madwoman, quickly eating it until not a trace remained.

When Xijun rose to her feet, her soul-body had become much clearer. It seemed that consuming such a powerful ghost had improved her abilities tremendously.

But her eyes were still blood-red. She stared predatorily at everyone except me. Her black, lifeless pupils made Wang Cheng and Lin Feiyu break out in cold sweat. Both of them felt that they had barely driven off the wolf before welcoming a tiger.

Huo Dazhong's hand trembled as he held the pistol. "Brother... can you... still keep her under control?"

"Spell, release!" I quickly drew a spell-breaking mark on Xijun's head, took out the Soul Urn, and sealed her back inside.

The Soul Urn felt scorching hot in my hand. Just as I was about to inspect it, there was a sharp click, and a thin crack split across the urn.

The Soul Urn could no longer contain Xijun.

The fiercer the evil ghost, the more complicated the talisman inscribed on the urn that sealed it had to be, and the more precious the materials used.

I had no time to worry about anything else. I took out a soul-sealing talisman and wrapped it around the urn, then tied them together with the red lucky string I had taken from the Zhao Family the day before.

Only after finishing all this did I put the Soul Urn back into my pocket.

"I still have something to deal with. You two elders and Captain Huo can handle what remains. I won't stay." I was worried that something might happen to the Soul Urn here. If I remained unharmed while everyone here suffered, the consequences would be disastrous, so I took the initiative to suggest leaving.

"Mm, that's fine. You and Little Han should go first. We can handle things here." Lin Feiyu had also noticed the problem with my Soul Urn, so he nodded in agreement.

"Little Han, you've had quite a fright. Go back first. I'll make up your leave later." Huo Dazhong wanted to leave as well, but he was on duty and had no choice. Pretending to be polite, he took the documents from Han Shanshan.

Wang Cheng cupped his hands toward me in thanks, then said nothing else and went to look at his son's corpse.

A bloody hole had opened in Wang Heng's chest, and the blood flowing from it was black. The morgue was also a complete mess. Fortunately, although the people outside had heard the sounds of fighting, no one had dared enter at a time like this.

Han Shanshan seemed to have been affected by the yin energy. Her whole body was numb and sore, and when she tried to stand, she collapsed weakly to the floor again.

I had no choice but to pull her up. "Weren't you pretty capable? In the end, you didn't even get to draw your gun."

"Hehe, wasn't I taking you into consideration?" Han Shanshan replied stubbornly, though she could barely keep her eyes open.

She was tall, and I estimated that she weighed nearly a hundred pounds. With her arm hanging over my shoulder, she was quite heavy.

After we went outside, I closed the door. Only then did two criminal police officers come over to help us.

When the local punks outside saw us emerge in such miserable condition, their faces went deathly pale. Anyone could tell that something earth-shaking had happened inside.

I had no time to bother with them. I hailed a taxi and took Han Shanshan back to the police station.

At the police station, Zhao Xi and Ren Yun were nowhere to be seen. They had probably gone to work their connections. Zhao Qian had finished giving her statement and was sitting on a bench in the corridor, waiting for me.

Seeing her pitiful state, I knew nothing had improved. I said, "Come back with me first. Your brother's situation won't be resolved in a short while. You haven't slept for a day and a night, and you just came out of the hospital. Exhausting yourself like this won't help. Things are chaotic over at the Wang Household too. Their children are crying in a heap outside the morgue. It's pitiful."

After hearing me, Zhao Qian's tears simply streamed down. She glanced at the place where Zhao He was being temporarily detained, then silently stood up.

I took her back to the car. Han Shanshan had already fallen asleep inside, and along the way I told Zhao Qian the whole story from beginning to end.

When we reached the residential compound, Han Shanshan was still sleeping like the dead. I called her several times, but she seemed to be deep in a sweet dream and nearly hit me.

At Zhao Qian's suggestion, I had no choice but to carry her into Zhao Qian's bedroom and let the two of them sleep together.

After comforting Zhao Qian and promising to return with her to the Zhao Family estate that night to keep vigil for Old Zhao, I went alone to the study and took out the Soul Urn.

Seeing that the Soul Urn had not developed any further cracks, I relaxed a little and called Xijun out. She had returned to normal, but the moment she saw me, she kept trying to throw herself into my arms.

I pressed down on her shoulders and made her sit, then carefully examined the mark I had drawn on her forehead earlier. Seeing that it had disappeared, I finally let the heavy stone in my heart fall.

It seemed that her attempt to attack the living had merely been instinctive, not an mutation caused by consuming the evil ghost.

Still, I could not ignore the Soul Urn's cracking. I decided to visit the antique street in the market while Zhao Qian and Han Shanshan slept. Perhaps I could find good materials for making a Soul Urn there. I also needed to buy cinnabar brushes, spirit money, talisman paper, and similar items.

After today's great battle, I deeply understood that I could not rely entirely on Xijun to fight alone. I also had to arm myself properly. Even if my talisman-drawing skills could not compare with Adept Can Yun's, cramming at the last minute still seemed necessary.

Knock, knock.

"Brother Tian! You're back?"

Seeing that it was Yu Xiaoxue, I called Xijun back into the Soul Urn and opened the door.

"Brother Tian, I want to go to the market. Sister Qianqian's clothes are a little too big." Outside, Yu Xiaoxue showed me the dress Zhao Qian had given her.

It was a dark-green little dress that showed off her figure. One glance told me it was expensive. I thought it suited her quite well. If Zhao Qian had worn it, she would certainly have looked perfect in it, but the style truly did not suit Yu Xiaoxue.

After all, it had a somewhat Western style on Zhao Qian, while Yu Xiaoxue was still a high school student. Something more lively would suit her better.

"Sure. I happen to be going to the market to buy some things too. I'll drive you there." I readily agreed and took her to the garage to get the car.