Soul Snatching

The frustration had finally calmed Lin Feiyu down, and he admired Uncle Hai even more. When it came to something outside his own field of expertise, he really had to listen to the expert. [Burning^Literature^Bookstore]

"Uncle Hai, how is Zhao Yi?" Zhao Qian asked worriedly. After all, Zhao Yi was her younger male cousin, and she didn't want the Zhao Family to have another coffin.

Uncle Hai stretched out his hand, intending to make a calculation, but I stopped him and said, "Qian, don't worry. Zhao Yi is hollering away. He's a timid man—at most, the thunder struck beside his feet and scared him senseless. If it had really struck him, he'd have been dead already. How could he still be making noise?"

"Yes, what Brother Xia said must be right. We should hurry up," Lin Feiyu chimed in. He also knew that sparing Uncle Hai's strength was the most important thing now.

Zhao Qian's momentary anxiety had nearly made things worse for Uncle Hai. She was clever as ice and snow, and understood immediately. Guilt filled her heart.

But seeing that our group still had to continue forward, she didn't say anything more.

When we were almost at the mountaintop, Uncle Hai stopped us. He took out his Eight Trigrams Tortoise and a paper figure, formed several hand seals, and had each of us hand over a strand of hair. He tied the paper figure and the Eight Trigrams Tortoise together, then set the tortoise free.

The Eight Trigrams Tortoise poked out its head and looked back at Uncle Hai in an almost human manner. Then it struggled up another path toward the summit. We were all curious, but Uncle Hai merely waved at us with red-rimmed eyes, urging us to hurry up.

"Brother Hai! That's your life-sharing tortoise! You've raised it since you were children, eating and drinking together!" Lin Feiyu could no longer accept it, his expression turning utterly grim.

"There's no time to worry about that!" Uncle Hai shouted, leading the way as he hurried forward. But he stumbled on the path and nearly fell off the mountain.

I caught him in one sweep and found that his body was truly cold. It was still raining, and he might well collapse in bed as soon as we returned to the manor. In such a condition, if he still tried to perform a ritual, he would be courting death.

"Uncle Hai, no matter what happens later, you can't perform any more rituals." I knew my advice was useless, but I had to say it anyway.

Uncle Hai only nodded, but the resolve in his eyes made my heart flutter with unease. Without a doubt, he definitely wouldn't listen.

Yet just as we were a single step away from the mountaintop, the rain suddenly grew sparse.

Uncle Hai looked up at the sky, fingering through a calculation. Then he looked at the life-sharing tortoise dragging the paper figure far away and sighed. "Alas, the rain has stopped. We came too late."

As soon as he finished speaking, the rain really did stop. We looked at one another, completely baffled.

Lin Feiyu hurried up to the mountaintop first, but when he saw the altar table set out on the enormous stone platform, he angrily stamped his foot. "You son of a bitch! If you're so tough, why don't you stay and fight? I'll drag your soul out of hell!"

Wu Zhenghua had actually escaped?

It seemed that Lin Feiyu's attempt to show off had fallen flat again.

I supported Uncle Hai and followed him up to the mountaintop. Zhao Qian ran off to retrieve the Eight Trigrams Tortoise. I figured there shouldn't be any trouble right under my nose, so I let her go.

I saw Lin Feiyu stamping about. I felt both regretful and relieved. Lin Feiyu might have been shouting fiercely, but if he had fought Wu Zhenghua one-on-one, I honestly wouldn't have had much confidence in him.

Besides, if Wu Zhenghua had dared to remain here, he must have believed his trump cards were enough to fight us to the death. So if we had actually encountered him, the outcome would truly have been unpredictable. That man was far more formidable than we had imagined.

Apart from the main ritual implements, everything else on the altar table was still there, including all the used talismans. The specially made incense was still emitting an eerie stream of smoke in the rain, already burned more than halfway down.

I picked up a stack of burned blue talismans and found that the incantations remaining on them had been battered shapeless by the rain. Yet one that had burned more than halfway still had powdery crystals glowing on it.

I looked at Uncle Hai in confusion. "Uncle Hai, this talisman seems just like your blue talismans. Did he smear salt all over them?"

"It's much more extravagant than that. He even used blue talismans. One costs several thousand, and this stack alone must be worth over a hundred thousand. He certainly didn't spare the money." Uncle Hai still had the mood to joke. Holding up a talisman, he said, "What's smeared on blue talismans is gemstone powder, what we call ritual salt. One qian costs over ten thousand. Wu Zhenghua used it to summon lightning. One talisman per summoning—it's terribly expensive, far too expensive to use."

"One costs several thousand?" I was shocked. Hadn't Uncle Hai casually thrown away several blue talismans just now, costing tens of thousands? Who wouldn't go bankrupt using them like that?

"I think money is a minor concern for him. Take a look at the brown spots on this red cloth instead. Heh heh, that old bastard will have to stew the old hen at home when he gets back." Uncle Hai coldly examined the altar table.

"Hmph. If he hadn't sprayed some blood, he really would have let us down. I'd say Brother Hai is still better than him." Lin Feiyu snorted, also staring at the bloodstains, clearly taking great pleasure in the sight.

Wu Zhenghua wasn't doing much better. He had reached the brink of collapse just like us, and since he couldn't afford to keep fighting, he had naturally fled for his life.

"That's because he was in the light while we were in the shadows. If he'd known before coming up that it was the two of us old men, he would probably have run away long ago. He wouldn't have gambled so wildly by throwing out so many blue talismans." Uncle Hai was in high spirits. Although we hadn't killed Wu Zhenghua this time, the other party had still been badly injured.

"Eh? Where's Zhao Qian? Why hasn't she come back after going to retrieve the tortoise?" Lin Feiyu suddenly remembered something and turned toward Zhao Qian's direction.

I had been focused on supporting Uncle Hai and had forgotten that Zhao Qian was still behind us!

Just as we began to worry, Zhao Qian emerged from the woods carrying the tortoise, her face radiant with smiles.

My heart sank. I touched the Soul Urn in my pocket, my eyes reddening.

"She's just a young girl. Mountain God, of all the bodies you could borrow, why did you have to choose hers?" I gritted my teeth and stared fixedly at the "Zhao Qian" before me.

"Zhao Qian" seemed a little curious. She giggled at me, squatted halfway down, and set the tortoise on the ground. "Oh? You mean the person down the mountain? No, that wouldn't do. Since I'm borrowing a body to restore my soul, of course I have to choose a suitable one."

Lin Feiyu opened the safe and took out the coffin nails, then produced a handful of powder resembling refined salt. He lit the black incense and scattered the powder over it.

Uncle Hai shook his head, formed a hand seal, and directly pulled out a blue paper figure. Frowning, he said, "Let this child go, or else..."

"I originally intended to go with you just like this. But it seems all of you can see through my identity at a glance. You're powerful ritual masters. If I don't eliminate you, I don't think I'll be able to borrow another body in peace." Zhao Qian smiled faintly and flicked her hand as though shaking out her sleeve.

In an instant, sinister winds howled through the woods, accompanied by what sounded like beastly cries. A group of ghost beasts—more than a dozen of them—flew out of the forest!

"Fine. Since you refuse to leave the body, I'll make your soul fly apart and your spirit scatter!" I said coldly as I opened the Soul Urn.

After Xijun emerged from the Soul Urn, she suddenly let out a roar. Her eyes were dark and heavy, and she glared at everything around her like a tiger stalking its prey. Her sharp teeth seemed ready to tear into anyone. I had never seen her emerge in this state before, but now, the Zhao Qian before me was in mortal danger!

"Brother Xia! Take it easy!" Uncle Hai knew my current condition. Seeing Xijun's appearance had already made him uncomfortable all over. This was undoubtedly the final madness before the urn shattered and her soul was destroyed.

He had seen the fate of Senior Zhou Xian's several domesticated ghosts. Every one of them had ended up like this.

"I can't take it easy!" I ground my teeth. This wasn't an ordinary fierce ghost. Her intelligence was extremely high, and after borrowing the body, the body's yang energy had broken through the yin. She could even speak human words. It was as if she had become another person. I was truly afraid she would completely erase Zhao Qian's soul.

"Let me communicate with her!" Uncle Hai hurriedly said. Then he looked at the Mountain Ghost and asked, "Mountain God, I'd like to ask you: is this child's soul still there?"

"Zhao Qian" glanced at Xijun, then swept her gaze over the three of us before slowly saying, "It's there, but... I'll refine it soon. I'll absorb her memories as well, so don't worry. I'll repay the karma she leaves behind. But I definitely won't give up the body."

The Mountain Ghost seemed to think she had already shown the utmost benevolence, but the veins on my forehead bulged as my patience neared its limit.

"You can't borrow this body. Name your conditions! Otherwise, as you can see, we can only fight to the death." Uncle Hai stretched out an arm to stop me and asked with the last sliver of hope.

"Heh heh, fight to the death? Of the three of you, one has raised a fierce ghost he can't even control, one can merely protect himself without trouble, and the only one with any real ability has already exhausted himself just now. What makes you think you can talk to me about fighting to the death? Do you know that when that Taoist realized I wasn't killing you but was instead watching him perform his ritual here, he was so frightened that he ran away?" Zhao Qian covered her mouth and laughed, her whole body trembling like a swaying flower branch.

The beast souls behind her also roared, and yin energy seethed violently.

"Then die!" I raised my middle finger and bit it hard until it bled. Ignoring my wife's older sister tugging at my clothes, I drew a diamond-shaped mark on Xijun's forehead, dragging one stroke all the way down to her lips.

Xijun had already been losing her reason. With the spell talisman added, she became even more terrifying. Her arms hung down, and her mouth had split open all the way to her ears.

A beast soul pounced at her, only to be seized in her hand and torn into shreds in an instant!

Uncle Hai and Lin Feiyu both sucked in a cold breath.

"Xijun! Tear that Mountain Ghost out of Zhao Qian's body!" I loudly ordered Xijun.

The Mountain Ghost frowned on the other side, but she didn't remain idle. Instead, she took out the items Zhao Qian carried: ghost-warding talismans, soul-fixing talismans, and various ritual implements.

After selecting for a while, she picked up a string of soul bells and revealed a charming smile.

"Jingle, jingle, jingle, jingle. A gust of wind, a ringing bell; someone speaks, someone tells: Thunder fills the heavens, rain darkens the skies; gibbons cry, and night monkeys call; the wind rustles, the trees whisper; I think of my lord, and only sorrow remains..."

Her song was full of sorrow. The beast souls seemed to be stirred by it and began to grow restless. The soul bells also shook Xijun into a frenzy. Whenever she saw a beast soul, she flew over to seize it, completely ignoring the Mountain Ghost as she danced and rang the bells.

Several soul beasts surrounded Uncle Hai. He knocked them back several times with his yin-yang figures, but he was already at the end of his strength and soon could no longer hold out. As he chanted the spell, blood foam suddenly burst from his mouth, impossible to stop.

Lin Feiyu could only use his nails and the white powder against things like this. Now that Uncle Hai was injured as well, he could only focus on helping him. There was no question of driving away the Mountain Ghost.

The situation grew more and more perilous. Under the ghost beasts' assault, Xijun's yin energy gradually weakened, and she began to look as though the urn would shatter and her soul would be destroyed at any moment.

Amid the Mountain Ghost's singing, I was distracted to the point of collapse, and despair actually welled up in my heart.

Zhao Qian had lent her body to the Mountain Ghost to restore its soul, Xijun was about to have her soul scattered, and a group of soul beasts swirled around me. I fell to my knees, my hands clutching the mud and stones until they were scraped bloody. Then, suddenly, the word "death" flashed through my mind.

"Looking for death!" At that moment, a soft shout shattered the situation.

The Mountain Ghost's song also came to an abrupt halt at that soft shout.