The Head

Although Wang Xiu and Song Yu were cultivators, neither wanted an old woman like this to kowtow to them.

They hurriedly stepped aside and went to help her up.

"Madam, please get up and speak."

"Our temple no longer concerns itself with mortal affairs. Kowtowing like this won't get you what you want!"

But after hearing their words, the old woman refused to get up no matter what.

"Madam, I have some money here. Take it to save your daughter's life. We're only disciples of the temple, so please don't put us in a difficult position." Seeing how pitiful she looked, Song Yu spoke softly.

"Please save my daughter!"

The old woman ignored Song Yu's words, repeating only that one sentence over and over.

Wang Xiu, however, didn't want to keep this up. "Song Yu, don't lose sight of what matters. If this drags on and causes a commotion, how are we supposed to face the Temple Master?"

With that, Wang Xiu silently recited an incantation, formed a Magic Art with his hands, and stepped through a footwork formula. A gust of wind surged forth, meant to blow the old woman down the mountain.

Seeing this, Song Yu stuffed the money in his hands into the old woman's arms and stepped aside.

The wind Wang Xiu summoned buffeted the old woman, making her clothes flap loudly, but she didn't budge an inch.

A cold, Yin aura emanated from the bundle in her arms, blocking Wang Xiu's wind.

"Oh no, this old woman has some tricks. There's probably trouble brewing around her!"

"Song Yu, hurry and cast a spell to get rid of her. Don't go looking for trouble!"

Wang Xiu shouted as spiritual power surged through him again, urging Song Yu to join forces with him.

Song Yu's heart tightened. He joined his spiritual power with Wang Xiu's, and two gusts of wind rose, blowing at the old woman once more.

The wind made the old woman squeeze her eyes shut. She staggered back several steps, but still wasn't blown away.

The bundle in her arms slipped from her grasp, fell to the ground, and rolled a few times before coming undone.

When Song Yu and Wang Xiu saw what had fallen out of the bundle, they were shocked and hurriedly backed away.

Hidden inside the bundle was a human head!

It looked like the head of a girl around eight or nine years old, wrapped in dense Yin energy.

The little girl's closed eyes suddenly snapped open. Her head shot into the air and charged at Song Yu and Wang Xiu.

Before it even reached them, the cold aura sent a chill through their hearts. Their spiritual power was nowhere near enough to hold it back.

"Yinyin, stop!"

The old woman shouted, but the little girl's head paid her no heed and continued charging forward.

Whoosh!

A stream of Azure Wood Life and Death Gas flew out from the temple, transforming into a cage that swept up the little girl's head. It floated in midair, unable to move.

Seeing the head caught, Song Yu and Wang Xiu knew Chen Ming had intervened.

"Thank you, Temple Master!"

A cold sweat broke out across their backs.

Chen Ming appeared before the temple. With a wave of his hand, he lifted the head, still wrapped in Azure Wood Life and Death Gas, into his grasp.

Feeling the cold Yin aura radiating from it, he sensed that it had faintly begun to take on the air of a Supernatural Ability.

The moment the old woman saw Chen Ming appear and subdue the head, she bowed again and cried, "Please, True Person, spare Yinyin. My daughter only wanted to protect me. She didn't mean to hurt anyone!"

"She... she's always had such a hard life. That's how she ended up like this. Please, True Person, show mercy!"

Chen Ming circulated his spiritual power. The Azure Wood Life and Death Gas, which had formed a net around the head, shifted and condensed into a point, settling on the center of its forehead.

The little girl's open eyes slowly closed, and the cold Yin aura around her began to recede.

Chen Ming then pointed again. The bundle on the ground flew up and wrapped itself around the head once more.

"Take it and go."

Chen Ming held out the bundle containing the head, and it landed in the old woman's arms.

Clutching the head tightly, the old woman wept uncontrollably. "Please, True Person, save my daughter!"

"I used to live in the city at the foot of the mountain. My poor daughter Yinyin was only nine! One day, for some unknown reason, people from the Gao Family came looking for her and said they were taking her away.

"My family wasn't rich, but we could feed our children. How could we let her go?

"But the Gao Family were tyrants, with eyes and ears everywhere in the city. They tossed down a few taels of silver, abducted Yinyin, and left our whole family with nowhere to turn to plead.

"Day after day, we stood outside the Gao Family's gate, longing for just one glimpse of Yinyin."

"Who could have known..."

As the old woman spoke, her voice caught in her throat several times.

"Who could have known that after more than half a month, Yinyin's corpse would be thrown out!"

"Her body was mangled, as if wild beasts had gnawed on it."

"Our whole family are honest folk, but how could we possibly bear that?"

"That very day, my husband went to fight the Gao Family. But they kept vicious guard dogs, and my husband was beaten to death!"

"Now I'm all that's left—a mere woman, aged overnight, my hair turned white!"

"I hate it! Why is the world so unjust? We couldn't even find a patch of ground to bury that father and daughter!"

"All I could do was light a great fire and cast them both into it, burning them to ash."

"But I couldn't bear it! My daughter—I hated it so much! So I gritted my teeth, cut off Yinyin's head, and carried it with me day and night!"

"Thank heaven, somehow, Yinyin's head was still alive!"

"If the world wouldn't give me justice, I'd find justice myself!"

"Carrying Yinyin's head, I relied on the cool air it gave off and killed all 137 members of the Gao Family in a single night."

"But after the Gao Family was wiped out, Yinyin's head grew colder and colder. Little by little, she began to forget me. She no longer knew who I was!"

"I don't know what's happening, but I know I'm about to die. I don't care if I die; my great vengeance has been avenged. But if Yinyin forgets me completely, I fear her head will die too."

"I heard there was a miraculous Spirit Tree on Cuiping Mountain, so I came here to pray. I only want Yinyin to live!"

"She shouldn't have died. She lived her whole life without sin!"

"Every word I've said is true. If I've told even one lie, may I be denied rebirth for all eternity after I die!"

"I beg you, True Person, save Yinyin!"

After the old woman finished speaking, she bowed deeply to Chen Ming and fell silent.

The temple fell quiet at once, the atmosphere heavy.

Chen Ming spoke slowly. "Well, well. How wonderful."

"I never thought that after taking over Ling Yangzi's territory, all the schemes meant for him would land on my head one after another!"

Nothing the old woman said was false, but there were far too many suspicious details.

The little girl had died, and the soul inside her head had been bound by cold Yin energy, unable to disperse. That was how she had become a half-ghost, half-demon Yin fiend. Clearly, she had been refined using a Secret Method.

And the old woman had come to Cuiping Mountain specifically for the temple's Spirit Tree.

To say that no scheme or manipulation lay behind this would be far too great a coincidence!

"But your suffering is real, too. If you leave your daughter as she is, her soul will slowly dissipate once you die."

Though Chen Ming didn't want to get involved, the scheme had already landed on his head. He couldn't just ignore it.

Besides, several auras were already closing in on Cuiping Mountain.

In that case, he'd find out who was behind this mischief!

The Spirit Devouring Jar and Red Spirit Worm hadn't had a taste of blood in ages.

Chen Ming was already lamenting how slowly his cultivation was progressing. If someone insisted on delivering a feast to his door, he certainly wouldn't let it go to waste!