The Missing Pages

It was Master's voice!

Zheng Que came to his senses and immediately understood. There was nothing wrong with his Ghost Controlling Technique; the problem lay with his spiritual blood.

Thinking this, he quickly turned around, bowed toward the ruined temple, and replied respectfully, "Thank you for your guidance, Master!"

After speaking, Zheng Que thought for a moment, then raised the hand marked with the character and aimed his palm at the Female Hanging Ghost again. In a low voice, he said, "Return!"

The instant the words left his mouth, his five fingers closed like the bars of a cage. The Female Hanging Ghost immediately turned into a streak of blood-red light and shot into his palm.

Zheng Que felt as if he were holding a wisp of cold air in his hand—intangible and formless, yet chilling to the bone.

He nodded slightly. His Command Character could summon the Resentful Soul back, which meant his Ghost Controlling Technique had worked perfectly. It was only that this Female Hanging Ghost, a Resentful Soul, was too weak in the daytime...

Seeing that his master had no other instructions, Zheng Que bowed toward the ruined temple once more before taking his leave.

A short while later, he returned to his lodgings.

As before, Zheng Que quickly opened the door and stepped inside, then turned and bolted it behind him.

The room was just as he had left it: a cold stove and cold hearth, with plenty of odds and ends strewn across the floor. They had merely been shoved aside to keep them from getting in the way. The whole place was a mess.

Zheng Que paid it no mind. He went straight into the inner room, set his shoes neatly side by side, and quickly sat cross-legged on the bed to begin cultivating.

His master had just told him that the Yang Energy in his spiritual blood was too strong. The daytime Resentful Souls could not withstand it. If he wanted to catch another Resentful Soul and cultivate his Ghost Controlling Technique, he could only go out at night.

Though plenty of Lonely Ghosts and Wild Spirits wandered about this little town during the day, as long as one stayed alert and kept one's distance from them, one could usually avoid trouble.

But once night fell...

Ghosts ran rampant, with Evil Omens lurking among them. For ordinary people, stepping outside meant certain death!

The life-saving wisdom passed down through generations in Changfu Town was simple: get home before dark! Once home, shut the doors and windows tight, and make as little noise as possible. No matter what sounds they heard in the night, they must never investigate. They had to act as if they knew nothing at all—and even after daybreak, they must not discuss a single detail.

That was why, when the Call-Sound Ghost had nearly torn the house apart earlier, the neighbors had not reacted at all, much less tried to ask what was happening.

Although Zheng Que was now a cultivator in the Qi Refining Realm, going out at night was still extremely dangerous.

So, for now, he needed to improve his cultivation and strength as much as possible.

As he pondered, Zheng Que's mind sank into that chaotic space, where he focused on catching wisps of frigid air...

Time trickled by. Half an hour later, Zheng Que seemed to sense something. He opened his eyes at once and found himself looking at the same dilapidated Wide Hall.

Just as before, he was sitting in the Grandmaster Chair with the broken leg, while the open Life and Death Book rested on the mottled long table.

At that moment, Zheng Que suddenly felt a strange sensation in the palm of the hand marked with the character. He instinctively opened it. The cool, soft sensation in his palm abruptly became a streak of blood-red light that shot out from his hand.

Whoosh!

The light was as fast as lightning, darting toward the main entrance of the Wide Hall.

But just then, new characters kept appearing in the blank space of the Life and Death Book before Zheng Que: "...Qing Li. Native place: Tu Prefecture, Great Li Dynasty... Lifespan: exactly sixteen years. Hanged herself at midnight."

The next instant, the streak of light abruptly halted, as if it had lost all its strength. It fell straight to the ground and became a slender young woman in white.

Her long hair still hung loose, disheveled strands veiling her face so that her features could not be seen.

At the sight of this sudden turn of events, Zheng Que froze for a moment, then quickly understood. This dilapidated Wide Hall space had an effect much like nighttime!

The Resentful Soul could not withstand his spiritual blood in the daytime, but in this desolate Wide Hall, where cold winds swept through, she could.

And besides that...

Zheng Que looked at his palm. In the real world, he had thought the ancient-looking pattern, shaped like both an insect and a bird, might be some kind of writing, but he could not identify the character. Here, though... it was a Command Character!

This character belonged to the same kind as the strange characters in the Life and Death Book!

Thinking this, Zheng Que looked at the young woman in white. She lay helplessly on the ground, her slight frame seemingly too frail to bear the weight of her own clothes. For a moment, she could not even get up.

Without hesitation, Zheng Que flipped his palm toward the young woman in white and shouted, "Hah!"

The instant he used the Ghost Controlling Technique, the Female Hanging Ghost, who had been unable to move on the ground, seemed to regain her strength. She sprang upright in a single, rigid leap!

A gust of yin wind swept through the hall, blowing aside her thick hair and revealing a pale, delicate face. She had curved brows, almond-shaped eyes, a jade-like nose, and cherry-red lips. Perhaps because she was so thin, her slender waist could be encircled in one hand, and her entire body was as slight as paper. With her brows knit, she had a delicate, sorrowful grace. But her blood-red eyes brimmed with murderous hatred.

After darting a quick look around, she seemed unable to find anything to attack. The Female Hanging Ghost slowly turned her head and gazed in utter confusion at Zheng Que, seated in the place of honor.

The Ghost Controlling Technique worked!

Watching the Female Hanging Ghost's movements, Zheng Que could not help but breathe a quiet sigh of relief.

Going out at night was too dangerous. Since the Female Hanging Ghost was fine here, he would not have to leave home tonight.

With that thought, Zheng Que looked away from the Female Hanging Ghost and began examining the Life and Death Book before him.

The Life and Death Book was still open to its first page. There were thirty-seven names on it in all. The first was his own, while the last was Qing Li, the Female Hanging Ghost. The remaining thirty-five belonged to the resentments that had formed the Call-Sound Ghost.

Zheng Que reached out, turned the page, and looked at the second one.

The second page was blank. The slightly yellowed paper lay empty, with nothing on it.

He turned to the third page, then the fourth...

Soon, Zheng Que discovered that the Life and Death Book had writing only on its first page. Every other page was blank.

What was more, when he turned to the ninth page, he found nothing beyond it. Only a few traces remained along the spine. All the remaining pages had been torn out!

At this, Zheng Que furrowed his brows. The Life and Death Book was an object of the Underworld. If nothing unexpected had happened, it should originally have recorded the names and lifespans of all living beings under heaven.

But something had happened at some point. Now the Life and Death Book was an empty volume, and who knew how many of its pages had been torn out...

As he pondered, Zheng Que turned the Life and Death Book back to the first page and looked at the thirty-five names that had formed the Call-Sound Ghost.

If the Female Hanging Ghost below the hall could appear in this dilapidated Wide Hall space, why couldn't those thirty-five resentments?

Was it because, in the real world, he had dispersed the Call-Sound Ghost's yin energy?

As he wondered, a voice suddenly reached his ears, trembling with fear and tinged with sluggishness. "M-My lord, this humble woman has been wronged!"