"Eh--" Bibi Xi took two steps closer and said with a smile, "Then... it's okay to hold hands, right? Just treat it as a celebration of successfully completing the mission?"
"What hand are you holding?" Ling Yuan slapped away the hand he extended out angrily, "Take this body back to town quickly."
Bibi Xi glanced at the charred corpse, with a look of disgust on his face. "How to take it? Carry it back?"
"Are you stupid?"
"Don't you have spider silk? You can tie it up and hang it before you go."
"That's right." Bibi Xi suddenly realized it and scratched his head, "You are still smart."
He released Bone-Eroding Poison Silk, tied the body into a rice dumpling shape, and then tied a few spider silks into a strand to make a simple sling.
Ling Yuan stretched out his hand to grab the sling, and put his other hand around Bibi Xi's waist. "Hold on tight."
"Eh? Wait--"
Before Bibi Xi could react, Ling Yuan had already spread its flame wings, taking him and the corpse into the sky.
The night wind whistled in his ears, Bibi Xi subconsciously hugged Ling Yuan's waist and buried his face on her shoulder. This posture was extremely ambiguous.
Ling Yuan's body was slightly stiff, but she didn't push him away.
"Don't move around, don't mess around, or I'll throw you down."
"Okay, promise not to move."
At the Frost Flower Town entrance, dozens of torches illuminate the entrance to the town.
The villagers gathered here, some holding their rescued relatives and crying with joy, some kneeling beside the bodies and crying, and some looking blankly towards the mountains and forests.
The Soul Master team sent by the Spirit Hall has subdued all the surviving Evil Soul Master.
Seven or eight tied-up Evil Soul Master were kneeling in the middle of the open space, surrounded by the corpses of more than twenty of their accomplices, all of whom had been killed when they resisted.
When Ling Yuan dropped from the sky carrying Bibi Xi and the charred corpse, everyone's eyes focused on it.
A member of the Soul Master team stepped forward quickly. "Sister Ling Yuan, all the hostages have been rescued."
"How many were saved?" Ling Yuan put down the body and asked in a deep voice.
"Thirty-two alive."
"There are... one hundred and sixteen corpses, most of them... died after being sucked dry of Soul Power's essence and blood."
Ling Yuan closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Although she had expected it, this number still made her heart heavy.
She turned to face the villagers. "Fellow folks... go back. There are no survivors. Please express our condolences."
In the crowd, a gray-haired uncle walked forward tremblingly.
He burst into tears, pointed at the tied Evil Soul Master on the ground, and asked, "Sir... can these beasts... be killed?"
"They killed my son... My son was only sixteen years old."
His words were like a fuse, instantly igniting the villagers' emotions.
"Kill them!"
"Avenge my daughter!"
"These devils don't deserve to live!"
Angry cries came and went.
Ling Yuan raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet.
"According to the Spirit Hall law, these Evil Soul Master will be judged."
"Those who have committed serious crimes will be put to death."
"If the crime does not lead to death, he will be imprisoned in a special place and will never be free."
She paused and looked at the red eyes of the villagers. "I understand your feelings, but... please believe that Spirit Hall will give everyone justice."
After a long period of comfort and persuasion, the villagers gradually dispersed.
Bibi Xi stood next to Ling Yuan, looking at this scene, his eyes full of sadness.
"I can understand them very well... If this happened to my family, I would also want to kill those Evil Soul Master with my own hands."
"Who isn't?" Ling Yuan responded in a low voice.
She turned around and ordered the Soul Master team, "Put the living Evil Soul Master into the cell and keep him under strict supervision."
"The body... find a place to bury it."
"Yes!"
When everything was arranged, Ling Yuan breathed a sigh of relief.
She rubbed her eyebrows, with obvious fatigue on her face.
In the past few days, she stayed awake almost 24 hours a day, leading her team to search repeatedly in the mountains and forests, and finally found Evil Soul Master's stronghold in the hidden cave.
"Xiao Xi, go back and rest, the mission is over."
Bibi Xi nodded, hesitated, and then asked, "What about you?"
"I need to take a good rest too."
"Early tomorrow morning, escort Evil Soul Master back to Spirit City."
The two walked side by side towards the town.
Frost Flower Town Three miles away, there is a mass grave.
Four Spirit Hall and Soul Master are digging a hole in the moonlight.
They moved quickly, and the sound of the shovel digging into the soil was particularly clear in the silent night.
"Hurry up and dig it out, bury it well and go back to sleep."
A bald man named Soul Master spat, "This ghost place is so sinister."
On the ground beside them, more than twenty corpses of Evil Soul Master were neatly arranged.
These corpses died in different ways. Some were burnt black by flames, some had sharp blades pierced through their chests, and some were bleeding from all their orifices. These were all the results of the battle of the Spirit Hall team.
The pale moonlight shone on those twisted faces, making them even more eerie.
When the pit was dug halfway, the charred corpse at the edge suddenly twitched slightly.
Although the movement was very light, in this silent night, it was still noticed by the young man Soul Master who was nearest.
He stopped and listened.
"Wait..."
"Did you hear anything?"
The bald Soul Master straightened up and frowned. "What's the movement?"
"Just over there..."
"There seemed to be... a rustling sound just now."
The other two people also stopped moving.
The four of them held their breath and concentrated as the night wind passed through the dead trees in the mass grave, making a whimpering sound.
Other than that, there is only the sound of their own heartbeats.
"Are you hallucinating?" The bald head sneered, "You are completely dead, how can there be any movement? Can you pretend to be a corpse?"
Young Soul Master swallowed and stared at the charred corpse.
Under the moonlight, the outline of the corpse was blurry, but he always felt that... the posture of that thing seemed different from before?
"How about..."
"You go over and take a look?"
"Just look!" The bald man was also bold. He took the torch from his companion and strode towards the corpse.
He walked to the corpses, squatted down, and put the torch close to the faces of those Evil Soul Master.
"Look, they are all dead--"
The bald man's words were not finished yet.
Thick black mist suddenly poured out of those empty eye sockets.
The mist spewed out without warning and at an alarming speed.
The bald Soul Master had no time to react. Black Mist followed his mouth, nose, and ears and crazily got in.
"Uh--!"
His body was shaking violently and his face showed pain.
The young Soul Master behind saw this and quickly asked, "What's wrong? Are you okay?"
In the darkness, the bald Soul Master twitched his body.
His movements were a little stiff, and his joints made a soft clicking sound.
"... No, it's normal."
Young Soul Master breathed a sigh of relief, "That's okay, come over and dig a hole together, we'll finish it early and have breakfast."
"Okay."
Young Soul Master turned around and continued digging.
But when the bald Soul Master walked back, his walking posture was... very strange.
His steps were dragging, his left leg seemed a little lame, and his shoulders were high and low, as if the skeleton in his body was misaligned.
The moonlight shone on his face, and his pupils were so dilated that the whites of his eyes were almost invisible.
The bald Soul Master walked to the edge of the pit and came behind them.
The two Soul Master were still digging the hole, and one of them had his back turned to him, muttering, "Hurry up, the soil is really hard..."
The next second.
"Pfft!"
A hand covered in mud penetrated his back and came out from his chest, holding a heart between his fingers.