"You can finally speak normally. Don't panic yet. Tell me who you really are, and why you became like this.
"From the look of you, you haven't been this way for just a day or two. Waiting a little longer shouldn't hurt, should it?"
Li Ling did not rush to act. Instead, he questioned the man while assessing his mental state and changes in emotion.
Under Li Ling's calming influence, the man settled down somewhat, though he still could not conceal his sorrow. His expression darkened with grief. "I was Zhao San, a hunter under Fuyou City's jurisdiction. I went into the mountains with some others, but disaster struck, and I became this thing, neither human nor ghost..."
As Zhao San spoke, a story much like the rumors slowly unfolded.
One detail differed, however: Zhao Wuyan had not retained any humanity as the rumors claimed. When he moved about outside, he had already become a vengeful ghost, killing and claiming lives wherever he went-an executioner who murdered on behalf of the Blood Inkstone Palace.
"...Actually, in the beginning, I could sometimes regain a little clarity and take control. It was during those times that I spared living people and resisted orders. But later, the people from the Blood Inkstone Palace used some unknown evil art to control me. My body gradually stopped obeying me, and I lost consciousness too.
"All I know is that the palace master gave me the name Zhao Wuyan and used me to hunt down rogue cultivators and all kinds of demons and monsters, then used their corpses to refine Black Demon Corpses..."
Li Ling asked, "Are Black Demon Corpses those monsters that resemble your body?"
Zhao San said, "Yes. They call them gifts from Ji Earth Grand Tai Sui. They're trying to master a way