Chapter 6

Chapter 6

After being drenched by that rain of sand, my head grew dizzier and dizzier. I bit the tip of my tongue and silently recited the Mind-Calming Divine Incantation:

“Supreme Tai Star, ever shifting without cease; drive out evil and bind all spirits; protect life and guard the body; let wisdom shine clear, let the mind and spirit be at peace; may the three souls endure forever, may the seven spirits never be lost…”

When I finished the incantation, a blurry figure appeared up ahead.

Jiang Haoyan was kneeling on the ground, a gaping hole in his chest, blood gushing out. His head lolled to one side, and his eyes stared fixedly at me.

“Qiao Moyu, I’m dying-”

I jumped in fright.

After hesitating for a moment, I walked to about a meter in front of him and stopped. Then I took out my Peach Wood Sword and planted it on the ground like a cane.

“So after you die, can I inherit your estate?”

Jiang Haoyan froze.

“I’m about to die, and this is what you care about? Do you have a conscience at all?”

“Don’t you think you should be figuring out what to do?”

“What to do? I’ll give you a grand funeral. I’ll have Lu Lingzhu bring every Maoshan disciple here to perform forty-nine days of Water and Land rites for you.”

“Then can I inherit your estate?”

Jiang Haoyan was so angry his face twisted, the big hole in his chest still spraying blood nonstop.

“Estate, estate-do you only have money in your head? What are you to me? What right do you have to inherit my estate?”

“We’re good friends. And even if we take ten thousand steps back, are you saying friends have no inheritance rights?”

Jiang Haoyan looked so furious he practically turned into the Nine-Turn Intestine reaction meme.

He took several deep breaths and calmed down again, his face full of sorrow.

“Qiao Moyu, don’t you want to know who killed me?”

“Nope. Bye!”

Jiang Haoyan was so mad that he dissolved straight into a puddle of sand, splashing water everywhere and spattering my face.

I wiped the water off my face and kept walking.

Hua Yuling stood in front of me, blocking the way, her face expressionless.

“I killed Jiang Haoyan.”

I nodded. “Oh.”

Hua Yuling took a deep breath.

“You caused Ji Kang’s death, so I killed your man to avenge him.”

“Sure.”

Hua Yuling began grinding her teeth too.

“Don’t you want revenge for Jiang Haoyan?”

I shook my head.

“No. He didn’t leave me any estate to inherit.”

Hua Yuling finally lost it.

“Qiao Moyu, do you even have feelings? He loved you so much, and all you can see is money?”

“I refuse to believe you’re that kind of person. If people live without love-”

I cut in.

“Then how is that different from living carefree?”

“Ahhh-” Hua Yuling completely broke down and screamed hysterically. “Why are you like this? Why won’t you follow my script?!”

Seizing that moment, I quickly pulled a talisman from my bag, flicked it between both hands to ignite the runes, and then formed the Tiangang Hand Seal. Tiangang was the handle of the Big Dipper. In the calendar, it belonged to the ranks of inauspicious gods, but precisely because of its fierce nature, it could break through all falsehoods.

The talisman burned to ash. As the ashes scattered into the yellow sand filling the air, the sand around me rapidly dispersed. Behind Hua Yuling, a dry well appeared.

This was it!

I rushed over and dove headfirst into the well.

Unexpected, yet somehow perfectly reasonable: I ended up upside down, head buried in a sandpit and feet sticking into the air.