Chapter 100
Chapter 100
Ding Yanyu soothed her. “It’s all right, Lingling. Don’t feel guilty. Wuniang was born a fool with an incomplete mind. Her family dislikes her, and no one remembers her. Using her body won’t harm her.”
“Then how is she any different from me ten years ago?”
Ding Yanyu stopped.
Ding Ling trembled. Summoning every shred of courage, she looked directly at the person who should have been closest to her.
“Because I was unlikable and no one remembered me, someone stole my body and left me a wandering ghost. Those who abandoned me must have used the same excuses to convince themselves.”
“Yes, no one remembers Wuniang. She isn’t likable, and she was born a fool. But doesn’t she still have the right to live as herself?”
“Even ants struggle to survive. Why can’t people like us simply live in peace?”
Tears slipped unconsciously from Ding Ling’s eyes. She was still afraid, but for once she did not habitually lower her head.
This was the first time she had ever expressed her will so forcefully.
Ding Yanyu watched her for a long time before slowly smiling. “It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand now. One day, you will.”
He lifted the Glazed Lamp, cherishing it like the greatest treasure. “The ritual began the moment the lamp was lit. None of us has the right to stop it now.”
Ding Ling struggled. “I don’t want this! Let go!”
“Don’t be afraid. I’ll always be with you.”
“I don’t want it!”
“Come, Lingling,” Ding Yanyu said.
A third voice rode the night wind from nearby. “Are you deaf?”
Wind and rain smashed open the wooden door. A figure flashed from afar to near faster than an eye could blink.
The Demon-Subduing Sword flew from its sheath with a ringing cry and landed in its master’s hand.
Cold light flashed. The young Daoist Master stood before the girl, water streaming from his body while the sword in his hand shone with stern brilliance. He raised his sharp gaze.
“She said no.”
Ding Ling cried in delighted surprise, “Daoist Master, your poison is cured!”
Without turning, Yan Yanchi snapped, “Be quiet.”
Ding Ling obediently fell silent.
Ding Yanyu narrowed his eyes. “You again.”
When he learned that a Daoist Master had returned with Ding Ling’s soul, Ding Yanyu immediately sent He Fei and his men to retrieve her.
Then he realized something.
Yan Yanchi intended to restore Ding Ling’s Living Soul to her original body. If that happened, worldly convention would keep her from spending her life with Ding Yanyu.
He could not accept that. He had to take Ding Ling back.
But they had underestimated Yan Yanchi. Though surrounded and trapped, he had sent Ding Ling to safety at any cost.
Ding Yanyu tortured him repeatedly but could not force out her location. Even after being poisoned with Ice Beauty Poison and tormented by its cold, Yan Yanchi never yielded.
Ding Ling’s concern for Yan Yanchi infuriated Ding Yanyu further.
Only he should be closest to her. If she cared for someone else, it could only be because her youthful innocence had been deceived. Naturally, such people deserved death.
Ding Yanyu produced a short flute and blew one note. Dozens of figures emerged from the darkness.
They were unnaturally tall and thin, with green skin, black markings, and milky eyes. Silent and inhuman, they resembled terrifying puppets.
Ding Yanyu ordered coldly, “Kill him.”
The green figures moved as one.
“Stop!” Ding Ling cried.
Yan Yanchi pushed her aside and faced the horrors alone. Blades met in a storm of flashing steel and piercing clashes.
Amid it all came the distinctly ill-timed sound of someone cracking peanuts.
“Those people are completely green. Are they still human?”
“They possess neither emotion nor desire. They’re only puppets.”
“Little Fish, look! The Daoist Master cut off an arm, but it grew back immediately. How amazing!”
“Very amazing.”
“Look at their blood! It’s corroding the floor wherever it lands. How terrifying!”
“Quite terrifying.”
“Those green people seem poisonous all over. They’re so dangerous!”
“Very dangerous.”
From their corner, the girl finally glanced at him. “Can you stop agreeing with everything I say?”
“I can.” The Youth in Blue smiled and placed a shelled peanut in her hand.
Qiao Ying ate it and muttered, “Can the Daoist Master really fight so many alone?”
Shen Qingyu answered lazily, “Yes, can he?”
Qiao Ying ventured, “Why don’t you help him?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Shen Qingyu smiled gently. “I’m timid. I don’t dare enter conflicts with others.”
Qiao Ying had nothing to say.
Across the room, Yan Yanchi split open a green figure. Caught off guard, he took a burst of green poison directly in the face. He coughed and swayed, then braced himself on his sword and dropped to one knee.
“Daoist Master!” Ding Ling ran over and supported his arm, deeply worried.
The green figures briefly halted their attack. Ding Yanyu slowly approached, standing straight and retaining his elegance despite his disheveled state.
Looking down at Yan Yanchi, he said coldly, “So your poison was never cured.”
Cold vapor streamed from Yan Yanchi’s body. Every breath released a thick cloud of frost, yet sheer will kept him from collapsing.
The supposed miracle medicine of the Shen Clan that could neutralize a hundred poisons had only been bait in Qiao Ying’s scheme. The trap was not particularly clever, but Ding Yanyu had not dared risk ignoring it. Forced to accelerate his plans, he revealed his true objective.
Yan Yanchi was no longer a threat. The person Ding Yanyu truly feared was the young man who had appeared soundlessly in the corner and had yet to act.
But the young man seemed content to watch, with no intention of interfering.
Qiao Ying noticed a red stone fall from one of the ruptured green figures. It was conspicuous at first, but its glow soon faded until it resembled an ordinary rock.
She could not help looking several times.
The young man whispered beside her ear, “Interested?”
Qiao Ying nodded.
The sight of Ding Ling beside Yan Yanchi offended Ding Yanyu’s eyes. His voice deepened. “Kill him.”
At his command, the slender puppets’ limbs bent at grotesque angles. Black patterns writhed madly beneath their green skin, while milky eyes locked upon Yan Yanchi. Silent as death, they closed around him like a tide.
At that moment, a figure shot from the darkness with the speed of a Ghost: the white-haired Youth in Blue, a white silk blindfold covering his eyes and cold silver light shining along his Blind Staff.
His feet never touched the ground. The tip of his staff struck each puppet precisely between the brows, moving so quickly that only afterimages remained.
In the next blink, that azure gust returned to Qiao Ying.
The young man bent down and smilingly extended his hand. Red gems formed a glittering mound in his palm, presented to her like precious treasures.
“Yingying, these are for you to play with.”
All around them, the green puppets suddenly swelled. Then came a succession of muffled explosions. Dark green fluid and shattered remains sprayed through the room like torrential rain.
The thick, revolting decay should have been hideous, yet now it resembled a sky full of fireworks, bizarre and dazzling.
For some inexplicable reason, Qiao Ying’s heart began pounding.