Chapter 103
Chapter 103
The seven identical figures shifted positions in an instant, converging on the man from every direction. Their positions already made it difficult to tell the real one from the fakes. Changing unpredictably as they attacked made identifying the real her even more impossible.
The man knew he had fallen for a trick. Of the seven, only one could be real. The others were all false.
But…
Knowing that was useless. He still could not tell them apart.
She was fast. He had only a few seconds left to think.
Was it the one on the left?
Or… the one on the right?
What about the one in the middle?
And could only the real one attack, or could the other illusions attack too?
Everything was shrouded in uncertainty. Sweat trickled down his forehead without his noticing. His vision was already swimming, and the sweat running into his eyes made them sting even worse.
“By decree of the Yinshan Patriarch – Spring Wind, Transforming Rain!” In a flash, he slapped out four talismans.
The four talismans shielded him on every side. Fine, densely packed water arrows shot outward from him like a curtain of rain.
Die. All of you, die.
Real or fake, under such a dense attack, they would surely give something away.
Secretly gripping the Five-Calamity Needles, the man widened his eyes and studied the seven identical images, trying to determine which was the real body from their reactions when the arrows struck.
He was soon disappointed.
Whether illusion or real person, they kept advancing after being struck, utterly disregarding that small amount of damage.
All seven figures before him radiated deadly intent. In their resolute, sharp eyes, only one purpose seemed to remain – charge forward and take his life!
Their killing intent bore down on him.
The man was appalled. By the time he tried to find a way to escape, it was too late.
“Aah!”
All seven raised their hands at once, lifting their white bone blades and striking at him.
A sharp pain pierced his body. The blade gouged a wound in his back, exposing ghastly white bone.
The wound lay across his spine. The blade peeled open the thin layer of skin and flesh and drove straight toward the spine.
The man grunted in pain. He reacted quickly: since the attack had come from behind, the real body had to be standing behind him too. He immediately bent forward and rolled away, rolling several paces to evade the next attack and leaving a trail of blood on the ground.
What a pity. One stroke had almost severed his spine and cut through his spinal cord, Xie Qingling thought.
“You… you…” The man scrambled to his feet and staggered. He was clearly badly hurt.
Shen Huaizhou’s illusion had already broken when Xie Qingling attacked.
She stood before the man in her true form.
Water arrows pierced her body, arms, and legs. But after entering her flesh, they turned back into water and vanished. Only her torn clothing proved she had been wounded.
The seven figures had become one. The man’s eyes fixed viciously on that remaining figure. His fury seemed about to erupt, become tangible, and burn Xie Qingling to nothing.
He reached back to feel his wound, bringing away a hand covered in blood. His brows twitched involuntarily. “Very good. You actually pushed me this far! Very good. Very good indeed!”
No one had ever wounded him like this!
Xie Qingling did not answer. She merely adjusted her grip on her blades, ready at any moment for a second attack.
As he spoke, the man took another pitch-black token from inside his clothing.
One side was carved with a talisman; the other with a hideous ghostly face.
This token was a supreme treasure of Yinshan. It required collecting wandering souls unwilling to reincarnate, then refining them in a graveyard until they had absorbed enough yin energy before its wraith soldiers could be released for use. If he used it today, there was no knowing how long he would have to refine it to produce another force of the same size.
He had not intended to use it. But if he did not take it out, he might die here today.
A flicker of reluctance crossed his gaze, but he quickly raised the token high. “Give me your name. My Yinshan Ghost Token does not slay the nameless.”
This woman was powerful. Refining her into a ghost general would greatly increase the Yinshan Ghost Token’s might! At that thought, he no longer even begrudged using his precious treasure.
“Once this token is unleashed, your death is certain. Speak your last words! After you die, I’ll refine you into my ghost general, commanding the wraith soldiers for my use.”
“There’s no need,” Xie Qingling said. “I don’t think I’ll be needing any last words.” She advanced with her blades.
“Such arrogance!”
For the first time, the man had met someone more arrogant than himself. His face was livid with rage. He tossed the token up and began chanting at once.
“By decree of the Yinshan Patriarch – Yinshan Ghost Token!” The token hovered in the air, spun a few times, then released streams of black energy tinged with red. Each transformed into a faceless figure in a cloak.
One, two, three, four…
More than fifty tall black humanoid figures stood in front of, behind, and on either side of the man, crowding around him. With the obedience of servants, they enclosed him firmly in their midst, preventing Xie Qingling from approaching.
But when those empty black faces all turned toward Xie Qingling, each was like an icy pool in an abyss, emanating cold.
The wraith soldiers released from the Yinshan Ghost Token gave off waves of an aura that chilled the heart and made the body tremble. Xie Qingling, who often dealt with dead souls and spirits, knew it well: the cold, dark aura of the dead.
Were these… the souls of the dead?
A legion of more than fifty dead souls, refined by the Yinshan School?
She was just…
So scared.
Xie Qingling could barely keep from laughing out loud.
She had thought another tough battle lay ahead. Now, it seemed they could finish this quickly, she thought.
“Let’s see how long you can keep up that arrogance!” A vicious smile curled the man’s lips. He ordered the wraith soldiers, “Go! Kill this woman! Kill everyone!”
At his command, the wraith soldiers rushed toward Xie Qingling like fierce tigers, so fast that only black afterimages remained.
Xie Qingling did not move. She had no intention of dodging or striking back. She merely tapped the ground lightly with the tip of her foot and called, “Soul Recall!”
Her divine ability spread outward from her like a ripple.
Soon, the ripple enveloped all fifty-odd black figures.
The wraith soldiers stopped moving.
They hung suspended in the air. Two entirely different energies had appeared within them, pulling at their bodies.
On one side were the commands of the Yinshan Ghost Token, the thing that sustained them.
On the other was a gentle yet richer and far greater energy. Thread by thread, it entered their bodies, telling them where their true place of passage to the next life lay and making them follow it involuntarily.
The two energies tangled and tugged inside the wraith soldiers. In the end, Xie Qingling’s Soul Recall gained the upper hand.
The wraith soldiers descended from the air and stood in orderly ranks before Xie Qingling. Their broad cloaks rose, covering her completely.
They were still an impenetrable wall of bodies. Only the master they protected had changed.
The man’s face changed drastically. He stared at the scene before him, dumbfounded.
Why weren’t they killing that woman?
Why were they protecting her instead?
He was the master of the Yinshan Ghost Token, the commander who could order the wraith soldiers!
Had these wraith soldiers gone mad? Why had they suddenly changed allegiance?!
Yet wraith soldiers could not betray anyone. They were not people, only wraith soldiers like marionettes. They had no souls and could only obey their master’s commands.
Seeing the confused, baffled, furious expression on the man’s face, Xie Qingling slowly curled her lips into a cold, mocking smile.
“Go. Kill that man.” Xie Qingling gave her own order.
The wraith soldiers turned, directing their featureless faces toward the dark, skinny man, and became black afterimages again. Like fierce tigers, all fifty-odd wraith soldiers moved at once. Their black cloaks, formed from dark energy, spread in midair like a great peng bird[^peng] unfurling its wings.
And this great peng was about to attack the one who sustained them.
Mad. Utterly mad!
There was something fucking unnatural about this woman.
She could break his magic… Someone like her could not be allowed to live. Otherwise, he would never be able to use his Yinshan Ghost Token again.
He could not let her live.
The man began chanting and shouted anxiously, “By decree of the Yinshan Patriarch – Yinshan Ghost Token!”
He poured more energy into the Yinshan Ghost Token, trying to restore his connection with the wraith soldiers.
The Yinshan Ghost Token kept spinning in the air, releasing black-and-red streams of energy.
The energy sank into the wraith soldiers. That familiar presence, the aura of the one who sustained them, coursed through every part of their bodies and began another contest with Soul Recall for control of them.
The wraith soldiers were forced to stop again.
They stood between Xie Qingling and the man, their forward charge slowing once more.
After the dark, skinny man frantically poured in more and more power, the Yinshan Ghost Token’s energy finally overwhelmed Soul Recall’s divine ability. With difficulty, he regained control of the wraith soldiers.
“Kill that woman!” he ordered savagely.
The wraith soldiers obeyed. They turned and charged toward Xie Qingling again.
But this time, before they could act, Xie Qingling activated Soul Recall once more.
“Soul Recall!”
There it was again. That gentle yet powerful energy invaded the wraith soldiers’ bodies once more. It bypassed their master’s commands outright and took control of their movements.
“Kill him.” Xie Qingling pointed at the man and gave another order.
His face livid, the man once again commanded the Yinshan Ghost Token to obey. “By decree of the Yinshan Patriarch -”
“Soul Recall!”
“By decree of the Yinshan Patriarch!”
“Soul Recall!”
“By decree of the Yinshan Patriarch -”
“Soul Recall!”
“By decree of the Yinshan Patriarch -”
…
The two continued their magical contest back and forth, both growing pale to different degrees.
Using Soul Recall so relentlessly consumed the Spirit within Xie Qingling at a rapid rate. She could already feel her energy nearing exhaustion.
The man opposite her was suffering too.
He was already wounded, and now he was frantically matching Xie Qingling’s escalating efforts. The Yinshan Ghost Token had almost drained him of all his energy. His normally dark face had turned horribly white.
But unexpectedly, neither of them was the first to fall.
The wraith soldiers gave out first.
When two tigers fought, the little ghosts suffered.
Caught in repeated struggles for control, they were forcibly drained of their energy. Their black figures collapsed into smoke and returned to the ghost token.
Seeing the man opposite her standing alone again, Xie Qingling breathed out.
A brilliant smile spread across her face. With Bloodsworn in hand, she said, “All right. Now it’s your turn to think of some last words.”
In the next instant, she vanished from before the man’s eyes without a trace.
[^peng]: The peng is an immense bird in Chinese mythology.