Chapter 94

Chapter 94

Chapter 94: Soul-Shattering

The old ghost slowly lowered his head, staring at the sword blade that had pierced through his chest.

Bai and Mei, having used this move several times to control wandering spirits and ghosts in front of them, were already familiar with it.

Yet they did not know that, for the old ghost, the current scene overlapped with memories of the past.

He had fled to this place, discovering a spiritual stone mine, and had been overjoyed. But Changyangzi had immediately pursued him, and they had battled here…

Both were at the peak of their strength. Not to mention a child like now, even Changyangzi himself could not truly be called his opponent. In the end, the old ghost was powerless, and could only use a sword to pin him to the spiritual mine, attempting to cleanse the yin energy from his body with the mountain of spiritual stones.

Changyangzi succeeded.

Now the old ghost’s strength had greatly diminished, and Bai Zhengliu’s earlier mockery was not entirely wrong.

But Changyangzi also failed.

Was it really enough to just let the spiritual energy wash away the yin energy without letting the yin energy corrupt the spiritual energy? From the faintest thread back then to the jade slabs that Bai and Mei now saw, which no longer showed their original colors, it was clear how much effort the old ghost had put in.

Yet, no matter how much effort he had made, it was all useless now.

Time seemed to stretch backward in this moment. The sword that had once pinned him down by Changyangzi now, wielded by Changyangzi’s disciple’s disciple, inflicted grievous damage on him.

The old ghost’s soul began to tremble.

A hole appeared where Mei Yinghan’s sword had pierced, shimmering with flecks of light spreading in all directions.

For every inch it spread, the old ghost’s soul dissipated an inch. Cloaked beneath his tattered robes, his already emaciated body began to turn transparent. From Bai and Mei’s experience, this was a clear sign that the old ghost was about to have his soul utterly scattered.

“No, no——!”

At that moment, the old ghost let out a strong, unwilling roar from his throat!

With the roar, the gaping hole in his chest, previously the size of a human head, began to shrink!

The old ghost reached out a hand, grasping at the void. At the edges of the stone wall, several wandering spirits that had earlier hidden let out a scream, uncontrollably flying toward the old ghost!

Seeing his subordinates, a greedy smile appeared on the old ghost’s face again. As long as he could devour these wandering spirits’ bodies to replenish his yin energy, facing two young children, he still did not know who would win—

Who…

Hand?The wandering spirits, mid-flight, suddenly fell from the air.

Logically, they were already dead, so their bodies should have been light as air. Yet at this moment, they felt unbearably heavy, struggling to rise.

The fearful spirits blinked frantically, looking around. Only then did they realize that, unnoticed, the surroundings were now brimming with spiritual light.

The first of this spiritual light overflowed from the slashes Bai Zhengliu had made with his blade, then poured out from every inch of the “stone walls” in all directions. Especially after the old ghost was gravely injured, it was like the spring tide finally breaking through the last layer of ice and snow—unstoppable!

For Bai and Mei, this spiritual energy felt wonderfully light and uplifting; for the wandering spirits, it brought unbearable pain.

They writhed in the spiritual energy, rolling on the ground and howling in agony. But instead of alleviating their suffering, their struggles only hastened their dispersal. Soon, the stone walls were empty.

Shifting their gaze back to Bai, Mei, and the old ghost…

Why had the spirits suddenly fallen from the air? Naturally, it wasn’t because the old ghost’s conscience awoke, realizing the wrong in wanting to devour his subordinates. Rather, Bai Zhengliu decisively drew his blade—first severing the old ghost’s hands, then striking his neck.

As Ma Er had said earlier, these actions wouldn’t truly disable the old ghost’s hands or brain, but the very act of “cutting off” weakened him.

The old ghost’s head fell to the ground, glaring at Bai Zhengliu in anger as he opened his mouth to speak.

Bai Zhengliu was even more decisive, raising his blade to strike the old ghost’s head seven or eight more times, utterly cutting off any chance for speech.

Nearby, the specks of spiritual light seized the opportunity, joyfully wrapping around the shattered pieces of the old ghost’s head. Soon, only the torso remained in front of Bai and Mei.

At this moment, the hole on the torso, which had partially healed, began to expand again. Mei Yinghan tried to release his grip, but the longsword remained immobile in its original position, still overflowing with spiritual light…

Mei Yinghan did not relax in joy at the sight. His expression remained serious and solemn until the last fragment of the old ghost’s soul dissipated. Only then did he finally exhale slowly.

It was also at this moment that the longsword, previously solid and stable, began to fade, just like the old ghost’s body.

Bai Zhengliu, watching this, was slightly stunned, instinctively glancing at Mei Yinghan’s expression.

Seeing Mei Yinghan’s face still solemn and complex, the swordsman pressed his lips together, mirroring the seriousness in his own expression. Then he turned his head… hmm? Why had a man and a woman suddenly appeared before him?

His heart went on alert. Beside him, Mei Yinghan stepped forward slightly, subtly shielding Bai Zhengliu behind him.

Though assuming a protective stance, his demeanor and movements were flawless. Mei Yinghan clasped his hands in front of him, bowing slightly: “Thank you both, Senior Uncles, for your assistance.”

Bai Zhengliu’s mind raced through a hundred thoughts: “Hmm… Senior Uncles?”

Not surprising.But he didn’t know what had happened earlier that caused Mei Yinghan to reconcile and cooperate with the two guys who had been pretending to be Yu Han and Han Shu, intending to trap them in the snow.

Bai Zhengliu had questions, but he didn’t ask them at this moment.

He knew Mei Yinghan would provide an explanation in time; all he had to do was wait a little longer.

For now, he focused on the present. The souls of Ling Shuangzi and Ling Kongzi were together, and from their expressions, they seemed eager to say something to Mei Yinghan. But when words reached their throats, they found it difficult to speak clearly.

What could they say? “…We care for our sect, yet nearly caused the death of our newly inducted junior disciple?” Such words were too shameless. If Ling Shuangzi and Ling Kongzi had even a shred of conscience, they couldn’t say it. In the end, the two souls merely sighed and stepped forward.

Mei Yinghan’s shoulders tensed slightly.

Ling Shuangzi and Ling Kongzi noticed this, feeling more pangs of guilt in their hearts, but ultimately paid it no heed.

After all… sigh…

The two souls each patted one of Mei Yinghan’s shoulders.

Then, looking up, they gave a faint smile toward the swordsman behind Mei Yinghan.

Bai Zhengliu blinked, noticing that after the souls’ gesture, Mei Yinghan seemed to enter some strange state. Normally, he should have been cautious, but Mei Yinghan’s aura remained steady, and the two souls appeared harmless.

He thought it over, then simply raised his hand and bowed slightly toward Ling Shuangzi and Ling Kongzi.

Ling Shuangzi and Ling Kongzi smiled faintly in return. Then, exchanging a glance, their forms began to fade gradually, like the wandering spirits such as Lady Liu and Ma Er.

Before leaving, each left behind a voice.

Ling Kongzi: “If possible… let’s not tell the senior brothers and sisters that we committed such misdeeds, shall we?”

Ling Shuangzi: “Our actions are such that we would have no face before our master. But now that things have reached this point, we at least want the senior brothers and sisters to know our situation…”

Bai Zhengliu: “……”

He stared in the direction the two Tianshan senior uncles had vanished, silent for a long time.

After a while, the swordsman touched his nose and made a decision: since these were the last words left by the Tianshan senior uncles, it was naturally up to the Tianshan disciples to judge.

However, he wondered, what was going on with the Tianshan disciple in front of him? Why was there still no movement?

Bai Zhengliu felt a slight worry and circled to Mei Yinghan’s front to check his condition.

He saw that Mei Yinghan’s eyes were still closed, only his brows slightly furrowed.He wanted to know if Mei Yinghan was alright, but he also worried that any sudden action on his part might be disadvantageous to the swordsman. As he hesitated for a moment, a halo of light appeared behind him. Bai Zhengliu’s expression brightened, and when he turned, he indeed saw a familiar figure.

“General Yang!” Bai Zhengliu called out first, then immediately realized, “You—this is—”

Yang Chun Yue’s condition was clearly not good.

Unlike when she first appeared with a bright, solid form, now her body’s points of light were faint and her entire form was nearly dissipating.

Even the smile on her face looked forced and weary. Yet, when she met Bai Zhengliu’s gaze, she still offered a reassuring smile and quickly said, “The spiritual energy here was buried very deep; guiding it out truly took some effort.”

When she spoke, her tone and expression seemed relaxed. But looking at her current state, Bai Zhengliu couldn’t help but understand—while he and Mei Yinghan were in a fierce struggle, the female general had undergone her own exertion.

Fortunately, all the effort had paid off. Now that the old ghost and his subordinate wandering souls were dead, even the spirit-stone mines polluted by yin energy were gradually regaining their original colors. Looking at the faintly glossy surface underfoot, he knew that in a few days, this place would be a proper spiritual stone mine again.

For the righteous martial artists confronting the forces of darkness, this was undoubtedly good news.

Thinking this, Bai Zhengliu sincerely said, “General, we are fully aware of your hardships and will remember them in our hearts.”

Yang Chun Yue smiled faintly again, though her voice had grown much softer, telling Bai Zhengliu, “I still need some time to rest…” Her gaze moved over the swordsman for a moment. “You have now guided the spiritual energy into your body; future martial practice will surely be more effective. And your companion behind you, the spiritual energy is now cleansing his meridians…” Her voice grew even softer. By the end, she completely dissipated into the air.

Bai Zhengliu stared at the empty space in front of him for a moment, then turned to look at Mei Yinghan behind him.

After a while, he exhaled and even smiled.

Although he still didn’t fully understand concepts like “guiding spiritual energy into the body” or “cleansing the meridians,” from General Yang’s tone, it seemed that Mei Yinghan was now experiencing a rare opportunity.

Author’s note:

Little Bai: Mei Yinghan is fine, rest assured~