Chapter 112: Reappearance

The Chi Xiao’s scream was so miserably shrill that even Yun Qiao, who was in the middle of inserting a needle, instinctively lifted her head, and her hand slipped.

“Ow! Ow—ouch!” The spiritual healer disciple beside her cried out in pain, nearly in tears as he looked at the extra needle sticking out of his hand. “Master Yun…”

“Oh—sorry!” Yun Qiao snapped back to her senses and quickly withdrew the misplaced needle.

“It’s… it’s fine!” The disciple rubbed his hand and, glancing nervously toward the sky, couldn’t help but ask, “Master Yun, that sound just now—what was it?” It had been terrifying, but everyone had been too focused on treating patients to look up. All they’d felt was that the sky suddenly went dark for an instant, then bright again.

“I don’t know.” Yun Qiao shook her head, then thought for a moment and said, “This patient is stable. I’ll go take a look.”

She turned and walked toward the city gate. The patients were too numerous, and there was no large open space within the city, so they had set up their treatment area on the square outside the gate. Since most of the injured were unconscious and could only lie on the ground, Yun Qiao had to take a long detour to make her way to the gate.

When she arrived, she saw a fading mass of black mist on the ground—barely holding itself together—and a group of elders, including Wen Qing, all standing there looking dumbfounded.

Yun Qiao instinctively glanced at the black mist, realizing vaguely that it must have been the one that crashed here. She froze.

What in the world…? Did it just deliver itself to her doorstep?!

(⊙o⊙?)

“What happened?” she asked, looking at the group of still-stunned elders.

They blinked at her, then at the near-dissipated ball of resentment on the ground, and slowly came back to their senses.

“L-Little Martial Niece…” Wen Qing stammered, “that white light just now—was that you?”

“White light?” Yun Qiao blinked, then remembered. “Oh… you mean the array! There were too many patients here, and we couldn’t handle them all, so I modified a purification array and set it up around this area. It can automatically cleanse resentment. That way, those with mild cases recover on their own, and we only need to treat the severe ones. It’s made things much more efficient.”

A purification array that cleansed resentment!

So the Chi Xiao had literally thrown itself into the trap?

It was resentment incarnate—and had crashed right into the purification field, which wiped it out completely.

Still… thinking about it, the elders had spent half the day struggling to maintain their heavenly-grade array, yet Yun Dao-you’s casually modified little array turned out to be more effective.

Everyone: “…”

They all suddenly felt… complicated.

Yun Qiao, however, didn’t notice their awkward silence. “By the way,” she asked offhandedly, “why are you all out here so soon? Did you already deal with the Chi Xiao?”

Their faces froze. As one, their gazes shifted toward the dark lump on the ground.

Yun Qiao blinked, looked from them to the black mist, and said in surprise, “Don’t tell me… that’s the Chi Xiao?”

Wen Qing: “…”

Xu Qingfeng: “…”

All the elders: “…”

Why did they suddenly feel a little sorry for the Chi Xiao?

Yun Qiao: “…”

She, too, felt conflicted. When she’d first seen that weak little wisp of darkness, she’d thought it was just a minor ghost. She hadn’t imagined it would really be the Chi Xiao—wasn’t this thing supposed to be a powerful ghost general?

“What should we do with it?” Yun Qiao asked, pointing at the faintly quivering black mist that hadn’t yet fully dispersed.

The others finally remembered the situation. Master Xu spoke gravely: “The Chi Xiao doesn’t belong in the human realm. It must not be left here, or this tragedy will only repeat itself.”

He pulled out a talisman and approached the black mist, preparing to purge its last trace of resentment. But suddenly, a flash of silver light burst out from within it.

Yun Qiao’s heart tightened. Instinctively, she shoved Xu Qingfeng aside. “Careful!”

A sharp whoosh cut through the air past their ears, and the light around them dimmed. Something appeared above.

“Wh-what is that?” an elder gasped.

They all looked up—and saw a massive square seal materialize in the sky, rapidly expanding until it covered dozens of meters above the city walls. Beneath the seal glimmered four enormous characters. They were clear and distinct, yet no one could read them. Just glancing at them made their limbs go weak, their heads spin, and their vision blur.

The elders’ qi surged chaotically; one after another, they collapsed to their knees, unable even to stay conscious.

Only Wen Qing remained unaffected. His eyes widened as he stared up at the seal, his expression darkening to pitch black. He wanted to curse out loud.

Damn it!!!

“Hahahahaha!” The nearly-dissolved Chi Xiao burst into crazed laughter, filled with desperate madness. “It doesn’t matter if I die. My master won’t let me return alive anyway—so I’ll drag you all down with me!”

As she cackled, the massive seal began descending straight toward them.

“Wretched creature—still trying to act wild?!” Wen Qing finally stopped holding back. Immortal energy burst from his body, and the descending seal froze mid-air, as if time itself had stopped. The wave of immortal qi swept over the area; everyone else immediately lost consciousness and fell to the ground.

Wen Qing’s immortal energy was no longer concealed. In an instant, he had returned to his true form—an immortal of serene bearing and vast power. With a flick of his sleeve, the terrifying seal shrank before their eyes, until it was only the size of a palm. It clattered down onto the ground with a metallic thud.

The Chi Xiao stared at him in disbelief. “How… how can you wield my master’s Underworld Seal? You—you’re from the Immortal Realm!” Realization dawned—but instead of fear, excitement gleamed in her eyes.

“Speak,” Wen Qing said coldly. “Who sent you to the mortal world?”

He formed a hand seal, and the Chi Xiao’s already-fading soul instantly lost half its substance.

“What are you doing?! Wait!” the ghost cried out, finally panicking. “You—you can’t kill me! I’m a ghost general of the Underworld! There’s an alliance between your Immortal Realm and ours—you can’t—”

“Silence!” Wen Qing’s roar cracked like thunder. Immortal energy blazed from him like fire. “No alliance can justify your invasion of the mortal realm!”

It was this damned “alliance” that had angered his master in the first place—those fools in the Underworld had ignored every warning. If this kept up, they’d end up dooming themselves!

“But… but your kind never interferes with mortal affairs—”

“So that’s why you dare act without restraint?” Wen Qing’s fury flared; even his white beard quivered. He thrust out another spell. “Speak! Who sent you here? Who gave you this underworld weapon? Was it Han Shu? Or Ji Qi?”

Panic filled the Chi Xiao’s eyes. Though she was terrified to the core, she refused to answer. “I—I don’t know! I don’t know!”

“Stubborn fiend!” Wen Qing’s voice dropped low and dangerous. He had no patience left. Forming another seal, he reached forward, intending to probe her soul directly. But before he could touch her, the Chi Xiao’s form suddenly contorted. Her face twisted in agony; her eyes bulged, filled with disbelief.

“No! My lord, I—”

Before she could finish, her soul shattered like glass and vanished completely.

Wen Qing froze, stunned. He slowly withdrew his hand, disbelief written on his face. Then his expression darkened.

That was Soul Devouring.

Someone had planted a soul-devouring curse inside her long ago and had just triggered it—erasing her existence in an instant.

A chill ran through him. To use such a vile, forbidden art… The Underworld truly had gone mad.

A surge of fury welled up within him—not merely out of duty to his master, but out of sheer outrage. The Underworld’s actions terrified him. For the first time, he began to question whether the decisions made back then had truly been for the good of the Three Realms.

Clenching his fist at his side, he took a deep breath to steady himself and muttered under his breath, “Who could be creating these underworld artifacts?”

“I think it’s that Han Shu,” came a cool female voice behind him.

Wen Qing nearly jumped out of his skin. He turned around, eyes wide with shock. “L-Little Martial Niece!”

What the—!

When had she gotten behind him? And why was she the only one who hadn’t fainted?!

Σ(°△°|||)︴

(End of Chapter)