Chapter 693: Unconscious

While everyone else was distracted by Daoist master Wan, I slipped over to the back door of the Three Yin Sect's temple. The Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation had completely collapsed. Yin energy surging from the subterranean Yin Meridian violently clashed with the blood-stained Yang Qi, unleashing a massive destructive force.

"I can't worry about that now." Gripping the Realm-Breaking Talisman, I chanted the incantation: "Within the vast netherworld of Fengdu, past the towering Vajra Mountains; the infinite light of the spirit treasure shines, my body follows the Fragrant Cloud Banner; a green lotus of tranquil wisdom blooms, ascending to the eternal peace of the divine!"

Legend said that ancient Huaxia was divided into the Nine Provinces, establishing the Nine Prefectures. Each region was cut off from the others by city barriers, and this Nine Palaces Realm-Breaking Divine Talisman was created specifically to shatter those boundaries.

A green lotus bloomed on the talisman's surface, its divine patterns weaving together underneath like a root system. Drawing upon the yin and yang energies of the world, the lotus drifted gently onto the edge of the Ten Directions Annihilation Grand Formation.

Silently, the yin and yang energies parted wherever the green lotus drifted, opening a narrow passage just wide enough for a single person.

"A talisman manifesting as a lotus?" Once the green lotus's final root pulled away from the Divine Talisman, the Upper Vehicle Talisman in my hand turned completely blank. Its divine patterns vanished, its Daoist aura faded—this talisman could only be used once.

"Staying here will only make things worse for Daoist master Wan." I pulled the Feigned Death Doll from my suitcase. Back when this incident first began, I had already planted a strand of my own hair on it. "I am a Fate Usurper. Only my death will ease the pressure on Daoist master Wan. It's a shame. It was a rare chance to meet him. If this disaster hadn't happened, I might have learned some true secrets of the world from him."

I glanced back, but the swirling mixture of dust and fog completely obscured whatever was happening outside.

"Time to go." I tossed the Feigned Death Doll into the violent collision of yin and yang energies, watching it be pulverized bit by bit. "From now on, Jiangcheng's Gao Jian is dead. I am no longer me."

The Feigned Death Doll carried my hair. Watching it be torn to shreds felt as if I were experiencing death itself.

"I will come back. Everything you've put me through, I'll pay back tenfold!" Restraining my aura, I ducked into the passage opened by the Realm-Breaking Talisman.

Only when I stepped out of the Ten Directions Annihilation Grand Formation did I realize dark clouds shrouded the outside world. Heaven and earth seemed furious, and a fine, misty rain had begun to fall.

"This rain is seeing me off. Good. Fall harder. It's best if it washes away every trace of my existence." Crouching among the rocks, I looked back at the Three Yin Sect.

It looked as if an earthquake was tearing through the area. Buildings collapsed, and deep fissures spiderwebbed across the ground.

Scoured by the colliding yin and yang energies, this ghost sect that had stood for centuries was reduced to absolute ruins.

Daoist master Wan and the sect cultivators were still by the gap at the rear, but their battle seemed to have paused. Leng Qingxuan's Master stood among them, holding a Straw Doll as he apparently spoke.

The strand of hair binding the Straw Doll had snapped. Withered yellow straw fluttered into the air, presenting a desolate sight.

Activating my Judging Eye, I surveyed the Three Yin Sect. Elder Chen was the only person I couldn't spot. It seemed that old man had already fled.

"Wait, no!" I focused on the spot where the Feigned Death Doll had just been pulverized. In the instant my gaze swept over it, a dark shadow seemed to flash by. I couldn't be entirely sure, but it looked a lot like Elder Chen's Fate Ghost.

"Delay brings danger. I need to get out of here." Zipping my suitcase shut, I quickly bandaged my wounds. Only after making sure I wouldn't leave behind blood or other tracks did I plunge into Henshan.

Fleeing into the deep mountains was an act of desperation. My physical condition was already terrible; sheer willpower and ruthless stubbornness were the only things keeping me moving.

The sky darkened as the heavy clouds pressed down, and the rain steadily intensified.

It was late autumn. Freezing raindrops splattered against my face and slid down my neck under my collar. My body slowly went numb, my legs pumping in a mechanical, mindless run.

Running for your life is a miserable experience. Exhaustion and hunger were like a slowly tightening noose. My face was pale, and the arm gripping the suitcase trembled uncontrollably.

"I can't stop!" I gritted my teeth and pushed through the dense brush. Lacking any gear, I had to rely on my memory to navigate toward the only settlement I knew in the Depths of Henshan—Suolong Village.

Afraid of getting lost, I decided to reach Suolong Village first before planning my next move.

My steps grew increasingly heavy. Out of sheer necessity, I tried to summon the spirits from my Ghost Ring to help.

Unfortunately, spirits required Yin energy to obey commands. After I had tapped into my Yin Meridian several times already, the Yin energy inside my body was in complete chaos. My meridians were at their absolute breaking point; forcing out another ghost art would probably shatter them entirely and kill me.

"I just have to gamble on this." I stroked the Ghost Ring, releasing both the Fate Ghost and Wang Shi. They possessed their own consciousness and could act independently without my direct control.

A tangle of black hair materialized as the Fate Ghost emerged first. A layer of its skin had been burned away by the blood-stained Yang Qi; its injuries actually looked worse than mine.

"As long as you're alive, that's enough. Sooner or later, I will take you to the Five Great Upper Sects and exact our revenge."

Hearing my words, the Fate Ghost nodded in apparent understanding. It gently looped a lock of its hair around my waist—a gesture that seemed to be its way of showing affection.

"Focus on healing." Ignoring the Fate Ghost's protests, I withdrew it back into the Ghost Ring and turned toward Wang Shi.

Tempered by the clash of yin and yang energies, and being a Returned Yang Soul himself, Wang Shi looked almost exactly like a living human. His physical form was more solid than any spirit I had ever encountered.

"Wang Shi, I need your help," I said, staring at him without trying to hide my utter exhaustion.

"You want me to carry you into the Depths of Henshan?" Wang Shi was clever; he understood immediately without me needing to explain. "No problem. Get on my back."

He answered so decisively that he felt like a completely different person from the Wang Shi I knew.

"You can carry a person? I mean, you're still just a soul right now. You don't have a physical body."

"Let's find out."

Wang Shi's soul was incredibly solid compared to ordinary spirits. Resting against his back, I only felt a faint chill. But after just a few steps, I noticed his form growing paler and the soul fire in his chest dimming significantly.

"You should put me down."

"It's fine."

In the past, I never would have expected Wang Shi to say something like that. To me, he had always been selfish, paranoid, and cunning. He never went out of his way to help anyone; selfless devotion was probably the stupidest concept in the world to him. He cared only for his own gain. Yet here he was, willingly consuming his own soul to carry me through the pouring rain in Henshan.

"Put me down. We still have a long way to go, and your soul won't hold up."

"I'm fine." The usually scheming Wang Shi didn't demand anything in return. He just kept walking, eventually murmuring as if speaking to himself, "Back there underground, I genuinely thought you weren't coming back. If it were me—no, if it were anyone else—they wouldn't have returned."

I stayed silent for a long moment. Truthfully, I had fully intended to abandon him down there. It was only because Daoist master Wan arrived—presenting a rare window of opportunity—that I coincidentally managed to rescue Wang Shi as well.

After some thought, I let out a soft sigh. "Don't mistake me for a good person. I only saved you because it was within my power."

"A good person?" Wang Shi chuckled. "There's no such thing in this world."

"Isn't that a little extreme?" It was my first time chatting with Wang Shi like this. His worldview matched the books he wrote—forever deviating from the mainstream.

"I wanted to be a good person once. When I was very young, I told myself that only a good person could write good stories." Wang Shi's voice dropped softly. This was probably the first time he had ever shared these thoughts with an outsider.

"Isn't that a good thing?" I asked, a little curious now. "What happened?"

"What happened?" The corner of Wang Shi's mouth curled upward. "I murdered my own wife."

His words took a massive leap, leaving me completely bewildered. "There isn't an inevitable connection between those two things, is there?"

"That woman was the beginning of the change in my life." It seemed Wang Shi had finally dropped his disguise, spilling his deepest secrets. "A few years ago, my pen name wasn't Corpse Body Human Face. Back then, every word in my novels was filled with sunshine and life. I married the woman I loved the most, and we lived a perfectly happy life..."

Having experienced so many streams and met all sorts of people, I could almost guess the rest. "Your wife betrayed you? And that's what caused your writing style to change so drastically?"

"When a woman loves you, she will disregard everything, like a moth to a flame. But when the fire of love goes out, they become incredibly cruel." Wang Shi's voice was dead flat. "My wife cheated on me. She was discreet about it, but I followed her. I took photos of her. I even stood outside the hotel room door and listened to her moan. I knew everything she was doing, but I couldn't say a word."

His tone was completely cold, as if he were recounting a stranger's life. "I gave her many chances, but she never cherished them. I truly didn't want to kill her."

"Wait a minute, that's not what you said during the Death Game. Back then, you said you were the one having an affair, and you murdered her to silence her."

"My affair was just for the sake of murder. I had already made up my mind to kill, but I had to consider the consequences of a failed murder. So I took the initiative to seduce my wife's student. I even came up with an elaborate plan to frame her, though I ultimately didn't need to use it."

"You seduced your wife's student just as part of a murder plot?" I sucked in a sharp breath, my head spinning. "You really are a lunatic. For a romance that couldn't be salvaged—was it worth it?"

Wang Shi didn't answer. He just kept trudging through the dense forest with me on his back. The rain grew heavier, slowly swallowing our silhouettes.

After that, Wang Shi seemed to say something else, but I couldn't make it out. My Breath Listening and Judging Eye seemed to have completely stopped working.

Freezing rain battered my body. The chaotic Yin energy inside me was spiraling out of control, and I lacked the strength to manipulate it. My consciousness slowly began to fade.

"Hey, wake up! Wake up!"