Huh? Isn't this an adventure kingdom building game?!-Chapter 709 - 693: You Don’t Want Your Soul to Be Annihilated, Do You?
Images flashed by rapidly, time flowing backward quickly.
Soon, in Jiang Yuan’s vision, there appeared a rugged, towering high mountain where two people near the top were clearing a path, trying to reach the summit.
The "camera" zoomed in on the young people dressed in the same club uniform, panting and chatting, mentioning recent events. The slightly short and chubby one was beaming with happiness, talking non-stop.
He talked about how smooth work was, about to be promoted to office manager and get a raise;
How happy his relationship was, with a rich and beautiful girlfriend who agreed to marry him, and his parents buying a luxury flat that’s being renovated...
He was so engrossed in the conversation, completely immersed in visions of a bright and beautiful future, he didn’t notice his companion’s face growing darker and darker.
"Lin Mingze, you’re lucky. Your dad has power, your mom has money with a company, everything from school to work was arranged for you. Your parents paid in full for a house worth a few million in a first-tier city, and your girlfriend is beautiful and outstanding, you’re a winner in life."
The companion looked at him expressionlessly and asked, "As long as you’re happy, why do you have to brag? We’ve known each other for six years since we joined the college rock climbing club, and every meeting, we have to hear your brags.
My family is poor. The money I make now has to repay my parents’ debts, living in a shared rent without even having a girlfriend. After years of hard work, I got laid off by the company, couldn’t find a job, came out to relax, and yet still have to listen to you brag. Is it fun?"
Lin Mingze’s smile instantly froze, "Ah? I-I was just chatting, no intention to boast."
"Of course not! You take for granted everything arranged by your parents as easily acquired and routine, without needing to brag about it, how could you know how hard the lives of us poor people are?" The companion’s thin face twisted in anger. As he spoke angrily, he reached out and pushed hard, gritting his teeth, "Go to hell!"
A scream of terror pierced the mountainside, startling only flying birds in circles.
The scream abruptly stopped, and just moments ago intoxicated in happiness, Lin Mingze watched his shattered body, refusing to step into that door of light, he wanted revenge!
Jiang Yuan "watched" with a frown, harboring ill-will and killing someone during a wild mountain climb, without witnesses or any video recordings, it would be difficult to convict.
Indeed, the incident was determined as an accidental fall, combined with the steep cliffs without a traceable path, Lin Mingze’s family spent a fortune hiring people to search the mountain, but ultimately couldn’t recover all of the shattered remains.
A sudden tragic death of someone who was successful in both career and love, naturally left a big grievance in his heart.
In the subsequent flashed images, Lin Mingze groped around to "live" in a form unseen by ordinary people, later learned to devour its kind, followed by seizing the opportunity to absorb human Yang Energy.
The Yin Fiend Qi around him grew denser, his appearance became increasingly indistinct.
Ultimately, Lin Mingze possessed the body of the one who killed him, torturing him to death.
Vengeance complete, but the Evil Energy lingered, he began to seek suitable individuals to offer incense and sustenance for himself...
"The Master Liang you mentioned, is she a woman around twenty-seven or eight years old, with long hair, a mole on the tip of her nose, a rose tattoo on her left arm?" After using the Soul Searching Technique, Jiang Yuan inquired.
Although it felt like a long time had passed with flashing images, upon opening his eyes he realized at most only half a minute had passed, with Yang Yaozong still lecturing on the precise steps of dancing on a grave.
"That’s right, just as you described..." Yang Shushuan nodded in agreement, then realized with concern, worriedly thinking: Oh no! They know each other! What to do? This young guy won’t resort to murder and cover-up with a thunderbolt on us, right?
Huang San blinked several times and asked, "So what? You know her?"
Jiang Yuan pointed at the Evil Ghost and explained, "That’s right, according to its own confession, its accomplice is a supporter named Liang Yuhong. It’s not humans raising ghosts for profit, but ghosts actively seeking people to offer sustenance, orchestrating victim selection, Liang Yuhong making money; the Evil Ghost possesses and drains Yang Energy from people."
After speaking, he kicked the Evil Ghost, "Lin Mingze, you don’t want your soul to dissipate, do you?"
Faced with a thunder strike upfront and Soul Searching behind, even with Lin Mingze amassing abundant Yin Fiend Power, he couldn’t endure such ordeals. In a daze, he heard someone calling his name, bewilderment ensued.
Ever since he was pushed off the cliff eight years ago, dying such a tragic death, relentlessly growing stronger by devouring and becoming a fierce ghost, he’d hidden his appearance, no one could possibly know his true identity!
So, was it a dream? Dreaming of being alive again? 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
Or perhaps since it’s the approaching Qingming Festival, his mother invited a mage to perform rituals hoping for his reincarnation?
"Lin Mingze? Oh, can’t take it now?" In the real world with no system to assist, Jiang Yuan wasn’t sure about its exact condition, assumed it truly couldn’t continue, sighed, "Brother Li, how do we handle one that’s about to die?"
Li Tiezhu, puzzled by when the other party "interrogated" the Evil Ghost and even learned the real name, was taken aback, hurriedly replied, "There are many methods, for instance, using a cinnabar rope tied beneath a peach tree and let the rising sun scatter the soul;
Or using a Peach Wood Sword to pierce the heart, nailing the limbs, driving Peach Wood Nails into the meridians one by one, usually just a few nails would disperse the soul; or if we know the identity and origins, dig up the remains and perform earth cremation on the spot..."
The more he listened the more alarmed he became, Lin Mingze realized it was no dream, immediately struggled but was stung by the cinnabar rope, jolting him awake.
"Hey? Alive again!" Chuci backed away, afraid it might stick out its nauseatingly long tongue and lash out again.
Upon hearing the Evil Ghost came back to life, Yang Yaozong shrank straight into the corner of the bed, "Quick, get it out! Parents, get them to drive the ghost away!"
No one paid any attention to him, Li Tiezhu reminded, "Brother Yang, do you have contact with any other families? Ask if their children are better now; if they are, it means there’s only this one Evil Ghost; if not, we’ve got to make another trip."
Racing back to the living room, grabbing the phone, Yang Shushuan immediately initiated a group chat inquiry; aside from those three families who had spent money long ago and were alright, indeed, the children of the remaining families suddenly got better too.
He immediately felt he got a raw deal and coughed twice, shouting, "Let me tell you, your kid is okay because I hired a master to capture the evil ghost. It cost a full hundred thousand yuan! Any family that’s benefited, you should all share the cost!"
The group chat fell silent for a few seconds. Surely, the other families were unwilling; it’s already a huge relief not having to spend two hundred thousand when their children suddenly got better, so why would they want to split the costs?
"Says who? You claim you spent a hundred thousand hiring a master to catch ghosts, where’s the evidence?"
"Exactly! My child recovered because of burning incense and praying to ancestors, what does it have to do with you?"
"My son is just blessed and turned disaster into fortune. If it weren’t for your kid’s troublemaking, nothing would have happened! It’s your kid who led mine astray, and now you want us to compensate..."
...
The unreasonable parents quickly got into a heated argument.
The evil ghost, Lin Mingze, sneered and said, "With people like these, I don’t understand why you bother interfering. Teach them a lesson, isn’t that better?
I haven’t caused any deaths. Besides, even if one or two trash died, it’s good for society. Otherwise, they’d continue harming the innocent."
"So, you think you’re doing something good?" Jiang Yuan was getting a headache from their quarrel.
Since the evil ghost was willing to speak, there was no need to listen to Yang Yaozong’s ramblings. He dragged the evil ghost into the courtyard and said, "Tell me, what’s going on with you? Where is Liang Yuhong?"
It still wanted to stall for time, thinking of ways to escape.
But Li Tiezhu, following Huang San’s instructions, was eager to try out the peach wood nails. With just a bit of intimidation, Lin Mingze confessed everything.
"My mother was cheated out of a lot of money by some fakes, but occasionally some were right, which slightly increased my power because she worshiped my memorial tablet.
Later, I met a very powerful water ghost. It mocked me for dying while flaunting my wealth but still showed me the way.
It had many worshippers, and those people bought traffic online and posted short videos at popular check-in spots to lure unsuspecting people to swim or camp in scenic but dangerous riverways.
When water is released upstream or after a heavy summer rain, at least two or three could drown. The more people it indirectly killed, the more it could devour, and the stronger it became, able to control more worshippers.
The water ghost said it also taught a mine ghost to target people online to explore abandoned mines at these popular check-in points, and those who died trapped inside were devoured to enhance its power.
After I became a ghost, I only killed the guy who killed me and at most absorbed some Yang energy without harming lives.
So, I sought out Liang Yuhong as a worshipper. She was responsible for finding fools online and luring them to the mass graves with the heaviest Yin energy, where I could ambush and possess them...
It defended itself with a stiff neck, "I really didn’t kill anyone, and I specifically targeted punks and scoundrels. During my ambush in the deserted cemetery, I possessed a thug who was robbing and assaulting, saving a little girl in the process. Doesn’t that count as accumulating virtue and doing good?"
Jiang Yuan: ...
Putting aside other things, from the soul-searching technique and its confession, it didn’t lie.
First, no lives were taken; second, it only picked on wayward youngsters, and absorbing Yang energy left them in a slump for a few months, after which they recovered.
So, is it a good ghost or a bad one?
"Hearing just one side of the story is pointless. We need to hear what Liang Yuhong has to say." Huang San perched on Li Tiezhu’s shoulder, nonchalantly adding, "Right and wrong isn’t something for us ghost hunters to judge. We take money to resolve disasters for others, acting as mediators to settle this matter completely.
So, let’s not waste any time. Since you’ve admitted you’re the one haunting everyone, and there are no other ghosts to catch, let’s go find Liang Yuhong and then discuss how to resolve this."
It kept wondering what means Jiang Yuan used to tame the evil ghost.
One must know, the deeper their cultivation, the more ferocious the evil ghosts become. This guy was almost turning into a Ghost King, definitely not easy to deal with!
Could it be that the heavenly thunder subdued it?
Or perhaps during a moment it wasn’t aware of, the little friend used some technique, forcing the evil ghost to reveal its true name.
Ghosts are ethereal and formless, the best at imitating and deceiving.
Some lonely spirits specialize in finding those longing for deceased relatives, pretending to be the deceased in dreams or possessions to cheat them out of incense offerings.
Once someone learns their real name, they figuratively hold their lifeline and the power to make the ghost’s soul vanish at any time.
It looked enviously at the little friend, who didn’t seem to realize his own abilities, thinking that with such skills, this kid’s future was boundless!
"Eh? Isn’t it a coincidence?" Half an hour later, Yang Hongye smiled, looking at the hotel where the car stopped. "I booked this very hotel for everyone. Once we sort this out, we can rest right away. Everything on this trip just went perfectly smoothly."
After speaking, she specially thanked Li Tiezhu, "Thanks to Brother Li’s help, I’ll give you a big red envelope later!"
