I am the Ruler of the Kingdom of Mysterious-Chapter 229 - 197: Imprisoning the Sickness Ghost

"When the Sickness Ghost comes, first ensure your own safety, then try to trap it. In five breaths, I can imprison it."

After tying the red string and the bell, He Buning said to Sang Que.

Sometimes, with the right method and tools, imprisoning a ghost isn’t difficult. He Buning is quite experienced in this regard.

"What will you use to imprison it?" Sang Que asked curiously, having removed the Night Traveler mask beforehand in case she needed the Qian Trigram Eye Opening if she couldn’t see the Sickness Ghost.

He Buning tidied his outer robe; on the inside back of this black robe, there was an Eight Diagrams pattern made with the same technique used by the Taoist Sect to make the Heavenly Master Robes. Previously, He Buning had draped the robe over Qin Ze to suppress his out-of-control backlash as a Corpse Recovery Man.

After discussing strategies, the two reviewed the Sickness Ghost’s previous murders.

Halfway through, He Buning and Sang Que both sensed something was amiss. Sang Que asked He Buning, "In the case list Qin Ze gave you, did it mention how many people died where the Sickness Ghost passed? Was it everyone, or just a few?"

He Buning had thought of this too and said gravely, "It wasn’t mentioned, but if an entire village were wiped out, it would have been reported to me long ago." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Sang Que interjected, "This means the Sickness Ghost isn’t killing door-to-door; it is selective. The conditions for its choice must be..."

Both furrowed their brows, their expressions so similar that an outsider would have noticed the likeness.

A sudden realization struck; both Sang Que and He Buning recalled the two Ghost Slaves they encountered at the village entrance, killed by the Sickness Ghost and then turned into corpses. Their bodies had festering, suppurating wounds that might not have been caused by the Sickness Ghost but by some disease they already had.

"It’s bad!"

In an instant, Sang Que spread the Evil Mist and vanished before He Buning, who then rose from his chair and sped toward the end of the village.

...

In the village school courtyard.

Xiao Wu and Xiao Liu had just put out the cooking fire. Inside the big house, the women, children, and elderly sat on the ground with their bowls, expressing satisfaction and a desire for more.

Xuan Yu, perched on the courtyard wall, licked his paws, while Xia Chan, wearing a colorful ghost mask, stood by the wall, scanning the surroundings with vigilance.

"Auntie, are we going to die after this meal?"

A skinny boy licked his bowl and asked the pallid, patch-clothed woman beside him.

The woman replied weakly, "Don’t say that. No matter how hard it is, we must live until your parents return. Then it will be better."

Coughing sounds came from the neighboring house, chilling to hear at night. That’s where the infected bodies had been brought.

"Auntie, what’s wrong?" The boy put down his bowl and knelt beside the woman, asking.

The woman tried to distance herself from the boy, leaning against the wall, her lips turning purple, her brow furrowing in pain, and she couldn’t stop scratching her arm. "It’s nothing, Auntie is just... just sick. It’ll get better, hold on, it’ll get better."

At that moment, the boy suddenly saw a gaunt, hunched figure appear behind the woman. More than half its body was hidden in darkness, its face indistinct, but the foul stench that made one’s throat heat and ache was palpable.

The boy’s eyes widened in terror, frozen in place.

"What are you looking at?"

Bone-chilling winds swept from behind the woman as she tightened her patched clothing and slowly turned her head.

"Cough! Cough cough!"

Coughing sounds came from overhead, sending a shiver through the woman. Her eyes quickly dimmed as she collapsed straight down.

The boy in front of the woman and several others nearby also collapsed simultaneously.

"Get away from there!"

Rolling gray mist flooded in from outside, accompanied by Sang Que’s voice and the terrified screams of others inside. Panic-stricken by the sudden deaths, they dropped their bowls, grabbed their children, and fled to the corners of the house.

The Sickness Ghost vanished in a flash; Sang Que’s Evil Mist couldn’t trap it. It reappeared amid the crowd, hunched and bringing a fist to its mouth.

The terrified villagers and children huddled together, unaware that a ghost was among them.

Just one cough and clustered as they were, none would escape unharmed.

At this critical moment, Sang Que appeared inside the house, her eyes veiled with a layer of gray. She raised a small hand crossbow she’d grabbed from the donkey cart and fired an arrow into the crowd.

Bang!

The cough hadn’t yet escaped when the Ten Victory Stone arrowhead pierced through the Sickness Ghost’s body, embedding fiercely into the rear wall.

The Sickness Ghost’s body dissipated and suddenly appeared behind Sang Que.

An icy chill descended with a powerful oppressive force, making Sang Que’s scalp tingle. She used the Evil Mist to fully block her hearing, and hurled the prepared Southern Ocean Iron Nail and Human Bone Dice behind her.

"Cough! Cough cough!"

Under the Evil Mist’s effect, Sang Que didn’t hear the cough, but she felt the Substitute Death Grassman in her arms react. She seemed to have been attacked by the Sickness Ghost.

Clearly, the Sickness Ghost had roamed outside for some time, killed many, and its abilities had grown.

Only then did Sang Que fully understand the Sickness Ghost’s killing rules. It prioritized those who were sick or injured, physically weak. Last time in the bandit lair, the tied-up girls were all injured, fitting the Sickness Ghost’s attack conditions.

Moreover, those who attacked the Sickness Ghost would also face its retaliation, a situation Sang Que found herself in.

Her eyes stung; the time for the Qian Trigram Eye Opening had arrived. Though she couldn’t see the Sickness Ghost, she saw the Southern Ocean Iron Nail suspended mid-air, trembling violently, green rust rapidly appearing, poised to corrode away.

The Sickness Ghost was pinned in place, but the Human Bone Dice on the ground showed two dots, rendering them ineffective.

"Sister!"

Little Chan appeared at the doorway. Though she also couldn’t see the Sickness Ghost, she was sharper than Sang Que, sensing something before her sister. Her hair immediately surged like a waterfall.

At the exact moment the iron nail fell apart, Little Chan’s hair wrapped tightly around the Sickness Ghost, though her hair quickly became contaminated, melting as if rotting. Little Chan gritted her teeth in pain, a layer of sickly air cloaking her face.

"Cut your hair, give me money!"

Sang Que shouted, and Little Chan instantly reacted. Her hair severed at the roots, and she tossed the pouch from her waist to Sang Que.

Catchng the pouch that belonged to Xia Chan, Sang Que kicked the Human Bone Dice and raised her hand crossbow, firing three consecutive shots.

Xiao Wu and Xiao Liu rushed in, witnessing a mass of hair disintegrating in the air, pierced repeatedly with fire-like holes by Sang Que’s arrows, utterly defenseless.

The two were momentarily stunned. Xiao Wu was the first to react, shielding Xiao Liu and Xia Chan at the door, circumventing to check on the huddled villagers behind.

"Everyone spread out, don’t bunch together."

"Cover your ears!"

He Buning had just arrived at the school when an arrow penetrated the Sickness Ghost’s body and came hurtling toward his face. Luckily, He Buning responded swiftly, dodging so that the arrow narrowly grazed him, leaving a scratch.

The feeling of almost having his throat slit last time by Sang Que flashed in He Buning’s mind again as he looked at the scene where Sang Que forcibly held the Sickness Ghost in place. Astonished, he swiftly removed his outer robe, striding forward with purpose, unfurling the robe above the Sickness Ghost before all other methods became ineffective, enveloping the ghost from overhead.

As the Eight Diagrams inside the robe flashed, casting a green glow mid-air, the Sickness Ghost’s form was enveloped and tightly bound into a round shape, a Soul-locking Rope securing it into a ball.

The Sickness Ghost, successfully imprisoned!

During this confrontation, He Buning had been prepared to endure an attack from the Sickness Ghost.

Presently, everyone turned their eyes on Sang Que, standing resolute with a hand crossbow grasped in her hand.

Survivors of the village, shaking with post-ordeal fright, looked at Sang Que with gratitude and reverence.

With her shoulder-length hair now, Little Chan beamed with pride, puffing out her chest.

Yet He Buning, with a complex expression, watched Sang Que hold her hand crossbow, sensing an inscrutable aura surrounding her.

Was she really just an ordinary person?

Sang Que finally found the Human Bone Dice she had kicked into the corner of the room.

Six dots!

It’s over!

She would end up losing money for eight consecutive days again!

The pouch she held out to Little Chan had been plump, but now it was limp and empty, all the silver and Copper Coins were gone.

Sang Que mourned the loss, trying to think of any other possessions she might have stashed away.

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