The training room was obviously deep underground beneath the villa, yet the deafening thunder sounded as if the sky was tearing apart, with terrifying and awe-inspiring power emanating from above like the gaze of a primordial behemoth. The instant the thunder sounded, the red strings arranged around the training room by Master Ling Yun broke, and copper coins scattered all over the floor, while the purple symbols turned into carbon powder, falling down like ashes.
Master Ling Yun reflexively shrank his neck and subconsciously moved to the farthest corner from Wu Rong, lest the thunder strike Wu Rong before hitting him. However, after waiting for a while, the thunder gradually faded away, and the expected lightning never came down.
What was going on?
Master Ling Yun was puzzled, subconsciously wanting to calculate it, but then stopped his hands, afraid that he would inadvertently summon the thunder again. He exchanged a glance with Wu Rong. As the thunder receded, Wu Rong’s attention returned, his mind deeply entrenched in the ‘story’ Ling Yun had told him. He needed time to carefully and seriously think it over.
Leaving Wu Rong in the training room, Master Ling Yun bid farewell and left alone.
On the way upstairs, Master Ling Yun alternated between thinking about why the thunder didn’t strike and the matter of Chunyangzi’s remnant soul. It wasn’t until a sudden sharp pain in his coccyx struck that he snapped out of his thoughts.
“Hiss!”
Of course, a grandmaster like him couldn’t perform the unseemly act of clutching his buttocks. A-Bao’s whimpering, as if crying, coming from near the entrance of the building immediately informed Master Ling Yun of what had happened.
“A-Bao!”
“Woof woof!”
The small spiritual dog, feeling wronged and frightened after having its tail stepped on, immediately leaped into Master Ling Yun’s arms like a calf seeking refuge with its mother. The two of them embraced in their distress. Master Ling Yun gently rubbed A-Bao’s tail, then looked up at the person in front of him, feeling a bit embarrassed as he chuckled softly, “Thanks.”
“Hmph.”
With a cold snort, the red figure at the entrance floated away like a wisp of smoke, leaving behind only a few irregular strange black particles on the ground, with a texture resembling metal or glass.
“A-Bao, do you know what this is?”
Master Ling Yun, without any aversion, picked up the particles one by one and cleaned them up, storing them away. When he picked up the largest particle, he made a soft ‘hiss’. A-Bao’s reaction was bigger than his own. The entirety of the little spiritual dog instantly fluffed up into a ball, as if it had been electrified.
“This is Thunder Ink.”
In ancient times, Thunder Ink was considered to come from a meteorite, but after the supernatural revival, this term gained additional meanings. Without a doubt, only terrifying Ghost Kings are capable of summoning thunder and lightning upon themselves. When thunder and lightning clash with Ghost Qi, the ashes of the now-destroyed ghost would be scattered, leaving behind one or two of these black crystalline structures called Thunder Ink. It contained both the power of thunder and lightning and terrifying Ghost Qi, making it a sought-after material for making charms by Taoist masters.
If Thunder Ink is left behind when thunder kills a higher-ranking ghost, of course, there would also be cases of Ghost Kings powerful enough to extinguish thunder and crush lightning, and Thunder Ink would also be generated when Ghost Qi and lightning collided as such. Just now, the thunder and lightning did not fail to strike but were crushed by a certain ghost waiting at the entrance of the building.
“Sigh, I owe her another favor.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Zjrafg Olcu Tec weaafgfv jr tf raeoofv atf Ktecvfg Pcx lcab C-Djb’r ktlaf oieoos oeg, iloalcu atf ilaaif rqlglaeji vbu jcv abemtlcu lar cbrf. Ktfgf kjr cb agjmf bo jccbsjcmf lc tlr fzqgfrrlbc, yea gjatfg j rfcrf bo gfilfo, jr lo j yegvfc tjv yffc iloafv.
“P’nf rjlv jii atja cffvr ab yf rjlv.”
Master Ling Yun murmured.
The next step depends on how he chooses.
Master Ling Yun had been in a fog before, unable to understand many things. The sudden appearance of the Big Ghost beside Wu Rong, the inexplicable spiritual contract, and the countless reincarnators. But since he chose to take this step, he had no intention of turning back.
It’s uncertain whether everyone, humans and ghosts alike, will have a better outcome in this lifetime.
“A-Bao, are you hungry?”
Suddenly invigorated, the benevolent Master Ling Yun rubbed the little dog’s belly affectionately, and then happily carried it to the kitchen. “I knew you were hungry. Let’s go, we’ll cook something light to eat.”
Alone in the underground training room, Wu Rong sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and pondered. He replayed the story Master Ling Yun had just told him in his mind. The cold-hearted and ruthless Daoist was Fu Qing, and the wealthy family was the Fu family of Longhu Mountain.
In the story, the eldest son of the wealthy family, that is, the Fu family, once had an extraordinary figure. When suppressing a ghost, he left behind a trace of his soul to suppress it. However, before the ghost could be completely eliminated, he died unexpectedly, and his incomplete soul reincarnated as Fu Qing.
Originally, according to the original development, the remnant soul left behind to suppress the ghost would dissipate before Fu Qing found it. It’s very likely that this was what happened in Ling Yun’s previous life. But in this life, someone who is not bound by heaven and earth changed this, taking Fu Qing’s remnant soul that should have dissipated, allowing it to be preserved.
As for the references to going to the capital for the imperial examination and the like, Wu Rong hadn’t figured them out yet. What he focused on was that if everything Master Ling Yun said was true, Fu Qing’s remnant soul should currently reside in someone’s body. And this person is not bound by heaven and earth, so ordinary methods of searching may not find them.
The White Bone Demon…
Wu Rong’s first thought was of the White Bone Demon from “Journey to the West”. In “Journey to the West”, the location where Tang Sanzang and his disciples encountered the White Bone Demon was at White Tiger Ridge. Whether White Tiger Ridge has a real-life counterpart is uncertain. Even if it does, with the passage of time and the changes brought about by the supernatural revival, it’s almost impossible to find the original location.
Master Ling Yun wouldn’t intentionally make things difficult for him in this way. The White Bone Demon should be a simple reference. White Tiger, White Tiger Ridge… Is there any place famous for White Tigers? Or perhaps, White Bone… White Bone…
Wu Rong suddenly opened his eyes, stood up in an instant, and paced back and forth. His rare loss of composure affected the Gu in his body, and even the Zhengyang Fire Seed was curious and flickered. But Wu Rong didn’t have time to care about them now. His mind was shocked by the terrifying speculation that had just flashed through his mind. Initially, when this speculation arose, he reflexively rejected it because it was too unbelievable and horrifying.
But after circling around it for a while and carefully thinking about it, Wu Rong found himself sinking deeper and deeper into the thought, unable to extricate himself.
Setting aside the White Bone Demon famously known from “Journey to the West”, if what Master Ling Yun said wasn’t a metaphor, the White Bone Demon, White Bone… The most vivid image in Wu Rong’s mind associated with White Bones is the White Bone Ghost King! With this clue in mind, thinking further, the battlefield where the White Bone Ghost King was sealed was a must-pass route for traveling from Yangjiaping to his old hometown in Miaojiang. In his previous life when things were normal, Wu Rong did not return to his hometown to visit his grandmother as his mother died in a car accident on the way back to her hometown.
As for what the reincarnators experienced in that life, if the “Wu Rong” at that time had the same personality as him now, he probably wouldn’t have agreed to return to his old home either. The reason Wu Rong came back after reincarnation was precisely because he was worried about his mother’s death and took the place of his mother on the journey back home. Along the way, he was haunted by ghost children and fell into the battlefield’s ruins, where he encountered the Big Ghost.
The Big Ghost…
“Your body has no traces of Ghost Qi!”
“There aren’t any ghosts at all!”
Su Zhen’s words suddenly echoed in Wu Rong’s mind. If the Big Ghost wasn’t a ghost, then, then what could he be…
“It’s almost dissipated… Its Ghost Qi is too weak…”
The words spoken by the old doctor who examined the Big Ghost in Fourth Hospital suddenly came to Wu Rong’s mind. It had been so long since then, but strangely, he remembered those words clearly.
“…More like a human soul with heavier Yin Qi than a ghost.”
A human soul.
Boom!
A surging Yin Qi rushed out in all directions like a bursting flood, just like the tumultuous waves of emotions stirring in Wu Rong’s heart. Under the intense emotional fluctuation, a pair of cold, pale, slender hands enveloped him from behind. The overwhelming Yin Qi stream, like a wild horse galloping, instantly converged and gathered around him, behaving obediently like a child in front of the Big Ghost. Without hesitation, Wu Rong, who summoned the Big Ghost, turned around. Instead of breaking free from the Big Ghost’s embrace, he reached for his forehead.
Just as in the past, the Big Ghost never stopped Wu Rong from doing what he wanted to do. He lowered his head slightly to make it easier for Wu Rong to act. Wu Rong gradually grasped the messy strands of hair in his hand, and as he untangled them, he revealed the clean forehead beneath. Wu Rong, who had combed the Big Ghost’s hair with his hands, stared blankly at his face and subconsciously traced the outline of the Big Ghost’s facial features with his free hand.
It was… eerily similar.
Wu Rong had long noticed the resemblance between Fu Qing with his hair down and the appearance of the Big Ghost. He even suspected whether the Big Ghost was from the Fu family and if there was a blood relationship between him and Fu Qing.
However, at that time, he imagined that the appearance of the Big Ghost and Fu Qing were just very similar but not exactly the same. In fact, the Big Ghost looked more like another person.
A person Wu Rong had glimpsed once. Initially, when he entered the dream to see the Big Ghost at Tiankeng No. 444, following Su Xiaomi’s instructions, Wu Rong couldn’t understand why he had come to the battlefield where humans fought the White Bone Ghost King, seeing the young Master Kuchan and the young Grandmaster Fu defeat the White Bone Ghost King with a single sword strike.
But now, he somewhat understood.
Wu Rong had maintained this posture for too long, to the point where the Big Ghost was starting to get impatient. The hand that embraced Wu Rong’s waist tightened, and warmth seeped through his cold hands into the soft human skin. Wu Rong used to have a consistently low body temperature, and his skin temperature was not much different from a ghost’s. But since the Zhengyang Fire Seed appeared in his abdomen, his body had become warmer and closer to that of a normal person.
This warmth was what ghosts coveted, but it was also what they detested.
They coveted it because they longed for the time when they were once humans; they detested it because they could never return to life.
But for the Big Ghost, his emotions were very pure.
He didn’t like that there was something other than himself in Wu Rong’s body. Whether it was the Zhong Gu or the Zhengyang Fire Seed, he didn’t like any of it.
The Big Ghost’s pale hand caressed Wu Rong’s narrow waist, lingering there. His head lowered more and more, getting closer to Wu Rong. If his mouth hadn’t been sealed shut, the throbbing in his soul would have made him bite down on Wu Rong’s chest like a beast. Under the thin skin and muscles was a beating heart. He would bite down on Wu Rong’s throat, eliciting sounds of pain and pleading.
Ingrained deep within him, like thorns entwined around his soul since its birth, was a profound obsession that made him want to kill and devour Wu Rong at the first sight of him, to merge their flesh, soul, and spirit, to be together forever, never to be separated.
The Big Ghost buried his head in the human’s neck, and his sealed lips caressed the sensitive arteries at his neck. His arms tightened more and more as if he wanted to embed Wu Rong’s body deeply into his own soul, not caring at all about the intense pain from the wounds all over his soul body when he touched the body of a living person.
The pain let him know that he still existed, and the merging of their blood allowed them to be together, closer and deeper.
The ice-cold, bloodless lips caressed the sensitive skin on his nape, seemingly like a kiss, but the hidden possessiveness within it was like a wild beast seizing its prey’s vital spot, intending to devour it whole. Even though his mouth was sealed shut, he could still do a lot.
This voluntary embrace placed Wu Rong’s head right next to the Big Ghost’s ear. Coming back to his senses, Wu Rong didn’t notice the Big Ghost’s abnormal emotions and actions. He was still somewhat immersed in his previous thoughts, and in a complex, low voice, he tentatively said by the Big Ghost’s ear:
“Fu Qingnan?”
[Author’s Note:
P1: Wu Rong lowered his head and whispered in the big ghost’s ear:
“Riding the waves hehe.”
P2: Fu Qing: What does Fu Qingnan’s matter have to do with me, Fu Qing?
Nan: What does Fu Qingnan’s matter have to do with me, Nan?
P3: The Big Ghost lowered his head, Shanrong, just tell him this! [Hating iron for not becoming steel]
P4: Today is the Ghost Festival, wishing Shan Rong and everyone in the Ghost Country a happy festival! (Ling Yun muttered quietly: No need to wish me, thank you.)
P5: Leave a comment to wish Ling Yun a happy festival!]
Editor: Cloud Chip Cake
He finally figured it out!
Thank you for the chapter~
OMG OMG OMG finally!!!!
thanks for the chapter!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
woooooo 129 chapters in I can’t believe they actually revealed this so early!!!! So if the seals are what keeping Nan here then that means you have to unseal all the seals in order for Nan to return to Fu Qing’s incomplete soul!!!… Is it just me who still doesn’t understand sh!t about reincarnation and how Nan got there?