novelraw Chapter 158 : A Clingy Little Ghost
Chapter 158 : A Clingy Little Ghost
So Second Senior Brother was pushed out as a scapegoat?
Chu Sang had long suspected there was a traitor within the Eight Great Sects. It seemed this matter was more complex than she had imagined.
"Can you call out our Second Senior Brother? I have some questions I want to ask him privately," Chu Sang negotiated with the ghost Second Senior Brother.
The silver-haired Ling Yu sneered, "You don't think he's some kind of good person, do you?"
"At least he's a bit better than you."
He seemed angered by her words, gritting his teeth, "We two are originally one entity. It was only to facilitate infiltration into the cultivation world and conceal our identity that we split into two personas, to better confuse observers... We two will gradually merge over time. There's no difference between asking me or asking him now."
"I don't care. Just bring out our Second Senior Brother, or you can wait to be annihilated by the soul-destroying needles," she said coolly.
"..."
That snow-white hair turned jet black again.
Tantai Ming opened his mouth, but then wisely chose to remain silent.
The black-haired Ling Yu didn't quite dare to meet their gazes. He said in a low voice, "Little Junior Sister, Junior Brother, I am indeed a spy carefully cultivated by the Ghost Xuan Sect Leader, an agent planted in the cultivation world. Many things are not within my control..."
Tantai Ming finally felt that the familiar Second Senior Brother had returned. He let out a big sigh of relief and continued his tireless persuasion, "Second Senior Brother, let's put the past behind us. As long as you can provide valuable information about the ghost clan, the Eight Great Sects will consider mitigating your punishment. This is an opportunity we've fought hard to get for you!"
"Why don't you tell us about a ghost clan stronghold? We'll go raid it immediately, redeem yourself through meritorious service, and we can bring you back!"
Ling Yu had known since childhood about his hidden identity and sole purpose. He had naturally imagined this day would come and had long prepared himself for death.
But when the moment truly arrived, looking at his junior brother and sister before him, he found his heart filled with indescribable complex emotions. He couldn't tell if it was guilt towards them... or something else.
After a long while, he opened his mouth and sighed, "Zong Xun is preparing to attack the cultivation world."
"The ghost clan's power is like an egg striking a stone compared to the other three realms. How can he guarantee success in conquering the cultivation world rather than being annihilated?" Chu Sang looked at him.
Since things had come to this point, Ling Yu decided to hide nothing more. He said, "I usually live in the cultivation world. Zong Xun sends agents to contact me, and I rarely return to the ghost realm, so my information is not comprehensive."
"But according to what I heard from his conversation with his subordinates when I last left the Ghost Xuan Sect, Zong Xun plans to use 'Chi' to attack the cultivation world in half a year."
Chu Sang and Tantai Ming exchanged a glance, tacitly understanding. Wasn't this the behemoth they had seen in the wasteland secret realm last time? Sure enough, that old dog had released it and even planned to use it to ravage the cultivation world!
"That thing's power is unimaginably strong, but feeding and controlling it is extremely difficult. It needs to be fed with cultivators' flesh and souls from a young age to truly become Zong Xun's invincible weapon," Ling Yu said solemnly. "The younger, more talented, and stronger the cultivator's flesh and blood, the better nourishment it provides. That's why he's targeting these personal disciples of the Eight Great Sects, wanting to feed them to Chi. As long as he can successfully control it, he won't fear war with the cultivation world."
"Second Senior Brother, can we still trust you?" After hearing his explanation, Chu Sang stared into his eyes and asked.
Ling Yu met her gaze calmly, "Little Junior Sister, my life is in the hands of the Ghost Xuan Sect Leader, so I have no choice but to obey his orders. But these words are all the secret information I know."
Chaotic footsteps could be heard outside the dungeon. Chu Sang glanced in that direction and quickly looked back. She smiled and waved at Ling Yu, who looked slightly surprised, "Second Senior Brother, you stay here and endure for a while. Wait for us to rescue you."
He blinked, and the junior brother and sister had disappeared. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
They... didn't seem to blame him.
He lowered his head, thinking.
[+10]
Meanwhile, outside the dungeon, Qin Xixue led a group to confront them. Seeing Chu Sang come out of the dungeon, she stepped forward first and said coldly, "The sect dungeon strictly prohibits others from entering. You wouldn't still be holding onto old sentiments, trying to secretly release that ghost clan spy from your sect, would you?"
"If we hadn't arrived in time, I'm afraid that ghost cultivator imprisoned in the dungeon would have escaped!" She raised her chin, staring intently at the two, reasoning, "I knew it. How could a mere ghost cultivator hide in your sect for years without being discovered? Your sect must have deliberately sheltered him. Perhaps your Lingqing Sect has known about this all along!"
These words caused an uproar. Chu Sang and Tantai Ming instantly became the target of all the cultivators present.
Qin Xixue looked at Chang Yu, who still maintained his lofty demeanor, and took the initiative, "Master, I have reason to suspect that the Lingqing Sect is secretly colluding with ghost cultivators. Perhaps the ghost cultivators during the sect competition were secretly brought in by them!"
"Do you two have any excuses?" Chang Yu said coldly.
Chu Sang said, "Since you've asked so sincerely, let me offer an explanation."
Chu Sang looked at the smug Qin Xixue and asked with a hooked smile, "You keep saying our Lingqing Sect is colluding with ghost cultivators as spies. First, where did you get such definitive evidence? If I were really a spy, do you think you would have made it out alive last time?"
"If I were truly a spy sent by the ghost clan, why would I tell the cultivation world about the pre-arranged plan? Is my life not satisfying enough, so I'm looking for some excitement?"
Her words successfully stumped Qin Xixue. Her expression changed, and she snorted coldly, "No matter how glib you are, the fact that you sneaked into the dungeon without reporting to the Eight Great Sects is undeniable. Don't try to quibble. We have every right to suspect you were trying to secretly release the ghost cultivator!"
The sect dungeon was located within the most strictly guarded Ten Thousand Swords Sect.
The Sect Leader also came personally and said, "Young friend Chu Sang, we are also puzzled. What was your intention in secretly infiltrating the dungeon?"
Tantai Ming lowered his head nervously. Help! They were done for now. They had sneaked into the dungeon and were discovered. Would they be confined? If they really implicated the Lingqing Sect with this crime, he and Little Junior Sister would truly become sinners for all eternity!
But he saw that Little Junior Sister wasn't panicked at all. She folded her arms across her chest and said calmly, "I, naturally, came to help you."
Tantai Ming was completely stunned by Little Junior Sister's composed demeanor. The next second, he quickly straightened up, imitating her posture with his arms folded across his chest, raising his chin, "Little Junior Sister is right. We came to help you!"
The others: "?"
Help people by sneaking into the dungeon?
Would even a dog believe such words?
The Ten Thousand Swords Sect Elder's expression also became somewhat strained. He furrowed his brows slightly, "What do you mean by that?"
"Ling Yu is at most a pawn planted in the cultivation world. His actions are all controlled by the person behind him, and that person is the Ghost Xuan Sect Leader. We can use him to obtain intelligence about the ghost realm."
Chang Yu gave her a meaningful look, his expression unreadable, "We naturally know this. Why would we need a small disciple like you to interfere?"
"Then why haven't you obtained any information after so many days of interrogation?"
Chu Sang blinked, puzzled.
Chang Yu's expression became somewhat unpleasant, "Silence! How dare a junior like you comment on the actions of our sect elders!"
Seeing his flustered appearance, Chu Sang couldn't help but want to taunt him with "Are you anxious? Are you? Are you anxious?"
Too provocative. She managed to resist the urge to verbally spar and said matter-of-factly, "Elder Chang Yu is so aggressive. If I were that ghost cultivator, I wouldn't want to tell the truth either."
"We've used every torture method and couldn't extract a bit of information from him. Could it be that you can get useful information out of him?" Chang Yu sneered.
Chu Sang originally didn't want to show off, but this person had handed her the opportunity on a silver platter. She immediately retorted, "Wow, Elder, you're truly amazing. You've even guessed that!"
...What?
Chang Yu's expression cracked slightly. The Ten Thousand Swords Sect Elder stepped forward excitedly, "Is this true?"
"I naturally wouldn't dare deceive the Sect Leader," Chu Sang smiled. "Second Senior Brother did indeed pass on information about the ghost realm to us. I wonder if the Sect Leader would be willing to make a deal with our Lingqing Sect. We are willing to share this information as an apology and are willing to delve into the ghost realm to resolve the crisis, to redeem ourselves through meritorious service."
"If we succeed, it will be considered as the Lingqing Sect redeeming ourselves through merit. I wonder if we could release Second Senior Brother and clear his name?"
"This..."
The Ten Thousand Swords Sect Leader looked somewhat troubled. The rules certainly wouldn't allow it, but this ghost cultivator indeed hadn't caused any major harm. If they could truly redeem themselves through merit, it might be worth giving the Lingqing Sect some face.
The Sect Leader nodded solemnly, "If you can truly redeem yourselves through merit, I will also persuade the other Sect Leaders to grant you this favor."
"Then many thanks to the Sect Leader!"
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Ghost Realm.
The often-mentioned three realms refer to the demon realm, beast realm, and cultivation world. The ghost realm is not among them.
The ghost domain occupies very little territory on the Spiritual Abyss Continent. Their main base is in another place—the place of reincarnation for all beings.
That is, the so-called Underworld.
Although the Underworld of the cultivation world is different from the mythological Underworld, the nature is similar. Whether demons, beasts, or cultivators, after death, they all come to the ghost domain, becoming part of this place, either reincarnating or becoming ghost cultivators.
Only ghosts and ghost cultivators can enter the realm of reincarnation. Under normal circumstances, ordinary human cultivators cannot enter the ghost realm.
Even if they accidentally enter this place, staying too long may cause them to be backlashed into ghosts, forever unable to return to the Spiritual Abyss Continent, which is commonly referred to as the world of the living.
Before leaving the dungeon, Ling Yu had given her a pass token. With this token, one could freely travel between the cultivation world and the ghost realm, staying for any length of time without being contaminated by ghost energy.
Upon entering the ghost city, the entire world seemed to have been given a horror movie cold color filter. Yin winds blew constantly. The Underworld... The ghost realm also had various cities, with small teahouses and inns, not much different from ordinary cities in the cultivation world, except that the people on the streets didn't walk with their feet. Most of them just "whoosh—"floated by.
Apart from a ghost child with two big red circles painted on its cheeks like a paper doll that had just given them a big scare, and a ghost bride who floated over wanting to forcibly take Su Chen'an as her lover, and Tang Yanling almost being abducted by a bridal sedan chair while walking on the street... there wasn't much to be afraid of.
They even very kindly sent the lost ghost bride back to the bridal sedan chair she had just escaped from, causing the ghost bride to bare her teeth and wave her claws at them, so happy she almost swallowed them in one gulp.
"This ghost realm is so creepy. How can there be all kinds of bizarre things?"
"Senior Brothers and Sisters, be careful. Try to avoid talking to or contacting them, and absolutely do not engage in combat with them, lest we expose our aura," Chu Sang warned. These ghosts wandering the streets were the embodiment of resentment, extremely evil beings, very easily provoked to attack others. Especially foreign auras different from theirs would become the target of everyone's arrows.
Once entangled, it would be very difficult to escape, and they might even prematurely expose their identities, attracting capture from the Ghost Xuan Sect.
Although they had used concealment talismans to cover their aura as living cultivators, and the token given by Second Senior Brother was imbued with ghost energy to help them disguise as ghost cultivators, the disguise was not perfect. If they had prolonged contact with these ghost beings, they were very likely to expose their identities.
If the ghosts all over the street discovered that living cultivators had mixed in among them, they would probably go crazy.
—Ghosts eat living people.
There were many forbidden techniques between vengeful ghosts and ghost cultivators.
For example: ghosts and living people exchanging identities, letting the living person take their place in the realm of reincarnation, while they borrow the living person's body to resurrect and return to the world of the living, and so on.
Everyone suddenly felt like sheep that had entered a wolf's den.
"Don't be afraid, I will protect you," Big Senior Brother reassured.
The Tai'e Sword in his hand had similar properties to the Long Yuan Sword. Both had extremely strong killing power against such ghostly evil things.
Chu Sang also had the protection of Buddha's light, so there was nothing to fear.
"Big Brothers and Sisters, can you buy me a candied haw to eat~" The scary little ghost from before clung to them again.
She had two pigtails sticking straight up, her round black eyes unblinking, without even a highlight. Her face was as white as paper, but her cheeks were abnormally flushed, as if painted directly with rouge, like the kind of paper doll that appears at funerals.
Tantai Ming, whose leg was being hugged, had goosebumps all over. He stiffly pointed in the direction the little ghost indicated, where there was a ghost selling candied haws.
At first glance, the candied haws seemed normal, but upon closer inspection, they were all made of red paper, the kind burned at funerals, which was truly hair-raising.
"I-I'll go buy it for you. Will you let go first?" Tantai Ming first went along with the little ghost's wishes, going to buy her a candied haw, dragging his leg with the little ghost attached towards the candied haw seller.
After a few steps, he slapped his forehead, remembering that he didn't have any currency for purchasing goods in the ghost realm.
Tantai Ming caught Chu Sang's eye signal and decided to go to an empty alley to shake off this little ghost.
"Smells so good, smells so good, smells so good~"
The little ghost hugged his leg, staring intently, drool about to drip from the corner of her mouth.
Then, she bit down on his thigh!