Chapter 45: Attracting the Soul

All things must come to an end.

The cold, lonely moonlight shone on the tattered temple and the ground was covered with blood, flesh, and dirt.

This was not the place to sing the song Farewell.

Chai Cuiqiao cradled her skeleton and inquired softly, “Are you leaving, sir?”

“Yes.” Li Ang nodded.

“When will we meet again after parting ways today?”

“We’ll meet someday. We will meet again if we live long enough.” Li Ang sighed and asked, “What do you intend to do from now on?”

Chai Cuiqiao’s eyes dimmed. Her birth mother had died a long time ago, her birth father viewed her as a tool for gaining more profit, and her so-called husband had already remarried.

Where could a lone spirit like her go?

“I had my revenge so I have no other wishes.” Chai Cuiqiao smiled bitterly and said, “A ghost born of hatred and vengeance will easily disperse once it gets revenge and all its wishes are fulfilled. The only solution is to find a nest abundant with Yin Qi and hide there.”

“You don’t wish to be reincarnated?” Li Ang asked softly. “Hui Bing is quite a capable monk. Seize this opportunity and ask him for help.”

Chai Cuiqiao replied, “The netherworld has not contacted me for news for an extremely long time. The grim reaper disappeared a long time ago, and the Six Paths of Reincarnation have been blocked. When an ordinary person dies, the soul will either become a lonely spirit or fly somewhere far away and disappear. Even a Holy Monk with heaven-defying power cannot expiate the spirits and send them to the netherworld.”

“No more news from the netherworld? The Six Paths of Reincarnation have been blocked?”

Li Ang sensed that this was something big, but now was not the time to discuss or question this matter. After hesitating for a short moment, he asked, “Then can you find a nest filled with Yin Qi?”

“That’s very difficult.” Chai Cuiqiao shook her head and replied, “Places like ancient battlefields or ancient tombs, where Yin Qi gather, have already been occupied by old ghosts. There is no way they would let anyone else share their territory.”

The only way to do so was by marrying those extremely ugly old ghosts. However, this was something she would rather die than do.

“I have a way to prevent you from dissipating.”

“Oh?”

Chai Cuiqiao’s eyes widened. “What would that be?”

“This.” Li Ang took out one of the quest rewards he had just received from the system. It was a palm-sized white flag with a bamboo stick. On the left side of the flag were the words “The Golden Boy Rides a Dragon Toward the East”, on the right were the words “The Jade Girl Rides a Crane and Wanders”, and in the center were the words “Soul-Attracting Flag Leads to Heaven”.

[Name: Soul-Attracting Flag]

[Category: Arms]

[Grade: Rare]

[Attack Power: Low]

[Effect 1: Absorbs and stores Yin Qi. Current Yin Qi 0/1,000]

[Effect 2: Absorbs and stores spirits. The Yin Qi stored inside the flag can be used by the spirit to heal and cultivate. The level of the spirit cannot be higher than the level of the player. The spirit is not controlled by the player. Current limit on the number of spirits 0/3]

[Remarks: Demons and ghosts approach quickly]

“This is…”

“It can be considered my Dharma weapon,” Li Ang explained. “The place I want to go is, in fact, no better than here. It might even be more dangerous if you choose to follow me instead…”

This was the truth. A Killing Field game was currently taking place in the real world. The players were just like any other commonfolk with supernormal abilities and could die at any time.

The only good thing about this flag was that the spirit would not face the threat of dissipating and might live peacefully.

She and Li Ang could be considered comrades who had been through a tough battle together. Chai Cuiqiao was indeed quite unlucky, so he would help her in any way he could. Lying and trapping her into becoming his long-term plug-in equipment was of secondary importance.

Chai Cuiqiao looked at the Soul-Attracting Flag, contemplated this for a while, and asked, “Is there foliage play where you are heading, sir?”

The ancient form of poker, which was known as foliage play, originated from the Tang Dynasty and had spread to the common folk in the Ming Dynasty. It was played by nobles and common people alike and was considered to be a leisure activity.

She had to be a poker veteran. How unexpected.

“Yes.” Li Ang nodded. “Have you heard of the (online) game Happy Poker?”

“How about crickets?”

“Yes. Have you heard of Pokemon GO before?”

“How about poetry recitals?”

“No, but we can attend concerts anytime.”

“How about stories?” Chai Cuiqiao tugged her skirt, blushed, and asked, “Preferably about amorous youths and frail maidens.”

Li Ang thought of modern novels and nodded. “Domineering CEOs, cold soldiers, loyal male servants, sunshine idols, school hunks, older teachers, younger males, harem, reverse harem… There are all sorts of novels. Take your pick.”

“w(゚Д゚)w”

Chai Cuiqiao’s eyes shone as she nodded rapidly. However, her stance remained that of an elegant lady. “Then I shall follow your arrangements.”

Li Ang shook the Soul-Attracting Flag and sent Chai Cuiqiao inside. He looked back and saw that the rest of the team was discussing how to deal with Hong Niang.

This lady had gotten pregnant after being married to Wang Guan. She had intended to stay by Wang Guan’s side and help the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Wang Kuang, collect evidence on cannibalism.

Now that Wang Guan had died, Hong Niang should naturally be sent back to Nanjing.

One should help others all the way.

After some discussion, Liu Wudai took two gold bars from Liu Wudai, brought Hong Niang along, and caught up to the foxes by the dense forest.

Using one gold bar as a price, combined with Illusion, deceit, and threats, Li Ang asked the foxes to take Hong Niang back to Nanjing City. This way, Hong Niang’s safety would be guaranteed.

The other gold bar would be kept by Hong Niang.

She would certainly be able to live peacefully with the hidden protection of the foxes and the help of the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Wang Kuang.

By the time everything was settled, the teleportation countdown was over. Everyone teleported and left.

————

Three days later at night, in Solitary Temple…

A skinny figure wearing a Daoist robe slowly hobbled out of the dense forest, heading straight to the Solitary Temple courtyard.

The courtyard was filled with a buzzing sound, for the scent of blood had attracted many flies. They lay on the dark red soil, greedily licking the flesh and blood splattered all over the place.

The hobbling Daoist looked around. His flapping robe created a violent gust of wind that gathered all flies into a ball that exploded.

The insect carcasses were sprinkled all over like dust. The Daoist slowly knelt down, gently caressing the soil and muttering, “Wang Guan… My disciple, are you still here?”

Hum…

The blood and flesh buried deep under the ground seemed to get stimulated by something and frantically rushed to the surface, forming a sea of thin, long meat strands like seaweed swaying in the wind.

“He he… It’s good that you are still here.”

The Daoist extended his palm and caressed the meat strands. “Following your death, the Ministry of Justice got frightened. The high-ranking officials and nobles in the city are not willing to stand up for us. Even Emperor Jiajing lost his trust in me and banished me from the city.”

“Sigh… Forget it. No matter what, I, Red Belly, am your master. How can we, the members of the Kuiyang Sect, die so miserably?”

The sea of meat strands danced even more vigorously.

The Daoist smiled and said, “Hm? Why? You want me to save you? Think carefully. If I save you now, your three spiritual and seven physical souls will be bound forever so you cannot possibly regret it.”

The meat strands paused and then started shaking even more violently.

“Ha ha ha… Since you want to take revenge even at the cost of forever being unable to be reincarnated, how could I as your master not help you out?”

The Daoist roared in laughter and slammed his palm on the floor. The sea of meat strands extended from the ground, connected, and engulfed the mandrill’s leg bones, which had been discarded in the corner of the courtyard three days ago.

Legs, torso, arms, head… A mini-sized mandrill appeared. However, its body and face were created using pink wiggling meat strands.

How ugly, disgusting, and frightening.

“Urgh…”

The mandrill seemed to be in immense pain as it clutched its head and cried. The hobbling Daoist smiled and waited for it to calm down before drawling, “Finished whining yet? We still have important things to do. Let’s go to Songjiang City.”

The mandrill silently got on all fours, carried the Daoist on its back, and headed toward the East.

The ancient name of Yin City was Songjiang City.