Chapter Fifty-Six: The Qixi Calamity (XII)

Streams of black mist seeped out from beneath the giant locust tree, gathering in midair as clumps of wrathful, vengeful spirits. Counting carefully, there were seven distinct, uniquely shaped malevolent entities. The massive locust tree, which had crashed down moments before, now rotted away midair, most of its form dissolving into a cloud of sinister energy. Only a few scraps of tattered bark hit the ground—seven in total, matching the number of evil spirits exactly.

Luo Hanya and Menghen Lige stared in shock at the sweeping transformations occurring in the courtyard, when suddenly the system notification chimed.

Hidden quest triggered: Exorcise the Seven Ghosts.

Luo Hanya gazed at the seven evil spirits drifting above, tapping his comical red nose.

Name: Yin Soldier
Abilities: ???
Description: Said to be Yin Soldiers once charged with suppressing evil spirits, yet for some unknown reason they have become monsters themselves.

“Yin Soldiers turned to ghosts? Whose handiwork could this possibly be?” Luo Hanya wondered in awe, watching the seven ghosts before him with heightened caution.

As the evil spirits hungrily absorbed the lingering sinister energy floating in the courtyard, Luo Hanya’s heart clenched with alarm—things were taking a turn for the worse. Without hesitation, he turned to Menghen Lige and said, “Strike first while we can. We can’t afford to wait—who knows how strong these things might become?”

Even before his words faded, Menghen Lige had already become a flash of lightning, darting forward and slashing through the evil spirits countless times in an instant.

When Luo Hanya turned to speak to her, she had already vanished without a trace.

A twitch tugged at Luo Hanya’s mouth; inwardly, he was already grumbling, “So this is what it’s like working with an agent? She reacts before I even finish talking.” His hands did not slow for a moment; a flash of blue light, and Frost Nova burst forth, instantly freezing several of the evil spirits in a wave of cold.

Menghen Lige, even while dancing through her swordplay, found time to unleash several Crystal Blast spells. The frozen evil spirits, caught in the icy grip, suddenly exploded in a violent burst of frigid energy. In the blink of an eye, the evil spirits were reduced to drifting shreds of black mist—deep, dark, radiating palpable evil.

Victory seemed within reach; it looked as if the spirits would be destroyed at any moment.

No one anticipated what happened next: the shattered clumps of black mist rushed straight for the scraps of locust bark left behind on the ground.

“Spirit bound to locust, corpse as vessel!” The eight words Luo Hanya had uttered earlier flashed through Menghen Lige’s mind, sending a jolt through her. Without missing a beat, she dashed toward the scattered bark, calling over her shoulder, “Hurry, get rid of those scraps of bark!”

Hearing her shout, Luo Hanya dared not pause.

“Icebound Seal!” He thrust a finger forward, and a sudden chill swept through the air. Ribbons of blue-tinted wind curled around the ragged bark, threatening to freeze them solid in a matter of seconds.

Yet a strange scene unfolded. As the icy blue energy entwined the battered bark, the scraps erupted with dense black light—the very same source as the evil spirits’ black mist. The bark and frost clashed, neither side yielding, and the darkness began to corrode the icy seal.

Menghen Lige, sensing things were going awry, bit down on her silver-white teeth. The sword in her hand suddenly blazed with a dazzling white radiance.

“Demon-sealing! Thunderbolt Slash!” she cried. Raising her sword skyward, her eyes grew grave, and the blade shone with an even brighter silver gleam.

The blood-red sky above was sliced open by a rift, silver lightning snakes crackling through the courtyard’s gloom. With a thunderous crash, a bolt of lightning descended, striking the scraps of bark that billowed with malignant black mist.

A shriek split the air as the thunderbolt hit the bark, unleashing a terrifying scream.

The lightning’s brilliance banished all illusions.

Those scraps on the ground were not bark at all, but corpses—ghastly, desiccated, radiating an overwhelming aura of evil!

At that moment, the only corpse untouched by the lightning suddenly jerked upright and lunged straight at Luo Hanya.

Only now did Luo Hanya see its true form clearly.

Its body was draped with tattered cloth, so worn it barely clung to the frame, while beneath the rags was rusted metal armor, thickly covered in moss—at a glance, it could easily be mistaken for bark.

In its hand was a rusty sword. Though its movements were stiff, there was no hesitation in its attack.

It opened its withered mouth in a hideous roar, its face almost devoid of flesh, sending chills racing down Luo Hanya’s spine.

With a clatter, it swung the rusted blade with reckless fury. Fortunately, Luo Hanya reacted in time, bringing out his broadsword, but still, the creature’s immense strength forced him several steps back.

To his shock, his trusty broadsword, companion through many trials, snapped in two.

System message: Broadsword damaged.

Such terrifying power!

A vengeful ghost come for lives, a Yin Soldier made to kill!
This creature was both—the ghost and the soldier—so powerful it inspired utter despair.

The other corpses struck by the lightning were now rising unsteadily to their feet, their hollow eyes bulging from their nearly fleshless faces, fixing Luo Hanya and Menghen Lige with a deathly gaze.

Once Yin Soldiers, now turned into fiends by some unknown master, their bodies were animated not by flesh and blood, but by a boundless hatred and a murderous will.

“Why were these things buried under the locust tree?” Luo Hanya wondered, but there was no time for answers. As he was forced back, he triggered the Icebound Seal once more.

The Yin Soldier before him continued its frenzied assault, sword whirling, hacking at Luo Hanya as if intent on slicing him to pieces.

The Icebound Seal froze the creature in place just in time, but the other six Yin Soldiers now set their sights on Luo Hanya as well. Yet their true hatred seemed aimed at the woman who had wounded them so grievously moments before. After a single glance at Luo Hanya, they surged together toward Menghen Lige.

She was clearly in poor shape—the last attack had drained her of all spiritual power. Pale-faced, she struggled to fend off the blows with her sword.

Luo Hanya grew anxious. He knew he could not afford to be tied down by his opponent any longer; he had to end this quickly.

In the distance, blood sprayed through the air, scarlet mingling with dark crimson mist.