Estranged - Chapter 95

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Zhang Jie had lost track of the time he had spent running about madly.

He had been accurately following Hè Xiyun and the others’ instructions, quietly staying in a small yard, prepared to help in case they needed him to, while Changming and the others had gotten through the formation to the Wanlian Buddhist Temple. Before leaving, Xu Jingxian had sent a cripple with disabled legs to this place. This cripple had refused to talk to Zhang Jie, doing nothing all day round and never leaving his shabby furnace for refining pills. He had shut himself up in a room full of garbage, and no one knew what he was up to.

Zhang Jie was extremely bored. He had no other choice but to compose himself and cultivate in meditation every day, looking back at what he had experienced and learned. Eventually, he progressed a bit.

But he had never expected the chaos to start not where Changming and the Ghost King had gone to, but at the You Capital.

One night, the situation had changed rapidly. Demons had started devastating the land, and ghosts were wailing in misery.

Wandering souls and wild ghosts had come out in swarms, hovering and groaning in the air above the You Capital. They had taken the shape of a gargantuan black fire, spreading around while grinning nastily, killing every creature they met as they pleased. Evil spirits were swallowing living humans relentlessly, and demons used the opportunity to pour demonic qi into humans or possess them, taking their skin and starting to hunt new prey.

The entire city, inside out, was filled with the ceaseless sounds of crying. Zhang Jie even thought for a moment that the human world had turned into Purgatory.

There was originally a defensive barrier around their yard, so the place was rather safe, but evil ghosts had broken through it somehow. The auras of cultivators smelled sweet to them, so they rushed inside, vying to be the first to tear these people into pieces.

The crippled Fang Suihan had suffered an injury at the Jianxue Clan, so his combat ability was two times lower than it used to be, and he had basically been reduced to the level of a common person. Zhang Jie was the only one who could fight.

His cultivation base was solid enough for him to get through everyday life, but, faced with hundreds of enemies alone, especially evil ghosts coming at him with waves of black fire, Zhang Jie was almost powerless. He had to retreat, pulling the crippled man to the back with him.

They had exhausted their strength escaping the yard, and rushed towards the outskirts. Unfortunately, before they managed to leave the city, they had been surrounded by even more demons that kept attacking them from both the front and rear. The two of them could not escape.

The only chance to survive was to fight desperately, blazing a bloody path through their enemies.

Zhang Jie had complained about the cripple being useless countless times, flinging abuse at him non-stop. The cripple had told Zhang Jie to throw him away, but Zhang Jie had not gotten rid of him in the end. He convinced himself that the reason he had not done so was that Xu Jingxian and the others would come back to settle the account for the cripple’s death, and Zhang Jie could not afford to offend them.

“I can’t run anymore!” Fang Suihan said.

His legs had not recovered yet, and several days ago, he could not even walk. However, they had gotten better after the past few days. Xu Jingxian had originally taken Fang Suihan with her because of the healing medicine he could refine, and intended to squeeze more out of him. No one would have expected the master of Guanhai Peak to be obsessed with alchemy to the point of giving up on cultivation. No wonder he had almost died that day at the Jianxue Clan.

“I can’t carry you! You have to run even if you can’t!” Zhang Jie slashed his sword at an evil spirit, getting dispirited at the sight.

“Death is just death, the wound won’t be wider than a crack on a bowl, and, after eighteen years, I’ll emerge as a hero again!” Fang Suihan had written himself off as hopeless and acted recklessly, and his face kept paling. He fell to the ground powerlessly as his breath grew weaker. There was no need for demons to launch themselves at him, since he was going to die soon anyway.

The wound won’t be wider than a crack on a bowl, and, after eighteen years, I’ll emerge as a hero again: don’t be afraid of death. From Shi Jing, Book of Songs, slightly changed

A gust of spiritual power reached them from far away, and the ground shook, as if someone was fighting in the distance.

If there were people fighting, obviously, there was a division between enemies and allies. Maybe there were friends to rely on!

Zhang Jie’s eyes lit up, and his survival instinct flared up. Looking at Fang Suihan’s “I am going to die soon” appearance, he gritted his teeth.

“I’ll carry you, get up this instant!”

Fang Suihan slowly climbed on Zhang Jie’s back, and the two of them went forward, clearing a path through the hordes of demons, and fleeing away desperately to the square in front of the Imperial City. As they were running, they saw the black flames surge up, eclipsing the sky and the sun by shrouding the Imperial City. They also vaguely saw a dark, bloody glow that seemed to be bearing down on the Imperial City to crush it.

Under the dark clouds covering the sky, Xu Jingxian, Hé Qingmo, the Ghost King and others, including some unfamiliar cultivators and ordinary people, who had run here looking for shelter, had been fortunate enough to escape to this place. A myriad of evil ghosts had encircled them, hurrying to rip open a rift.

Zhang Jie and Fang Suihan were dumbfounded.

They felt that they would not receive protection, but rather trap themselves.

Black fire erupted behind their backs, fusing with the demons ahead. Attacking from two directions simultaneously, it opened its mouth at the two of them, as if they were sweet snacks!

“Purple qi from East, sword intention rooting evil!” Zhang Jie shouted.

Purple qi from East: an auspicious omen

His sword’s glow flourished abruptly, blocking the path to the two of them and protecting them from imminent danger.

It was the most intricate technique from his sect that he had not mastered yet. He was carrying a heavy burden on his back, so he did not dare act recklessly. But at this moment, their lives were at stake, so he could not care about everything and just used it without thinking much. Unexpectedly, he even succeeded.

Before he could rejoice, the sword glow flickered, as if swaying between the black fire and the order given by its master. In a moment, it suddenly turned around and launched at the two of them!

Zhang Jie was startled. He pulled Fang Suihan, running towards Xu Jingxian and the rest of them.

“Save us!!!”

Although Linghu You was the Ghost King, he had received this title only because he was the strongest Demonic cultivator, and could order ghosts from thousands of li away. Ordinary ghosts bowed their heads in his presence, and he could command countless ghosts simply because he was preeminent among these evil spirits.

The overbearing black flames were raging in front of him, intending to swallow them right here and now. The You Capital had completely turned into a city of ghosts. Under such pressure, Linghu You could hardly release his Ghost King aura. Even the previously subdued ghosts seemed to be struggling against their master. In other words, his compelling ability to command ghosts had been reduced almost to one tenth of itself, and he had even started to fall into a disadvantageous position.

The banner with gathered ghosts in the Ghost King’s hands turned over with a whistle, and the evil spirits trapped inside resonated with the ones outside, getting restless. In a flash, they leaped from the banner, yet rushed not at Linghu You’s enemies, but at him!

He waved his sleeves, and his violent qi obliterated the wailing evil ghosts, but even more of them appeared. They quickly realized that Linghu You, a ghost cultivator, was the best possible delicacy for evil ghosts, even more flavorful than the energy of living people.

Linghu You turned into the target of a multitude of attacks.

The common people and cultivators shrank away from him subconsciously, escaping the raging ghosts. Linghu You was pale yet stern, as if he did not care about that at all. He fell into the sweeping torrent of black fire, and moved his hands ceaselessly, as if he was in the habit of slaughtering ghosts.

He had been living in the darkness for a long time, and never wished to see the light. Moreover, he did not need it.

One person was enough for one path.

The black flames licked at the hem of his robes, quickly spreading ahead. They wanted to envelope his clothes to get to his body afterwards!

In a flash, the black flames were cut away by a sword’s glow. A person rushed to his back resolutely, hitting Linghu You.

“Don’t get distracted! You kill the ones in front, I’ll take care of the ones behind!”

Hé Qingmo’s outraged voice reached his ears, hoarse from agitation.

They had spent a whole night in the massacre, so his strength had almost been depleted. Everyone, including him, was running on fumes.

Linghu You did not expect Hé Qingmo to rescue him in a moment like this.

“You…”

“What ‘you’! If you die, we won’t hold on for too long as well, concentrate!”

While talking, Hé Qingmo slashed several evil ghosts with his sword.

Since Linghu You had become a ghost cultivator, he had rarely felt warmth. Everything he touched was ice cold—even if it was food from the human world, and it was heated to the hottest temperature it could be, it would still taste cold to him.

Only now did he feel warmth against his back.

Long forgotten warmth, bringing back cherished memories.

…

Yun Weisi suddenly recalled one thing.

When he had killed Shengjue, at the moment before the ice spikes under the hanging cliff had pierced his heart, Shengjue had not been frightened at all. His expression had even been profound as he was looking at Yun Weisi.

Yun Weisi had already pondered about what this expression might have meant.

Now, he knew the answer.

Sacrificing his own life, Shengjue had put a restriction on Yun Weisi.

Yun Weisi did not feel it under normal circumstances, and it did not affect his cultivation base. But if something was stirring up his Demonic Heart, the restriction would amplify the effect, persuading him to turn into a demon.

Perhaps, since the moment he had entered the Nine Layers of the Abyss to fight against demons day in day out, with demonic qi entering his body, this outcome had already been preordained.

This result was what their enemies had wanted to see. Today, the chess piece had finally started to play the role it was supposed to.

But Yun Weisi did not care about it anymore.

Be it turning into a demon or cultivating Dao, if he could not obtain what he wanted, what was the point in either?

His mind was completely calm. He crushed the beating heart in his hand, and stretched his arm out to Jiufang Changming.

“Give me Zhou Keyi’s spiritual soul.”