Thirty: Mutual Destruction, Part Three
"That evil spirit is dead."
Meng Sheng tied Fu Xia to a vine and pulled the reluctant animal out through the main gate. They saw Ming Jin, Meng Xi, and Du Gewen sitting on the steps below, so he shooed them down the vine.
Fuxia was tossed about on the steps, her expression growing even more unpleasant. Meng Sheng locked her inside the barrier, and she simply sat down, her eyes filled with gloom.
"His lifespan was exhausted, and he died. Before he died, his face was very pale, and he was still cursing at Zhegui."
“It seems she’s alright,” Du Gewen checked Mingjin’s pulse again, confirming that she was just weak from the ordeal and fortunately not seriously injured. He then told her as he got up, “Now that Gao Lang is dead, we don’t have much time left. I have to go ahead and meet up with everyone. Take care, everyone.”
Meng Sheng only spoke after Du Gewen had flown north and disappeared.
"mother."
Meng Xi turned her face away, seemingly unwilling to speak.
"Why are you only arriving now?"
Meng Sheng questioned.
"There was a slight mishap."
Meng Sheng pressed on with further questions.
"What accident?"
Mingjin sat to the side watching the commotion.
"I arrived at the time agreed upon with Tianguang. But when I got to the edge of the barrier, I suddenly forgot how to use the 'Pseudo-Spirit Technique'. I was stuck there thinking for a long time, which is why I was a little late."
At this point, Meng Xi also felt a sense of frustration, as if she couldn't bear to look back on the past.
"Forgot?" Meng Sheng was even more incredulous than Meng Xi. "Didn't you say you used to be the most skilled at using this spell?"
"After all, it hasn't been used for decades, so it's normal to forget it occasionally. Besides, I thought I could use this spell very easily before, and I didn't practice it before coming here. I didn't expect something like this to happen again."
Seeing that Ming Jin was alright, and that the great task of exorcising evil spirits was accomplished, and noticing that Meng Sheng was there, and that perhaps the rest of the people from Huicheng were also there, Meng Xi quickly got up, ready to run away.
"Although there were some minor flaws, I have managed to exorcise the evil spirit as promised. Farewell."
"Wait a moment, Master will be here soon..."
"Perfect."
Meng Sheng originally wanted to chase after Meng Xi and stop her, but upon hearing this, Meng Xi stopped first and knocked Meng Sheng a step away.
She pulled something out of her bosom and threw it to Meng Sheng.
"Return this to your Sect Leader Su. Tell him I don't need it and he can keep it however he wants."
The item bounced a few times in Meng Sheng's hand. Meng Sheng held his breath, making sure it didn't fall to the ground.
"What is that?"
Just one more glance at the small wooden box, and when I looked up again, Meng Xi had vanished without a trace.
Mingjin felt a little guilty when he saw that thing.
Because Su Huan had asked her to pass it on to Meng Xi, but Meng Xi insisted on not taking it, she couldn't think of a good solution. She was also envious of the good things Su Huan had given her, but she couldn't keep them for herself. So she thought that as long as Meng Xi took the things away, it would be considered that she had fulfilled Su Huan's request.
So, when Meng Xi wasn't paying attention and was discussing woodworking techniques with Ji Zhen and Huang Jing, Ming Jin secretly stuffed the items into Meng Xi's medicine box.
During this period of time, there was no news of anything happening, and Ming Jin thought that either Meng Xi hadn't discovered it or had accepted it.
Seeing Meng Xi fly away in a flash, Meng Sheng realized that he couldn't change her mind, so he stopped caring and walked back to Ming Jin's side.
"It might be something important, so it's best if we don't touch it."
"That's true."
On the other side, Fuxia, except for her legs which were free to move around, was tightly bound from below her nose to her waist and abdomen, including her arms, with a long vine: "You've gone too far with this binding."
“She was fine at first,” Meng Sheng explained, “but after a while, she suddenly went dazed, and started saying ‘Lord Zhegui, Lord Zhegui’ in a daze, and then she started to contemplate suicide. Then, Gao Lang suddenly let out a long sigh and died. After that, she became even more self-harming. I thought that with Gao Lang dead, the barrier would have to be opened, so I had to leave someone alive, so I quickly tied her up.”
Indeed, with Zhegui's death, a large portion of the ghostly energy in the world suddenly vanished. This was naturally a major blow to the evil spirits.
"This is what Gao Lang dropped."
A pale blue spirit stone lay in Meng Sheng's hand.
It wasn't fully polished yet; the spirit stone still had sharp edges and tilted corners. It only had a hole drilled through the top, serving as a pendant.
Mingjin reached out and took it, watching it lie quietly in his palm.
“After Gao Lang disappeared, the water blade stuck in his chest did not completely disappear. I went closer to see what was going on, and I heard a crisp sound as it landed on the stool, and then I found it,” Meng Sheng said slowly. “I have read the case file and guessed that it was Yuan Bei’s magic weapon.”
The blueprints for the pendant were still with Ming Jin. This magical artifact was not yet complete; Pang Ming probably only intended to carry it with him, which is why it was hanging on his person—it wasn't originally intended for this purpose. While packing his clothes, Ming Jin discovered that the last outer garment Pang Ming wore had a severed sash at the waist, the seam marked with sharp lines. He didn't know if Pang Ming had cut it himself or if it had been done by an enemy.
Finding nothing on her, Mingjin initially planned to return to the original location to search again, but she had been watched by Pei Xuanzhen during that time, and the area was also a stronghold of evil spirits, so going back might be dangerous. Before she could confirm it was safe and go back with Huang Jing, they had probably missed the best opportunity and found nothing.
“I never expected to find it again,” Ming Jin gently stroked the edges of the spirit stone, his heart unusually calm because of this unexpected joy. “It’s also because you avenged him.”
Place the spirit stone between your palms.
More intense sounds of fighting could be heard in the distance.
"Let's go take a look."
Are you alright now?
Having witnessed what had just happened, Meng Sheng was extremely careful about everything.
But Mingjin knew his own situation.
"Don't worry," Ming Jin said, putting away the spirit stones and standing up. "I won't charge forward recklessly. Besides, if anyone gets hurt, I can still help out now."
"Oh well."
Meng Sheng nodded, after all, this is a critical time when no one can be missing.
The evil spirits are very sensitive to changes within the city. At least Qianli, Fengwu, and Gongsha know about Zhegui's demise.
Gongsha also wanted Zhegui to die, but it was more concerned that the barrier couldn't be held back, so it just wanted to drag Qianli away as soon as possible, and it wouldn't hurt to take Fengwu along as well. However, if Fengwu was too uncooperative, it wouldn't bother to say anything more.
However, once the battle was fierce, the three men fighting him would quickly notice if Gongsha's fighting spirit waned.
"I'm not going to waste my time here with you."
Gongsha's magic was inherently illusionary, so despite the three of them battling him for a long time, they couldn't land their spells on his real body. Furthermore, during this time, Gongsha had also tried out all the spells the three of them typically used and had figured out a pattern.
So, after another large-scale attack shattered the nearby rubble and stirred up a cloud of dust, Gongsha flicked his sleeves and prepared to escape.
"Sweep away the dust in the swirling current."
A water arrow, trailing a light blue streak, shot from the ground toward Gongsha in an instant. Both sides had been engaged in battle, and Gongsha's strength had been significantly depleted. Although he could hear the changes behind him, his speed had already slowed, and he could only let the water arrow pierce his lungs. With a struggle, he fell from mid-air.
"Let's see where you can go now."
The three, who were already relentlessly pursuing the evil spirit, were extra careful not to let it escape. Although they were unable to react for a moment, with the help of an arrow, the three of them were in familiar positions, on the ground and in mid-air, and launched another joint attack on the evil spirit.
"The eight tones harmonize perfectly, without any discordant elements, thus achieving harmony between gods and men."
As the words were spoken, three enormous thorns burst forth from the ground, piercing the sand that was falling from mid-air. The latter, in its final moments, lay impaled and struggling, able to see the widening crack above, and recall the immense gratitude it felt for this place when it was brought back from afar.
As for Qianli, it is a vengeful spirit, and now everything depends on Qianli.
It found the destruction of Yishan City even harder to accept than its own death.
When Zhou Wei, Jiang Chao, and Li E landed to check on Gong Sha's condition, it was already beyond saving. Its body had dissipated to only its chest and above, but its eyes were still exceptionally bright, gazing at the sky.
Then, in an instant, the rest completely vanished.
"What a hassle."
Zhou Wei put his weapon away.
As the evil spirits disappeared, the thorns began to fall, and the three of them landed lightly on the high ground.
“Yuanxi, you actually made it here,” Zhou Wei said, walking towards Huang Jing. “Where’s Senior Sister Yu?”
"Master Chen did not agree to her coming, fearing that Old Man Yu would come to the mountain to confront her. She is currently outside the barrier."
Above their heads, the barrier was slowly dissipating, and the remaining evil spirits, who had been hiding in the corner, also found an opportunity. Sure enough, when the news circulating among them came true, they decided to risk coming out and run to the boundary line to take a look.
Of course, some people also want to take shortcuts and escape through the gaps they can already see.
Unfortunately, he was hit by every arrow.
After using magic to trap Fuxia in a corner, Meng Sheng and Ming Jin went down to the high platform. Zhou Wei and Huang Jing had already left, leaving Jiang Chao and Li E on the platform. The two of them were not idle either, each with a bow and arrow to snipe at the evil spirits that were trying to escape.
"They said they went to find someone else."
Each of them carried a gourd filled with the herbal water left behind by Huang Jing. Otherwise, they would have been lying on the ground, using the cracks in the ground as crescent moons, admiring the moon in broad daylight.
"I left you two here so you can recuperate," Meng Sheng said, looking at their miserable state and tattered clothes. "Others will be watching over the gaps. Sit down quickly."
"Look at me, look at me."
Overjoyed at having exorcised a powerful evil spirit while remaining unharmed, Jiang Chao hung the new gourd on his waist, pulled out another gourd from his person, and began to play it.
The delicate and melodious tune brought some relief to the three who had just finished a nerve-wracking battle.
"What a wonderful piece of music!" Li E exclaimed, clapping his hands in admiration. "It is truly a rare and beautiful melody!"
As they were talking, the voice suddenly stopped.
The group had hoped to hear more of his comments, but to their surprise, he suddenly spun around and collapsed to the ground, completely motionless.
Ming Jin reacted a beat too late, Jiang Chao reacted two beats too late, only Meng Sheng noticed the abnormality when Li E's body tilted and quickly rushed out to support him.
"Wenjie, Wenjie!"
Although Meng Sheng managed to keep him from falling to the ground, he couldn't stop Li E from closing his eyes and ceasing to breathe.
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