Thirty: Mutual Destruction, Part Two
Mingjin recognized the tone of her voice; it meant Zhegui had returned to the state they were in when they first met earlier that day. Calm, even composed, Zhegui turned around and watched Mingjin walk down the steps. Her expression was very calm, showing no trace of murderous intent, only that ghostly aura still lingered.
"The situation outside seems to be very favorable to you. Gao Lang's fate is also in the hands of your companion. Why do you insist on following me?"
As Mingjin approached, Zhegui was somewhat confused, but that was all.
“I don’t care what you think,” Mingjin clasped his hands together, maintaining his focus so as not to lose face in front of Zhegui. “I have my own reasons for acting.”
“I have never seen you before,” the ghost said, her eyes now only a few steps away from the two of them. “But you seem to know a lot about me.”
“I learned about you from others. Even if I haven’t seen you, has no one else seen you?” Ming Jin said. “Besides, I don’t know you very well either. I only know how you fight.”
Zhegui didn't speak immediately, which made Mingjin's heart tighten.
“Indeed,” Zhegui said calmly. “I wasn’t exactly living a peaceful life either. Even if I hid somewhere for decades or centuries, it wouldn’t matter. You’re just an ordinary person, a mortal. There’s no need to talk about understanding.”
“It is not wise of me to tell us about your deeds of harming ordinary mortals.”
Suddenly, a booming sound came from the distance, where the continuous sounds of battle had been going on.
“I don’t need wisdom,” Zhegui said, suddenly drawing his sword again, its blade flashing as he aimed it at Mingjin. “Among you, among the evil spirits, there are few who need my wisdom to deal with.”
Seeing Zhegui draw his sword, Mingjin became even more nervous. He quickly recited a mountain magic incantation in his mind, hoping that Zhegui wouldn't change his mind too soon. But to his surprise, after Zhegui finished speaking, he examined the sword and then sheathed it.
“When I was still active outside, I was often chased by a whole bunch of cultivators, just like you are now. But their cultivation levels, no matter who they were, were the same as yours; at most, they could only cause me pain, not endanger my life. I eventually got tired of it and brought Gao Lang here to see this place, and I've rarely gone out since,” Zhe Gui stood naturally, letting the occasional breeze ruffle her hair. “You're holding me back to prevent me from helping Qianli and Fengwu, right? That depends on your abilities. For example, why hasn't that cultivator in the main hall dealt with Gao Lang yet?”
“Having entered Tiger's Den, how can one not understand Tiger's Den?” Ming Jin said, steadying his voice.
What do you want to say?
"Naturally, it is the relationship between Gao Lang and this barrier."
“Incredibly strange,” Zhe Gui squinted, seemingly quite interested. “This matter has actually been leaked. But even so, if I turn back now and let Gao Lang perish here, you cannot stop me.”
“The monks are here to exorcise evil spirits, and no evil spirit in this city can be spared,” Ming Jin said solemnly. “We didn’t come here specifically for anyone.”
“Then I am a little disappointed,” Zhegui said. Its emotions seemed to be fluctuating, but Mingjin was unsure whether it was a bad thing or something worse. “I never thought I would be so unknown outside. Years ago, those cultivators all had a portrait of me, crude and unadorned, yet they chased after me everywhere. What benefit did they get? Nothing more than the fact that I had the most blood on my hands, and killing the most was enough to bring them glory. I was just a flower waiting to be plucked.”
I don't know what this idea means, nor do I know if Zhegui once hovered over other regions before landing here. But Juxia and the elders and seniors of Huicheng, what Juxia saw was Mingjin's portrait. Many people in Huicheng had seen Zhegui during the last calamity, but none of them had any further impression of it, and they couldn't find any related portraits.
But this wasn't what Mingjin couldn't understand, because Zhegui's attitude towards this past event was unclear, and her expression even wavered, so she could only speak cautiously.
"I'll take the initiative and break off a branch from each of them so I can admire them."
“You’re mistaken. What flowers and grass? Who cares about them?” Zhe Gui, who was interrupted, found it unbelievable when she heard Ming Jin say this. She looked up at her and said, “No matter what the outcome of the battle with the evil spirits is, it’s just a matter of whether we lose more or less. To cultivators, you are just one of the stronger ones in the evil spirit group. It’s meaningless to cultivators to investigate your joys and sorrows.”
Suddenly, veins bulged on Zhegui's neck. She seemed to be starting to breathe, but it was still very heavy.
"My joys and sorrows are meaningless..."
It suddenly started laughing.
Its state changed dramatically; its limbs and torso began to sway, and its facial expressions became more subtle, as if it had returned to the state it had just been in when confronting Gao Lang.
Meng Sheng sent a message.
She tied Fuxia up, but Gao Lang couldn't hold out for long.
You will pay the price for what you said!
After saying that, Zhegui suddenly roared and pounced on Mingjin with just his hands outstretched.
"You're no longer human!"
Seeing a pair of hands rushing towards him, aiming to grab his neck, Mingjin had no choice but to dodge.
“In our world of cultivators, you only have one path: death.”
It's unclear what Mingjin said that provoked Zhegui, but its movements froze again, its gaze unfocused, as if its previous frenzied state had completely vanished. Seeing its distraught state, Mingjin, who had just taken two steps back, felt that now was the perfect time. Using his wind magic, he took two steps to Zhegui's side, getting so close that he directly grasped Zhegui's icy hands with his own.
This is also a rare record.
"I only care about people."
Zhegui struggled to escape Mingjin's grasp, but was held tightly, strangely unable to struggle. If it were purely a matter of strength, it believed it couldn't possibly lose to this little brat.
What did you do?
Faced with a situation he had never witnessed before, Zhegui's expression was complicated, and his tone became intense.
"Talk to me about feelings, and see if you'll even have a chance to be reincarnated."
Something was binding Zhegui's hands. It was two strings of beads, one wooden with a knot, the other wooden with a green tinge. Originally hidden under Mingjin's sleeve, they now gleamed slightly, binding Zhegui and Mingjin's wrists together.
Something seemed to be pulling Zhegui backward from behind. Although the force wasn't strong, the important thing was that Zhegui, who had intended to use magic to cut off his hand, found that he couldn't use magic.
Having lost its ability to make a living, this was the first time in a hundred years that the ghost had sensed that familiar panic.
"What have you done!"
“I only want all of you evil spirits to disappear,” Mingjin rebuked Zhegui, who, after being repeatedly thwarted, could only timidly fall silent. “We cultivators need not exist either. That is what I do.”
"Daguiyihe. There is no honor for a heavenly king."
An unusual spell was unfolding, for although Zhegui's back was to the magic circle, she could hear a sharp, piercing sound coming from somewhere. It was the sound of chewing, the sound of teeth gnawing; Zhegui couldn't get a clear answer, only a growing fear.
This feels familiar.
"The great darkness is lost. It blends the turbid and the clear. It destroys the forms and hides the images. It abandons the stubborn and upholds the righteous."
"I don't want to go back..."
A gust of wind came from behind, whipping up Zhegui's hair and making it flutter backward. Mingjin's magic couldn't control its head, but it began to tremble from its neck down, its eyes darting around, as if it had already foreseen the future.
"The Way is hidden in its essence. The image reveals its form."
An accident occurred.
The bracelet binding Mingjin and Zhegui did not loosen in time. When Zhegui was sucked away by the black mass hanging behind them, the bracelet, which had just loosened, did not give Mingjin enough time to escape. It took Zhegui, the bracelet, and Mingjin himself and was sucked together towards the black mass.
"Help me!"
A dark green vine flew down from the top of the hall and quickly wrapped around Mingjin's waist, attempting to pull her back.
Zhegui had been completely absorbed into it, unaware of its presence. Although it was being held up by the vine, Mingjin's upper body had also been plunged into darkness.
"how so?"
At the other end of the vine, one person controlled two spells. Meng Xi was extremely confused, not understanding why the gold spell would undergo such a significant change after he was simply transformed from a minor ghost in the trial to a laurel-breaking spell.
A hint of yellowish-brown shimmered beside Ming Jin. But the force ahead was overwhelming, and if Meng Xi lost even a little focus, she feared she would be defeated in this struggle.
On the other end, Zhegui didn't understand a word of the shouts directed at Mingjin, but she and Zhegui were blown up together. Without Zhegui to block the wind, she faced the howling wind directly, completely powerless to resist, and couldn't even fully open her eyes.
"I'll remember you, I'll never let you go again!"
This is the last sentence of Zhegui's poem.
Then, in the dim light, a bolt of lightning suddenly struck down from the sky, directly hitting Zhegui, who was floating in front of Mingjin. In that instant of brightness, Mingjin felt as if he was about to be blinded, but he also clearly saw Zhegui dissipate.
"It seems you are not destined for reincarnation."
This was Ming Jin's last sentence to Zhe Gui.
Next, it's Mingjin's own problem.
A dark blue expanse stretched before her; she was now floating in mid-air, her body completely out of control, and unable to cast spells. A bolt of lightning struck from the distant horizon, but fortunately, the light was good enough to give Mingjin some visibility.
Below is a small path whose origin and destination are unknown.
This is the place Shao first heard about; it's the route the evil spirit took to escape.
It seems that as long as we drag the evil spirits here, the tears will destroy them.
The bad thing is that I somehow got sucked in too.
Could it be that I've been mistaken for a ghost?
It was as if a small door containing unspeakable secrets had been opened.
Occasionally, she would wonder again if her continued existence in the world as a human after death was because her Daoist heart had turned her into a ghost. However, she could still eat and drink to restore her strength, which made her dismiss the thought.
I thought of it again, then it fell away again.
Now, she is trapped here, unable to move. She wasn't killed like Zhe Gui, but she's powerless to get out. It's as if all the loneliness in the world is assailing her, proclaiming her precarious existence as someone caught in the middle.
What should we do?
The air here is not suitable for wind magic, and the distant lightning keeps falling, making it impossible for Ming Jin to even feel depressed for a while.
Something floated, lit up, and came to Mingjin.
It was azure light.
Mingjin realized that he only had one hand to use, and feeling extremely dejected, he could only use his right hand to grab the thing.
It's Xiang Wan's bracelet.
This was borrowed by Mingjin from Zhou Wei. He anticipated that he might need to use metal magic today, but his skills were not yet sufficient to fight independently with metal magic. He remembered that Xiang Wan's bracelet contained some techniques, so he borrowed it from Zhou Wei yesterday.
Luckily nothing happened, otherwise I would have been scolded by him several times.
In his other hand, he also had a string of beads, which belonged to Lu Ying. Although Lu Ying had no connection to any of this, Ming Jin brought it along for peace of mind.
It should be in my other hand, but I can't even see my other hand right now.
Another bolt of lightning struck, and in a daze, Mingjin saw two figures walking below.
Could it be a vengeful spirit that has not yet fully formed?
Unfortunately, she was completely unable to move at the moment, and only had one hand, so she held Xiang Wan's bracelet in her hand and waved it at the two shadows.
"Look over there, isn't there something there?"
"thing?"
Just now, I finally cooperated with the immortal and found the escape route of the evil spirit. Dao Xin quickly came in with his colleagues to investigate. The scenery here is completely different from that of the underworld. We walked along the broken part, but we didn't go very far and didn't see any key points or know where the road led.
Reminded by his colleague, Dao Xin looked up and indeed found a point of green light hanging in mid-air.
This feels kind of familiar...
"I'll go take a look!"
Originally very interested in what was above, Dao Xin immediately stood up and flew towards the green dot after he finished speaking.
Seeing one of the shadows fly over, Mingjin felt a pang of anxiety, and could only hope that the bracelet would work automatically to save his life.
However, upon seeing who it was...
"The Dao Heart?"
"What are you doing here?"
Upon recognizing the familiar face, Dao Xin was even more astonished, flying around Ming Jin's upper body.
"We'll talk about that later, you need to save me quickly. I used a spell to exorcise the evil spirit and drag it away, but I got dragged in myself too."
"I don't know what's going on either."
Dao Xin, being new to the place, might not know as much as Ming Jin, but seeing that Ming Jin was stuck, he used force from Ming Jin's shoulder to push her backward.
"I had just made some progress and found this place when I unexpectedly saw you."
"It seems you weren't lying to me. I thought the immortal was something you made up."
"You actually doubt me? So our relationship is so worthless?" With another exertion, Mingjin and Daoxin both felt a loosening, and Mingjin's body also retreated. "It seems the blockage isn't too tight. Don't come back, and don't use that spell again. I can't save you in time every time."
"knew!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Mingjin felt a force acting on her upper body, which had been devoid of sensation for a long time. However, the next second, her world suddenly spun around, and she saw stars. Although she felt like she was floating in the air, she didn't have time to use her wind magic. She was tossed around several times in the air by a vine before her vision changed and she finally landed on solid ground.
Are you alright?
"He seems a little disoriented, but his life is not in danger."
As soon as Meng Xi finished speaking, Ming Jin's eyes suddenly opened, and she could see the two people surrounding her.
"Master, what are you doing here?"
Seeing that Mingjin had recovered and was trying to sit up, Du Gewen and Meng Xi each took one side of Mingjin and helped him down from the roof of the main hall where Meng Xi had just cast the spell to the steps below.
"I heard you screaming for help as soon as I came in, so I rushed over to check on you."
Before leaving, Ji Zhen distributed a bunch of medicines to everyone. Du Gewen quickly took out a bottle of mild tonic and gave it to Ming Jin to soothe his throat.
Ming Jin was actually fine. He was just a little dazed because Meng Xi and Du Gewen had used too much force when they pulled the vines, and he was knocked unconscious. So, after drinking a couple of sips of the medicine, he recovered.
"How is the situation?"
According to the plan, Dugwen should have been in the second batch of cultivators to arrive. Now that Zhegui is dead, the great threat has been eliminated, and with ample manpower among the cultivators, they should be able to seize the opportunity to slay even more evil spirits.
Before Duguwen could answer, the three of them suddenly heard a noise in the sky.
A crack appeared in the sky.
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