Chapter 39: The Suffering of the Ghost Doctor
The moment Chu Yun's consciousness was completely consumed by the sea of fire, Li Ge felt the spiritual connection to Chu Yun, transmitted through the "heart knot," suddenly severed. "Chu Yun!" she cried out, but there was no response. Then, the scene around her, Mo Li, and Zhi Lan began to distort violently. The wasteland woven from everyone's nightmares quickly faded, replaced by a cold, damp room thick with the scent of herbs and decay. "Where is this?" Mo Li glanced around warily. She realized her connection to Li Ge and Zhi Lan remained, but Chu Yun's presence had completely vanished from their perception. Li Ge didn't respond, her body shaking uncontrollably. She looked at the room before her, at the familiar wooden bed, at the figure lying there. For the first time, her eyes, always icy cold, revealed an emotion called "fear." "Sister..." she uttered, her voice dry, as she looked at the woman on the bed. The woman on the bed slowly turned her head. She had a delicate face remarkably similar to Li Ge's, but her eyes were hollow, devoid of any expression, like a beautifully crafted puppet. "Ah Li," the woman spoke, her voice flat and emotionless. "You came to see me again." "Sister, I..." Li Ge tried to say something, but found her throat blocked. "How many people have you killed?" The woman's hollow eyes "saw" her. "How many innocent souls have you used to sustain this body of mine that shouldn't exist?" "I haven't!" Li Ge retorted instinctively. "I killed those who deserved to be killed! I used souls who offered themselves voluntarily!" "Really?" The woman forced a strange smile. "Then why can't you wash the blood off your hands? Why is the yin energy around you getting stronger?" As she finished her words, the walls of the room suddenly became transparent. Beyond them, countless blurry, resentful shadows appeared. They pointed at Li Ge, uttering silent, bitter accusations. "It's you! You took away my life!" "It's you! You stole my child's soul!" "You monster who plays with life and death! Who gives you the right to decide who lives and who dies?" "You saved her, but killed more of us! You're a murderer! A demon!" Countless accusations pierced Li Ge's heart like sharp knives. She subconsciously stepped back...
The moment Chu Yun's consciousness was completely engulfed by the sea of fire, Li Ge felt that the spiritual connection belonging to Chu Yun coming from the "Heart Knot" was suddenly interrupted.
"Chu Yun!" she cried out, but there was no response. Then, the scene around her, Mo Li, and Zhi Lan began to distort violently. The wasteland woven from everyone's nightmares quickly faded, replaced by a cold, damp room filled with the strong scent of herbs and decay.
"Where is this?" Mo Li looked around warily. She found that her connection with Li Ge and Zhi Lan was still there, but Chu Yun's presence had completely disappeared from their perception.
Li Ge didn't answer, her body trembling uncontrollably. She looked at the room before her, at the familiar wooden bed, at the figure lying on it, and for the first time, her eyes, always as cold as ice, revealed an emotion called "fear."
"Sister..." She looked at the woman on the bed and squeezed out two words in a dry voice.
The woman on the bed slowly turned her head. She had a delicate face very similar to Li Ge's, but her eyes were empty, without any expression, like a beautifully crafted doll.
"A-Li." The woman spoke in a flat voice, without any emotion. "You came to see me again."
"Sister, I..." Li Ge wanted to say something, but found that his throat seemed to be blocked by something.
"How many people have you killed?" The woman's hollow eyes looked at her. "How many innocent souls have you used to continue this body of mine that shouldn't exist?"
"I didn't!" Li Ge retorted subconsciously, "I killed those who deserved to be killed! I only used the souls of those who volunteered to sacrifice!"
"Really?" The woman forced a strange smile. "Then why can't you wash the blood off your hands? Why is the Yin energy in you getting stronger and stronger?"
As she finished her words, the walls of the room suddenly became transparent. Beyond them, countless shadowy figures, their faces blurred and radiating resentment, appeared. They pointed their hands at Li Ge, issuing silent, resentful accusations.
"It's you! It's you who took away my life!"
"It's you! You stole my child's soul!"
"You monster who plays with life and death! Who are you to decide who should live and who should die?"
"You saved her life, but killed more of us! You're a murderer! A demon!"
Countless accusations were like sharp knives, stabbing Li Ge's heart. She subconsciously took a step back, her face as pale as paper.
"No...it's not like that...I'm saving people..." she muttered, trying to defend herself.
"Save people?" The elder sister on the bed laughed even harder. "Look at me now. Am I really a 'human'? I have no joy or anger, no sorrow or happiness. I can't feel cold or warm, and I can't taste anything. I'm just a living, breathing corpse that you've forcibly restrained with forbidden techniques. Ali, is this really the 'salvation' you want?"
"I..." Li Ge's body shook and he almost couldn't stand.
"Li Ge! Wake up!" Mo Li's voice suddenly rang in her ears. Mo Li grabbed her arm and shook her vigorously. "This is an illusion! It's a nightmare attacking your heart! Don't be fooled by it!"
Mo Li's voice was like a thunderclap, bringing a bit of clarity back to Li Ge's confused mind. She turned her head sharply and saw the anxious faces of Mo Li and Zhi Lan.
"I..." She gasped for breath, finding herself still standing on the shattered wasteland. Everything that had just happened was just an illusion, but the pain and self-blame that pierced her bones were incredibly real.
"I'm fine." She pushed Mo Li's hand away and forced herself to stand up straight.
"You looked very strange just now." Mo Li's eyes were filled with worry. "What did you see?"
Li Ge was silent for a moment before she slowly said, "I see... the reason why I chose to become a ghost doctor." She didn't explain any further, but Mo Li could see a heavier and unbreakable sadness in her eyes that had turned cold again.
"How's Chu Yun?" Li Ge immediately changed the subject. She used the "heart knot" to sense Chu Yun's condition, but could only sense a void filled with destruction and despair.
"I don't know." Mo Li shook her head, her face also full of anxiety. "He seems to have been dragged into an independent, deeper nightmare. Our connection has been completely severed. The only thing transmitted through the 'heart knot' is his increasingly weak mental fluctuations. If this continues, he will die."
"We must find him." Li Ge's tone left no room for doubt.
"How do we find it?" Mo Li asked, "This world is so big, we don't even have a direction."
At this moment, Zhilan, who had been silent all the time, suddenly stretched out her hand and pointed in the direction of the resentful souls in the illusion that Li Ge had just seen.
"He's there." Zhilan said softly, "I can feel a huge 'fire' there. It's very hot, and very sad."
Li Ge and Mo Li looked at each other and immediately understood. The "heart prison" that Nightmare had created for Chu Yun was the sea of fire.
"Let's go!" Li Ge made a prompt decision.
The three of them immediately headed in the direction Zhilan had pointed. But after only a few steps, they were blocked by an invisible barrier filled with resentment. Countless blurry shadows appeared before them again.
"It's them again..." Li Ge looked at the shadows, her face becoming extremely ugly. She knew that Nightmare was using the deepest guilt in her heart to stop her from moving forward.
"A monster who plays with life and death doesn't deserve redemption!"
"You've turned your own family into the living dead, so what qualifications do you have to save others?"
"Stay! Stay with us! Until you repay the debt you owe with your own life!"
The accusations of those resentful souls were no longer silent, but turned into clear, curse-filled words that echoed in Li Ge's mind over and over again.
"Get out of here!" Li Ge's eyes flashed with a trace of painful struggle. She took out several silver needles from her bosom and prepared to force her way through.
"It's useless." Mo Li held her back. "This is a mental barrier. Physical attacks are ineffective against it. The only way is to defeat it from the heart."
"Defeat it?" Li Ge let out a bitter smile. "How can you defeat a barrier... a barrier formed by your own irreparable sins?" She looked at the hideous ghosts, at her sister standing behind them with empty eyes, and her body began to tremble uncontrollably again. She knew this was retribution, the price she had to pay for choosing this lonely and forbidden path.
"I..." Her will began to waver.
"Li Ge." Just as she was about to be consumed by guilt and despair, Mo Li's voice rang out again, "I don't know what you've been through. I don't understand those so-called 'forbidden techniques' of your ghost doctor. I only know one thing."
"In Tianshu Tower, in order to save those children you had never met, you sacrificed your blood to the flute and forcibly stripped away their souls. In Qingxi Town, in order to stabilize the curse on that little girl, you also consumed a large amount of your own life force Yin energy."
"Everything you do, everything I've witnessed, is about saving lives," Mo Li said word by word. "Perhaps your methods may seem wrong to some. But as a descendant of the Mohist school who only believes in results, as long as the ultimate goal is to save lives, it's not a sin."
She handed the "Heart Knot" core device in her hand to Li Ge: "Chu Yun needs you now. He is being devoured by his own 'inner demon'. Are you going to abandon a companion who is fighting for the 'future' just because of your own 'past'?"
Mo Li's words were like a ray of light, splitting the thick darkness in Li Ge's heart.
Yes. She raised her head and looked at those hideous resentful spirits again, and at her sister with empty eyes.
"I'm sorry," she said softly, her voice filled with deep regret. "I can't make up for the harm I've caused you. I will bear this sin for the rest of my life, until the day I die. I won't ask for your forgiveness, nor will I make excuses for myself."
After she said this, her eyes gradually became firm again.
"But," her voice turned cold and sharp, filled with the Ghost Doctor's determination to make the world his enemy, "I won't stop. As long as there's someone in this world I can save, as long as there's a wound I can heal, I won't stop."
"You can call me a monster, you can curse me as a devil. But this is my 'Tao'!"
"Fight poison with poison, save one person, save one person!"
"Anyone who stands in my way..."
"die!"
As she uttered the last word, a powerful, pure, unadulterated will erupted from her body. The Heart Guarding Talisman on her chest glowed brightly with golden light.
The seemingly indestructible barrier before her, formed by countless resentful souls, melted silently like ice and snow before her will. The road ahead became clear again.
Li Ge looked at the lonely road leading to the sea of fire and let out a long breath. Without looking back, she said to Mo Li and Zhi Lan behind her, "Let's go. Go and bring our companions back."
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