Chapter 57 Earth Spirit "She had a faint green hue on her body."...
So shocked was Zhong Ying that she didn't even notice the other person in the room, only rushing forward to pull Cao Fang away, "Have you forgotten? Murderers will be reborn as animals!"
This time, Cao Fang obediently let go, and the man collapsed to the ground like a rag doll.
Zhong Ying reached out to feel Zhong Qiushou's pulse on his neck, her fingers trembling slightly.
She didn't really care whether her uncle lived or died. Zhong Ying still remembered that Zhong Qiushou had tried to harm her brother. Such a scoundrel was fine to die. What she was worried about was her aunt.
Zhong Ying tried moving to several different spots, but still couldn't feel any movement.
Li Linshi sensed something, and like a ghost, he rushed forward, grabbed Zhong Ying, and pulled her away from the man.
Zhong Qiushou sat up blankly. When he saw the body lying on the ground, his mind went blank for a while. He looked around in a daze. When he saw Cao Fang, he was shocked. Anyone would be frightened if they suddenly saw someone who had been dead for seventeen years.
But soon, Zhong Qiushou realized that everything was clear. He couldn't feel a hand choking him, yet he couldn't break free from the immense force. It was like seeing a ghost. It really was a ghost coming to take his life!
But if "he" is lying on the ground, then what is he now?
Zhong Qiushou suddenly sprang to his feet; he was a ghost now too! Cao Fang had killed him!
Compared to the other two ethereal figures in the room, Zhong Qiushou's soul seemed to be stained with a layer of dirty black ash. He lunged at Cao Fang with a ferocious expression, still regarding her as the weak woman he used to bully, completely forgetting that the strength he had been struggling against just now came from her.
Cao Fang kicked him away without any mercy.
Zhong Qiushou slammed against the wall in a sorry state, then collapsed onto the ground.
"Why did you kill me..." His body was filled with resentment like a viscous black substance. He got up and tried to rush towards Cao Fang again.
A fine, dense line of water suddenly rose from the ground, like extremely strong ropes, binding Zhong Qiushou's limbs and restricting his movement.
Li Linshi made his move.
Cao Fang's resentment was no less than Zhong Qiushou's. She glared at him fiercely, "Why? Do I have to tell you about the dirty things you did? You think no one saw it? I saw it! You tried to bully my daughter right in front of me! You beastly old bastard!"
Upon hearing this, Zhong Ying turned her head to look. After seeing Zhong Ni's current appearance, she looked at Zhong Qiushou in disbelief. What kind of person is she?
Cao Fang stood up, walked up to Zhong Qiushou, and slapped him hard across the face, knocking him off balance. He barely managed to stay upright thanks to the water ropes binding his hands and feet.
"Isn't it just because you're a man and have that much strength that you dare to act recklessly?" Cao Fang mocked. "How about it? Is that strong enough? You should feel it for yourself."
Zhong Qiushou struggled desperately, but he couldn't muster any power. Why? They were all ghosts. Why did Cao Fang have such great strength? Why could Li Linshi control water with a wave of his hand?
Cao Fang slapped her again, "You're always like this, always eyeing others. Why can't others be better off than you, live a better life than you? Who do you think you are? You'd rather ruin someone else than let them live a better life than you? The people who get involved with you are really unlucky to have ended up with a rotten old woman like you!"
Zhong Qiushou felt offended and glared at her angrily, "Cao Fang! How dare you talk to me like that!"
“Yes, you are a man, the head of the household,” Cao Fang said coldly, “that’s why I’m willing to do anything to kill you.”
“If you live, you can ruin your daughter’s life today and drag your son down tomorrow,” Cao Fang said calmly. “As long as you put yourself in the position of ‘father,’ your two children can’t do anything to you.”
"Just like today, all you're relying on is that you're a man. In fact, women are more at a disadvantage when you do things. Even if people find out, the protection between men will keep you safe. You're so confident in this that you dare to do such shameless and beastly things."
Cao Fang looked down at the aging man with an emotionless expression. "If no one can punish you, then I will."
Without giving that filthy woman another glance, Cao Fang floated back to Zhong Ni's side. Her icy face softened with tenderness once more. She gently smoothed her daughter's disheveled hair, and even though she knew Zhong Ni couldn't hear her, she still comforted her, "Were you frightened? It's alright now, everything will be alright from now on."
Zhong Ni couldn't hear, but she could feel her stray hairs being tucked behind her ears and her loose collar being gently closed. She suddenly burst into tears, crying with grief and grievance, large tears streaming down Cao Fang's body and onto the bedding on the bed.
“Mother…” Zhong Ni called out, her voice choked with sobs, “Mother…”
Cao Fang simply held her, gently patting her back as she had when she was little, saying, "Mother is here, Mother has always been here."
Looking at the mother and daughter, Zhong Ying couldn't bear it and buried herself in Li Linshi's arms.
Li Linshi silently held her tighter; they both knew what awaited Cao Fang.
When the figures of Ox-Head and Horse-Face appeared, they were all stunned when they saw the scene in the house. There was a ghost on each side holding a person, and they were all old acquaintances. The ghost with the unfamiliar face was struggling frantically, trying to break free of the water ropes binding him.
Zhong Qiushou was initially taken aback, but then, as if he had found a powerful backer, he roared with ecstatic joy, accusing Cao Fang, "It's her! Arrest Cao Fang! She's become a ghost and still comes to harm people! Send her to the eighteenth level of hell!"
Horse-face frowned and looked at Cao Fang, "You already knew this seventeen years ago that ghosts who kill people will be reborn as animals."
Cao Fang remained calm and nodded slightly. "I know."
"So now, do you want to leave with us to be reincarnated, or stay in the human world?" Horse-face said democratically, "Cherish this opportunity; you only have this one chance to choose."
Ox-Head finally withdrew his astonished gaze from the male ghost and woman and interjected, "I advise you to come with us. There have been ghosts who killed people in the past who were afraid of being reborn as animals in their next life, so they stayed in the human world. In the end, when their relatives forgot about them, they naturally turned to ashes and disappeared. They didn't even have a next life."
He had just finished speaking when, as if remembering something, he added, "Oh, there are also those who want to do evil again. Those ghosts don't need to be forgotten. If we catch them, we'll immediately wipe them out."
Cao Fang hesitated, "I..."
Zhong Ying immediately pushed Li Lin away and stepped out of his arms. "Wait a minute, there's a term in human society called 'eliminating harm for the people'!"
Li Linshi knew that Zhong Ying was anxious, but he still couldn't help but purse his lips when she pushed him away.
“Sometimes killing isn’t necessarily out of malicious intent; it could be self-defense or to protect others!” Zhong Ying felt she was indeed trying to climb the social ladder a little. After only a few encounters, she now dared to speak directly to the underworld officials. “Zhong Qiushou’s death was entirely his own fault. He was a villain who could even harm his own daughter!”
Zhong Ying feared that this wasn't enough to prove that Zhong Qiushou deserved to die, "And my brother, he was only five years old back then, and he almost tricked him into leaving and harmed him!"
Although Zhong Ni couldn't see, she heard her cousin speaking to the void, seemingly on behalf of her mother. She immediately realized something, quickly changing from a slumped position to kneeling on the bed, her voice urgent, "My mother did all this for me. She went crazy because my father hurt me. Please, please, esteemed people, be magnanimous!"
Only then did Horse-Face turn his gaze to the two people present. As a ghost messenger, he dealt with ghosts year after year, and those who were still alive were merely transparent beings to him, easily swept away.
Its crystal-clear eyes, like glass beads, stared straight at the two of them, and its expressionless horse head carried an inhumanly cold scrutiny.
A curtain of water blocked Zhong Ying's way, solidifying once again into Li Linshi's form, completely obscuring Zhong Ying with his tall and slender figure.
Cao Fang quickly stepped forward to shield her daughter, saying, "I'm willing to be reborn as an animal. I had already considered the consequences before I took action!"
Horse-faced didn't care about the two ghosts' vigilance; he had already figured something out.
The notebook lying open in his palm flipped open on its own, stopping at a certain page according to his will. Ma Mian looked at the words on the paper and his guess was confirmed. Then the paper flipped again without any wind and stopped at another page, where he began to read about Zhong Qiushou's life.
"Indeed, as you said, you murdered your own brother's son and your own daughter..." Horse-face said indifferently.
Zhong Qiushou shouted, "I didn't really kill them!"
Cao Fang spat at him, "The first time it was Yingni crying and making a scene, not letting you take her brother away. The second time it was me who stopped you, otherwise you would have killed both children!"
"If I didn't kill her, then it doesn't count!" Zhong Qiushou retorted. "Besides, she's my daughter, I can do whatever I want with her!"
Hearing this, Zhong Ying, who was being shielded by Li Linshi, couldn't help but show disdain. She could probably understand Zhong Qiushou's values. Men like him treated their wives and daughters as their possessions, and were full of desire to control them, so they were capable of doing anything and taking it for granted.
Ignoring the two arguing ghosts, Horse-Face looked directly at Li Linshi and asked, "So, what do you think—"
He pronounced a name somewhat awkwardly, "Zhong Ying".
It turned out that he wasn't looking at Li Linshi, but at Zhong Ying, whom Li Linshi was protecting behind him.
For a moment, everyone, including the ghosts, was astonished, even the bull-headed man looked at his old friend in surprise.
Zhong Ying poked her head out. "Me?"
Horse-faced nodded affirmatively.
With the opportunity presented to her, Zhong Ying naturally didn't hold back. "Since my aunt killed a villain, I naturally hope that she can be treated leniently according to the circumstances."
When Zhong Ying spoke, she didn't have much hope. How much weight could her words carry? How could they possibly influence the actions of the ghost messengers?
To everyone's surprise, Horse-Face actually responded, "I will report this to the judge."
Now even the bull's head gaped wide open, making no attempt to hide it.
Zhong Qiushou was so angry that he jumped up and down, "Why? Why does what a little girl says count? Why aren't you punished more severely for killing me? Is there no justice in this world?"
"It's outrageous that someone like you gets no punishment, just dies, and then gets reincarnated!" Zhong Ying couldn't help but complain.
Horse-faced said, "No, he needs to go down to the eighteenth level of hell to refine it first."
Zhong Qiushou refused to accept this. He looked at Cao Fang, then at Li Linshi, and said, "Then I'm staying in this world too. I'm not leaving!"
The iron chain in Niu Tou's hand moved like a snake, and Li Linshi noticed it and quickly flipped his palm.
Just as Zhong Qiushou was pleased that the water rope binding him had disappeared, an even thicker iron chain quickly wrapped around him like lightning.
Ox-Head revealed a simple and honest smile, and with a strong tug, he grabbed the ghost in his hand. "You are different from the other two. Just because of the black aura all over you, we can't let you stay in the human world and do evil. Don't worry, the fire underground is a good fire. Burn it for a hundred or two hundred years to burn away the 'evil aura' on you, and you will be a good ghost."
There are evil people and evil ghosts. Evil people become evil ghosts after death, and evil ghosts are reincarnated as evil people. If this is not addressed, it will simply become a perpetual motion machine for producing disasters.
Ox-Head and Horse-Face led the two ghosts away.
"Haha, you're the one who's going to the eighteenth level of hell!" Cao Fang had resolved the trouble for her children, and seeing Zhong Qiushou's miserable state, she no longer cared about being reborn as an animal. She felt only exhilaration and relief. "Indeed, there is still justice in the world!"
Zhong Qiushou was furious and could only attack her on one point: "If you want to be a beast in your next life, what are you so proud of!"
"That's better than you being a beast in human form your whole life!"
Ox-Head ignored the two ghosts' insults; he had been full of questions since earlier and asked Horse-Face, "What's wrong with you?"
Horse-faced knew what he was asking, and simply replied, "Isn't it something I have to listen to every time I hunt ghosts?"
The written record can only describe a person's life experiences, but it cannot show the whole picture of a person. As wandering underworld messengers, they certainly do not know as much about the deceased as the local guardian deities, so they usually listen to their opinions.
“How can that be the same!” Ox-Head retorted. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you asked Fish Spirit, Earth Goddess, or Black Donkey Mountain God, but you’re asking a living person!”
Horse-faced only turned his head and glanced at him calmly, "How can you be sure she's human?"
The bull-headed man was confused. "What do you mean?"
His gaze swept over Zhong Qiushou, who was bound and gagged. "Black."
Then it fell on Cao Fang, "White."
Horse-face withdrew its gaze. "There's a faint green tinge on her body."
Ox-Head scratched his horns and repeated, "What do you mean? Green? Aren't humans and ghosts all black and white? Only gods and spirits are other colors. Right, that young water ghost's color changed! You must have seen wrong. Water ghosts and humans are standing so close together, blue and green are naturally very similar..."
The bull-headed man was no longer confused; he excitedly exclaimed, "I think the water ghost is going to become an 'earth spirit'!"
Just as there are outstanding people among humans, there are also exceptional spirits among ghosts. But both are one in a million, especially the spirits of the earth. Without some extraordinary encounters and good fortune, it is really difficult for a ghost to transcend the cycle of life and death and reach the new level of "spirit".
It's no wonder that Niu Tou was so surprised. In thousands of years, he had only ever seen one ghost transform into a land spirit. This water ghost in the Ganlin River was the second one he had ever seen. It was truly amazing!
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Author's note: Everything is a fictional setting. Humans and ghosts are intertwined and cycled. Black represents evil and white represents good. Gods and spirits are born from nature, so they are the colors of the five elements.
[Irresponsible Mini-Theater]
Voiceover: Could you tell me how you managed to achieve such a remarkable transformation and become a spiritual being?
Li Linshi: Learning the fine control of water flow (making a dishwasher), practicing the rotation of water vortex (making a washing machine), controlling the changes in water temperature (making an inverter air conditioner), and skillfully utilizing the movement between water molecules (making a hot spring bus)... These are just minor details. The most important thing is to thank my wife; I have benefited from her.
—The Path the Spirit of the Ganlin River Came From
There won't be too much fantasy; the next chapter will still be a story about people.
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