Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Lonemoon turned to look at the still screaming Zhi Lin in Shen Ying’s hand. “You swallowed a part of Mushroom’s soul on purpose!” That part of Mushroom’s soul might still have contained some of her memories. That was probably why Zhi Lin could disguise herself as her for so long, so that even Fatty could not tell that she was not Mushroom. This was also probably why Lonemoon was not able to tell that Zhi Lin was possessed. “Mushroom was not devoured by an evil spirit – you were the one who attacked her!”
“No… I don’t know, I don’t know!” Zhi Lin struggled and shouted. They could no longer tell if she was writhing in pain at being literally torn apart, or writhing in guilt after being exposed. She began to stutter helplessly, “I just wanted to come back. I just wanted to come back!”
Everyone’s expressions turned dark as they looked on in disbelief at Zhi Lin. She possessed Mushroom’s body on purpose. That meant that there were many other “coincidences” that could be better explained, including the fact that her soul remained on this earth without her body. They began to think back to everything they had experienced thus far. They could not help but think of the fact that she had been at the bottom of the mountain the entire time. Quhuang City was not far away, perhaps from the beginning she… Suddenly, a wave of shock spread throughout the group.
Even Jian Xing turned pale. He looked absolutely shocked.
Lonemoon lowered his gaze. He raised his hand and dissipated the remaining life hovering around Zhi Lin’s soul. Her translucent soul slowly turned black. That was… ghost Qi!
She was no longer a living soul – she was a true ghost now. He prepared a Reincarnation Array and turned to Shen Ying. “Send her to Samsara.”
Shen Ying frowned. She tightened her grip and a loud crack was heard. A few cracks appeared on the soul in her hands. Then, Shen Ying tossed the soul into the Reincarnation Array. Since Zhi Lin swallowed a part of Mushroom’s soul, she must have been missing a part of her own soul as well. Now that Shen Ying had torn Mushroom’s soul away from Zhi Lin’s, Zhi Lin’s soul was no longer whole. What’s more, it was cracked. Even if she entered Samsara, she would never be born complete again. She would always be missing something.
Lonemoon sighed. She turned to the part of Mushroom’s soul that was beside Fatty. She was more pitiful. All that was left of her was this small part of her soul. Lonemoon could only guess how many times she would have to go through Samsara in order to have a chance to be reborn. After all, even her primary soul had been swallowed by the evil ghost…
Wait a moment!
Evil ghost?
Lonemoon paused, suddenly recalling something. “Shen Ying, where was the remnant soul from the evil ghost earlier?”
Shen Ying stared blankly at Lonemoon. A moment later, she said, “Oh, here!” She retrieved the amulet she got earlier from her storage bag and broke it, setting the remnant soul free. A ball of red light floated out from the amulet and formed a perfect sphere which emanated ghost Qi. In just a few months, the remnant soul had grown. The strange thing was this remnant soul did not take this chance to try and escape. Instead, it remained obediently in front of Shen Ying.
Lonemoon watched on and found that the remnant soul was covered in the baleful Qi of evil spirits. There was no hint of Mushroom’s aura at all. Could he be mistaken?
Just as he was pondering this, Shen Ying flicked her wrist and tossed the red sphere in front of Yi Qing. “Chef, fire!”
“Yes, Master!” Without any hesitation, Yi Qing flicked his wrist and conjured the True Phoenix Fire. The flames of the True Phoenix Fire surrounding the remnant soul so that all the baleful Qi disappeared. Even the ghost Qi was wiped out. Yi Qing retracted the fire to reveal that the originally red remnant soul had turned back into white, and it was slowly taking on human form.
“Mushroom!” Fatty shouted joyfully. He was the first to recognize Mushroom.
Nobody would have guessed that the evil spirit’s remnant soul contained Mushroom’s primary soul. Lonemoon heaved a sigh of relief. It was no wonder that the remnant soul of the evil spirit rushed toward Shen Ying after the evil ghost died. So it had not been trying to escape – it was Mushroom’s primary soul rushing to Shen Ying for help.
He immediately joined Mushroom’s primary soul to the remnant soul in Fatty’s hand. Then, he returned the combined souls to Mushroom’s body. A moment later, Mushroom opened her eyes and looked at Fatty, confused. “Hui Ze?” As if recalling something, Mushroom became frightened.
“You’re alright now, you’re alright now!” Fatty comforted her. He activated a bit of his immortal Qi and sent it into her body. Shortly after, she quieted down. Her eyelids became heavy and she slowly drifted back into unconsciousness. Although her primary soul was back, she had lost many other parts of her soul. It was not easy for her to regain consciousness for just those few seconds. But as long as her primary soul was back in her body, Mushroom would be able to recover the other parts of her soul.
Lonemoon glanced at Mushroom, then turned back to face Jian Xing, who was still in the arena. His expression darkened once again as he walked over to him.
“Mas… ter.” Jian Xing’s expression was complicated. He had not seemed to come to terms with what he had just witnessed. There was confusion, helplessness and desperation in his eyes.
“Jian Xing, do you recognize your mistake?” Lonemoon looked at Jian Xing disappointedly. In all these years, Jian Xing was the disciple Lonemoon had spent the most effort on. He may not have been the most outstanding disciple, but Lonemoon had the highest hopes for him. Because of the high hopes Lonemoon had in him, the disappointment he was feeling was high as well.
“Master…” Jian Xing became more and more panicked. “Please forgive me, Master. I didn’t know that Little Lin… would do something like that.”
The other three disciples got on their knees and began to plead on Jian Xing’s behalf.
“Exalted Master, Uncle-Master Jian Xing was Zhi Lin’s older brother, but he had no idea what she did. He’s considered innocent as well.”
“That’s right, Exalted Master. He should not be blamed if he had no idea.” Zhi Lin was not like that before. Nobody would have guessed that she would possess Mushroom on purpose.”
“Exalted Master, he slipped up once but please forgive him just this once on account of the fact that he was wholeheartedly committed to defeating that evil ghost.”
Even Fatty frowned and added, “Master, since Zhi Lin has been dealt with, Mushroom has already gotten the justice she deserves.” Jian Xing was the only sword cultivator whom Lonemoon had spent so much effort to train after all. What’s more, he was now so close to descending the mountain to establish his own sect by now. Fatty was angry about what happened with Mushroom as well, but he had no heart to watch all of Lonemoon’s efforts go down the drain.
Lonemoon’s expression was very dark by now. He gripped his fan tightly by his side. Taking a deep breath in, he turned to face Shen Ying and Chef. “What do you think?”
Chef said nothing. It was obvious from his expression that he was still angry. He was not too concerned about Mushroom, but in Yi Qing’s eyes, anyone who dared to attack Shen Ying should be killed.
Shen Ying, on the other hand, raised her head to look at Lonemoon. A moment later, she replied, “You can decide. Don’t listen to anyone else’s opinion, including mine.”
Lonemoon hesitated. His expression softened as he turned to the person on the ground. He emphasized on each word as he said, “Jian Xing, apart from helping Zhi Lin to possess Mushroom, did you really have nothing to do with her scheme?”
Jian Xing hesitated. Then, he nodded and said, “Your disciple really knew nothing about it all!”
“Jian Xing…” Lonemoon took in a deep breath and sighed deeply. There seemed to be something he could not let go. “You’ve really disappointed me!”
Jian Xing began to panic. He could not shake off the feeling that he had just lost something very important. Immediately, he reached out for Lonemoon’s sleeve. “Master…”
