“There are, but it’s more troublesome.” Meng Po pondered for awhile and said, “Grievous energy is being produced because this man suffered some sort of injustice when he was still alive. As a result, he had grievance toward the world. Apart from trying to get rid of it by force, we can only try to figure out how he died and resolve the knot in his heart. That will take care of the grievous energy.”
That really did sound troublesome.
The key was the soul himself had forgotten how he died. How were they going to figure it out?
Shen Ying tilted her head and turned to Yi Qing. “How about we just beat the grievous energy out of him?” That was probably a more no-waste method of doing things.
“Master…” Yi Qing frowned. “His soul is already extremely weak. I can’t even withstand a blow from you – his soul will dissipate for sure.”
“…” What should we do then? Why not you hit him?
“He said he came from Qing He before.” Yi Qing scanned the ghost from head to toe. “Why not we head over to take a look?”
“Would there be anything to eat?”
“”It’s a county city, I think there is a significant number of people over there. There should be food for us to eat.” For all they knew, they could probably replenish their resources.
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”
“Yes, Master.” Yi Qing turned to address Meng Po. “Shortie, why don’t you return first? Hand the ghost over to us for now.”
Meng Po nodded. He turned around and stole a glance at the still confused little ghost. Then, she disappeared.
Song Ren jumped upon seeing Meng Po disappear into thin air. He curled himself up into a ball immediately, then turned to look at Yi Qing. “Immortal, what were the two of you talking about? What grievous energy? Do I have something… something fearful on my body?” The ghost could not figure out what was going on. After hearing the conversation between the few of them about this grievous energy, he managed to decipher that this thing was stopping him from reincarnating.
“We’re going on a trip right now to figure out the cause of your death,” Yi Qing explained. “Don’t worry, we’ll make sure you reincarnate.”
Song Ren nodded, then bowed to the both of them. “Thank you, Exalted Immortals.”
What a well-mannered ghost.
“Master, let’s go!” Yi Qing drew his dharmic sword and helped Shen Ying onto it. Then, he turned to the ghost.
Song Ren paused. He figured out that he was supposed to hop on the sword, so he floated toward it. Just like the nerd he was, he bowed one more time. “Thank you, Exalted Immortal, for taking me to- Ah!”
Before he could finish speaking, Yi Qing pulled the ghost onto the sword and took off. Song Ren was not prepared to fly into the air. He let out a wail that sounded like a dying pig.
Yi Qing: “…”
Shen Ying, “…”
Ten minutes later…
“Get off me!” Yi Qing could not stand it any further. He glared at the ghost hanging onto him like an octopus. No matter how scared he had been, he should have calmed down by then. They had been flying for ten minutes!
“Exalted…. Exalted Immortal.” Song Ren’s originally pale face had turned even whiter. “I’m… I’m afraid of heights!”
Weren’t you floating just awhile ago? Is there anything you’re not afraid of?
Yi QIng frowned, peeling the ghost off his body and holding him an arm length away. “Lead the way.”
“Huh? Ah!” Song Ren had not regained his composure.
“The Qing He County that you stayed at – which direction is it?”
“South… South-east.”
Yi Qing paused, then turned to fly toward the south-east.
After about an hour – with intermittent screaming along the way – the group finally came to a civilised area. From afar, they could even see a couple of villages. The three of them landed. Song Ren was scared stiff. His ghostly body was even more translucent now. He looked like he could dissipate at any moment.
The moment they landed, he tried to act tough and get to his feet. After regaining his composure, he cleared his throat, cupped his fists and bowed to the two others. “I apologise!” He was once again a composed gentleman. It was almost as if he had not been the one who had been panicking the entire journey over here. Of course, one would not be able to tell if not for his trembling legs.
“Left or right?” Yi Qing pointed to the two paths that lay ahead of them. They would probably come to the town centers if they travelled any further up. There were too many mortals there, and the group could not fly too far above ground since they had to keep their eye on the land. In order to avoid any unnecessary attention, they decided to walk the rest of the way.
Song Ren looked left and right. There was a hint of joy in his eyes as he pointed to the path on the right. “I recognise this place! Let’s go this way. We’ll arrive at the county in about two hours.”
“Let’s go.” Yi Qing nodded, turned to take two steps, then realised then Shen Ying had not moved. She was looking at the path on the right in a daze.
“Master?” Yi Qing called out to her.
Shen Ying regained her composure and pointed to the sky. “Chef… is the weather very bad over there?”
“Weather?” Yi Qing paused. He released his divine perception to scan the path on the right side. His eyes widened. Not far away, the sky above the city seemed to be suppressive and dark. The entire city looked like it was being wrapped up in darkness. There were cold and fierce Yin winds. Ghost Qi filled the air. It looked like an absolute ghost town.
Yi Qing’s heart jumped. What strong Yin Qi. Apart from the Underworld, this was the first place he’d been in that was like this.
“Master?”
“Let’s go over!” Shen Ying nodded.
Yi Qing drew his flying sword to bring the group over to the city. In a blink of an eye, they arrived in front of it. It was obvious that the Yin Qi over here was much thicker. The skies were clear the entire way as well, but now, in front of them, dark clouds filled the skies.
It was completely silent the city. All they heard was the sound of the wind rushing past their ears. Looking up, they saw three words written on the gate: Qing He County.
This was Qing He County! Yi Qing frowned and turned to look at the now even paler Song Ren. He had an inkling of what happened over here. He walked forward into the city.
“Are we… going in?” Song Ren’s voice was trembling. He had subconsciously plastered himself against Shen Ying.
Yi QIng’s expression darkened. He wanted to go and check things out, but now he pulled the ghost a distance away from Shen Ying. Stay away from my master, bastard!
“Master, the Yin Qi over there is terribly overwhelming. There is not one living person inside.” Not only that, there was a lot of ghost Qi there. It was likely that most of the ghosts in the city had never entered the Underworld. hey were just wandering around that city. “There are so many ghosts here in the mortal world… It looks like there’s something strange about that city.”
“Mm.” Shen Ying nodded. She tossed the fruit in her hand aside and retrieved another one from Yi Qing’s pocket out of habit.
“We will only find out the real reason for that if we go in.” Yi Qing glanced at the city gates once again. “Master, it’s dark inside. Don’t walk too far away from me.”
“Oh.”
Yi Qing was just about to walk into the castle again. After thinking for a moment, he turned and grabbed Shen Ying’s hand with a very serious expression. He was really afraid she would get lost!
“Exalted… Exalted Immortal.” Song Ren was positively afraid by now. “There won’t be… ghosts in that town, right?”
“…” *Did he forget what he was? *
“You can remain here,” Yi Qing instructed. He turned and started to walk into the city. This was such a huge ghost city – there was no way they could just ignore it.
Song Ren watched as the two of them got further and further. As the cold winds continued to slap at him, he gritted his teeth and chased the duo.
The moment they entered the city, the Yin Qi around them became palpable. It chilled them to their bones. Song Ren trembled subconsciously. The two people in front of him, however, remained unaffected by the cold winds and walked on steadily. Song Ren flew faster to catch up with them.
