Chapter Thirty-Nine

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Shen Wang no longer exuded the ease and elegance from before; his face was pale, and he looked visibly weak, yet his expression remained calm and collected.

"Brother Shen!" Xu Cheng shouted from the window, a mix of fear and joy in his voice.

Shen Wang walked a few steps and then slumped down on the steps under the eaves, stretching lazily: "What are you yelling for?"

"Brother Shen, I'm so glad you're okay!" Xu Cheng, trying to mimic Shen Wang's earlier window exit, tumbled out twice before landing beside him, "What's going on? Those little ghosts..."

Xiao Kong also flew out of the house, awkwardly landing on Shen Wang's shoulder: "Shen, the villain, you promised to give me something tasty and let me play games... You can't just die so easily."

"You're so young, yet you speak so harshly," Shen Wang said, exasperated. "Don't worry, I'll definitely live longer than you, blessed with immortal fortune and everlasting life."

Xiao Kong rolled his eyes, tugging at a strand of Shen Wang's hair: "Braggart!"

Amidst the laughter and teasing, the man in black approached, standing slightly elevated, looking down at Shen Wang.

Shen Wang also looked up, squinting at the man in black, then smiled and extended his hand.

After a few seconds of silence, the man in black reached out and helped Shen Wang up.

"Thanks, Brother Xiao Hei." Shen Wang, pulled up, stumbled a bit and patted his hands.

"You understand formations?" The man in black asked, looking at the little ghosts trapped in the white light.

Standing side by side with him, Shen Wang also gazed at the little ghosts and chuckled, "A little."

"Transforming the simplest confinement formation into a purification array, elevating the level of the formation..." The man in black hummed lightly, "That's more than just a little."

Shen Wang shrugged, "Should I say that I'm actually a genius in formations, with an exceptional memory, quick to learn, a rare talent in a thousand years... wouldn't that sound too conceited?"

"Do you even have a sense of shame?" the man in black retorted.

In the purification formation, the little ghosts' malevolence dissipated, making them seem like normal children... If they hadn't had their souls extracted by Lin Yinyang, they indeed would have been ordinary kids.

Living the lives of normal people.

The man in black hadn't expected that Shen Wang could purify these little ghosts, who had lost all sense.

He observed the purification formation closely, confirming it was an unprecedented new formation... The man in black's gaze towards Shen Wang grew more complex.

Possessing so many high-quality talismans and able to draw formations by hand, where exactly did this man come from? What was his background?

Could he be a disciple from one of those reclusive sects on a journey? The man in black pondered.

"There's still one vile creature left to deal with in the room," Shen Wang said languidly as he returned to the room.

Lin Yinyang, tormented by the Gu insects, was so weak he could barely breathe, twitching spasmodically, a pitiable sight.

Shen Wang was startled.

"I infected him with a Gu," the man in black spoke softly from behind Shen Wang, "Causing his stomach to churn like knives are twisting inside, and his head to throb unbearably. He's in so much pain he can't make a sound, only endure the agony."

This was a malicious Gu used for punishment in the Miaojiang region. It wouldn't kill its host but would burrow into the flesh, breeding larvae that infest every part of the body via the bloodstream.

Every movement of the Gu causes excruciating pain, torturing the host day and night. Those without strong willpower often end up taking their own lives to escape the agony.

Upon the host's death, if the skin is cut open, the muscles and blood would be found teeming with tiny white worms.

Hearing about the cruelty of the Gu, Shen Wang gasped and gave the man in black a thumbs-up: "Wow, Brother Xiao Hei, that's brutal."

The man in black turned his head.

Shen Wang continued, "I like it!"

"Evildoers should be punished by their own kind, ridding society of nuisances brings great satisfaction to all!"

After a few seconds of silence, the man in black chuckled softly, "Only you would think that I am acting for the good of the people and bringing them joy."

Shen Wang, not hearing his murmur, circled around Lin Yinyang a few times, then suddenly shouted, "Xu Cheng!"

Xu Cheng scurried in, hurrying to Shen Wang's side, "What is it, Brother Shen?"

Eager to please to the extreme.

"Move this guy to the courtyard," instructed Shen Wang.

So I'm just the muscle here. Xu Cheng clicked his tongue, rolled up his sleeves, and resignedly dragged Lin Yinyang by his legs, hauling him all the way to the courtyard.

Lin Yinyang, in pain but not dead, could only glare furiously at Xu Cheng as he was moved.

Initially intimidated by Lin Yinyang's gaze, Xu Cheng soon mustered courage as he realized Lin Yinyang couldn't move. He ignored Lin Yinyang's expressions and cautiously dragged him to the courtyard.

The now-quiet little ghosts became restless upon seeing Lin Yinyang but were soon calmed by the white light.

"For your selfish desires, you've harmed so many infants and children. You deserve to die a thousand deaths, but unfortunately, you only have one life."

"Luckily, you have a few years of life left. Your remaining life will be used to restore these children's souls."

After speaking, Shen Wang began to modify the formation.

Lin Yinyang, panicking, pleaded desperately, "Senior, please, I beg you to spare me. I've learned my lesson, I won't dare do it again..."

Unmoved, Shen Wang continued working on the formation.

The man in black observed the formation Shen Wang was drawing, thoughtful: "This formation is not unrelated to the life-exchanging formation inside the house; in fact, they are identical."

Yet there were differences. The originally crude formation seemed refined and detailed in Shen Wang's hands.

Unwittingly, the man in black's gaze shifted from the formation to Shen Wang's face, filled with curiosity: "Who exactly are you? Why was there no trace of you in the past?"

Lin Yinyang, seeing his pleas to Shen Wang and the man in black ineffective, turned his gaze to Xu Cheng: "Chengcheng, I was so good to you before. Every time you were sick, I tried everything to cure you. You can't just watch me die like this!"

Xu Cheng did feel a twinge of pity, but he motioned Lin Yinyang to look at the little ghosts: "Even if I forgive you, these innocent children won't."

"They were destined to die, that was their fate!" Lin Yinyang groaned in agony, gasping for air, his reasoning clouded by pain. Without thinking, he blurted out, "Even you, Xu Cheng, would not have been born if I hadn't placed your soul into your parents' bodies."

"Your soul and body were incompatible when you were young. It was I who found ways to stabilize your soul, allowing you to live this long... Chengcheng, compared to your parents, I am the one who gave you life. You can't just stand by and watch me die!"

Shocked by these revelations, Xu Cheng's pupils dilated: "How is that possible!"

Shen Wang, having finished the formation, wiped the sweat from his forehead and came over: "Don't listen to his nonsense. Fate is not set in stone. You were born of your parents' flesh and blood; you are their child."

"Your parents were infertile. They came to me for help, and I inserted your soul into your mother's womb. Without me, there would be no you," Lin Yinyang claimed.

Xu Cheng was utterly stunned; he never imagined that his own parents could be part of such an absurd story, just like something out of a tale about Mrs. Lin next door who sought help from the supernatural.

"Did you help him out of kindness?" Shen Wang interrupted, "You were just nurturing a vessel because you found the little ghosts' resentment too weak to form a ghost king."

"You provided him with a happy and normal upbringing, then planned to extract his lifespan, causing his untimely death and overwhelming resentment to turn him into a fierce ghost."

"Life span, nurturing a fierce ghost... Your constant attention to him was just to shatter the vessel and extract the soul inside."

The man in black's eyes flickered slightly, no wonder the little ghost king had no ghostly aura, baffling all the cultivators in C City's metaphysical community.

Xu Cheng himself was an infant ghost, sent into his mother's womb to be reborn as a human, then re-transformed into a ghost king, carrying more 'humanity' than ordinary ghosts.

This allowed him to perfectly conceal his ghostly aura.

All of Lin Yinyang's schemes were exposed, and his face turned ashen. In excruciating pain, he watched helplessly as Shen Wang activated the formation.

A bridge of light connected Lin Yinyang and the formation of the little ghosts. The ghosts with incomplete souls began to show signs of regaining their limbs, while Lin Yinyang aged rapidly, losing all his vitality, his eyes dimming with the scent of decay.

Xu Cheng took a deep breath, meeting Shen Wang's gaze with resolve: "My parents didn't go there for a sex change, they were seeking a child. In modern times, there's artificial insemination for treating infertility. Back then... they probably only had this method available."

"I am their child, no matter how I came into being. I am their child."

Shen Wang patted his shoulder: "Exactly, once you were placed in your mother's body, you shared an unbreakable bond of blood and kinship with them."

It's good to have this understanding.

This old creep, even at death's door, still manages to disgust others. Shen Wang silently increased the life-draining power of the life-exchange formation.

Meanwhile, witnessing Lin Yinyang's miserable end, the little ghosts' obsessions dissipated, and they slowly vanished into the air.

"Their souls are incomplete. Sending them for reincarnation, they can only be reborn as fish, insects, birds, or beasts," the man in black spoke.

Shen Wang's gaze remained steady: "It's still better than remaining a ghost and eventually facing the demise of soul dispersal."

As long as they enter the cycle of reincarnation, even as animals, there's always a chance for their souls to gradually heal and become whole. Remaining as ghosts only leads to total soul dispersal, with no other end.

The man in black fell silent: "You're unexpectedly kind-hearted."

"What can I say? I'm just a good person," Shen Wang sighed deeply, "I can't bear to see the sufferings of the world."

The man in black laughed, unsure if he was amused by Shen Wang's thick skin or his grandiose claims.

From a distance, several voices could be heard coming from the direction of the mountain's base.

"Is this the place? Are you sure it's here?"

"There's a strong residue of resentment in the mountains. Fellow Daoist, it seems the traitor of your Maoshan Ghost Control Sect is here."

"Qin You Rong, how did you come by this information, to find someone in such a remote corner?"

"Our Ghost Control Sect has been searching for this traitor for decades without success, how did you, a junior, manage to find them..."

"My seniors, don't be hasty, you'll understand once you're here."

Hearing the faint conversation, the man in black paused briefly and looked at Shen Wang: "Did you call them?"

"Didn't you say to call the police for such matters? The special department should be the metaphysical world's police, right?" Shen Wang was also surprised, "I thought he either wouldn't believe me or would take a few days to show up. I didn't expect them to come so quickly."

The man in black swiftly departed, and as he left, he looked at Shen Wang: "The dagger you stole from me... I'll consider it a gift."

Without mentioning any future meeting or farewell, he drifted away in another direction.

"Impressive movement," Shen Wang couldn't help but admire aloud. After his praise, he suddenly realized, "What do you mean stole? That was clearly your payment for my medical treatment!"

After mumbling a few words, Shen Wang chuckled: "Mysterious and elusive, no telling what the situation will be the next time we meet."