Chapter 144: Summoning Spirits

Chapter 144: Soul Summoning

The Law revealed Meng Shu’s house, and Ling Qingjue tore through space without hesitation, unwilling to wait even a second.

Lake followed, staring eagerly.

Stepping out of the rift, Ling Qingjue frowned. “This is his home? How can anyone live in this dump?”

The small, dimly lit rental apartment had no decent furniture. The wall paint was peeling, the floor had a missing tile, and the whole room felt damp and musty.

First, anger surged through him, making him want to smash the place to pieces. Then his chest tightened and he felt inexplicably choked up, a strange emotion gradually consuming his entire being.

His lover had lived in a place like this.

A place where even sunlight couldn’t reach, with air forever filled with a rotting stench.

In a big city, even sunlight costs money. For someone as dirt-poor as Meng Shu, he only deserved to live in a cramped, sunless tenement.

Returning here, Lake couldn’t help but want to cry. He pointed at the bed. “He died right here. I… I tried everything to save him, but nothing worked.”

“Why didn’t he get treatment?” Ling Qingjue asked, puzzled. “Even if he couldn’t be revived, why not at least treat him?”

“It costs a lot of money, and he had none.” Lake sniffled. “Living here costs a fortune too.”

Ling Qingjue fell silent.

He looked around the tiny room, as if he could see the marks of that person’s life.

Meng Shu, was this the place you lived?

You could afford to keep a cat like me, so why didn’t you open your mouth to me?

Ling Qingjue placed the urn on the table beside him, then sat down on the edge of the bed. He picked up a corner of the bedsheet, bent down and sniffed it.

A faint scent of soap.

Was that his scent?

Ling Qingjue couldn’t recall what Meng Shu looked like, but he instinctively felt a pang of sorrow for this person.

Finally, he stood up, his eyes sharpening as he entered a state of spirit vision.

On the other side of the bed, he saw a blurry human figure.

Extremely thin, with slightly long hair that covered a large part of a slender neck.

Wearing a white shirt, he was so skinny he looked like a skeleton, barely able to fill out the clothes.

The person stared blankly ahead, completely unresponsive to his surroundings.

Ling Qingjue silently walked over to him, then slowly crouched down to meet his gaze.

Still no reaction. His eyes were vacant, as if all consciousness had been drained away.

A gaunt, emaciated face with sunken cheeks, almost no flesh left.

Those warm, overflowing eyes had lost their sparkle, becoming dull and slow.

Such a sorry sight, yet the first time Ling Qingjue saw him, he wanted to fuck him. The biological urge to reproduce peaked at that moment.

He stared fixedly at the man’s face, thinking, *So this is what you look like.*

*Really ugly.*

*You’re hideous. I must have been blind to fall for you.*

Ling Qingjue then scorned himself for getting aroused by such an ugly human. He had wasted all these years of life.

Lake couldn’t see Meng Shu’s soul and could only fret anxiously on the side. “How is it? Can you see him?”

Ling Qingjue ignored him, his eyes glued to Meng Shu as he greedily etched his face into his memory. He frowned, suddenly hating the blank expression on Meng Shu’s face.

He reached out, forcibly pulled Meng Shu’s cheeks, and forced a smile onto his lips. “No, that’s not the expression you should have.”

His head throbbed more and more. In his memories, Meng Shu should be lively, spirited, forever smiling.

Who was this lifeless person?

“Meng Shu,” Ling Qingjue called. “Can you hear me?”

Meng Shu still didn’t move, just sat there on the bed without blinking.

“Meng Shu!” Ling Qingjue got a little angry. “Why won’t you talk to me?”

“…No response.”

Lake understood the situation immediately and quickly explained, “I did some research. In their world, a soul can’t stay in the mortal realm for long. It disperses on the seventh day. Today is the seventh day of his death.”

“Disperses?” Ling Qingjue murmured. “What does that mean?”

“After seven days, the soul is gone—completely dissolved. Their souls consist of three souls and seven emotions. Now that he’s lost consciousness, I think his two souls and seven emotions have already scattered. Only one soul remains.”

Lake said urgently, “We can’t let this last soul scatter! We came too late. If it scatters, we’ll never find him!”

Ling Qingjue was from the Cat Clan, naturally sensitive to souls.

He carefully reached out and touched Meng Shu’s cheek, in a very low voice. “Hey…”

His fingers slowly curled. “I’m Ling Qingjue.”

“Do you… know me?”

Meng Shu was completely unresponsive.

He was now barely holding onto his spirit form, his consciousness completely returned to the world.

In less than an hour, his last soul would scatter, and there would be no more Meng Shu in the world.

Lake explained in rapid succession, “Three souls: the heavenly soul, the earthly soul, and the human soul. The heavenly soul governs memory, the earthly soul governs good and evil, and the human soul governs form.”

“His heavenly and earthly souls have scattered, leaving only the human soul. The seven emotions—they’ve probably all scattered too.”

Ling Qingjue withdrew his hand, the atmosphere around him becoming oppressive.

The Law appeared just in time and explained, "You came too late. If you had come two or three days earlier, I could have handed over his soul intact. Now that it has returned to heaven and earth, even I am powerless."

Now, Meng Shu is like a drop of water that has fallen into the sea, and even the Law could not completely separate that drop.

Ling Qingjue's gaze was cold and piercing, fixed on Meng Shu. "I don't care what reasons you all have. I want him. It's just that his soul has scattered, I'm a cat—I can piece him back together even if he's reduced to shreds."

"Yellow Springs and Azure Sky, Hell and Heaven—no matter where he is, I will find him."

Ling Qingjue's fingers suddenly clenched, and the space around them shattered like a mirror again.

"I want him. His life and death are mine to decide. Even if he dies, it'll be by my hand."

The Law sighed. "Fine, fine. Go find him. But don't take too long. If his soul doesn't scatter, he will suffer on the path of reincarnation. Don't bully him too much."

"Bully?" Ling Qingjue bit off those two words and laughed abruptly. "I haven't even said he bullied me, so how is it that I'm bullying him?"

He turned around, his fingers stroking Meng Shu's cheek.

His voice lowered: "Wait here for me. I'll revive you soon, and then... we'll take our time settling things, okay?"

There was no light in Meng Shu's eyes; he could not respond to any of his words.

A massive formation radiating black energy appeared in front of Ling Qingjue.

Lake's face went pale. "Ling Qingjue, you will be hunted for this! You're defying the Heavenly Way!"

Forbidden art: soul-summoning.

Ling Qingjue turned a deaf ear and strode into the formation.

The sky and earth lost all color; a torrential rain suddenly burst forth.

The windows rattled loudly, and countless vengeful spirits howled and screamed.

A streak of pure white soul crashed into Ling Qingjue's arms.

Ling Qingjue grabbed it fiercely, his smile growing even more eerie. "Found you."