Chapter Eighty-Eight: The Missing Corpse

I glanced at the time and saw that it was already past ten. Damn it, a single cup of wine had ruined everything. I slipped on my shoes and ran out at once.

Fortunately, in the moonlight I spotted Yueyue crossing the little river. I hurried after her. She had not yet cultivated that Yin-absorbing art, so I could still stop her.

"Yueyue, where are you going?" I gasped as I caught up and grabbed her arm. Her arm was ice-cold, as cold as Wang Ying’s body lying on the bed at home.

It seemed Li Danian had been right. Yueyue truly had a ghostly heart; by nightfall she was almost no different from a spirit. I could not help but curse Chen Hao and Cui Mei inwardly. Those two were far too careless. Had they really not noticed any change in their own daughter?

Yueyue did not even look at me. She simply kept walking forward.

"Yueyue, wake up." Again I stepped in front of her, trying to block her way.

She stopped. Her gaze was grim, her expression rigid, like a robot from a Japanese film.

"Move aside. Don’t stand in my way. If you block me, you die." Her lips twitched, and she forced out those vicious words.

That was too ruthless. By day she had been a frail little girl, yet now the malice in her seemed so heavy. Whatever happened, I could not let her go on to the graveyard.

"Yueyue, come to your senses. You can’t keep going." I spread my arms to bar her path. But at that very moment one of her stiff hands swept swiftly toward my neck.

Luckily I was prepared. I ducked at once. Before I could even rise, she sprang at me with a kick. I was half-crouched and could not dodge in time. Her foot came flying straight at that vulnerable spot.

Poor me, with no warning at all, let out a miserable cry and toppled onto the sand.

I was stunned. I had never been treated like this in all my life. And now this little girl had kicked me. If Wang Ying had not been there, I would have pinned her down on the beach and finished this right there. Of course, that was only a thought. In truth, I could never have done it.

After injuring my manhood, Yueyue did not look back and kept walking. Ignoring the pain, I rushed after her, but before I could get close a fierce, icy current of darkness swept toward me.

With a sharp rustle, like leaves blown apart by the wind, a disheveled woman suddenly appeared before me. More precisely, a female ghost. She was not short, perhaps even a little taller than I was. Her clothes were still fairly intact, and her skin and flesh seemed whole enough. Only her hair was very long, hanging down and hiding her face.

"I’ll spare your life for now. Do not interfere with the spirit girl’s cultivation, or I will make you wish you were dead." The ghost stood there, her hair scattered by the night wind, fluttering wildly.

"And who are you?" With the Thunder Palm and the Three-Foot Dragon Abyss in hand, I had become much more confident.

"Never mind who I am. Get lost at once. Do not hinder the cultivation of the utmost Yin spirit girl." Her manner was utterly haughty. What kind of world was this? Human or ghost, why had everyone become so irritable and arrogant?

I could not worry about that anymore. I had to stop Yueyue now, or once she began, there would be no stopping her.

"Move aside, or I’ll make you vanish into ashes." Seeing Yueyue heading toward the graveyard, I grew anxious.

The ghost gave a cold, desolate laugh. "You seek death." Her fingers flicked, and those knife-like nails shot straight for my chest. She was truly vicious; if I failed to dodge that strike, my chest would be torn straight through.

Since she was so ruthless, I saw no need to be polite. While sidestepping, I drew the Three-Foot Dragon Abyss from my back in a flash and hacked at that vicious claw.

A tearing sound rang out. The ghost’s hand was severed and dropped away. She had probably never imagined the Three-Foot Dragon Abyss to be so formidable, and had even forgotten to evade. As her hand was cut off, her body shook violently. In only a few seconds, with a hiss and a burst, her body dissolved into black smoke and vanished.

I had no time to care whether the female ghost had truly gone up in smoke. I hurried toward Yueyue, who had already reached the edge of the graveyard.

"Yueyue, did you hear me? You can’t go in. If you do, you’re finished." I rushed over and seized her arm, yanking her hard. Her whole body trembled, and she slowly collapsed, as if all strength had been drained from her.

I did not know what had happened, but I dared not remain there. I quickly hoisted Yueyue onto my back and carried her toward her home, all the while thinking: why had a female ghost followed me to stop me? Who was she? And why had she called Yueyue the utmost Yin spirit girl?

As we crossed the little river, a thick fog suddenly rolled in, so dense I could no longer see the road ahead, nor find the path back.

"Wang Dachuan, put the spirit girl down at once and let her cultivate the Yin-absorbing art. That is to follow the will of heaven. Otherwise, you will die a miserable death." Just as I was trying hard to find my way back, a voice drifted out of the fog.

"Dream on! Stop playing ghost tricks on me. If you’ve got the nerve, show yourself. What kind of skill is it to bully a little girl?" I shouted into the fog. Out of nowhere, this mist had risen—could this be the ghost curtain Wei Qi had spoken of?

"Wang Dachuan, if you do not heed my warning, you will be punished." The mist ahead grew thicker and thicker, until I could no longer move forward at all.

In the countryside, fog was not unusual, but it usually appeared in late autumn or early winter, when the temperature difference between day and night was great. A fog like this in the middle of summer was anything but normal. It really did seem like a ghost curtain.

"I’m not easily frightened! If you’ve got the guts, then show yourself." Yueyue was not very heavy, so carrying her was still manageable. I tightened my right hand around the Thunder Palm. If the owner of that voice appeared, I would strike him, no matter whether he was the son of heaven himself.

"You want to see me? Not so easy. Stay here and play a while. I’ll come keep you company tomorrow night." With that, the voice drifted farther and farther away until it could no longer be heard. The instant it vanished, the world before me brightened all at once, and everything came clearly into view.

Ahead of me, Chen Hao, Cui Mei, and a crowd of villagers were hurrying over.

When I got home, Yueyue was lying on the bed, her teeth clenched tight. It took the three of us a long while to wake her. The girl was drenched in sweat and looked terribly weak. The moment she opened her eyes, she threw her arms around Cui Mei’s neck.

"Mom! What happened?"

Hearing Yueyue’s words, I felt a surge of joy. At last, the girl had truly awakened. Ever since I had met her, she had been drowsy and dazed, as if something had been controlling her. It seemed Li Danian had been right: as long as I stayed close to her and suppressed the ghostly heart within her, she could reveal her human nature.

Just as I was celebrating, I received a call from Wei Qi. On the other end of the line, Shangguan Wan’er was crying as she shouted, "Brother, brother, sister-in-law’s body is gone!"

My heart lurched, and I sank to the floor.

How could this be? How could this be? Wang Ying’s soul was already gone. Now was even her body to be lost?

"Chen Hao, Cui Mei. Keep an eye on your daughter. I have something to do and need to go back first." My mind was a blank. I told the couple that much, then bolted out the door.

Since this was a town, there were no taxis at that late hour. After running a while, a red Audi stopped beside me. It was Chen Hao’s neighbor, who had driven me there especially.

An hour later, I reached home. Wei Qi and Shangguan Wan’er were standing at the doorway. Wei Qi looked helpless; Wan’er was in tears.

"Wan’er, what happened? Is it true?" I asked numbly, hurrying inside.

On the bed, there was nothing left. Only that vivid red blood amber remained. Wang Ying’s body had already disappeared. Looking at the empty bed, my heart went hollow, hollow and aching so badly it had gone numb. Numbly I crouched down. No tears. No cries.

I felt as if my world had collapsed.

"Dachuan, Dachuan, are you all right?" Wei Qi crouched beside me, his hand on my shoulder, asking softly.

I scarcely heard what he was saying. I only felt that the world itself had been emptied out, and before my eyes there was only one figure, one scene after another: Wang Ying, alive, dead, real, as a ghost, laughing, crying, in my arms, and I in hers...