The night breeze ceased at that moment. The swaying branches grew quiet, gazing at the two figures on the mountain path alongside the moonlight.
Wu Liangli’s gaze toward Qiu Lang remained calm: “If you’re curious, I can tell you now that he won’t abandon me because of my Earth Ghost identity.”
Qiu Lang laughed coldly: “What makes you so certain?”
Wu Liangli said, “If he were like others who despise Earth Ghosts, he wouldn’t come to rescue Zixi.”
“Wu Liangli, are you blindly trusting the kindness of humans? Have you forgotten your parents who nailed you in that coffin?” Qiu Lang scrutinized Wu Liangli. “Even your birth parents were the same. How can you still trust others?”
He continued: “Humans excel at hypocrisy. For matters they haven’t personally experienced, they can pretend to be generous and overflow with sympathy. But when their interests are involved, they show a completely different face.”
Wu Liangli said, “He’s not that kind of person.”
“You speak with such certainty, yet you still carefully hide your Earth Ghost identity, afraid to let others know.” Qiu Lang stared at her, as if seeing through Wu Liangli’s deepest thoughts. “If you’re truly confident, then try facing him as an Earth Ghost.”
Wu Liangli retorted: “Isn’t that something for me to decide?”
“Go now.”
Qiu Lang’s tone brooked no refusal. As soon as he finished speaking, both of them moved simultaneously.
Wu Liangli retreated, deploying countless star lines to form an array where she had been standing. Qiu Lang charged forward, his blade-staff severing all the star lines.
Qiu Lang’s combat experience far exceeded Wu Liangli’s, and his speed was also faster. His blade-staff cut through the star lines at a speed difficult for the naked eye to capture, preventing Wu Liangli’s formation from materializing.
“Hey, where are you making me go now? You said the passages to the Northern Ghost Plains are closed, and killing intent is everywhere, making it impossible to leave…” While Wu Liangli was dodging through the forest with shadow-speed, she suddenly saw a light array soaring into the sky in the distance.
The location was at the Three Crow River, near the boundary between the Ghost Plains and the Wandering Ghost Region.
Wu Liangli’s gaze focused slightly. In the next instant, Qiu Lang appeared before her. Their stellar powers collided, stirring up a hurricane that transformed the previously quiet forest into chaos.
Falling flowers danced in the air. The petals landing on star lines transformed into flower blades hurtling toward Qiu Lang. He rapidly rotated his blade-staff, creating a blade screen that shattered them. Catching a glimpse of Wu Liangli escaping, he gave chase.
Wu Liangli had great talent in cultivation, but because she had sealed her Star Meridian for years, even though she had regained her powerful abilities, her combat experience was no match for Qiu Lang’s. The rhythm of her array formation was disrupted by Qiu Lang, and the pressure he exerted was overwhelming, forcing her to flee in disarray.
Fallen flowers on the ground were swept up by the hurricane, blurring Qiu Lang’s vision. When he slashed through the flowers obstructing his sight, he couldn’t locate Wu Liangli. Scanning around, he said softly: “Bei Dou’s people have already reached the Three Crow River. Perhaps you should go see.”
Wu Liangli, hiding behind a rock, held her breath and concentrated, taking advantage of the time to set up an array. Black incantation symbols swiftly traveled along the star lines in her hands.
The moonlight cast her shadow. Qiu Lang closed his eyes, activating his Yin-Yang dual meridians—Incantation: Shadow Shatter.
Wu Liangli’s shadow was seized by a powerful stellar force, rendering her immobile. The massive rock concealing her was split by the blade-staff. Fine stone fragments splattered out, the broken rock shards flying outward, piercing several flower trees. The trees collapsed, raising clouds of dust.
Qiu Lang stepped on a broken stone, his blade-staff piercing through Wu Liangli’s cloak shoulder, pinning her to a tree.
Wu Liangli’s array star lines were once again severed, and she was immobilized by the Yin-Yang Incantation: Shadow Shatter. Sweat moistened her temples, her eyelashes trembling slightly as she slowly looked up at Qiu Lang.
“But I don’t want to go,” Wu Liangli said.
Qiu Lang bent slightly to look at her: “Are you afraid?”
“Weren’t you so confident?” Qiu Lang smiled. “Yet when it comes down to it, you’re scared.”
“Qiu Lang.” Wu Liangli suppressed all the emotions churning within her and said softly, “Do you have to go this far? Does it make you feel better to see Zixi and me being abandoned by people?”
Qiu Lang frowned: “You’re being deceived by hypocrites and don’t even realize it!”
Wu Liangli took a deep breath, her hands clenched into fists, struggling to remain calm despite the turmoil of emotions inside her. Though she spoke calmly, her voice grew hoarse: “I’ve already conceded so much… I’ve given up my hatred toward everyone. Do you think that was easy?”
“When I died and revived countless times in that coffin, I too went mad, cursing my parents who abandoned me. I also thought about killing everyone in the world. Why me? Why was my brother the one they took away, not me? Why was I the one who had to be abandoned?”
“I was once a child loved by my parents, too! Before they discovered I was an Earth Ghost, they truly loved me. Even though I hated them later, when I think of our time living together…” Wu Liangli’s bright eyes glistened with tears as she choked up. “The Divine Oracle and generations of Pilgrims have influenced them to hate and fear Earth Ghosts. Once I realized they were deceived by this world, just people who didn’t know the truth… even hating them seemed wrong.”
“How should I vent my pain and resentment? How much effort must I make to reconcile with myself?!”
Qiu Lang frowned: “Wu Liangli—”
“I can’t abandon everything like you and kill everyone in the world! They were such good people, and my grandmother is such a kind person… The Earth Ghosts in the Ice Desert never gave me a sense of home. Even though we’re all Earth Ghosts, everyone has their place. Cheng Jingbai and the others all have their own families. What I’ve always wanted was never a sense of belonging among Earth Ghosts, but family!”
Wu Liangli didn’t blink, but tears spilled from her eyes and slid down her cheeks: “It was my grandmother who gave me a second home, but ironically, her family members were all killed by Earth Ghosts who had lost their humanity, so she hates Earth Ghosts the most. I sealed my Star Meridian to hide my Earth Ghost identity because I knew I absolutely couldn’t bear being abandoned a second or third time.”
“Even if it meant deceiving them, even if it meant becoming weak and being bullied, I didn’t want them to know.”
Wu Liangli had never looked at Qiu Lang with such fragile and desperate eyes.
Qiu Lang remembered when he released her from the coffin years ago. The girl in the coffin had opened her eyes and cried for a very long time, yet remained completely silent. Afterward, she shakily emerged from the coffin, stepping on the soft, wet earth, quietly wiping away her tears alone.
“I don’t want to see the look in their eyes when they hate me and abandon me. I’ve been… I’ve been conceding all along, compromising all along, yet I still have to be abandoned by the people I care about just because I’m an Earth Ghost.” Wu Liangli reached out, trembling hands to grasp Qiu Lang’s sleeve. As she knelt, she lowered her head and wept: “Then what have all these years… been for?”
*
Qiu Lang looked at the weeping Wu Liangli, frowning as he slowly released his grip and withdrew his outward stellar power. He said softly, “Get up.”
At that moment, a strand of star line from Wu Liangli’s fingertips, which were holding his sleeve, wrapped around Qiu Lang’s wrist. The star line meandered upward, directly invading his Spiritual Court Meridian.
Qiu Lang: “…”
Wu Liangli wiped her tears and said: “You can’t remember the Divine Oracle and Life Meridian. I want to try something—if I directly modify your Spiritual Court Meridian within an array, can I implant the memory? Maybe then you’ll…”
Before she could finish, an overwhelmingly powerful Word Incantation suddenly descended. The immense pressure of stellar power forced Wu Liangli’s raised hand down. Her internal organs were compressed, her bones and flesh crushed as she fell to the ground, her clothes stained with blood.
Seeing Wu Liangli crushed, Qiu Lang’s pupils trembled. He released all his stellar power, raising multiple celestial walls to shield Wu Liangli and block this pressure. At the same time, he turned around, his eyes and brows filled with murderous intent as he faced the Calligraphy Saint standing on the hillside.
“Who gave you permission to touch her?” Qiu Lang’s feet were surrounded by black shadows, and the light from his blade-staff’s slash, all directed at the Calligraphy Saint.
The Calligraphy Saint waved his hand. Fang Hui, standing beside him, couldn’t help raising his hands to block the impact from the collision of these two powerful forces.
Qiu Lang shadow-shifted forward, forcing the Calligraphy Saint to act. The life-and-death killing intent erupting from the Calligraphy Saint’s Heaven and Earth Word circulation failed to trap Qiu Lang. His Yin-Yang incantation formed a shield, neutralizing the life-and-death power. The blade energy from his staff was incomparably sharp, lifting the Calligraphy Saint’s clothes and hair.
As the Calligraphy Saint raised his hand, he blocked this strike with a star line covered in black incantation symbols.
Behind them, Wu Liangli’s first action after revival was to flee.
“Go after her,” the Calligraphy Saint said. “Kill her.”
The masked Earth Ghosts who had accompanied the Calligraphy Saint all pursued in the direction Wu Liangli had fled.
Qiu Lang cursed under his breath, intending to withdraw, but was detained by the Calligraphy Saint’s life-and-death power.
The Calligraphy Saint said, “Since she wants to relay information about Zhou Zixi, she cannot be allowed to live.”
“It’s not your decision to make,” Qiu Lang said coldly, gathering power in his hand and forcefully cutting through the life-and-death power with his Yin-Yang incantation to clear a path to chase Wu Liangli.
The Calligraphy Saint intended to stop him, but suddenly paused. From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a small hill in the distance where a dark figure was leisurely approaching. His aura was composed and gentle, as if merging with all the flowing words in heaven and earth, so natural.
*
In Resentment Tower Mountain, black mist permeated the air. Zhang Yuye, standing at the edge of the sacrificial altar, looked back and sighed: “It’s quite lively outside. Qiu Lang and the Calligraphy Saint are quarreling again.”
Zhang Yuye was playing with a sound-recording stone in his hand, which was replaying the earlier conversation between Qiu Lang and Wu Liangli.
Wu Liangli’s tearful voice echoed across the entire sacrificial altar. Zhou Zixi, who had risen again from the sea of corpses and blood, frowned as he heard it, his expression cold as he looked toward the source of Zhang Yuye’s voice.
“Hearing her speak like this, I suddenly want to see what she would be like if she didn’t reconcile with this world and fully vented the resentment in her heart,” Zhang Yuye said with interest. “If her humanity were taken by the Divine Oracle, she wouldn’t need to consider those few kind people.”
“All kindness requires her to humble herself to obtain, and this kindness and love are given only because of her surface appearance, not through her true self. How sad, yet she persists so stubbornly.”
Zhang Yuye sighed: “She’s truly a pitiful girl. I increasingly can’t bear to see her so humble. Facing reality isn’t a bad thing; from today onward, she can live her true life.”
“What nonsense are you spouting? If it weren’t for useless people like you who couldn’t naturally awaken the Life Meridian, creating the Divine Oracle, distorting the world, altering people’s memories, causing her to be abandoned by her parents, she wouldn’t have become like this.”
Zhou Zixi spoke coldly, his brows tinged with hints of viciousness.
“Honestly, do you think only we have the idea of making the Life Meridian disappear?” Zhang Yuye said. “When ordinary cultivators encounter those with the Life Meridian and are suppressed and bullied, most people have such thoughts. Even if they smile and say ‘you’re amazing’ to your face, who knows how they curse you in their hearts for awakening the Life Meridian and being so unfair to them.”
“It’s precisely because too many people have such thoughts that the Divine Oracle succeeded.”
Zhang Yuye smiled at those eyes that could no longer see clearly: “Since the majority of people over the centuries have wanted the Life Meridian to disappear, when someone finally accomplishes this, it’s like fulfilling everyone’s wishes.”
“The fault lies in you being disliked by the majority. Your disappearance is the inevitable trend.”
“The Wandering Ghost Clan merely took action on behalf of the ‘majority,’ protecting those who dislike the Life Meridian by eliminating you. The number of people who dislike the Life Meridian far exceeds the number who awaken it, which means we are right.”
The black mist surrounding the sacrificial altar became turbulent, its flow accelerating. As Zhou Zixi raised his hand, the chains around his wrist jingled.
The black mist swirled between them, obscuring their vision. In the next instant, stellar power swept across, dispersing the mist. Zhou Zixi had shadow-shifted to Zhang Yuye’s front, his five fingers reaching out to grasp Zhang Yuye’s throat.
Yet Zhang Yuye remained calm, smiling slightly. The dispersed black mist regathered, entwining around Zhou Zixi’s body, firmly restraining him in place.
“Stripping away her humanity with the Divine Oracle, allowing her to vent her hatred freely, would be the best release for her.” As Zhang Yuye spoke, he extended his hand, opening his five fingers. In his palm, stellar power condensed into a pure white flower, from whose center flew a star line shimmering with a faint purple light.
Zhang Yuye said, “Go.”
The incessant sound of rattling chains filled the air. The black shadow expanded several times, forming a dark curtain that soared skyward, surrounding the sacrificial altar. Under Zhang Yuye’s surprised gaze, the black shadow extended a hand and caught the star line flying from the flower’s center.
*
At Three Crow River, people were still in a standoff over Sui Qiusan’s whereabouts.
The Full Moon Seal’s light array connected to the sky, appearing formidable at first glance, creating a Heart Meridian suggestion of absolute inescapability.
Since Qian Li couldn’t remember the Divine Oracle and the Life Meridian’s existence, he felt Qiu Hong and the others spoke incoherently, without any logic. Looking at Qiu Hong inside the Full Moon Seal, he said, “Sui Qiusan isn’t a cultivator. How can you expect me to believe he could enter the Wandering Ghost Region alone without making a sound?”
Qiu Hong said, “Perhaps he’s more capable than you think.”
Qian Li furrowed his brows but before he could speak, Ghost Mansion beside him said: “You go to the Wandering Ghost Region first. We’ll watch them here. If you don’t find him, you can come back.”
Zhan Mansion also said: “They’re trapped in the Full Moon Seal and can’t use stellar power. Don’t worry about them escaping.”
Only then did Qian Li turn to leave.
The night breeze blew the reeds on the opposite shore. Qian Li had only walked a few steps when he had an ominous premonition. His intuition had always been accurate, but as he was about to turn back, he saw Qiu Lang shadow-shifting over. This made him pause without looking back.
Qiu Lang frowned as he scanned the area, not finding Wu Liangli. However, his gaze stopped on the Black Fox Mask inside the Full Moon Seal. He seemed to discover something, his eyes focusing as he swung his blade-staff to strike.
Everything happened in an instant, with everyone acting simultaneously.
Qian Li thought this Earth Ghost was attacking without a word and immediately turned back.
Standing in the river, Qiu Hong flicked open his gourd with his finger. A drop of clear wine flowed out, falling into the river and suddenly igniting into intense flames.
The star lines connecting the formation appeared in the flames. Fu Yuan and Black Fox Mask acted at the same time, striking directly at the array’s anchor points. The severed star lines could no longer support the entire formation’s operation.
The light array connecting to the sky started to show cracks. With a crisp cracking sound, the people in the river scattered to avoid Qiu Lang’s lethal strike.
Qiu Hong patted the gourd at his waist, raising an eyebrow as he met Qian Li’s gaze: “I told you before, my wine is very expensive.”
“Not worried about them escaping?” Fu Yuan stood on reed leaves with his sword, glancing at Ghost Mansion and the others from Nan Que on the opposite shore. “Compared to my master’s, your Full Moon Seal is pathetically weak.”
Black Fox Mask stood on the shore, looking at Qiu Lang with his blade-staff. His appearance and weapon matched what Liang Junxia had described, so he said to Fu Yuan, “That’s the Earth Ghost who uses Yin-Yang dual meridian incantations.”
Only then did Fu Yuan look toward Qiu Lang.
Since they had been discovered and the battle had started early, there was no need to follow the plan anymore.
The Seven Star Command flew out from Fu Yuan’s sleeve, hovering before him with a glimmering light. Fu Yuan slashed it with his sword, shattering it. The glowing fragments scattered across heaven and earth.
People far away in Bei Dou felt the summons and looked in the same direction.
The Milky Way was brilliant in the sky. Liang Junxia stood by the window, making a fist and bringing it to his lips with a light cough. Tonight, Chen Zhou probably wouldn’t be coming to him.
The principals, including Qu Zhuyue, stood at Bei Dou’s mountain gate, watching Ming Li and others in the teleportation formation.
Ming Li and Xiang An’ge were each setting up arrays. The teleportation formation had failed countless times because the Wandering Ghost Clan’s coordinate location was special and impenetrable. They needed someone to reach the Wandering Ghost Region first and use the Seven Star Command as a coordinate for teleportation.
“You go to Senior Fu Yuan’s location,” Ming Li said to Xiang An’ge.
Xiang An’ge understood her meaning and glanced at her: “Are you confident?”
Ming Li looked at Chen Zhou and Qing Ying standing behind them. They had just emerged from long suffering and had been free for too short a time. If something unexpected happened, she didn’t want these two to suffer again.
“By the time you resolve things and the others arrive, it will be over,” Ming Li said softly.
Song Tianjiu walked toward Xiang An’ge’s formation: “I’m an honest person, so let me say upfront that I have no confidence at all. I think I should…”
Halfway there, he was pulled back by Ming Li’s star lines.
Ming Li smiled and asked Song Tianjiu, “The coordinates.”
Song Tianjiu sensed the Marrow Awakening with a pained expression, extending his hand to input the coordinates into the array.
The formation’s light grew brilliant, beginning to operate.
Ming Li looked up at Qu Zhuyue standing at the mountain gate and said, “Within three days, I will bring everyone back.”
The Heaven and Earth Words circulated rapidly. The space-tearing formation connected two locations, the teleportation occurring in an instant.
On that mountain wall covered with flowers, red-eyed serpents emerged from their caves, their gazes vigilantly directed toward the same place. Their continuous tongue-flicking sounds warned of intruders.
The Calligraphy Saint and Sui Qiusan on the mountain path looked up. Ming Li was in the sky above, standing on star lines, facing the red-eyed serpents on the mountain wall.
At the foot of Resentment Tower Mountain, Zhang Yuye and Zhou Zixi both sensed the unusual activity outside. The dangerous and urgent hissing of the red-eyed serpents told them: someone had come.