Chapter 166

Chapter 166: This Dirty Human World, I Wish I Had Never Come

You Bing Yue forced herself to hold steady, but she was too light, and there was nothing nearby she could brace against, so she was about to lose her balance.

Suddenly, Du Zi Heng ran over and shielded her.

He carried a talisman from Yu Zhi Yi, so no matter how fierce the yin wind born from the baleful energy became, it could not harm them.

Ou Yang Shuo was affected by the wind too, but not as badly.

Seeing Yu Zhi Yi standing as still as a mountain, he felt unwilling yet had to admit she had real skill. He struggled over to her side and said: “While that thing is still inside, you and I should join forces and turn it to dust!”

As his words fell, the baleful energy thickened.

A terrible force slapped him away again.

Yu Zhi Yi looked at him coolly and said: “If you cannot speak sensibly, then be quiet, or you will only make yourself look stupid as Dragon-Tiger Mountain’s chief disciple.”

This time Ou Yang Shuo did not spit blood, but he also could not say a word.

Yu Zhi Yi ignored him and gazed at the crimson river ahead.

The water churned without wind. In moments, the yin energy above the surface gathered and, in a blink, formed the shape of a woman.

She wore torn hemp clothes. Her body was swollen. Her head looked as if something had smashed it hard; a deep wound split her skull, and the white of her brain could even be seen. There was not a sound patch of skin left on her face.

Li Chang Huai and his companion took one look, clutched their stomachs, and retched together.

You Bing Yue also felt sick, but she had killed for a living in her last life and had seen every kind of death. So although the red-and-white mess on the woman’s face was disgusting, she could bear it.

Even Du Zi Heng, steady as he was, turned pale, yet he held back and did not vomit.

Though no eyeballs could be seen on the woman’s face, everyone felt a gaze fall on them, ice-cold and sharp.

Under that chill, Li Chang Huai and his companion retched even harder.

Ou Yang Shuo finally swallowed the blood in his mouth, climbed up again, and stared at the woman with a grave look, saying: “You are the ghost who caused the tragic deaths of eight innocent people in Cao South Village, aren’t you?”

His long sword slid from its sheath. A thin gold glow flowed along its tip as he said coldly: “I am Ou Yang Shuo, the two hundred eighty-first chief disciple of Dragon-Tiger Mountain. Thinking of your unjust death, if you surrender quietly, I can spare you a remnant soul.”

He added: “If you stay stubborn, the only thing waiting for you is to be scattered into nothing.”

The yin wind rose again, and a wave of dark energy slammed toward Ou Yang Shuo.

But this time, when the energy touched the long sword, it was as if it met something terrifying. In an instant it shattered into bits of white light and faded into the air.

Ou Yang Shuo curled his lips and said: “What I hold is a divine weapon. A low-level evil like you cannot resist it. I advise you to surrender.”

You Bing Yue let out a breath and said: “Brother Ou Yang is amazing.” Then she looked at the ghost and said: “This kind of evil, why waste words? Beat it until it yields and avenge those who died!”

Ou Yang Shuo nodded and said: “Makes sense.”

Du Zi Heng frowned and said: “Wait. I think what happened back then may have hidden truths.”

You Bing Yue shot back without mercy and said: “What hidden truth could ever outweigh eight lives?”

Ou Yang Shuo said with disdain: “I never thought Young Master Du would be so soft-hearted.”

He stopped wasting words and unleashed his ultimate move.

With a sweep of his long arm, he hurled the sword into the air. At the same time, his fingers moved swiftly as he formed hand seals and chanted: “Lin, Bing, Dou, Zhe, Jie, Zhen, Lie, Qian, Xing-Exorcise Evil!”

Golden light burst from the sword. The light shaped itself into a dragon and crashed toward the ghost.

Seeing the golden dragon, Du Zi Heng was shocked, and Li Chang Huai and his companion felt like they were seeing a miracle, saying: “This one is in the bag.”

Before the words fell, the ghost vanished from her spot.

She did not disappear into nothing; she broke into black baleful energy that scattered across the sky.

The energy split into several strands and blasted at Ou Yang Shuo from all sides.

One strand hit him and sent him flying. This time he could not get up, and he could not swallow back the blood rushing up.

As the smell of blood in the air grew thick, the crimson gleam in the energy burned brighter.

Ou Yang Shuo suddenly noticed the black clouds above the village. Feeling his strength draining, he could not even lift a hand to cover his chest that felt shattered, and only one thought remained in his heart: [This trip truly holds a death calamity for me.]

The energy gathered above him into one mass, carrying a force that felt like it could destroy the sky and earth.

Ou Yang Shuo opened his mouth, but not a sound came out. He gave a bitter smile and thought: [So my little life is over.]

Just when he thought he was dead for sure, an ethereal female voice rang out and said: “I do not really want to save this fool, but if you kill him, your hands will be stained with an innocent person’s blood, and I will no longer be able to let you reincarnate.”

The baleful energy froze for a heartbeat, then kept roaring down at Ou Yang Shuo.

Yu Zhi Yi sighed and said: “He does have a foul mouth, but he does not deserve death.”

No one saw how she moved. When they noticed, she was already at Ou Yang Shuo’s side. Her long, pale fingers stretched out and, with ease, blocked the terrifying energy.

Having escaped death, Ou Yang Shuo stared wide-eyed at the slim figure before him, hardly believing what he saw: she had stopped the baleful energy with just two fingers.

Yu Zhi Yi flipped her wrist and flicked her fingers; the energy rolled back to the river and reshaped into the farm girl with the broken skull.

The ghost opened her mouth in a cold, broken voice and said: “Why… stop me… I thought you were not like them…”

Yu Zhi Yi said: “I came to help you, so I must stop you. The eight people back then deserved their deaths, and you watching them die counts as the circle of cause and effect. But if you kill him, you will owe him karma and will not be able to be reborn.”

The ghost suddenly laughed, and the laugh sounded worse than crying as she said: “What is so good about being reborn? What is so good about being human?” She cut off the laugh, and the thick energy shook with her emotions as she said: “If I could, in this dirty human world, I would rather never have come!”

Yu Zhi Yi sighed again and said: “Your name is Cao Zhao Di, and you are from this very Cao South Village. You are the oldest child in your family. Your father and mother prefer sons over daughters. After having you, they had two more daughters, and at last a son.”

She went on: “Before your brother was born, your parents called you a money-loser, beat and scolded you, and did not let you eat, saying that because you existed no boy would come to your family. So when your brother was born, you were the happiest of all. You thought that once your parents got what they wanted, they would stop being cruel to you.”

She said: “But your brother’s birth only deepened your nightmare.”