Chapter 375

Chapter 375: Cooled Off Yet?

Watching the two of them, Du Zi Heng felt a heavy sourness in his chest and was just about to speak when You Bing Yue said: “Yu Zhi Yi, aren’t you from the Mystic Sect? People of the Mystic Sect take slaying demons and exorcising fiends as their duty. How can you just let this female ghost hurt people?”

Yu Zhi Yi raised a brow and said with a light tone: “Who says she’s hurting anyone? She’s only joking with Miss Chen.”

You Bing Yue stared and snapped: “Do you hear yourself? You call this a joke?”

Yu Zhi Yi chuckled and said: “What else? As a vengeful ghost full of hate, if she truly wanted to kill, Miss Chen would’ve been torn apart the moment they met. How could she still be standing after all this time?”

In truth, Yu Zhi Yi had placed a restriction on Nuan’er’s ghost-body. Nuan’er died with deep grievance. And Chen Xin Yue asked for it: she didn’t just kill Nuan’er; she tortured her first and said many cruel things. Nuan’er was already full of hate, and with the torment before death, that hate grew to the extreme. A resentful spirit like that, once it turns into a ghost, is at least red-clad level. Even if Yu Zhi Yi hadn’t made her appear today, given how rich the spiritual energy was on Mount Ming, Nuan’er would soon have cultivated into a ghost cultivator.

If she was going to release a vengeful ghost like that, of course Yu Zhi Yi would prepare. So after all that choking, Nuan’er only left a purple-red mark on Chen Xin Yue’s neck and didn’t kill her.

But still-Nuan’er’s death-form was awful to see. “Terrifying” wasn’t an exaggeration. Blood streamed from her hollow eyes, and something like eyeballs slowly slipped out. Those sticky, blood-streaked balls of flesh throbbed with red veins, ghastly to the extreme. She opened her mouth and screamed, a black tongue lolling out-long and black.

Chen Xin Yue wasn’t killed by the choking, but she was close to dying of fright. When she killed, she had felt bold and fast; now that retribution stood in front of her, she was terrified. Some people are just like that. They do bad things clean and quick, not because they’re brave, but because they gamble they won’t face payback. Once payback comes, they’re even more timid than most. Like Chen Xin Yue now. She awkwardly tried to move her neck and beg Yu Zhi Yi for help, but when the words reached her lips, no sound came out-the ghost-hand on her throat wouldn’t kill her, but it wouldn’t let her cry for help either.

Ignored, You Bing Yue grew angrier and said, pointing hard at the scene: “Would a victim’s ghost ‘joke’ with her killer? She clearly wants to torment her!”

Yu Zhi Yi remained unmoved. Nuan’er had been murdered-how could she not have hate? If the ghost couldn’t take a life, what was wrong with scaring the killer? In the past, Yu Zhi Yi stopped ghosts from hurting people because their targets were not the ones who harmed them. But if the target was the perpetrator, as long as the ghost didn’t kill, she wouldn’t interfere. This was permitted by Heaven’s Way.

Snubbed by Yu Zhi Yi, You Bing Yue turned to Du Zi Heng and urged: “You Lin, talk to Second Miss Jiang. Others might not know her identity, but you do. If this spreads, it won’t look good for her.”

Du Zi Heng frowned-she had a point-and said to Yu Zhi Yi: “Yi’er, that’s enough. She’ll remember this for life. Besides, it’s only right that a killer pays with a life. You can arrest her and bring her to justice; there’s no need to torture her like this.”

Yu Zhi Yi looked at him without expression and said: “Chief Du, in what capacity are you advising me, the official?”

Du Zi Heng fell silent. He had studied for twenty years and only placed as Third Place Laureate, becoming a mere chief at the Bureau of Merit Evaluation. It was a lifelong pain. Prodded there, he almost keeled over from the sting and forgot to keep arguing.

Even without their needling, Yu Zhi Yi had planned to stop Nuan’er. The ghost-body was heavy with yin; if the choking went on and the yin on Chen Xin Yue grew thick enough, she would die from yin alone. Since Yu Zhi Yi had released Nuan’er, if someone died, the karma would fall on her.

“Enough,” she said. Her voice was airy and pleasant. Though it was a command, there was little forced authority in it.

Nuan’er shivered. She didn’t understand why she felt so afraid, but the fear rose from her very soul, and she dared not push it. Still, she was unwilling. Forcing herself to go against her own instincts, Nuan’er “looked” toward where Yu Zhi Yi stood. Though her eye sockets were empty, Yu Zhi Yi felt the accusatory stare.

And indeed, Nuan’er was accusing her, crying: “She killed me-why won’t you let me take revenge?”

The more she spoke, the angrier she became. Her anger drowned out her fear of Yu Zhi Yi as she screamed: “She used me to frame you and purposely drew all these people to watch so you’d be doomed. You can stomach that?”

Before Yu Zhi Yi could reply, Nuan’er’s ghost-claws shot longer and lashed straight at Yu Zhi Yi.

“Jin’er!” Jiang Liu Yi’s face changed.

Du Zi Heng, however, was calm-he was even a little pleased, thinking: [Seems Second Young Master Jiang still doesn’t know Yi’er’s real skill. A mere female ghost is no match for her.]

Sure enough, before those claws reached Yu Zhi Yi, she swatted them aside with one effortless slap. She looked at Nuan’er and asked faintly: “Cooled off yet?”

Nuan’er drooped and mumbled: “C-cooled…cooled off.”

The crowd had seen her go flying from that soft, boneless-looking hand, but in truth, Yu Zhi Yi’s hand hadn’t touched her at all. The instant Nuan’er’s claws were about to meet Yu Zhi Yi’s palm, a terrifying force burst from Nuan’er’s own hand and sent her tumbling.

When alive, Nuan’er had been quick to read the wind; after becoming a ghost, she had planned to stand tall at last. But before she could even rise, she was swatted mid-air. Her mind snapped clear, and she picked up her old caution.

She hung her head, timid, and said: “But…she hurt me so badly. Can’t I take revenge?”

Yu Zhi Yi answered evenly: “Who said you can’t? For spirits, a few decades pass in a blink. If you can give up your chance to reincarnate, you can wait until she dies and then give her a thorough beating.”

She paused, then added: “But if you do that, you may never meet the underworld guide who comes to fetch you.”

Nuan’er fell silent: “…”

Chen Xin Yue could only stare: “?”