Chapter 24: The Fierce Battle of Yang Knife

  My heart is full of doubts, yet I am shocked and don't know what to make of it, so I can only let things unfold naturally.

  I walked around a corner with Old Qian, and he suddenly let out an "ah" of surprise. I also felt a jolt in my heart, it was too strange.

  Suddenly, a deep valley rose up, the valley was bottomless, and it was all shrouded in black fog. The cliffs on both sides were lined with rows of coffins suspended in mid-air, the black coffins drifted with the black fog, stirring up thick black fog that couldn't be dispersed. On both sides of the valley wall, there were white bones, and on the black wall above, white bones were embedded again. The bleak white bones were scattered all over, like wandering spirits, and there was a faint sound of wailing mixed in, it was entirely a scene of a chaotic burial ground.

  In an instant, a white shadow fluttered and rose, flying into the mountain valley. Her feet tapped on the suspended coffin, surrounded by black fog. As she danced, the coffins stood in rows against the wall, while the valley echoed with waves of mournful wailing that tugged at one's heartstrings. The crying sounds were like the pain of losing a loved one, heartbreaking and piercing to the bone. The whole person was also inexplicably saddened by these cries, and some past pains seemed to surface in their heart. Turning to look at Old Qian, his face was already streaming with tears. And the group of white-clad women behind him were also pale-faced, all covering their faces with white veils, their shoulders shaking uncontrollably.

  It floated gently in front of me and Old Qian, with a sorrowful expression on its face. "This is the Wandering Soul Valley, where all the people who were forced to relocate due to your road construction have become homeless wandering souls. I've collected them all and settled them here. But although their bodies are at rest, it's hard to calm their spirits. Leaving their hometowns, separated from their loved ones, how can they be at peace?"

  "Is it the wandering soul of the mountain hollow?" I asked.

  Ling Miao nodded slightly, "Earlier you thought I was being unreasonable, now I'll let you experience it all for yourselves. Don't call me a sentimental fool or a madman in your hearts again."

  Good heavens! I and Old Qian didn't expect this woman to see right through us.

  "In the underworld, one must repay what is owed. I accepted your genuine tears, which will temporarily calm the wandering soul." Ling Miao's face still looked miserable.

  As she spoke, Ling Miao took over the jade plate, and my tears were still rolling in the plate.

  With a gentle wave of her hand, she poured into the valley, drawing a beautiful and crystal-clear arc. Tears fell into the valley, making a soft slapping sound, and suddenly a cluster of white mist rose up. The black mist that had just appeared was wrapped in clusters of white mist, and as it fluttered up and down, it disappeared without a trace. The coffins returned to the valley wall one by one, and the dense white bones on the wall also flashed with crystal light. At this moment, the valley was suddenly quiet.

  "In the mortal world, true emotions bring tears, and it's okay to temporarily calm the wandering soul's longing for its hometown, but this is not a long-term solution." Ling Miao said to me.

  "That's easy, tears, I have plenty of them." I said quickly, and my heart was indeed moved by these miserable scenes, at the same time thinking about the unease on this journey, thinking about those wandering souls, it is indeed pitiful.

  "Sincere tears require sincerity to fall, and need to be naturally drawn out, not forcibly obtained. You run to a lonely grave, even if you cry loudly, how many people will believe your sincerity?" Ling Miao Yan slanted her eyes and said to me.

  I spat out my tongue, it's really embarrassing, just now was an impulsive outburst, thinking about it is indeed clever. The world of Yang is also like this, one set in front of people, another set behind their backs, no one will truly befriend you with a sincere heart, it seems that true emotions are precious and rare in both the Yin and Yang realms. It turns out my tears were meant for this, the tears of the righteous spirit, can indeed temporarily calm the restless spirits.

  The group of women in white clothes behind her were still sobbing, and she suddenly turned around to face them and said: "The messenger of the righteous spirit has already entered my cave, there is a way to calm the spirit, why are you still grieving?"

  The crowd of women murmured softly and lined up on both sides.

  Ling Miao Yan said to me, "These are all the evil consequences left behind after the struggle between Zheng Ling Men and Wu Ying Men in the past. A group of wild ghosts and lonely souls were left behind at that time, and they were about to turn into smoke and disappear. I took them in, but now I don't know what to do next either."

  Lao Qian's eyes widened in surprise, he hadn't expected things to be so complicated. Although he had said he was prepared, he hadn't thought that this life's project would drag out a grudge from the previous life. This matter couldn't help but become complicated.

  "The Ghost Sun Blade has appeared, no matter how you were deceived into being here, anyway the blade will rise and fall, and the Yin realm will be splattered with blood rain again. Who else would I look for if not you?" Ling Miao Yan continued to say.

  "This woman is really strange, maybe she's still explaining why she cheated me earlier. I quickly said: 'I was an ordinary person, I didn't want to get involved with your Yin realm, and I didn't know, of course you didn't know either, it's not a crime if you don't know, now talking about other things is meaningless, I've already swallowed my anger, my spiritual blood can form a knife, can't I just use this ghostly Yang knife now?'"

  What I said is true, indeed it's based on my usual work thinking habits. Once something happens, we look for solutions and then push the responsibility back and forth. In our place, there's a term called "bureaucratic" which is despised by people.

  She smiled again upon hearing me say that, "The Ghost Sun Knife is the beginning of a spiritual knife, as long as it's formed, it will listen to the person holding the knife, this is also what I'm worried about."

  Suddenly a big commotion broke out, and a woman in white rushed over to report that something was happening outside the cave. Ling Miao Yan's expression changed as soon as she heard it, her face sinking, "It's so fast, we can't hide from it."

  As I emerged from the cave entrance, I was suddenly struck by a vast and oppressive blackness.

  At the forefront, it was a southern barbarian, with Feng Chen standing guard beside him, hissing and wailing sounds coming from behind him, clusters of blood bats flying about, their eyes glowing red in the dark shadows, rolling about ceaselessly, a pungent stench assailing the face.

  "You're obstructing my great plan, I now have the divine knife in hand, quickly release the righteous spirit messenger, let his soul return to the mountains and fields, I can spare your life." Nanmanzi sneered coldly, "Don't be afraid, Righteous Spirit Messenger, we are here to save you, don't listen to this wicked woman's words, they're all deceiving you."

  But I still have something to do.

  Ling Miao Yan coldly smiled and said: "Southern Barbarian, don't try to be clever with your words. I and the Righteous Spirit Envoy are discussing how to eliminate you, this evil being, so that the Underworld can be at peace. But you, under the guise of a Savior, actually want to get rid of all the obstacles in your path, to fulfill your ambition of unifying the Underworld. Who would believe what you say?"

  I see the dust flying, but in fact, I have already understood it in my heart.

  Lao Qian shouted from the side, "It's that old Daoist who deceived us and became a spiritual knife. Now the knife is in his hands, let's go take it back."

  The dark wind suddenly rose, and the bats flew forward in a group, with waves of stench pressing before their eyes. The southern barbarian hovered in mid-air, his blood-red eyes like two fireballs. Under his agitation, the dust had already risen, and the white ghostly sword was raised. A group of small rascals were also restless and unstoppable.

  With a gentle wave of her hand, the white-clad women floated into position, instantly forming a lotus flower formation.

  "Ling Miao Yan sternly shouted, 'You southern barbarian, you came to Guilin Cave to do evil, did your master agree? Everyone in the underworld knows that Guilin Cave has always been a place where lonely souls and wild ghosts are collected, and they are helped to cross over to the other side. You acted so recklessly, how can you explain this to the underworld?'"

  "Hahaha", the Southern Barbarian burst into loud laughter, "The Ghostly Yang Blade is on my side, and it's only natural that I, the master of the Unseen Gate, should be the leader of the Yin realm. How could you, a mere lonely soul and wild ghost, dare to block my way and cause trouble? This is me doing justice for Heaven, don't you see that the world is full of greedy people? You're still kind enough to take in these good-for-nothings, but you can't tell good from bad. So, I'm just letting you wake up, why not come with me instead? We'll plan something big together and achieve great things."

  It seems that the southerner has brought out the same old nonsense he used to spout at the Yang's house on the way home, saying nice things on the surface but actually being unreasonable.

  At this time, the blood bat was stirred up by the evil spirit, and it flew towards the lotus formation in a swirling motion, with an increasingly strong smell of blood.

  Suddenly a loud cry, the white gauze shook straight, the lotus array suddenly rotated in unison, the lotus dust converged outward, red light and white shadow, the dark wind wrapped around the neck.

  The lotus formation spins faster and faster, while the blood bats gather more and more densely.

  Suddenly loud roars and mournful cries filled the air. The two sides clashed in a flurry of activity. The lotus formation unfolded like a blooming flower, layer upon layer advancing forward. The outer perimeter was littered with countless dead and wounded, yet they continued to surge forward relentlessly. Meanwhile, the blood bats were also rolling forward in waves, one wave exhausted, another wave followed, and my companion Old Qian and I stood at the entrance of the cave, our feet already ankle-deep in a river of blood, yet we were unable to lend any assistance.

  The southern barbarian's strange cry, suddenly pressed down on the Ling Miao Ran who was urging the array to move, and Ling Miao Ran had just raised her silk wrapper. The two of them were entwined in mid-air, and for a time it was hard to distinguish between victory and defeat.

  "What's wrong with you, don't you want to become a great Bodhisattva?" It was Nanbanjin's voice.

  Suddenly a white shadow flashed, the sword hummed in mid-air, and the white shadow flipped over, a strange cry came, it was Fengchenwu dancing with the Ghost Sun Knife, killing into the formation.

  White light flashed, red shadows fluttered, blood splattered, and the cries grew louder.

  This is the second time I've witnessed the power of Gui Yang Dao. Good heavens, wherever the knife's shadow passed, only a bloody mess was seen. The blood bat had already cleared a path of blood, and Feng Chen's hair stood on end, as if he were a mad demon, wherever the knife's shadow passed, the white-clad woman died in an instant, all with a flash of blood light, instantly turning into piles of white bones. In an instant, piles of white bones, strong gusts of wind blowing, the entire Gui Ling Cave was filled with mournful cries.

  Ling Miao Yan suddenly turned her head to look at the ground, her face filled with sorrow and choking back tears. But Nan Man Zi let out a loud, strange cry, even more pleased with himself, tightly holding onto Ling Miao Yan.

  Just as I and Old Qian were anxious to the point of jumping with red eyes, a loud shout suddenly came from behind us, and a group of white shadows rolled out of the cave behind us.

  No, it's just the vengeful spirits being startled, all of them have come out.

  The little southern barbarian saw this and cried out loudly, "Let's take it together, I'll make you the great protector."

  The wind and dust settled, and the knife danced into a white practice, killing until blood and water splattered everywhere, and went straight to the entrance of the cave where the white mist was.

  It was slow in coming, but swift when it came. Yet I could hear the rumbling sound, and turning my head, I saw a series of coffins suspended in mid-air, like flying boats, rushing towards the entrance, as if madly pouring outwards.

  The lotus formation outside had long been in great disorder, the lotus tips were all damaged, and only the flower hearts were left to support each other. How could this withstand the power of the Ling knife? The wind and dust had already turned red with killing intent, leaving no room for the spirits to escape. It seemed that they would soon kill their way into the cave, and several coffins had already floated to the entrance, which would inevitably be cut down by the Ghost Sun Knife.

  The coffin is a resting place. Without it, the wandering soul will be even more miserable, like a homeless person. When the time comes to transfer the spirit, there will also be problems.

  What's next?

  Suddenly, a mournful cry echoed through the air, and it turned out that Ling Miao had let it out.

  Her hair was scattered, and her silk became a thread. Suddenly, she struck the Southern Barbarian's head with a fierce blow, and blood splattered everywhere. The Southern Barbarian did not expect this woman to be so fiercely passionate that she would exhaust all her strength to block his advance.

  The Southern Barbarian's body twisted, her hands like fans, the dark wind howling, desperately pressing down. Suddenly she lost balance and fell to the ground headfirst. At this moment, the Southern Barbarian shouted: "Withdraw this wicked woman!"

  The wind and dust heard a sudden change, accompanied by a gust of cold air, floating in front of Ling Miao Ran.

  The whole body is covered with blood and wounds at this time, eyes are all cracked, the whole person has gone mad.

  A white shadow flashed, and Feng Chen raised his Ghost Sun Blade high, chopping down with all his might.