Chapter 24: The Vengeful Spirits’ Reckoning

“Ah!”

Many sharp cries emanated from Long Zhi’s body. With her death, all the unmerged souls she had absorbed burst forth simultaneously.

These were vengeful spirits, wandering the mortal realm after unjust deaths, and Long Zhi had absorbed them. While she offered them a chance for retribution and to resolve their lingering grievances, she also trapped them within a cage, deepening their resentment.

These vengeful spirits were derivatives of human souls. Some unconventional cultivators even practiced cultivation by assuming the form of a vengeful spirit.

They possessed no physical form, rendering most cultivation techniques ineffective against them. Likewise, they could not directly harm others, capable only of influencing a person’s luck or conjuring illusions.

Crucially, they were immortal. Humans could purify and weaken them with specific magical artifacts, then seal them away. Yokai, however, could devour vengeful spirits, converting them into spiritual energy.

Yet, not every yokai was as unique as Long Zhi. Most yokai found that devouring vengeful spirits yielded less benefit than simply absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. There was also a significant risk of their emotions being swayed by the spirits, giving rise to inner demons.

“All I wanted was to visit my father back home. Why force me to marry that brutish Er Gouzi from the village, just for a few dozen silver coins?”

“I had already become a constable, but I couldn’t possibly raise four younger brothers all by myself!”

“Why… why did Mother drug me to death! I had just been proven to possess a spiritual root for cultivation, and could have joined the Duio Gate to escape this place!”

“I didn’t kill my daughter; it was those beasts who drugged her, not me! They believed that by dipping steamed buns in blood containing a cultivation physique, they could gain similar talent! It was them!”

“Li Sibao! I gave you a son as I promised, now give me back my daughter! Give me back my daughter!”

“Father, you promised to take me to find Little Sparrow, so why did you bury me?”

“Give me back my citizen’s registry, please, give it back to me, let me out, let me out of this place!”

“Chongxi Town, I’ve returned! The one you sold away three hundred years ago has come back!”

“Who killed us?”

“It was the beasts of Chongxi Town! They were the ones who killed us!”

“Revenge!”

“Revenge!”

“If Long Zhi couldn’t avenge us, then we shall seek vengeance ourselves!”

“We will unite and become a new Long Zhi!”

These vengeful spirits, even without Long Zhi’s intervention, would have erupted sooner or later.

Standing amidst the swirling resentment, Bai Jiujiu let out a helpless sigh.

‘This fellow, just like those five troublesome disciples, is always stirring up unnecessary trouble for themselves,’ she thought.

Bai Jiujiu removed her veil and casually hung it on a tree.

“Bai Jiujiu! Do you intend to interfere with our vengeance?”

They resented Bai Jiujiu for killing Long Zhi, which had caused them to return to the world as spiritual entities, unable to personally slay their enemies.

This towering, blood-soaked hatred caused the resentful energy filling the sky to open blood-dripping eyes. As if sensing the fluctuations of yokai power from Bai Jiujiu, these vengeful spirits collectively lowered their gazes to her.

Bai Jiujiu closed her eyes, spread her palm, and summoned the replicated (fake) Spirit Gathering Orb.

This artifact served to suppress malevolent energy and purify evil entities. Its radiant golden light could make yokai, demons, and ghosts within a hundred-mile radius vanish.

It was precisely this artifact that Zhang Feng had used earlier to temporarily stabilize the crumbling Long Zhi, granting Bai Jiujiu the opportunity to kill her.

“Behold the artifact!”

With a delicate cry, Bai Jiujiu unleashed the full power of the (fake) Spirit Gathering Orb.

The brilliant golden light enveloped the vengeful spirits, causing their previously arrogant and defiant aura to immediately recede. They faded and dissipated like ink dispersing in water, forced to huddle together.

“Even if you can use human artifacts, what good is it? You cannot contain us. We possess the Black Pearl bestowed by the Savior, making us immortal and undying!”

This was true. The purification of the (fake) Spirit Gathering Orb could only weaken them to the greatest extent, at most making them temporarily vanish, but it couldn’t truly kill them.

Furthermore, judging by the memories absorbed from Long Zhi, the yokai before them was merely a useless creature who could wield yokai power but possessed no yokai arts.

Moreover, they had seen many interesting things about Bai Jiujiu within those memories.

This gave the vengeful spirits cause to mock the yokai. With the newfound confidence of immortality, their voices grew even louder as they bathed in the golden light.

“You can’t kill me. You’re just a useless yokai unable to cultivate yokai arts, trash who can’t even learn a single spell.”

“Do you know how the lesser yokai on your mountain talk about you? Do you know every single one of them calls you cruel! They all want to bite off your legs!”

“And your proud disciples have long since betrayed you. They actively avoid Cloudfall Mountain, even plotting to annex and destroy the home you depend on.”

“Long Zhi encountered them, and not a single one failed to despise you, their useless master who only knows how to sleep. Not one of them harbored no desire to pin you beneath them!”

‘Ah haha…’

Bai Jiujiu gave a few dry laughs. She could probably guess what those troublesome disciples had been saying.

‘Some of my past life’s… unique hobbies were simply too ahead of their time for this era, causing these vengeful spirits to misunderstand,’ she mused.

“Which of my five troublesome disciples did you encounter?”

‘Go ahead and name them. Later, I’ll spank every single one of them.’

“Ah hahaha, you’re so pathetic. You probably don’t even know that your eldest disciple, the Ubagabi Jiu Chongtian, will host a Yokai Alliance Assembly in the Tian Shu Mountain Range three years from now. All your disciples will be there, just to deal with you, their useless master!”

‘Hmm, very good. Looks like I’ve found feathers for my duster.’

‘This is an unexpected bonus. I didn’t think I’d get information on those five troublesome disciples here.’

“We are the same; we are all beings rejected by the world. Bai Jiujiu / Esteemed Queen, help us seek revenge, then accept the Black Pearl and become our new vessel!”

“This powerful flesh should not be forever possessed by a useless soul like yours!”

These vengeful spirits sensed the formidable yokai power within Bai Jiujiu’s body. If they could possess this physical form, they wouldn’t just be able to exact revenge; they could even rewrite the rules of the world!

Bai Jiujiu smiled. She wasn’t angered by the invitations and slanders from the vengeful spirits before her. Instead, she quietly bowed in thanks.

“Thank you very much for providing me with this evidence. Now I have a few more excuses to discipline those troublesome disciples later!”

“As for this body, if you want it, take it~”

Bai Jiujiu remained with her eyes closed, rubbing her chin, lost in thought.

Then, she put away the (fake) Spirit Gathering Orb, spread her arms wide, and lay flat on the ground. Subconsciously, she lifted her legs and arranged them into an ‘M’ shape, looking utterly submissive, as if offering herself up for the taking.

‘Oops, accidentally slipped into a playful pose from my time with my disciples,’ she thought.

Bai Jiujiu subtly lowered her legs, then sat up to tidy her clothes before closing her eyes and lying back down, deep in thought.

“This…”

This action utterly bewildered the vengeful spirits. However, being generally unintelligent, they assumed Bai Jiujiu, the ‘useless creature,’ had given up resistance. With loud shrieks, they surged towards her.

A black pearl hovered before Bai Jiujiu’s mouth, forcefully shoving itself in before exploding inside her.

Immediately, other vengeful spirits screamed as they drilled into various orifices on Bai Jiujiu’s body. The two lower entrances, which Bai Jiujiu had dutifully kept sealed tight, left them no choice but to assault the upper path.

As the vengeful spirits entered Bai Jiujiu’s body, they personally experienced her immense power.

Black qi clung tightly to Bai Jiujiu’s flesh, enveloping her entire body.

“Hahaha, Bai Jiujiu, now, accept us! Your soul will be rewritten into our consciousness, our very form!”

The black vengeful spirits transformed into needles, piercing directly into Bai Jiujiu’s temples, connecting to her brain.

The vengeful spirits did not linger in the physical body; instead, they collectively surged towards Bai Jiujiu’s brain.

They intended to erase Bai Jiujiu’s original soul. Having learned their lesson from Long Zhi, this group of vengeful spirits planned to directly rewrite Bai Jiujiu’s soul, transforming her into a puppet they could discard at will!

“We are all puppets!”

“Bai Jiujiu will be just like us.”

“Bai Jiujiu too, will become a puppet!”

“Becoming our puppet!”

“A puppet despised by all!”

The vengeful spirits reveled in the joy of their envisioned future, completely failing to notice that Bai Jiujiu, despite enduring pain unbearable to ordinary people, made not a single sound.

‘The reason Bai Jiujiu couldn’t use yokai arts was precisely because her soul was too useless, wasn’t it?’ they thought.

Excited, the vengeful spirits rushed to contaminate Bai Jiujiu’s soul, arriving deep within her brain, at her soul space.

To the utter astonishment of all the vengeful spirits, Bai Jiujiu’s soul space was actually a cave. Along its walls, scorching, bubbling magma flowed, forming a vast lava pool at the bottom of the spiritual realm.

The suffocating heat that assailed them made the vengeful spirits’ bodies emit agonizing shrieks. Countless hands, formed from magma, erupted from the pool, violently grabbing the spirits and dragging them downwards.

“Ah!!!!”

In the center of the lava pool stood a solitary rock, upon which a pure white soul was bound by countless chains, enduring such brutal torment.

Only a single azure pearl floated before her, gently soothing her inner being.