Chapter 805: The Fierce Ghost
Chapter 805: The Fierce Ghost
"There's a man in the Hundred Flower Valley..." The woman's initially cold expression gradually turned frostier.
Although he appeared to be a delicately crafted little junior martial brother, to this woman, who had reached a profound level of cultivation and studied a bit of the Heavenly Mystery Algorithm, the distinction between Yin and Yang and the aura of a man and a woman could not be hidden.
The woman extended her pale, slender hand, intending to immediately capture this imposter who had disguised himself as a woman and infiltrated the Hundred Flower Valley. However, the next moment, she suddenly paused.
Among the vibrant auras of the female disciples...
Mo Hua's causal aura was as pure as the white clouds in the sky and as clear as a spring. It even carried...
A hint of familiarity.
Familiar?
The woman's expression became pensive, tinged with a hint of pain.
After a moment of contemplation, she slowly lowered her hand, and her eyes, as vibrant as a blooming hundred flowers, fixed intently on Mo Hua.
"I want to see what this little imposter is up to by sneaking into my Hundred Flower Valley..."
...
On the mountain path, Mo Hua suddenly sensed something and couldn't help but look up at the sky and then glance around.
Hua Shanshan noticed Mo Hua's strangeness and asked, confused, "What's wrong?"
Mo Hua looked around and frowned slightly.
He always felt like a pair of cold eyes were staring at him, but when he sensed carefully, he found nothing unusual.
"Were we discovered?" Mo Hua's heart skipped a beat.
He thought about it carefully but felt that something was amiss. If he had truly been found out, it must have been by a powerful cultivator or a Transcendental from the Hundred Flower Valley. If that were the case, they would have subdued him on the spot and demanded an explanation.
They wouldn't have let him off so easily.
"Could it be an illusion?" Mo Hua wasn't sure either, so he said, "Senior Sister, let's hurry. The earlier we finish our task, the earlier we can return."
Once discovered, the trouble would be enormous.
Not only would he lose face as the "Junior Brother" of Tai Xu Gate, but Shanshan and Murong would also be implicated.
Hua Shanshan also understood the stakes and nodded.
"Okay."
Then, the two quickened their pace.
True to its name, the Hundred Flower Valley was filled with blooming flowers of various colors.
Along the mountain path, in the pavilions, courtyards, and on the floors and roofs of the buildings, there were flowers of bright red, light red, pale yellow, lush green, and elegant white, each vying for attention.
The air was filled with the fragrance of flowers, powder, and the rich scent of pills.
However, Mo Hua had sneaked in, and with a task at hand, he had no leisure to admire the scenery.
He followed closely, hand in hand with Hua Shanshan.
After walking past the flower gardens, courtyards, flower towers, and through fields and mountains of flowers, they finally arrived at a residence for disciples.
The architecture of the disciple's residence was also flower-themed.
From the outside, the entire building resembled a gorgeous flower.
Inside, the roads were lined with flowers, and the walls, floors, furniture, and screens were adorned with colorful floral patterns.
The residence was bustling with female disciples, each more beautiful and unique than the last.
Hua Shanshan greeted a few familiar female disciples, then, without waiting for them to say anything, pulled Mo Hua upstairs.
When they reached a quiet place with no one around, Hua Shanshan instructed Mo Hua, "This is the female disciples' residence. No peeking!"
"Don't touch anything."
"If any of the sisters try to talk to you, ignore them. If they try to take advantage of you, you must protect yourself and not let them take advantage!"
Mo Hua slowly nodded.
It was just that he didn't quite understand the latter part.
Take advantage?
Protect himself? This was the Hundred Flower Valley. Who would take advantage of him?
However, he didn't dare to ask, so he kept his head down and followed closely behind Hua Shanshan, his eyes fixed on his toes to avoid looking around and accidentally seeing something impolite.
After walking for some time, Hua Shanshan's voice reached his ears, "We're here."
Mo Hua raised his head slightly and found that the surroundings were indeed much quieter. In the distance, there was a room scarred by fire.
Hua Shanshan sighed, "Because of Sister Jin's self-immolation, the nearby disciples have all moved away, so it's safe here, and there's no one else around."
Mo Hua breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed a little.
Only then did he raise his eyes to look at the distant room, scarred by fire.
It was inside that room that Ye Jin had burned herself to death.
At this moment, the door was tightly closed, but a faint, icy Yin energy seeped out from the cracks.
Despite the sunny morning, Hua Shanshan felt a chill.
Mo Hua whispered, "Let's take a look."
Hua Shanshan nodded.
This time, Mo Hua walked in front, and Hua Shanshan unconsciously followed behind him. Strangely, she felt a sense of reassurance walking behind Mo Hua.
The corridor was deathly silent.
The two approached step by step, and fortunately, there were no abnormalities along the way.
When they reached the door, Mo Hua took a closer look and noticed that a formation had been set up on it.
"It's sealed by a formation..." Hua Shanshan said.
"It's fine, it's just a second-grade formation." Mo Hua said casually.
However... a second-grade formation...
Hua Shanshan's expression froze, and before she realized it, Mo Hua had already undone the formation, surprising her.
"So fast..."
In the few years that they hadn't seen each other, Mo Hua's skill in formations seemed to have improved significantly...
Hua Shanshan couldn't help but glance at Mo Hua a few more times.
After undoing the formation, Mo Hua prepared to open the door, but just before doing so, he suddenly remembered something and turned to Hua Shanshan, saying:
"Senior Sister, be extra careful when we go in. If you feel uncomfortable, tell me immediately. Ghostly matters are not to be taken lightly, and you mustn't force yourself."
Mo Hua spoke with utmost seriousness.
Hua Shanshan clenched the corners of her clothes, and cold sweat formed in her palms. She nodded solemnly.
After speaking, Mo Hua gently opened the door.
A strong, eerie aura rushed at them.
Despite its icy coldness, there was also a sense of scorching heat, as if something had been burned, making the atmosphere extremely strange and eerie.
Mo Hua and Hua Shanshan endured the discomfort and stepped inside.
As expected, the inside was charred black, and almost everything had been burned to a crisp.
On the bed, there were still some black marks.
Although Mo Hua didn't want to think about it, he knew that these were the remains of Ye Jin after she had burned to death.
These ashes seemed to carry her worldly resentment, lingering on without dissipation.
"But..."
Mo Hua frowned as he looked around.
Nor was there a fierce ghost.
It was just an eerie, abandoned house where someone had died. Aside from that, there was nothing out of the ordinary.
What was going on?
Mo Hua was perplexed.
Just then, he suddenly felt a chill crawl up his neck.
A pair of pale, delicate hands slowly reached out, as if to strangle him.
Mo Hua's pupils contracted, and he immediately executed the Flowing Water Step, dodging the chilling killing intent and turning to face his attacker. He saw Hua Shanshan, her eyes hollow and fixed on him, her arms outstretched as if to strangle him.
"Ghost possession?!"
Mo Hua felt a shiver down his spine.
When had this happened? He hadn't noticed anything amiss at all.
And now, Hua Shanshan, possessed by a ghost, lunged at Mo Hua, her white claws reaching for his throat.
Mo Hua had no choice but to evade her attacks using the Flowing Water Step.
The two of them chased each other within the charred remains of the house.
Hua Shanshan had already reached the late stage of Qi Refinement, her cultivation far surpassing Mo Hua's. However, as a spiritual cultivator proficient in the Hundred Flower Needle Technique, her abilities were now reduced to mere instinct after being possessed, allowing her to only pounce like a physical cultivator. This posed little threat to Mo Hua, who excelled in body art techniques.
But this situation couldn't continue.
If they made too much noise and attracted attention, the trouble would be immense.
Mo Hua thought for a moment and said softly, "Senior Sister, please forgive me."
Driven by the ghost's intent, 'Hua Shanshan' pounced at Mo Hua, but he nimbly sidestepped her with the agility of flowing water, moving behind her. He then took out a 'Thousand Jun Rod', activated an array, and struck her on the back of her head.
Although Hua Shanshan had cultivated her body to some extent, her physical strength was not exceptional. The blow caused her consciousness to shake, and her body slowly crumpled to the ground.
Mo Hua quickly caught her and laid her down gently.
But in the next moment, 'Hua Shanshan' opened her eyes again, her eyes now harboring a fierce ghost, exuding a murderous aura.
Mo Hua was quick-witted and immediately took out a black cloth, covering 'Hua Shanshan's' forehead.
This black cloth was inscribed with a sealing divine consciousness array by Mo Hua.
By binding her forehead with the black cloth, the fierce ghost was confined within her sea of consciousness, and its power was also suppressed to some extent.
'Hua Shanshan's' expression contorted, but her body remained immobile.
However, this was still not a permanent solution.
The fierce ghost would devour the host's divine consciousness.
If it remained sealed within Shanshan Senior Sister's sea of consciousness, she would be in grave danger.
Mo Hua pondered for a moment, then tried to sound ruthless as he said:
"If you don't come out after I release the seal, I will seal you forever, letting you rot and perish with this physical body!"
After saying this, Mo Hua carefully lifted a corner of the black cloth.
But 'Hua Shanshan' still tried to strangle him.
He had no choice but to reseal the fierce ghost and tried a different approach. With a cold smile, he said, "I warned you. If you perish with this physical body, your resentment will be completely eradicated, and your dying wish will be buried with you, never to be fulfilled in this lifetime."
As he finished speaking, Mo Hua could clearly sense the ghost's consciousness in Hua Shanshan's sea of consciousness tremble.
Mo Hua's eyes narrowed slightly, and he slowly lifted the seal.
Indeed, a chilling ghost consciousness, like the icy water of the ninth day of winter, surged out of Hua Shanshan's sea of consciousness.
As soon as it emerged, Mo Hua took out another black cloth and covered Hua Shanshan's forehead with it.
This black cloth was inscribed with the Divine Consciousness Lock Array.
By using divine consciousness to form a gate, he locked down her sea of consciousness.
With this, the ghost consciousness would not be able to intrude into Hua Shanshan's sea of consciousness for a while.
However, the room was now filled with swirling ghostly mist, making the atmosphere even colder.
Mo Hua's eyes shone brightly, their golden glow piercing through the mist as he scanned the room.
He could see a pitch-black, shadowy figure in the empty space, exuding a shocking amount of resentment and a profound hatred for all living beings.
This was the jealousy of the dead toward the living.
It was also the resentment of those who had perished in misery toward those who were still alive.
This ghostly consciousness was different from any human ghosts, corpse ghosts, demon ghosts, or monster ghosts that Mo Hua had encountered before.
It was more like a collection of "resentment and hatred."
It lacked clear intentions and only retained the resentment from before its death, acting on almost instinct.
It even resembled...
Karma?
Mo Hua's pupils trembled slightly as he felt that he had grasped something, but he couldn't quite put the pieces together yet.
"Regardless of what it is, it can't be left here. Otherwise, it will surely become a huge disaster."
But looking at the ghostly consciousness before him, Mo Hua felt helpless.
He couldn't separate his divine consciousness from his body.
Manifesting his divine consciousness as a sword was also unusable in the physical world.
Otherwise, he could have easily eradicated the ghostly consciousness with a single sword strike.
Since he couldn't destroy it, the only option was to find a way to lure the ghostly consciousness into his sea of consciousness.
Mo Hua's eyes flickered, and he spread his arms wide, pretending to be arrogant as he said:
"Aren't you eager to 'devour' people? Come on, let's see if you have the ability to devour me."
However, the ghostly consciousness remained unmoved.
Although Mo Hua was dressed in the Hundred Flower Valley's robe and appeared to be a delicate and harmless junior martial sister, the ghostly consciousness could instinctively sense a formidable aura from him that made its heart palpitate.
But the ghostly consciousness needed a physical body to latch onto.
Aside from the unconscious Hua Shanshan, whose consciousness was sealed by Mo Hua, there was only one other living person in the room—Mo Hua himself.
Its desire to devour the divine consciousness of the living eventually overcame its fear.
After hesitating for a while, the ghostly consciousness transformed into a gust of yin wind and rushed into Mo Hua's sea of consciousness.
And in that instant, its fate was sealed.
Within Mo Hua's sea of consciousness, his divine consciousness took the form of a golden-eyed figure, gazing at the sinister and violent ghostly consciousness.
Golden blood veins coursed through his body, exuding an overwhelming aura of authority.
Every fiber of the ghostly consciousness trembled in fear.
It knew that this human was someone to be feared, but it never expected to encounter such a terrifying existence within the sea of consciousness.
The ghostly consciousness transformed into a yin wind once more, attempting to flee.
But it had no chance of escape.
Mo Hua extended his palm, and golden array patterns appeared, condensing into chains that completely bound the ghostly shadow, rendering its struggles and howls futile.
After a while, the ghostly shadow fell silent.
However, Mo Hua frowned, sensing that something was amiss.
The next moment, a piercing scream reverberated, resembling the anguished cry of a woman tortured to death.
"Is this... a sign of its evolution into a true fierce ghost?"
Was it about to metamorphose into a genuine malevolent spirit?
At the same time, a corrupting aura emanated from it, an aura that seemed to contain a peculiar, warping set of rules, capable of distorting the Grand Dao and corroding divine consciousness.
The golden lock array that Mo Hua had conjured with his formidable divine consciousness began to crumble under the assault of this corrupting aura, inch by inch.
Mo Hua's expression shifted slightly.
Indeed, it was an aura of corruption, faint but unmistakable.
"I can't let her truly mutate and turn into a fierce ghost..."
Mo Hua sighed, and with a wave of his hand, he summoned a golden sword that pierced straight through the ghost's forehead.
The ghost made no attempt to dodge.
It seemed to know that in the face of someone as powerful as Mo Hua, who seemed almost divine, its efforts were nothing more than a desperate, dying struggle.
Yet, it was filled with reluctance.
Just before its demise, it solidified its form slightly, revealing its true appearance.
It was a woman, her face utterly destroyed by flames, twisted and hideous.
But Mo Hua knew that in life, she had possessed a beautiful countenance.
"Why?" The female ghost's voice was hoarse, as if multiple layers of resentment were woven together, filled with anguish and fury.
"Why...?"
"I died a cruel death, I became a fierce ghost, and still, I can't kill them?"
"Why is it that I suffer, and I am the one who dies?"
"Just because I had a beautiful face?"
"Why is it that even after becoming a ghost, I still can't take my revenge?"
"Why is it that when I was alive, I died, and now that I'm a ghost, it's still me who has to die?"
"Is the way of heaven truly just? Where is this so-called justice?"
She let out a shrill, owl-like laugh, filled with anguish.
Mo Hua struggled to associate this ghost with Ye Jin, the senior martial sister with an oval face, delicate features, and a shy, gentle demeanor.
For a moment, Mo Hua felt a surge of sympathy.
But this nearly-turned-fierce-ghost had to be eliminated.
Mo Hua sighed deeply, his eyes resolute as he said, "If you stay in this world, you will only slaughter the innocent. Rest in peace..."
"As for those you want to kill... I will do it for you."
"The way of heaven may not be fair, but since your resentment has vanished at my hands, your enemies will also die by my hands..."
There was both ice and compassion in Mo Hua's voice.
The female ghost froze.
She stood there, allowing Mo Hua's sword light to shred her form into pieces.
But at the same time, her hideous appearance gradually faded, and the burn marks on her body began to heal, as if she were transforming back into the gentle and graceful 'Senior Martial Sister Ye.'
She looked deeply into Mo Hua's eyes and nodded, her voice as soft and delicate as it had been in life. "Okay."
Then, the sword light flashed.
Her figure, along with her resentment and the mutated fierce ghost, all dissipated.
However, at that moment, Mo Hua sensed that some sort of 'karma' seemed to coil around him in the netherworld.
It was a karmic agreement.
It was also a promise he had made to the mutated fierce ghost.
The heavenly net is vast and leaves no crevice.
Good deeds will be rewarded, and evil deeds will be punished.
In this world, good people may die, but evil people must not be allowed to live.
Mo Hua's gaze was sharp as a sword.
He looked around, released his divine consciousness to inspect his own sea of consciousness, ensuring there were no abnormalities, before withdrawing it.
As his divine consciousness returned, Mo Hua opened his eyes.
The room was filled with scorch marks, but the yin energy had diminished considerably, and the chilling, eerie atmosphere had lessened.
It was as if some ancient grudge had been resolved.
Or perhaps, that ancient grudge had now become entangled with his own karma.
Mo Hua looked around and saw that Hua Shanshan was still lying on the ground, so he quickly went over to help her up and checked her vital signs, finally letting out a sigh of relief.
She didn't seem to be badly hurt...
After all, he wasn't a body cultivator.
The reason she was still unconscious was probably due to the brief ghostly possession, which had affected her divine consciousness, causing some deficit and thus, temporary loss of consciousness.
However, he was powerless when it came to matters within another person's sea of consciousness.
He could only deal with issues within his own sea of consciousness.
Even if it were an incarnation of an evil god, once it entered his sea of consciousness, he would peel off its skin, sterilize it, and turn it into 'grilled meat.'
But when it came to others' seas of consciousness, he was helpless.
In fact, when it came to external evil spirits, as long as they didn't enter his sea of consciousness, Mo Hua couldn't do much about them temporarily.
Mo Hua sighed softly and shook Hua Shanshan gently.
"Senior Sister..."
"Hey, Senior Sister, wake up..."
But before he could finish shaking her awake, Mo Hua's expression changed suddenly.
Someone was there?
A female cultivator, perhaps sensing the disturbance here, was slowly making her way towards them.
"This is bad..."
Mo Hua thought for a moment and immediately cast an invisibility spell.
However, his figure did not disappear.
Mo Hua was taken aback.
What was going on? He sensed his surroundings and was surprised to discover that all the disciples of the Hundred Flower Valley had been marked with a sophisticated revealing array, likely of the third-grade or higher.
He must have missed it when he arrived, too focused on staying hidden and not releasing his divine consciousness to scan the area.
Mo Hua felt a headache coming on.
"There's no other way..."
He thought for a moment and then searched through Hua Shanshan's storage bag, eventually finding several flowers, including some magnolia blossoms.
Mo Hua arranged the magnolia blossoms at the spot where Ye Jin had immolated herself.
Then, he returned to Hua Shanshan's side and pretended to be worried, shaking her gently while anxiously whispering, "Senior Sister, what's wrong? Wake up, Senior Sister..."
The cultivator's aura drew closer, and the sound of footsteps became faintly audible.
Soon, a woman dressed in the Hundred Flower Valley's robe, her face heavily made up, appeared at the door.
She warily glanced inside the room, her eyes falling on the unconscious Hua Shanshan and the concerned Mo Hua in front of her.
As the woman's eyes landed on Mo Hua, he, in turn, discreetly observed her through the corner of his eyes.
Mo Hua was taken aback by what he saw.
He recognized this woman.
During the New Year celebrations, when Elder Gu Hong had shown a portrait to Uncle Gu while arranging a blind date, he had seen that very same portrait.
The woman in the portrait was the same woman standing before him now.
(End of Chapter)
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