Perhaps no one wants it, but the day of the covenant still comes in defiance of our will.

　　Despite the fact that the contract had been torn up, the ghosts still didn’t swarm in, only waiting for the appointed moment to arrive before slowly entering through the village entrance.

　　The villagers prepared for the so-called bargaining, this stall they have been doing for many years, popular and familiar, do not need assistants, only in the past it is both sides to present the contract, they can point to the other side of the contract of the text, justified that the time has not yet arrived, but this time can not be repeated the old trick.

　　On the long street where the deed was confirmed in previous years, on one side were the villagers in fear and anxiety, and on the other side were ghosts of all shapes and sizes, some of them human, some of them birds and beasts, the common denominator was that they were all skinless, with obvious signs of decay, revealing the flesh and bones inside, and the more serious ones even rotted half of their bodies, with resentment towards the living and thirst for flesh and blood in their eyes, and staring at us straightly.

　　“It feels really gross, I don’t know how those necromancers can stand it ……”

　　My mood was like a pig to be slaughtered, I couldn’t get any better, next to me Mao Yan’an didn’t know if it was because he had already come to his senses, he still seemed to be relaxed, but Asuka, who aspired to be a good necromancer, was pale and worried as she leaned over.

　　The negotiation of the deed had rightly failed, and under the circumstances it was strange that it would succeed. The ghosts growled angrily, clamoured angrily, shouted vague words, demanded the return of our treasures, and gradually pressed on.

　　Among that large group of ghostly creatures, I didn’t see the woman with half of a skeleton face a few days ago, but I vaguely saw those few trainee magi and knights who were killed by the ghostly group, apparently the nether souls who died in this neighbourhood couldn’t leave, and they were also sucked into a part of the group of ghostly creatures, and that’s what will happen to us a few moments from now, if we’re not careful.

　　“Wait, stop, the treasure you want is here.”

　　Just as the group of ghostly creatures was gradually advancing and about to launch a substantial attack, I stepped out in front of the crowd and shook a bundle out of my hand, spilling out more than a dozen pieces of gold, silver, and jewellery at once.

　　Mao Yanan is so treacherous and slippery that it is extremely difficult to find anything from his side, which is why I ordered Violet to track down the old man Jin who was in cahoots with him, and found out last night that he had sneaked to one of the Dwarf’s ruined kilns on the outskirts of the village, digging and rummaging through it, and when he had departed Violet dug the hole open and brought the gold, silver, and jewellery in it to me.

　　Being buried in the ground for many years, these gold and silver jewellery have lost their due lustre, but from the handwork and ornamentation, one can still tell that they are of great value, and may have some special significance to the person in question, which makes it easy to understand why the woman would consider this as the most important treasure, and still remember it even after her death.

　　“Take these back and don’t bother the place again.”

　　I said aloud, the atmosphere in the group of ghostly creatures also changed, first a chill coalesced, followed by a tattered and tattered Chinese robe slowly floated out, that skeleton beauty appeared in the group of ghostly creatures, the chilling gaze first glanced towards my side, and then turned towards the treasure scattered on the ground to stay.

　　“Take your baby and rest in peace, the man who killed you has a bad heart, he has been …… all these years.”

　　Somewhat unkindly, I said so, and I knew that someone behind me must have turned pale, but before I could finish, the figure of the skeleton beauty suddenly disappeared, and the group of ghostly creatures let out an angry chirping whistle.

　　“Baby! Baby! Give us back our baby!”

　　I can t guess what the ghosts are unhappy with these treasures, and I simply can t figure out where the problem lies In the face of a group of ghosts that pounced and surged over, I could only choose to turn and escape, but someone was a step ahead of me, and …… it was still a lot of people.

　　The villagers of Misty Valley Village, led by Mao Yan’an, when they heard the swarm of ghosts whistling again, they immediately fled, fast and furious. As the swarm of ghosts were concentrated here, there was a gap in the formation encircling the village, so there was a great opportunity to take advantage of the opportunity to escape, but it was only me and Xue, who were surrounded in the centre, who were the loser.

　　“Master, we ……”

　　“Asuka! Run after me.”

　　We have never been strangers to escaping, with Violet in the lead, forcing the ghosts away with fire and electricity, Asuka and I rushed out of the encirclement.

　　“You… you’re holding her at this hour? Where are her father and grandfather?”

　　“I don’t know, it was just too chaotic for me …… We can’t leave her behind.”

　　Too lazy to talk more nonsense with Asuka, I just hold her and run wildly, praying in my heart that the brat must not pick this time to cry out, otherwise Asuka will be distracted, and the three of us will surely die ten deaths.

　　The number of ghostly creatures is too many, although Violet protected us to break out, but in the end, we were still forced by the ghostly creatures to flee into the village, in a hurry, I want Violet to lead us to run towards the Dwarf Ruin Kiln.

　　It was better to have a dilapidated building for shelter than to be in the open defending against the enemy, and besides, there might be something Violet hadn’t dug up that might be the treasure the ghostly horde was really looking for.

　　“Asuka, use all you’ve learnt and practised in the last few days, block as long as you can.”

　　After shaking off the swarm of ghostly creatures for some distance and rushing into the Dwarven Waste Kiln, I want Asuka to set up a small boundary to block the scattered ghostly creatures that are coming after her and buy some time.

　　“Winds of putrid evil, listen to the analysed wishes and release the barriers of darkness.”

　　A few days of special training bore fruit, and after Asuka’s incantation was sung, a black wall of defence immediately opened up, stopping before the swarm of ghostly creatures.

　　The rush was blocked, and the shrill whistling of the ghostly creatures was ear-piercingly difficult to hear, but Asuka’s cultivation was obviously quite limited, and the layer of darkness barrier soon cracked under the rush of the ghostly creatures, and it was only a matter of time before it collapsed.

　　Violet rushed ahead, entering the ruined dwarven kiln with only a few empty walls left, and immediately pounced on the ground and dug, and from that pit, several more pieces of gold jewellery were unearthed, all rings, earrings and the like.

　　(I’m sure I missed digging before, but is …… one of these things? I’ll be damned if I press the wrong treasure this time.)

　　Being hesitant, there was chaos outside again, and from the other direction that Asuka had covered, the villagers of Misty Valley Village rushed in, holding a long line of ghostly clusters behind them like hanging dumplings.

　　“Oops! Sage nephew, you’re still here ah, outside a lot of ghosts and monsters ah, we can not rush out ……”

　　“You can’t get out? Then you can just die out there, why are you rushing back? Can’t you see that this place can’t hold out much longer?”

　　Uncle and a group of villagers rushed back at that moment, once the two sides of the group of ghosts met, the pressure increased greatly, the wall of darkness set up by Asuka was about to collapse, and the group of ghosts closed in on her, the nearest one was no more than a few feet away.

　　Violet growled and dug something out of the hole in the ground, it was a female skeleton wrapped in tattered inches, and it appeared to be the very place where the skeleton woman was buried.

　　“This is the thing …… Hey! Treasure found, woman of what’s-her-name, your body is buried here ……”

　　It worked, but it didn’t seem to be the kind of thing I wanted, and as soon as the skeleton saw the light of day, it was as if the ghostly horde was inspired in some way, and the attack heated up tenfold, just as it had that day when the horde of ghosts had breached the light defences of the magi, and with a brittle cracking sound, a withered hand that looked like a white bone pierced through the already deficient defences of the darkness.

　　“Master! Master ……”

　　The swarm of ghostly creatures overwhelmed over like ten thousand horses galloping, drowning Asuka in the pounce of hundreds of nether spirits.

　　“Asuka!”

　　I was shocked, I didn’t realise that even that bet was wrong, that the bones were not the treasures that the ghosts were looking for.

　　Asuka was buried in a swarm of ghostly creatures, life and death, I couldn’t count on a miracle, and glimpsing Uncle’s figure out of the corner of my eye, I immediately pulled him through with one hand, asking him to go out and confess on his own accord.

　　“What are you talking about, it’s so dangerous out there, you want me to go out? And I haven’t done anything to recognise anything?”

　　Mao Yan’an was still dead down in denial, ducking towards a group of villagers to escape my outward pull, but I didn’t have the time to keep him company any longer by blindly pestering him, running a few steps outside and shouting, “Hey! I don’t know what treasure, but the murderer you’re looking for is right here!”

　　In the consciousness of the ghosts, besides the thirst for the flesh and blood of the living, it was the obsession for revenge. The effect of shouting out these words was no less than the moment when the bones were dug out just now, the group of ghostly creatures stopped their movements and looked this way unanimously, and vaguely, the skeleton female even surfaced amongst the group of ghostly creatures.

　　The plan worked, and I eagerly exclaimed, “Have you forgotten? The man who smothered you with a handkerchief under the tree is here now, do you hear me? Don’t take your anger out on anyone else, if you want revenge, you should look for that man ……”

　　Long ago memories that had been lost resurfaced in the ghost’s mind as if in response to my shouts. As the impression became clearer, her appearance began to change, starting from the grey hand bones, the skeleton-like half of her body quickly sprouted flesh and blood, reverting to its pre-birth appearance.

　　The group of ghostly creatures did not move, I heard Ah Xue vaguely let out a shout, obviously still safe and sound, the opportunity is not to be lost, to break out of this dead end, we can only make use of this opportunity. I turned my head, looking for the object that will be betrayed by me, only to see Mao Yanan hiding behind a group of villagers, secretly shaking his hand at me.

　　It’s obvious what it means, but this is no longer the time to set up a friendship, I reached out and pointed forward, and said aloud, “The man who murdered you …… is him!”

　　The ghastly wind and the sorrowful whistling of the ghosts were sent out with my accusation. In the direction I pointed, a man fell to his knees as his legs weakened at the revelation of his crime.

　　“Yes, I’m sorry …… everything is my fault …… I, I didn’t think of killing you at that time, I don’t know why it turned out like this ah… …”

　　The man whose heart has broken down after years of crimes have been uncovered falls to his knees and cries out in tears in a sad state of affairs.

　　This situation was completely different from my expectations, because I had originally estimated that with Uncle’s thick skin, it was unlikely that he would confess so easily, and the point that was most miscalculated was that the sinner who knelt down to confess his fault was not Mao Yan’an, but Old Man Jin, who was standing in front of him.

　　Seeing old man Jin kneeling down and crying, kowtowing, this is too bizarre situation, I was dumbfounded.

　　(How, how did this happen ……)

　　The content of the old man Jin’s painful confession is exactly the same as what the uncle said before. His wrinkled old forehead, hard knocking on the ground, to the dead wife begged for forgiveness, said the original unintentional manslaughter and other words of regret, the excitement of the look can not be faked out, can be confirmed that he is the real culprit.

　　If my accusation just now caused the ghosts’ memories to begin to retrace, then Old Man Jin’s confession was to complete all the lost memory links, and all the ghosts seemed to wake up from their berserk state, stopping their movements and parting a path.

　　“Master!”

　　Asuka ran over with great strides, snatched and ran into my arms. I hold her to the side back, whispered comfort, look at the body full of dust and small blood marks, just now from the life and death situation is just a hair’s breadth away, if I late step ……

　　After Asuka, the skeleton beauty moved over as if she were floating …… Now there were no more skeleton parts on her body, and she was entirely a beautiful woman, with slightly dishevelled temples and fluttering skirts, her feet not pointlessly shadowing the man who had been her husband, listening to his bitter cries, her eyes at once confused, at once glittering with profound hatred.

　　“Please, forgive me! I haven’t had a single day of peace of mind all these years, in the beginning, in the beginning, I really didn’t want to kill you, I only wanted to make you faint, but …… but how did I know, I only walked away for a bit, and when I came back you had already, had already ……”

　　A typical murderer’s confession, like many kidnappers who just want their victims not to call for help but accidentally smother them, an accident with no new meaning. And in the midst of his confession, the woman spoke.

　　“Treasure …… Treasure …… Treasure …… Treasure …… Give …… Treasure …… Give, give me back, give me the baby ……”

　　Because she hadn’t spoken for so long, the first few words were raspy and hard to hear, like two bones rubbing together in a crossfire, and it wasn’t until later that they cohered together enough to make her meaning understood.

　　Yeah, the killer has been found, so what valuable treasure did he grab in the first place? That’s something I’d like to know.

　　“Baby, baby …… your baby has ……”

　　The old man said in a trembling voice, stammered and did not say a general, behind the crowd suddenly uproar, a person out of the crowd, grabbed the front, and immediately knelt next to the old man of gold, looking at the woman, followed by the bitter cry out.

　　“You …… you are my mother? Father never told me ……”

　　Meeting his birth mother for the first time, H.L. Kim’s reaction was normal, but what he said next made us look at each other, shocked once again by the incredulity that filled the village of Mugu.

　　“I, I didn’t know it was you …… That day, you and father were in the woods, I thought you were an old debtor …… It was hard for me and father to settle down, and I had a woman I liked, I didn’t want to hide from the debt and run away again, so father left After that, I found that you were still breathing, so, just …… Mother, please forgive me!”

　　This is really appalling confessional confession, although it is not said clearly, but it is enough to understand. When the old man Jin smothered with a handkerchief after the person, she actually just fainted, not dead, but tailed the old man Jin Hanliang saw this scene after the old man Jin, up to mischief, will be strangled to death, the old man Jin came back to see the body, only thought that their own hands to kill the wrong person, did not think that his son is also involved.

　　Murdered by his own son, after the murder, the souls of the dead but not dispersed, a strand of resentment pulling the surrounding mountains and rivers of Yin spirit, group activities, finally led to the tragic events of the future years Misty Valley Village.

　　“How did this happen? How did this happen?”

　　Asuka should have understood, but was clearly unwilling to believe, and even more difficult to understand how human nature could be so ugly to such an extent? How could such a tragic case happen?

　　It should have been a major blow to everyone, to Kim Han Leung in particular. He is not the kind of cruel and ferocious berserker, that killing, and the only one in his life, was in the hope of exchanging for a smooth life in the future, but he did not expect to make a big mistake, personally killing his own mother whom he had never met, and even more so planting the unfortunate factor in the future, being blockaded in the village of Misty Valley, and even his wife perished in the swarms of ghosts and creatures.

　　Looking at him kneeling on the ground, struggling to crawl forward, trying to hold his mother’s legs and crying bitterly, even I can feel that kind of deep remorse, and Ah Xue even buried his head low, not daring to look at it more.

　　Those Misty Valley villagers who originally had hazy eyes and muddled movements also looked as if they had been stimulated in some way, and gradually gained a lustre in their eyes as they looked at this scene, either sighing or shedding tears, as if recalling all the things that had happened over the years.

　　The same was true of the hundreds of ghostly creatures that crowded around them. As the grievances subsided and they came to their senses from the state they were originally affected by, many of the ghostly creatures began to slowly retreat outwards, and some even waned away on the spot.

　　There was only Uncle, who had retreated to the side at some point, leaning his back against a tree, watching all of this with good humour. I don’t know what’s so funny about all this, but the kind of expression that appeared on his face, I can’t find any other way to describe it other than a sneer.

　　In any case, the crisis has been lifted, and even more so, as to what the treasure hidden in the Misty Valley Village actually is, I think I’ve figured it out.

　　“Mother, you forgive me, everything is my fault …… I …… I am so piggish ……”

　　Jin Hanliang cried bitterly with his hammering chest, another sign of remorse compared to his father who couldn’t stop kowtowing hard and repenting beside him, and what he said was completely listened to on the other side.

　　There was none of the troubled, agonised expression of the wasted man, and the face, once half skeletal, now had only a gentle, placid smile on it, soothing the son’s remorseful pain with an almost divine tone of forgiveness.

　　Mother’s love, sometimes it is really a great thing that does not make sense, thousands of miles of tracking, in order to reclaim the son carried away by the husband, although the tragic death, the spirit is still not forget this, but such a deep resentment, after seeing the son and immediately disappeared.

　　“Child, Mother doesn’t blame you, you …… are Mother’s baby.”

　　The white palm of her hand, gently stroking her son’s hair, conveying a mother’s love, a gentle gesture, as if it was emanating a holy light, and in that moment, Asuka stopped sobbing and watched in fascination, and even Violet, who was at our feet, stared at the scene, stopping her movements.

　　Love, can offset grievances, it is no wonder that people often yell all day long: the end of the world, but love is not extinguished.

　　Under such fluctuations, the surrounding ghosts either left or disappeared into thin air, and when the last ghostly form faded without a trace, the woman’s body gradually became transparent.

　　“Take care of yourself, baby boy.”

　　After saying this, the woman revealed a peaceful smile, and her entire body transformed into a warm white light, fading away in the surging fog.

　　“Mum! Mother where are you going? Don’t leave us behind, my child has a lot to say yet ……”

　　Jin Hanliang shouted hastily, but could not retain something. People die like lamps go out, what has already passed away, can’t linger more in the present world, this is the regulation torch that won’t change.

　　When the fog faded a little, I saw Jin Hanliang and his father stood in the same place in a state of disorientation, and was about to go up and say a few words to their father and son, but I knew that he was as if he hadn’t seen me, holding up his father, and staggering back towards the village.

　　“Hey, Brother Kim ……”

　　Jin Hanliang ignored me, and not only him, including the Misty Valley villagers, once once returned to the angry, they became muddled again, like a group of living dead, slowly walking back to the village. Looking from behind, that kind of swaying pace, but with that group of controlled ghosts have a few similarities ……

　　Thinking this way, a thought flashed through my mind, and I was surprised to look around me, and found that even though the ghosts had dispersed without a single one left, the dense fog surrounding the entire Misty Valley Village showed no signs of dissipating. The grievances have dispersed, why is the fog still there? Could it be that ……

　　My thoughts were confirmed when a group of village people were about to walk back into the village, and as Jin Hanliang and Old Man Jin were about to enter the village, a figure came out of the mist next to them and joined them, walking into the village together.

　　That person I recognise, Ah Xue more at that familiar back figure lost his voice and called out …… That is exactly Jin Hanliang s wife, the woman who has already died a horrible death in the ghostly group of broken corpses, and now it seems like nothing has happened, just like this, with her husband and father in law back to the village.

　　“For, why is this happening? Master?”

　　Asuka’s question, I already know the answer. Quickly turning around, I glared at Mao Yan’an, who was still leaning against the trunk of the tree, his expression lazy, as if he had seen everything, but as if he was oblivious to it, and shrugged his shoulders with a smile when he saw my gaze.

　　“As you can see, this festival is over, and based on past experience, there’s still an hour before the fog lifts and we can leave.”

　　“This Misty Valley village, there wasn’t half a living soul left to begin with, was there?”

　　“All right, this is a dead town, including old man Jin, Hanny Jin, and all the villagers you see, all of them are dead spirits, it’s a good play, the actors on both sides are undead, only one side doesn’t know it themselves.”

　　In response to my questioning, Mao Yan’an laughed easily and shook his hand, “How about the Misty Valley Village’s Undead Festival, which is staged every once in a while, and this time we’re just in time for it? Isn’t it better than the usual theatre stories? It’s very clinical, isn’t it?”

　　“How?” Having received a major shock, Asuka opened her eyes wide and said, “Where’s sister-in-law Jin? Could she also be ……”

　　“Nothing does, she’s undead too.”

　　“That …… little baby of theirs ……”

　　“Babies die too, of course there are baby spirits, there are smaller babies in the world, this size is nothing, you’re a woman who is going to be a great witch, don’t make such a big deal out of it.”

　　Mao Yanan spoke lightly, with a relaxed expression, almost humming a song, but with Asuka’s personality, these words were the cruelest truth to her, I saw her trembling, trying to adjust her breathing, and it was only after a long mid-morning that she looked at me with a helpless expression that was on the verge of tears, asking me why this had happened.

　　I pushed the embarrassing task back on Uncle, and what came out of his mouth wasn’t much different from what I expected.

　　“In fact, what happened in Misty Valley Village has happened for at least a hundred years by now, and just the year after the murder, a large number of resentful spirits attacked Misty Valley Village, and on that night, they slaughtered Misty Valley Village to death, no matter men, women, old, young, or young, without half a survivor.”

　　“So …… then why would ……”

　　“It is the rule that people die and become ghosts, and ghosts will be reborn and reincarnated, but not everything will follow the rule. There are times when a person who dies will, for some reason, be unwilling to be reincarnated, and after a long time, even forget that they are dead; or, bound by some external force, they will be locked in a place and never be able to leave, repeating the nightmare of the moment of death.”

　　The village of Mugu is one such example. Mao Yanan said that because the souls were bound and could not leave the cursed upper land, every once in a while, when a thick fog enveloped the mountainous region, the spirits would converge again in the ruins and re-enact the horror of the village’s massacre that day.

　　“Every time the Undead Ritual happens, if there are outsiders, they will involve outsiders as well, and after killing them, there are more new shadowy souls being detained here, and there are dozens if not a hundred of trackers who have been buried here over the past hundred years in order to search for treasures, but I came here many years ago, along with a friend… …”

　　That was when Mao Yan’an was still playing rock and roll in Southern Barbarian, he and two of his best friends who were members of the band, went to the Misty Valley Village and witnessed the ghosts attacking and trying to massacre the village, but on that occasion, the three of them accomplished a task that no tracker had ever achieved in the past, and not only recognised that both sides of the commotion were the undead, but also found out who the real culprits of the murders were a hundred years ago, and succeeded in solving the case for the first time.

　　“At that time, we thought we had completely liberated the undead from Misty Valley Village, but it didn’t end there ……”

　　I don’t know whether it was because one side was too apologetic or the other side was too resentful, but the undead didn’t dissipate, and even when the monks of the Palace of Light recited the sutra, the undead refused to be transcended, and they were imprisoned in the prison of souls, repeating the same miserable tragedy every once in a while.

　　“The memory of the undead is very one sided, because we had solved this case, so old man Jin remembers me but not that he himself is dead, I occasionally come to the village of Misty Valley to see if they have left, except that to this day they are still here, unchanged …… “

　　“In that case, you should have said it earlier.” Thinking of the reason why I misjudged the situation, I angrily said, “It’s not like you didn’t tell it beforehand, and the other day you said something about it being someone else’s story, and your expression was so weird, I thought ……”

　　“Haha, I’m not wrong, this is indeed my friend’s story, it’s just your wishful thinking that I’m the murderer, Xian Nephew, see, stereotypes are really dangerous.”

　　“Uncle, please answer me a question. I don’t quite understand, isn’t that skeleton woman already …… already released? Why would ……”

　　“Well well well, back then, when we succeeded in cracking the case, we also thought that things were just over.” Mao Yan’an nodded, “But the world of the underworld is harsher than we imagined, not every ghost can be freed after unlocking the regrets in their hearts, sometimes the grievances were too deep in the first place, and even with forgiveness and love, it’s still not enough to break through the spiral of death that is the accumulation of countless grievances.”

　　Endless deaths, endless tragedies, just repeated in the fog, forming a never-ending spiral of death, this is the law of the world of the undead, in the past I had heard of it, but actually encountering it, that unspeakable cruelty, the heavy feeling, still pressed on my chest for a while.

　　“It’s very real the first time you see it, isn’t it? But you won’t feel it after seeing it more often.” Mao Yan’an shrugged and took out three long-prepared crossaxes from beside the tree and threw them at us.

　　“Start digging, now that you know, this village is a place where groups of ghosts gather, a place of extreme yin, every undead festival slaughters here once, and as a result of the accumulation of days and months, the ground may mutate into something good, so don’t miss it. To be a good tracker, you have to be able to find something to dig up at any time, ah.”

　　True to his word, Uncle had already started digging with his crossaxe. This was something I had to admire him for, because the first time I encountered the undead sacrifice, I couldn’t take it lightly despite maintaining my composure, my body hands and feet were a bit stiff and my movements were sluggish.

　　“Uncle, Master …… can’t we, can’t we do anything?” Ah Xue put down the crossaxe in his hand and asked eagerly, “Isn’t there any way to let them rest in peace and not have to repeat themselves like this? They …… are clearly all dead, one side has admitted fault and the other has forgiven, why can’t they rest in peace and ascend to heaven, to be trapped here like this?”

　　In Asuka’s eyes, there was an extremely fervent expectation and thirst, but I was unable to respond, because in my knowledge, dead spirits can be destroyed and summoned and driven, but there is no method of interrupting a Spirit Prison Spiral like this one.

　　“It can’t be. Didn’t I say so? Not to mention you, when even the high priests of the Temple of Mercy, who personally held the mantra and recited the scriptures, there was no way to transcend these resentful spirits, but only to make a contract for both sides, and when the sacrifice of the dead came, exchanging the contract to get rid of the matter without having to act out to the slaughter of the village.”

　　Mao Yan’an shook his head and sighed, ‘’Girl, there are just so many inequalities and irrationalities in the world, although they don’t make sense, they just exist there, and since people can’t change them, they can only learn to accept them. You are just a weak black magician, what makes you think you can do what even the senior monks of the Palace of the God of Light can’t do? Look on the bright side and help Uncle dig for something.”

　　Very realistic words, but there is no way to refute them, Asuka fell silent and joined us in digging with a pickaxe.

　　The atmosphere was strange and my mood was confused, and it wasn’t until a short while later when Mao Yan’an called out and the two of us combined our efforts to dig up a few pieces of crystal clear turquoise blue crystals of varying sizes in the area that I realised that Asuka and Violet had disappeared at some point.

　　“Uncle, have you seen ……”

　　Just before the question was uttered, I suddenly felt a fluctuation, some kind of magic operation fluctuation, coming from the other side of the village, what kind of person is holding a spell and casting a spell over there?

　　The answer was too obvious, and when Uncle and I looked over there, a greenish-purple glowing light slowly rose from the ground, shivering and floating in the mist, and anyone with knowledge of black magic guides could see that those were the spirits that had materialised but lost their original forms.

　　One, two …… green and purple glowing light, like the star fire that appears at night, more and more, and finally hundreds of shadowy souls grouped together luminous, purple and green fantasy, inexplicable, Sen Sen ghost gas, in a weird beauty, more indescribable sense of trembling.

　　We don’t know why the shadowy spirit massed up, but we saw a lithe silhouette, followed by a panther, walking slowly through the fog.

　　“That stupid woman, what does she want?”

　　I couldn’t guess for a moment, I only saw Asuka raise her arm, and her mouth seemed to be chanting something, following which, those purple and green soul lights that were floating around seemed to be guided, and they all moved towards her, circling around the small circle drawn by her finger.

　　“This is ……”

　　Ah Xue’s fingers pointing, plucking, picking, raising, each different movement, all matching the changes in the incantation, this was quite a clever means of casting spells, showing that she had indeed practised diligently in secret over the past few days. When those flickering soul lights touched her white and soft fingers, it was like the first snow that met the scorching sun, immediately collapsing and scattering into nothing.

　　Fluorescent light, ghost fire, dissipated in the reckless mist, Ah Xue gently spinning dance, finger painting all kinds of delicate gestures, from afar, it is indeed very pleasing to the eyes of the scene, but when we realise what she is doing, but for the big surprise.

　　“She’s …… sucking up these netherworlds?”

　　For Necromancers who relied on controlling Yin souls for a living, capturing and sucking in Yin souls was a routine.

　　But after all, the Yin Spirit is not belong to the present world’s ferocious things, long time close to, to the body damage is very big, so in general, the Necromancer Department is the Yin Spirit is detained in the magic weapon, like ten thousand souls streamer, ten thousand souls blood beads and these things.

　　However, from the perspective of actual combat, directly using the physical body as a container, absorbing the Yin Spirit in the body, sending and receiving from the heart, acting like electricity, this is the most favourable practice, so some high-level necromancers directly absorb the Yin Spirit in the body, the number of which varies according to the level of cultivation.

　　“I see, there’s still this way ah …… As long as the nether souls are forcibly collected, the Spiral of Death will be interrupted, and the Undead Festival will not be staged.”

　　Mao Yan’an stroked his chin and smiled, “But if you’re going to suck it, you should also suck some higher quality ones, this level of Yin Spirit doesn’t have a strong fighting ability, so wouldn’t it be a good waste to suck it?”

　　“What are you babbling about? Why don’t you go and stop her?”

　　I am so anxious to run forward, with the common sense of black magic, what Asuka is doing right now is no big deal, but a junior minor artisan can only load a single digit number of yin souls at best, and the …… amount she is trying to absorb is a hundred times the normal value, and she may lose control at any time and be killed by the yin spirits bursting out of her body.

　　“What’s the hurry? If it was going to explode it would have exploded a long time ago, it hasn’t exploded yet, just let it happen, what necromancer doesn’t touch the nether souls?”

　　Rushing out, I was pulled by Mao Yanan, the strength of which was unusually strong, forcing me to stagger to a halt.

　　“Uncle, you ……”

　　“Take a look at the snow girl, those Yin souls have already been sucked up by her for the most part, her expression doesn’t look like she’s in any pain.”

　　Indeed, looking from this side, Asuka’s expression was very peaceful, unable to see half of the pain of the conflict of magic power in her body, the faint smile on her lips, the light gesture when spinning and dancing at the waist, so beautiful that it was as if she was emitting a kind of holy light, even though the actual thing that was lingering around her was just a layer of the black gas produced when running black magic, but it still made people feel a rare… …compassion.

　　It was hard to imagine that a Necromancer who practised evil black magic would do something that even the senior monks of the Cihang Jing Temple couldn’t accomplish, giving people such a feeling of compassion and harmony. Not only would no one believe it when it was said, even if it was said to Tianhe Xueqiong herself, she would treat it as a joke, right?

　　“Strange, why can she suck so much at once, beginners shouldn’t ……”

　　Worried, I also have a few doubts, could it be that the power of Tianhe Xueqiong gradually awakened? Otherwise, why would Asuka be able to ……

　　“Of course there’s a reason we don’t know about it la, why should we care so much? The result is what matters most, but perhaps the snow maiden got benefits from the Great Sun Heavenly Mirror ……”

　　“You, what did you say?” Shocked, I grabbed Mao Yan’an’s collar with one hand in reverse.

　　“I’m congratulating you, silly boy, absorbing Yin souls is like taking drugs, as long as you’ve done it once, you won’t be able to stop in the future, haven’t you been forcing people to practice black magic in the past? Now that you’ve finally taken the first steady step, isn’t that something to be congratulated?”

　　The consummate smile on the older man’s face could almost be bookended into a semi-circular arc, but to look at it, it gave one a chilling feeling.

　　Glancing out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Asuka over there had already sucked up the Yin soul, and I suddenly had a feeling in my heart that, compared to the fog in Misty Valley Village, the fog enveloping this man in front of me was thicker and deeper ……

　　Just as Mao Yan’an said, one hour later, all the fog gradually cleared away, revealing a clear sky, we packed our bags, taking those few crystals dug out from the bottom of the Dwarf Waste Cave, which were said to be very valuable, and prepared to leave the Misty Valley Village, continuing our journey back to Alibudar.

　　There was some confusion in the mood, but the whole thing was over, and it was a strange feeling to look at the mist that had almost disappeared, with all that had happened here in the past few days.

　　Not wanting to delve deeper, I turned my head to look at Asuka, who was playing with Violet, the smile on her face was no different from when we first entered the Southern Barbarians, but it was conceivable that the experiences she had undergone over this period of time must have accumulated a lot of things underneath her smiling lids that she could only hide with a smile for the time being, right?

　　The thought made me feel a slight heartache, only for me to push the feeling down and not allow myself to think about it much before the ripples rippled out.

　　“Well, virtuous nephew, let’s set out; the fog has lifted, and if we don’t hurry, we’ll be too late to make it back to Alibudah.”

　　Indeed, there was a new edict awaiting me in Alibuta, and though I expected it to be a leisurely errand, it often turned out to be the opposite of what I had hoped for.

　　With a pull of the reins, I took the lead and spurred my horse on.

　　“Come on, Asuka …… and Uncle, let’s start making our way, there are other adventures waiting for us ahead.”

　　“That’s right, let’s all go conquer Pokémon together!”

　　“…… Hey, Uncle, what’s a Pokémon?”

　　“Wow, you don’t need to know, you’ll find out when you’ve been in the tracker business long enough.”

　　“I hear you discharge rats stinking caps!”