I watched the yellow-clad female ghost pinned to the tree coldly.
She was screaming in agony.
Her shrieks of "Ahhh" echoed continuously through the pitch-black night.
Her Yin Sha energy was rapidly draining away.
My heart had long since grown numb, accustomed to such sights...
As the female ghost's Yin Sha energy continued to dissipate, she reached the end of her life.
Her body began to flicker, on the verge of dissipating into nothingness.
But at this moment, her pale eyes suddenly revealed pupils of gray.
Her once ferocious and contorted face gradually softened into a look of peace.
Her body turned transparent and began to disintegrate from her feet, vanishing into light.
Seeing this, I couldn't help but pause.
The female ghost looked at me calmly, then cast her gaze down at the skeletal remains beside her.
As if alive, she took a deep breath.
A hint of relief in her voice, she whispered:
"So comfortable..."
Her voice was soft, barely audible.
Before dissipating, had this female ghost regained her sanity?
"You've regained consciousness?"
I stood opposite her, asking with a hint of surprise.
She looked at me and nodded slightly, acknowledging my question.
Seeing her clear mind but dissolving form,
reminded me of Lu Tiantian from the Kang Kang factory, another yellow-clad vengeful spirit.
Lu Tiantian had died after being defiled, her body then sealed within a wall by her killer, transforming her into a vengeful spirit.
Before her dissipation, she too had regained her sanity and spoken of comfort.
However, Lu Tiantian's cultivation as a yellow-clad spirit paled in comparison to the one before me.
Watching the now rational but dissipating female ghost, I spoke again:
"There is a path between Yin and Yang; do not resent me."
The female ghost's body was now quite transparent.
Hearing my words, she gently shook her head:
"No, I feel so comfortable, free from pain and resentment."
I couldn't fully grasp her current state.
But from the peaceful expression on her face, I could sense she might genuinely be feeling at ease:
"Before you dissipate, can you tell me how you died?
Why did you harbor such immense resentment?
Or, do you have any last wishes?
If they are reasonable, I might be able to help you fulfill them."
The yellow-clad female ghost paused slightly at my words.
Then, she shook her head:
"No more. In this world, there is nothing I am still attached to.
As for my death, it was simply my ill fortune.
I encountered a few perverse men.
It's a pity I died in the wrong place, at this Yin-gathering spot, and became a vengeful spirit. I could not kill those scoundrels.
Instead, I harmed many of my own kind and passing mortals.
My transgressions in this life are too great to atone for.
But it no longer matters, as I am about to dissipate..."
The female ghost spoke these words with a hint of sorrow.
Finally, she ended with a bitter smile and self-reproach.
This turned out to be a murder case.
The killer of the female ghost was still at large.
And the female ghost herself was filled with self-reproach and regret.
I instinctively replied:
"After you dissipate, I will report it to the police.
The police will punish them, and after death, they will descend into the eighteen levels of hell to endure endless torment.
Also, I heard my master speak before.
When a person dies, they become a ghost, and a dead ghost can become a Xian (ni or jian).
You shouldn't be so despondent.
Before you dissipate, you regained your sanity and learned to repent.
Perhaps the Heavenly Dao will take notice, and after centuries, you may transform from Xian into Qi, becoming anew.
And after another few centuries, you might become a tree, an insect, and be reborn."
What Xian is, I do not know. My master never told me.
He only said it was something more ethereal than a ghost.
Even my master might not be certain of its existence.
Whether Xian can reincarnate, I also do not know.
This was merely my attempt to offer comfort.
At least now, I was facing not a ferocious, terrifying vengeful spirit,
but a pitiable ghost on the verge of dissipation, who had regained her senses and carried remorse.
The female ghost held no hope. She likely sensed that I was merely trying to console her.
She simply lifted her head to gaze at the faintly visible night sky.
The starry river was brilliant.
At this moment, the female ghost reached the end of her life.
Her body had become so ethereal as to be invisible, her form disintegrating up to her neck.
I watched her, and in her final moments, the female ghost looked at me once more.
She gave a faint smile and completely vanished from my sight.
Vaguely, I heard a "Thank you."
I looked at the female ghost, who had dissipated into light and vanished.
I could only sigh.
The seeds sown by a few thugs had caused this female ghost to bear the fruit of wickedness.
She had harmed the spirits around her and the people who passed by.
And the thugs who had harmed the female ghost remained at large.
At this thought, I heard footsteps behind me.
I turned and saw, in the distance within the woods,
Old Mo and Chen Yao hurrying towards me.
Seeing them, I called out:
"This way!"
Hearing my voice, Old Mo and Chen Yao quickly approached.
"Old Qin, where's the female ghost?"
"She has dissipated."
I replied calmly.
"That's good, that's good!"
Old Mo let out a sigh of relief.
Beside him, Chen Yao suddenly pointed at the skeletal remains by the large tree:
"Here, why is there a skeleton here?"
I glanced at the remains and replied calmly:
"It belongs to the female ghost. She was murdered here.
This place gathers Yin energy, and with her strong resentment, she became a vengeful spirit here."
Old Mo surveyed the surrounding feng shui.
Indeed, the location was not good, facing away from the sun and water. He then said:
"Alas! Most vengeful spirits have difficulty dispelling their resentment and malevolence. Combined with the geographical feng shui that gathers Yin energy, they become ferocious.
But speaking of which, Old Qin, how do you know all this?"
As Old Mo spoke, Chen Yao also looked at me.
I pulled out the peach wood sword pinned to the tree trunk and said:
"Before she dissipated, the female ghost regained her clarity. She told me herself.
She also said that the killers who harmed her are still at large."
Upon hearing this, Old Mo became indignant:
"Good will be rewarded, and evil will be punished.
Since this female ghost was murdered and became a vengeful spirit,
then the killer who harmed her is a great villain who planted the seeds of karma.
Their sin is immense.
If not for them, all this would not have transpired.
Since we stumbled upon this, we cannot stand idly by."
"Senior Brother Mo, what do you plan to do?"
Chen Yao asked.
Old Mo declared righteously:
"This earthly murder case is naturally for the police to handle. Junior Sister, call the police."
I had the same thought and nodded to Chen Yao.
Chen Yao faltered for a moment:
"Then, then what should I say?"
I then said:
"Just say we came here to perform rituals and guide lost souls, and we found this skeleton."
Chen Yao nodded and walked aside with her phone to make the call.
The signal was poor at this old grave mound, and Chen Yao had to walk quite a distance to make the call.
Old Mo and I stood by the large tree, smoking.
The matter was resolved, but it had turned out to be much more serious than anticipated.
The female ghost's life had involved a murder case.
Although we only dealt with matters of the supernatural,
there was no harm in reporting it to the police.
I just wondered who exactly had harmed the female ghost.
After a short while, Chen Yao returned.
She said they told her to wait here and that they would arrive shortly.
We had been through a lot and were quite tired.
So, we found a place to sit down.
Waiting was boring, so I curiously asked Chen Yao:
"Junior Sister, how did you break through the female ghost's illusion when we were entranced?"
Chen Yao heard my question, smiled faintly, revealing her small canine teeth.
She then recounted the entire process of how she saved Old Mo and me...