The female ghost listened, then respectfully spoke,
"My humble name is Zhou, with the given name Fang. My family hails from Qingshan County, Yuzhou. I was born on the second day of the sixth month in the third year of Guangxu."
As the female ghost recounted her tale, my martial uncle quickly dipped his brush in cinnabar and began writing on a large, pristine yellow talisman.
It bore the seal of Wanshoutang.
This was equivalent to an official document. After burning this document, the female ghost, holding it, could descend and pass through all checkpoints without obstruction.
My martial uncle wrote swiftly.
He finished in no time.
Then my martial uncle spoke again,
"Xiao Qin, give this to Miss Zhou."
I responded with an "En," and holding the yellow paper talisman, I burned it before the female ghost, Zhou Fang.
"Miss Zhou, take this. With this, you can travel all the way to the Underworld."
I burned it before my brazier.
After it was burned, the paper ashes ascended.
The next second, the burned yellow paper appeared in Zhou Fang's hand.
It contained not only her birth date and address but also the notarized official document written by my martial uncle from Wanshoutang, complete with his seal.
"Thank you, Daoist master. I am deeply indebted for your great kindness!"
With that, she actually knelt before us.
Seeing this, I quickly helped her up.
My martial uncle also waved his hand,
"No need for such formality. You have taken many lives and incurred much karmic debt.
I am writing you a petition talisman.
It can absolve you of the sin of lingering in the mortal realm for a hundred years.
For the remaining karmic debts, the Judge will surely make a just judgment.
May you have fewer negative consequences should you be reborn again!"
My martial uncle said calmly.
He had seen too many such cases in his life.
Ghosts of all kinds, due to misfortunes in their past lives, had become malevolent spirits.
They wreaked havoc in the mortal world.
Upon descending, they would all be punished.
My martial uncle had long grown numb to it.
He was merely doing what he was supposed to as a Daoist priest.
He could only help to this extent.
The rest was the affair of the Underworld, which was beyond our control.
"This humble woman understands."
The female ghost spoke again.
After she finished, my martial uncle nodded, burned a petition talisman and a guiding talisman. The talismans transformed into glowing dots, beginning to guide the female ghost.
"Miss Zhou, you may descend now."
My martial uncle spoke again.
However, at this very moment.
Zhou Fang, who had been fine a second ago, suddenly shuddered all over. She stiffened.
The document of passage she held in her hand fell to the ground and vanished into blue smoke.
Not only that, but she, who had previously restrained her malevolent aura,
was now suddenly enveloped in streams of black energy.
The black energy, like electric arcs, pulsed concretely on her body.
The tranquil mountain forest was suddenly hit by a howling whirlwind.
The incense on the altar snapped with a "crack," and the candle flames were instantly extinguished.
Witnessing this scene, my martial uncle and I were startled, realizing that something was wrong.
As for Zhou Fang, she began to tremble, covering her head with her hands.
"No, no, I can't, I can't..."
Her expression suddenly contorted, becoming strangely twisted and struggling.
I had seen this scene before during the day.
This was a precursor to her losing control.
"Martial uncle, the malevolent aura is overwhelming her heart, she's about to lose control..."
As soon as I spoke, Zhou Fang also said,
"Daoist master, I, I can't, can't control, can't control myself anymore.
Ah! It feels so bad, so bad..."
My martial uncle frowned, hastily grabbing his cinnabar brush, preparing to draw a talisman.
However, before he could finish drawing the talisman, Zhou Fang suddenly let out a strange laugh, "Giggle giggle giggle," and her body stopped shaking.
Her head bowed slightly, she spoke in a hoarse, resentful voice,
"Go? Make me suffer down there? I haven't killed enough yet!"
With that, she abruptly looked up.
Her face, which had been calm moments ago, turned ferocious, her skin covered in black veins.
Seeing this, my martial uncle and I were greatly alarmed.
After performing the ritual all night, they still couldn't suppress her overwhelming resentful and malevolent energy.
"Xiao Qin, the Demon Suppressing Net!"
My martial uncle shouted. He himself raised the talisman he had just drawn and slapped it onto something.
"Seal!"
My martial uncle intended to suppress the female ghost.
However, the female ghost let out a cold laugh and spat out a mouthful of black energy.
The black energy surged, repelling my martial uncle.
I stood nearby, taking out the Demon Suppressing Net and flinging it directly towards the female ghost.
Preparing to bind her.
However, the female ghost turned her head, and with a single swipe of her claw.
With a "crack," the Demon Suppressing Net was instantly torn apart, splitting into two halves.
The red-clothed female ghost was indeed powerful.
The Demon Suppressing Net was so fragile in her presence.
The red-clothed female ghost, Zhou Fang, also flew towards me, raising her sharp claws to strike at me.
"It was you, brat, who brought me here, so I'll kill you first!"
With that, a terrifying Yin malevolent aura surged upwards, engulfing me.
Seeing this, I was about to summon the Twelve Demon Souls, preparing to overpower her once more, now that she had lost control.
But just as I was about to call out.
From the direction behind me, an even more terrifying Yin wind swept in.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh," it pressed down on the female ghost.
The mountain forest rustled "whoosh whoosh whoosh."
The violent Yin energy descended like a meteor.
The red-clothed female ghost, Zhou Fang, who had lost her sanity and was uncontrollably lunging at me.
At this moment, her face showed a look of terror. She retreated repeatedly in fright.
And I only saw a flash before my eyes. A slender figure in white flickered past and stood resolutely in front of me...