Li Mohan's soul body was being torn from the inside out by Chi Leming's hand. The excruciating pain of his soul being ripped apart made him feel like he was being shredded. However, when he heard Chi Leming declare his intention to keep Ye Huohuo as his wife, a powerful force surged within him, and his eyes blazed with chilling intent. His entire being emanated a killing aura.
An ordinary soul was now radiating cold, transforming the surrounding white mist into tiny ice crystals. These ice crystals then merged, forming numerous blades of ice in the air.
Li Mohan's hands were still firmly gripping Chi Leming's neck, and the surrounding ice blades pierced Chi Leming's soul body.
Chi Leming, who hadn't taken Li Mohan seriously at all,'s eyes widened in shock. He cried out in pain.
"How is this possible? You, a mere wandering soul, not even a proper ghost, how can you form ice into blades? How can you injure me? Ah..."
Chi Leming's ghost attempted to retreat, but his neck was held so tightly by Li Mohan that he couldn't move an inch.
He could only watch as the ice blades repeatedly stabbed into his soul body, withdrawing and then piercing again...
This was a soul body. If it were a physical body, it would have been riddled with holes like a honeycomb. Even so, his soul body was becoming increasingly weak from the repeated assaults.
He had already retracted the hand he had inserted into Li Mohan's soul body, intending to pry away Li Mohan's hands from his neck, but he was mistaken. Li Mohan's hands were as hard as iron, and no matter how he struggled, he couldn't budge them at all.
Meanwhile, the ice blades piercing his soul body were becoming faster and faster, carrying an aura of complete annihilation.
Chi Leming panicked and began to struggle incessantly, his eyes filled with disbelief. "How is this possible? Absolutely impossible... Who exactly are you?"
Li Mohan's eyes grew colder and colder, and the chilling aura around him intensified. Ye Huohuo, standing beside him, had her face turn pale and lips purple, with frost forming on her hair and eyelashes from the cold he emitted.
"Ex... extreme cold soul!" Ye Huohuo stammered, the words barely escaping her teeth.
She hadn't expected Li Mohan to possess the extreme cold soul. She didn't know how this extreme cold soul was formed, but she knew that if he didn't stop soon, before Chi Leming, the vengeful ghost, was impaled by the ice blades, her own already weak soul body would freeze to death.
Moreover, after experiencing the illusion, she now understood how Chi Leming had become a vengeful ghost and felt a measure of pity for him. If he could recover his state of mind from his living days, there was no need to completely annihilate his soul.
After all, the complete destruction of a ghost would also deplete merit.
Ye Huohuo's soul body was very weak at the moment. Not only could she not wield any magical power, but even lifting her hand was a struggle. Coupled with the freezing cold emitted by Li Mohan, she felt like a robot, her joints making cracking sounds as she moved.
With great effort, she managed to grip Li Mohan's wrist. "Mohan, you can stop now! He... he doesn't deserve to die!"
Ye Huohuo's exhaled breaths were wisps of white cold air as she spoke. "If you don't stop, I... I'll freeze to death first!"
Hearing her words, Li Mohan's resolute expression softened slightly. He slowly turned his head to look at Ye Huohuo. His previously light brown eyes had turned a pale blue, as if coated with ice.
As he looked at Ye Huohuo, his eyes moved slightly. Seeing her frozen appearance, his pupils contracted. His eye color gradually returned from pale blue to the previous light brown, and his gaze shifted from a bloodthirsty, murderous one to one of clarity.
Simultaneously, the chilling aura around him dissipated, and the ice blades halted in mid-air. However, Li Mohan's hand still remained clasped around Chi Leming's neck.
"Did I hurt you?" Li Mohan frowned as he looked at Ye Huohuo, who appeared on the verge of becoming an ice sculpture. "How could I be like this?"
Not only did he not understand, but Ye Huohuo also had no clue.
Li Mohan had never learned any of the mystical arts. Yet, he had somehow possessed the extreme cold soul, a top-tier cultivation method in the mystical arts, something even Ye Huohuo's master, Xuan Ji Zi, couldn't achieve.
However, now was not the time to ponder this. Ye Huohuo took a deep breath and wiped away the melted frost from her face, feeling as though she had just emerged from an icy hell.
"I'm fine. It was thanks to you just now; otherwise, we both would have died by his hand. Your ice-sealing power might be because... because you are blessed with great fortune!" Ye Huohuo couldn't quite explain it and could only fabricate a reason for now.
"Is that so?" Li Mohan was skeptical. The sudden burst of power he had experienced moments ago had frightened even him. If Ye Huohuo hadn't intervened in time, he might have frozen both Chi Leming and Ye Huohuo to death. httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
Li Mohan turned his head back to Chi Leming, whose throat was still clasped by his hand. After being pierced countless times by his ice blades, Chi Leming no longer possessed his previous ferocity.
The dark malevolent energy surrounding him had become extremely thin, unable to coalesce and cause harm. At this moment, Chi Leming revealed his appearance from his living days: dressed in scholarly robes, looking utterly incapable of harming a fly.
It was then that Li Mohan noticed how strikingly similar Chi Leming looked to him.
"Why... why does he look like me?" Li Mohan's heart skipped a beat, and he tightened his grip unintentionally, squeezing Chi Leming's neck until it was as thin as a rolling pin, his tongue lolling out a considerable length.
Ye Huohuo quickly grabbed him. "Be gentle. The malevolent energy on him has been depleted by your ice blades. He's no longer a vengeful ghost and can't withstand you choking him like this. If you apply any more force, his soul will be scattered."
Li Mohan was surprised by his current strength, capable of scattering a ghost's soul with a mere chokehold. Startled, he released his grip, and Chi Leming's soul body fluttered to the ground like a piece of paper, looking almost pitiful.
Li Mohan, his brow furrowed, gazed at Chi Leming on the ground, his biggest question remaining why Chi Leming looked so much like him.
Furthermore, his wife also bore a resemblance to Ye Huohuo. When he had seen that Rong'er in Chi Leming's consciousness earlier, he had been greatly shocked, thinking for a moment that it was Ye Huohuo.
"Why do we look the same as them?"
"If I'm not mistaken, when Chi Leming transformed into a vengeful ghost, he forgot his own appearance and that of his wife. Therefore, his consciousness no longer contained their likenesses.
When we entered his consciousness, we unconsciously projected our appearances onto him and his wife. In reality, they didn't look like us.
I still remember the appearance of the beauty in that painting. The painting did not resemble me. However, the women depicted in the beautiful portraits I saw in the illusion earlier did indeed resemble me quite a bit.
This indicates that the people we saw in his consciousness were the images from our own minds."
In truth, Ye Huohuo was not entirely certain of the specifics. She was relying on her experience, guessing and reasoning.
Li Mohan's brow remained tightly knit, clearly not entirely convinced by Ye Huohuo's explanation, but he was not one to dwell on minor details. He hadn't forgotten the purpose of their expedition.
He looked at Chi Leming on the ground. "I have entered your memories and learned the root of your hatred. To be honest, I sympathize with you. But you should not inflict your suffering upon innocent people.
You harmed my grandfather before, capturing his soul into a painting, and many other innocent souls were forcibly absorbed into that painting by you, becoming wronged spirits.
Consider your actions now. How are they any different from Shen Zhong, who wronged you before? You have already killed your enemy; you should have let go of your hatred and found release. Yet, you continued to commit atrocities, leading to your own inability to reincarnate. If you remain obstinate, you will only dissipate into nothingness. Do you not wish to see your wife again?"
Ye Huohuo was surprised that Li Mohan had stolen her lines. Li Mohan was surprisingly adept at persuading ghosts to abandon darkness and embrace light.
His words were even moving to her. Li Mohan was truly skilled at manipulating people's psychology, finding their weaknesses. She almost felt like applauding him.
Chi Leming had completely abandoned his resistance and struggle. The two individuals who looked so alike stood facing each other, appearing eerily like reflections in a mirror.
Chi Leming's form wavered, and his gaze fell upon Ye Huohuo standing beside Li Mohan. "It's been too long, so long that I've forgotten Rong'er's and my own appearance. But she must have looked like you, right?
After hundreds of years, I wonder what my Rong'er looks like now! Can I really see her one more time?"