A group of people returned to the old woman's doorstep. With a look from Bai Qi, Feng Li eagerly ran to knock on the door.
"Coming!" The old woman's voice came from inside, and the door soon opened.
"Why have you gentlemen come? Is there anything else you need to know?" The old woman looked at the faces of the people outside with confusion.
"Stop pretending! What, you put on a human skin and think you're human now?" Bai Qi pointed the peach wood sword at the old woman.
"Me?" The old woman pointed at herself, seemingly disbelieving. "Sir, it's not good to speak without evidence. I am just an ordinary person!"
"Whether I'm human or not, we'll find out soon enough!" With that, the peach wood sword in Bai Qi's hand, shimmering with a faint light, pierced forward.
The old woman instinctively dodged to the side. A shallow pit appeared on the ground where she had just stood.
"How did you find out?" The old woman's face darkened. She had thought her disguise was perfect and had revealed no flaws.
Bai Qi slowly wiped his peach wood sword. "I was only suspicious at first, but your reaction just now confirmed it."
The old woman's kind facade vanished, replaced by a woman in white. Her appearance shifted constantly, and a dense aura of resentment emanated from her. "Heh heh! She thought the Demon Extermination Division were all good people! Eagerly bringing you here. I didn't expect it! The world is never short of hypocrites."
Lu Yuan's expression was one of despair. So the old woman he had thought was kind was actually a ghost in disguise. When she praised his looks, had she already thought of a hundred ways to kill him?
Bai Qi looked at the resentment emanating from the woman, his expression solemn. This ghost was not weak!
"Is the person who originally reported the case still alive?" Feng Li asked, his lips trembling slightly.
"Of course, she's alive! Although she didn't care about our past friendship, I couldn't bring myself to harm my own kind." A hint of sadness flickered in the white-clothed woman's eyes. Why couldn't anyone understand her?
"Talking is useless! Are you coming back with us willingly, or do we have to tie you up?" Bai Qi said sternly.
"Hahaha! Then it depends on whether you have the ability!" With that, the white-clothed woman charged forward.
The two engaged in a fierce battle. Bai Qi dealt a sword strike, and the woman retaliated with a claw. Lu Yuan, watching from the side, was filled with admiration. When would he become so powerful?
The ghost had been an ordinary person in life, her power stemming solely from the resentment in her heart. Bai Qi, having been in the Demon Extermination Division for so many years, had his own methods for dealing with ghosts. After hundreds of exchanges, Bai Qi struck the woman down with a palm.
Seeing the white-clothed woman's soul body weaken and lose its ability to resist, two people immediately stepped forward with specially made ropes and bound her.
In this world, everyone could see the existence of ghosts. As Bai Qi fought, many people in the town heard the commotion and were peeking out from their windows.
Bai Qi, now standing with a relaxed demeanor, merely glanced at them. Instantly, they all retreated back inside.
The tightly bound white-clothed woman looked at everyone and smiled.
"I admit you have some skill!"
Bai Qi said nothing and walked directly into the house. He eventually found the real old woman in a cupboard.
After being rescued, the old woman's first words were: "Can I speak with her for a few more words?"
The old woman, trembling, approached the woman. "Sister, let go! He's not coming back! Do you want everyone to become like you?"
"Haha! No, he will come back. I came back, so he definitely can. He owes me, he promised me." The woman was clearly agitated by the old woman's words, acting erratically and appearing to have lost her sanity.
Seeing the woman's actions, Bai Qi frowned. "Confine her to the ghost banner and let her calm down!"
Then, Bai Qi turned to the old woman. "Please cooperate and tell us about your relationship with her and how her resentment arose!"
The old woman sighed, sat on the sofa, and slowly recounted the past. "She was my elder sister, but she passed away when I was seven or eight. I was young then, and I heard others say that her groom ran off with another woman on their wedding day, so she drowned herself in anger. I believed this rumor until five years ago when she suddenly appeared."
"She told me that her death was unjust. She did die on her wedding day, but she was murdered by the groom and bride together. She told me she would wait here for that man to return."
"I'm old, and I don't have many years left. I thought it would be nice to see my relative before I die, so I agreed to let her stay at my home. But who knew she would go out and kill people!"
"You adults must know better than me, that if a ghost hasn't killed anyone, it maintains its appearance and sanity from before its death. If it commits murder, it will gradually be controlled by resentment."
"After a few people died in town, I started to feel something was wrong! Our town has always been peaceful and harmonious, and the victims were all brides. I suspected she was responsible. I worried she would lose her sanity to resentment, so I went to find her. My suspicions were confirmed, so I quickly contacted you."
"Not long after, she found out! From that day on, she locked me up until now." The old woman wiped away tears as she spoke, looking deeply remorseful.
"Alright, we understand the situation. We'll take her back. If there are any further issues, we may need to consult you again." With that, Bai Qi prepared to leave.
The old woman rose to see them off. Before they left, she couldn't help but ask, "What will you do with her?"
"That depends on the situation. If possible, we'll perform a ritual of transcendence. If not, then... you understand?" Bai Qi didn't want to be too definitive. Although ghosts who had committed murder usually couldn't escape annihilation, he still wanted to offer some comfort to the family.
The old woman nodded and bowed to everyone. "Whatever the outcome, I will accept it. However, I hope you will treat her kindly before her execution! I believe all of this may not have been her intention, because her greatest hope was to wait for her former lover!"
"Don't worry. The Division will give her a fair judgment." Bai Qi waved goodbye to the old woman.
Lu Yuan and Feng Li, the two newcomers, felt no excitement from capturing the ghost. Instead, a sense of heaviness weighed on their hearts. The victims were innocent, but weren't the ghosts also pitiable? The true blame lay with this world rampant with ghosts.