The Missing Pages

It’s Master’s voice!

Zheng Que snapped back to his senses and immediately understood that the 【Ghost Taming Art】 was not the problem: the issue lay with his spiritual blood.

Thinking this, he quickly turned and bowed toward the dilapidated temple, replying respectfully, “Thank you for your guidance, Master!”

After speaking, Zheng Que pondered for a moment, then raised the hand inscribed with the talisman character and once again pointed his palm toward the female hanged ghost. In a low tone, he commanded, “Retract!”

As the word fell his five fingers closed like a cage, and the female hanged ghost instantly transformed into a streak of blood-red light, vanishing into his palm.

Zheng Que felt as though he were grasping a wisp of icy gas: formless and intangible, yet chilling to the bone.

He couldn’t help but nod slightly. The command could recall the Vengeful Spirit, which meant his 【Ghost Taming Art】 had been successfully executed. It was just that this Vengeful Spirit, the female hanged ghost, was too weak during daylight.

Seeing that his master had no further instructions, Zheng Que bowed once more toward the dilapidated temple before taking his leave.

A short while later he returned to his dwelling.

As before, Zheng Que swiftly opened the door, entered and immediately latched it shut behind him.

The room was exactly as he had left it: a cold stove, a cold pot, and various miscellaneous items scattered across the floor, merely pushed aside haphazardly to avoid obstructing the walkway. The entire space was in disarray.

Ignoring all this, Zheng Que walked straight into the inner chamber. After arranging his shoes properly he quickly sat cross-legged on the bed and began cultivating.

His master had just told him that his spiritual blood contained excessive Yang Qi, which the Vengeful Spirit could not withstand during the day. If he wanted to capture another Vengeful Spirit to practice his 【Ghost Taming Art】, he would have to act at night.

Although this small town had many Wandering Spirits roaming about during the day, as long as one remained vigilant and kept a distance from them it was generally possible to avoid danger with only a scare.

But once night fell.

Ghosts ran rampant, and Evil Spirits mingled among them. For ordinary people, stepping outside meant certain death.

The life-preserving wisdom passed down through generations in the Town of Lasting Fortune was this: return home before dark. Moreover, after returning, doors and windows must be tightly shut, and one should avoid making any sound. No matter what noises were heard during the night, they must not be investigated — pretend as if nothing was happening. Even after daybreak, not a single word about it should be spoken.

This was also why, when the Calling Ghost had nearly torn the house apart, the neighbors had shown no reaction whatsoever and had no intention of inquiring about it.

Although Zheng Que was now a cultivator at the Qi Refining Stage, venturing out at night remained extremely perilous.

Therefore he needed to enhance his cultivation and strength as much as possible.

As he pondered, Zheng Que’s mind sank into that chaotic space, intently capturing wisp after wisp of frigid airflow.

Time passed bit by bit. Half an hour later Zheng Que seemed to sense something and immediately opened his eyes, once again finding himself in that dilapidated grand hall.

Just like before, he sat on the rickety armchair before the mottled long table, where the open Book of Life and Death lay.

At that moment Zheng Que suddenly felt an unusual sensation in the palm of the hand inscribed with the talisman character. Instinctively he opened his palm, and the originally cool, soft sensation abruptly transformed into a streak of blood-red light, darting out from his hand.

Whoosh!

The blood-red light was swift as lightning, instantly fleeing toward the main entrance of the grand hall.

Yet at that very moment, before Zheng Que, the Book of Life and Death continuously revealed new characters in its blank spaces:

…Qing Li. Origin: Great Li Dynasty, Marsh Province… Lifespan: Exactly sixteen years, died by hanging at the hour of Zi.

The next instant the blood-red light suddenly halted, as if instantly losing all its power, and fell directly to the ground, transforming into a slender, graceful young woman in white robes.

Her long hair remained disheveled, obscuring her face in its messy strands, making her features unclear.

Witnessing this sudden scene Zheng Que was momentarily stunned, then quickly realized: this dilapidated hall had an effect similar to nighttime.

Vengeful Spirits could not withstand his spiritual blood during daylight, but in this gloomy, decaying hall they could.

Besides that.

Zheng Que looked at his palm. The pattern on his hand, resembling both an insect and a bird with an ancient aura — in the real world he had only felt it seemed like some kind of character but could not recognize what it actually was. Yet in this space, it was the character “令.”

This character belonged to the same category as the special characters on the Book of Life and Death.

Thinking of this, Zheng Que turned his gaze to the young woman in white. She lay weakly on the ground, her frail body seemingly too delicate to bear the weight of her clothes, unable to rise.

Without hesitation Zheng Que immediately flipped his palm, aimed it at the young woman in white and commanded, “Ha!”

The moment the 【Ghost Taming Art】 was invoked, the female hanged ghost, who had been lying on the ground unable to move, seemed to regain her strength and abruptly leaped upright.

A chilling wind swept through the hall, blowing aside her thick hair to instantly reveal a pale yet beautiful face. With arched eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes, a delicate nose and cherry lips — perhaps due to excessive thinness, her slender waist was so fine it seemed barely graspable. Her entire frame was as thin as paper, and her furrowed brows held a uniquely pitiful grace. Her blood-red eyes, however, were filled with intense killing intent and hatred.

After quickly scanning her surroundings and seemingly finding no target to attack, the female hanged ghost slowly turned her head, looking at Zheng Que with bewilderment.

The 【Ghost Taming Art】 had worked.

Observing the female hanged ghost’s behavior, Zheng Que couldn’t help but let out a quiet breath of relief.

Going out at night was too dangerous. Now that the female hanged ghost was responding, he wouldn’t need to venture out tonight.

With this thought Zheng Que shifted his gaze from the female hanged ghost and began studying the Book of Life and Death before him.

It was still open to the first page. The names listed now totaled thirty-seven. The first was his own, the last was the female hanged ghost Qing Li’s, and the remaining thirty-five were the resentments that had formed the Calling Ghost.

Zheng Que reached out, turned the page and looked at the second page.

It was completely blank, the slightly yellowed paper empty.

He flipped to the third page, the fourth.

Soon Zheng Que discovered that the Book of Life and Death had writing only on the first page; all others were empty.

Not only that — when he turned to the ninth page, he found nothing behind it, only some traces remaining on the spine. The remaining pages had all been torn out.

Seeing this, Zheng Que immediately frowned. The Book of Life and Death was an object of the Underworld. Without a doubt it had originally recorded the names and lifespans of all living beings in the world.

Yet for reasons unknown, it had become an empty volume, with countless pages torn away.

Lost in thought, Zheng Que turned the Book of Life and Death back to the first page, his gaze falling upon the thirty-five names that had constituted the Calling Ghost.

If the female hanged ghost could appear in this dilapidated hall, why couldn’t these thirty-five Vengeful Spirits?

Was it because their Yin Qi had already been dispersed when he destroyed the Calling Ghost in the real world?

Just as he pondered this, a voice filled with fear and faint sluggishness suddenly reached his ears: “M-my lord, this humble woman has been wronged!”