Chapter 61: Soul Collection at the Cemetery
With his Ghost Eye activated, an ethereal figure materialized before him. This person was none other than Wang Qing.
Now a spirit, Wang Qing floated suspended in the air, devoid of a physical body.
Her gaze, filled with bewilderment, darted around. When her eyes landed on Yang Haoran, her expression instantly shifted.
"It's you, you bumpkin! Why are you here? Where am I?"
Wang Qing cursed at once, her face twisted in fury, but her eyes also revealed an unmistakable panic.
Discovering only Yang Haoran in this place, her first thought was that he had brought her here. She had a grudge against Yang Haoran, and if he had brought her here, it surely wasn't with good intentions.
However, when she noticed Yang Haoran's Ghost Eye, her facial expression froze, replaced by an expression of terror.
"Your. . . your eyes! What in hell are you?"
As she spoke, Wang Qing reflexively recoiled, only to discover in horror that her body felt incredibly light, and she was floating entirely in the air.
Yang Haoran wore a smile on his face. Seeing Wang Qing so agitated, he touched the now-vanished scar on his cheek and said, "It seems you still don't know you're dead. That's right, you were unconscious while your spirit body was coalescing. Now that your spirit body has just successfully formed, you haven't had time to realize the fact of your death yet."
Upon hearing that she was dead, Wang Qing first froze, then frantically shook her head, saying, "Impossible, absolutely impossible! You're not dead yet, how could I possibly be dead? You're lying to me, you're lying, aren't you?"
"I'm lying to you? " Yang Haoran chuckled softly. "Haven't you watched ghost movies? Look at yourself right now. If this isn't a ghost, what is it? Tell me, what are you right now?"
Wang Qing couldn't refute him, but her expression grew even more frantic.
Yang Haoran's smile remained, and he continued, "Look at the pajamas you're wearing. Touch them. Do they have any texture?"
At his words, Wang Qing grabbed at the pajamas she was wearing, feeling nothing, as if she were grasping at air.
"Am I. . . am I really dead?"
Wang Qing's voice was filled with disbelief and unwillingness. She suddenly recalled that night: she had countless nightmares, one after another, each more terrifying than the last, linking together in an endless chain.
Finally, she lost consciousness. When she woke again, she was like this.
"That's right, you died. You were scared to death," Yang Haoran said with a smile.
"What the hell are you talking about? I'm alive and well! You're the one who's dead! You're the one who was scared to death!"
Wang Qing cursed furiously, unable to accept the reality, her face contorted in a look of madness. She lunged towards Yang Haoran, as if intending to strangle him to death.
Yang Haoran didn't dodge, simply watching with a smile as Wang Qing rushed at him.
Wang Qing's spirit body passed directly through Yang Haoran's physical form. Her attack had no effect on him whatsoever. She was just an ordinary spirit, possessing no offensive capabilities, but at that moment, she was completely unaware of this.
Seeing her body pass through Yang Haoran's, Wang Qing also froze for a moment. At this point, even if she didn't want to believe she was dead, she had no choice. The truth was laid bare before her eyes.
However, after confirming her death, she became even more enraged. Gnashing her teeth and flailing her limbs, she lunged at Yang Haoran once more.
Yang Haoran seemed to lose patience. He swung a heavy slap directly at the lunging Wang Qing.
Spirits have no physical form, so by rights, Yang Haoran's slap shouldn't have connected with Wang Qing. But it was different when he channeled his Spirit Power. His palm, enveloped in Spirit Power, landed a heavy blow on Wang Qing's face, sending her directly flying backward.
Spirit Power has an extremely strong suppressive effect on spirit bodies. Yang Haoran's slap instantly made Wang Qing shriek in pain, and her spirit body faded considerably.
Wang Qing's spirit body had only just coalesced, and at this stage, a spirit body is extremely vulnerable. Yang Haoran's slap, empowered by Spirit Power, would have sent her flying even if her spirit body hadn't been weak, let alone in its current state.
"Does it hurt? " Yang Haoran asked, his eyes crinkling with a smile.
Wang Qing stared at Yang Haoran in terror, her previous arrogance completely gone. That single slap seemed to have jolted her back to reality.
Seeing Wang Qing didn't answer, Yang Haoran wasn't angered. He continued to smile and said, "Do you know who scared you to death?"
Wang Qing shook her head. She truly didn't know who had scared her to death. She only knew that she had repeatedly suffered nightmares, and in each nightmare, there was a man, though the man in each dream was different.
"Do you remember High Liang? " Yang Haoran asked.
At the mention of High Liang, Wang Qing's expression instantly changed, becoming deeply terrified.
"What are you afraid of? You're a ghost now too. What's there to be scared of? That's right, High Liang scared you to death. He came back to claim your life."
With that, Yang Haoran ignored Wang Qing's expression. He took out his Soul-Gathering Bead from the satchel on his waist.
Without further nonsense with Wang Qing, he injected Spirit Power into the Soul-Gathering Bead. A tremendous suction force emanated from it, instantly enveloping Wang Qing's body.
This immense suction continuously pulled at Wang Qing's spirit body. Though Wang Qing didn't know what was happening, she was certain it was nothing good!
So, she struggled with all her might, just to escape this terrifying pull.
However, her struggles were utterly futile. No matter how much she resisted, her spirit body still moved inch by inch towards the Soul-Gathering Bead.
"No! Don't!"
Wang Qing shrieked in terror, her spirit body twisting and deforming under the immense suction.
"Please, please let me go! I know I was wrong! I know I was wrong!"
Yang Haoran was unmoved. He replied with a smile, "If apologies worked, what would we need the police for?"
Amidst a terrified scream, Wang Qing was absorbed into the Soul-Gathering Bead. The bead, which had previously contained only High Liang's spirit, now held another.
Spirits have the ability to devour other spirits to strengthen themselves, but within the Soul-Gathering Bead, due to the suppression of its power, they cannot devour each other.
Furthermore, inside the Soul-Gathering Bead, the voices of spirits cannot reach the outside world, nor can sounds from the outside enter the bead.
Looking at the additional Soul Thread inside the Soul-Gathering Bead, the smile on Yang Haoran's face deepened. High Liang seemed incredibly excited, constantly chasing Wang Qing, while the latter appeared terrified, frantically dodging.
With one ghost chasing and the other fleeing inside the Soul-Gathering Bead, Yang Haoran lost interest in watching further. He put away the Soul-Gathering Bead and deactivated his Ghost Eye, then left the public cemetery.
He had come to the public cemetery tonight for two purposes, but only one had been achieved. As he walked down from the cemetery, he pulled out his phone and called Jiang Dashi, asking why there were no spirits in the public cemetery.
Jiang Dashi's answer surprised Yang Haoran. He knew that the spirits in this public cemetery had been thoroughly cleansed, but he didn't know who had done it, nor had he inquired.
Unexpectedly receiving such an answer, but since even Jiang Dashi didn't know, he could only temporarily put the question aside and find out more later if the opportunity arose.
At the base of Nine Dragons Slope, Yang Haoran hung up the phone. Just as he was wondering how to call a car to go back, someone approached him.
It was a tall woman, at least 1.7 meters, dressed in a trench coat over jeans. Her hands were casually in her pockets, and she walked with a confident stride.
Encountering such a woman suddenly outside the public cemetery, Yang Haoran's first thought was whether she was a ghost.
However, he didn't detect any Yin Qi on her, which meant she wasn't a ghost.
Still, the way the woman held her hands in her pockets felt familiar, but he couldn't quite recall who she was at the moment.
Just as he pondered her identity and what she was doing out here so late, he brushed past her. Both of them stopped simultaneously, then turned to face each other.
"It's you!"
"It's actually you!"
Both uttered sounds of surprise at the same time. The sky was too dark, and they had been a certain distance apart, so neither had clearly seen the other's face.
However, as they drew closer, especially in the moment before they passed each other, both clearly recognized the other's appearance.
A loathsome face.
Whether in Yang Haoran's eyes or the woman's, the other's face was utterly detestable.
The woman's face was beautiful, but she exuded arrogance and contempt, radiating an aura that screamed "I am queen. " Her gaze at Yang Haoran was filled with disdain, which greatly annoyed him.
As for Yang Haoran's face, it was ordinary and unremarkable, lacking in both physique and looks, as common as could be.
If it were just that, it would have been fine, but Yang Haoran's signature smile disgusted the woman. Throughout her life, the people she hated most were those who hid daggers behind their smiles.
Their eyes met. Before a word was even spoken, sparks flew, and a tense, volatile atmosphere permeated the area between them.
"Coming to the public cemetery late at night, did someone in your family die?"
The Black-haired Woman's first sentence choked Yang Haoran. He cursed inwardly, this woman's words were truly vicious, with no intention of leaving any shred of verbal decency.
However, Yang Haoran was never one to meekly accept insults. Since someone had openly provoked him, he naturally had to retaliate.
"Indeed, my father-in-law passed away. If I had known you were coming to see him, we could have gone up together," Yang Haoran said with a smile.
"Hmph, what does your father-in-law's death have to do with me? " the Black-haired Woman snorted coldly, her voice sharp.
"He's your father, you unfilial child," Yang Haoran cursed with a mischievous smile.
At his words, the Black-haired Woman first froze, then reacted with a furious roar. This fellow not only cursed her father to death but also took advantage of her!
"You bastard! Today I'm going to tear your mouth to shreds!"
The Black-haired Woman was beside herself with rage, wanting to unleash the anger within her. But she found that Yang Haoran had already left.
Watching Yang Haoran's figure gradually disappear into the night, the Black-haired Woman felt an urge to chase after him and give him a good beating. But she seemed to have other important matters to attend to, so she could only glare fiercely at Yang Haoran's retreating back with a look of intense displeasure.
"Just you wait!"
After throwing down this harsh threat, the Black-haired Woman turned and walked up Nine Dragons Slope.
When the Black-haired Woman stopped, she found herself surprisingly in front of Wang Qing's grave. Looking at Wang Qing's grave, a confused expression appeared on her face.
"Strange. . . why isn't it here?"
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