I Am Your Natural Enemy

Chapter 479: Chapter 196: Take On, Bullhead (5k)

Wen Yan found it somewhat strenuous to sit on the stage. With everything from Big Head Ghost transferred to him as the price, how this Domain formed and the rules governing it all began to become clear in his heart.

This stage was the core, a place where debts could be repaid.

These ghosts were all people who had once accumulated spiritual debts.

With the Spiritual Qi Resurgence and the appearance of the Nether Path, pure resentment gathered and gave birth to Big Head Ghost.

It appeared within the Nether Path, and the Domain also began to form at that time.

Because these ghosts were indebted, as the Domain formed, they too began to appear in the Nether Path.

Big Head Ghost found them in the Nether Path and pressed them for repayment. It was only then that the Domain truly emerged.

This stage was the place where debts were dissolved.

And Big Head Ghost was merely the one who made the final decision on whether the debts were settled.

The Red Skirt Ghost was right. When the cost exceeded the limit, Big Head Ghost no longer needed to make the decision, as he lacked the authority to disagree.

Now, the largest debt here was what these ghosts owed those children.

At this moment, Wen Yan was the one shouldering it all.

The ghosts here—the earliest among them—had existed for perhaps as long as two thousand years, or even longer.

Wen Yan didn’t want to deal with these individuals; he just wanted to solve the problems here.

A Ghost and a Domain that hadn’t triggered a reaction from his Natural Enemy Profession meant that the methods he already possessed were enough to solve the problem.

He sat on the ground, struggling to keep his back straight. His buttocks were sore from sitting, and it felt as if hundreds of pounds weighed upon him.

This was already much less than he had expected. Wen Yan had initially thought that the children behind Big Head Ghost would weigh him down so heavily that he couldn’t stand or catch his breath. Now, it actually wasn’t that bad.

Each child was incredibly light, unbelievably so.

Wen Yan sat on the ground. Looking down at Chen Qimo and the Red Skirt Ghost below the stage, he smiled and waved his hand at them.

”Don’t come up.”

Wen Yan turned his back to those below the stage. He reached out and adjusted the small hands resting on his shoulders, turning them to face him.

His eyelids drooped slightly as he quietly chanted the Transcendence Scriptures.

The scriptures, already thoroughly memorized and etched into his mind, flowed smoothly from Wen Yan’s lips, intoned with the cadence of chanting.

From the child closest to him, now face to face, strands of resentment began to fly out upon hearing the Transcendence Scriptures. They landed in Wen Yan’s palms and then slowly dissipated in the warmth of his Yang Energy.

Wen Yan felt the pressure on him dissipate in that instant, as if it had vanished entirely.

He understood then. It wasn’t his capability that allowed him to take this from Big Head Ghost, but rather his willingness to shoulder it—his desire to help these children find relief—that enabled him to bear the burden. The heart’s true intention is paramount; ability is only secondary.

As the low chanting of the Transcendence Scriptures continued, combined with his Yang Energy and sincere intent, the dense, bewildered cluster of children began to fade away, bit by bit.

Actually, what remained here were not even Nether Souls, much less lingering obsessions. It was merely their instinctive resentment which, over vast stretches of time and by a stroke of fortune, partly converged and developed a hint of Spiritual Intelligence. This Spiritual Intelligence had then been deliberately sought out and gathered by Big Head Ghost, to serve as a talisman, as his source of power.

Had another Taoist priest come, even if they could have killed Big Head Ghost, they wouldn’t have dared to do so recklessly. Killing him would mean passively shouldering that cost.

Even Wen Yan himself, after understanding the truth, did not dare kill directly. He could only first accept the burden, then use the rules of this place to make Big Head Ghost pay the price himself. The final outcome might appear the same, but the nature of passively bearing the burden versus actively choosing to do so was completely different.

Wen Yan was certain. If he had killed Big Head Ghost first and then passively shouldered the burden, he probably wouldn’t be able to resolve the resentment here now. Yet now, just one recitation of the Transcendence Scriptures has already dissolved so much of it.

After three recitations, he looked up. Only the silhouette of one last child remained.

The child’s spectral image was covered in dark purple bruises, blood staining its mouth. Its eyes were wide open, yet utterly hollow.

This was the last one, the one that couldn’t be transcended.

Wen Yan reached out and held the child in his arms.

He slowly stood up and turned to look back. He saw the ghosts emerging from their respective houses, slowly converging toward this place.

This time, Wen Yan saw no fear or wariness in their eyes; instead, there was a hint of malice.

Wen Yan suddenly gave a short laugh, sensing an absurd truth in the situation. Because you’re a good person, you get a gun pointed at you.

As Wen Yan felt the malice growing stronger, he suddenly found a sense of peace.

He waved to Chen Qimo and the Red Skirt Ghost.

”Come on, come up here.”

Chen Qimo didn’t hesitate for a moment and hurriedly rushed up from below the stage.

”Big Brother Su...”

”We’ll talk later. You two go first; leave from the other side.”

Hearing this, Chen Qimo looked as if she wanted to say something but held back. She turned instead to support the Red Skirt Ghost, who only had half of its body remaining.

The Red Skirt Ghost’s body was chillingly cold, and the eerie chill it emanated sent shivers through Chen Qimo. Nevertheless, she endured the cold and continued to assist the Red Skirt Ghost.

The Red Skirt Ghost glanced down at the small girl but said nothing, allowing Chen Qimo to support him as he hopped onto the stage on his one remaining leg and then descended on the other side.

If Wen Yan hadn’t arrived and given him a Blessing of Yang Energy, the Red Skirt Ghost would have certainly dissipated long ago.