I Return From Hell

Chapter 93: Chapter 87: Battling the Soul-eating Ghost

Hah.

Xia Yu held the Blood Butterfly and lifted the curtain of the sedan chair.

The moment the explosion began, she knew she couldn’t get far. To ensure the Wedding Dress Ghost and its Ghostly Land were destroyed, she had detonated three Crystal Cores at once!

The destructive power of three Crystal Cores exploding simultaneously was astounding.

Xia Yu knew her own limits. Taking the blast head-on would have left her severely injured, so she had decisively hidden inside the great red bridal sedan—a ghost artifact.

This move had been completely unexpected.

The moment she entered the bridal sedan, she had silently recited a mantra. This prevented the ghost artifact from controlling her, allowing her to use it to block the explosion’s destructive force instead.

It was an incredibly wise decision, a testament to her vast combat experience.

She was completely unharmed.

Not a scratch on her.

The Wedding Dress Ghost, on the other hand...

...had been slammed to the ground, now a truly ”dead” ghost.

Its wedding dress was torn to shreds, revealing large patches of snow-white skin. The red bridal veil had disintegrated into fragments that danced in the air. The face, once that of a pure young woman, was now a mangled mess of blood and gore.

Utterly disfigured.

Even those closest to her would never have recognized this face.

The Yin Qi around the Wedding Dress Ghost’s body could no longer coalesce and began to dissipate. The Ghostly Land ceased to exist.

Nearby, Little Flower greedily absorbed the surrounding Yin Qi, its metamorphosis continuing.

Most importantly...

The recent explosion had completely destroyed the sedan chair, stripping it of its properties as a ghost artifact. It had lost its unique characteristics, and even prolonged exposure to dense Yin Qi would not allow it to recover.

This meant two threats had been dealt with at once.

Xia Yu withdrew her gaze and looked toward the deepest part of the village. ”You’re out of tricks, aren’t you?” she asked.

”Still want to hide like a coward?”

The Crystal Core explosion was her trump card. Now that it was revealed, she wasn’t sure the Soul-eating Ghost’s true form would dare to appear, so she could only resort to verbal provocation.

CLAP. CLAP. CLAP.

”How exciting.”

Song Zichao stood up again, clapping his hands. ”Hiding in the bridal sedan to avoid the damage... you continue to surprise me,” he said.

”Not only are you a powerful combatant, but your battle experience is also incredibly vast.”

”Killing you is proving to be quite difficult.”

At this, Xia Yu’s brow furrowed slightly.

’After a person dies, their soul lingers for a short time. Song Zichao still doesn’t count as being ’alone’.’

She said, ”You’ve violated the killing rule.”

Hearing this, Song Zichao explained, ”In most cases, the Ghost Clan does follow specific rules when killing. But we aren’t mindless objects! We have our own thoughts. We can break the rules and kill whenever we want!”

The reason it had ignored the killing rules was that it needed to devour a soul to restore its Power!

Controlling ghost artifacts and Ghost Slaves consumed its Power. The stronger the artifact or slave, the greater the cost.

Even with all the souls it had devoured, it was still not nearly enough to offset the drain.

This just went to show how immense its recent expenditure had been.

In its current state, if its true form had been caught in that ”explosion”...

It would have been killed without a doubt!

”You’ve misunderstood my meaning,”

Xia Yu said coolly.

She was, of course, aware of what it was saying.

”Hmm?”

Song Zichao was stunned for a moment.

”What I mean is, you were so desperate to devour a dead man’s soul that you broke your own killing rule. It proves you’re at the end of your rope.”

Xia Yu stated coolly, ”You look truly pathetic right now.”

”You...”

To be looked down upon by a member of the Human Race... The Soul-eating Ghost was utterly humiliated, its shame turning to rage.

”Stop pretending.”

Xia Yu spoke again. ”You must be furious, right?”

”You... That’s right! I AM furious!”

”You destroyed a hundred years of my hard work and accumulation! I will make you pay a heavy price.”

”I swear it!”

”You just wait!”

”When I catch you, I will torture you slowly. I won’t let you die an easy death!”

The Soul-eating Ghost could no longer contain itself, letting out a soul-shattering roar.

Its losses this time were too great. Only by killing Xia Yu could it quell the hatred in its heart.

The Ghost Face, in particular, had cost it immense effort. It was its masterpiece.

The key ingredient for creating a Ghost Face: Resentment!

The more the better!

So, it had specifically controlled Little Flower’s mother, flaying her face from her while she was still alive. It made Little Flower endure that pain and torment, and in doing so, succeeded in harvesting enough resentment.

Afterwards, it was nourished with Yin Qi over a long period and refined using special techniques before it was finally complete.

And now...

...it was destroyed, just like that. How could it not be furious?

’What a noisy ghost,’

Xia Yu suddenly shot out, rapidly closing in.

”You...”

Seeing this, Song Zichao’s expression changed. He hurriedly hauled Zhu Fangfang up, holding her in front of him as a shield. ”Any closer and I’ll kill her!” he threatened.

”Suit yourself.”

Xia Yu accelerated, pulling her right arm back, preparing to throw the Blood Butterfly.

In her left hand, she produced three Crystal Cores.

”You... You’re ruthless!”

THUD.

The Soul-eating Ghost instantly fled, and Song Zichao’s body fell to the ground, once again a corpse.

It didn’t dare to gamble.

Because this was its true form!

If Xia Yu truly didn’t care about Zhu Fangfang’s life, its true form would have been grievously wounded.

So...

...its only option was to flee in disgrace!

”Trying to run?”

”It’s not that easy!”

Having guessed this was the enemy’s true form, there was no way Xia Yu would let it escape.

WHOOSH!

She decisively threw the Blood Butterfly.

The ghost’s speed far surpassed that of a typical member of the Ghost Clan, and she couldn’t keep up. But the Blood Butterfly was faster still.

The Soul-eating Ghost was terrified, dodging with all its might.

Fortunately, it was truly fast. It managed to dodge in time to avoid a direct hit to its core, and the Blood Butterfly only pierced through its side.

”AAAAGH!”

A shrill scream rang out.

Unfortunately, it was a sound ordinary people couldn’t hear.

”Human, I will kill you! I swear it!”

”I swear on the name of my ancestors!”

Devouring Song Zichao’s soul had restored a sliver of its strength, but this new injury left it in an even worse state than before.

The gain wasn’t worth the loss!

This made it look like a fool!

How could it not be furious?

It was about to explode with rage!

THUMP.

Zhu Fangfang hit the ground, the pain jolting her awake. She stared at the devastated scene before her, completely dumbfounded.

Her first thought was to confirm that she was still alive and not under control.

Her second was to see Xia Yu.

”I... we... we’re alive?”

she asked excitedly.

’We won again!’

’The woman in front of me won again!’

’She’s so incredibly strong!’

”We’ve only survived for now.”

Xia Yu said, ”There’s still a big fight ahead.”

She knew the Soul-eating Ghost must be going after Ye Xue and Hemorrhoid Guy. If it devoured their souls, its strength would definitely recover to some extent.

Ye Xue’s soul, in particular. Since she had awakened a soul-related superpower, her soul had to be exceptionally unique and powerful—a tremendous prize for the Soul-eating Ghost.

At that point, it would become even harder to deal with than the Wedding Dress Ghost.

”Huh?”

Zhu Fangfang didn’t understand.

”Let’s go!”

But Xia Yu had no time to explain. ”We have to find the two of them quickly,” she said. ”Otherwise, our chances of survival will drop dramatically.”

Just then, Little Flower finished absorbing all the surrounding Yin Qi, completing its first metamorphosis.

It automatically returned to the Jade Box.

It was very obedient and well-behaved.

”Okay.”

”I won’t drag you down.”

Zhu Fangfang tried to get up resolutely, but her ankle was terribly swollen, now a full size larger than before. On top of that, she had just fought the Skull Man and been caught in the shockwave of the Crystal Core explosion, so...

...her condition was terrible.

She collapsed the moment she tried to stand.

WHOOSH.

Without wasting a word, Xia Yu grabbed Zhu Fangfang and charged forward.

Her physique had long surpassed that of a Soldier King. Lifting a woman who weighed a little over a hundred pounds was effortless, though it would slow her down.

Of course, she couldn’t carry her for long, or the exertion would be too great and affect her combat effectiveness.

As for abandoning Zhu Fangfang...

Out of the question.

There was only one reason: if left alone, Zhu Fangfang would become ”nourishment” for the Soul-eating Ghost!

And so...

Both sides began to race against time.

It was a race to see who could find Ye Xue and Hemorrhoid Guy first.

No.

This was the Soul-eating Ghost’s territory; Xia Yu was bound to be a step behind. She just needed to stop or disrupt its attempt to devour Ye Xue’s soul!