“P–Patriarch?”
Bai Yu rubbed his eyes in disbelief. He wasn’t dreaming, right? The Patriarch really came out! The Patriarch truly manifested… again… and again!!
(д)b
So the Patriarch still favored Yun Jiao, huh.
Wait… what did the girl just yell to summon him?
Ye Yuan swept his cold gaze over the ghost horde, his sword-straight brows drawing together slightly.
“Yin spirits?”
A mere bunch of wandering souls managed to break into the temple? Were this generation’s disciples really so useless? His sharp eyes turned and fixed on the old man by the door — rotten wood indeed!
Bai Yu flinched under that glare. “……”
Why? Why is the Patriarch glaring at me? I didn’t do anything!(_)
“Baby! My baby— no! Don’t hurt my children!”
Su Niang screamed in anguish, panic twisting her face as she lunged to gather the scattering vengeful infants. But it was useless — under the white light, the infants vanished one after another. Despair overtook her. She let out a piercing ghostly wail, blood tears spilling from her black, hollow eyes. The ghostly energy around her exploded violently. She had clearly lost all reason. Ignoring the holy white glow, she charged at them in a frenzy.
The other female ghosts too became more savage and deranged. These were all mothers who had died unjustly; though long devoured by blood hatred and stripped of sanity, they still instinctively regarded the vengeful infants as their children. With those infants purified, it felt to them like their babies had died a second time, driving them mad.
The ghost horde surged forward again.
But before they could even cross within ten meters of Ye Yuan, an invisible force slammed outward and flung them all back. The once ferocious army scattered helplessly.
“Hmph!”
Ye Yuan let out a cold snort, as though the attack hadn’t even been worth noticing. He lifted a hand, and a golden talisman sigil instantly formed in the air — just a few simple characters, but radiating an oppressive might no spirit could resist.
Yun Jiao suddenly felt it: if this sigil was unleashed, every ghost here would be obliterated on the spot. Her heart clenched, and she instinctively rushed forward, hugging his arm.
“Wait, Patriarch!”
Ye Yuan froze stiff where he stood. Slowly he turned to look at her, and — to her surprise — a rush of crimson embarrassment spread across his cold, pale face. Before she could say anything, his figure flashed backward in a blur, retreating several paces as if startled, standing a good ten steps away and staring at her warily.
Yun Jiao: “……”
She looked down at her own hands. …Was she poisonous?
“Patriarch,” Yun Jiao said quickly, ignoring his odd reaction. “These female ghosts’ souls are already fragile. They might not withstand your talisman.”
Bai Yu caught on and looked at the fallen ghosts. The earlier white light had harmed them badly, and Ye Yuan’s protective aura had struck them once more. Now their forms were barely holding together, almost transparent, ready to fade away. Yet without minds, they didn’t notice their state — they crawled like lost souls, searching desperately for the vanished infants. Even Su Niang, more frenzied than any, was doing the same. She was nearly fully consumed by her own blood hatred.
Bai Yu suddenly remembered — the so-called Cave of Resentful Women was filled with pitiful women who had died horribly. They became fierce ghosts for revenge, but after avenging themselves their souls were devoured by hatred and lost all reason, doomed never to be free. Even so, when they saw the vengeful infants born of resentment, they instinctively protected them — even at the cost of their own souls.
Bai Yu felt a pang of sorrow and couldn’t help but speak:
“Yes, Patriarch… enough. Please, enough! If you strike again, they’ll never find release.”
In the end, they were all just pitiful… ghosts.
Ye Yuan frowned and shot the old man a cold look.
“As a disciple of the mystic sect, and you can’t even handle a few yin spirits? All your cultivation is wasted.”
Weakling, and you dare advise me?
Bai Yu trembled under the glare, but stubbornly spoke again, voice shaking:
“Patriarch… your power is profound… but they’ve already lost most of their ghostly energy. They won’t last long. If you continue… they’ll be utterly destroyed.”
At that, Ye Yuan finally lowered his hand — but as he prepared to disperse the white light too, his gaze swept over the ruined scene. The ferocious ghost assault and the swarm of infants had demolished nearly everything in front of Qingyang Temple. The front halls, the main courtyard, the eastern wing… and — the kitchen?!
∑(っ°Д°;)っ
His cold, calm expression shifted instantly to something far darker. A wave of icy wrath erupted from him like a dam breaking.
The kitchen… gone. The house… gone… GONE!
Where was the promised meal?! Where were the three big bowls of chicken soup?!
Kitchen gone = no food = no chicken soup! His little disciple wouldn’t lie — it must have been these damned spirits who destroyed it.
╭(艹皿艹)╮
Ye Yuan was furious — and that was dangerous. He had one solution when something displeased him: destroy it.
“Patriarch, please let them—” Bai Yu tried again, clueless.
“No.”
“But—”
“Silence!”
Ye Yuan’s eyes locked coldly on the ghost horde. His aura surged, wind howling and moonlight dimming around him.
“You all… deserve death!”
(And you ruined my chicken soup!)
o(≧口≦)o
Perhaps rage drove him; this time he didn’t even bother drawing symbols mid-air. A golden magic array bloomed instantly above the ghosts, radiating a terror far stronger than before. The already-weak spirits were crushed flat against the ground, their souls starting to unravel.
“Patriarch!” Bai Yu couldn’t help but cry out again.
Ye Yuan turned a chilling gaze on him.
“You want to die too?”
“Uh…” Bai Yu shuddered instinctively. The Patriarch looked… terrifying.
The ghost forms grew fainter and fainter, the array descending lower and lower — ready to obliterate them.
Yun Jiao sighed, pulled Bai Yu aside, and spoke up:
“Patriarch, there’ll be chicken soup next meal!”
“……”
The array froze midair, though still glowing.
She quickly opened her hand and added, “Five bowls!”
“……”
The array dimmed slightly, as if hesitating.
“Big bowls!” she threw in.
“……”
Zzzzt — the array finally dissolved.
Ye Yuan stood silent for a long beat, then swept the ghosts a cold glance, gave a sharp snort, and finally withdrew his power. He turned and strode back into the pagoda, his face a mask of “I’m only sparing you out of dignity, not because I’m calm.”
Yun Jiao: “……”
Just before heading upstairs, he paused and shot Bai Yu a stern look.
“You. No dinner.”
Low cultivation — should train more. (Definitely not because I want an extra bowl of soup.)
╭(╯^╰)╮ Hmph!
Bai Yu: “……”
Why me again?!
(End of this chapter)