Chapter 646: A Deal with the “Ghost” (1/3)
Hearing the words of the phantom General Feng in front of her, Su Jiu was caught off guard. She hadn’t expected a demon that should have been dead to call her “Lord” here.
“Yang is for wine, meaning its bright side when there’s liquid. Yin is for soul, meaning when the wine is drunk, it can summon Yin souls.”
Su Jiu muttered to herself and quickly realized that this was a power from the wine gourd. However, the strength of the Yin souls was too weak.
The War God Level Feng, after becoming a Yin soul, only had the strength of an Initial Stage Battle King. Other lower-level demons would only be weaker, right?
There was also the question of whether this thing could store multiple phantoms. If it could store a hundred Battle Generals, that would be a rather formidable force, equivalent to a top-tier legion.
In the following time, Su Jiu studied this item again and found that it was similar to a beast pet. As long as she fed it Magic Crystals, the phantom’s aura would become stronger. However, it was a pity that the improvement of the other party was completely independent of her, the owner of the gourd. It was more like a recovery of strength…
“The gourd’s ability seems very similar to that city’s, as if it had stolen one of the “Ghost”‘s abilities.”
After feeding it a few Intermediate Magic Crystals and raising the phantom of Feng to Intermediate Battle King, Su Jiu stopped feeding it. She and E Huo still needed to eat. The phantom of General Feng seemed to have solidified quite a bit. Su Jiu hung the gourd at her waist, looked at the phantom of General Feng, and asked curiously, “What can you do?”
The phantom of Feng performed a ceremonial bow to Su Jiu before starting to showcase its skills. With a “bang!”, it turned into a ball of blood mist. The next moment, the blood mist dispersed, and it terrifyingly reappeared behind Su Jiu, standing there quietly.
Su Jiu frowned slightly, “Is that it?” This was too weak. It lacked the combat experience from its lifetime, feeling like cannon fodder.
Feng lowered his head and pondered for a long time before raising it. The ghost fire in his eyes flickered slightly, and he uttered in a buzzing voice, “Knife.”
“Your knife should still be on the mountaintop.” Su Jiu instantly understood what the other party meant, smiled, and took out a steel swift knife from her ring, tossing it over. “Try this.”
Taking the swift knife, the ghost fire in Feng’s eyes flickered, and he stared blankly at Su Jiu, unsure how to showcase his abilities.
Taking out a loquat branch, Su Jiu created distance from the other party, a hint of curiosity flashing in her Blood Eye. She said softly, “Don’t use external qi, let me see your strength.”
Feng hesitated very little. Holding the steel swift knife, his body turned into a red line and slashed towards Su Jiu. “Clang!” Facing this sword purely relying on sword techniques, Su Jiu easily blocked it. The figure of Feng displayed sufficient combat experience, with horizontal slashes, downward slashes, and diagonal slashes…
It wasn’t until Su Jiu called a halt that the pure knife and sword confrontation stopped. She glanced at the sky, which had already turned dusk, lightly patted the wine gourd, and put away the phantom. Tonight, she needed to see if she could collect more phantoms, as she hadn’t forgotten about her trip to the Blood Clan half a year later.
Finally, as night deepened, Su Jiu, with E Huo, headed to the mountain where the temple was located. Looking at the ruins below, which had already been sealed off, she explored with a bit of mental power and found the wide saber of General Feng. The saber was broken into two halves, but for Su Jiu, an Alchemy Master, it was a small problem.
Later, to avoid unnecessary trouble, she entered the Alchemist Guild wearing a fox mask, stated her identity, and, under the admiring gaze of the server, received the reward for the “Feng” mission – three High-Grade Magic Crystals. Feeding all three Magic Crystals to Feng, and watching him reach High-Rank Battle King before turning into a ball of blood mist and entering the wine gourd, she then walked towards the mountain, muttering:
“Feng’s upper limit should be War God Level, but to reach High-Rank Battle King requires the equivalent of at least killing three High-Rank Battle Kings. War God Level probably demands even more. This is purely a gold-guzzling project…”
On the long, winding path, Su Jiu slowly wandered through the mountains, her hands behind her back, humming a self-composed little tune. In the evening, falling cherry blossoms drifted onto her still-unremoved shrine maiden outfit. The faint scent of cherry blossoms occasionally tickled the maiden’s nose. Under the dusk streetlights, it had a romantic feel.
“Mama, the flowers smell so fragrant. Is it because little bees are collecting nectar…” E Huo walked ahead, fanning the falling flower petals with its hands, sniffing gently with its little nose, looking somewhat endearingly silly.
“No, it’s because pesticide was just sprayed.” Seeing E Huo’s appearance, Su Jiu’s gaze fell on a pesticide bottle on a chair not far away. She couldn’t help but feel a bit strange. By rights, it should be a night of a hundred ghosts now, so why was the “Ghost” not reacting at all?
“Mama, you won’t find a partner like this.” E Huo froze, and then its little face puffed up like an inflated balloon, seemingly dissatisfied with Su Jiu’s answer.
“Mama’s daughter is old enough to run errands, why would I need a partner…” Su Jiu looked around, responding vaguely, but her mind was on the current situation: If I were the “Ghost,” with all my plans ruined, what would I do?
E Huo froze again, looked up at its Mama, and blinked its eyes. “Mama, I want to punch you with my little fists, what should I do?” E Huo felt that as it grew older, Mama had revealed her true nature and was no longer the cute Mama.
“Hold it in.” Ignoring E Huo’s complaint, Su Jiu’s eyes sank into a bit of contemplation. This overly quiet night, had she overlooked something? The other party definitely wouldn’t be eating, sleeping, and playing. Because according to Yuko’s partner, the officials would soon send stronger individuals to conduct powerful exorcisms. If they lingered here, they would only be waiting for death… Therefore, they would fight desperately to escape from the seal!
Suddenly raising her head, Su Jiu’s mind flashed with the image of the Young Lady Lin. She had disrupted the formation within the clothing beforehand, but the ghost didn’t know that… Therefore, the other party would spare no effort to search for this Young Lady Lin! Understanding this, Su Jiu took out her phone and began to locate the Lin family’s residence. Because the Lin family was well-known locally, it was found quite easily. “Here we go.” She then grabbed E Huo and swept towards the direction indicated on the flawed map, moving exceptionally fast, almost turning into a stream of light.
In just a moment, Su Jiu arrived above the Lin family’s villa, gazing down. From the outside, it gave a sense of Chinese architecture. The entire place was made of small wooden houses, with the overall structure resembling a courtyard house. The lanterns at the front gate cast a faint glow, and inside the courtyard house, it was quiet… The entire environment felt excessively silent. Su Jiu landed in the courtyard of the house, frowning as she looked at the interior, instinctively feeling that something had already happened here.
“Miss Su, you have made me wait quite a bit.” Just as she was about to use her mental power to scan the surroundings, a faint laugh came from the living room. Within Su Jiu’s line of sight, a young man in a suit and bow tie walked out slowly, his light red eyes deep and distant. Su Jiu looked at the young man before her. He possessed only Demigod Level strength, but his presence felt very strong to her. She responded calmly, “You are the “Ghost” sealed in this city, aren’t you? Why are you waiting for me?”
“I am Ibaraki, one of the former Demon Lords, a wanderer who is half-demon and half-dragon.” Upon hearing this, Ibaraki bowed slightly. The formal wear he wore enhanced his temperament. He chuckled and said, “The reason for waiting for Miss Su, you should know yourself, right? You have sharp eyes indeed, even cutting off my retreat.” Su Jiu’s expression was neither happy nor sad. She said softly, “Where are the people in this mansion?” She was surprised to hear he was a Demon Lord, an existence only one level lower than the Yamata no Orochi back then. But what did half-dragon and half-demon mean?
“Of course, I’ve made them sleep soundly.” Ibaraki smiled faintly, turned slightly to the side, revealing the many members of the Lin family tied up inside the great door with fine gray ropes. Young Lady Lin was at the very front, sleeping like a log… Seeing the gray lines on these people, Su Jiu knew it was Ibaraki Douji’s external qi. This was a warning from the other party. So, she asked directly, “You being here, it’s not just to chat with me, is it?”
“I want to make a deal with you. The price is to help me escape.” Smiling, a sharp glint flashed in Ibaraki’s crimson eyes.
“Putting aside how to take you away, you are sealed. I don’t have that much capability.” Looking at the other party’s confident expression that she would agree, Su Jiu was amused. She pointed at the bound Lin family members and said with a smile, “Besides, I’m not a bleeding heart saint. Using these people as bargaining chips, what good is that?”
Hearing Su Jiu’s words, Ibaraki did not show any annoyance. Instead, his gaze fell on the gourd at Su Jiu’s waist, and he began to explain softly, “The gourd at your waist belongs to Shōtoku. As a member of the “Dragon,” his gourd was reshaped by human alchemists and can ignore certain rules to carry soul bodies. As long as I sever ties with my mortal body inside the seal and hide in the gourd, I can truly escape from here.” Without waiting for Su Jiu’s reply, Ibaraki extended three fingers and slowly stated his bargaining chips, lowering one finger for each mention:
“First: As long as you let me go, these Lin family members will all be safe. Second: I can also provide you with information about “Ghosts” from other lineages in the present world. Third: You should already know how to use Shōtoku’s gourd, so I can give you the eight Shadow Jingwei under General Feng. As scouts, they are so much stronger than humans.”
Listening to these conditions, Su Jiu fell silent, contemplating the pros and cons. She patted the wine gourd and summoned the phantom of General Feng to inquire. Feng glanced at Ibaraki, the ghost fire in his eyes rippling slightly. After hearing the conditions, he said sullenly, “Lord, agree to him. The Shadow Jingwei are immortal.” Looking at the phantom before him, Ibaraki showed no surprise, his smile still lingering.
“This is your deeper plan, indeed worthy of a “Demon Lord.” Your methods are quite impressive.” Hearing the words of General Feng, Su Jiu suddenly understood something. This move by the other party predicted the function of the wine gourd. Regardless of whether General Feng won or lost, if the mission failed, they could use this as leverage to take her away.
Adjusting his bow tie, Ibaraki narrowed his eyes, revealing a fox-like smile. He liked talking to smart people. “I belong to the half-dragon and half-demon faction. After I get out, I certainly won’t cause trouble. And the sacrifice of a shrine maiden every ten years was the idea of the Temple Priest. In reality, the “Demon Night” kills very few people; most are killed by demons themselves.” He paused, his smile growing even more intense. “You should understand this; I just want to leave, I have no interest in killing people.”
“Then…” Looking at the smile of the other party, Su Jiu’s eyes flickered slightly, and a faint smile slowly appeared on her face, as if she were an old friend who hadn’t seen Ibaraki in years. The other party held human lives in their hands, and whether these pleasantries were true or not was another matter, but they had shown enough stance. Moreover, she herself was not a good person. Additionally, she did need these Shadow Jingwei and information about those other ghosts.
“I hope our cooperation will be pleasant.”
