Lin Wan carried the Yanling knife that Lu Zheng had prepared for her, her gaze burning as she stared at the woman, her heart pounding with tension.
Leaning against the doorframe, Qiongniang looked utterly bewildered. She had no idea how this seemingly ordinary newcomer to the martial world had seen through her disguise and realised she was not human. However…
Zhang Sheng stepped forward a few paces, his face full of concern as he said to Lin Wan, “I have met this young lady. Young lady, have you mistaken the person? Qiongniang’s surname is Ye, not Shi.”
Qiongniang: ???
Lin Wan: ???
Lin Wan nearly failed to keep a straight face. Qiongniang, on the other hand, broke into a smile, then put on a frightened expression, clutching Zhang Sheng’s arm and hiding behind him. “Zhang Lang, this young lady is carrying a knife. Who… who is she?”
At the mention of the knife, Zhang Sheng also felt a little intimidated, but he summoned his courage and said to Lin Wan, “Young lady, may I ask your name? You have entered my home in the middle of the night. What is your purpose?”
Lin Wan was so exasperated that she laughed, pointing the knife at Zhang Sheng. “You pick up a random woman on the road and bring her home. Are you not afraid she might be a female ghost who will dig out your heart and lungs in the dead of night?”
Zhang Sheng froze, racking his brain until he finally recalled what Lin Wan had shouted when she first entered…
It seemed she had said “corpse ghost”, not some name beginning with “Shi”?
Zhang Sheng whipped around and saw Qiongniang looking timid and delicate, her cheeks flushed, her eyes evasive. Where was there any sign of a vicious ghost or corpse demon?
“Young lady, have you perhaps mistaken… ugh!”
The next instant, in Zhang Sheng’s eyes, Qiongniang’s beautiful face split open from the scalp, revealing a gaping wound that exposed the inky-green, grotesque, pus-dripping, foul-smelling corpse beneath.
Zhang Sheng retched violently, shoved Qiongniang away, and bolted frantically towards the door.
“Hm?”
Qiongniang, who had been putting on an act, was momentarily stunned. Then she sensed a flaw in her skin-painting technique. Reaching up to touch her head, she felt a handful of thick pus.
“The spell broke on its own? What happened?” Qiongniang looked baffled. “Has this skin been used too many times?”
“But it does not matter…” Qiongniang raised her head, looking at Lin Wan with eager hunger. “Your skin is truly beautiful. From now on, it will be mine!”
“Take this!”
Lin Wan leapt forward, brushing past the fleeing Zhang Sheng. Her blood qi surged, the knife whistling through the air as she slashed straight at Qiongniang.
“Aoo!”
A howl that was anything but human erupted from Qiongniang’s mouth. The beautiful young woman’s skin tore completely, revealing a metre-tall, pus-oozing, inky-green, hideous corpse ghost.
Only because Lin Wan had experienced battlefields and seen all manner of corpses did she avoid vomiting on the spot, though even so, she was thoroughly nauseated.
“Crack!”
“Clang!”
The corpse ghost raised a hand to block the long knife. The blade sank into its body, carving through the rotting flesh, but the ghost caught it with its other hand.
“Die for me!” the corpse ghost shrieked hoarsely, clawing straight at Lin Wan’s face.
Lin Wan’s blood qi flared throughout her body. She drew back the knife and retreated, parrying the ghost’s claws with a backhand stroke, blocking the invasion of yin qi, then slashing at its neck.
“Ding ding clang clang!”
“Crackle crackle!”
Lin Wan and the corpse ghost were evenly matched, a worthy opponent for each other. Human and ghost fought back and forth in the small secluded courtyard, blows flying with fierce intensity.
You strike with Black Tiger Heart Rip, I counter with Force Splitting Mount Hua.
You unleash a wave of yin qi frenzy, I surge forth a furnace of blood qi.
Lu Zheng, watching, felt his hands itch with the urge to join in. Come to think of it, it had been a long time since he had truly fought. The last time he had gone all out seemed to be the siege against the Mingyi Saintess.
The corpse ghost’s claws were razor-sharp, capable of easily disembowelling an ordinary person and ripping out heart and liver. Yet Lin Wan danced the Yanling knife into a sphere of silver light, protecting herself completely and fending off the ghost’s assaults.
After battling for a while with no clear victor, Lin Wan brushed her bracelet and drew out a shield. With her left hand she parried the ghost’s claws, then slashed backhanded, cleaving open its shoulder.
“Aoo!”
The corpse ghost howled in pain, only then noticing the many large and small wounds covering its body. Corpse fluid poured out, and its aura had greatly weakened.
This was not the wilderness but a bustling county town. Though no patrolling yin soldiers had yet discovered the disturbance, the corpse ghost dared not gamble on that. Retreating at last, it swiped a claw at Lin Wan, then leapt, intending to vault over the wall and flee.
“Boom!”
A tremendous crash. The corpse ghost felt as though its head had slammed into a wall of bronze and iron, leaving it dazed. It tumbled back into the courtyard, staggering and nearly falling.
Corpse ghost: ???
Immediately after, the whistle of a blade sounded behind it. Lin Wan’s Yanling knife arrived at the side of its neck.
The corpse ghost’s hairs stood on end. It twisted away, but another deep wound opened on its body.
Scrambling to its feet, the corpse ghost stared at Lin Wan with shock and suspicion. “Who are you?”
“Who am I? Go ask King Yama below!” Lin Wan swung her long knife and gave a cold laugh.
“Who is King Yama?” the corpse ghost asked.
Lin Wan, “…”
No common ground. Better just kill it.
Lin Wan pressed forward. The corpse ghost gradually lost ground, trying once more to force Lin Wan back and escape, only to be blocked again by the invisible wall.
“What is this thing?” the corpse ghost cried in alarm.
This was, of course, a true qi barrier that Lu Zheng had casually erected. The corpse ghost’s cultivation was too low even to sense it, so it could only crash into it headlong.
“Ding ding clang clang!”
“Crackle crackle!”
At last Lin Wan spotted an opening. She smashed the corpse ghost to the ground with her shield, then slashed diagonally, severing its head in one stroke.
The next moment, the corpse ghost’s head rolled away from its body and collapsed. The corpse gradually dissolved into thick, foul-smelling fluid that seeped slowly into the courtyard ground.
“Phew…”
Lin Wan let out a long breath, putting away the shield and Yanling knife. “Finally dead!”
In the corner of the courtyard, where he had been cowering ever since the corpse ghost revealed its true form, Zhang Sheng also exhaled in relief. “Finally dead!”
Seeing the corpse ghost slain, Lin Wan sheathed her knife. Zhang Sheng’s eyes gleamed. He straightened his clothes, composed himself, stepped forward, and cupped his hands in salute. “This humble scholar is Zhang Yu. I greet this young lady. Many thanks for saving my life. I have no way to repay you, but I wish to know your honoured name so that I may engrave it upon my heart. The night is late. Would the young lady perhaps stay at my humble home for the evening? Tomorrow we can report to the authorities?”
Zhang Yu could not even manage the most basic pretence. As a former police officer, how could Lin Wan fail to see through his intentions?
He really was…
Lin Wan gave Zhang Yu a sidelong glance. Her cold gaze sent a shiver through him. “Young lady, you…”
Lin Wan said nothing, merely leapt up and vaulted over the wall, vanishing.
Watching the direction in which Lin Wan had disappeared, Zhang Yu felt a pang of loss. Then a sudden chill ran through him. It seemed the earlier fright had caused him to break into a cold sweat, now cooled by the night breeze.
Terrified of catching cold, Zhang Yu dashed back into his room, burrowed under the covers, and shivered uncontrollably.
He dared not fall ill. If he did, he might not even have money for medicine.
