Yin Shou Shu

Chapter 395 Teacher Li
"Ran Qing...you are Ran Qing..."

In the dark ruins, Ran Qing gazed at the scene at the city gate in the distance.

In front of him, behind him, and at his feet, countless translucent dead faces were writhing in dense array.

These bewildered wandering souls crowded together like an ocean, piling up here in a daze and confusion.

Only by constantly leaping and moving forward at high altitudes could Ran Qing cross the sea of ​​wandering souls and reach the vicinity of the city gate, where he could see the scene at the city gate.

Just as he was shocked by the sheer number of wandering souls in the area, a discordant, faint sound suddenly arose from the sea of ​​wandering souls beneath his feet.

The voice behind Ran Qing seemed even further away, faintly calling Ran Qing's name.

Ran Qing turned her head in surprise and listened carefully for a while.

He was sure he hadn't misheard.

In this sea of ​​wandering spirits beneath his feet, there really are wandering spirits calling out to him!

Ran Qing immediately leaped up and jumped onto another piece of wall ruins not far away, and continued to jump in the direction from which the sound came.

A dilapidated wall, a roof half-collapsed, Ran Qing kept jumping and catching things.

In these old-fashioned cities, the buildings are almost all the same height. Standing on high ground, one can see a sea of ​​writhing, wandering spirits within the city, and above them, a sea of ​​broken bricks, tiles, and uneven ruins.

Ran Qing leaped continuously above the ruins, the calling voice sometimes coming and sometimes going, but it was definitely getting closer and closer.

Finally, Ran Qing stopped on the roof of an almost intact building and looked down at the street below.

In the ocean of wandering souls, writhing with countless dead faces, one face stood out starkly.

It wore scholarly-looking glasses, and its eyes were neither the pale white of a wandering spirit nor the blood red of those peripheral ghostly figures, but rather jet black, as terrifying as a vengeful ghost.

Even its aura was sinister and cold, definitely not that of a wandering ghost.

Crowded among these wandering souls was none other than a real, vengeful ghost.

Moreover, it was a terrifying and vengeful ghost that could be described as fierce and difficult to deal with.

However, it did not attack the wandering spirits around it, nor did it attack Ran Qing. Instead, it weakly waved its hand, trying to attract Ran Qing's attention.

The one who called for Ran Qing was it.

Its face was exactly the same as that of Li Hongye's father, one of the two witches Ran Qing had seen.

Li Wanjun, Li Hongye's stepfather, was a primary school teacher who died tragically at the hands of the witch doctor.

It turned into a vengeful ghost after it died.

However, despite being a vengeful ghost, it clearly lacked the ferocity and cruelty of a typical vengeful ghost.

It was crowded in the sea of ​​wandering spirits and was clearly uncomfortable, but it did not attack the wandering spirits around it.

Upon seeing Ran Qing approach, it waved in the sea of ​​wandering souls and let out a painful roar.

"You are Ran Qing...I remember you..."

"Hongye once said that you..."

Seeing the strange Li Wanjun among the wandering spirits, Ran Qing took out a black cloth rope from her canvas bag and threw it into the sea of ​​wandering spirits.

The rope landed precisely beside Li Wanjun, bending like a snake and instantly wrapping around his neck.

Then Ran Qing suddenly pulled, and the vengeful ghost, who was being painfully crowded in the sea of ​​wandering souls, was pulled out and landed lightly beside Ran Qing.

It tore at the black rope around its neck in pain; this rope, which was specifically used to bind vengeful ghosts, had clearly caused it some kind of injury.

Even so, it did not attack Ran Qing who was standing to the side.

He was just painfully tearing at the black rope, trying to pull it off.

Ran Qing frowned upon seeing this scene, and her hand holding the black rope suddenly trembled.

The black rope that had been coiling around the vengeful ghost immediately trembled and loosened, retracting back into Ran Qing's hand.

Ran Qing held the black rope, looking at the vengeful ghost with Li Wanjun's face in confusion, and hesitated before asking, "...Teacher Li?"

This vengeful ghost seems to have retained its sane rationality?
Faced with Ran Qing's hesitant question, the vengeful ghost was stunned for a moment.

The next second, it nodded, its dark purple lips moving as it said, "...I am."

Although she maintained a certain degree of rationality, this Teacher Li was clearly not as clear-headed and astute as Li Hongye after her death.

Its voice was somewhat monotonous, and its reactions were a little slow.

It's like an old machine that's been neglected for years and often malfunctions.

Ran Qing stared at it and asked, "...Teacher Li, how much rationality do you have?"

The vengeful ghost with black eyes suddenly looked at Ran Qing, and its aura suddenly became fierce.

Ran Qing's question seemed to have provoked it.

But the next second, its ferocious aura vanished abruptly, and although its dark eyes were eerie, its expression became noticeably dazed.

“…Not much,” Teacher Li murmured blankly, answering Ran Qing’s question.

Seeing his appearance and reaction, Ran Qing roughly understood.

"Teacher Li, the ghost that was born inside you after you died is trying to steal your consciousness, right?"

"But you can barely suppress it?"

The vengeful ghosts Ran Qing encountered before, even with the presence of the Ancient Ghost Coin, had their former rationality suppressed by their ghostly side.

Only Li Hongye seemed to retain the clarity and rationality she had before her death.

Teacher Li, standing before him, was also able to barely suppress her demonic side, though only with great difficulty…

Amidst the eerie winds blowing through the ruins, Teacher Li's ghost slowly nodded.

It did not answer; perhaps speaking clearly would be a difficult burden for it.

But for Ran Qing, that was enough.

Ran Qing took a deep breath, looked solemnly at Teacher Li in front of her, and slowly said.

"Teacher Li, I am now a spirit medium."

"I've come to you this time to find out the cause and effect of your death, as well as what happened in your family."

"Li Hongye, and your wife, Li Hongye's mother... did they kill you?"

Ran Qing's self-introduction left the vengeful ghost somewhat confused, clearly unaware of what a spirit medium was.

But after hearing Ran Qing's question about its cause of death...

The ghost's face suddenly contorted and twitched, and its aura abruptly turned cold and menacing.

This time, it lasted for a full six seconds, and it was only through Teacher Li's rational side that the ghost's side was suppressed.

In the dim light, Ran Qing could clearly see a look of pain on Teacher Li's face.

It closed its eyes in despair and slowly nodded: "Yes..."

"She...fed me to the monster..."

"The old woman..."

"I watched with clear vision... the witch... devouring me bite by bite..."

"She wants me... to die with resentment... to become a vengeful ghost..."

Teacher Li spoke haltingly, her expression pained.

The experience of death clearly caused it immense suffering.

Even just the memory made it convulse and tremble. It was unclear whether it was to suppress the demon within it, or to grieve over the tragic death of its loved ones who had betrayed it.

But it struggled to tell its story, even if it was broken and intermittent, it still managed to get those words out.

After all, those grievances and pains could only be confided to the boy in front of him...

(End of this chapter)