Tokyo bombing incident Nth time

Fortunately, for some reason, the opponent's speed was not stable—Yuri injected spiritual essence into his legs and began to accelerate his sprint.

It's probably a bit of a waste, but it's definitely better than being overtaken beforehand.

Yuri continued running, his spirit form weaving through the crowd. Some seemed to sense the chilly atmosphere, but now was certainly not the time to stop and apologize—the crowd, the narrow passageways, the shops and windows that were passable were all paths that had been investigated beforehand.

Yuri didn't know how the other party was doing, but judging from the relative distance between them... these things probably didn't hinder the other party's movements much, or perhaps the other party was just too fast, so that even when blocked by these things, they could still catch up on flat terrain—whatever the case, he should know after reaching the rendezvous point, Yuri reminded himself not to look back now.

...Three minutes later, the distance between the two sides had been reduced to several hundred meters—even after Yuri used the technique of consuming spiritual essence, the distance between them was still effectively decreasing...and by quite a bit.

Although it's impossible to directly determine the other party's route, judging from the speed at which they're closing in, it doesn't seem like they're taking a detour. Are they running in a straight line? Yuri continues sprinting, not far from the rendezvous point. In terms of timing, it's just right.

Mingmei had been waiting for a long time; now, only the other party was waiting to arrive.

127 Refraction Angle

On a small platform, Yuri and Minmei stood ready.

...In fact, only Akemi was on high alert, and she was prepared to persuade the other party to stop and start negotiations as soon as possible. Yuri's plan was to just hang on his motorcycle and run away if something happened.

It was Saturday morning, and there weren't many people around, but there were still quite a few. With Akemi's driving skills... Yuri quickly scanned the surroundings and figured that if there were no distractions, he shouldn't hit anyone. Right now, he didn't want to think about what kind of distractions might occur.

Soon, a minute after they met up, three figures appeared in front of them.

That's right, three figures—a short girl (in casual clothes), a tall spirit (wearing a strange black cloth), and a black horse.

The first two were indeed the same two Yuri knew, while the dark horse... was undoubtedly a spirit, and looked very weak.

Do horses have ghosts? Or... could Yuri vaguely sense a connection between this horse and the tall spirit, perhaps it was some kind of summoned entity...?

They're using horses to achieve high-speed movement... This is troublesome. I'm not entirely sure if a regular horse can run down a slope, but a spirit horse definitely can... Should I try to hit them a couple of times first, cripple their horses, and then run away?

While Yuri was frantically contemplating running away, Akemi had already spoken to him.

"Hello? Why are you chasing after him like this?" The stance was quite clear: "I think there must be some misunderstanding."

Yuri continued to observe the situation opposite him. The person in the black robe was clearly a spirit, as was the horse, but the girl in casual clothes who was puffing up in a huff was not. Although she could clearly make contact with spirits (she was also riding a spirit horse), and she looked somewhat blurry... had she already cast some kind of spell? ...But in any case, she was alive, or at least something with flesh and blood flowing through her veins.

It was a bit strange. Yuri couldn't find any reason to believe that the other party wasn't human, but for some reason he just felt that the other party was different from ordinary humans... It was very likely the influence of the black-robed man who was riding with the other party.

"Misunderstanding—I think you're the one who's misunderstood, the unfamiliar cultivator sister." The other person seemed to be sizing up Mingmei as well. "You were deceived by that Qingming ghost next to you—what did she say? That she has a tragic past and must stay in the human world to complete it no matter what?"

At least she did slow down and didn't rush over immediately.

What's going on here? Yuri tried to figure out the opponent's specific characteristics without too much focus, but failed. However, he didn't dare to really get completely absorbed in the situation, because if the opponent charged, he might be killed.

"Hmm... I'm sure he didn't say that. Actually, he's different from a typical Qingming ghost." Mingmei stayed where she was and continued to talk to the other person from a distance. Her voice was quite loud, but fortunately, no one else was attracted to it.

The other party moved to a distance of about fifteen meters from the two of them and stopped. This distance was rather delicate. You had to speak loudly to get a word in edgewise, but it wouldn't take long to charge.

Prior to this, after hearing the term "Qingming Ghost," Yuri and Akemi had done some research. Combining their vague impressions with on-site book searches, the two found relevant information about Qingming Ghosts and then analyzed it using their own knowledge...

So-called "Qingming ghosts" are those who have managed to break free of their anchor points but still remain in the mortal world by their own will. Yes, they continuously lose their power because they lack anchor points and require a constant supply of external energy to replenish themselves, far more than normal ghosts. However, they can move relatively freely in the material world—normal ghosts without anchor points are quickly absorbed by the underworld, regardless of their strength, while those with anchor points will rapidly deplete their spiritual essence until death if they stray too far from their anchor points, a depletion even greater than that of Qingming ghosts.

There are two factors that determine whether a ghost can become a Qingming ghost: first, whether it has a strong enough will (or obsession), and second, whether it receives attention from the underworld. Obsession goes without saying, but the attention from the underworld does not mean that the underworld actually has an individual will, but rather whether a connection has been established with the underworld—the stronger the connection with the underworld, the stronger the will (obsession) needed to maintain oneself in the human world.

Therefore, in most cases, Qingming ghosts appear in people who have recently died (with little connection to the underworld), have not been to the underworld due to their disintegration in the human world (with little connection to the underworld), and possess extremely strong obsessions (willpower). Leaving aside their connection to the underworld, this strong obsession, while maintaining their actions in the human world, also compels them to pursue the original purpose of their obsession.

In most cases, it's about revenge, killing enemies from one's previous life. In a smaller number of cases, it might be driven by a burning desire to complete an unfinished business.

The more specific the goal, the easier it is to concentrate one's will and the easier it is to accomplish—for example, taking revenge on an enemy from one's previous life is something that a spirit not bound by an anchor can easily begin to do—and then whether it succeeds (the obsession is fulfilled) or fails (being killed and falling into the underworld), it will lead to the loss of the identity of a clear-minded ghost.

In other words, the vast majority of Qingming ghosts will quickly perish on their own and theoretically will not pose any threat, so there is no need to worry.

But what about the remaining few Qingming ghosts? They have extremely strong obsessions and can move freely. Even without considering the crazy things they might do for their obsessions, the large amount of spiritual essence they need to maintain their existence must be taken from other ghosts... or living beings.

They are not necessarily evil (nor necessarily good), but they are certainly very dangerous.

When Yuri and Akemi finally found this information in the pile of documents, they looked at each other in bewilderment—although Yuri's features were very different from Qingming Gui's, their outward appearances were quite similar.

These are ghost-like beings that can move freely and have a much larger appetite than ordinary ghosts—the Qingming Ghost does this to maintain its own existence, while Yuri does it to accelerate his skill learning.

Although he himself knew he wasn't, the person on the other side clearly didn't.

“Although I don’t know exactly what he is, he’s not some kind of Qingming ghost—I mean, he might be a ghost, but he doesn’t leak so much spiritual energy that he needs to constantly replenish it!” Mingmei’s tone was resolute, and the content was… well, Yuri didn’t know what he was either.

"Then let me ask you, do you know what he's done to innocent ghosts outside?!" the girl said righteously. "I think she's too afraid to tell you what really happened!"

Yuri and Akemi exchanged a glance.

Akemi's eyes clearly asked, "Did you really do something?"

Yuri's response was much simpler: "I don't know."

"What did he do? I know part of it, but I don't know if it's the part you're talking about." Mingmei turned her head back and asked the person opposite her. If she didn't know what had happened, she might as well just ask.

"She ruthlessly drained the spiritual essence from those bewildered ghosts, greatly accelerating their demise—in a negative way!" the girl declared with utmost righteous indignation.

"..." Mingmei paused for a moment, then asked, "I know that, is there a problem?"

The girl opposite seemed speechless. Her righteous condemnation had no effect, and she seemed quite uncomfortable being questioned like this.

"Isn't that the whole problem?! After this guy stole our energy, those ghosts only stayed in the human world for a shorter time!" The girl's voice was full of anger, but she remained where she was and did not rush forward.

Yuri felt he should defend himself, "Wait, wait, I never took them all away to the point of their complete annihilation. In fact, I only took a portion of each one—"

He was immediately retorted, "Go find someone and tell them that you're only taking away a year of their lifespan, not to the point of sudden death, and see how they react."

Mingmei decisively interjected, "But those bewildered ghosts you mentioned, they can't react at all, right? They're just echoes from their past lives. Regardless of whether it's their own fault, they don't even have self-awareness."

Before Yuri could even nod in agreement, the girl opposite him immediately retorted, "Ghosts aren't necessarily the same in the end as they were at the beginning. Even if they didn't remember their previous state at first, why are you talking like someone in a vegetative state isn't a person?!"

It seems that everyone's standards are obviously different. In the other party's view, even the mindless ghost that Yuri called a "repeater" could "possibly" gain intelligence. Therefore, Yuri's actions are equivalent to killing an innocent person who is unconscious—even if it's just drinking a little blood, it's still a wrong act that harms an innocent person who is unconscious.

And although it's difficult, it's indeed possible for a repeater to gain intelligence, as long as it receives a sudden surge of commemoration for some reason, this transformation can be accomplished. Although Yuri doesn't think any of the repeaters he's seen seem like they'd have this kind of luck, these things are possible—just like a person in a vegetative state might awaken.

"Wait, aren't ghosts different from how they were in life—" Yuri protested urgently, "...remembering their past lives or something—"

"So, if I'm different after going to class compared to before, it's like I'm dead!?"

Yuri noticed that Minmei seemed to be sweating a little.

That's really impressive. Although Yuri definitely didn't think what the other party said made sense, the other party was clearly unconvinced no matter what, that he was right, and that they just hadn't grasped the truth of the universe. It seemed impossible to persuade the other party.

Yuri muttered something in a low voice, making sure only Akemi next to him could hear, "Is this what you meant by 'maybe we can negotiate'? I think our girl friend who holds the truth of the universe has no intention of negotiating with us at all, she just wants to carry out justice."

“No, we just chose the wrong topic. Let me try another one—” Akemi responded softly, then turned to the righteous girl opposite her, “Anyway, let’s just assume that’s the case… But since he can still control the extent of his actions, it means he still has basic rationality. What serious incident could possibly happen?”

"At first, I... thought so too." When the girl spoke of herself, her eyes clearly drifted to the black-robed figure sitting behind her in a semi-enclosed position. It was obvious that her ability to deceive was similar to Akemi's.

In short, since it's "at the beginning," what comes next—"then" or "but"? Yuri was curious to hear what other issues had arisen that significantly increased his threat level—so he quickly asked the question.

"—When did you start this?" The other person seemed very easy to fool... and this wasn't exactly a secret, so I figured I could get the answer.

"It was just over a month ago. I wasn't fooled by your tricks for long—there were two suspected Qingming ghosts running around at the same time, and you won the fight, didn't you?" the girl said with great certainty.

...You mean Mr. or Ms. Hunter who's been having a really tough time lately? Yuri felt a wave of dizziness... First of all, Hunter isn't a ghost, and secondly... Yuri didn't know how to put it, was the unreliable nature of the person in front of him being rapidly exposed?

Seemingly seeing that Yuri had nothing to say, the other party glared at him fiercely and continued, "Back then, I discovered that low-level ghosts were often being repeatedly harvested, but I didn't find you in time—and then, you actually tried to profit from this invasion of spirit rats—you—you might even have given a push during this invasion..."

Although the other party was indeed indignant, and even spoke in fits of anger, Yuri still couldn't empathize with them at all.

"Innocent! ... To be honest, those three words were all that remained in Yuri's mind."

"No, no, no, Yuri has been with me the whole time. I can vouch for him—" Akemi, equally stunned, hurriedly regained her senses.

"You guarantee it? You're alive, she's a ghost, and you two aren't even tied together. How can you guarantee she didn't go out while you were sleeping—" The girl suddenly stopped talking, as if she had just thought of something.

Yuri thought this was definitely not a good sign. This girl had already proven her ability to be single-minded, stubborn, and multifaceted. She would never be able to figure things out on her own... Yuri's words were probably completely ignored by the other party, so it would be up to Akemi to help her now.

"Why have you been so steadfast in protecting her?" The girl's eyes darted back and forth between the two. "Could it be... Huang Quan... that you were relatives in your previous lives?"

...Even if Yuri could judge based on his knees, the reason he came to this conclusion was purely based on looks, but that's still much more reliable than considering Yuri as the mastermind behind the Spirit Rat incident.

“This… well, I shouldn’t count as a relative—” Akemi seemed to be about to give up on treatment as well.

"Another cultivator driven mad by the death of a loved one..." The other person began to characterize Mingmei without regard for her own words. "It's regrettable, but the one next to you still has to return to the Underworld today. My apologies!"

You didn't just start being rude now!

128 Tian Ji's Horse Racing

Then, the other party unharnessed the horse, and the black-robed figure who had remained silent rushed towards the two, leaving the girl behind.

Without giving much thought to the reason why the other side dismounted the horse—it was probably something like "the horse itself is too weak and is just a means of transportation"—Yuri was overjoyed. Since the other side had taken the initiative to switch to foot combat, now was the perfect opportunity to escape!

"A good opportunity!" He immediately reminded Mingmei that it was time to run away!

They had already planned the route in advance. All they had to do was pull the front of the car to drive down the steps on the side. If they weren't pulled back at the very beginning of the acceleration, all that was left was to try their best not to overturn.

“That’s right!” Mingmei immediately responded, and the two hit it off immediately.

Then Akemi suddenly jumped off the motorcycle, leaving it lying on the ground, and assumed a fighting stance—

Yuri felt dizzy, but he immediately took two steps forward and stood in front of Akemi.

There was no time to ask her what she was thinking. In just a few moments, the man in the black robe had already rushed to a position several meters away from Yuri, as if he had come for Yuri from the very beginning.

Then, a weapon appeared in the opponent's hand... It appeared out of thin air, not by growing out of their hand; it was more like a summoning than a transformation... Although he hadn't observed it closely last time, it was clear that this weapon was different from the strange-looking long-handled weapon before. This weapon's shape was too obvious—it was a samurai sword. However, it was clearly meant for giants, its length close to Yuri's height... The blade was about 1.5 meters long... Yuri didn't have a chance to observe the more detailed parts.

He ducked sharply, narrowly avoiding a horizontal slash—then his opponent's attack shifted downwards, a diagonal strike—Yuri barely managed to jump up and dodge it, but was then struck horizontally again in mid-air—if he hadn't activated his shield in time to block the blade, he would have definitely been injured, perhaps seriously.

Yuri was sent flying several steps by the horizontal slap, landing awkwardly, but still keeping an eye on things... Although he couldn't see what the figure under the robe looked like, Yuri could feel that the other person was also staring intently at him.

In the previous exchange, the black-robed man's speed was roughly the same as his own, but his strength was much greater... It was impossible to judge his resilience when being hit, since Yuri hadn't even touched his opponent yet, but judging from his stance, he wouldn't be any worse off than him—that's right, according to that classification, this should be Level 3—he had a huge advantage over him, but it wasn't to the point where it was completely impossible to fight him.

Yuri retreated again, dodging the opponent's vertical slash.

Given similar speed, dodging shouldn't be so difficult for Yuri, but the opponent's attacks came one after another. Dodging once was easy, but each time he dodged, he might fall into the trap of the next attack. Or rather, some attacks seemed clearly designed to make Yuri dodge in a specific direction to facilitate the next attack.

Although I don't know what martial arts style it is or what its characteristics are, I'm sure my opponent wasn't just randomly slashing.

Most likely, he had practiced these techniques while he was still alive, while Yuri's fighting skills, at best, were just group brawls and wrestling techniques. If Yuri had the advantage in raw strength, he could consider using brute force to overcome skill, but the problem is that his opponent's raw strength is also higher...

By raising his shield and blocking the opponent's attack in a position that was not easy for a human to exert force, Yuri noticed that the opponent chose to withdraw and start again.

An angle that is difficult for humans to exert force at is not the same for spirits. In other words, although the movement is blocked near the start, a spirit can still forcefully strike. The long sword that suddenly appeared also looked very sturdy, and it would definitely not be a loss to trade blows with Yuri's shield... This shows that the opponent is more accustomed to human fighting style.

Is it something that was trained in during life and not forgotten after death, or even more deeply ingrained in one's bones?

Or perhaps the opponent doesn't intend to give Yuri any chance to retaliate and wants to win without suffering any losses...

Yuri dodged while thinking.

There's absolutely no chance to retaliate unless we can conjure up a ranged weapon immediately... We've tried so many times, this definitely won't work.

Close-quarters combat? Given the size difference between the two, if it really comes down to grappling and wrestling, the long sword won't be able to be swung freely without hitting the user. But similarly, given the size difference, if it really comes down to grappling and wrestling, the opponent might not even need the long sword; he could just take down Yuri with his fists.

Backing away is the best way to dodge, because Yuri is also moving at full speed when he retreats... but if he takes a few more steps back, he will have to go down from the platform, which will make way for Akemi behind him.

Where did Akemi go? Yuri suddenly realized that Akemi had taken this opportunity to disappear from behind him and run to the side—drawing an arc, bypassing the girl in the black robe and rushing towards the girl behind him.

And the girl was... The black-robed figure switched the way he used his longsword, from slashing to thrusting, interrupting Yuri's observation.

It's unlikely that the opponent didn't notice that Akemi was running towards the target girl, but they decided to deal with Yuri first, or at least that's what it seems.

Having great confidence in his teammates? Coincidentally, Yuri also has great confidence.

Yuri continued to dodge, but dodging became even more difficult after losing his space to retreat. Before he could react, Minmei had already tapped her hat, instinctively releasing a shield.

A separate shield covering Akemi—originally designed this way to avoid wasting power when Yuri didn't need a shield, but now its purpose is to prevent Akemi from losing her defense as well when Yuri is attacked.

After all, he now has to replenish his shield after every two hits, so this can be considered a lucky accident.

If he hadn't used the shield skill countless times during this period and improved his proficiency, he probably would have exhausted his energy just by using the shield.

But he's almost at his limit. Even if he only defends and dodges, he can't hold out for much longer.

The opponent's weapon sometimes slashed through the railing, but it didn't do anything to the railing... So the spell to enhance matter was completely useless—the opponent was still in twilight, and the fact that he could contact the materialized Yuri was purely due to Yuri's situation.

Yuri took a risk and moved to the other side, leaning against the wall behind him. This was the only wall nearby, or the one next to the downhill road.

The opponent's weapon swings were not particularly large relative to the opponent's body, but for Yuri, it covered a very wide area. In order to dodge, he had to react quickly and move at an extremely high speed—which was somewhat beyond his capabilities, resulting in the rapid depletion of his shield.

If we can force the opponent to stop their sweeping offensive, we might be able to bring both sides to the same level, and then use Yuri's extensive experience in dodging to drag the game out longer.

Clearly, walls and railings are different; they possess corresponding spiritual energy, which might allow them to limit the opponent's attack range. However, Yuri, with his back against the wall, cannot retreat, making it a gamble. Although the odds of winning are higher, it is still risky.

As Yuri moved, he noticed that the other group had increased the distance between them, and it seemed that the girl on the other side had no intention of engaging Akemi in close combat—hopefully Akemi could resolve the issue quickly, as Yuri felt that his side was beyond saving.

The opponent's weapon pierced the spirit wall, but instead of sticking to it as Yuri had expected, it seemed impossible to swing it freely.

At least half of the plan was complete, and Yuri began to dodge the opponent's continuous thrusts. No, only a third of the way through. Even after all the attacks had turned into thrusts, the opponent's performance had not weakened significantly, and he had even almost stabbed Yuri squarely once.

Yuri felt his knife-tip dancing skills had improved, but the gap between that and effortless mastery was still quite large. It seemed unlikely he would fully improve during this battle. Expecting Yuri to grasp any profound martial arts techniques within the limited few minutes of combat time was unrealistic.

Dodge, dodge, shield and dodge... Yuri and his opponent were wearing each other down... Suddenly, the opponent's offensive completely stopped.

Has the problem with Akemi been resolved? Yuri took the opportunity to glance into the distance. He couldn't see very clearly, but the two people were very close... but they were still in a chase.