The wind on the mountain was fierce, gently lifting the hem of my skirt.
“Evil demon…”
“Are you talking about my daughter?”
I slowly raised my heart-stopping, delicate face and looked at the old Taoist who was steadily approaching. “Or perhaps, the evil demon you speak of has always been me—”
I stood up without hurry or haste. My petite body seemed fragile, yet it radiated an overwhelming sense of pressure.
The old Taoist, facing a cultivator like me who hadn’t even reached the Tongtong Realm, broke his usual demeanor and stopped in his tracks.
Two maidservants tried to approach, but I casually waved them off.
“Have you… completely fallen into demonic corruption?” The old Taoist stared at my face. “You have changed. You no longer possess the determination you once had.”
“When all that remains in your heart is the Ghost Infant, you cease to be a pure human.”
“Turn back before it’s too late.”
“It’s still not too late if you come to your senses now.”
“Demonic corruption?” Hearing this ridiculous label, the corner of my mouth curled up into a somewhat wild smile. “If protecting one’s daughter and standing by her side makes me a demon in your eyes, then I would rather stand against the whole world and gladly sink into demonic corruption to the end.”
Being told such things about my daughter, I could no longer control my emotions.
I slowly caressed the tips of my other fingers.
My small, exquisite frame seemed to gather courage strong enough to withstand the sky collapsing.
“You—” The old Taoist was momentarily choked by my words. “You are beyond cure!”
“I once thought you could be saved, hoping this time I could rescue you. But I didn’t expect you to be completely eroded by the Ghost Infant’s mindset, turning into a mindless corpse that only obeys orders.”
He looked at me protecting the Ghost Infant with deep regret in his eyes, as if witnessing a once righteous youth slowly descend into the abyss of evil.
“I… actually hate the way you speak.”
I raised my hand to stop Si Zhiruo’s restless movements.
Forward.
Closer to the old Taoist’s position, I took a leisurely step.
The girl lightly touched her belly with a delicate hand.
Her flawless, stunning face always wore a smile that others couldn’t understand, and upon closer inspection, it carried a chilling, ghostly aura.
I am a cultivator of Yin energy.
To me, the boundary between a vengeful spirit and myself is but a thin line.
“No!” The old Taoist suddenly widened his eyes.
He quickly calculated with his fingers, then took two steps back in shock, nearly dropping the divination flag he was holding. “How can a human cultivate Yin energy?”
“Previously, I thought you were merely lured into the demonic path, but now I’ve changed my mind. I believe you will become a true demon who commits all manner of evil in the future.”
“You… harbor only evil in your heart.” The old Taoist’s trembling fingertips betrayed his fear.
“Hahaha, call me demonic,” I laughed loudly, disregarding my image. The sudden coldness on my delicate face was profound. “I already said, I hate your words.”
No one can insult my daughter…
You can say I don’t care, but anyone who speaks ill of my daughter—
Damn it!
“You throw around ‘demonic corruption’ and ‘evil demon’ at me.”
“I really don’t understand what’s wrong with being close to my own daughter. Some unforgivable sin? That’s laughable…”
“My daughter has never done any evil, nor is she a demon. Today, I will make you pay a bloody price for your nonsense.”
“Zhi Zhi, shut him up!”
“Obediently following mother’s orders.” Si Zhiruo had already returned to her true vengeful spirit form.
She stood deep within her sea of consciousness, at the center of endless ghostly energy, baring her blood-stained mouth.
Her once pitch-black eyes now seemed to flow with real blood.
Hearing her mother’s words, she suddenly let out a chilling, piercing laugh.
That eerie, sharp laughter seemed to pierce through barriers and echoed in every corner of this world.
“I have long completed my breakthrough, advancing further in my realm. Now wielding a source energy, a mere Ghost King is no match for me.”
The old Taoist was not fooled by my aura; instead, he still wore a confident expression. “I have come today to uphold the righteous path and eradicate demons and heretics.”
Before he could finish speaking, a ghostly figure struck him, sending him flying.
This was the real way to silence someone.
Bang—
An eerie cold wind suddenly rose from the earth and sky.
The wind and clouds changed color, as if they had entered a genuine ghostly realm. Countless wronged souls circled repeatedly around the old Taoist.
He flew backward more than ten meters, barely stopping the bitterness in his chest.
He instinctively touched his face and found a black ghostly handprint with five distinct fingers.
This was a true ghost handprint. Without a way to remove it, it could stay with a person for life.
The old Taoist scrambled to his feet, his pupils shrinking sharply at the scene before him.
He ignored his own terror and used all his cultivation to form a barrier, blocking the invading ghostly energy around him.
His trembling voice sounded like pure fear from his bones, “She—”
“She has become even stronger.”
“Even though I have broken through, I am no match for her.”
My eyes were icy as I stared at the old Taoist and slowly took a step forward.
The girl, surrounded by countless ghostly energies and vengeful spirits howling incessantly, walked up a road paved by ghostly energy.
Though the path was rugged with mountain stones, she walked as if on flat ground.
The horrifying appearance of the girl enveloped by so much ghost energy made the old Taoist shiver, and only one word formed in his mind—“Ghost Mother—”
“You are no longer human.”
“Not human? Indeed, I am not.” I lifted my chin arrogantly. “As for the title ‘Ghost Mother,’ thanks for the exaggeration. My daughter and I share a deep bond.”
Hearing the girl’s softened tone, the old Taoist’s heart briefly relaxed, only to be tightened again by the next whispered words.
“But you insult my daughter, and you still deserve to die!”
Countless white wronged souls and endless black ghostly energy formed a true domain.
I stood in the center of this ghostly realm, slowly raising my milky white hand and gently stroking one of the wronged souls entwined around my arm, under the old Taoist’s gaze.
I understood—
This was also part of Zhi Zhi’s ghostly body.
Whether it was the mountain of wronged souls or the ghostly energy rivaling the underworld itself, it was all part of Zhi Zhi.
“Look~”
My loving voice sounded like a true mother’s, filled with endless tenderness.
“What a lovely baby she is.”
“She even plays and frolics around me.”
“How could she ever be a demon?”
The old Taoist, entangled by countless vengeful spirits, had lost all means of escape and collapsed to the ground.
He looked up at the strangely expressive girl before him and trembled as he spoke, “You… really have gone mad.”
Hearing the word ‘mad,’ my expression suddenly changed. My eyes were filled with endless coldness. “Yes, I am mad.”
“I went completely mad the moment I heard you insult my daughter.”
Suddenly, my delicate laughter rang by the old Taoist’s ear, more terrifying than any true Shura or vengeful spirit by ten thousand times.
“Can we talk properly now?”
“Come, tell me—”
“Is my daughter, who has never done evil, truly an evil demon?”
My gaze was overwhelmingly oppressive as I looked down at the figure lying on the ground.
The old Taoist, corrupted by countless ghostly energies, could no longer speak a complete sentence. Perhaps knowing death was certain, he still retained some dignity. “All ghost cultivators are evil demons and heretics.”
“Oh?” I deliberately dragged out the tone. “How can you speak only half the truth? Let me translate the rest for you.”
“Because ghost cultivators do not exist within the laws of the Heavenly Dao, they do not belong to your so-called righteous path.”
“So as long as you catch ghost cultivators, regardless of their realm, they are all enemies to be killed, thus gaining some feedback from the Heavenly Dao, loosening the limits on their breakthrough.”
Right or wrong?”
The old Taoist’s silent attitude made me suddenly lose interest in continuing the conversation.
Since I saw my past life’s memories, I was no longer an ignorant novice.
“Kill him.” I closed my eyes tiredly. The next moment, a wailing cry echoed over the mountaintop.
“Mother.”
Si Zhiruo’s tiny ghostly soul form outside was continuously approaching the girl’s cheek. The ethereal soul was no larger than a palm, just a minuscule fraction of her ghostly body. “I just reviewed his memories. The reason he could breakthrough to this level in his life was because he killed fifty-three ghost cultivators. Among them were three newborn vengeful spirits who had barely opened their eyes to this world.”
“Oh, no wonder.”
“No wonder he tried to block your birth early on. He was trying to pick up major karmic debt.”
My expression was tired, and I had no mood to reply to my daughter.
“Mommy…”
She also noticed that something was off about her mother’s state.
Since the old Taoist spoke the first word, something had felt wrong.
“I… am fine.”
“I just suddenly got emotional and about to break down hearing someone speak about you.”
Si Zhiruo’s feelings were too complex.