The Lord of Void and Real

It seemed as if it had been soaking in water for a long time, the lips and cheeks were mushy and rotten, and incomplete flesh and skin turned outward, hanging loosely on its face. The flesh within its eye sockets had mostly rotted, oozing pus continuously. Only some blood vessels remained connected to two trembling, inflamed eyeballs, on the verge of falling out anytime.

Despite Shen Luo’s courage, the face of the ghostly creature gave him a start.

The ghostly creature opened its mouth, emitting a loud shriek. Two intangible Yin winds gushed from its mouth and shot straight towards Shen Luo and the little girl, like two arrows.

At the same time, the ghostly creature stretched its arms sideways, and a chilling Yin wind rose in the house, swirling away all the small artifacts. Yet the God Niche remained unaffected, not a speck of incense ashes were blown out.

Having suffered from the ghostly shriek before, Shen Luo threw himself to the ground at its first glimpse, dodging the frontal hit from the Yin wind by rolling to one side.

But the little girl, lacking the same experience, was hit right in the face by the Yin wind, her eyes rolled up and she fell unconscious.

“Damn it!”

Shen Luo tried to rise, but only found flying artifacts everywhere. Cups and pieces of wood flew past him constantly, along with bouts of Yin wind, forcing him to roll to a corner of the house.

However, the Tall Ghostly Creature did not strike at Shen Luo, instead, it floated backward while waving its hand towards the outside of the house.

Whoo…whoo…whoo…

The outside air vibrated, bringing in waves of dirty, cold Yin Qi, wreathed within plenty of fog which poured in and infused into the ghostly creature’s body.

Its body began visibly regenerating at an alarming rate and quickly solidified; the Black Qi on its body also surged dramatically.

The seaweed-like hair on the ghostly creature’s head suddenly grew wildly alive, shooting out like tendrils towards Shen Luo on the ground.

Shen Luo, shocked and regretful at the transformation of the ghostly creature, hastily attempted to dodge upon jumping up. However, the shooting hair was too much, and the room was small. His body and his hands and feet were soon entwined by the lengthening hair.

The remaining four runes on his body were impossible to reactivate, and the two wooden stakes were restrained by the hair, making them immovable.

In desperation, Shen Luo tried to activate the Small Transformation Yang Skill. However, he was already exhausted. Earlier, the activation of the Small Thunder Talisman had deplete his innately accumulated Yang Gang power, leaving him impotent for the moment.

Time was against Shen Luo, as the hair entwining him gradually tightened. Soon, his body was yanked to the ground.

The tall ghostly creature twisted and transformed into a snake-like shadow, attaching itself to Shen Luo, enveloped by the growing hair. At the same time, it opened its mouth and sucked in the air around Shen Luo’s face.

Shen Luo felt a chill creeping over him, followed by a shudder, as he felt waves of heat leaving his body, drifting outwards.

“It’s sucking my Yang Qi! Am I really going to die again…” Feeling his body growing colder, Shin Luo gradually lost his strength, unable to move.

Despite his frustration, he understood it was too late to revert the situation.

Meanwhile, a streak of lightning flashed across the pitch-black sky outside, followed by a peal of thundering roar and the downpour started.

The little girl, lying beside the bed, got a jolt and woke up because of the thunder. She sat up with effort and saw Shen Luo’s predicament. A sense of panic flashed in her eyes as she hurriedly pulled out a small wooden bucket from under the bed.

The wooden bucket was filled with a thick, black, sticky fluid—Black Dog Blood.

The little girl bit her finger hard, her fresh blood dripped and mixed into the Black Dog Blood in the bucket.

The ghost that had possessed Shen Luo seemed to sense something. It twisted its body abruptly, attempting to soar out from Shen Luo’s body.

But the little girl, already swaying, managed to lift the wooden bucket and flung it outward. With a swishing sound, the black dog blood splashed over the ghost protruding from Shen Luo’s body.

Having done all this, the girl seemed to have expended all her strength and collapsed onto the ground.

The ghost failed to dodge and was sprinkled thoroughly with the unexpected black dog blood. It made hissing sounds while large clouds of black Qi scattered. Its form, which had just formed, became transparent again, seemingly severely injured.

It let out a shrill scream that could tear the eardrums, its figure floated to the side, only to crash into the wall nearby.

The wall had been splattered with a lot of black dog blood. Instead of going through it, the tall ghostly creature was flung to the ground, causing a great thud and making the whole house shudder.

The hair entangling Shen Luo loosened, and Shen Luo’s body relaxed. Although his limbs felt weak, he still struggled to get free.

At this time, he was breathing heavily, his chest heaving. He felt as though he was about to faint.

Yet he gritted his teeth, discarded the wooden stake in his hand, turned around and snatched the dog-headed statue from the god niche behind him into his arms. Then he quickly stepped forward and threw his whole body onto the ghost writhing in pain on the ground.

The little girl watched in shock as Shen Luo made this move, her mouth agape in surprise, but couldn’t utter a sound.

However, this time, Shen Luo’s body and hands did not go through the ghost but held it in a firm grip.

Without delay, the statue in his arms began to burn, emitting a bright yellow light, shining onto the ghost.

The ghost’s body sizzled under the yellow light, strands of black Qi rose from its surface, and it let out a series of mournful screams. Its ghost claws flailed in a desperate attempt to break free from Shen Luo’s embrace.

Shen Luo, however, held onto it as if he were hanging onto his last ray of hope. His arms, summoning strength from some unknown source, gripped the ghost tightly and wouldn’t let go.

As wave after wave of black Qi rose from the ghost’s body, it began to blur rapidly and started shrinking.

Shen Luo’s face had turned pale to the point of blueness, his lips also devoid of any color. The ghost was ice-cold, the Yin Qi passing through, freezing his blood and causing his teeth to chatter uncontrollably.

The last trace of consciousness he had told him that this was a matter of life and death, he would lose everything if he let go now.

The little girl finally snapped out of her shock and struggled to get up. She dragged herself towards Shen Luo and poured the last bit of black dog blood from her bucket onto the ghost’s head.

At this point, the tall ghostly creature already exhausted, this last bit of black dog blood, was the final straw that broke the camel’s back.

After an ear-piercing scream, the ghost that had shrunk to half its size, exploded into a large cloud of black Qi and dissipated into the air.

Once the black Qi had cleared, Shen Luo’s body appeared again; his face completely drained of color and his cheeks turning purple.

His eyes were tightly shut, and he had already fallen unconscious. He took short breaths but exhaled longer ones, looking as if he wouldn’t last much longer.

The little girl, after seeing the ghost eliminated, felt a wave of relief washing over her and her body slumped to the ground. But upon seeing Shen Luo’s condition, she gritted her teeth, got up again, and reached out to gently push Shen Luo, only to feel his cold body.

Her eyes turned red out of helplessness, as she tried to lift Shen Luo up.

Yet, at this moment, Shen Luo’s face became alarmingly strange, and his body, starting from his feet, became blurry and transparent.

A few moments later, he vanished silently from where he stood as if he had never been there.