Chapter 100: War Ghost

Ning Changjiu resolved a doubt in his heart.

Back in the Little General's Palace, Wang Yangyu's son's body was remarkably calm and ordinary, as if he had been killed with a single blow.

Ning Qinshui's demonic transformation, however, was far more bizarre and convoluted.

He had initially thought it was the work of Lord Hongyu, but Lord Hongyu shouldn't possess such strange abilities. Although he felt suspicious at the time, he didn't delve deeper into the matter. Now, after taking a punch from her, the terrifying and familiar aura that had once nearly taken over his body sent shivers down his spine, even his.

Ning Changjiu drew his longsword. The red moon cast a pale light upon its blade, which was then cleansed to a dazzling sheen by the luminous sword energy emanating from it.

Ning Changjiu asked, "Why were you in the Imperial City that day?"

The young woman's finger gently traced her crimson lips, and she smiled as she asked, "I'm also curious. How did you, someone who was clearly dead, manage to survive and then ambush the corpse demon I was refining, almost ruining my grand plan?"

Ning Changjiu continued, "Did you go with Ning Qinshui?"

The young woman still didn't answer directly. She gazed at Ning Changjiu as if he were the most succulent meal in the world, her alluring eyes like silk. Evading the question, she said, "Becoming a vengeful ghost wandering the human realm is nothing impressive. Returning from the dead is the most coveted thing. Can you share the secret of your survival? Tell me, and I'll let you out of Fengdu."

"Fengdu?" Ning Changjiu caught the name. It was the name of the Underworld.

Ning Xiaoling, standing nearby, had inferred much from their conversation. She was equally shocked, never imagining that this beautiful woman, who had appeared like a wisp of smoke, was the very malevolent spirit who had nearly killed them in the Imperial City that day!

But shouldn't that malevolent spirit have died long ago? Why was she here?

Could there truly be such a coincidence in the world?

Lingering spirits couldn't be more persistent than this.

*Sigh*, I told you we should have gone to the Imperial City to celebrate New Year with Sister Xiang'er. What trouble have you gotten us into, Senior Brother...

Ning Xiaoling sighed nervously, her grip on her sword tightening as she shifted slightly closer to her senior brother.

Ning Changjiu continued, "What do you intend to do?"

The young woman still didn't answer the question directly. "Ah, that foolish old Taoist Ning Qinshui. He was lured to the Imperial City by a letter promising immortality—who knows if it was real or not—and died without even a complete corpse. People like that often die from sheer stupidity. Immortality is something I could have easily granted him. He was so close to the moon, yet he chased its reflection in the distant water."

Her voice rose and fell like a theatrical performance, filled with an indescribable melancholy. Ning Xiaoling felt a chill in her heart, silently reciting sword scriptures to steady herself. Ning Changjiu, however, remained much calmer. He slowly raised his sword, and a line of fire ignited along its central axis.

"Oh?" The young woman pursed her lips and blinked her almond-shaped eyes, which sparkled like silver stars. She smiled and asked, "Does young master have no more questions? Are you going to attack me directly?"

Although Ning Changjiu had ignited his sword-fire, the killing intent emanating from him remained calm. He asked again, "May I ask for Ghost Lady's name?"

"Ghost Lady?" The young woman chuckled, her gaze filled with an unshakeable melancholy. "What Ghost Lady? I have a name. Call me—Madam Bai."

Before the echo of her last word faded, the young woman who called herself Madam Bai vanished from her spot. Ning Xiaoling was already on edge; the moment Madam Bai moved, she thrust her sword to intercept, but still only struck an afterimage.

The phantom flashed and disappeared. Ning Xiaoling, still startled, then noticed that Madam Bai was still standing in her original spot, holding her green sand jar and green porcelain bottle, as if she hadn't moved at all.

Ning Changjiu, who had only just managed to pull himself out, was once again violently slammed back into the wall.

Dust billowed.

The crimson moonlight, like a mist of blood, added an unspeakable allure to Madam Bai's eyes and lips.

She floated gracefully, her lips curved in a faint, unreadable smile, watching the figure obscured by dust. Then she turned her gaze to the sword-wielding young woman.

"That day, I almost devoured your innate spirit, but unfortunately, some old man interfered and ruined my plans. Oh, you're truly blessed with good fortune, little girl – dying and coming back, then staying alive. I wonder if by consuming you, I could also swallow your destiny?" Madam Bai extended a light, agile tongue, like a small snake, and licked along her vibrant lips, moistening them to a lustrous, striking hue.

Ning Xiaoling no longer hesitated, immediately launching into the first sword form of the Heavenly Sword Sect.

After all, she was a cultivator who had entered the Immortal Realm, constantly proclaiming her intention to slay demons and monsters. With a great demon before her now, how could she not be filled with fervent battle spirit?

The sword light was incredibly fast, so swift that only a fleeting streak of brilliance could be seen.

She swung her sword with utmost seriousness, just as she did during her daily practice, using the blade to meticulously cut each six-pointed snowflake.

Madam Bai's expression shifted slightly; she was somewhat surprised by the sword's speed. As the bright streak approached, she experienced a fleeting illusion of being unable to move.

It was a good sword technique, but the experience was too raw, and the realm too low.

As the sword rushed towards her, she still had enough leisure to smile. Her body transformed into a shadow and quietly dissipated. The fierce sword strike swished harmlessly through empty air. Before Ning Xiaoling could turn to counterattack, Madam Bai had silently appeared behind her. A pale hand extended from the side of her emerald gauze dress, pressed against Ning Xiaoling's back, and delivered a powerful palm strike.

Ning Xiaoling grunted in pain, her feet struggling to grip the ground. As her body tilted, she used spiritual energy to control her sword hilt, bringing the blade around her arm from behind.

The longsword struck empty air again.

Madam Bai reappeared in front of her, lashing out with a claw strike at the crown of her head.

Ning Xiaoling barely managed to shift away from a vital spot, but her shoulder was still hit. The immense force sent her body askew, dropping her to one knee, the impact cracking the ground in a spiderweb pattern.

"Look... your senior brother is playing dead, not coming to save you. So affectionate usually, but now that disaster strikes, do you see his true colors?" Madam Bai laughed sinisterly, her figure appearing and disappearing intermittently, each time precisely evading the very tip of Ning Xiaoling's flying sword.

Every one of Ning Xiaoling's sword strikes was fierce, yet every one of them slashed only empty air.

The spiritual energy she had painstakingly extracted from the Snow Fox, and the Taoist arts personally taught by her master Jiajia, now seemed impossible to unleash with full force.

Of course, she also knew in her heart that this was the opponent's suppression of her raw realm; if the opponent truly engaged her directly, she would only die faster.

With a crack, Ning Xiaoling's figure was sent flying.

Madam Bai, who had been enjoying herself immensely and was about to deliver another palm strike to Ning Xiaoling's chest, suddenly changed her expression.

Amidst the ruins, starlight twinkled.

Ning Changjiu had already stood up. Around him, spiritual energy had condensed into a formation diagram, precisely his most proficient Minor Flight Formation.

Earlier on the long bridge, as he leaned against the railing, he had secretly etched the corresponding formation diagram with his fingernail. His junior sister had even teased him about it then. This long street was not far from that bridge, still within the effective range of the Flight Formation.

"Trying to escape?" Madam Bai's face instantly turned cold. Like a silent gust of wind, she suddenly moved, transforming into a flowing shadow and closing in on Ning Changjiu's position.

Ning Changjiu inverted the Flight Formation, and his figure vanished.

He wasn't trying to escape, of course, but rather to directly sever the long bridge. If the yin and yang were truly inverted now, then that bridge should have become the real Bridge of Helplessness. As long as the bridge was cut, the entire structure of Fengdu could be disrupted.

His figure vanished for only a moment, but he failed to capture the mark on the bridge and was pulled back.

Madam Bai's flowing shadow coalesced into form, and she delivered a ghostly palm strike. The moment Ning Changjiu reappeared, the blow landed precisely on his chest, sending the white-robed youth flying once more.

Madam Bai smiled scornfully, saying, "This city is my city, and all its rules should be set and controlled by me. Put away your fancy formations; don't make a fool of yourself. In my world, only formations I permit can exist."

She laughed joyfully, like a drunken beauty, shaking with mirth.

However, she still felt a touch of regret. If she hadn't been slightly injured by the youth's earlier scheme, those two palm strikes might have killed him outright.

But it didn't matter. She was merely toying with them like a cat with mice, trapping them here to torment them slowly. Once the main event was set in motion, she could completely seal off the city and calmly await New Year's Eve to complete the inversion of Yin and Yang.

Behind her, a chill once again pressed in.

Ning Xiaoling dragged her sword and, with a leap, brought it down over her head with both hands.

It was a posture full of flaws, and Madam Bai found it laughable, as if she could simply extend a finger and crush the little girl to a fate worse than death.

But soon, her expression changed.

That overhead chop was merely a feint; the true killing blow was a fine, flexible sword intent, like a willow branch!

This sword intent wasn't particularly powerful, but its divine subtlety instilled awe in her at first glance. She could confirm that its original master was at least a grand cultivator at the peak of the Purple Court Realm.

Simultaneously, a cold, tiny gleam ignited behind her the moment Ning Xiaoling struck, illuminating her back and creating a pincer attack with Ning Xiaoling.

Madam Bai's playful expression vanished. Her figure moved, disappearing from her spot. The next moment, she appeared on the roof tiles, looking down as if she could see their location through the accumulated snow and tiles.

Two slender, sharp bone claws sprouted from her armpits, climbing down the eaves like vines and extending into the house.

Ning Changjiu quickly grabbed his junior sister's wrist. Before the bone claws could seal the entrance, he slashed through the delicate skeletal structures with a single sword stroke and burst out.

"Go!" Ning Changjiu uttered in a low voice.

Madam Bai also couldn't be bothered to toy with them any longer. The other side of her plan was nearly complete, and it was her turn to act. If everything came to fruition, it wouldn't be as simple as just constructing an earthly Fengdu.

And these two youths, they wouldn't have escaped back then either.

Along the street, snow-white lanterns swayed eerily.

One door after another suddenly swung open. From within, shambling figures emerged, their eyes fixed on the two fleeing youths, revealing grayish, decaying teeth. They lunged forward fearlessly, like cheetahs, and Madam Bai, moving even faster, cut through the layers of night, joining the throng of ghosts to intercept them.

Those figures landed heavily one by one. They weren't corpses with flesh and blood, but ghosts resembling the dead. Their ashen, spectral forms carried an aura of decay, their backs to the crimson moon, continuously lunging towards Ning Changjiu's position like massive stones battering a city wall.

Ning Changjiu and Ning Xiaoling's figures bounced and moved, constantly evading the heavy, hammering pursuits. The spectral figures on the long street swarmed back and forth between houses like locusts, forming a dense, black, rotting net, each one blocking their path.

Ning Changjiu and Ning Xiaoling struck with their swords together. Though Ning Changjiu's cultivation realm was lower, his spiritual energy was abundant, allowing him to maintain a continuous spirit-shield. Ning Xiaoling, while having slightly less spiritual energy, was at a higher realm. She hid within the sword domain established by Ning Changjiu, unleashing streaks of sword light that transformed into rainbows according to the Sword Scripture's stances. The sword light was incredibly dense, like twisting, flickering lightning snakes within a thick, dark cloud, each one brilliantly illuminating their faces, yet unable to truly tear through the dark cloud and prevent the coming storm.

At the end of the long street, as the sword light still struggled, Madam Bai's figure had already caught up. Beneath the red moon, beneath her thin, light emerald silken dress, delicate, snow-white bones grew wildly, segment by segment, propping up her dress high. These bones stretched onto the street doors on both sides, like extremely viscous spiderwebs. Madam Bai stood high in the center, her alluring face with crimson lips and white teeth complementing the moonlight.

In an instant, Ning Changjiu felt as if he were on a battlefield where a thousand armies had clashed. White bones formed a prison all around them, and the spectral figures also stopped, waiting silently like armored, weapon-wielding ghost attendants within that bone cage.

"Still trying to escape?" Madam Bai's beautiful eyes flickered, her delicate tongue tracing her red lips, her smile chilling.