The Tale Never Ends Chapter 112 Judgmen

With all of the malignant spirits drawn into my Gourd, I did not stop. Instead, I continued reciting my incantations and aimed the mouth of my Gourd at Ha'ri Naohai. With a low hum, the culprit immediately collapsed to the ground, dead.

But as soon as Ha'ri Naohai's soul entered my Spirit Gourd, the entire hospital erupted into a clamorous cacophony of shrieks and howls from the ghosts roaming in the vicinity like a sirening horn. In the midst of the pandemonium, my thoughts wandered to my Godmother, wondering if she might be around. "Where is my Godmother's soul!?" I spoke bitterly into my Gourd. But instead of answering me, the soul of Ha'ri Naohai cackled gleefully inside. "So, this is how the Spirit Gourd looks like from the inside! Interesting! You wish to know your Godmother's whereabouts? Impossible! Heh heh heh heh!" A rush of anger filled me that I would have immediately reduced the brute into nothingness, if not for Lin Feng's pat on my shoulder, reminding that I should remain calm. I shook my Gourd and hissed with a devilish grin this time, "Interesting, you say? Then I'm sure you're bound to enjoy this!" I muttered another spell. Before Ha'ri Naohai could retort, his gloating laughter immediately gave way to agonizing screams.

Let me break you then, I thought, so that I could easily interrogate you! But as if he had heard my mind, Ha'ri Naohai immediately surrendered before I could do anything else, begging for my mercy. I might not have really tested the methods of forcibly disintegrating the soul of a still-living person before refining a pill, but I imagined that it should be very tortuous and excruciating for the spirit. The wounds inflicted upon one's spirit were very much harrowing than physical wounds. "I'll speak! I'll speak!" Ha'ri Naohai's frantic cries came out from within the Gourd, "She's not here!" I stopped reciting my spell at once. "Where is she?" I snapped. "She, she had been taken away..." Ha'ri Naohai's meek voice replied. Filled with anxiety, I yelled into the Gourd, "Be specific!"

Finally, at my behest, Ha'ri Naohai admitted to everything and told us the whole story.

Zhang Zhigui's pursuit of the evil spirits was itself a trap hatched by the leader of the Order of Pain who had a deep grudge against the ancestors of Zhang Zhigui's family, the Zhang Clan of Yishui Town. He had always wished to vanquish every descendant of the Zhang Clan to ensure the line would be broken and Zhang Zhigui, like a mule being led by a carrot, was being lured slowly and gradually into an intricate ploy! Somehow, his encounter with us had the Order of Pain's attention sidetracked. The insidious organization began coveting me and my Shiyan Blade for other sinister plots. Father had once told me that the Shiyan Blade possessed extraordinary value. But what sinister plots were they, Ha'ri Naohai could not say. He was merely a low-leveled stooge in the organization.

The leader of the Order of Pain now had his sights set upon me, my sword, and Zhang Zhigui. He wished to first eliminate the line of the Zhang Clan and use me and my sword to further his schemes. But to his dismay, Zhang Zhigui did not set out to Inner Mongolia with me. Hence, Ha'ri Naohai was charged to abduct me, bidding that he believed would earn him favor with the Order. This culminated in the fool's own plan to bait me to this town, thinking that I was still the powerless young man before my defeat of the Creed of the Eight Trigrams. It was his underestimation of my abilities that had ultimately spelled his downfall.

What of my Godmother, I prodded him again. He admitted, that he knew full well that he lacked the strength to pit against my father, the great Murong Hai. But just when he was out of ideas, somebody had come to him with a plan to first abduct my Godmother, Aunt Ulan, whose soul they had taken away when they returned to this hospital. They had now long gone.

"Very well," I hissed quietly to myself, "So be it then! I will pursue you all to all ends of the world! I swear I will turn you all into pills with my Spirit Gourd!"

The anger burning inside me churned uncontrollably as the vociferous dissonance of the wailing ghosts continued around us. Unable to contain my rage any longer, I bellowed as loud as I could, "ENOUGH! SILENCE!" Everyone, including myself, was surprised by my sudden outburst. But the roar seemed to have quelled the uproarious din of the ghosts. Everything became silent around us; a barren stillness that was devoid of even the faintest rustling of leaves outside.

But the outburst had done its job: I felt calm once again. With rational creeping back into me, I peered at my companions who were still bewildered. "I suppose our pursuit continues." I sighed dejectedly. "But before we continue," Yuan Chongxi was the first to respond, "Should we not first restore the feng shui of this hospital. I'm afraid things might turn dire if the situation continues..." Indeed, I reflected. The unceasing accumulation of Yin energies here due to the deathly aura was like a ticking time bomb. There would surely be one day when all hell would break loose when the barrier here reached a breaking point. The eruption of the immensely concentrated Yin energy would spread for hundreds of miles, affecting everyone nearby.

But there was nothing we could do; even Yuan Chongxi, the only one who could see that something was wrong, was powerless.

There was only one way in such dire need. With a heavy expression, I fished for my mobile phone and reluctantly dialed Father's number. It was fortunate that I still had three bars on the signal indicator on my phone. After several seconds of dial tones, Father answered my call and I could hear his hiccups from my end. He must be drinking again with Mr. Zhang, I guessed. "What is it?" he asked wearily with a half-drunken voice. I told him everything and admitted that we lacked the ability to alter the feng shui of the hospital. He needed to come, I told him. There was a faint sigh from his end. "End the call," he said suddenly, "Let me call you back."

As soon as I hit the End button, Yuan Chongxi, Lin Feng, and Edelweiss surrounded me, hoping to hear for good news from me, only to be disappointed by my shaking head. However, Father's discarnate voice resounded in my mind suddenly. "You're destined to carry the Spirit Sight for a reason, Son. Anything, as long as you are able to see it, you'll be able to destroy it!" I was filled with shock, although I did not know which was more amazing to me: the fact that Father had explicitly mentioned that I possessed the ability to alter the feng shui of the hospital, or the fact that Father was able to communicate telepathically to me.

Yuan Chongxi and the others were puzzled to see me standing motionless with a blank look on my face. I shook my head again, gesturing that I was fine. Only I was able to hear Father's message, I realized. I rubbed my temples and asked, "You said just now, that the flow of energies here are closed off by something, did you not?" "Yes," Yuan Chongxi replied, "But if I'm not mistaken, the elements might not exist in the physical plane..." He did not finish, but instead, his finger was pointing to the ground, denoting that the elements were either underground or incorporeal in nature. I nodded. The appearance of Ha'ri Naohai had disrupted my train of thoughts earlier. Ha'ri Naohai would most likely have hidden the elements that were causing the disarray underground in order to prevent any damages to his magical barrier. But how were we supposed to find and destroy these elements...

Worried and distressed, I frowned hard. The turbulent aura of hatred and Yin energies rushed and thrashed around violently like a raging storm, adding only to my angst and restlessness. "What am I to do," I asked myself inwardly, "or am I only a worthless fool?"

The swelling emotion boiled within me as the disquiet and anxiety I felt only grew. Finally, exasperated, I drew my Shiyan Blade and swung it wildly at the rush of energies flailing about. To my amazement, the flow of energies at the spot where my sword at arced around had sealed off! My jaw fell open wide as Father's message echoed in my mind again, "Anything, as long as you are able to see it, you'll be able to destroy it!"

"If that is so," I asked Yuan Chongxi again, "Where should the elements that are blocking the flow of the energies be?" In a terse manner, Yuan Chongxi barked, "The directions of the signs Zhen, Xun, Li, Kun, Dui, Qian, Kan, Gen!"

Chapter end