Chapter 88: The “Ghost” Taxi Ride Part 1

Wang Ya shook off Zhang Qingshui and the others, then led Wang Cheng’an and Ye Zi from early morning until past three in the afternoon before they finally reached an area with signs of human activity.

Wang Ya and Wang Cheng’an had been dealing with corpses and undead deep underground before, especially when they bulldozed through the Illusory City Labyrinth by crushing everything in their path. They reeked of corpse stench, and even after soaking in river water to wash it off, the smell clung heavily to their bodies.

The first thing Wang Ya did upon returning to the town market was dig money out of her filthy shoulder bag. She hailed a car and headed straight to the county town mall, where she swept up several outfits each for herself, Wang Cheng’an, and Ye Zi. Then they rushed to a hotel to scrub the grime from their bodies.

She stood under the showerhead and scrubbed herself raw with a bath ball. Nearly a month of underground life had left her so filthy that she could scrape off layers of mud. The water running off her turned black.

Wang Ya had only been washing for a few minutes when the lights in the room started flickering. At first, it was like unstable voltage making them dim and brighten, then it was like someone toggling the power switch—off and on, on and off—without a single sound of the switch being pressed.

Without a second thought, Wang Ya yanked open the bathroom door and poked her head out toward Ye Zi, who was curled up on the single sofa chair. She caught Ye Zi shifting her gaze from the light to look at her. Wang Ya said, “Ye Zi, stop playing with the lights!” Then she ducked back into the bathroom to keep washing. She scrubbed until her skin nearly peeled off and her whole body glowed red like a steamed shrimp before she finally changed into clean clothes and emerged. She told Ye Zi to go wash up too. Guessing Ye Zi might not know how to use human gadgets, she gave her a quick rundown on the shower before turning to pack their luggage.

Wang Ya’s decision not to silence Zhang Qingshui didn’t mean she wouldn’t guard against her betrayal. She knew the trip through the Illusory City Labyrinth hadn’t changed her situation much. Those hunting her would still hunt her, and those coveting the treasures of the Yin Vein Dragon Acupoint would still come for them. Though they had suffered heavy losses in the labyrinth—nearly wiped out—they hadn’t damaged the roots or vitality of those factions. It would only provoke even more frenzied attacks against her.

Wang Ya didn’t have much luggage to pack: just the two new changes of clothes and some personal items. Her wallet, ID card, bank card, cash, the Yin Spirit Scroll, and the ancient book her grandma had passed down to her—that was all her worldly possessions. To prevent the Yin Spirit Scroll from falling into the wrong hands, she had used her own blood combined with the Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower Seal to place a seal on it. If it ended up with an ordinary person, anyone with a shred of sense would hesitate to open such a chilling, ghost-ridden ancient scroll. If it fell to those scheming for it and they opened it during the day, the sunlight would suppress both the contents and the seal, revealing nothing. To see the map drawn inside, they needed to open it at night or in a place thick with yin qi—and doing so would activate the seal, opening the Yellow Springs. Even if they set up their own seals around it to protect bystanders, the Yin Spirit Scroll would plunge into the Yellow Springs once it opened. Ye Zi’s true body was rooted there, and sensing the scroll’s aura, she would surely seize it back. The Yellow Springs was Ye Zi’s home turf—fighting her there was suicide!

No matter what, Wang Ya would never hand over the Yin Spirit Scroll. First, the things buried in the Yin Vein Dragon Acupoint had turned into great evils after a millennium. Even she would face near-certain death entering there. Letting the scroll loose would send countless people to their deaths in the underground palace one after another—who could resist the lure of nine royal tombs packed with treasures? Setting aside the priceless burial goods, those dead ones nurtured by a thousand years of yin qi had birthed how many big ghosts with ghost pills? How many ghost pills were there? The Xuanmen Cultivators would go mad fighting over them. She didn’t care if those Xuanmen Cultivators died, but what if they unleashed the homeless millennial fierce ghosts in the process? Ghost Granny was just a minor ghost buried in a ditch-like yin vein for a few decades, stirred up by construction—and she’d caused all that chaos. If a few millennial big ghosts from the Yin Vein Dragon Acupoint escaped, how many innocents would die? Right now, they nested contentedly in the underground palace, enjoying the best afterlife treatment better than an earth immortal, with the Leaf Demon suppressing them from above. They wouldn’t stir. But if someone raided their nest, those millennial fierce ghosts would go berserk!

The second reason Wang Ya wouldn’t hand over the Yin Spirit Scroll was Ye Zi! She could imagine Ye Zi’s roots extending from the Yellow Springs through the entire Yin Vein Dragon Acupoint to the Nine Royal Tombs. Breaking into it would inevitably damage Ye Zi’s vast root system—not to mention the flower demon’s true bodies buried separately in the Nine Great Royal Tombs. Would Ye Zi stand for that? It would be kill or be killed, no other path. With the Xuanmen Cultivators’ power, even if Ye Zi won, it would be a pyrrhic victory.

The third reason was the Bardo Realm! The Yin Vein Dragon Acupoint connected to the Bardo Realm, which had always been under the Feng Family’s control. Even if the family was gone now, the realm hadn’t fallen to others. Surely those Xuanmen Cultivators wanted it too. They had wiped out the Feng Family and killed her grandma—would Wang Ya hand the Bardo Realm to them? In their dreams!

Wang Ya had considered destroying the Yin Spirit Scroll, but doing so would make her, as its former controller, a living scroll. Capturing her would be the same as seizing it, and she had to plan a retreat for herself and Wang Cheng’an. If the human world truly offered no place for them, would they just die? Retreating to the Bardo Realm was a solid option.