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'How is this possible? Jin GuangShan said Wen Ning was burned to ashes, along with Wen Qing...how?' Wei WuHui's arms numbly fell to her sides as she continued to stared at Wen Ning as more cultivators began to appeared.
All eyes on the fierce corpse.
"Ghost...Ghost General?" One of the cultivators stammered, fear clearly expressed on their faces.
"How is it possible? Even before the Siege of the Burial Mounds, wasn't he already scattered to dust?"
Meanwhile, Jin Ling glared at Wen Ning with utter hatred in his eyes as he pointed his sword at the Ghost General.
However, before he could do anything, the Ghost Hand suddenly appeared out from the cloud of dust and grabbed Jin Ling by the throat, slamming him roughly against the tree.
Lan LingShu gasped in horror. "Jin Ling!"
Wei WuHui immediately snapped out of her daze the moment Jin Ling was captured and quickly played her flute, her eyes omitting a spark before her irises began to glow crimson.
Despite the awful melody, Wei WuHui's order still worked through as veins appeared once again on Wen Ning's face and without a pause, Wen Ning charged toward the Dancing Goddess with a snarl. Effortlessly, cutting the Ghost Hand off of her with a burst of his strength and in the process, freeing Jin Ling from its grasp.
Immediately, Lan LingShu and Lan JingYi rushed over to the youngster's side, checking him over.
However, the detached arm was still active as it began to moved on its own, crawling like a spider through the bushes as Wei WuHui's playing become rapid and urges the Ghost General to search and capture the Ghost Hand as her red eyes glanced around the surrounding. Trying to locate the deadly arm.
The Ghost General leapt into the air and slammed his fist down, causing the ground to crumbled under his powerful strength as rocks flew up. Successfully, reprimanding the Ghost Arm.
Then, Wei WuHui stopped playing and turned to Lan SiZhui. "Quick! The Evil-Sealing Pouch!" She called out as the latter turned to the Ghost Hand.
'First the forbidden offering ritual. Now this bloodthirsty ghost hand!' The woman thought as she turned to the twitching hand that was in the Ghost General's grasp with narrowed eyes. 'I'm afraid there's more than meets the eye'
Lan SiZhui slowly walked over to where the Ghost General and Ghost Hand were at as hesitation expressed on his face before dismissing that feeling as he grabbed a small pouch from his robes. He then threw it up as a blue light appeared from inside of the pouch and began to absorbed the Ghost Hand inside before closing it tightly.
"Forget about the Ghost Hand. Capture the Ghost General Wen Ning, then we'll all be famous!" This motivated the rogue cultivators as they surrounded Wen Ning.
"Don't be rash." Lan LingShu scowled as she stepped away from Jin Ling. Her amber eyes glaring at the bunch of arrogant cultivators.
"What's there to fear, the Yiling Matriarch are long gone. Get him!" Then with that said, they lunged for the Ghost General.
The veins on Wen Ning's face increases sensing the possible danger around him before letting out a roar. Wen Ning then swung his arms, swinging his chains as he took down all of the rogue cultivators in one swoop until an arrow pinned the end of his iron chain, restraining his arm that was connected to the chain.
"Are you crazy?!" Lan JingYi proclaimed as Jin Ling was, again, attacking the Ghost General as he lunges for the fierce corpse with his sword brandished.
But, Wen Ning managed to block the blade with his shackle before raising his free hand and roughly pushed Jin Ling away.
Sending the youth in yellow flying back. However, another body appeared up behind Jin Ling as their feet skidded on the ground, managing to slow the fall for both of them.
Jin Ling groaned painfully, shaking his head briefly to rid of the slight dizziness as he looked up, finding out that the one who stopped his crash was Lan LingShu as the maiden's amber eyes looked down at him with concern.
"Are you alright, Jin-Gongzi?" Lan LingShu asked as she helped the boy sit up.
"Wh-What are you-!" He groaned before his voice hitched once he saw the incoming danger approaching behind the maiden, seeing that Wen Ning's attention was still on him as the fierce corpse sped toward them and without hesitation, he grabbed and pushed Lan LingShu behind his own body before bracing for the death-blow while shielding the maiden.
That was until, a softer, more calmer tune echoed in the flames as Wen Ning froze before his fist made contact with Jin Ling's face. The Ghost General slowly turned his head toward the source, laying his pupilless eyes on Wei WuHui playing her flute.
Both of the Lan twins' eyes widened in confusion and realisation as they stared at the flute-playing woman. 'This song...!'
The song seem to be able to calm the fierce corpse down as Wen Ning slowly lowered his arms and began to stumbled toward Wei WuHui, his shackles dragging at his feet.
Wei WuHui also began to walk back slowly, one step at a time, as she continued to play. Keeping her eyes on the fierce corpse.
After making a couple more steps, where Wen Ning was moving further into the forest as Wei WuHui lead him with her playing.
Suddenly, she felt her back hitting something firm as a strong hand grasped at her right wrist and cutting off her song as Wei WuHui turned her head.
Soft brown meeting crimson red.
It felt like time seem to slow down the moment their eyes made contact as Lan XiChen looked down at the woman with wide eyes filled with confusion, suspicion and...hopeful. His hand still holding her wrist, his grasp firm but gentle.
However, the pair immediately snap back to the real world as Wei WuHui gasped and turned back to Wen Ning, who snap out of the trance as he began to snarl and growl. "Oh no. I have to get him away from here."
Wei WuHui, despite her predicament, managed to move her hand over just a bit to be able to resume playing a faster tempo, as if it was in a scolding way, as it sounded more shrill and harsh.
The grasp on her wrist grew more tighter, to the point where she felt her bones were going to snap as Wei WuHui succumbed to the pain and dropped her wooden flute to the ground.
Thankfully, her order was clearly heard as Wen Ning escaped quickly. Hopping from tree to tree while the rogue cultivators chased after him.
"Over there!"
"After him!"
"Don't let him escape!"
Wei WuHui breathed out a sigh of relief as she slumped, slightly letting her body leaned on Lan XiChen as the crimson glow dimmed down to her usual dark silver.
Lan LingShu also sighed, relieved that the situation was about to calm down after the Ghost General's departure as she turned to Jin Ling, who was still in the position of shielding her from an attack. "Thank you, Jin-Gongzi." She smiled, saluting in gratitude.
At that, Jin Ling couldn't stop the blush that appeared on his cheeks as he cleared his throat. "W-Whatever."
Suddenly, slithering toward the pair like a vicious viper, a purple whip of spark headed toward them.
Wei WuHui turned around the moment a white-clad back instantly moved in front of her and with a flutter of his robes and ribbon, Lan XiChen unsheathed his sword to deflect the purple whip away as clouds of dust appeared from the powers that were unleashed.
Wei WuHui stared at the back of Lan XiChen's in awe before trailing her eyes up to see a familiar man clad in purple and black standing on top of a tree.
"Zidian?!" Lan JingYi exclaimed.
"If an evil being seizes a body. Zidian will expel its soul," Lan SiZhui stated. "Zidian can whip out any soul possessing another's body. Can it be that Jiang-Zongzhu suspects that Mo Gu-Niang is possessed?"
"Well well..." Jiang WanYin sneered as he glared down at the pair with menacing eyes. "So you've returned...Wei WuHui." A dark smirk curled up on his face.
"Psst! Psst! Wei-Qiànbèi!"
Wei WuHui turned toward the whispering calls as she saw Mo XuanYu standing on the opposite side of her with their donkey companion right behind him as the young man gestured her to come.
The woman glanced back to Jiang WanYin then to Lan XiChen before looking back to Mo XuanYu.
Without a second to spare, she sprinted toward the latter.
Seeing her attempt to escape, Jiang WanYin scoffed as he pulled on his Zidian. "Trying to escape?" He then backflipped off of the tree branch, landing on the earthy ground majestically.
With the crack of his whip, Zidian slashed out with the illusion of a poisonous snake as it was about to strike the back of the woman's.
However, a flash of black appeared in front of Zidian's path just for a split second before it grabbed Wei WuHui but not without Zidian successfully hitting her on the back. Causing the woman to let out a pained shriek as the flash of black skidded to a stop to where Mo XuanYu and the donkey were at.
Every person in the area stood still, stunned at the moment.
"Ugh! Shame on you! So what if you're from a powerful sect, how could you hit me for no reason? So shameless!" Wei WuHui exclaimed as crocodile tears streamed down her face.
"Exactly. Jiang-Zongzhu has been becoming more cocky every single day." Then, a playful masculine voice suddenly spoke up from right beside Wei WuHui as the woman now realised that she was in the arms of a young man, probably around the same age as Mo XuanYu's, as his messy black locks was tied up and was in dark-coloured robes as his dark maroon eyes gleamed with arrogance and playfulness.
However, to Wei WuHui, an image of a little boy that she once took in after she found him bleeding in a dirty alleyway with one of his finger missing.
'Xue-'
"Yang-Ge!" Lan JingYi cried out. "What you're doing here? Aren't you suppose to be with Gumu, guarding her?"
"Well brat, obviously I finished my task and was about to head back home when I came across the commotion." The young man grinned as he put Wei WuHui down on her feet, however he still kept a hand on her elbow protectively.
"How it is possible? Why didn't it work?" Jiang WanYin questioned.
'Obviously it won't. Zidian can't expel my soul for sure' Wei WuHui thought as she frowned in annoyance before a cheeky smile grew on her face. 'Because I was offered a body without my consent!'
"Today I'm going to find out exactly who or what you are!" Jiang WanYin proclaimed as he readied his whip again. Purple sparks omitting from the spiritual weapon.
"Isn't it clear, Jiang-Zongzhu!" Lan JingYi called out as Jiang WanYin glanced over to him and Lan Sizhui. "That's the Zidian! It won't fail the first strike, only to succeed in the second!"
"Who the hell are you?" Jiang WanYin scowled, his glare on Wei WuHui intensified. "Why can you summon Wen Ning?"
"Uncle," then Jin Ling spoke up as he was supported by one of the Jiang sect disciple by his arms. "Her name is Mo Xue, her cousin, Mo XuanYu, used to stay in Lanling and she would often sneak in to see him. She's a complete lunatic!" He explained as he pulled his arm away. "When Mo XuanYu was expelled from the sect, she stirred a whole big storm in the Carp Tower and starts screaming and demanding us to let Mo XuanYu come back for three days straight."
Wei WuHui couldn't help but let her mouth gape opened in shock. 'Three days straight? Now that's madness'
"Indeed," then the Jiang disciple spoke up. "Though corrupt in character, Wei WuHui still held self-control, who's rather talk instead of fight. If she wanted a new body, a lunatic wouldn't be a good choice, right?"
"You said it," another cultivator added in. "Did you hear how awful her flute playing sounds? How can it compare to Yiling Matriarch's demonic flute Chenqing?"
After looking down at his Zidian, Jiang WanYin's glare lessened a bit. "Is that so?" He said as Wei WuHui noticed his stare and feeling couragous, she gave him, a close-eyed smile.
A smile that held a sense of familiarity.
Jiang WanYin then turned his back. "In any case, she's a practitioner of the demonic arts. Seize her and her cousin too." He ordered sternly.
"Yes!" His disciples saluted before commencing his command.
"Me?!" Mo XuanYu shrieked as he immediately ran to stand behind the youth clad in black. Wei WuHui also having the same idea as she joined the former.
The cultivators did falter slightly when they were met with a deadly glare coming from the young man in black that was guarding the pair, not moving one bit. But their Sect Leader did gave out the order and forgetting their hesitation, the Jiang cultivators continued their advances.
"Don't come closer! Help! Help!" Wei WuHui cried out as she looked around for a possible solution. When her eyes landed on the tall figure in white, she ran from her safety behind the youth clad in black and now taking cover from behind the Sect Leader of Gusu Lan.
"Lan-Zongzhu, are you deliberately getting in my way?" Jiang WanYin asked.
Lan SiZhui then stepped forward, saluting to the latter respectfully. "Jiang-Zongzhu. Since Mo Gu-Niang is not possessed, why the need to be so imposing on just a nobody." He stated as he looked at Wei WuHui
"Hn," Jiang WanYin glared at the junior. "Then, may I ask why ever since a while ago, Lan-Zongzhu has been so persistent in protecting such a nobody who practised the demonic arts?"
"Her path is uncommon, but her deeds is righteous," Lan XiChen spoke as he looked at Jiang WanYin with stern eyes. "For sentiment or reason, she deserves gratitude."
"That's right!" Lan JingYi jumped into the conversation. "She saved us several times, and just saved Jin Ling and Jiejie too."
That made Jin Ling cast his gaze down, a conflicted expression appeared on his face.
"Um Jiang-Zongzhu," then Wei WuHui spoke, gaining everyone's attention once again, as she made a shy maiden expression. "If you keep bothering me, I'll be very troubled. It's not like I'm attracted to just anything good-looking. For example, the stout bull in my village, who look plump and sturdy," she then glanced at Jiang WanYin timidly before glancing away. "Isn't my type."
"You..." Wei WuHui then picked up a strand of hair and brushed it against her lip as she continued. "Aren't my type either."
As she expected, her words succeeded to make a reaction out of Jiang WanYin as his face darkened. She knew that Jiang WanYin always hated being defeated while compared with others, no matter how pointless the comparison was. If anyone said that he wasn't as good as someone else, he'd be angered and not think of anything until he defeated that person. "Oh, really? Then, may I ask which type you're interested in?"
Out of nowhere, her heart began to pick up the pace when her eyes trailed up to Lan XiChen who she still clung onto as her face unconsciously blushed shyly. "Well...I am very much attracted to people like...Zéwú-Jūn."
.
.
.
Every eye just stared at her like she was more insane.
Lan JingYi was about to open his mouth again when a petite hand covered it as Lan LingShu looked on with interest.
Everyone awaiting what Lan XiChen will do or say anything back to the bold claim.
Lan XiChen blinked after hearing such words but then something unexpected happened as a smile appeared on his face, stunning everyone. "I hope you meant those words." Before his arm wrapped around the woman's waist as he pulled her closer toward him.
"...eh?" Wei WuHui let out, looking dumbstruck.
"I will be taking both her and Mo-Gongzi back to the Lan Sect."
"...EHHHHHHHHHHH?!!!!!!!!!"
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(Please correct my translation if I'm wrong and the GIFs and pictures used in this chapter does not belong to me, but their rightful owners)