Chapter 28

The wandering spirit opened its massive jaws and lunged at Lin Yu, aiming to swallow her head whole!

Just as its razor-sharp claws were about to make contact, a golden light enveloped Lin Yu! The spirit was blasted back with a thunderous bang!

Lin Yu didn't stop to examine what had conjured the defensive barrier. She spun around and struck out at the malicious spirit with a palm!

Zhang Yulin summoned the white tiger named Xiao Ta, who joined the fray. "Xiao Ta, stomp them to death!!"

Xiao Ta charged across the field of corpses toward the two wandering spirits!

Lin Yu asked Zhou Yu, "What are the conditions for a revenant to transform into a wandering spirit?"

Zhou Yu beheaded a revenant with a single stroke of his sword, then shook his head. "This is my first time encountering this. Wandering spirits only ever appeared in ancient scrolls!"

Zhou Yu added, "Oh, right! Recorded alongside the wandering spirits in those scrolls were the Taotie, the Black Tortoise, and other creatures that went extinct in antiquity. Their combat power should be about the same, right?"

Lin Yu: ...

Zhang Yulin: "Do you hear yourself? If they're on the same level as the Taotie, we're screwed!"

A conscious revenant overheard their conversation. It suddenly scrambled up from the ground and began to shout, "Run!! Help! There are ancient beasts here!!"

Another revenant who had also been playing dead on the ground heard this, hastily got up, and fled!

Zhou Yu struck at the wandering spirit again, but it was like slashing at air—no damage at all. In a daze, he thought he saw the spirit's fangs rushing toward him!

Zhou Yu had never felt so desperate. He had skimmed the scrolls twice without reading them carefully. Weren't wandering spirits supposed to have gone extinct long ago?! He never imagined he'd encounter one of those ancient records' spirits in his lifetime!

Zhou Yu ducked to dodge, continuing to tangle with the spirit. Lin Yu surveyed the field of corpses. If every revenant here could potentially evolve into a wandering spirit, but they didn't know the conditions for transformation, then they had no choice but to gamble...

The first spirit emerged because its body was burned; the second burst out from an already-dead husk. Those two conditions had no connection...

No, wait—the connection was that their bodies had all died a second time! And every revenant lying on the ground fit that condition!

Lin Yu shouted to Zhang Yulin, "Yulin! Have Xiao Ta crush every corpse on the ground!"

"Got it! Xiao Ta! Crush them all—as thoroughly as you can!"

At Zhang Yulin's command, Xiao Ta stomped across the scattered bodies! In an instant, blood sprayed and severed limbs flew everywhere!

Soon, Zhou Yu was again overwhelmed by the two spirits, gradually losing ground. The first spirit seized its chance and snapped at Zhou Yu's head, its massive jaws closing around him!

Lin Yu knew things had turned dire. Dodging the blood-soaked ground, she charged over and kicked Zhou Yu square in the knee! He was sent flying, tumbling onto the roadside. The spirit's bite missed, its fangs clacking together with a grating screech!

By then, Zhou Yu had exhausted both his mana and stamina. Without mana to replenish, he couldn't recover enough to keep fighting the spirits. Frantically, he crawled behind a pile of baskets by the roadside, summoning his spirit-communication mirror.

Lin Yu picked up the iron sword Zhou Yu had dropped and charged at the two spirits again!

Zhou Yu cleared his throat, trying to steady his voice. Feigning calm, he spoke into the mirror: "Is anyone in the tower near Jiangnan who can come support? We've run into wandering spirits from the ancient scrolls!"

The iron sword struck again and again into the void. The spirits had no physical form; the sword qi could only drive them back for an instant before they surged forward again. Visible but untouchable—and they had no idea what their weakness was!

The conscious revenants had mostly fled; the mindless ones lay dead here. Xiao Ta continued stomping across their remains. Blood smeared the ground, and all the corpses were churned together, unrecognizable.

The great tiger's silvery-white fur was stained crimson, its eyes turning bloodshot as if possessed, relentlessly trampling the shredded flesh below.

Lin Yu panted heavily, looking around. Somehow, the sky around them seemed even darker. A chill ran down her spine, and she instinctively glanced back. The moment she did, her breath caught. "Yulin, get Xiao Ta to stop!"

Countless pitch-black shadows were rising from the shredded remains on the ground!

Zhang Yulin's voice cracked with panic: "Xiao Ta's out of control!"

At the same moment, countless wandering spirits rose from the earth, encircling all three of them!

Lin Yu's body trembled for an instant, but she quickly regained her composure. Gripping her sword, she charged at the spirits once more!

Zhou Yu could no longer contain his terror. Abandoning all pretense of dignity, he shouted into the mirror: "Is anyone answering?! Does anyone know how to deal with wandering spirits?! Save your senior brother!!"

Lin Yu slashed at a spirit's neck. Its head separated from its body, only to instantly reform as if nothing had happened! Looking around, countless spirits with gaping jaws closed in on them!

A thin, aged voice came through the mirror: "Wandering spirits' weakness is mirrors. They don't know they're dead; they need to see their own reflection. When they see a mirror, they'll be startled and briefly regain physical form. That's the only moment you can kill them."

Zhou Yu didn't recognize the voice and had no idea who had spoken, but at this point, he had to try anything. Gritting his teeth, he shouted to Lin Yu, "They're afraid of mirrors! Seeing a mirror makes them corporeal!"

Lin Yu slashed at another spirit lunging for her, buying a little more time. She furrowed her brow. At this hour, the streets were empty, and even if she had a mirror, how could a single mirror handle so many spirits...

Then an idea struck her. "Is there a river nearby?"

Zhang Yulin had finally subdued Xiao Ta's frenzy; the tiger regained its senses and sat obediently before her. "There's a lake not far away!"

Before she even finished speaking, a crawling spirit lunged for Lin Yu's ankle!

In a flash, Lin Yu leaped onto Xiao Ta's back, dodging the spirit's ghostly hand. "Xiao Ta, go!"

From the tiger's back, she reached down, grabbed Zhang Yulin's hand, and pulled her up. The mighty divine beast bolted down the street.

Some spirits, catching the scent of living humans, gave chase to Lin Yu and Zhang Yulin. But a few, unable to stand, crawled along the scent of blood straight to Zhou Yu. Zhou Yu covered his mouth, barely daring to breathe, tears almost welling up in his eyes.

"Ahh—!" Zhou Yu's scream pierced the sky!

He scrambled out from the pile of baskets and sprinted after the divine beast: "Wait for me! I haven't gotten on yet!!"

...

Moments later, the divine beast carrying Lin Yu and Zhang Yulin waded into the waters of the Golden River!

The beast was fast, and the floating spirits trailing behind hadn't caught up yet.

The moon had vanished, and heavy clouds shrouded the stars. The river was pitch black, reflections impossible to see. Lin Yu lay low on Xiao Ta's back, watching the spirits following them.

She roughly estimated at least seventy or eighty spirits. She'd need to lure every one of them into the water, keeping them trapped there long enough to kill them. That meant going to the very center of the river...

Lin Yu stared at the dark water before her. She didn't know how deep it got at the middle. Xiao Ta, being a tiger-type divine beast, couldn't fly. If it got stuck in deep water, its power would be severely weakened, and the water might even drown it.

Xiao Ta's claws splashed through the shallows, sending up spray. There was no choice but to gamble.

"Xiao Ta, head to the center," Lin Yu said softly. "Yulin, go to the shallows. If something goes wrong, take Xiao Ta and run."

Zhang Yulin smacked Lin Yu's arm. "You want to abandon me and Xiao Ta?!"

Lin Yu's taut nerves faltered for a moment. "Huh?"

She stared at Zhang Yulin, baffled, about to deny it, when Zhang Yulin suddenly turned serious. "If I'm not here and Xiao Ta goes out of control again, it'll be Xiao Ta and the spirits ganging up on you. I wouldn't feel safe. So I'm not going far."

Lin Yu didn't reply. She gazed quietly at Zhang Yulin. For a moment, Zhang Yulin's image blurred and overlapped with Lin Zhao. Lin Zhao had been just like this.

Zhang Yulin clenched her teeth. "I'd rather die than let you fight alone!!"

Lin Yu's lips curved into a faint smile. Her voice was so soft she could barely hear it herself: "Alright."

...

The crisp sound of water echoed in Lin Yu's ears as Xiao Ta stepped into the center of the Golden River. Things turned out better than she'd expected—the water wasn't deep, reaching only just below Xiao Ta's chest. The tiger could still move freely, unhindered by the current.

"Splash! Splash!" One after another, the spirits reached the riverbank. They hesitated, hovering at the edge, but as the humans drifted farther and farther away, the spirits plunged into the water one by one.

When the last spirit entered the water, following the rest, Lin Yu finally smiled. The spirits floated toward Xiao Ta's position, moving farther from the shore.

Just as the spirits were about to reach Xiao Ta, Lin Yu gauged the distance, timed it perfectly, and unleashed a flash of white light into the sky with a spell!

In an instant, the brilliance illuminated the entire Golden River! Every specter was revealed under the light, their shadows stretched long across the water's surface, rippling with the waves.

Lin Yu looked down and saw her own reflection in the river.

"Ah!" A spirit screamed as it saw its body in the water, and in that instant, the floodgates broke!

Some shrieked, "That's not my body!"

Others questioned, "How did I become like this?"

Still others wailed, "It wasn't supposed to be this way!!"

Screams rose one after another, echoing and nearly shattering eardrums.

Their floating forms froze for a single heartbeat.

In that flash, Lin Yu leaped off the divine beast's back, skimming across the water's surface as she charged at the spirits!

Her sword met their bodies with a harsh metallic clang. She hacked at them with all her might, one stroke after another!

One by one, the spirits' hardened bodies were pierced by the blade, then reverted to their ethereal forms as they died! Their bodies toppled into the river, dissolving into shadows that vanished beneath the surface.

The water all around darkened like ink had been spilled into it!

Zhang Yulin clutched Xiao Ta's fur tightly. "Xiao Ta, kill them!"

The divine beast charged through the water with Zhang Yulin on its back, its massive claws stomping down on the spirits. Xiao Ta crushed them beneath the surface, trampling them again and again until they dissolved into black vapor!

The spirits had lost their greatest advantage—their formlessness—and quickly fell. In the end, they were utterly wiped out. The eerie shrieks finally ceased, and the river fell silent.

Lin Yu stepped across the water, returning to Xiao Ta's back, her tension finally draining away.

Zhou Yu only reached the riverbank at that moment. Seeing the light at the river's center, he dove in without hesitation, the few crawling spirits that had followed him plunging in after!

Lin Yu sensed it at once. Raising her sword, she rushed toward these last spirits. Before Zhou Yu could even scream, the iron sword flew past him, cutting them all down.

Zhou Yu climbed out of the water. Lifting his gaze, he met Lin Yu's eyes. She casually tossed the sword back to him. He caught it and clutched it to his chest, soaking wet, strands of hair plastered pathetically to his face.

Lin Yu stared at him expressionlessly, and Zhou Yu instantly felt his face burn with embarrassment.

He clearly remembered the Immortal Venerable telling him this new Divine Maiden was merely a physician by training, with no real skill, and constantly bullied by others. But...

Zhou Yu looked at Lin Yu and felt an inexplicable chill run through him. She didn't look like a helpless physician at all—more like a merciless demon lord!

As the senior disciple, going on his first mission with two junior sisters and ending up drained of mana, screaming for help—the other disciples at the tower must never find out!

Zhou Yu straightened his soaked robes and coughed lightly. He took out his storage pouch and dangled it in front of Lin Yu. "You left a trail of Soul-Renewing Pills behind with nobody to pick them up. I gathered them all..."

Xiao Ta carried the three of them in a full circuit around the Golden River, confirming every spirit had been dispersed, then headed back toward the original street.

Zhou Yu said, "I'll return to the tower in a few days and refine these into cultivation."

Lin Yu asked, "Can it be sooner?"

Zhou Yu didn't know why she was so eager for cultivation power, but he didn't ask. He simply said, "I'll go to the Cultivation Academy tomorrow and borrow their alchemy furnace. Day after tomorrow, I'll have it ready for you."

Lin Yu lowered her gaze. "I appreciate it."

They swept the street once more, picking up a few stray Soul-Renewing Pills. Zhou Yu used his storage pouch to clean up the scattered remains. After confirming there were no lingering spirit fragments or revenants, they returned to the inn.

The inn still glowed with warm candlelight. Seeing that splash of color and sensing the mortal bustle, Lin Yu took a deep breath and climbed the steps.

But the moment she stepped inside, she saw Yu Jia, and his expression was grim.

Yu Jia said solemnly, "The Emperor has been attacked. It's serious."