PD -Chapter 28 Spiritual Power vs. Malice

The look in Liu Xiaopeng’s eyes, his demeanor, and even the tone of his voice were all deeply abnormal. It took me several seconds to realize that the person before me was no longer really Liu Xiaopeng.

Or rather, whatever had just done that disgusting act of flirting with me was not acting according to Liu Xiaopeng’s own will.

I turned around again and saw that the Five-Thunder Oil-Pool Formation behind me was completely empty. The woman in red had vanished without a trace.

Immediately, I pulled my arm out of Liu Xiaopeng’s embrace and called out:

“Xiao Chen!”

Liu Xiaopeng froze. Looking at me with surprise, he replied in a soft, sinister voice, “You know me?”

My heart stirred. That was exactly the reaction I wanted.

Taking advantage of his moment of surprise, I swiftly pulled out a Spirit-Dispelling Talisman from my pocket, infused it with spiritual power, and slapped it onto Liu Xiaopeng’s forehead.

A piercing scream erupted from him.

His entire body was hurled backward out of the vehicle, crashing through the rear window with a loud bang before flying toward the Five-Thunder Oil-Pool Formation on the bridge.

“Oh no!”

I cried out, but it was too late to save him.

Fortunately, he landed beside the formation rather than directly in the sea of flames.

However, Liu Xiaopeng had clearly lost consciousness. If he did not wake up soon, the fire spreading around him would still be enough to burn him alive.

I tried pulling open the car door again, but no matter how hard I tugged, it would not budge.

And at that moment, the blood-red figure appeared once more in the passenger seat beside me.

I understood now.

My Five-Thunder Oil-Pool Formation had done virtually nothing to this woman in red. After decades of committing evil, her malice had grown far beyond something that could be dealt with so easily.

In that critical moment, an idea flashed through my mind.

I quickly formed a hand seal and stopped the Five-Thunder Oil-Pool Formation.

Without the support of spiritual power and the formation itself, the lightning on the bridge vanished instantly. The flames also diminished considerably. The fire surrounding Liu Xiaopeng became much weaker, buying him some time.

But my own situation had become far more dangerous.

The woman in red had originally been incorporeal.

When I drove into her earlier, the car had passed straight through her body.

Yet now, inside my car, she had become completely solid.

She grabbed my hand and climbed onto me.

“I want you… Will you take me home?”

The woman whispered seductively into my ear, her breath warm and alluring.

Only now, with her so close, did I realize how pale and flawless her skin was. Her appearance was almost beautiful.

A faint intoxicating fragrance drifted from her body.

The moment she pressed herself against my chest, I felt my senses begin to blur.

Grinding my teeth, I silently recited the Purifying Heart Incantation and struggled to push her away.

But both my arms were firmly restrained by her grip.

“No… You can’t kill me. I’ve never abandoned or harmed a woman.”

I forced the words out through clenched teeth.

While waiting in the car an hour earlier, I had gone back through the information we had gathered and discovered something hidden within the details.

Most of the victims were men.

And nearly all of them had histories of divorce or infidelity.

That was why I had concluded that this woman in red was not killing indiscriminately.

She only targeted faithless men who had hurt women.

“You left her lying in a hospital bed while you came here with me. If that isn’t abandonment, then what is?”

As she spoke, she tore open my shirt.

Her pale hands, tipped with blood-red nails, pressed firmly against my chest.

At that instant, an image of Tang Shanshan lying in a hospital bed flashed through my mind.

I was shocked.

I had never imagined that this woman could actually see into my thoughts.

I struggled desperately to resist, but my spiritual power seemed completely sealed by the hands pressing against my chest. It could not circulate from my dantian through the rest of my body.

“AAAH!”

The intense pain in my chest forced a scream from my throat.

The woman’s crimson nails grew longer and longer.

Their razor-sharp tips slowly dug into my flesh, as though they were about to pierce my chest cavity and rip my heart out.

“AAAH!”

But just as blood began seeping from my chest, the woman in red suddenly let out a miserable scream of her own.

She jerked her hands away from me.

Thin wisps of black smoke were rising from her palms, as though they had been scorched by something.

My blood had done the damage.

It carried spiritual power filled with vigorous yang energy, something her ghostly body simply could not withstand.

After being burned, the woman finally revealed her true appearance.

The beautiful, fair-skinned face slowly melted away from her head.

In its place emerged a rotten, decaying visage.

Fish and shrimp writhed continuously within the hollow cavities of her face.

Only after the ghost was driven back by my blood did I finally get a chance to breathe.

Then—

Crash!

The rear window shattered.

“Catch!”

Liu Xiaopeng’s voice came from outside the car.

A moment later, he shoved my Spirit-Binding Ruler through the broken window.

I was stunned for a second before immediately understanding.

Reaching out, I grabbed it.

“Pull me in!”

Although Liu Xiaopeng was covered in dirt and wounds, he appeared to be otherwise unharmed.

With a powerful tug, I pulled him into the car through the window.

The instant he got inside, he seized one end of the Spirit-Binding Ruler and looped it around the pale neck of the woman in red.

“AAAH!”

The woman screamed again.

She tried to tear the ruler away with her hands, only to discover that it was even more painful to touch than my blood.

Unable to free herself, she immediately shifted her attention to Liu Xiaopeng.

Her unnaturally long nails shot toward his arms.

In the blink of an eye, they were about to sink into his flesh.

“Damn it!”

I cursed and gritted my teeth.

Grabbing the other end of the Spirit-Binding Ruler, I wrapped it around the woman like a tightly bound rice dumpling, rapidly tying up both her arms and legs.

“Still acting tough?”

I kicked the bound ghost in frustration.

Only then did I realize that Liu Xiaopeng was still physically restraining her.

The kick caused him to cry out in pain.

“Brother Han! What happened to your Spirit-Refining Technique? Hurry up and refine her already!”

“The Spirit-Refining Technique can only be used after a yin creature has been erased and reduced to pure spiritual essence.”

As I spoke, I gritted my teeth and continued pulling on the Spirit-Binding Ruler, pouring a steady stream of spiritual power into it.

Yet I soon discovered something alarming.

The malice within this woman in red was unbelievably powerful.

Even while bound by the Spirit-Binding Ruler, she was still resisting with her own terrifying resentment.

At that moment, the ruler had become the medium through which our powers clashed.

My spiritual power and the ghost’s malice battled fiercely through it.

Under the strain of that constant struggle, the Spirit-Binding Ruler began emitting ominous creaking sounds, as though it were on the verge of being torn apart.