A Guide to Self-Rescue in the Cultivation World - Chapter 4

However, any further questioning was too late.

The red-robed female spirit’s claw was terrifyingly close, the bone-chilling Yin power nearly freezing all of Zhou Suyao’s thoughts. The Rebirth Spell she’d cast earlier to deal with the Vengeful Spirits had already drained the last vestiges of her spiritual energy. At this moment, she couldn’t even muster a basic Fire Ignition Charm.

What to do?

Is my sad little life of a salted fish destined to end as a dead fish after all?

Wait.

Ghost Soldiers.

A thought suddenly flashed through her mind.

Ghost Soldiers were the enforcers of the Underworld’s iron laws. They were responsible not just for stopping living souls from trespassing, but also for escorting the dead. Although she sincerely doubted these soldiers, who could be fooled by simple low-level spells, would be a match for the high-level red-robed spirit before them, they could at least buy the group a moment of respite.

Qi Jie said this might be the real Underworld. If even a young master like him sensed the anomaly, how could the esteemed, knowledgeable elders selected from various noble families outside be completely unaware?

Yet, she faced another tricky problem: the Evil Spirit Repel spell on her body, while blocking the Ghost Soldiers’ perception, also weakened the Vengeful Spirit’s attack. If she removed it, instead of having the Ghost Soldiers and the Vengeful Spirits fight each other, she was far more likely to be instantly torn to shreds by the red-robed spirit and the surrounding monsters the moment the spell dissolved.

Act as bait? The risk is too high. But if I don’t, we’ll all definitely be goners immediately.

She had to wait for an opportunity.

A perfect opportunity.

As her thoughts raced, a potent scent of bl00d, mixed with bone-chilling Yin wind, pressed down on her with tangible force, instantly seizing her with a sense of suffocation.

The red-robed spirit suddenly lunged. The strands of hair near her temples, stained with dark red bl00d, were inches from Suyao’s face. Suyao instinctively squeezed her eyes shut, her “salted fish” instinct screaming at her to just lie flat and play dead.

However, the expected searing pain didn’t arrive.

She carefully opened one eye, and the next moment, she was utterly blindsided, staring straight into a pair of pure, bottomless black ghost eyes.

“You have… his aura…” The spirit’s voice was hoarse and broken, laced with an unnerving confusion. She spoke in an almost accusatory tone: “How do you… have… that scent on you?”

Suyao was puzzled. What scent could I possibly have? The smell of salted fish?

The spirit closed in again, her nose only an inch from Suyao’s face. If Suyao hadn’t known that spirits in the Underworld had lost their five senses long ago, she might actually believe the ghost was trying to sniff her “salted fish” scent.

“You have his aura.” The spirit’s slender, icy finger traced her cheek, sending a chilling coldness down her spine. “You look… very much like me, too… He used to look at me just like this, cherishing me, taking me as his personal disciple. But he…”

Her voice suddenly rose sharply:

“But he drove me to my death!“

“To cultivate for his ascension, he sweet-talked me into dual cultivation. But after it was done, he used my body as a Flesh Cauldron, and then boiled my entire clan into a Flesh Congee to bestow upon those hypocritical cultivators to consume!

“What personal disciple? What favored darling? He saw me as his most precious container, seemingly crafting me with care, but in reality, only to devour my flesh and bones when he needed me! He is a monster in human skin. He lied to me! He raised me! He killed me!”

The red-robed spirit threw her head back and laughed, bloody tears streaming from her eyes. When she looked back at Suyao, her face had miraculously regained a kind of almost alluring serenity.

“Tell me, should I kill you? Anyone he chooses will likely meet the same end as me.” She chuckled softly. “Little sister, how about I help you find eternal release a bit early?”

Her voice was utterly seductive, carrying a deeply alluring quality. Unfortunately, at that moment, Suyao’s brain’s CPU was utterly fried by the incomprehensible terms like “Flesh Cauldron,” “Flesh Congee,” and “chosen,” leaving her unable to grasp the spirit’s words. Otherwise, given her nature, she probably would have instantly thought of “lying flat” at the word “release” and nodded instinctively.

Thus, faced with the spirit’s “kind” invitation, she pulled out a tremendously inappropriate, awkward smile. “Um… sorry… I didn’t quite catch that.”

“Hmm?”

The spirit’s alluring smile instantly froze on her face. She seemed completely stumped by Suyao’s unexpectedly “salted-fish” remark. A flicker of utter confusion crossed her pure black ghost eyes.

This is it!

Seizing the instant, the spirit was stunned. Suyao immediately swept her hand across the curse seal on her body to remove it. Simultaneously, to the horror-struck gazes of Qi Jie and the others, she yanked Qi Jie’s hand, swiftly sliced his fingertip with her nail, and smeared his hot, fresh pure Yang bl00d fiercely onto her own forehead.

“Zhou Suyao!!” Qi Jie instantly realized her intent—She wants to destroy herself! To use herself as bait to lure the ghost army!

The crushing realization of what she was doing instantly controlled him, a fear more suffocating than the Underworld’s suppression. He roared, instinctively wanting to shatter the already crumbling barrier to stop her.

But it was too late.

In a flash of lightning, the moment the Evil Spirit Repel spell vanished, the Yang energy around Suyao’s body erupted violently. Add to that the fresh, warm drop of pure Yang bl00d on her forehead—to the surrounding Vengeful Spirits, this was nothing less than a torch in the dark, a feast of Yang energy laid out before them.

The scene instantly spiraled out of control.

The delicate balance between the four people and the red-robed spirit was instantly shattered. The surging Vengeful Spirits not only blocked the red-robed spirit’s attack on the group but, due to their sheer numbers, they momentarily overwhelmed the spirit’s ability to control them.

BOOM!

A massive surge of Yin energy backfired, slamming into the female spirit and sending her reeling. At the same time, this burst of Yang energy and the uncontrollable ghost tide—like thunder in the night instantly attracted a large troop of alarmed Ghost Soldiers.

Utter chaos had erupted.

Suyao gritted her teeth, trying to force up another protective barrier, even if it only blocked attacks for a few breaths. But she was utterly empty of spiritual energy. The weak light that flickered at her fingertips immediately went out—her Dantian was completely hollow; her energy was fully depleted.

Now I really am going to become a thin, salty piece of fish jerky.

“Zhou Suyao! Get back inside the barrier!” Qi Jie’s eyes were bl00d-red. Although the Underworld’s intense suppression had left him physically drained, the boiling rage in his chest and a sharper, unfamiliar terror wrapped around his heart like poisonous vines—he couldn’t just stand by and watch her shield them, especially not when she was using his bl00d to draw the Vengeful Spirits’ attention.

Hot bl00d rushed to his head. He disregarded all danger, smashing the barrier in front of him with a single punch, and desperately lunged out. Only one thought remained in his mind:

She is but a weak woman; she is the one who needs to be protected behind me.

But he forgot that outside the barrier, Vengeful Spirits ran rampant. If Suyao’s desperate gamble hadn’t drawn most of their focus, they all would have been ripped to shreds the instant the barrier broke.

“Qi Jie, are you insane?!” Mingluo shrieked, her face white as a sheet. Qi Shuobei also sucked in a sharp breath, momentarily helpless.

Suyao’s vision went black. She was ready to cry—Hero saving the beauty has to be situational! She wanted to rush over and grab the idiot by the head to see if it was stuffed with some ancient Dragon-Slaying Alpha Male web novels or some idiotic Overbearing CEO trash.

Great! He had completely thrown away the last tiny bit of breathing room they had.

The situation instantly went from bad to worse. Suyao, fighting a hundred spirits with two fists, suffered a lapse in concentration. A sharp pain shot through her abdomen. A Ghost Soldier’s chilling spear, cold with Yin force, had run straight through her lower abdomen from behind.

The pain was too sudden, too absolute. She couldn’t even process it. When she lowered her head in disbelief, all she saw was the spearhead, dripping with her own hot bl00d, piercing completely through her body.

“If I knew I was going to be skewered and turned into charcoal-grilled salted fish… I should have blackmailed Master for twenty boxes of osmanthus cake first…”

Suyao thought helplessly, managing a self-mocking smile.

All strength instantly drained from her body, and she collapsed straight down.

“Suyao—!!” Mingluo’s heartbroken scream was drowned out by the ghost cries. She herself was on the brink of disaster, with Vengeful Spirits surging like a tide. She barely had a moment to cast a defense spell, frantically swinging her magical artifact.

Qi Shuobei was in equally dire straits. As the only Guangming Dao disciple of the Qi family, his favored heavy meteor hammer was incredibly powerful in a one-on-one fight, but against this endless swarm of Vengeful Spirits, the heavy weapon’s limited range and speed became a fatal weakness.

Qi Jie, the only one still partially standing, was severely weakened by the Underworld’s suppression. He watched helplessly as Suyao’s figure was swallowed by the wave of spirits, managing only to futilely launch a protective golden light in her direction while being inextricably tangled by more Vengeful Spirits, unable to move an inch.

The anxiety, roars, and struggles of the three were lost to Suyao. The moment she hit the ground heavily, her warm bl00d rapidly spread beneath her. Countless hideous ghost shadows piled onto her, tirelessly biting and smashing the fragile golden shield that enveloped her body.

Boundless darkness and intense pain consumed her sinking consciousness.

Just before her consciousness completely faded, a blurry image flashed through her mind.

A stunningly handsome face, twisted in a look of shock, rage, and agonizing distress, abruptly entered her hazy vision.

His sharp brows were knitted tightly. A pair of beautiful, peach-blossom eyes was overflowing with fury. That face was.

Eldest Senior Brother?

Was it an illusion…?

Or… had she finally seen a God?

Eldest Senior Brother truly is a God. I knew I was right.

A man as pure and clear as the moon and wind must be a celestial being.

Only, this God’s face was smeared with bl00d, looking somewhat disfigured.

Wait! How could I see a God! Did I actually die?!

SMACK!

The sound of a slap was so clear, it even rose above the surrounding ghost wails and howls.

In the last sliver of consciousness Suyao had left, a faint, almost inaudible thought, tinged with a little schadenfreude, drifted by:

That… that was a good slap, Eldest Senior Brother…

Hopefully, it knocked out all those… Overbearing CEO tropes… that got into the distinguished Second Young Master Qi’s head…

Darkness completely swallowed everything.