WBICDPH Chapter 79

Chapter 79 — The Asura Blood Prison

This was bad…

Lin Jin stared at the small box that was continuously absorbing blood energy from all directions. For a brief moment, his mind completely froze.

The corpse farthest from the Asura Seal should be the “Seven-Emotion Flowers” in the flower fields at the foot of the mountain. If that distance were used as the radius, the Asura Blood Prison would cover the entire Shuangxi Village and the back mountain.

Cruel.

Utterly cruel.

Lin Jin couldn’t understand it.

The puppeteer should have been acting on Han Xiao’s orders—to capture him, the furnace vessel, and bring him back to Mingzhu Heaven. All Lin Jin had done was trick him once with a bit of cheating. Was that really enough to make the man resort to something this vicious, even sacrificing his own soul just to drag Lin Jin down to hell with him?

Lin Jin’s thoughts were in chaos.

There were still many high-tier Wind Talismans in his storage ring. If he slapped them all onto himself at once, whether his body could withstand it was another matter—but at full speed, he should be able to escape this place.

The problem was that he wasn’t the only one inside the range of the Asura Blood Prison.

He might be able to run, but what about Xiao Yunkong and Hua Nanzhi?

Lin Jin had asked them to trust him. He had told them to hide in the cellar and wait for good news. Now that something had gone wrong with the plan, was he supposed to turn around and flee, leaving them behind to die in the Blood Prison?

That made no sense.

Could he go get them and escape together?

There wasn’t enough time.

During the few seconds Lin Jin hesitated, a dark red glow had already begun to spread across the surface of the Asura Seal floating in the air.

The crimson barrier rapidly expanded, soon enveloping the seal before spreading outward at tremendous speed.

When the edge of the barrier swept past him, Lin Jin felt as if his internal organs had been struck by a heavy blow. He spat out a mouthful of blood.

Every part of his body felt as though his flesh were being twisted together in agony, but he had no time to dwell on the pain. He wiped the blood from his mouth with his sleeve, then summoned the Shanhai Brush, his hand trembling as he drew several runes.

The mysterious symbols shot into the Asura Seal.

Immediately, the speed at which the barrier spread slowed noticeably.

Lin Jin coughed up another mouthful of blood and could barely stay on his feet. He dropped to one knee.

Just now, he had forced himself to draw a Profound-Rank Formation-Breaking Talisman using the Profound-Rank Shanhai Brush. But his own understanding of such runes was far from sufficient, so backlash was inevitable.

Against the Heaven-Rank Asura Seal, a mere Profound-Rank talisman was insignificant. Being able to delay the formation of the Blood Prison even slightly was already the best possible outcome.

Lin Jin knew that once the barrier reached the farthest new corpse, the formation would be complete.

And once that happened, there would be no turning back.

Think, Lin Jin. Think… what else can you do?

The intense pain spread through his entire body, making his already unclear mind even more chaotic.

Even worse, the scene before his eyes was beginning to blur and darken.

The effects of Seven-Kill Ghost Darkness had not yet faded.

He was about to lose his sight.

There really wasn’t any time left.

Lin Jin knelt on the ground, looking up at the blood-shrouded box in front of him.

Now, there was only one method left to try.

Since the Asura Blood Prison required living souls to sacrifice at its core, what if he offered his own soul before the formation was completed? Could a sacrificial soul disrupt the array?

It was only a guess. Lin Jin had no certainty.

But if death was inevitable either way, he might as well gamble everything. Perhaps he could at least create a chance for someone else to survive.

With that thought, Lin Jin didn’t hesitate. He immediately formed a hand seal, preparing to sacrifice his soul.

But before he could raise his hand, another hand suddenly reached out from the side and stopped him.

Lin Jin’s vision was blurry. All he could make out was pale, bluish skin and fingernails painted a blood-red color.

He froze.

Following that hand upward, he saw Zhu Eryao’s smiling lips.

“Thank you.”

She said only three words.

Then, without hesitation, she leapt toward the Asura Seal.

The timid girl who trembled at the slightest disturbance had gathered the greatest courage of her life in this moment. She knew exactly what fate awaited her, yet she still wrapped the seal with her soul power, embracing the object filled with bloodlust and murderous intent.

“Zhu Eryao!!!”

Lin Jin’s pupils shrank.

He wanted to say something, but before he could speak, another shockwave burst from the Asura Seal. Lin Jin’s vision went black, and he felt warmth flowing from his nose and the corner of his mouth.

The world seemed to flip upside down.

Lin Jin blinked, then realized—

It wasn’t the world that had fallen.

It was him.

“Thank you. I remember everything now.”

Even though Lin Jin hadn’t spoken, Zhu Eryao seemed to understand what he meant.

The shockwave whipped her hair and clothes into chaos. From within the Asura Seal, she could hear the wailing of countless resentful souls.

Zhu Eryao didn’t understand the complicated techniques these powerful people used. She didn’t know all those fancy terms.

She only knew that Lin Jin wanted to deal with that little box in front of them.

Judging by his expression, it was extremely dangerous.

He had even resolved to sacrifice his life.

Zhu Eryao couldn’t watch him die.

So no matter what, she had to help him.

She could sense that most of the power within that box came from the resentment of the souls trapped inside.

She was a Red-Clad Ghost. Even if she was weak, the purity of her soul power far surpassed that of ordinary resentful spirits.

So as long as she absorbed all that resentment into herself and purified those souls…

Lin Jin and his friends would no longer be in danger.

Zhu Eryao had never been a brave girl.

She had always been timid. She never dared refuse or resist anything. Whenever trouble came, she cried uncontrollably. When she got nervous, she couldn’t even speak.

She was useless.

She couldn’t do anything right.

She was also terribly unlucky. Not a single good thing had happened to her in her life. She had died in confusion, and even after death, she had been dragged out and turned into a ghost, trapped in that small courtyard with nothing to do.

She was afraid of pain.

She was afraid of death.

But even more than those, she feared endless waiting and unbearable loneliness.

This human named Lin Jin had rescued her from that loneliness. He had helped her recover the truth she had lost to time.

He had even avenged her when she never dared to.

Zhu Eryao was just an ignorant village girl, but her father had once taught her something:

A drop of kindness should be repaid with a spring.

If people treated her badly, she didn’t dare retaliate.

But if someone treated her well, she would repay them even with her life.

Using the power of a Red-Clad Ghost, Zhu Eryao absorbed the vast resentment within the Asura Seal.

She had absorbed resentment before, and she had even liked the feeling.

But this time was completely different.

The resentment was tyrannical and reeked of blood. As it entered her body, it crashed and tore through her soul, trying to rip her apart and escape.

No…

Zhu Eryao clenched her teeth and endured.

She didn’t even notice the cracks spreading across her body like bloody fractures.

“No…”

Lin Jin lay on the ground, staring at the blurry red figure surrounded by resentful souls.

Using the last of his strength, he said weakly:

“If a ghost purifies souls… you’ll disappear completely… you’ll never… enter reincarnation again…”

His voice was faint, but Zhu Eryao still heard him.

She forced a small smile, her voice trembling.

“It’s okay.

“Being human isn’t good at all. When you’re alive, people only bully you.

“I never want to be human again.

“I never want to be bullied again.”

Pain.

So much pain.

Her soul felt as though it were being torn apart. Blood-like tears streamed from her eyes.

Why were their resentments so deep?

Had they also been deceived, betrayed, pushed into despair?

I’ll save you.

I can save you.

In exchange, you must not harm the only person in this world who has ever been kind to me.

More and more cracks appeared across Zhu Eryao’s body.

When the overwhelming resentment stretched her soul to its limit, the agony became far worse than death itself.

She opened her mouth and released the final sound she would ever leave in this world.

“AHHHHH—!!!”

Her piercing scream nearly tore through the clouds.

When she was alive, she had never dared even to speak loudly.

This was the first time she had cried out so freely.

It carried not only pain, but decades of injustice and suffering.

In that moment, she finally felt truly liberated.

The pain disappeared.

She saw the crimson cracks on her body slowly turn into beautiful golden light.

She saw resentful souls drifting out of the wooden box, surrounding her, whispering overlapping words of thanks.

Zhu Eryao smiled.

A gentle breeze passed by. Her body became light, drifting apart in the wind until she merged with the world itself.

At least… I was a useful ghost.

At that very moment, the expanding barrier of the Asura Blood Prison completely stopped.

Eighty-one purified souls surged out of the Asura Seal. They wrapped around Zhu Eryao’s golden fragments and carried her back into the seal.

Golden dust slowly spread across the once blood-dark surface of the Asura Seal.

But Lin Jin could no longer see it.

All he heard was Zhu Eryao’s final scream.

Did it hurt?

Silly girl… weren’t you always afraid of pain?

The surrounding aura was no longer as dangerous as before.

Lin Jin knew she had succeeded.

They would all be safe.

So why…

Why did he still feel so sad?

I didn’t even do much for you.

Why would you pay such a price for me?

You have no next life now.

No future.

You will never exist again.

Heat welled up in Lin Jin’s eyes.

He didn’t know if it was blood or tears.

Unconsciously, he curled up slightly.

It suddenly felt very cold.

What he couldn’t see was that the once dark-red Asura Seal floating in the air was gradually turning gold. The blood-red sky within the Blood Prison slowly cleared, and gentle snow began to fall, purifying the lingering killing aura.

“….”

Xiao Lanqi looked up at everything unfolding, his emotions complicated.

The Asura Blood Prison—even gods could not escape it.

He had thought he would surely die this time.

The puppeteer had come for him. This final trap had been prepared for him as well. Instead, he had dragged this kid and the others into dying with him.

He never expected Lin Jin to attempt to sacrifice his soul to stop the formation.

And he certainly didn’t expect that little red-clad ghost to purify every resentful soul inside the Asura Seal.

Everything had happened too fast.

The little ghost had been so timid—she would burst into tears from just one glance from him.

Yet when it mattered most, she had been astonishingly brave.

She was so weak.

And yet she had saved everyone.

Zhu Eryao…

A beautiful name.

Xiao Lanqi stood up and walked to Lin Jin’s unconscious body.

He lifted a paw and tapped Lin Jin’s cheek.

This kid couldn’t even withstand the first shockwave of the Blood Prison, yet he still tried to sacrifice his soul to stop it.

What were they thinking?

Humans… and even humans who had become ghosts…

Why were they always so foolishly willing to sacrifice themselves to save others?

Xiao Lanqi had never cared about such questions before.

But now, he actually thought about it seriously.

The purifying snow inside the barrier fell heavier and heavier.

Xiao Lanqi noticed Lin Jin curling up slightly, as if he were cold.

“….”

Troublesome.

A faint glimmer flashed in Xiao Lanqi’s eyes. Using the small amount of strength he had just recovered after the Seven-Kill Ghost Darkness faded, he removed the restriction Lin Jin had placed on him.

The palm-sized puppy slowly grew larger.

Two black horns emerged from his forehead. Thick mane fur grew along his neck. His short tail lengthened behind him. The childish appearance of a cub disappeared, replaced by the imposing majesty of a king.

Xiao Lanqi stopped his transformation at the adolescent stage of his beast form.

He walked behind Lin Jin and curled his body around him, letting Lin Jin rest against his soft fur.

After a moment’s thought, he reluctantly flicked his tail and draped it over Lin Jin like a blanket.

You look like you’re freezing to death. I’m only taking pity on you a little—that’s all.

In ten thousand years, you’re the only brat who gets to use Taotie as a pillow.

Shouldn’t you be thanking me?

Xiao Lanqi shifted his paws slightly so Lin Jin could lie more comfortably.

Just this once.

I hate humans the most—especially you.

Next time…

Next time, no matter how recklessly you throw your life away, I absolutely won’t interfere again!

Absolutely not.