Yin Shou Shu

Chapter 413 The Lost Heritage

Even knowing that what he had resurrected was a ghost, not his real daughter.

But Aunt Liu still didn't completely eliminate the Ghost King.

He even took out all his savings and gave it to her, simply because she looked exactly like his daughter...

Ran Qing sighed softly.

This sharp tongue but kind heart is definitely typical of Aunt Liu.

At the same time, he vaguely understood why Mo Li had been staying with him all this time.

Although the two were complete strangers, Mo Li had always been there for him through thick and thin, accompanying him to dangerous places to capture vengeful ghosts.

For Mo Li, Ran Qing was a descendant of the lineage of the High Priest of the Ancient Luo Kingdom, and he had some connection with the family.

But most importantly, it was the kindness that Aunt Liu left behind.

The kindness shown to Mo Li by Sixth Aunt made her willing to stay and accompany Ran Qing into danger, wanting to take care of Ran Qing, this novice spirit medium, to the best of her ability.

This is the original intention that Mo Li left behind.

Ran Qing gazed at the girl before her with a deep look, and sighed with complex emotions.

He was only seventeen years old, but he was already sighing more and more often, like a decrepit old man.

Ran Qing said in a low voice, "So you don't even know how Sixth Aunt died..."

The true cause of Aunt Liu's death remains a mystery to this day.

The sixth aunt that Ran Qing met was actually a ghost in disguise.

Before that, Aunt Liu had already passed away, and no one knew how she died.

With Aunt Liu's abilities, ordinary evil spirits would have a hard time harming her.

Mo Li hesitated for a moment, then said, "...The group of ghost breeders that Uso brought with him are highly suspicious."

Because those who raise ghosts are believed to be able to control some kind of evil entity invisible to ordinary people. Only those who possess ancient ghost money can be warned of this special evil entity.

The ancient ghost money is related to ghost keepers.

Ran Qing had previously suspected the ghost keeper and considered him her ultimate enemy.

Mo Li now agrees with this guess.

The ghost keeper remains the prime suspect.

The ten people who traveled with Aunt Liu and the others ten years ago all died mysteriously.

But after Mo Li finished speaking, Ran Qing sighed softly and murmured, "...They are indeed the most suspicious, but there is also a huge flaw."

Ran Qing's gaze drifted as she said, "So... what is their purpose in doing this? What benefit do they gain from it?"

Ran Qing said, "The ultimate goal of the group of ghost breeders led by your brother Wu Suo is to nurture more ancient Luo ghost coins and revive more ancient Luo ghosts."

"Under these circumstances, what benefit would it bring to them to provoke the local unorthodox cultivators, led by Aunt Liu, whose strength is clearly considerable?"

"Sixth Aunt and her group, including Meng Laoqi, died silently and mysteriously."

"They were neither turned into demons nor into corpses; the killers had no ulterior motives towards them, only pure malice..."

Ran Qing's words were pointed.

But faced with Ran Qing's speculation, Mo Li chose to remain silent.

As Uso's sister and the former Demon King, her position in this matter is extremely sensitive.

Ran Qing continued, "Actually, it's already quite obvious. We've all guessed who the real culprit is."

"You should have guessed much earlier, but back then you couldn't reveal your identity, so you couldn't say..."

Ran Qing shook his head with a wry smile and said, "The real culprit is Li Hongye, or her mother."

"Li Hongye's mother has been involved with ghost breeders for so long, so she is most likely one of them."

"Before my aunt died, she said that they had looked for Ran Jianfei for a while, but they couldn't find him."

"What's the point of finding Ran Jianfei for these ghost breeders?"

Ran Qing sighed, "The only meaning is to seek revenge."

"Li Hongye's mother joined the ghost breeders in exchange for their support in her revenge."

"They went to look for Ran Jianfei, but they couldn't find him, even though they knew his home address."

Although he didn't have much affection for the man he called his father, Ran Qing had to admit that this man was extremely cunning and shrewd.

"Since the ghost-raising people can't find Ran Jianfei, they have no choice but to resort to other methods to deal with him."

"For example, trying to locate Ran Jianfei through some kind of evil magic or through some kind of killing range."

"And those people killed by those unseen evil spirits all have one thing in common: they all went to Honghe Village with Lu Baiyin to search for the Ghost King's Coffin."

Ran Qing said, "So, when the ghost-raising people couldn't find Ran Jianfei, they put those ten people from back then on their kill list, with the aim of avenging Li Hongye's mother."

"But unfortunately, Ran Jianfei was too slippery and too lucky. Aunt Liu was targeted by that unseen evil spirit before him."

"And Aunt Liu was powerful enough that, although she was murdered without any warning, she used forbidden techniques to find a ghost to impersonate her, which was equivalent to prolonging her life."

"Thus, Li Hongye's mother's revenge plan got stuck with Sixth Aunt."

"That kind of unseen evil spirit must kill people in sequence; it cannot kill the next person until the current target is dealt with."

"Although Aunt Liu died, she was still alive, and lived until a month ago."

"So the unseen evil spirit got stuck with Aunt Liu. It could not kill Aunt Liu again, but it could not skip over Aunt Liu to kill the next person."

"As a result, Ran Jianfei, Meng Laoqi and their group all lived past Aunt Liu."

Ran Qing said with a wry smile, "Li Hongye's mother, whose revenge plan was stalled and could not be fulfilled, had no choice but to take a risk and use the even more evil and brutal method of raising evil spirits and refining blood corpses in order to take revenge."

"But this technique of raising evil spirits and refining blood corpses requires a long preparation time."

"Initially, Li Hongye's mother was in charge of everything."

"But as the process of nurturing evil spirits reached its halfway point, Li Hongye's mother also died tragically underground, and the person in charge of everything became Li Hongye."

"Then, when Li Hongye went underground, the two witches she kept at home covered Li Hongye's coffin."

"The method of raising the witch doctor should have been shared by the people who raise ghosts with Li Hongye's mother."

Ran Qing connected all the clues and looked at Mo Li with a complicated expression.

He said, "...Therefore, the ghost-raising people are the culprits who killed Aunt Liu."

"But the real culprits can also be said to be Li Hongye and her daughter."

Ran Qing connected all the clues and reasoned calmly.

Mo Li looked at him silently and said, "...So, you have to go find Li Hongye to avenge your old woman, right?"

Ran Qing nodded and said, "I have too many reasons to go to Li Hongye: my master's revenge, the feelings I was tormented by her, your life or death, and the life or death of my teachers and classmates who live in Moonlit City."

"Although I am a loner, I still have a few friends at school."

“They are all poor children from the countryside, just like me. Everyone is living a hard life, and I don’t want them to die.”

“My teachers, especially my homeroom teacher Ms. Jin, have always taken good care of me.”

"I cannot stand by and watch them die in Moonlit City."

Ran Qing spoke earnestly, her eyes even showing a hint of pleading.

"So...can you not take me away?"

"I'm going to the Ghost Realm of Wujiang to settle things with Li Hongye!"

Ran Qing's pleading eyes and tone made Mo Li pause for a moment. She awkwardly looked away, feeling a little guilty: "...What do you mean, 'Don't take you away'?"

The girl vehemently denied it.

She did not deny it when her identity as the Ghost King was revealed.

But now, she felt guilty and uneasy.

Ran Qing smiled bitterly and said, "You said it yourself, I look stupid but I'm actually cunning."

"We've known each other for so long, just like you know me very well, I also know your personality and character very well."

"When you're really eager to do something, it's actually quite obvious."

"From the very beginning, you never intended for Zong Shu and me to stay and look for Li Hongye, did you..."

"These past few days, you've been secretly and mysteriously doing something."

"At first, I thought you were preparing some secret weapon to deal with Li Hongye."

"But after thinking about it, it doesn't make sense."

"If it's a secret weapon, you can prepare it openly and honestly. Why hide it?"

Ran Qing said softly, "Even Zong Shu felt something was off. He secretly told me that while I was unconscious for the past two days, you've been acting mysteriously and I don't know what you're doing. He told me to keep an eye on you..."

After Ran Qing finished speaking, Mo Li's expression froze.

She looked at Ran Qing silently, then turned to look in the direction of the door.

Finally, she covered her forehead helplessly and murmured, "...Zong Shu usually seems silly, but he's actually as shrewd as a devil."

Ran Qing smiled and said, "I noticed it before, but I didn't pay much attention to it."

"But what Uso said before he died reminded me."

"It turns out that Li Hongye is using the corpse of the Ghost King to refine a blood corpse. Once it's completed, the Ghost King, who roams the human world, will be dragged back to the underworld..."

“For you, you are destined to be unable to leave and must confront Li Hongye.”

"But you know this is a dangerous journey with a high chance of survival, so you want to go alone and find a chance to send Muneki and me away?"

Ran Qing laughed and said, "You, me, and Zong Shu, the three of us are really birds of a feather."

"Their affected behavior when faced with a life-or-death crisis is exactly the same."

Previously, Ran Qing had also gone to the Ghost Realm of Wujiang alone to find the Ghost King's Coffin, unwilling to take Mo Li and Zong Shu with her on the adventure.

Unexpectedly, Mo Li is now planning something similar.

Hearing Ran Qing's sigh, Mo Li shook his head vigorously and said, "Alright, alright, stop being so sentimental."

"Anyway, you're right, the three of us are all in the same boat."

“You have your reasons for needing to find Li Hongye, and I also have my reasons for needing to find her, Zongshu…”

Mo Li shook his head and said, "When we were looking for the Ghost King's Coffin last time, we agreed to put Zong Shu down. He was already suffering enough."

"This time, let's bring him along too."

"Many hands make light work, and Zongshu's Boundless Flame is also very powerful. With his help, our survival rate will be higher."

"I originally planned to prepare something to secretly send you and Zongshu out."

"In that case, let's not waste time preparing. Let's work together to prepare a plan to deal with Li Hongye."

Mo Li, in a fit of despair, shouted and finally confessed his original plan.

At this moment, the two looked into each other's eyes, their smiles radiant.

All the suppressed and stifling hesitation in my heart disappeared as soon as I opened my mouth.

There was no longer any barrier between them; they felt relaxed and at ease.

Ran Qing said, "...Then let's talk about something serious."

"Have you seen that insect I mentioned before? Is it something from the ancient Luo Kingdom?"

Ran Qing talked about the kind of insect that crawls out of the Yin Shou Book.

This insect is strange, malevolent, and unsettling.

Now that his identity has been revealed, Mo Li no longer hesitated and nodded to tell Ran Qing what he knew: "...That is the bridge between you Yin people and the evil lords."

"Not the evil lord behind your Nuo opera mask, but the evil lord of the entire Wujiang Ghost Realm!"

As Mo Li spoke, his expression became extremely serious and sinister.

She whispered, "That kind of insect has an extremely sinister power."

"Increasing the cultivation level of the Yin-walking lineage is just one aspect."

"I don't know exactly how to use this insect; it's a secret known only to the High Priest's lineage."

"The only thing I know is that this worm is a bridge, behind which lies the evil lord of the entire Wujiang ghost realm."

“Using this kind of Gu worm can provide powerful assistance, but the price is often also terrible.”

"Once, the high priest used Gu worms to suppress and kill an evil lord who had wandered into the human world and wreaked havoc."

"But the price that followed was a year-long drought in the ancient Luo Kingdom. In the end, ninety-nine live human sacrifices were offered to quell the situation."

"Therefore, never use this power."

“Especially since you follow the lineage of Yin people, the relevant inheritance has been severed. You don’t know how to use this power, let alone how to pay the price.”

"Under these circumstances, if we were to use it rashly, the consequences could be far more severe..."

Mo Li shook his head as he spoke.

She looked at Ran Qing with a complicated expression and said, "Your Book of Yin Life was originally a tool for communicating with the evil lords."

“In the ancient Luo Kingdom era, the high priests of each generation could communicate with the evil lords deep in the Wujiang Ghost Realm using the Yin Shou Book.”

"But now that it has been passed down to this era, you can only communicate with your own evil lord. The Book of Life and Death has become nothing more than a decoration for you..."

Mo Li no longer concealed her identity and frankly shared her understanding of the Yin-walking lineage.

Through the words of this living fossil, Ran Qing finally understood the significance of the Yin Shou Book.

"...The Book of Yin Shou...can communicate with the evil lord of the Wujiang Ghost Realm!"

This is simply appalling.

The evil lords of the Wujiang Ghost Realm are terrifying and powerful.

If we can communicate and cooperate with them, we will naturally receive powerful assistance.

But Ran Qing would rather not have this help.

In particular, those who practice the Yin-Yang lineage have lost the method of using the Yin-Yang Longevity Book...

Ran Qing's face twitched as she stared at the Yin Shou Book in her hand.

Behind this book lies the evil lord of the entire Wujiang Ghost Realm!

Realizing this, he felt as if he were holding an atomic bomb that could explode at any moment, and the hairs on his body stood on end.

This thing was a deadly evil to him.

No wonder that those who traveled to the underworld throughout history all met with bad ends after hearing the ghostly writings in the Book of the Dead.

—What kind of good things could those evil lords in the ghost realm of Wujiang be?

(End of this chapter)