Chapter 134
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Chapter 134 The Sky Master VS The Green Ghost (2)
“Are you okay?” I asked Nangong Zhentian. He was standing in the open doorway panting and examining his hand.
”Of course I’m okay.” He returned testily. “My clothes are wet, that's all. I have to kill the bitch and send her away.” His lip curled back in a snarl as he looked down the hallway.
He paced down the hallway ticking off the amulets that had burned away until he came to the end. The three of us watched, as he looked the last door up and down. His finger waggled like he was letting a puppy know that it shouldn’t put its muddy paws on the carpet. All at once he brandished another thunder amulet. His blackened hand wrapped around it as it began to glow with power. He kicked open the door and cast the amulet into the room with purpose.
We were further from this explosion. The air still moved around me, though. I watched Wei Wei’s neatly combed hair riffle in it. I took a step towards Master Nangong. He was standing in the hallway looking into the room. Only he was looking up, not straight, like the green woman was eight feet tall.
He brandished his peach wood sword and dashed into the room. Another explosion rocked the building. It shook the floor below us, enough to cause my sneakers to slip. I landed in the hallway on my left shoulder with a resounding thud. Pain arced through my neck and side, enough that I saw stars for a moment.
Gritting my teeth, I regained my feet and picked up Wei Wei’s peach wood sword. “I have to help him.” I thought, and started down the hallway. I walked slowly at first, every step shaking pain up and down my arm, and then matched my pace with the rapid sound of blows coming from the room ahead.
I rounded the door and found the reason Nangong Zhentian had been looking up. A black clothed shadow of a woman was crawling over the ceiling like a gecko. Her fingers were splayed and digging into the ceiling tile. Her hair hung in dank black curtains around a head turned completely in the wrong direction. The old woman’s face, now made of shadow instead of stone and concrete, was hideous. My eyes locked into hers and she released a screech. Yin air spat like globs of black ooze and landed on the floor in puddles.
Nangong Zhentian didn’t even have to look at me. “Get out of here!”
I started to protest when the old woman’s visage widened its jaw to impossible lengths and screamed at us. I took a step back on instinct and cursed myself for it. Xu Liang appeared in the doorway behind me and grabbed the back of my shirt, pulling me into the hallway.
“Your heart is in the right place.” He said with a smile, “But it’s our turn.”
I frowned at him. “This kid thinks he’s better than me!” I thought. My heart did a loop de loop in my chest and I stood straighter to match his height.
“We’re a walking safe guard for him, don’t you remember?” I chided at him. “What are you? Just a dunce carrying a basin of water!”
My grip tightened on the sword and I stepped towards him. “If you were a malign spirit, I’d ruin you.” I said under my breath.
Just then, Nangong Zhentian came out of the room. He was out of breath and his shoulders sagged ever so slightly. “If you two have time to argue, then you most assuredly have time to paste some amulets.” He gestured up and down the hall. “She’s fled to the third floor, which means that we have won the second. I want amulets on every door, every suspicious corner, hell every window if you find one.” His eyes alit on Wei Wei’s, Xu Liang’s, and mine. “When you are finished, join me on the third floor. Show me what you can do and make your masters proud.”
We all nodded, each trying to stand straighter than the other.
Wei Wei and I sped up and down the second floor pasting amulets on every entrance and exit. We met Xu Liang at the stairwell to the third floor. “Ready.” I said lamely and we walked up.
At the top of the stairs we met Nangong Zhentian and passed a ladder boasting roof access. Beams of sunlight danced down from the poorly covered window above us.
Nangong Zhentian nodded his head up the ladder and then turned to us. “We Wei, climb up there and place a spirit gathering amulet on the door. We need to attract as much Yang air as possible.”
“Yes sir.” Wei Wei said. The rest of us formed a circle around the ladder to protect him as he went. He reached the top and pushed against the ceiling door. “Guys, it won’t open.”
“What are you, a little girl? Push!” Nangong Zhentian called up the ladder.
Wei Wei took a deep breath and pushed against the lid. Nothing happened. He reeled back and slammed his shoulder into it with a bang. Nothing happened. Releasing a growl from the deepest part of him, Wei Wei traced his hands in a tactic of Taoism and thrust his hand into the lid.
The door opened with a silvery ringing and sunlight flooded in. The darkness creeping in on us vanished instantly. Wei Wei leaned over and pasted the spirit gathering amulet against the open door.
“It’s done.” He said when he got back down. “I can feel the Yang air already!”
Nangong Zhentian stared at the young man with his arms crossed. “I’m not blind boy. Tell me who taught you the mountain cutting seal? Neither your party nor your master is privy to those skills!”
Wei Wei looked at the Sky Master like a deer in headlights. “M-Master Nangong, I’m sorry- I mean, I’m not sorry, I- I learned it from another master in Kunlun.” He looked a little abashed. “I’m still very new to it…”
I racked my brain for anything I knew about the mountain cutting seal. “I’ve heard Master Liu talk about it before… I think. It’s kind of a mixture of Taoism and Kungfu. Someone with enough focus and strength could use it to literally cut through the earth. It was really powerful. Why the heck haven’t I learned anything like that?” I thought.
I turned to Wei Wei with a newfound respect. “He really is amazing.” I thought.
“Of course.” Nangong Zhentian said, “I forgot your master took you to Kunlun.” He nodded his head lightly and then looked up the ladder. “We should use the sunlight while we have it and take this spirit out.”
The Sky Master moved his hands through the sunlight. It was like watching a god weave lightning out of thin air. He traced the invitation tactic, although his patterns were ever so slightly different than the ones I’d been taught. I was so focused on this that I almost didn’t feel the darkness creeping in from behind us.
“She’s trying to stop him!” Xu Liang hissed under his breath. He bent to put down the water as the Yin air closed in. Standing beside Nangong Zhentian, Xu Liang traced a tactic of his own and pushed out his right hand, thumb lightly bent. A bright orangey flash burst from his palm. “Tiger seal!” He cried.
The orange flash quickly turned into a foul yellow and then deep green. Yin air flowed towards and into Xu Liang’s hand. His face turned from triumph to despair and he stumbled backwards. He dropped his hand and tried to shake away the green smoke. Only when his hand began to turn purple and black did he start to scream.
Wei Wei moved first. Seeing him in the corner of my eye jumpstarted my frozen mind. I traced my hands in the sky soul suppression skill and thrust towards the yin air. A pitiful breeze of Yang air flew out of me and dissipated when it met the darkness.
Beside me, Wei Wei rang the bell and shouted his incantation. Flashed of golden light lashed out and pushed back the oncoming flood of Yin air.
A mixture of fear and fury boiled through me. “I’m not done yet.” I told the darkness under my breath. I took out a handful of thunder amulets and began tossing them one by one. The amulets met the dark cloud ahead of us with a twisting cracking pop that pushed it back.
The darkness parted, falling away between our efforts. Ever so slowly, something began to take shape in the black fogging Yin air. The old woman’s face appeared just outside the edge of our combined light like she’d been there all along. I shouted in surprise and almost dropped the thunder amulet in my hand. Wei Wei turned and raised his bell just as she raised her hand. Her fingers splayed in a fashion that mocked every Taoist tactic. A gale of wind flew out of her hand, tossing Wei Wei and I back against the wall. My head hit the concrete with a whap that sent jolts down my whole body.
Nangong Zhentian continued with his ritual as if the wind wasn’t there. He came to the end of it, stomping one foot lightly and dropping his hands. His face was turned upwards to the sun. His whole person had begun to glow a brilliant gold.
The voice that came from him was not his own. I’d seen it before, experienced it myself, but the effect was still awe inspiring and terrible.
“Why am I here?” The Nangong thing spoke, blinking its eyes against the light. It looked around the cloud of darkness and then smiled. “Too old to handle a green ghost are you?” It asked no one and released a low chuckle.
The Nangong Thing stood for a moment, head cocked as if listening.
“Yes.” He finally said, his voice deep and rumbling. “If she has hurt many, then she must be dealt with.”
Nangong Zhentian, inhabited by an immortal, strode forward towards the old woman. She must’ve sensed his approach because she vanished into the darkness almost immediately. The golden man waved his hand lazily and a beam of golden lightning shot into the fogging cloud. It illuminated and froze the old woman in her spot.
The walls themselves seemed to be screaming. The old woman collapsed where she was while the clouds of black Yin air thinned around her. The once emerald sheen of her skin began to pale.
The Nangong thing smiled and walked toward her clicking his tongue. “So rude. You have no time to worship your elders?" He reached her and knelt down, raising one hand up palm parallel with the floor.
She looked up at his hand in a terrified gaze and screamed when he brought it down onto her. His light hit her darkness with an impossible sinking sound.
The old woman’s shrieks were unbearable as she started to fade. Her souls weren’t separating to be returned and cycled for reincarnation. She was dying, disappearing from the world.
I got up and shook the dust off my frock. I waited until the old woman’s visage was mostly gone before approaching, and then asked the burning question. “If you could’ve summoned an immortal to defeat her this whole time, why did you wait until one of us got hurt?”
The Nangong thing turned from where it knelt, hand still flat against the rapidly deflating spirit.
Its voice was low and soft when it spoke, like it could keep the words from the body it inhabited. “You misunderstand boy. By bringing me to this plane, Nangong Zhentian is shortening his own life.” He looked at me blankly with eyes that glowed gold. “His supernatural soul is too old to regenerate.”
I met his gaze, but shock controlled my emotions, “He’s giving up his life?”
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Chapter 134 The Sky Master VS The Green Ghost (2)
“Are you okay?” I asked Nangong Zhentian. He was standing in the open doorway panting and examining his hand.
”Of course I’m okay.” He returned testily. “My clothes are wet, that's all. I have to kill the bitch and send her away.” His lip curled back in a snarl as he looked down the hallway.
He paced down the hallway ticking off the amulets that had burned away until he came to the end. The three of us watched, as he looked the last door up and down. His finger waggled like he was letting a puppy know that it shouldn’t put its muddy paws on the carpet. All at once he brandished another thunder amulet. His blackened hand wrapped around it as it began to glow with power. He kicked open the door and cast the amulet into the room with purpose.
We were further from this explosion. The air still moved around me, though. I watched Wei Wei’s neatly combed hair riffle in it. I took a step towards Master Nangong. He was standing in the hallway looking into the room. Only he was looking up, not straight, like the green woman was eight feet tall.
He brandished his peach wood sword and dashed into the room. Another explosion rocked the building. It shook the floor below us, enough to cause my sneakers to slip. I landed in the hallway on my left shoulder with a resounding thud. Pain arced through my neck and side, enough that I saw stars for a moment.
Gritting my teeth, I regained my feet and picked up Wei Wei’s peach wood sword. “I have to help him.” I thought, and started down the hallway. I walked slowly at first, every step shaking pain up and down my arm, and then matched my pace with the rapid sound of blows coming from the room ahead.
I rounded the door and found the reason Nangong Zhentian had been looking up. A black clothed shadow of a woman was crawling over the ceiling like a gecko. Her fingers were splayed and digging into the ceiling tile. Her hair hung in dank black curtains around a head turned completely in the wrong direction. The old woman’s face, now made of shadow instead of stone and concrete, was hideous. My eyes locked into hers and she released a screech. Yin air spat like globs of black ooze and landed on the floor in puddles.
Nangong Zhentian didn’t even have to look at me. “Get out of here!”
I started to protest when the old woman’s visage widened its jaw to impossible lengths and screamed at us. I took a step back on instinct and cursed myself for it. Xu Liang appeared in the doorway behind me and grabbed the back of my shirt, pulling me into the hallway.
“Your heart is in the right place.” He said with a smile, “But it’s our turn.”
I frowned at him. “This kid thinks he’s better than me!” I thought. My heart did a loop de loop in my chest and I stood straighter to match his height.
“We’re a walking safe guard for him, don’t you remember?” I chided at him. “What are you? Just a dunce carrying a basin of water!”
My grip tightened on the sword and I stepped towards him. “If you were a malign spirit, I’d ruin you.” I said under my breath.
Just then, Nangong Zhentian came out of the room. He was out of breath and his shoulders sagged ever so slightly. “If you two have time to argue, then you most assuredly have time to paste some amulets.” He gestured up and down the hall. “She’s fled to the third floor, which means that we have won the second. I want amulets on every door, every suspicious corner, hell every window if you find one.” His eyes alit on Wei Wei’s, Xu Liang’s, and mine. “When you are finished, join me on the third floor. Show me what you can do and make your masters proud.”
We all nodded, each trying to stand straighter than the other.
Wei Wei and I sped up and down the second floor pasting amulets on every entrance and exit. We met Xu Liang at the stairwell to the third floor. “Ready.” I said lamely and we walked up.
At the top of the stairs we met Nangong Zhentian and passed a ladder boasting roof access. Beams of sunlight danced down from the poorly covered window above us.
Nangong Zhentian nodded his head up the ladder and then turned to us. “We Wei, climb up there and place a spirit gathering amulet on the door. We need to attract as much Yang air as possible.”
“Yes sir.” Wei Wei said. The rest of us formed a circle around the ladder to protect him as he went. He reached the top and pushed against the ceiling door. “Guys, it won’t open.”
“What are you, a little girl? Push!” Nangong Zhentian called up the ladder.
Wei Wei took a deep breath and pushed against the lid. Nothing happened. He reeled back and slammed his shoulder into it with a bang. Nothing happened. Releasing a growl from the deepest part of him, Wei Wei traced his hands in a tactic of Taoism and thrust his hand into the lid.
The door opened with a silvery ringing and sunlight flooded in. The darkness creeping in on us vanished instantly. Wei Wei leaned over and pasted the spirit gathering amulet against the open door.
“It’s done.” He said when he got back down. “I can feel the Yang air already!”
Nangong Zhentian stared at the young man with his arms crossed. “I’m not blind boy. Tell me who taught you the mountain cutting seal? Neither your party nor your master is privy to those skills!”
Wei Wei looked at the Sky Master like a deer in headlights. “M-Master Nangong, I’m sorry- I mean, I’m not sorry, I- I learned it from another master in Kunlun.” He looked a little abashed. “I’m still very new to it…”
I racked my brain for anything I knew about the mountain cutting seal. “I’ve heard Master Liu talk about it before… I think. It’s kind of a mixture of Taoism and Kungfu. Someone with enough focus and strength could use it to literally cut through the earth. It was really powerful. Why the heck haven’t I learned anything like that?” I thought.
I turned to Wei Wei with a newfound respect. “He really is amazing.” I thought.
“Of course.” Nangong Zhentian said, “I forgot your master took you to Kunlun.” He nodded his head lightly and then looked up the ladder. “We should use the sunlight while we have it and take this spirit out.”
The Sky Master moved his hands through the sunlight. It was like watching a god weave lightning out of thin air. He traced the invitation tactic, although his patterns were ever so slightly different than the ones I’d been taught. I was so focused on this that I almost didn’t feel the darkness creeping in from behind us.
“She’s trying to stop him!” Xu Liang hissed under his breath. He bent to put down the water as the Yin air closed in. Standing beside Nangong Zhentian, Xu Liang traced a tactic of his own and pushed out his right hand, thumb lightly bent. A bright orangey flash burst from his palm. “Tiger seal!” He cried.
The orange flash quickly turned into a foul yellow and then deep green. Yin air flowed towards and into Xu Liang’s hand. His face turned from triumph to despair and he stumbled backwards. He dropped his hand and tried to shake away the green smoke. Only when his hand began to turn purple and black did he start to scream.
Wei Wei moved first. Seeing him in the corner of my eye jumpstarted my frozen mind. I traced my hands in the sky soul suppression skill and thrust towards the yin air. A pitiful breeze of Yang air flew out of me and dissipated when it met the darkness.
Beside me, Wei Wei rang the bell and shouted his incantation. Flashed of golden light lashed out and pushed back the oncoming flood of Yin air.
A mixture of fear and fury boiled through me. “I’m not done yet.” I told the darkness under my breath. I took out a handful of thunder amulets and began tossing them one by one. The amulets met the dark cloud ahead of us with a twisting cracking pop that pushed it back.
The darkness parted, falling away between our efforts. Ever so slowly, something began to take shape in the black fogging Yin air. The old woman’s face appeared just outside the edge of our combined light like she’d been there all along. I shouted in surprise and almost dropped the thunder amulet in my hand. Wei Wei turned and raised his bell just as she raised her hand. Her fingers splayed in a fashion that mocked every Taoist tactic. A gale of wind flew out of her hand, tossing Wei Wei and I back against the wall. My head hit the concrete with a whap that sent jolts down my whole body.
Nangong Zhentian continued with his ritual as if the wind wasn’t there. He came to the end of it, stomping one foot lightly and dropping his hands. His face was turned upwards to the sun. His whole person had begun to glow a brilliant gold.
The voice that came from him was not his own. I’d seen it before, experienced it myself, but the effect was still awe inspiring and terrible.
“Why am I here?” The Nangong thing spoke, blinking its eyes against the light. It looked around the cloud of darkness and then smiled. “Too old to handle a green ghost are you?” It asked no one and released a low chuckle.
The Nangong Thing stood for a moment, head cocked as if listening.
“Yes.” He finally said, his voice deep and rumbling. “If she has hurt many, then she must be dealt with.”
Nangong Zhentian, inhabited by an immortal, strode forward towards the old woman. She must’ve sensed his approach because she vanished into the darkness almost immediately. The golden man waved his hand lazily and a beam of golden lightning shot into the fogging cloud. It illuminated and froze the old woman in her spot.
The walls themselves seemed to be screaming. The old woman collapsed where she was while the clouds of black Yin air thinned around her. The once emerald sheen of her skin began to pale.
The Nangong thing smiled and walked toward her clicking his tongue. “So rude. You have no time to worship your elders?" He reached her and knelt down, raising one hand up palm parallel with the floor.
She looked up at his hand in a terrified gaze and screamed when he brought it down onto her. His light hit her darkness with an impossible sinking sound.
The old woman’s shrieks were unbearable as she started to fade. Her souls weren’t separating to be returned and cycled for reincarnation. She was dying, disappearing from the world.
I got up and shook the dust off my frock. I waited until the old woman’s visage was mostly gone before approaching, and then asked the burning question. “If you could’ve summoned an immortal to defeat her this whole time, why did you wait until one of us got hurt?”
The Nangong thing turned from where it knelt, hand still flat against the rapidly deflating spirit.
Its voice was low and soft when it spoke, like it could keep the words from the body it inhabited. “You misunderstand boy. By bringing me to this plane, Nangong Zhentian is shortening his own life.” He looked at me blankly with eyes that glowed gold. “His supernatural soul is too old to regenerate.”
I met his gaze, but shock controlled my emotions, “He’s giving up his life?”
Chapter 134 The Sky Master VS The Green Ghost 2Are you okay? I asked Nangong Zhentian. He was standing in the open doorway panting and examining his hand.Of course I'm okay. He returned testily. My clothes are wet, that's all. I have to kill the bitch and send her away. His lip curled back in a snarl as he looked down the hallway.He paced down the hallway ticking off the amulets that had burned away until he came to the end. The three of us watched, as he looked the last door up and down. His finger waggled like he was letting a puppy know that it shouldn't put its muddy paws on the carpet. All at once he brandished another thunder amulet. His blackened hand wrapped around it as it began to glow with power. He kicked open the door and cast the amulet into the room with purpose.We were further from this explosion. The air still moved around me, though. I watched Wei Wei's neatly combed hair riffle in it. I took a step towards Master Nangong. He was standing in the hallway looking into the room. Only he was looking up, not straight, like the green woman was eight feet tall.He brandished his peach wood sword and dashed into the room. Another explosion rocked the building. It shook the floor below us, enough to cause my sneakers to slip. I landed in the hallway on my left shoulder with a resounding thud. Pain arced through my neck and side, enough that I saw stars for a moment. Gritting my teeth, I regained my feet and picked up Wei Wei's peach wood sword. I have to help him. I thought, and started down the hallway. I walked slowly at first, every step shaking pain up and down my arm, and then matched my pace with the rapid sound of blows coming from the room ahead. I rounded the door and found the reason Nangong Zhentian had been looking up. A black clothed shadow of a woman was crawling over the ceiling like a gecko. Her fingers were splayed and digging into the ceiling tile. Her hair hung in dank black curtains around a head turned completely in the wrong direction. The old woman's face, now made of shadow instead of stone and concrete, was hideous. My eyes locked into hers and she released a screech. Yin air spat like globs of black ooze and landed on the floor in puddles.Nangong Zhentian didn't even have to look at me. Get out of here!I started to protest when the old woman's visage widened its jaw to impossible lengths and screamed at us. I took a step back on instinct and cursed myself for it. Xu Liang appeared in the doorway behind me and grabbed the back of my shirt, pulling me into the hallway. Your heart is in the right place. He said with a smile, But it's our turn.I frowned at him. This kid thinks he's better than me! I thought. My heart did a loop de loop in my chest and I stood straighter to match his height. We're a walking safe guard for him, don't you remember? I chided at him. What are you? Just a dunce carrying a basin of water!My grip tightened on the sword and I stepped towards him. If you were a malign spirit, I'd ruin you. I said under my breath. Just then, Nangong Zhentian came out of the room. He was out of breath and his shoulders sagged ever so slightly. If you two have time to argue, then you most assuredly have time to paste some amulets. He gestured up and down the hall. She's fled to the third floor, which means that we have won the second. I want amulets on every door, every suspicious corner, hell every window if you find one. His eyes alit on Wei Wei's, Xu Liang's, and mine. When you are finished, join me on the third floor. Show me what you can do and make your masters proud. We all nodded, each trying to stand straighter than the other. Wei Wei and I sped up and down the second floor pasting amulets on every entrance and exit. We met Xu Liang at the stairwell to the third floor. Ready. I said lamely and we walked up. At the top of the stairs we met Nangong Zhentian and passed a ladder boasting roof access. Beams of sunlight danced down from the poorly covered window above us. Nangong Zhentian nodded his head up the ladder and then turned to us. We Wei, climb up there and place a spirit gathering amulet on the door. We need to attract as much Yang air as possible.Yes sir. Wei Wei said. The rest of us formed a circle around the ladder to protect him as he went. He reached the top and pushed against the ceiling door. Guys, it won't open.What are you, a little girl? Push! Nangong Zhentian called up the ladder.Wei Wei took a deep breath and pushed against the lid. Nothing happened. He reeled back and slammed his shoulder into it with a bang. Nothing happened. Releasing a growl from the deepest part of him, Wei Wei traced his hands in a tactic of Taoism and thrust his hand into the lid. The door opened with a silvery ringing and sunlight flooded in. The darkness creeping in on us vanished instantly. Wei Wei leaned over and pasted the spirit gathering amulet against the open door.It's done. He said when he got back down. I can feel the Yang air already!Nangong Zhentian stared at the young man with his arms crossed. I'm not blind boy. Tell me who taught you the mountain cutting seal? Neither your party nor your master is privy to those skills!Wei Wei looked at the Sky Master like a deer in headlights. M-Master Nangong, I'm sorry- I mean, I'm not sorry, I- I learned it from another master in Kunlun. He looked a little abashed. I'm still very new to itI racked my brain for anything I knew about the mountain cutting seal. I've heard Master Liu talk about it before I think. It's kind of a mixture of Taoism and Kungfu. Someone with enough focus and strength could use it to literally cut through the earth. It was really powerful. Why the heck haven't I learned anything like that? I thought.I turned to Wei Wei with a newfound respect. He really is amazing. I thought.Of course. Nangong Zhentian said, I forgot your master took you to Kunlun. He nodded his head lightly and then looked up the ladder. We should use the sunlight while we have it and take this spirit out. The Sky Master moved his hands through the sunlight. It was like watching a god weave lightning out of thin air. He traced the invitation tactic, although his patterns were ever so slightly different than the ones I'd been taught. I was so focused on this that I almost didn't feel the darkness creeping in from behind us.She's trying to stop him! Xu Liang hissed under his breath. He bent to put down the water as the Yin air closed in. Standing beside Nangong Zhentian, Xu Liang traced a tactic of his own and pushed out his right hand, thumb lightly bent. A bright orangey flash burst from his palm. Tiger seal! He cried. The orange flash quickly turned into a foul yellow and then deep green. Yin air flowed towards and into Xu Liang's hand. His face turned from triumph to despair and he stumbled backwards. He dropped his hand and tried to shake away the green smoke. Only when his hand began to turn purple and black did he start to scream.Wei Wei moved first. Seeing him in the corner of my eye jumpstarted my frozen mind. I traced my hands in the sky soul suppression skill and thrust towards the yin air. A pitiful breeze of Yang air flew out of me and dissipated when it met the darkness.Beside me, Wei Wei rang the bell and shouted his incantation. Flashed of golden light lashed out and pushed back the oncoming flood of Yin air.A mixture of fear and fury boiled through me. I'm not done yet. I told the darkness under my breath. I took out a handful of thunder amulets and began tossing them one by one. The amulets met the dark cloud ahead of us with a twisting cracking pop that pushed it back. The darkness parted, falling away between our efforts. Ever so slowly, something began to take shape in the black fogging Yin air. The old woman's face appeared just outside the edge of our combined light like she'd been there all along. I shouted in surprise and almost dropped the thunder amulet in my hand. Wei Wei turned and raised his bell just as she raised her hand. Her fingers splayed in a fashion that mocked every Taoist tactic. A gale of wind flew out of her hand, tossing Wei Wei and I back against the wall. My head hit the concrete with a whap that sent jolts down my whole body. Nangong Zhentian continued with his ritual as if the wind wasn't there. He came to the end of it, stomping one foot lightly and dropping his hands. His face was turned upwards to the sun. His whole person had begun to glow a brilliant gold.The voice that came from him was not his own. I'd seen it before, experienced it myself, but the effect was still awe inspiring and terrible. Why am I here? The Nangong thing spoke, blinking its eyes against the light. It looked around the cloud of darkness and then smiled. Too old to handle a green ghost are you? It asked no one and released a low chuckle.The Nangong Thing stood for a moment, head cocked as if listening. Yes. He finally said, his voice deep and rumbling. If she has hurt many, then she must be dealt with.Nangong Zhentian, inhabited by an immortal, strode forward towards the old woman. She must've sensed his approach because she vanished into the darkness almost immediately. The golden man waved his hand lazily and a beam of golden lightning shot into the fogging cloud. It illuminated and froze the old woman in her spot.The walls themselves seemed to be screaming. The old woman collapsed where she was while the clouds of black Yin air thinned around her. The once emerald sheen of her skin began to pale.The Nangong thing smiled and walked toward her clicking his tongue. So rude. You have no time to worship your elders?" He reached her and knelt down, raising one hand up palm parallel with the floor.She looked up at his hand in a terrified gaze and screamed when he brought it down onto her. His light hit her darkness with an impossible sinking sound.The old woman's shrieks were unbearable as she started to fade. Her souls weren't separating to be returned and cycled for reincarnation. She was dying, disappearing from the world.I got up and shook the dust off my frock. I waited until the old woman's visage was mostly gone before approaching, and then asked the burning question. If you could've summoned an immortal to defeat her this whole time, why did you wait until one of us got hurt?The Nangong thing turned from where it knelt, hand still flat against the rapidly deflating spirit. Its voice was low and soft when it spoke, like it could keep the words from the body it inhabited. You misunderstand boy. By bringing me to this plane, Nangong Zhentian is shortening his own life. He looked at me blankly with eyes that glowed gold. His supernatural soul is too old to regenerate.I met his gaze, but shock controlled my emotions, He's giving up his life?
