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墨書 Inktalez
Just when I was at my wit's end, I saw Master Xiao displaying the true strength of a man. At that moment, he had completely knocked down the Spirit God behind me, and it seemed like the Spirit God had no intention of getting back up. Clearly, Master Xiao had dealt a heavy blow. I held my breath and shouted, "Come help me!"
Upon hearing my call, he immediately reacted, running a few quick steps behind me with his sword in hand, grinning widely as he approached, clearly pleased. I ignored him and pulled my right hand back into the Cloth Bag to grab a handful of Cinnabar and Grave Soil. Once Master Xiao had pushed the Spirit God off my back, I threw a handful of Cinnabar at the Vengeful Spirit on my left hand.
This wouldn't drive it away directly, but it would stun it for a while. Then, I quickly took out an Exorcism Talisman drawn by Master Xiao from the Cloth Bag and stuffed it into my left shoe before gathering my strength to kick at the Spirit God clinging to my left hand.
The kick landed solidly, sending the Vengeful Spirit flying. I turned to look at Master Xiao, who was now engaged in a fierce battle with the Vengeful Spirit that had just pounced on me. My heart raced with shock; how powerful was this Resentment? Even after all this effort, it still couldn't be dispersed. I slowly began to understand what Master Xiao meant about needing to break it apart because such intense Resentment couldn't simply be sent away with one or two rituals. Since we couldn't send it away, we could only break it apart.
After kicking away the Vengeful Spirit that had bound me, I didn't pay it any more attention. Instead, I dashed behind the Vengeful Spirit that was entangled with Master Xiao and threw another handful of Cinnabar at it. Then, I quickly drew a binding talisman in mid-air with my bare hands above the copper coin. With a swift flick, I sent the coin flying straight into the back of the Vengeful Spirit. It paused for a moment, and I pulled on the Ink Fight Line, which wrapped around its Heart position. With a strong tug, the power of the Ink Fight Line enhanced by the spell was enough to bind the Spirit God, but it lasted only for a short time. So I shouted loudly, "Master Xiao, hurry!"
Master Xiao understood immediately when I dashed behind the Vengeful Spirit and wouldn't miss this prime opportunity. He quickly pulled out a Binding Talisman and threw it onto the bound Vengeful Spirit. Then he pinched out a Killing Talisman with two fingers and unfolded it before stabbing it with his Peach Wood Sword, driving it straight into the Vengeful Spirit.
With a soft hiss, I knew that Master Xiao had slain the Vengeful Spirit. Just as that spirit dissipated, Master Xiao's Peach Wood Sword fell to the ground. Looking up, I saw two other Vengeful Spirits pouncing on him from either side.
Although the battle seemed intense, in reality, it was quite quiet; aside from our chanting and communication with each other, there were no other sounds. There were no ghostly wails like those depicted in dramas; they were eerily silent even after being struck by Master Xiao.
After taking down one Vengeful Spirit, Master Xiao was pinned down by two others and unable to move. I rushed over and managed to kick away the one on his right—the same one that had been knocked down by Master Xiao earlier. This Vengeful Spirit's strength was already diminished; using my foot with the talisman barely got rid of it. With his right hand freed from restraint, Master Xiao wielded his Peach Wood Sword and swung at the Vengeful Spirit on his left.
With a thud that sounded like hitting cotton, that Vengeful Spirit fell to the ground as Master Xiao took two steps forward to stand beside me. He leaned on his Peach Wood Sword for support while gasping for breath; dim candlelight illuminated his forehead where beads of sweat glistened—clearly showing that after being attacked twice, he was running low on strength.
Breathing heavily, he said, "How are these Vengeful Spirits so fierce? If I were alone, I'd have been done for ages ago." Seeing that we were no longer moving and those two Vengeful Spirits showed no intention of attacking again formed a brief standoff.
After a few minutes passed, I chuckled softly and said, "The red candle is almost burnt out; it's nearly midnight. You can take a break for now; once midnight hits, we can just make a run for it." He suddenly straightened up without saying a word and charged toward the weaker Vengeful Spirit again.
Seeing him pick a soft target, I ran towards another one. I didn't like hand-to-hand combat and wasn't accustomed to dealing with them violently. So before the Vengeful Spirit could act, I threw a Soul Binding Talisman at it, quickly followed by a handful of Grave Soil, and then surrounded it with an Ink Fight Line, repeatedly chanting the Soul Binding Spell. If I could light a fire, I would have even thought about lighting a few candles and burning some incense, but that was just wishful thinking.
After a flurry of activity, I managed to trap the Vengeful Spirit. Although I had no means to directly disperse such a strong Resentment from the Vengeful Spirit, trapping it and then helping Master Xiao take down the other one before calling him for assistance was definitely feasible. However, I knew that this incomplete Soul-Trapping Formation wouldn't hold for more than two minutes. Once it was set up, I quickly turned to walk towards Master Xiao. At that moment, in the dim light, only Master Xiao's figure remained; clearly, he had already dealt with the weaker Vengeful Spirit. There was no chance of escape; the Seven Stars Formation blocked the entrance.
Upon realizing the situation, I didn't approach him. Master Xiao saw that neither I nor the remaining Vengeful Spirit had moved and understood that I had trapped it. With a hint of pride, he said, "Show me how you can disperse one; just one." I wanted to explain that I wasn't used to this method, but I held my tongue. Just as he finished speaking, the trapped Vengeful Spirit broke free from its bindings and lunged at me. My heart sank; what I thought would last two minutes only held for a few seconds.
The Vengeful Spirit moved swiftly, its Resentment seemingly intensified as it charged at me. I barely had time to react before it struck with overwhelming force—clearly its strongest attack. My legs trembled and within two seconds, I was pinned to the ground. A profound sense of helplessness washed over me; aside from my clear awareness, I couldn't move at all. It felt similar to Sleep Paralysis, but unlike Sleep Paralysis where breathing is normal, here even breathing became laborious. This was a sign of possession; thankfully, I had defensive talismans affixed to me—possessing me wouldn't be so simple.
After being pinned down, Master Xiao rushed over and drew talismans in the air above his Peach Wood Sword before striking downwards. In the next moment, the pressure from the Vengeful Spirit vanished. I quickly sat up and grabbed some Cinnabar, tossing it without looking back. Then came a familiar hissing sound—the same sound from when Master Xiao dispersed the Vengeful Spirit earlier. Without turning around, I knew it was over. Instead of standing up, my body naturally fell back down onto the floor as I lay there gasping for breath; that strike had clearly taken its toll on me.
Seeing me lying on the ground, Master Xiao also relaxed and lay down beside me after a moment's pause before saying something infuriating: "I took down all three; you're too weak." I let out a huff but offered no further argument; in this atmosphere, there wasn't much to say. Each time I dispersed a Spirit God left me feeling uneasy; this time dispersing three brought not just joy from victory but also an indescribable complexity of emotions. Looking at the hair hanging from the ceiling, my heart felt mixed; sometimes the intentions of Spirit Gods are quite simple—often revolving around things they deemed trivial in life.
After a few minutes passed and the red candles outside gradually extinguished, I got up and walked towards the door. Master Xiao followed me out and suggested, "Let's perform a Ritual to send them off; it's our way of apologizing." That was exactly what I intended to do. We set up another Ritual altar quietly together and performed a farewell Ritual for the three dispersed Vengeful Spirits. Although they would never have reincarnation again and we couldn't truly send them off, this Ritual served as an acknowledgment—a testament to their existence here.
During that Ritual, I saw another side of Master Xiao. He conducted the farewell Ritual with such sincerity as if bidding farewell to family members. While he was bold and unceremonious during exorcisms, he understood deeply that it was their only choice; since they had to do it, why not complete it joyfully?
Some things concluded as expected; however afterward, an emptiness lingered in my heart—no happiness at all. So that night we didn't return directly to our residence for rest but instead expelled our Yin Qi together before heading to a Late-Night Snack Stall where we ordered several rounds of drinks and drank until we were in disarray. The most infuriating part was that Master Xiao wore his Robe throughout the night while drinking, attracting waves of skepticism: "Is he really a Taoist?" "Just a fraud." "No Taoist drinks like that." "No Taoist looks that ugly." The last comment came from a teenager who seemed astute; I appreciated his insight and clinked glasses with him.
In life, there are many desires and calculations—competing against each other with cunning schemes. Yet in the end, we often realize that what we truly want is merely one or two things—and those are already what we possess.
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