"Don't be so quick to kill him."
The Male Wraith pressed down the Vengeful Lady, releasing Elder Quinn, who trembled uncontrollably, his entire body wracked with fear.
Now, the Male Wraith quietly squatted beside Elder Quinn, viciously pinching his cheeks.
"This face... The Male Wraith and the Vengeful Lady glared at him. We endured torment before death. I still remember my flesh being sliced off, paraded through the streets, pelted with filth and garbage. The hatred in my heart festers."
Elder Quinn snorted coldly and brushed away the Male Wraith's hand.
"You brought this upon yourselves."
A shrill, piercing sound erupted as the Vengeful Lady lunged again, only for the Male Wraith to restrain her.
"I was stripped bare and forced to ride a wooden horse through the streets. My stomach still aches with that agony—damn him! Let me kill him!"
The Male Wraith sneered coldly. Suddenly, with a violent bang, the door burst open—Tyson Warren stormed in.
"Don't kill Elder Quinn, please, don't! Whatever it is, let's talk—there's money, we can make a proper, heartfelt offering to you both!"
Immediately, the Male Wraith burst into laughter and stood up. Tyson Warren had already collapsed onto the floor, paralyzed with fear, while the others in the room prepared to flee.
"Anyone who tries to run, I'll kill them."
The Vengeful Lady shouted viciously.
"Come out."
The Male Wraith spoke. Nine people inside immediately crawled out and knelt on the ground, begging for mercy. Elder Quinn stared sadly at the floor, powerless to do anything.
"Listen up, fake Taoist. Tomorrow morning, we'll cooperate with your act. In front of the whole city, you'll pretend to subdue us, then extort a huge sum of money from everyone. Got it?"
Elder Quinn raised his head, eyes wide.
"If you want these people to live."
Elder Quinn nodded.
The Vengeful Lady squatted down with a wicked grin.
"And listen carefully—set up some fake evidence. Say this fake Taoist killed people for money and staged the whole thing. Later, when you can't agree on how to split the loot, each of you goes to report him and turn in the evidence."
My eyes widened, a surge of anger rising from deep inside me. I wanted to act, but Elder Quinn stood up.
"Did you all hear? If you did, get moving."
I stared in surprise at Elder Quinn. He smiled calmly, while the two vengeful ghosts glared at him.
"What are you laughing at?"
"I'm just laughing at how you can only come up with such filthy tricks. It's a pity. But karma turns, and those who do evil—ghost or human—will face retribution."
As Elder Quinn spoke, the Vengeful Lady laughed.
"Retribution? All these years, we've eaten people and ghosts, and no one has come to punish us. The so-called righteous, we've barely met any, and those we did were eaten by us."
The next morning, the whole city was in an uproar. Elder Quinn had already restrained the two people possessed by the vengeful ghosts, preparing to exorcise them. The two were tied up tightly.
Elder Quinn gathered his tools. The Funeral Squad watched silently from the side, each face clouded with sorrow. Tyson Warren still hadn't recovered, staring blankly at Elder Quinn as he worked. The two bound people screamed inhumanly as cold winds swept through, and dark clouds pressed down from above.
The onlookers watched, utterly entranced. After Elder Quinn finished his performance, the two ghosts departed, and the two bound people fainted.
Elder Quinn spat out blood—I saw he'd bitten his tongue. He claimed he'd exhausted his strength battling the evil spirits and was near death, but he couldn't rest easy about his apprentice and the Funeral Squad; he needed money.
Most of the townsfolk contributed money, applauding enthusiastically. Elder Quinn smiled and bowed to all sides, while two members of the Funeral Squad hauled out a prepared cart to collect the cash.
"Elder Quinn."
Suddenly, Tyson Warren seemed to snap out of it and shouted.
Elder Quinn wiped the blood from his mouth, turned to Tyson Warren, and smiled. Then his lips moved silently.
"I'm begging you, don't go, don't go."
Tyson Warren begged, and everyone in the Funeral Squad wept.
"I'm sorry, Tyson. I haven't married yet—I'm supposed to wed at the end of the year."
"Tyson, I have a child."
Many in the Funeral Squad spoke to themselves, while Elder Quinn sat silently at the table.
"Don't blame us, Elder Quinn."
Elder Quinn smiled and hummed in response.
"Go on."
Tyson Warren cried and clung to the Funeral Squad, but someone had already gone outside. He shook Elder Quinn, urging him to flee, but Elder Quinn just drank in silence, sitting quietly.
"Tyson, can you promise me you'll study hard and learn to read from now on?"
"At a time like this, Elder Quinn, what are you saying?"
Tyson Warren kept trying to persuade him.
Afterwards, things unfolded just as the two vengeful ghosts had planned—they possessed the two exorcism victims again and went together to report Elder Quinn.
Autumn wind swept through as crowds filled the streets, cursing and pelting Elder Quinn with objects as he was taken to the execution ground.
The whole affair shook the nation. Elder Quinn said nothing, quietly awaiting his imminent beheading.
The two vengeful ghosts lingered in the crowd. Many members of the Funeral Squad faced prison and punishment, except Tyson Warren—everyone insisted he was innocent, merely used by Elder Quinn.
"Maybe this is the retribution for my wasted youth."
Elder Quinn smiled, kneeling on the platform. When he raised his head, he saw Tyson Warren directly opposite. Their eyes met—Tyson cried out, but his voice was quickly drowned by the angry crowd, no matter how he shouted, Elder Quinn couldn't hear him.
"Study hard..."
"Let me do it."
Tyson Warren quietly watched Elder Quinn's corpse. Though someone was tending to it, even whipping it after death, Tyson's previous relationship with the authorities helped. He said that Elder Quinn may have deceived him, but at least had shown him some care, and the officials agreed.
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On a narrow path, a cart carried Elder Quinn's corpse. Tyson Warren pulled it alone.
"Elder Quinn, is a body really this light after death? Not heavy at all."
Tyson Warren smiled through tears as he pulled the cart, but Elder Quinn, already decapitated, could no longer speak or respond.
"Where are you going?"
On the path ahead, the two vengeful ghosts appeared, but Tyson Warren ignored them and kept pulling the cart.
"We're just waiting to reclaim our souls. As soon as that fake Taoist's spirit returns, we'll eat him. Ha!"
"Just wait. I won't let you go. I'll find a Taoist and learn the craft. Once I'm skilled, I'll come for you."
The two vengeful ghosts laughed wildly.
"You're the son of a thief, and then you followed a fraud. Who would ever take you in? Ha!"
The Vengeful Lady grinned wickedly, taunting Tyson Warren along the way, while the Male Wraith tripped him from time to time.
They reached a mass grave. Tyson Warren began to dig, but the two ghosts wouldn't leave him alone.
"Enough, you two."
Suddenly, my eyes widened as I stared at the cart carrying Elder Quinn's corpse. A stream of black energy seeped out—dark power, invisible to the two vengeful ghosts.
"Who's there?"
The Vengeful Lady called out, and the Male Wraith immediately floated up, searching all around.
"Could it be that fake Taoist's soul? He hasn't been dead long enough to be visible."
The Vengeful Lady spoke as the Male Wraith looked toward Tyson Warren, who was digging the grave.
"Let's settle it like this—eat his apprentice right in front of the fake Taoist."
The two ghosts appeared. Tyson Warren stared in terror as the Vengeful Lady gripped his throat tightly.
"Fake Taoist, watch closely. We're going to tear this child apart and eat him right in front of you."
Tyson Warren struggled and screamed, but just then, I saw Elder Quinn's corpse slowly rise. His wounds healed, his head reattached. Tyson Warren stared in disbelief, unable to speak as the ghosts laughed to themselves.
It truly was dark power—the Elder Quinn before us was the Undertaker.
Elder Quinn slowly stood behind the two vengeful ghosts, placing his hands on their shoulders.
The two vengeful ghosts instantly turned their heads and screamed. Dark power surged into them, and in an instant, they turned into black spheres, completely devoured.
"Elder Quinn..."
Tyson Warren stared wide-eyed at Elder Quinn, who was now shrouded in black mist, his form fading. The sunlight of the living world burned him—he had to return to the darkness.
"Listen, Tyson. When I was young, no one was willing to teach me anything. I gave up on myself and wasted away, living as neither man nor ghost. You're still young, Tyson—don't give up on yourself."
Tyson Warren kept shouting, ecstatic, but his hands could no longer touch Elder Quinn.
"Elder Quinn, I'll study hard. I'll learn everything from you—don't go!"
Elder Quinn smiled and shook his head.
"I'll be watching you, Tyson, from afar. Yes, you're a thief's son and a fraud's apprentice, but don't give up on yourself. People are born to die, and with you sending me off, I feel content, Tyson."
No matter how Tyson Warren screamed, Elder Quinn gradually dissolved into a wisp of black smoke and vanished. Tyson Warren cried out, truly mourning for Elder Quinn.
The scene froze for a moment. Suddenly, I plunged toward the ground, a streak of purple light flashing behind me.
"What are you trying to do?"
I stared quietly at the little ghost with a pointed face and at the person beside him wearing a dark gold mask.
"Of course it's harvest time, Ethan Zhang."
I stared at the two figures, gripping the gray Shakra Sword in both hands.