Chapter 19: Soul Pill

'Thud!'

After a dull thud from outside, there was dead silence.

Qin Sang hurriedly covered the things on the bed with a quilt and rushed out the door, only to see Old Wu slumped against the base of the wall, motionless.

A surge of black energy swirled around Old Wu, and then an evil spirit emerged from his body, biting Old Wu's soul in its mouth. Upon seeing Qin Sang, it immediately spat out the soul and hid in the corner.

Qin Sang froze in place, somewhat at a loss.

Old Wu's soul stood motionless, as illusory as a wisp of grayish-white mist. It was expressionless, its eyes devoid of any spirit, staring blankly ahead; the scene was somewhat eerie.

*It seems different from my own soul. Old Wu's soul is as tall as his living body. Is it because I am practicing the "Nether Scripture"?*

Qin Sang cursed himself inwardly for having the mind to wander such thoughts. He quickly knelt down and placed his finger in front of Old Wu's nose. He felt no breath, and upon checking again, his heartbeat had stopped.

He was dead.

Qin Sang looked up with a complex expression and called out softly, "Old Wu, do you still recognize me?"

Old Wu's eyes turned toward Qin Sang. After a pause, he spoke in a voice devoid of any inflection: "I do."

Qin Sang was stunned. He had only asked casually; he truly hadn't expected Old Wu's soul to answer. Wasn't Old Wu a mute? How could his soul speak?

Looking closely now, Old Wu's soul appeared much younger than he had in life, and his back was no longer hunched.

Qin Sang speculated privately that the muteness, the aging, and the hunchback might have been mere physical traits caused by illness and the hardships of life, whereas the soul remained unaffected.

Old Wu was only forty, after all; it was normal for his soul to look young. In his previous life, a forty-year-old could still be called a youth.

Being stared at directly by Old Wu's soul while an evil spirit crouched nearby made Qin Sang's skin crawl, but he felt even more guilt. Although he wasn't close to Old Wu, they had lived under the same roof for half a year, yet Old Wu had died because of his recklessness.

"Old Wu, every grievance has a source and every debt has a debtor. That thing is what killed you; look at it clearly. If you prosper in the underworld and want to come back for revenge, remember to find it."

Qin Sang pointed at the evil spirit in the corner, advising him earnestly, but then felt he was merely deceiving himself. "Old Wu, do you have any unfulfilled wishes? Right, your family... is there anyone else from your family still alive? Is there any chance your two sons survived?"

Old Wu said in a flat tone, "I have no family."

Qin Sang felt conflicted, unsure of what else to say. Being stared at by Old Wu made him feel uneasy. He wanted to urge Old Wu to let go—since he was already dead, he should hurry and reincarnate. What was the point of standing there motionless?

Deep down, Qin Sang felt that for Old Wu, death might not necessarily be a bad thing. Reuniting with family in the underworld was better than living like a walking corpse.

But he also felt this was too shameless and could not bring himself to say it.

A deathly silence filled the room. After a moment, Old Wu's soul swayed a few times, melting into a wisp of soul-mist, and drifted toward the evil spirit.

The evil spirit glanced at Qin Sang, cautiously poked its head out to take a sip, sucked the entire mist into its mouth, and then retreated.

Qin Sang did not know how to stop it. He glared at the evil spirit, watching helplessly as it devoured Old Wu, realizing that this creature was absolutely a menace.

If he could not make the evil spirit obey him and instead allowed it to run amok, there was no telling how many innocent people would be harmed in the future. If it weren't an enemy, what if it were a loved one or a friend?

Qin Sang could only be grateful that the person knocking on the door just now wasn't the old Taoist or Ming Yue.

His purpose in seeking immortality was to live long, not to become a murderous demon. If he could not control the evil spirit, he would rather put the Yama Banner aside forever.

Qin Sang stood up, took a step, then stopped. He turned to look at Old Wu's corpse in contemplation. Old Wu had died in front of his door; he needed to clean up the aftermath, otherwise, there would be trouble.

Taking advantage of the fact that Old Wu's body had not yet stiffened, Qin Sang picked him up, kicked open his bedroom door, laid him flat on the bed, and covered him with a quilt.

Old Wu's soul had been snatched away directly, and there were no external injuries on his body; even a coroner from the government would find nothing.

After tidying up every minute detail, Qin Sang backed out of the room, closed the door, and leaned against the wall, letting out a long breath. His heart remained heavy.

Glancing at the evil spirit, Qin Sang strode back into his room and picked up the Yama Banner from the floor. He tried to recall the contents of the scriptures, but he didn't know how to recall the evil spirit.

After frowning in thought for a while, Qin Sang had no choice but to repeat his previous method, channeling the single wisp of Qi he had just recovered into the Yama Banner.

The chapter on the "Yama Banner" explained how to command it.

This time, without an evil spirit lunging at him, Qin Sang silently recited the scriptures. Once he finished, the Yama Banner moved as if caught in a wind. A deep, eerie light suddenly ignited on the black flagpole, and the three characters for "Yama Banner" shone particularly brightly. This light gradually drifted toward Qin Sang's palm and finally merged into his body.

Immediately following this, many words suddenly flooded into Qin Sang's mind.

Qin Sang was secretly amazed. After reading through the text, he discovered that it contained not only explanations of the Yama Banner and the evil spirit within, but also a ritual incantation for refining the banner.

It turned out the Yama Banner was not a divine weapon as Qin Sang had guessed, but an artifact to assist in the cultivation of the "Nether Scripture."

However, the evil spirit kept within the banner was called the Yama King. Its power was somewhat weak, but after being refined through the incantation, it could be commanded to fight enemies, so the Yama Banner could barely serve as a weapon for combat.

But its greatest use was still assisting in the cultivation of the "Nether Scripture."

Even with the help of medicinal baths, it had taken Qin Sang over half a year to cultivate only the first layer of the "Nether Scripture." One could imagine that reaching higher levels would be even more difficult, and it was uncertain how many years it would take to reach the highest, sixth layer.

With the help of the Yama Banner, things would be different.

After the Yama King within the banner devoured human souls or Yin-煞 (Yin-evil) energy, it would nurture a Soul Core. A practitioner could take the Soul Core and hold it in their palm while cultivating; by borrowing the power of the Soul Core, the speed of cultivation could be greatly increased.

Of course, the Yama Banner was not without its perils. The text warned practitioners never to be too greedy and to use the banner with extreme caution to prevent the Yama King from turning on its master.

Seeing this, Qin Sang felt a wave of lingering fear.

This Yama Banner was a relic of the man in black. The man in black was powerful and could suppress the Yama King. But Qin Sang had only reached the second layer of the "Nether Scripture"; no wonder the Yama King in the banner would attempt to backlash.

If not for the protection of the Jade Buddha, he might have already been drinking the Soup of Forgetfulness from Meng Po.

This also served as a warning to Qin Sang: there were too many bizarre and eerie things in this world, and he had to be careful in everything he did from now on.

Thinking of the Jade Buddha, Qin Sang became pensive.

If the Yama King feared the Jade Buddha, did that mean he wouldn't have to worry about a backlash?

But as soon as he recalled the terrifying scene of the evil spirit lunging at him, Qin Sang decided he must remain cautious. After all, he didn't know exactly how strong the Jade Buddha was or if it could suppress the Yama King indefinitely.

Memorizing the incantation, Qin Sang set to work refining the Yama Banner.

When the refinement was complete, Qin Sang had a strange sensation: the Yama Banner seemed to be connected to his very bloodline, becoming a part of his body.

(End of Chapter)