Alibuda Chronicles Volume 8: Chapter 8 Clearing the Clouds and Seeing the Sun

Perhaps no one wanted it, but the day of the contract arrived regardless of our wishes.

Although the contract had been torn up, the ghosts did not swarm in; they only slowly entered from the village entrance when the appointed time arrived.

The villagers prepared for the so-called negotiation. They had done this for many years, were very familiar with the process, and did not need any help. However, in the past, both parties would present their contracts, and they could point to the text on the other party's contract and say with confidence that the time had not yet come. This time, they could not repeat the old trick.

On the long street where contracts were confirmed in previous years, on one side were the villagers filled with fear and unease, and on the other side were all kinds of ghosts, some human, some birds and beasts. What they had in common was that they were all covered in wounds, with obvious signs of decay, exposing the flesh and bones inside. Some were even half-rotted away. Their eyes were filled with resentment towards the living and a thirst for flesh and blood, staring straight at us.

"It's disgusting. I don't know how those necromancers can stand it..."

My mood was like a pig waiting to be slaughtered, I couldn't feel better. Mao Yan'an next to me seemed to have come to his senses, still looking relaxed, but A Xue, who aspired to become an excellent necromancer, was pale and leaned over worriedly.

The negotiation of the contract had obviously failed; it would be strange if it succeeded under these circumstances. The horde of ghosts roared angrily, shouting indistinct words, demanding that we return the treasure, and gradually advanced.

Among the large group of ghosts, I didn't see the woman with the half-skull face from before, but I vaguely saw the apprentice priests and knights who had been killed by the ghost horde. Obviously, the spirits of those who died nearby couldn't leave and were also absorbed into the ghost horde. If we weren't careful, this would be our fate in a few moments.

"Wait, stop! The treasures you seek are here!"

Just as the horde of ghosts was closing in, about to launch a full-scale attack, I stepped forward, shaking off a bundle in my hand, instantly spilling out more than ten pieces of gold and silver jewelry.

Mao Yan'an is extremely cunning; finding anything from him is incredibly difficult. I had ordered Violet to follow Old Man Jin, one of his accomplices. Last night, she discovered him secretly going to an abandoned dwarf kiln on the outskirts of the village, digging and searching it. After he left, Violet dug open the hole and brought me the gold and silver jewelry inside.

Buried underground for many years, these gold and silver jewelry pieces had lost their original luster, but judging from the craftsmanship and patterns, they were still of considerable value. Perhaps they even held some special meaning for the person who possessed them, which explains why that woman considered them her most important treasure, clinging to them even after death.

"Take these things back, and don't bother this place again."

I shouted, and the atmosphere among the ghosts changed. First, a chill gathered, then a tattered, ornate robe slowly floated out. The skeletal beauty appeared among the ghosts, her cold gaze first

glancing in my direction, then settling on the scattered treasures.

"Take your treasures and rest in peace. The man who killed you must be feeling terrible too. Over the years..." she

said with ill intent. I knew someone behind me would turn pale, but before I could finish, the skeletal beauty vanished, and the ghosts roared angrily.

"Treasures! Treasures! Give us back our treasures!"

I couldn't figure out what the ghosts were unhappy about with the treasures. I had no idea what the problem was. Faced with a horde of ghosts rushing towards me, I could only turn and run. But some were faster than me, and... there were many of them.

Led by Mao Yan'an, the entire village of Wugu immediately turned tail and fled when they heard the ghostly horde scream again. They were fast and desperate. Since the ghosts were all concentrated in one spot, a gap appeared in the encirclement of the village, giving them a good chance to escape. Unfortunately, Ah Xue and I were trapped in the center.

"Master, we..."

"Ah Xue! Run with me."

Running for our lives was nothing new to us. With Violet leading the way, using fire and lightning to force the ghosts away, Ah Xue and I broke through the encirclement.

"You...you're still holding her? Where are her father and grandfather?"

"I don't know. It was too chaotic just now. I...we can't abandon her." Too

lazy to waste words with Ah Xue, I just grabbed her hand and ran, praying that the little ghost wouldn't cry at this moment, otherwise, if Ah Xue was distracted, the three of us would surely die.

The horde of ghosts was simply too numerous. Although Violet protected us and led us out, we were eventually forced back into the village by the ghosts . In desperation, I told Violet to lead us towards the ruined dwarven kiln.

Having a dilapidated building for cover was better than fighting in open ground. Besides, there might be something Violet hadn't dug out, perhaps the treasure the ghosts were truly looking for.

"Ah Xue, use everything you've learned and practiced these past few days. Hold them off for as long as you can."

After leaving the ghosts behind and rushing into the ruined dwarven kiln, I told Ah Xue to set up a small barrier to block the pursuing ghosts and buy some time.

"Rotting evil winds, listen to my wishes, release the barrier of darkness."

The intensive training of the past few days had paid off. As soon as Ah Xue finished chanting the incantation, a black barrier immediately appeared, blocking the ghost horde.

The charge was halted, the shrieks of the ghostly horde were deafening, but Ah Xue's cultivation was clearly quite limited. The dark barrier quickly cracked under the onslaught of the ghosts, and its collapse was inevitable.

Violet rushed ahead, entering the dwarven ruins of the kiln, now only a few empty walls remaining, and immediately began digging. From the pit, she unearthed several more pieces of gold jewelry, rings, earrings, and the like.

(She had indeed missed something before, but… were these the things? Another wrong bet this time would be disastrous.)

Just as she hesitated, chaos erupted outside. From the other direction Ah Xue had concealed, villagers from Mist Valley rushed in, followed by a long swarm of ghosts, like a string of rice dumplings.

"Oh dear! Nephew, you're still here? There are so many ghosts outside! We can't get out..."

"Can't get out? Then you might as well die out there! Why did you come back? Can't you see we're about to collapse?"

The uncle and a group of villagers rushed back at this moment. The ghosts from both sides converged, greatly increasing the pressure. The dark wall that Ah Xue had set up was about to collapse, and the ghosts were closing in on her. The closest one was only a few feet away.

Violet roared and dug something out of the hole. It was a female skeleton wrapped in tattered shreds.

It seemed to be the burial place of the skeleton woman.

"This is it... Hey! The treasure has been found! That woman, what's your name? Your body is buried here..."

These words had an effect, but it didn't seem to be the kind I wanted. As soon as the skeleton saw the light of day, the horde of ghosts seemed to be spurred on, their attack suddenly becoming ten times more intense. Just like the day the ghost horde breached the priests' barrier of light, a cracking sound rang out as a withered hand, like white bone, pierced through the already weakened barrier of darkness.

"Master! Master..."

The horde of ghosts surged forward like a stampede of horses, engulfing Ah Xue in the onslaught of hundreds of vengeful spirits.

"Ah Xue!"

I was shocked. I hadn't expected to bet on this wrong thing; the skeleton wasn't the treasure the ghosts were looking for.

Ah Xue was buried in the horde of ghosts, her life hanging by a thread. I couldn't count on a miracle. I caught a glimpse of the uncle out of the corner of my eye and immediately pulled him over, urging him to come out and confess.

"What nonsense are you talking about? It's so dangerous outside, you want me to go out? Besides, I didn't do anything, what am I supposed to confess to?"

Mao Yan'an stubbornly insisted on confessing, trying to hide among the villagers, trying to escape my pull. But I didn't have time to waste with his nonsense. I ran a few steps outside and shouted

, "Hey! I don't know anything about treasure, but the murderer you're looking for is right here!" In the minds of the ghosts, besides the thirst for the flesh and blood of the living, there was only the obsession with revenge. The effect of this shout was no less than when the skeleton was dug out earlier. The horde of ghosts stopped moving and all looked this way. Faintly, the skeletal woman appeared in the horde of ghosts.

The plan worked, and I shouted urgently, "Have you forgotten? Under the tree, the man who suffocated you with a handkerchief is right here, do you hear me? Don't take your anger out on others; if you want revenge, you should find that man..."

Long-lost memories seemed to resurface in the ghost's mind with my shout. As the impression became clearer, her appearance began to change. Starting with her grayish-white hand bones, flesh and blood quickly grew back on her skeletal half, restoring her appearance to what she had in life.

The ghosts didn't move. I heard Ah Xue's faint cries; she was clearly safe. This was an opportunity not to be missed. To escape this predicament, I had to seize this chance. I turned around, searching for the person I was about to betray. I saw Mao Yan'an hiding behind a group of villagers, secretly waving at me.

The meaning was obvious, but now was not the time to try and build rapport. I pointed forward and declared loudly, "The man who killed you... it's him!"

A chilling wind howled, and the ghosts wailed, carrying my accusation with them. Following the direction I pointed, a man, his legs buckling as his crimes were exposed, collapsed to his knees.

"I...I'm sorry...It's all my fault...I...I didn't mean to kill you back then, I don't know why it turned out like this..."

Years of crimes exposed, his defenses shattered, the man knelt on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably, a scene of utter despair.

This was completely different from what I expected. I had initially estimated that, given the uncle's thick skin, it was unlikely he would confess so easily. And my biggest miscalculation was that the one kneeling in repentance wasn't Mao Yan'an, but the old man Jin standing before him.

Seeing the old man kneeling and weeping, kowtowing repeatedly, this bizarre scene left me speechless.

(How...how could this be...)

The content of the old man Jin's weeping confession was exactly the same as what the uncle had said before. His wrinkled, aged forehead pounded against the ground, begging for forgiveness from his deceased wife, expressing regret for the unintentional killing. His agitated expression was unmistakable; it was clear he was the real culprit.

If my accusations earlier had triggered the ghosts' memories to resurface, then Old Man Jin's repentance filled in the gaps in their memories. All the ghosts seemed to awaken from their frenzied state, ceasing their actions and parting to make way.

"Master!"

Ah Xue rushed over and into my arms. I held her and stepped back, whispering words of comfort. Seeing the dust and tiny bloodstains covering her body, I realized she had been only a hair's breadth away from death. If I had been a moment later…

After Ah Xue, the skeletal beauty seemed to float over… Now, the skeletal parts were gone; she was a beautiful woman, her hair slightly disheveled, her skirt fluttering. She landed almost touching the ground in front of the man who had once been her husband, listening to his weeping, her eyes shifting between bewilderment and deep hatred.

"Please, forgive me! I haven't had a single day of peace all these years. Back then, I really didn't want to kill you. I just wanted to knock you unconscious, but... but how could I have known that when I walked away for a moment and came back you were already... already..."

A typical murderer's confession, like many kidnappers who only wanted to stop their victims from crying for help but accidentally suffocated them—an unoriginal accident. Amidst his repentance, the woman spoke.

"Baby... baby... darling... give... darling... back to me, give my darling back to me..."

Because she hadn't spoken for so long, the first few words were hoarse and unpleasant, like two bones rubbing against each other, until finally they came together, making her meaning understandable.

Yes, the murderer has been found, so what priceless treasure did he steal back then? That's what I really want to know.

“Baby…baby…your baby is already…”

Old Man Jin stammered, his voice trembling. Before he could finish, a commotion arose in the crowd behind him. One person pushed through the crowd, rushed to the front, and knelt down beside Old Man Jin. Looking at the woman, he burst into tears.

“You…you are my mother? Father never told me…”

Jin Hanliang’s reaction upon seeing his birth mother for the first time was normal, but what he said next left us speechless, once again shocked by the unbelievable events that filled Wugu Village.

“I…I didn’t know it was you…That day, you and Father were in the woods, and I thought you were an old creditor…Father and I had finally settled down, and I had found a woman I loved. I didn’t want to run away from debt collectors anymore, so after Father left, I found you were still alive, and…Mother, please forgive me!”

This was a shocking confession, though not clearly stated, it was enough to reveal the truth. Years ago, after Old Man Jin smothered someone with a handkerchief, she was only unconscious, not dead. However, Jin Hanliang, who had followed Old Man Jin and witnessed this, harbored evil intentions and strangled her. When Old Man Jin returned and saw the body, he thought he had killed the wrong person and never imagined his son was involved.

Murdered by her own son, her vengeful spirit lingered, its resentment stirring the spirits of the surrounding mountains and rivers, ultimately leading to the tragedies that plagued Wugu Village for years to come.

"How could this happen? How could such a thing occur?"

Ah Xue seemed to understand, but clearly refused to believe it, finding it even harder to comprehend how human nature could be so vile. Such a tragic case

must have been a devastating blow to everyone, especially Jin Hanliang. He wasn't the kind of cruel and violent madman. That murder, the only one in his life, was an attempt to secure a peaceful future. But he never imagined he'd commit such a grave mistake, killing his own mother whom he'd never met, sowing the seeds of future misfortune. He was trapped in Fog Valley Village, and even his wife perished at the hands of the ghosts.

Watching him kneel on the ground, struggling to crawl forward, trying to embrace his mother's legs and weep, even I could feel his deep remorse. Ah Xue kept her head down, unable to bear watching.

The Fog Valley villagers, who had initially been dazed and confused, seemed to have been stimulated, their eyes gradually regaining their light. Watching this scene, some sighed, some wept, as if recalling the events of the past years.

The hundreds of ghosts surrounding the villagers did the same. As their resentment subsided and they awoke from their affected state, many ghosts began to slowly retreat, some even disappearing on the spot.

Only the old man remained, having retreated to the side sometime earlier, leaning casually against a tree, watching everything with unhurried composure. I didn't know what was so funny about it, but the expression on his face was nothing short of a cold sneer.

In any case, the crisis was over, and as for what the treasure hidden in Mist Valley Village truly was, I think I understood now.

"Mother, forgive me, it's all my fault… I… I'm truly worse than a pig or a dog…"

Jin Hanliang beat his chest and wept bitterly, a different kind of remorse compared to his father beside him who was repeatedly kowtowing in repentance. His words were completely heard by the other side.

There was none of the unease or pain of a wronged victim; the face that had once been half-skull now only displayed a gentle and peaceful smile, comforting her son's remorse with an almost sacred tone of forgiveness.

Motherly love, sometimes, is a great thing without reason. She had traveled thousands of miles to retrieve her son, whom her husband had carried away. Although she had died a violent death, her spirit still clung to her memory. Yet, this deep resentment vanished immediately upon seeing her son.

"My child, Mother doesn't blame you. You... are Mother's precious child."

A fair hand gently stroked her son's hair, conveying a mother's love. The gentle movement seemed to radiate a holy light. In that instant, Ah Xue stopped sobbing, staring blankly, even the violets at our feet stopped moving in their reverie.

Love can counteract resentment, which explains why people often proclaim: "Love will never die, even until the end of time."

Under such influence, the surrounding ghosts either left or vanished completely. When the last ghost's shadow faded away, the woman's body gradually became transparent.

"My dear child, take good care of yourself."

After saying this, the woman smiled peacefully, her entire body transforming into a warm white light, slowly fading into the surging mist.

"Mother! Mother, where are you going? Don't leave us, your child still has so much to say..."

Jin Hanliang cried out frantically, but he could do nothing to stop it. Death is like a lamp going out; the departed cannot linger in the world—this is an unchanging rule.

As the mist thinned slightly, I saw Jin Hanliang and his father standing there, lost and dejected. I was about to go and say a few words to them when he acted as if he didn't see me, supporting his father and staggering back towards the village.

“Hey, Brother Jin…”

Jin Hanliang ignored me. And it wasn’t just him; the villagers of Fog Valley, who had briefly regained their vitality, became dazed again, like a group of living dead, slowly walking back to the village. From behind, their swaying gait was somewhat similar to that of the controlled ghosts…

Thinking this, a thought flashed through my mind. I looked around in surprise and was shocked to find that although the ghosts had all dispersed, the thick fog surrounding the entire Fog Valley village showed no signs of dissipating. The resentment had dissipated, so why was the fog still there? Could it be…?

My thought was confirmed as the villagers were about to return to the village. Just as Jin Hanliang and Old Man Jin were about to enter, a figure emerged from the fog beside them and joined them, walking into the village together.

I recognized that person. Ah Xue cried out in shock at the familiar figure... It was Jin Hanliang's wife, the woman who had been torn to pieces and died a gruesome death in the horde of ghosts, yet now she seemed to have returned to the village with her husband and father-in-law as if nothing had happened.

"Why...why is this happening, Master?"

I already knew the answer to Ah Xue's question. I quickly turned around and glared at Mao Yan'an. He was still leaning against the tree trunk, his expression lazy, as if he had seen everything, yet also as if he didn't care. When he saw my gaze, he shrugged and smiled.

“As you can see, the festival is over. Based on past experience, the fog will dissipate in about an hour, and then we can leave.”

“This Fog Valley Village, there wasn’t a single living person left from the start, right?”

“Absolutely right. It’s a dead town. Old Man Jin, Jin Hanliang, and all the villagers you see are all spirits. It’s a good show; the actors on both sides are spirits, only one side doesn’t know it.”

Mao Yan’an smiled easily at my question, waving his hand, “The Fog Valley Village’s spirit festival is performed periodically. We just happened to be there this time. How was it? Isn’t it more interesting than a typical opera? Very immersive, right?”

“How could that be?” Shocked, Ah Xue’s eyes widened. “What about Sister-in-law Jin? Is she also…?”

“Nothing’s wrong with her. She’s also a spirit.”

“Then… their little baby…”

“Babies die too, and of course there are infant spirits. There are even smaller infant spirits in the world. This size is nothing. You're going to be a great wizard, don't make such a fuss.”

Mao Yan'an spoke casually, his expression relaxed, almost humming a tune. But for Xue, these words were the cruelest truth. I saw her trembling, struggling to catch her breath. After a long while, she looked at me with a helpless expression, on the verge of tears, and asked why this had happened.

I passed this embarrassing task back to the uncle, and what he said was not much different from what I had expected.

"Actually, the events in Fog Valley Village happened at least a hundred years ago. The year after the murder, a large number of vengeful spirits attacked Fog Valley Village, slaughtering everyone in the village that very night, regardless of age or gender."

"Then... then why did this happen..."

"People die and become ghosts, and ghosts are reincarnated, that's normal, but not everything follows the norm. Sometimes, people die and, for some reason, don't want to be reincarnated. After a while, they even forget they are dead; or they are bound by some external force, locked in one place, never able to leave, reliving the nightmare of their death."

Fog Valley Village is such an example, Mao Yan'an said. Because the souls are bound and cannot leave this cursed land, every so often, when thick fog blankets the mountains, the spirits reassemble in the ruins, reenacting the horrific scene of the village's massacre.

“Every time a vengeance takes place, if there are outsiders, they will be dragged into it as well. After they are killed, new ghosts will be trapped here. Over the past hundred years, dozens, if not hundreds, of hunters have died here in their search for treasure. But many years ago, I came here with my friends…”

That was when Mao Yan’an was still playing rock music in the Southern Barbarians. He and two friends from his band went to Fog Valley Village and witnessed the ghosts attacking and trying to massacre the village. But that time, the three of them accomplished a task that no hunter had ever accomplished before. They not only realized that both sides of the commotion were ghosts, but also found the real culprit of the murder case from a hundred years ago and solved the case for the first time.

"At the time, we thought we had completely liberated the spirits of Fog Valley Village, but things didn't end there..."

Whether it was one side's deep guilt or the other's deep resentment, the spirits didn't disappear. Even when the high monks of the Temple of Light chanted sutras, the spirits refused to be released, remaining imprisoned in the Soul Cage in a daze, repeating the same tragic tragedies every now and then.

"The spirits' memories are fragmented. Because we solved this case, Old Man Jin remembers me, but he doesn't remember that he himself is dead. I occasionally come to Fog Valley Village to see if they've left, but they're still here, unchanged..."

"If that's the case, you should have said so sooner." Remembering the reason I misjudged the situation, he said angrily, "You didn't tell me beforehand, and that day you said it was someone else's story, and your expression was so strange, I thought..." "

Haha, I wasn't wrong. This is indeed my friend's story. It was just your wishful thinking that I was the murderer, my dear nephew. See, stereotypes are indeed dangerous."

"Uncle, please answer a question for me. I don't quite understand, wasn't that skeleton woman already... already let go? Why would she..."

"Yes, yes, when we successfully solved the case back then, we also thought that was the end of it." Mao Yan'an nodded and said, "But the world of the underworld is more severe than we imagined. Not every ghost can be freed after resolving its regrets. Sometimes, the resentment from the past is too deep, and even with forgiveness and love, it is still not enough to break through the spiral of death accumulated by countless resentments."

Endless death, endless tragedy, repeatedly unfolded in the thick fog, forming an endless spiral of death. This is the law of the underworld. I had heard of it before, but actually experiencing it, the indescribable cruelty and heaviness still made my chest feel uneasy.

"It felt very realistic the first time you saw it, right? But after seeing it many times, you won't feel it anymore." Mao Yan'an shrugged, took out three pickaxes that had been prepared in advance from beside the tree, and threw them to us.

“Start digging. Now you know, this village is a gathering place for ghosts, an extremely yin place. Every time there's a necromancer, a massacre happens here. Over time, some good things might suddenly appear underground. Don't miss them. A good tracker should be able to find something to dig up anytime, anywhere.”

The uncle was true to his word and had already started digging with his pickaxe. This was something I had to admire about him, because when I first encountered a necromancer, although I maintained my composure, I couldn't remain calm. My body and limbs were stiff, and my movements were slow.

“Uncle, Master… can't we do anything?” Ah Xue put down her pickaxe and asked urgently, “Isn't there any way to let them rest in peace, to stop this from repeating itself? They… they're already dead, they've admitted their mistakes on one side and forgiven on the other, why can't they rest in peace and ascend to heaven, why are they trapped here like this?”

Ah Xue's eyes were filled with fervent expectation and longing, but I couldn't respond, because in my knowledge, the undead could be destroyed, could be summoned and driven, but there was no way to stop this spiral of souls.

"Impossible. Didn't I tell you? Don't even mention you, even the high monks of Cihang Jingdian, who personally chanted incantations, couldn't deliver these vengeful spirits. They could only make a pact between the two sides, and when the spirit sacrifice came, they would exchange the pacts to settle things, without having to resort to massacring the village."

Mao Yan'an shook his head and sighed, "Girl, there are so many inequalities and injustices in the world. Although they don't make sense, they just exist there. People can't change them, so they can only learn to accept them. You're just a weak black magician. Even the high-ranking monks of the Light God Palace couldn't do it, so what makes you think you can? Take it easy and help your uncle dig."

His words were very realistic, but there was no way to refute them. Ah Xue fell silent and started digging with us using pickaxes.

The atmosphere was strange, and my mood was also chaotic. It wasn't until Mao Yan'an called out that we dug out several crystal-clear, azure-blue stones of varying sizes. Only then did I realize that Ah Xue and Violet had disappeared.

"Uncle, have you seen..."

Before I could finish my question, I suddenly sensed a fluctuation, a fluctuation of some kind of magical power, emanating from the village. Who was chanting spells over there?

The answer was all too obvious. When the uncle and I looked in that direction, streaks of bluish-purple light slowly rose from the ground, trembling and floating in the mist. Anyone with knowledge of black magic could see that these were materialized, yet formless, ghostly spirits.

One, two... the bluish-purple lights, like starlight appearing in the night, multiplied, until finally hundreds of ghostly spirits gathered and glowed, a fantastical, indescribable purple-green spectacle, exuding a chilling, eerie aura. Amidst this eerie beauty, there was an indescribable sense of dread.

We didn't know why the ghostly spirits had gathered, but we saw a graceful figure, followed by a leopard, walking slowly through the thick fog.

"That foolish woman, what is she trying to do?"

I couldn't figure it out for a moment. I only saw Ah Xue raise her arm, seemingly chanting something. Then, the purple and green soul lights that were floating around seemed to be guided, moving towards her and circling around the small circles she drew with her fingers.

"This is..."

Ah Xue's fingers pointed, flicked, picked, and raised, each different movement matching the changes in the incantation. This was a very skillful casting technique, showing that she had indeed been secretly practicing diligently these past few days. When those flickering soul lights touched her fair and delicate fingers, they crumbled and disintegrated instantly, like the first snow meeting the blazing sun, leaving no trace.

The fireflies and will-o'-the-wisps disappeared into the vast mist. Ah Xue twirled and danced lightly, her fingers drawing all sorts of graceful movements. From a distance, it was indeed a very pleasing sight, but when we realized what she was doing, we were greatly surprised.

"She's...absorbing these spirits?"

For necromancers who make a living by controlling spirits, capturing and absorbing them is commonplace.

However, spirits are ultimately malevolent beings from the mortal world, and prolonged proximity can cause significant damage to the body. Therefore, necromancers generally confine spirits within magical artifacts, such as the Myriad Soul Banner or the Myriad Spirit Blood Bead.

But from a practical standpoint, directly using the physical body as a container to absorb spirits, controlling them at will and moving with lightning speed, is the most advantageous approach. Thus, some high-level necromancers directly absorb spirits into their bodies, the number varying depending on their cultivation level.

"I see, so there's another way... As long as the spirits are forcibly absorbed, the spiral of death will be interrupted, and the necromancer ritual won't take place."

Mao Yan'an stroked his chin and smiled. "But if you're going to absorb them, you should absorb some of higher quality ones. Spirits of this level aren't very strong in combat; wouldn't it be a waste to absorb them?"

"What nonsense are you spouting? Hurry up and stop her!"

I was anxiously trying to rush forward. According to the common sense of black magic, what Ah Xue was doing wasn't a big deal, but a novice sorcerer could only handle a single-digit number of spirits at most, and what she was trying to absorb... was a hundred times the normal amount. She could lose control at any moment and be killed by the spirits exploding.

"What's the rush? If she was going to explode, she would have already. She hasn't exploded yet, so let it develop. What necromancer doesn't touch spirits?"

As I rushed out, Mao Yan'an grabbed me with unusually strong force, forcing me to stagger and stop.

"Uncle, you..."

"Look at Xue'er, she's already absorbed most of those vengeful spirits, and she doesn't seem to be in any pain."

Indeed, from this angle, Xue'er's expression was serene, showing no sign of the pain from the internal magical conflict. The faint smile on her lips and the graceful movements of her slender waist as she twirled were so beautiful they seemed to radiate a holy light. Although what actually surrounded her was just a layer of black energy generated during the practice of black magic, it still gave off a rare...compassion.

It's hard to imagine that a necromancer practicing evil black magic could do something even the high monks of the Cihang Jingdian Temple couldn't accomplish, giving people such a feeling of compassion. If you told anyone, no one would believe it, and even if you told Tianhe Xueqiong herself, she would probably laugh.

"Strange, why can she absorb so much at once? A beginner shouldn't be able to..."

While worried, I also had some doubts. Could it be that Tianhe Xueqiong's power was gradually awakening? Otherwise, why would Ah Xue be able to…

“Of course there are reasons we don’t know, why bother? The result is the most important thing. However, perhaps Ah Xue got some benefits from the Great Sun Mirror…”

“You, what did you say?” Shocked, I grabbed Mao Yan’an’s collar with one hand.

"I'm congratulating you, silly boy! Absorbing spirits is like drug addiction; once you've tried it, you can't stop. Didn't you always force people to practice dark magic? Now you've finally taken the first step steadily. Isn't that something to celebrate?"

The uncle's perfect smile almost formed a semi-circle, but it sent a chill down my spine.

Glancing at Ah Xue over there, I saw she had already absorbed all the spirits. A feeling suddenly struck me: compared to the thick fog of Fog Valley Village, the fog surrounding this man was even thicker and deeper…

Just as Mao Yan'an had said, an hour later, all the fog gradually dissipated, revealing clear sunlight. We packed our bags, taking the few valuable crystals we'd dug from the dwarf ruins, and prepared to leave Fog Valley Village to continue our journey back to Alibuda.

My mind was a bit chaotic, but the whole thing was over. Looking at the almost vanished fog, the events of the past few days left me with a strange feeling.

Not wanting to delve deeper, I turned to look at Ah Xue. She was playing with Violet, her smile exactly the same as when we first entered the Southern Barbarian Lands. But I could imagine that the experiences of this past few days must have accumulated beneath her smile, something she could only temporarily conceal with a smile.

This thought made my heart ache slightly, but I suppressed it before it could ripple outwards, forbidding myself from thinking about it any longer.

"Alright, my dear nephew, let's set off. The fog has lifted; if we don't hurry, we won't make it back to Alibuda."

Indeed, a new imperial decree awaited me in Alibuda, though I hoped it would be a leisurely and comfortable post, but reality often contradicts my expectations.

I pulled on the reins and spurred my horse forward.

"Let's go, Xue... and Uncle, let's get going. There are other adventures waiting for us ahead."

"That's right, let's all conquer Pokémon together!"

"...Hey, Uncle, what are Pokémon?"

"Oh, you don't need to know. You'll understand after you've been a Tracker for a while."

"I can't believe your electric rat mouth!"

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Alibuda Chronicles Volume 8: Chapter 8 Clearing the Clouds and Seeing the Sun

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