46 I’m Back (2/2)

With all the fresh blood available as sacrifice, the music from the Fallen Holy Spirit, ”Tiryagyoni · Prologue” had awoke.

And so the crazed formless ghosts crawled out of the blood. Covered in sticky strands of blood, they floated into the air and began pacing. Finally, they stared at Hariti with their pitch black eyes, staring thirstily at the blood that represented life.

Hariti coughed heavily and ingested a tube of dark green medicine. She sang again and more blurry monsters crawled from the puddle of blood, one after another.

”Don’t worry. There’s still a lot of blood…” Hariti’s eyes were stormy. ”After I give out the girl, there will be even more.”

From her pocket, she scooped out snow white ash. It was the ash from burning bodies. With the ashes scattered into the blood, the formless ghosts became more solid. The entire mud pit seemed to surge. Faintly, one could see the faces of children, as if they were drowning in the blood.

The Formless Ghosts became calmer, listening for her orders.

She smiled at Ye Qingxuan’s stumbling silhouette and chanted the words to control the Formless Ghosts.

”You can’t run. None of you will be able to escape. You’ll all die here.”

--

The abandoned sewage system was entirely surrounded by blood.

Blood seeped through the walls, painting it mournful colors. It lay on the stone, moving forward like black water. The moss in its path instantly withered, and the spider webs and bugs disappeared without a trace.

Sharp yet hoarse noises sounded. The wails was like iron wire scraping against the walls, echoing in every corner. With every echo, Ye Qingxuan felt a bit closer to suffocation.

His neck seemed to crack under the weight of chains as well. As his energy sapped, he fell to the ground.

The wails started up again, and countless blurry hands reached out from the blood. They probed, as if searching for Bai Xi’s trail.

Ye Qingxuan hid Bai Xi behind his back, silently trying to find a way to escape. But this, he realized, it did not exist.

In his arms, Bai Xi gazed at his eyes and asked, ”Is there no hope?”

Ye Qingxuan hugged her and did not reply.

”Oh, that’s how it is.” She seemed to understand and closed her eyes.

Amid Hariti’s wails, numerous formless ghosts crawled out of the blood.

They grouped together. It was as if a tidal wave of blood suddenly appeared in the tight space, shooting straight toward Ye Qingxuan.

Along the way, their claws reached out, frantically scratching at everything they could touch. The walls, wooden boards, metal plates and everything touched by the blood was left scarred.

Ye Qingxuan watched it charge towards him. Using the last of his strength, he pushed away the girl in his arms. This way, at least she could stay alive.

But Bai Xi gripped onto his hand, catching him by surprise.

She had not let go as he had planned. Instead, she stood in front of Ye Qingxuan, allowing the angry wind to come toward her and pull her into the crushing vortex.

She took a deep breath. Her white hair glowed like fire. She faced the wave of blood, the skin on her healed face cracked open once again, as if the power of thunder was brewing in her delicate body.

As if remembering something, she raised a palm in front of her, hooking her finger. Suddenly, a white-hot glow lit from her finger.

Surging power tore the skin on her arm, blood spreading. But the scary power filled her body, as if it wanted to evaporate her from the inside and turn her into dust.

Quickly, she snapped her finger at the bloody vortex. Music sounded once again, and a terrifying noise followed.

As the roar muddled all thoughts, lightning spread from her fingertip. The flash of light entered the bloody flow of formless ghosts.

The mysterious power seemed to have lasted for only a second, as long as the snap of her finger.

But during that snap, the wave of blood was swallowed entirely. The electricity burned away the blood, tearing apart, and evaporating the ghosts. They roared in pain and turned to dust. The bloody vortex expanded and exploded. A thick mist of blood sprayed in all directions.

But in the end, a sliver of blood pierced through the electric light and rushed toward Bai Xi.

The crazed formless ghosts had saved their last attack to utterly destroy this now truly defenseless girl!

In the last moment, Bai Xi looked at it and a smile appeared on her pale face.

Maybe it would be okay to die like this. At least…it would mean something.