Hearing Bai Shuishui call him a stinky fish, Qi Zhi chuckled.
"Didn't you say it was alright for me to come?" Bai Shuishui lifted her eyes to meet Qi Zhi's.
Qi Zhi smiled softly. He draped his right arm over her shoulders, half-enclosing her in a protective embrace. "How could it be?"
"What would I do if something happened to you?" Qi Zhi raised his voice slightly, and his eyes casually swept over the female ghost in front of him.
The cheongsam-clad woman, once gentle and lovely, turned ghastly pale. Two red orbs for eyes stared out menacingly. She let out a shrill shriek and lunged at Bai Shuishui in a flash.
Qi Zhi reacted instantly, raising his hand to conjure a spiritual barrier that blocked the ghost's attack. Wounded by the spiritual force, the female ghost cowered in the corner, her eyes gradually becoming vacant.
"She..." Bai Shuishui’s eyelids trembled and she instinctively moved closer to Qi Zhi. Her voice was strained. "It's my mother who turned into... a vengeful ghost."
The words 'vengeful ghost' seemed to catch in her throat, her eyes welled up with tears.
In the next second, Bai Shuishui took a deep breath, forcing down the turbulent emotions in her heart.
Bai Shuishui’s biological mother, Qian, turned into a vengeful ghost in this very backyard.
"Shuishui." Qi Zhi wrapped both arms around Bai Shuishui, gently patting her back. "Leave her to me."
Qi Zhi protected Bai Shuishui behind him, his expression hardened, his eyes were like a torch as he looked at the female ghost.
"Hiss—" the female ghost let out a low, raspy growl.
Her body was full of a chilling and ferocious aura, her expression was slightly dull. Qi Zhi suspected that the female ghost had already been refined and weaponized by the evil Taoist.
As Qi Zhi fought with the female ghost, Bai Shuishui grabbed Bai Tianying's arm, pulling the sickly young man behind her.
"You..." Bai Tianying's eyes widened in surprise. He coughed twice. "Thank you."
Bai Shuishui didn't speak, her brows knit tightly, her gaze fixed on Qi Zhi.
As a merman, Qi Zhi's cultivation was quite high. He moved with such speed and agility that the ghost couldn't even touch a corner of his clothes.
"Have you ever… resented me?" Bai Tianying asked suddenly.
Bai Tianying's eyelashes trembled, and his handsome face looked obscure in the dim light. For the first time, these half-siblings, born from a legal wife and a mistress, were having a genuine conversation.
Bai Shuishui blinked in confusion. "Resent you? For what?"
Bai Tianying opened his mouth, seemingly unsure how to continue.
Seeing this, Bai Shuishui continued, "Being born is not something you can decide. This humble Taoist has never blamed you, so you needn't dwell on it."
Hearing her address herself as 'this humble Taoist,' Bai Tianying managed a small smile. A flicker of life sparked in his usually lifeless eyes.
"You need to be wary of Bai Jueming and the Evil Taoist backing him."
"For the sake of money, Bai Jueming even sold his own… his own blood relatives." Bai Tianying's eyes were filled with hatred, his voice tinged with pain.
"Not long after I was born, I became… sustenance for the Evil Taoist."
While outsiders viewed him as the treasured son of the Bai family, the truth was that Bai Tianying was merely a sacrifice offered to the Evil Taoist by Bai Jueming.
Hearing this, Bai Shuishui's heart stirred. She instinctively reached out to check Bai Tianying's pulse.
Bai Tianying pulled back, a bitter laugh escaping his lips. "It's no use. My body has long been depleted, my foundation is beyond repair.”
Bai Shuishui pressed her lips together. "Is that why you repeatedly warned me to stay away from the backyard? Because you feared I wouldn't be a match for the Evil Taoist?"
Bai Tianying fell silent for a moment, then let out syllables from his nose in affirmation: "Hmm."
"My life is hanging by a thread, yet the Evil Taoist kept me alive, clinging to this breath, until Bai Jueming found you. He intends to sacrifice you to the evil Taoist… to replace me.”
Having experienced such torment, he couldn't bear to see Bai Shuishui suffer the same fate.
Even though his words carried little weight, he could only try to dissuade her.
Bai Shuishui's eyes softened. "May the infinite blessings of the Tianzhu be with us. Daozhu will surely protect you."
With that, she once again turned her gaze to Qi Zhi's side
"If we survive tonight," she said to Bai Tianying, "I will bring you back to the Taoist temple. Master might have a way."
Upon hearing this, a flicker of hope ignited in Bai Tianying's eyes. He softly agreed, then added, "It was never my intention to overstep, if we make it out of this alive… I willingly cede my claim to the Bai family."
He pursed his lips. His relationship with Bai Shuishui was complicated, and it took all his courage to utter those words.
"I am a disciple of the Dao. When I return to the Taoist temple in the future, I'll leave the Bai family in your hands."
Bai Shuishui's eyes softened with a smile. Mirroring Qi Zhi's usual gesture, she tentatively reached out and patted Bai Tianying's shoulder.
Hearing this, Bai Tianying mumbled and only after half a second could he murmur a thank you.
Thank you for not holding my existence against me.
Meanwhile, Qi Zhi had successfully subdued the female ghost.
Bai Shuishui approached, chanting a Taoist sutra in an attempt to help the ghost find peace.
"Shuishui, I'm your mother!" The female ghost suddenly cried out, her voice full of anguish. Her red eyes were burning with resentment.
Bai Shuishui remained unfazed. With a serious expression, she continued chanting, her hands moving swiftly as she formed hand seals.
After fifteen minutes, the ghost finally quieted down. A glimmer of clarity returned to her red eyes.
As crows cawed in the trees, the female ghost let out one final, piercing wail, finally breaking free from the Evil Taoist's control. "Shuishui—my child!"
"Mother." Bai Shuishui's heart ached as she watched her mother's spirit dissipate into dust.
Before she could fully succumb to her grief, a burst of spiritual energy shot out from the inner room, aimed directly at her.
Qi Zhi's eyes sharpened. He quickly intercepted the attack, shielding her with his own body.
"That Evil Taoist cannot leave the backhouse," Bai Tianying said in his strained deep voice.
"Rebellious son!" Suddenly, Bai's father roared from the inner room, "How dare you disrespect the master!"
Qi Zhi and Bai Shuishui turned to see the last door of the backyard swing open. Bai Jueming stood there, alongside a Taoist priest in a gray robe and a Taoist hat.
As Bai Shuishui got a clear look at the Taoist’s face, a gasp escaped her lips. “Master?!”
The Taoist bore a striking resemblance to Master Zhengqing, the head priest of Lingyun Taoist Temple. Qi Zhi could easily guess his relationship with Taoist Zhengqing.
"Zhengqing's disciple? Then I can't let you live!" The Evil Taoist's face contorted as he quickly formed hand seals.
A fierce wind whipped around him, causing his robes to billow. Then, he unleashed a torrent of familiar Taoist spiritual energy - the same type Bai Shuishui wielded - towards her.
Bai Shuishui raised her sword in defense, but the force of the attack pushed her back several steps.
The Evil Taoist, with a face disturbingly similar to Master Zhengqing, let out a sinister laugh as he realized Bai Shuishui was a fellow cultivator. "If I can refine you, my powers will surely reach new heights!"
With those chilling words, he released two more ghosts.
“Uncle… Second Uncle… Third Uncle…” He didn't expect that after the death of the second and third uncles, they were also refined into ghost puppets by this Evil Taoist!
Bai Tianying recognized who the two small ghosts were at a glance. His expression turned sad, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
"The bloodline of the Bai family has been completely harmed by you, Bai Jueming."
"Nonsense! I am the head of the Bai family! You sacrificed yourselves for the family is the Master's blessing upon you!" Bai Jueming scolded angrily. He stared at Bai Tianying with cold indifference, without any fatherly love towards Bai Tianying.
Upon hearing this, Bai Tianying's face turned pale. He gave a hollow laugh, then shifted his gaze, filled with a sliver of hope, towards Bai Shuishui and Qi Zhi.
He knew Bai Shuishui was a Taoist priest, but he didn't expect Qi Zhi to be anything other than an ordinary mortal. Judging from his abilities, his cultivation seemed even higher than Bai Shuishui’s.
Perhaps, just perhaps, they could actually defeat the Evil Taoist.
As the two ghosts closed in on Qi Zhi and Bai Shuishui, one on each side, Qi Zhi grew increasingly concerned for Bai Shuishui's safety. He no longer held back and aimed to quickly deal with the small ghosts to help her.
Qi Zhi let out a sound that resembled celestial music, yet also resonated like a primal roar from the depths of time. A brilliant white light engulfed him. As it faded, a magnificent creature—half-human, half-fish—materialized in mid-air. His features were exquisite, his eyes like shimmering blue sapphires.
Qi Zhi's huge fishtail swished powerfully in the air, his expression both proud and aloof, as spiritual energy continuously fluctuated throughout his body.
"It's actually a merman!" The Evil Taoist not only showed no fear but instead was overcome by greed.
A cunning glint flashed across his eyes. With a wave of his sleeve, he charged at Qi Zhi.
Now facing two opponents at once, Qi Zhi struggled to divide his attention and for a while he couldn't take care of Bai Shuishui.
Fortunately, Bai Shuishui was holding her own, at least for the moment.
The entire backyard building was smashed to pieces, and Bai's father looked at Bai Shuishui with a ferocious face: "Rebellious girl, that's your third uncle, how dare you disrespect your elders."
But his words fell on deaf ears.
Bai Shuishui focused all her attention on the ghost before her, not daring to let down her guard. Due to recent reforms, people in this era could only formally become Taoist priests after reaching adulthood, so Bai Shuishui's time spent cultivating was relatively short.
The enemy had a close relationship with her master and was very skilled in Taoism. Even if it was just a little ghost of that Evil Taoist, it was enough for Bai Shuishui to drink a pot.
After a prolonged exchange of blows with the Evil Taoist and the ghost, Qi Zhi slightly raised his lips, and said in a cold tone: "You have some skills."
"You’re not too shabby yourself, kid."
After another round, the Evil Taoist and Qi Zhi temporarily distanced themselves. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and began chanting incantations, forming hand seals once again.
Taking advantage of the gap when the Evil Taoist was forming seals, Qi Zhi whipped his powerful fishtail towards him, only to be intercepted by the small ghost protecting him.
Qi Zhi had to fight with the little ghost again.
Meanwhile, Bai Shuishui was starting to tire. A gap appeared in her defense, the ghost lunged forward and managed to land a blow.
"Shuishui!" Qi Zhi saw her injury from the corner of his eye and immediately broke away from the other ghost, charging towards the one attacking Bai Shuishui.
The chaos on the battlefield intensified. The Evil Taoist and the two ghosts had Qi Zhi and Bai Shuishui trapped, relentlessly attacking from all sides.
In a flash, the Evil Taoist struck out at Bai Shuishui with a powerful palm technique. She retreated just in time to avoid a direct hit, but she was about to collide with the other ghost's attack.
Qi Zhi's heart leaped into his throat. But before he could intervene, a figure suddenly shoved Bai Shuishui out of the way. It was Bai Tianying, taking the full brunt of the ghost’s attack.
The ghost’s blow pierced a gaping hole in Bai Tianying's frail body. Blood splattered everywhere.
As he fell, Bai Tianying raised a relieved and relaxed smile to Bai Shuishui.
"Bai Tianying!" Bai Shuishui cried out in shock and grief. She had never imagined he would sacrifice himself to save her.
However, the battle was far from over as the small ghost reappeared in front of Bai Shuishui.
Qi Zhi saw that the two little ghosts were really difficult to deal with, his heart sank. With a flick of his wrist, a flicker of golden flame suddenly appeared at his fingertips.
Phoenix Fire.
The sheer heat and power emanating from the Phoenix Fire that could burn everything in the world forced both ghosts to retreat. Even the Evil Taoist’s face paled in shock.
"You're a merman, how can you have natal fire?" This was really strange!
Qi Zhi didn't answer. He hurled the Phoenix Fire at the two ghosts, engulfing them in scorching flames. Their screams tore through the air.
The Phoenix Fire, a gift from a previous mission in another world, was Qi Zhi's trump card, one he had carried with him throughout his countless journeys across dimensions.
"Cough...cough…" Bai Tianying, a mortal, rapidly depleted his life force after being pierced by the small ghost. He didn't even have time to say a word.
As he collapsed, his dimming gaze remained fixed on Bai Shuishui. Finally, the last flicker of life vanished from his usually dark and dull eyes, and he died with his eyes open.
"Bai Tianying!" Bai Shuishui's heart trembled, her voice ragged with grief.
This young man, who had known only tragedy and suffering in his short life, finally fell at the hands of the Evil Taoist.
Bai Shuishui felt a pang in her heart. She turned her head to look at Bai's father, only to see his cold and indifferent face.
He seemed completely unfazed by his son's death, as if Bai Tianying had been nothing more than a broken vessel to him.
Author’s Note: I’m starting a new job tomorrow, so I'll only have time to write at night from now on. Starting tomorrow, the update time will be adjusted to 11 p.m. If I can't update in time, I'll inform everyone in advance on that day. I hope everyone can understand, life is tough, and the author is selling art. [bow.jpg]