“My… My little ancestor! How can I explain when you’re constantly covering my mouth!” The third troll brother’s hysterical tone was full of grievances. The imposing aura he had shown earlier to make Bai Ji wish for her death had completely vanished.
“Oh, is that so? I’ll have to offer you my heartfelt apologies then~” However, not the slightest trace of apology could be seen in the innocence-filled smile on Bai Ji’s face.
“Y-You did that on purpose, didn’t you?!”
“Eh? How could that be… Do I really look like such a bad person?~” Said Bai Ji as she mischievously licked her cherry-red lips.
“…But, even if I did it intentionally~ What can uncle troll even do to me?”
“Uhu…” The third troll brother became silent.
“So~ Are you still not planning to speak?”
“I-I’ll say it. I’ll say it, alright!? …Uhm, will you spare my life if I tell you?”
“Oh dear~! You’re already in such a state. Does uncle troll still believe he has the means to negotiate with me?~” Bai Ji smirked and jabbed at the sickle handle in an extremely rough manner. With a ‘cracking’ noise, the third troll brother’s nose was shattered.
“Urgh!” The third troll brother didn’t dare shout out and instead chose to endure the pain. Despite his natural fearlessness as a troll, he clearly knew that he mustn’t provoke this little ancestor before him.
“I-I-It was… the chief of the border town who let us in…”
“A fair word of advice: You’d better speak the truth…” At this instant, Bai Ji’s eyes were narrowed into a line.
“It’s 100% true! I wouldn’t dare lie to you!”
“Well, give me a reason to trust you.” Bai Ji revealed a cold smile.
“It’s-, It’s the truth, I assure you! A few days ago, it seemed that one goblin had slipped out by opening a manhole cover. You guys should have spotted it, right? Logically speaking, there’s no way that the officials on your side would ignore such a big incident, neither would the public discourse be this quiet… Isn’t it obvious? If there weren’t any human officials covering up and providing refuge for us, we would have long been discovered! …Y-You guys saw those human corpses on your way here, right? In truth, they were dispatched by the chief to their deaths… There’s no way they’d let them return…”
Bai Ji’s complexion turned gloomy as she heard the third troll brother’s arguments and thought back to the young girl in captivity, whose limbs had been removed by the goblins.
“Who did it?”
“Who did it?” Bai Ji calmly stated her question once more.
“It seems he’s called…Lan-, Lan something… That’s right! Lan Yu!”
“…Did he rely on this unknown magic formation to get all of you here?” Bai Ji tapped the stone surface of the bridge underneath with one foot.
“Y-Yes…”
“How did he know how to use such a bizarre magic formation?? Is it just a one-way teleportation formation? Where does the other end of it lead to?”
“That… I really don’t know… Please spare my life! I really don’t know!” The third troll brother shook his head as he looked at Bai Ji with terror, nervous about possibly rousing her anger.
“…” Bai Ji turned silent.
“Umm… I’ve already told you everything that I know… Can I leave now?”
“Of course you can~” Bai Ji gave him an innocent smile and pointed her tender and jade-like finger towards the iron portcullis on one side of the bridge.
“Make Xiaomu come back to life, or rescue the blockhead that had fallen into the water and bring him up here. Only that could offset your lowly life.”
“Th-This… completely impossible!! You’re toying with me!! This is rigged right from the start!” The third troll brother froze for an instant and roared as if he had lost his mind.
“Did you have fairness in mind when you took their lives?” Murmured Bai Ji expressionlessly.
“Their lives aren’t much more than ants’! How could their value be compared to mine!? …Uurah!”
“Oh my~? Why would a vermin —with no empathy to speak of— that burns, kills, and pillages think that it is greater than others? How strange indeed…” Bai Ji tilted her head and pulled out the tip of the sickle that had pierced into the third troll brother’s lower abdomen.
“I command thee to be excluded from the circle of reincarnation forever.”
“Kacha.” The sickle descended again and a fat, malevolent-looking head fell onto the stone slabs like a ball. Its blue, transparent spiritual consciousness struggled as it tried to escape, yet could only roar in unwillingness and pain as its entirety was sucked into the human skull engraving on the edge of the sickle’s blade.
Bai Ji shot a glance to the side and, with a kick of her leg, sent the tumbling head flying into the underground river. Not caring about the corpse that had lost his head, she walked towards Lil’ Sha behind her.
Lil’ Sha’s complexion was pale. Even though she’d fallen into a coma, her unconscious mind was seemingly recalling some terrifying memories.
‘That’s to be expected. After all, with something like that happening just yesterday…”
“Finally, I still owe you a promise.” Carrying Lil’ Sha in her arms, Bai Ji unfolded her demon wings. Countless small bats crowded around her like stars in the skies and took to the air like a soaring river.
Bai Ji raised her massive scythe horizontally and pointed the blade directly at the corridor beyond the portcullis.
As if thousands of spirits had manifested themselves, countless blue souls gushed out from the skull engravings, yelling and shouting in anguish. Under the binding control from [Soul Devourer], they gathered towards the sickle’s tip.
By consuming a certain amount of souls that had been stored inside the soul container of [Soul Devourer], it was capable of satisfying a reasonable wish of its owner.
“Clear all of the goblins from this place, leave none of them alive.” As if responding to Bai Ji’s orders, more souls gushed outwards from inside the human skull with high speed, causing the blue ball of souls at the sickle’s tip to grow bigger and bigger.
“Crack.” The [Soul Devourer] erased the spiritual consciousnesses of the countless souls and forcefully merged them together — To gradually form one massive soul.
As it turned into a massive human skull, a peal of unique and bone-chilling laughter resounded along with cracking sounds of its joints.
“Kakaka!!” The soul in the shape of a human skull seemingly felt something as a terrifying scarlet light flashed inside the cavities where its eyes would be.
Finally, escaping from the fetter of the scythe’s tip, its mandible opened and closed as it rushed towards the iron portcullis. As if it were both tangible and incorporeal, it passed through the iron portcullis.
The faint blue light gradually traversed through the cave, and slowly disappeared in the distance.
“And finally…” Ji Bai coldly looked at the stone bridge below her. The magic formation on top of it was incessantly revolving and operating like human skin worn by the devil1.
“Whoosh!” Bai Ji rose high up in the air, with black flames burning on her demon wings that were seemingly covering the skies. Small bats surrounded and began to revolve around her, gradually causing the black flames to extend and surround her entire body.
[Primordial Vein – Lasombra Style, Swooping Grim Reaper]
With the appearance of a fallen angel covered in black flames, she descended from downwards and destroyed the stone bridge as easily as smashing through rotten wood.
Countless pieces of rubbles, burning in black flames, fell into the water with a splash…
…………………
“…Eee….” Lil’ Sha opened her slightly sore eyelids and discovered that her chest was currently pressing up against a comfortable and warm object.
“Obscene middle-aged man? Is… that… you?…”
“Mhm.” Ji Bai, who carried Lil’ Sha on his back, gave an affirmative answer that was both simple and sufficient.
“Are we… Is this… the road back?” Lil’ Sha’s half-opened eyelids were drooping downwards.
“Mhm, this is the road back home.”
“Oh, is that so… Eh?! W-We aren’t dead!?” Shouted Lil’ Sha in puzzlement. Looking at her surroundings, she confirmed that they had returned back to the familiar streets of the city.
“I guess so.” Replied Ji Bai as he hurriedly moved forward without resting.
Lil’ Sha moved her neck as soreness spread throughout her body. It felt as if there was no part of her body left unharmed.
“Are you injured??” Bloodstains, sword marks, and shattered flesh could be seen all around the worn-out brigandine armor on Ji Bai’s body.
“It’s of no importance… I’ve said before that I’d ensure your safety.”
Lil Sha fell into silence, and as she looked at the remains of the setting sun on the horizon, she muttered: “Is this a dream?”
“You can treat it as one.”
“In that case, what about big sister Xiaomu, and uncle Huo Lei…”
Ji Bai fell silent.
The setting sun illuminated their way back.