Chapter 64: Infinite Marvels

After hearing Ou Xinlai’s words, the Old Ghost in the Blue Robe burst out laughing. “What an ignorant child! Entering the Ancient Cave of Chiyou, you actually crawl wherever there’s no one around. Still, you have a bit of cleverness about you—otherwise, a tender thing like you would have been devoured already.”

The old ghost’s words made Ou Xinlai widen her eyes in feigned terror. “Are there man-eating monsters here?”

“Now you know fear? You’d best go back and cling to your mother for milk!” The Old Ghost in the Blue Robe was thoroughly at ease, convinced Ou Xinlai was nothing but a tiny shrimp who’d sneaked in, posing no threat whatsoever.

“Um… may I ask, what are those things that sparkle and burn red on the wall?” Ou Xinlai cautiously extended her hand, pointing at the fiery red fruits growing among the withered branches entwined on the wall.

“That’s none of your business. Get out! If you don’t leave now, you’ll anger me, and I’ll take your life!” The moment those fruits were brought up, a vicious gleam flashed in the old ghost’s eyes as he glared at Ou Xinlai, as if daring her to covet the fruit—he would surely kill her for it.

Ou Xinlai nodded, and suddenly fired the last needle she had at the old ghost. He looked down to find a silver needle stuck in his arm and was momentarily stunned. “What is this?”

“A needle,” Ou Xinlai replied.

“You shot it!” The old ghost’s eyes crossed fiercely, and murderous intent radiated from him.

“You startled me. My hand slipped, and the needle flew out.” Ou Xinlai spoke with aggrieved innocence, though inwardly she marveled at the strength of this man. Had it been anyone else, they would have collapsed from her needle’s effects, yet he managed to hold on.

“Courting death!” the old ghost roared, realizing he had underestimated this tender child.

Ou Xinlai suddenly felt a cold wind brushing her face—like a ghostly claw reaching into her chest and seizing her heart, making it hard to breathe. Her neck, gripped by the old ghost, seemed especially delicate and soft; compared to his claw-like hand, her neck was like fresh tofu. A slight squeeze, and she would die.

Ou Xinlai was shocked. Since arriving in this world, she had never been pushed this far. Clearly, those she encountered before had no guard against her and, more importantly, no intent to kill, allowing her to succeed time and again. But here, her skills were inadequate against outsiders.

In this tense moment, Ou Xinlai remembered Hei Muya, whom she’d stunned with electricity. Might there still be residual purple lightning on her body?

She quickly reached out and grasped the silver needle embedded in the old ghost’s arm. With a forceful twist, she channeled the purple lightning into the needle. The old ghost felt his hand go numb, and suddenly the electric current intensified. The surge was so great that his eyes rolled back white, and, just like Hei Muya before him, he collapsed unconscious.

“Cough, cough…” Seeing the tenacious old ghost finally faint, Ou Xinlai’s legs gave out and she sat weakly on the ground. This world was clearly no place for a pacifist like her.

The old ghost looked utterly drained, his face gaunt—exhibiting the effects of excessive cultivation of sinister arts.

Having made her assessment, Ou Xinlai could hardly show mercy to such a villain. She took her silver needle and stabbed it into the cortex of his brain, destroying the hippocampus.

As her left hand, marked with the purple lightning formation, touched the old ghost, a phrase flashed through her mind: “Yin-Yang Reversal.”

Yin-Yang Reversal could be called a martial art, but also a medical technique. Yin represents injury, Yang represents healing; in plain terms, it means transferring the wounds of one person onto another.

The sacred art of healing allows the body to mend its ailments rapidly, without being transferred. But Yin-Yang Reversal, while healing, could also be used offensively. Its bizarre nature, not conforming to orthodox medicine or martial arts, led it to be sealed away after its creation.

All Ou Xinlai could glean from the old ghost was this much. Who invented it, where they learned it, where the founder was sealed, and how the old ghost acquired it—she had no clue.

Ou Xinlai pressed her left hand, marked with the purple lightning formation, onto the old ghost’s forehead. Instantly, a sparkling point of light appeared in her hand, which was then devoured by the purple lightning formation.

A current surged through Ou Xinlai’s mind, and the entirety of the old ghost’s Yin-Yang Reversal cultivation was absorbed!

Moreover, she found many red and blue medicines on the old ghost. Looking at his shabby appearance, Ou Xinlai curled her lip—her first time as a robber, and all she got was this paltry haul. Dissatisfying.

Perhaps the purple lightning formation was attuned to her thoughts, for as soon as she wished for more, her left hand emitted a brilliant purple glow. A large cluster of essence left the old ghost and entered a bead within him.

Ou Xinlai quickly took the pouch containing the beads—there were many, some colored, some murky, some bright, and others transparent.

Delighted, she thought this pouch of beads might be the old ghost’s greatest treasure!

Naturally, Ou Xinlai thoroughly searched the old ghost, stripping him clean. With this pile of loot, she was carrying much more weight.

“Ah, if only I had an infinite space to store things—how wonderful it would be,” Ou Xinlai sighed.

The once deadly purple lightning formation now acted like the magic staff from Journey to the West, perhaps even better.

No sooner had she spoken than, with a whoosh, everything she’d taken from the old ghost and the two Vermilion Bird countrymen was instantly swallowed by the purple lightning formation.

Her eyes lit up, glowing with the same radiance as the formation. “Come out!” At her command, the recently stored beads appeared in her hand. “Collect!” she said, and, like a conjurer, the items vanished again.

“Hahaha! So this formation has such a use?!”