Chapter 858.1: Recognition
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***
One person and one horse stood at the entrance of the graveyard. Bathed in the pale light of the moon, Gu Jiao faced forward, her entire face exposed under the cool and serene moonlight.
It was a clean and lively face, full of vitality, an image that sharply contrasted with the man's sunken, filthy, and bloodstained visage.
He wore a suit of rusted armor and a helmet of matching decay, yet the three-foot-long sword he carried remained spotless, gleaming as if untouched by time.
His eyes were steeped in a boundless deathly aura, like a bottomless abyss of darkness.
Even Gu Jiao, for all her courage, felt a wave of oppressive pressure under that gaze.
This was a man she instinctively did not want to fight——
Because he was simply far too powerful.
But sometimes, the more you fear something, the more it comes right at you.
Shangguan Qing had once said that the Ghost King never harmed innocent civilians who couldn’t defend themselves. Gu Jiao, who possessed no internal force, usually gave off no trace of martial prowess to those around her.
But clearly, this Ghost King was an exception to the rule.
A glint of sharp killing intent flared in his otherwise lifeless eyes. Then, with shocking suddenness, his previously sluggish body moved, spinning around with speed and agility that seemed to have increased a hundredfold in an instant!
He struck out with clawed fingers, channeling his internal force as he slashed through the air with a fierce, sweeping motion!
Gu Jiao felt as if an invisible giant hand had clutched her throat, lifted her bodily from the ground, and hurled her through the air with violent force!
Her waist slammed into a nearby tree trunk, the impact jarring. The crows nesting in the branches above were startled awake, flapping their wings in a flurry and abandoning their perches in noisy chaos.
Leaves rustled and fluttered down like rain.
Gu Jiao crashed heavily to the ground and coughed up a mouthful of blood.
This guy was insanely strong!
No wonder Shangguan Qing called him the Ghost King. With this level of power… even An Hun might not gain the upper hand against him!
The Ghost King’s gaze settled once more on Gu Jiao, pausing for a moment.
It was unclear whether he was surprised that she wasn’t already dead.
“I’m not the kind to die so easily…”
Gu Jiao braced herself against the ground and struggled to her feet. “If I’d known I was going to deal with someone this tough, I would’ve worn my armor…”
But that wouldn’t have worked either.
The armor drew too much attention. If she had worn it, she wouldn’t have been able to sneak into Pucheng in the first place.
The Ghost King sent another palm strike flying her way!
Just as she barely managed to get back on her feet, Gu Jiao was once again slammed to the ground, face-down, resembling a pitiful, wounded little frog.
Gu Jiao: At least let me dodge once, okay?
With a swift kip-up, Gu Jiao sprang to her feet like a carp leaping from the water. Her nose was gushing blood, yet her momentum was undiminished as she declared, full of defiance, “This time, you won’t hit me!”
Boom!
Splat!
Gu Jiao was yet again ruthlessly pounded into the dirt.
Her face smacked directly into the ground, hands clutching tufts of wild grass as her small frame trembled violently, not from pain, but from sheer indignation.
Damn it… I still couldn’t dodge!
A terrifying killing aura began to radiate from all around her. “Ghost King, is it?... You’ve really pissed me off this time… Get ready to feel the full wrath of this commander——”
Crack!
The Ghost King suddenly flashed forward with blinding speed, appearing in front of Gu Jiao in the blink of an eye. He seized her by the collar and lifted her right off the ground.
Only then did Gu Jiao realize just how tall and towering the Ghost King really was.
Before him, she looked, without exaggeration, like a tiny chick plucked from a nest.
Tiny Chick Jiao: “Let’s talk this out. Need a little brother? I’ll give you Old Tang.”
Tang Yueshan sneezed inexplicably in his sleep!
But the Ghost King’s killing intent didn’t waver.
Gu Jiao’s eyes darted around quickly, then in the next second, she switched back to her natural girlish voice, “Actually, I’m just a little girl!”
The Ghost King paused, visibly stunned.
Perfect. That was the moment she had been waiting for!
Poke your eyes out!
With a fierce twist of her fingers, Gu Jiao darted forward and aimed a vicious two-finger jab straight at the Ghost King’s deathly eyes!
Three seconds later, Gu Jiao stared miserably at her own fingers, now swelling rapidly to sausage size before her very eyes, and pouted with aggrieved frustration.
——The Ghost King had blocked her in time, using his gleaming longsword.
Although it was through such a shamelessly underhanded move, Gu Jiao had forced the Ghost King to draw his sword in the end, an act that caught the Ghost King's full attention and shifted his attitude toward her however unintentionally.
This time, the Ghost King no longer gave Gu Jiao any room to breathe or chance to resist. Without hesitation, he lifted the sharp longsword high and aimed a merciless stab straight at Gu Jiao’s abdomen——
Swish!
Just at that critical moment, the Black Wind King charged in with thunderous hooves, neighing excitedly as it galloped forward and crashed into Gu Jiao, knocking her aside with brute force!
Gu Jiao who was sent flying and slammed onto a tree trunk: “…”
The Black Wind King then pounced toward the Ghost King.
The Ghost King raised his long sword high above his head, poised to bring it down on the horse’s skull, only to suddenly stop mid-swing.
The Black Wind King whinnied loudly and began circling around the Ghost King in tight, excited loops. It nudged at him with its head, tail flicking in delight. In that moment, it no longer looked like a sixteen-year-old warhorse but rather resembled an exuberant young foal seeing an old friend again.
Gu Jiao, still lying flat on the tree trunk, stared blankly at the scene before her, completely bewildered.
What on earth was going on?
Big Boss, you just risked your life charging in… Wasn’t that supposed to be to save me?
You knocked me out of the way just because I was blocking your path?
The Black Wind King continued trotting enthusiastic circles around the man, who might or might not have once been a general or was now simply the Ghost King, completing what must have been seventeen or eighteen laps. The entire graveyard echoed with the eager, almost gleeful rhythm of its hooves.
“Wuuu~”
A soft, choked whimper of emotion broke through as well, like it was holding back tears.
At last, the Ghost King’s rigid, corpse-like body stirred. He slowly lifted his scarred, calloused hand, which was cracked open in countless places, and let it fall gently onto the Black Wind King’s head.
The Black Wind King pressed its forehead into his palm, nuzzling against him like a child reunited with its long-lost family.
“Little…” he opened his mouth to speak. After so many years of silence, his vocal cords had long since withered. The sound that emerged from his throat was hoarse, broken, like wind wheezing through an old bellows, which sounded harsh, incomplete, and grating to the ear.
“Ah…”
“Yue…”
Little… Ah… Yue?
Is that the Black Wind King’s name?
The Black Wind King sprang into the air with uncontainable excitement.
In that moment, its childhood returned. Its life had become whole again.
But once the euphoria passed, it gradually quieted down. Standing still before the Ghost King, it stared at him, stared at the ruined shell of a man he had become before letting out a long, sorrowful whinny, as if it had suddenly realized the truth.
Gu Jiao remained perched on the tree, beginning to analyze the situation unfolding before her.
This mountain peak… was the Xuanyuan Family’s burial grounds——
She didn’t know exactly how she reached that conclusion. Logically, based on the information she had now, there was no reason she should be able to deduce such a thing.
“I feel like I know Ghost Mountain really well…”
Gu Jiao murmured to herself.
Raz P.'s Thoughts
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Description:
In the suspenseful supernatural novel “Records of Mortals,” Jiang Baiyan, once a solitary and impoverished youth, finds refuge in the Shi family of Chang’an due to his extraordinary bloodline. With his clear and captivating peach blossom eyes, this seemingly innocent young man conceals a fanatical and malevolent lunatic within. Destined to succumb to darkness amidst hardship and degradation, he becomes a harbinger of chaos.
When Shi Dai suddenly transmigrates, she takes on the role of the Shi family’s young lady, the one who subjects him to countless trials, eventually leading to her demise.
The twist? She never got to finish reading the novel.
From what she knew of the plot, Jiang Baiyan was just a silent, timid, and often bullied pitiable character.
***
Jiang Baiyan had never encountered someone like Shi Dai.
After he had slaughtered all the evil creatures in the garden, the blood-stained young man, exuding a murderous aura, approached her step by step, his lips curling into a malicious smile, "Scared?"
Shi Dai responded, “You’re really amazing! I applaud you until I spin like a spiral and fly around the moon three hundred times! And also——you have dimples when you smile!"
Jiang Baiyan: ...?
—
After seeing her at a lantern festival with another man, Jiang Baiyan lowered his eyes, his fingers twirling her hair. He said in a mocking and sinister tone, "The mansion in the western suburbs...if I hide you there, no one will find you, right?"
Shi Dai replied, "Does it come with meals and lodging? Can I sleep in everyday? Oh, and your cooking is the best!"
Jiang Baiyan: ...?
—
Jiang Baiyan was supposed to dislike her, even hate her, but as their separation drew near, his eyes turned red and he grabbed her sleeve, pleading, "Don't abandon me, alri—”
Shi Dai responded, "Alright, alright, I’ll only have you. Mwah."
Jiang Baiyan: ...?
He hasn't finished his lines yet though…