"The chance to escape only existed for the instant the bottle’s seal was broken, and we agreed that the first to escape would be the appointed avenger, taking revenge for us all."
"And I, I am that chosen one."
The pupils of the Red Scarf Evil Spirit kept changing, as if it was struggling against the evil thoughts, trying to maintain its last shred of clarity.
"He will have his comeuppance, there’s no need for you to delay your own salvation."
The Red Scarf Evil Spirit furrowed its brow, "You want me to let him go?"
"I want you to let go of yourself."
"Let go of myself?" The gaze of the Red Scarf Evil Spirit became vacant and lost.
"Actually, your obsession with revenge isn’t that strong, and you might not have become an evil spirit. But because you devoured so many innocent and pure spiritual bodies, and made revenge your mission, that’s why you became an evil spirit."
"Regardless, I’ve already become an evil spirit."
"If you give up thoughts of revenge and relinquish your evil thoughts before causing real harm, you still have a slim chance of being restored."
The Red Scarf Evil Spirit shook its head, "I have no way back. I carry the mission of revenge. If I give up, I’ll be letting them down..."
Devouring the souls of companions inflicts a pain a hundred times more agonizing than one’s own destruction.
It was only the belief in vengeance that kept it going.
"Will they be revived after your revenge?"
The Red Scarf Evil Spirit became anguished, clutching its head as a shroud of black mist enveloped it, threatening to turn it into a dark cloud.
"Let go of the evil thoughts, and I will find Horse-face to come for you. Maybe he can help."
"Can he really help?" The dark clouds dispersed, and a powerful light burst from its eyes.
"Perhaps." Hua Jinyan didn’t offer a definite answer.
Sometimes the mind is very contradictory. When someone is very sure about something, it can give rise to doubt that they might be deceiving oneself. But, when someone is nonchalant with about a fifty percent certainty and fifty percent denial, one tends to cling desperately to that sliver of hope.
"I’m willing to believe you!"
The Red Scarf Evil Spirit closed its eyes. It reached out slowly and retied its unraveled red scarf. The black aura around it gradually dissipated, and it never glanced again at the old man lying on the ground.
Born into a family of geomancers, he had chanted mantras since childhood. As he silently recited the Great Compassion Mantra, tears slipped from the corners of his eyes, dropping one by one to the ground, turning into wisp after wisp of blue smoke. Beneath his feet, ethereal green lotuses began to spring forth, hazy and indistinct.
Laying down the butcher knife, one can become a Buddha on the spot...
One after another, the green lotuses bloomed, and within each blooming center lay a closed-eyed spiritual body.
In each green lotus was a spiritual body.
These were his classmates who he had devoured. As he let go of his evil thoughts, they were released from his spiritual body, reborn from within the flowers...
"It seems there’s no need to find Horse-face after all, you’ve solved it by yourself."
At these words, the Red Scarf Evil Spirit opened its eyes. At that moment its whole body seemed corporeal, devoid of resentment or evil, an utterly pure spiritual body.
Looking towards the lotuses, he saw his classmates lying in peaceful slumber within the flowers, and he softly curved his lips upward, whispering, "Thank you."
The green lotuses swayed gracefully, and the specks of pollen transformed into flecks of golden light that began to float up, enveloping all the spiritual bodies present, even those wandering wild animal spirits in the iron cages. In an instant, they coalesced into a beam of light that shot into the sky, and from afar came a voice: "Goodbye."
Hua Jinyan retracted his gaze from the disappearing beam of light, finally resting it on the old man lying on the ground.
Before long, Xiangxiang and Mo Haihao found this underground laboratory.
Upon seeing Little Taotie sound asleep on top of Big White Wolf, both were extremely anxious.
Xiangxiang asked urgently, "What’s wrong with Little Taotie?"