“He suddenly got mad and told me that he had to go home no matter what. I couldn’t stop him, so I decided to follow him. I didn’t expect that he would go in the direction of the graveyard. I didn’t dare to follow him further, but I was scared that something bad would happen to him. I had to wait for him at the village entrance. You saw me there.”

Then, the woman got on her knees and gave me several kowtows. She asked me to save Song Zhong.

It seemed she had recognized that faking death wouldn’t work.

“Ma’am, please get up. You have to call Song Zhong out here. I have to see him so I can know how to save him,” I told her.

“Yes, yes. Right…”

The woman agreed. She walked to a closet and called, “Old Song, come out here. We’ve got a master here that can help you!”

She pulled the closet doors. However, she screamed when she saw the scene inside the closet.

I rushed past her and saw a big hole in the wall behind the closet. There was a vast field outside.

“Ma’am, what’s going on?”

The woman couldn’t answer me.

“Speak quickly! He’s possessed by a ghost. If you are slow, even an immortal can’t help him!”

My voice grew colder since I had already felt a weak wisp of Yin energy in the closet. I knew Song Zhong didn’t just disappear by himself. He was controlled by a departed soul.

The woman saw that I was mad and blushed. She told me the truth.

This closet was the gateway for their affair. Every night, Song Zhong could get into her house through the hole behind this closet. It was their way of hiding their affair from everyone. However, tonight, it turned out to be a hindrance.

I looked at her and didn’t know what to say. I walked into the closet to search for the man.

The shopkeeper followed me. I didn’t mind her and took out my compass to capture the wisps of Yin energy. I followed the trail, which led me to the small path that led to the graveyard.

“Damn it!”

I cursed and entered the graveyard. However, the Yin energy around me was growing thicker, and the hand of the compass started spinning fast.

I checked the surroundings one more time and found that I was no longer in the graveyard. My surroundings were full of lushly grown grass. As I had experienced this trick once before, I had paid attention on my way here. I was sure I didn’t take the wrong path.

Is it an illusion? I waved the Sirius Whip. The whip moved around, but the surroundings didn’t change.

Then, I heard footsteps behind me. The shopkeeper called, “Master! Master! Where are you?”

Her voice was loud and clear. She wasn’t more than twenty meters away from me. How could she not see me?

I turned around but didn’t see the shopkeeper. However, her voice zoomed closer then disappeared. It seemed she had walked past me without me seeing her.

I suddenly recognized the problem. I bit my tongue and spat blood on the Sirius Whip. I read the Big Dipper Sirius Spell and lashed it in every direction. The surroundings changed immediately, and the familiar scene reappeared.

I looked and saw a shadow limping ahead of me. It was the shopkeeper.

Not far from the woman was the dark graveyard. Song Zhong was sitting there with his head held low. I didn’t know what he was doing.

Song Zhong was possessed. If the woman went near him, it wasn’t different from asking for death.

I cursed under my breath and rushed after her. Song Zhong seemed to notice my existence. He rose and reached out his hands to strangle the woman.

“Don’t come near! Or else, I’ll kill her!” With red eyes, he shouted at me.

From his voice, I knew he was an old man who had experienced ups and downs. He wasn’t Song Zhong.

I carefully said, “Please let her go. We can talk.”

I took two steps back and put down my Sirius Whip.

The woman looked at Song Zhong and couldn’t believe her eyes. She didn’t know why her lover wanted to harm her.

“Don’t be stupid. He’s not Song Zhong!” I called the woman to prevent her from screaming.

Then, I said to the man, “Tell me! What do you want?”

Although I had confronted many departed souls and spirits in the past, this was the first time I had encountered a ghost that wanted to bargain with me.

“This old man doesn’t like to harm people. Don’t dip your hands in this. You still have time to leave.”

As he talked, Song Zhong didn’t look at me. Instead, he looked at a grave behind him.

I took the chance and slowly moved forward. I was prepared to rescue the shopkeeper.

However, he was more vigilant than I had thought. Before I could approach him, he turned and glared at me. At the same time, his stranglehold on the woman’s neck became tighter.

The shopkeeper’s face reddened as she couldn’t breathe. She opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue. I didn’t dare to stimulate Song Zhong further. I backed off and told him that if he had knots in his heart, he could talk to me. Perhaps I could help him.

I suddenly knew why Chuyi didn’t want to put his hands in this. Although this departed soul had strong resentful energy, he still had a sane mind and did not want to harm innocent people.

During his life, he must have been an honorable and righteous hero. But due to his unjustified death, he had become a resentful soul.

I thought that my words could persuade him. After Song Zhong listened to me, he laughed crazily and pointed at me. “You stinky kid, don’t play mind games with me. I don’t want to harm innocent people. Don’t force me!”

“Senior, every life matters and is precious. You have a kind heart. Why wouldn’t it be enough to forgive people?”

I caught his weakness and tried my best to talk him out of it. I wished that Li Mazi was here. With his silver-tongue, he could advise this departed soul better than me.

After listening to me, Song Zhong was surprised. Tears rolled from the corners of his eyes. He looked at the dark sky and mumbled to himself, “Haha, I’ve been living for the sake of this country and our fellows my whole life. Who has forgiven me?”

If the spirit agreed to tell his story, it meant I would have a higher chance of helping him ascend.

I didn’t expect it to be this simple. I tried to calm my happy heart that was beating crazily. I stood still and looked at him with a poker face.

Song Zhong’s deep eyes seemed to see through me. He observed me and saw my indifferent eyes looking at him. After a while, he nodded.

Right as he was about to open his mouth to talk, a figure suddenly appeared behind him and knocked him to the ground, which caused him to release the shopkeeper.

“Damn.” I cursed under my breath. Since the spirit was attacked, he would become angry and take revenge on the people around him.

Indeed, when Song Zhong fell to the ground, his eyes turned blood-red. He gritted his teeth and tried to strangle the woman again.

The woman was petrified. She didn’t know what to do.

As things had come to this, I couldn’t pretend anymore. I lashed the Sirius Whip on Song Zhong’s back.

Song Zhong screamed and fell, rolling onto the high grass.

I seized the chance and pulled the shopkeeper away. Then, I pushed her aside to a safe place. The shadow that had ambushed Song Zhong stormed over and suppressed him.

This fellow was wearing black leather trousers and was hiding in a loose raincoat. He even wore a facemask. I guessed he didn’t want to show his real face.

The possessed Song Zhong had unimaginable strength. He howled and hurled the man in the raincoat away. Then, just like a tiger escaping its cage, he straddled and sat on the man wearing the raincoat, crazily punching him.

I rushed forward to help the man get rid of Song Zhong.

“What are you doing there? Come and help us!”

I shouted at the baffled woman. She got a hold of herself and came to help us hold Song Zhong’s legs.

The three of us joined hands to tie Song Zhong up. Then, we brought him back to the woman’s shop and used an iron chain to tie him onto the bed.

It was already past midnight. Song Zhong had dodged his deadly tribulation. As the spirit had left him, he fell fast asleep. I heaved a sigh of relief. Then, I remembered the man wearing the raincoat.

Although his goodwill had messed up my plan, he had helped us control Song Zhong. I wanted to thank him. However, he had left without a word.

The shopkeeper made me a boiling cup of noodles and worriedly asked, “Master, is Old Song all right now?”