In the vast expanse of darkness, the silhouettes of figures stood in a long line, an eerie reminder of the lives lost. The ghostly beings, drawn together in this empty space, instinctively recoiled in fear at the arrival of the Enforcer of Spirits. Bai Qiuran raised his head slightly toward them.
“What do you want from me?” he asked, letting go of the bloodied body of Tang Zhouxie, which fell onto the altar, blood pooling on the ground.
This act of salvation was different from the ways of the Heavenly Sacred Buddhist Sect. Those bald monks wove bridges with scriptures to cleanse the grievances of the souls and connect them to the other realm.
However, this process left the souls lingering in the ghost realm for a long time, as they had not entered through the proper channels overseen by the Enforcer. In contrast, Bai Qiuran had a more straightforward method. It was akin to calling the police directly when in distress.
Clap.
He turned away, brushing off dirt from his robes, and then looked down upon the gathered two hundred children and officials, along with the still-astonished Princess Tang Ruowei.
“Cough cough.”
“No need; you cannot offer what I desire,” he replied when he noticed the Emperor of Shangxuan and the National Master pointing excitedly in his direction, while Tang Ruowei tugged at her father’s sleeve, her face flushed with embarrassment.
The officials seemed to wake from their trance, turning their attention to Bai Qiuran, circling around him as though drawn by a magnet.
“Immortal, I thank you on behalf of the countless citizens of Shangxuan Kingdom for your assistance,” the emperor expressed.
Bai Qiuran nodded, noticing the girl’s unblinking stare. After contemplating, he wiped the blood from his hands and offered her a harmless smile. After casting a few runes, Bai Qiuran paused. A distinct ringing echo, audible only to a dying man like him, grew closer, reverberating from the void.
“Come, follow me.”
“Eradicate evil completely, eradicate evil completely.”
“There's nothing to be concerned about.”
“Same old routine: kill, draw blood, gather souls, then prepare for training,” he acknowledged, nodding firmly.
In the dimness, the cold sound of the ringing continued, accompanied by a haunting, indistinct melody that floated in from nowhere. A ghostly enforcer, face pale, marched forward with a long line of spirits, slowly fading into the void.
Bai Qiuran pointed to the body beside him, remarking, “He was the one to instigate first.”
“Then let me at least host a banquet to honor our Immortal guest,” the emperor eagerly suggested.
“The fault is his,” Bai Qiuran reiterated, as the enforcer, unmoved and expressionless, put away his ringing instrument. He asked, “Bai Qiuran, what do you summon me for?”
Bai Qiuran waved dismissively, “What do you want from me?”
“Father!” he responded, “That man ordered my death; you need not search for his soul anymore.”
Upon entering this hollow space beneath the ground, the stench of blood hit Bai Qiuran’s nostrils. His spirit vision revealed the slaughtered citizens converging toward him, their features distorting like melted wax, eyes and mouths turning into dark voids, an image of anguished torment.
Bai Qiuran gazed upward at the ghosts instinctively retreating with the enforcer's arrival.
“I know,” he said to himself, noting that he had debts aplenty and did not intend to use these souls to offset his record in the ghost realm.
Just then, National Master Su Qianqiu, standing at the altar's edge, suddenly clutched his head, groaning in pain. Moments later, the emperor also grasped his head, whimpering softly.
“Then let me at least host a banquet to honor our Immortal guest.”
Bai Qiuran dismissed it all. “To put it simply, kill, draw blood, gather souls, then I shall proceed with training.”
The air grew chillier again with the eerie sound of the bell.
“Father!” Bai Qiuran said again, letting go of his grip on Tang Zhouxie, whose body bled out over the altar.
But unlike those soldiers, who had been twisted into something unrecognizable under Tang Zhouxie’s orders, Bai Qiuran felt no psychological burden in ending their lives.
Tang Ruowei nodded in a daze.
In the emptiness, Bai Qiuran was reminded of the situation, the strange expressions cast towards him by ghosts who sensed the enforcer’s presence, now having evaporated with their tormentor's demise.
“Father, demeanor!” Tang Ruowei quietly urged, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Ah? Immortal, let me express my gratitude for your great mercy at least!”
Bai Qiuran merely waved his hand.
The ghosts were lined against the wall, awaiting their fate as Bai Qiuran finally made his way through the underground realm to free the innocent souls who had been wronged by Tang Zhouxie’s malevolence.
He turned back, dusting off his robes, his gaze shifting to the children and officials kneeling below.
“Let us proceed. Follow me; all of you!”
Each soul was now Bai Qiuran's responsibility, and it was time for him to fulfill this duty. He had dealt with the evil at its source, leaving the spirits to find peace in the process.
As Bai Qiuran prepared to round up the spirits in front of the ethereal door leading onward, he called out, “My work here is done; thank you for your cooperation.”
“Cough.”
The proceedings grew still as Bai Qiuran took charge. With each step, he gathered what remained before proceeding onward, freeing the lost souls from this tainted realm.