Chapter 202 – Yan Yu’s General Store, A Visitor Arrives - Part 1
Ghosts could exist both as spirit entities and in solid form. That explained why ghost servants could so easily slaughter skilled martial artists, while those very masters found themselves slashing at empty air. No matter how they struck, all their blows would simply pass through.
Of course, that was unless the blows were infused with ancestral seal shadow blood, granting it the pure Yang energy capable of directly attacking the pure Yin energy that formed a ghost’s existence. Otherwise, there was simply no way to harm these spirits.
At that moment, Li Yuan felt the woman in his embrace clinging to him. He looped an arm around her back, his hand resting on her shoulder, drawing her petite, ice-cold body close.
He murmured, “Ghosts and ghost servants revert to spirit form the moment they’re attacked. But when they attack, they can be spirit or flesh at will. The truth is, they have no consciousness like humans do, so they’re not making a choice; they automatically slip into spirit form whenever they come under threat. That’s why no one can touch them.”
Yan Yu whispered in his ear, “I, however, can choose. I can let my husband hold me.”
Li Yuan tightened his arms around her. “It’s been one year, five months, and 21 days...”
Yan Yu added gently, “20 days, you’re still four hours short.”
They fell silent for a moment. That length of time marked their separation, and both remembered it with painful clarity.
In the cold, ghostly air, the black market buildings, not truly made of brick and stone, grew more frigid by the second and exuded an eerie chill that seemed to penetrate the soul. Once-deserted streets were now dotted with little carts. No one stood in front to sell anything, nor did any peddler linger behind. Only the drooping flags stirred faintly in the bleak night wind. There was something deeply unsettling about these scenes. Yet, in their own strange way, they also radiated a quiet tenderness.
Li Yuan asked, “Could you come home with me?”
Yan Yu shook her head. “I can’t go back.”
He expected this answer, yet still couldn’t quite accept it. “Why not?”