Chapter 3

This was the Forbidden Ground the sect used only to punish those who had betrayed it!

I rolled to the side, and the wild ghost's claws swept past my ear.

The iron chains at the entrance to the Forbidden Ground rattled twice, and Rufina's voice drifted in from outside.

"Senior Sister, Senior Brother the sect master says you didn't follow the sect rules, so he's locking you in the Forbidden Ground to reflect. You'll be released the moment you admit your fault."

I braced myself against the stone wall and stood up. From that roll, blood trickled from the corner of my mouth again.

In that one instant of distraction, the wild ghost lunged at me from behind.

Its teeth sank into the side of my neck, and the pain turned my vision black.

I raised my palm and blasted it away, then pressed my hand to my neck, blood filling the gaps between my fingers.

Rufina must have heard the commotion, because she let out an "Oh dear!"

"Senior Sister, how did you get hurt? It breaks my heart just to hear it."

"Why put yourself through all this? If you'd only backed down early, apologized to your senior brother, and refined the pills, you'd never have had to suffer this ordeal."

I held my wound and paid no attention to her cold, mocking words.

A few little ghosts were nothing. What was truly deadly was the demonic energy that had built up in this place for a thousand years.

My Divinity was sealed now, and my Spirit Meridians had been drained by more than half after White Marsh's death. With this scrap of cultivation, I couldn't hold out more than a few days.

The demonic energy was already seeping in through the wound on the side of my neck, cold enough to cut to the bone.

I leaned back against the stone wall and closed my eyes.

Before the heavenly thunder came, these things would likely devour me clean first.

The demonic energy seeped from the wound on the side of my neck into my bones, icy cold, as if something had taken root in my blood and was crawling inch by inch toward my heart.

I staggered back toward the stone wall, and two more wild ghosts sprang out behind me, clamping onto my arms from left and right.

The thin bit of spiritual energy in my Spirit Meridians had long since run dry. I couldn't break free, and they dragged me toward the edge of the deep pit.

Black mist churned at the bottom of the pit, hiding its depths, yet countless pairs of eerie green eyes lit up within the mist.

I gritted my teeth and used the last of my strength to form a hand seal.

Only a single spark of light burst from my fingertip, striking the wild ghost on the left. It shrieked and fell back half a step, and the one on the right immediately pounced, biting into my shoulder blade.

The demonic energy grew fiercer, pouring in through the wound on my shoulder.

I dropped to my knees, palms braced against the cold, wet stone slab, feeling my Spirit Meridians snapping apart bit by bit.

In my daze, I seemed to see my little spirit beast again.

Its small body curled in a pool of blood, its eyes still looking at me.

I gathered all my strength to push my upper body up, but my right hand wouldn't rise anymore, and my left leg had gone numb. The demonic energy had sealed the meridians in half my body tight.

I closed my eyes and lowered my head, resigned to my fate.

I used to always tell myself that if I just endured it, it would pass; if I just gave way, it would be fine.

But now I didn't even have the right to endure anymore.

White Marsh was gone, my Spirit Meridians were shattered, my Divinity was sealed, the heavenly thunder refused to come, I was locked in the Forbidden Ground, and outside there wasn't a single person who wanted to save me.

The horde of ghosts in the abyss began to climb upward.

The sound of fingernails scraping against the stone wall was like countless needles stabbing into my ears, closer and closer, denser and denser.

I looked up at the sliver of light at the top of the Forbidden Ground and suddenly felt very tired.

Forget it.