Chapter 33: Just How Powerful Is She?

Yan Qiao was agile and quick to react. With a swift sidestep, she dodged the vengeful female ghost’s attack and took the opportunity to retrieve one soul and one spirit fragment of Shen Zhiyin. Then, with a flick of her wrist, she threw out a Heavenly Thunder Talisman.

It was a talisman she had personally enhanced. Its power was doubled—and it was especially effective against resentful ghosts like this one.

She had drawn it long ago but never had the chance to use it.

Now was the perfect time to test it.

Boom! Boom!
Flashes of lightning lit up the sky. The vengeful female ghost, who had been filled with intense resentment, instantly turned to ashes. She didn’t even have the chance to fight back.

Even the sky outside grew a little brighter.

Li Xiao and Yan Hao, standing nearby, were dumbfounded. They hadn’t expected Yan Qiao to be so powerful.

To her, was a ghost of that level just a small matter?

They wondered where her upper limit lay…

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The remaining female ghosts, seeing their leader so easily wiped out, trembled in fear.

How is this little girl even stronger than those Taoist priests?

She had dispersed their leader with a single move.

“Anyone else who’s not afraid of having their soul scattered, feel free to come at me!” Yan Qiao said coldly.

No one dared.

“All of you, come out and line up! I have questions for you!” Yan Qiao’s tone carried undeniable authority—she truly had the aura of a queen.

After witnessing her strength firsthand, the female ghosts didn’t dare resist. They feared that if they made even the slightest misstep, they’d be reduced to nothing.

Very quickly, fifteen or sixteen female ghosts obediently lined up to await Yan Qiao’s questioning.

Li Xiao and Yan Hao saw this scene as well.

Lord Xiao couldn’t help but be curious—why were they all female ghosts?

Perhaps it had been too long, and their appearances were no longer clear.

“How did this village become a ghost town?” Yan Qiao went straight to the point.

At the mention of this, all the female ghosts wore troubled expressions, and their resentment unconsciously intensified.

A girl in a dark green dress was the first to speak: “Our village didn’t start out this way. It had over a hundred years of peace. But then, someone said they wanted to venture out and see the world. Who would’ve thought that after seeing the outside world, he’d come back with evil intentions?”

“Our village girls were all very beautiful. That man brought filthy men from outside to harm us—raping us, forcing us to receive male guests. If we refused, we were beaten.”

Yan Hao clenched his fists tightly at this point—he was a passionate young man, after all.

“Didn’t anyone intervene? What about the village elders? The village chief?”

The girl in the green dress sneered, “No one did. That man brought back a lot of wealth from outside and bribed the village chief and any man with influence. He took them out to wine and dine. It’s easy for people to become corrupt.”

“How many people can resist temptation?”

“The two most righteous brothers who tried to protect us were beaten to death.”

Li Xiao’s gaze turned cold—he had seen this kind of cruelty many times before.

“Later, things got worse. They lured in more and more men. Many of our sisters were tortured to death. They even forced us to have children. They only kept the girls—any boys were killed at birth.”

Yan Qiao pressed her lips together. These women had died in a state of deep resentment, refusing to enter the cycle of reincarnation.

And the longer time passed, the heavier that resentment grew.

“Eventually, we united and killed that scumbag! We tore him to pieces and fed him to the wild dogs in the village! We finally fought back. Anyone else who came, we killed them too!”

“Fifty years ago, someone invited powerful Taoist priests to come and seal us inside the locust trees in the village. We couldn’t escape. We thought we’d never see daylight again.”

“Then twenty years ago, another group of Taoist priests came. They undid the seal, and we could come out again!”

“We thought they were good people—but they captured some of our sisters and even some male ghosts!”

The girl’s eyes turned resentful again: “Why are these people so evil? Even in death, they won’t leave us alone!”

Yan Qiao roughly understood. Some Taoist priests came to capture vengeful spirits, taking them back to be kept like livestock. Those with stronger cultivation could even refine them into other things—all for personal gain. They used them as tools to make money.

“Where’s that couple?” Yan Qiao asked her second question coldly.

“They… they’re in the well. They’re working for that Taoist priest! It must be him. Their methods are the same!”

“Where’s the well?”

“Just… go out this way. Two hundred meters.”

“I’ll give you two choices. One, end up like that female ghost just now—soul scattered.”

“We choose two!”

The female ghosts responded in unison.

Yan Qiao hadn’t even explained what the second option was yet.

But it was definitely better than being obliterated.

“Enter the Gate of Ghosts and face judgment from King Yama. Reincarnate if it’s your time, or face punishment if needed. I see that your resentment isn’t too heavy—you probably haven’t done much evil,” Yan Qiao said calmly.

“As for those who harmed you, karma will take care of them. They’ve already paid the price for their sins.”

“As for that Taoist priest, I’ll investigate him further. He’ll face the consequences of his actions.”

She spoke clearly and firmly.

“Are you sure you choose option two?”

The female ghosts hesitated for a moment before nodding.

“Alright, I’ll open the Gate of Ghosts now.”

Yan Qiao chanted a spell and waved her hand. Before long, a swirling black vortex appeared—it was the Gate of Ghosts.

“Thank you, Master.”

Once they all entered, the black vortex disappeared.

The ancestral hall returned to silence.

“Ah Qiao, you can even open the Gate of Ghosts?! Please accept my admiration!” Yan Hao’s gaze had gone from shock, to awe, to full-on worship.

“Let’s go save them,” Yan Qiao remained calm. Yan Hao immediately followed.

She knew more trouble was waiting ahead.

That well might be the key.

Li Xiao also quickly collected himself.

He looked at Yan Qiao differently now. Who was this girl, really? How could she be so powerful?

If he had met her earlier, maybe he wouldn’t have suffered all these years.

He had searched for so long, and yet never found her?

He quickly followed her, thinking that if he couldn’t help her yet, the least he could do was not hold her back.

Soon, they arrived at the well mentioned by the ghost girl earlier.

It was just a simple well.

Beside it was a stone with a spell seal carved on it—something was definitely sealed in there once.

But it had already been opened. The seal destroyed.

The yin energy here was even denser than the ancestral hall earlier. Clearly, something even more powerful was lurking.

“Ah Qiao, don’t tell me Yun Zhe’s parents are inside the well?”
As the thought surfaced, Li Xiao felt a chill down his spine. Those people were capable of anything. He had long seen the darkest sides of humanity.

Yan Qiao replied coldly, “No. If they were thrown into the well, they wouldn’t have survived. Those Taoist priests know that very well.”

She looked around.

Eventually, her gaze settled on a large locust tree a hundred meters from the well..