The Mystery of K Newspaper

Chapter 19

"dream!"

"Your show's over, now it's our turn to show off our skills!"

When Mo Han saw that the human-faced mask wasn't inside the ancient wooden box, his initial panic turned to joy. It seemed his attentive junior brother had already hidden it away. Thinking this, he felt slightly relieved.

"Haha... You want to fight me? No way! If you're not afraid of death, then come on!"

Director Wang seemed to think this fight was a piece of cake and didn't take Zheng Qi and Mo Han, those two kids, seriously at all.

At that moment, Zheng Qi took out a stack of talismans from his pocket, then suddenly frowned and bit his tongue. He then spat out a mouthful of blood at the stack of talismans in his hand. After a while, the talismans suddenly emitted a fiery red light, like clusters of burning flames in the darkness.

Zheng Qi recited aloud in a rapid voice:

"The heavens are clear and the earth is blessed; obey the law and follow orders immediately. Divine soldiers are in a great hurry; may the Supreme Lord Laozi command you with utmost urgency."

With a sudden flick of his wrist, he transformed the talisman in his hand, imbued with his secretly channeled inner energy, into streaks of rapidly departing red light that struck Director Wang directly.

Suddenly, a burst of red light mixed with a wisp of black mist erupted with a loud bang.

Suddenly, Director Wang's figure flashed to the side like a black whirlwind. The table where he had been sitting exploded with a bang, wood chips and screen fragments raining down, landing on the sofa, coffee table, and on Zheng Qihe and Mo Han, as well as in the surrounding area.

A few sickening laughs echoed from the corner of the bookcase.

"Heh heh, you think you can fight me with your pathetic Taoist skills from Maoshan? Save your breath! If you know what's good for you, hand over that human-faced mask right now. Otherwise, I'll take your lives in an instant!"

With a hoarse, grating voice and a fierce, teeth-gritting tone, Director Wang shouted menacingly at Zheng Qi and the others, his eyes gleaming with a cold, bloodthirsty light.

Mo Han, who was behind Zheng Qi, suddenly walked a little distance away from Zheng Qi, raised his hands and drew an elegant arc in the air, muttering incantations. Suddenly, a cold light appeared out of thin air, and a bronze sword appeared in front of him.

"Hmph, I never imagined that someone so young would possess such a treasure!"

Upon seeing this, Director Wang coldly snorted.

"Today I'll open your eyes and let you see the magic of Maoshan."

"Bronze, heed my command!"

Mo Han let out a loud shout, instantly holding his breath and brandishing the purple bronze sword in his hand. The purple bronze sword gleamed with a dazzling cold light, seemingly ready to strike.

Mo Han secretly channeled his true energy from his dantian, and instantly a purple light flashed from his hand, like a shooting star but more like a purple lightning bolt rushing past, accompanied by a hissing sound as it tore through the air, rushing towards Director Wang.

Another chilling chuckle rang out, and suddenly, Director Wang transformed into an invisible, intangible black mist that tightly intertwined with the purple sword energy, embracing each other like two dragons chasing and playing in the air.

The hazy black mist gradually spread, transforming into countless wisps of indistinct black shadows that danced and swirled around the room.

Not to be outdone, the purple sword light instantly transformed into countless strands of purple sword energy, tightly intertwined with the black shadow, chasing the wind and waves.

Zheng Qi, standing to the side, was immediately dazzled and at a loss, feeling anxious and uneasy.

Unexpectedly, the ghostly black shadow launched a feint, suddenly whipping up a chaotic gust of cold wind, and before he knew it, its vulture-like claws were aimed at his eyes.

At that moment, Zheng Qi, who was worried about Mo Han, was startled when he suddenly saw her. He took a step back and fell in panic, causing the human face hidden on his body to fall out with a "plop".

Zheng Qi hurriedly reached out to pick it up, but suddenly, the dark shadow had already darted in front of the human-faced figure.

"We can't let it steal that human face! Absolutely not!"

Zheng Qi stared at the black shadow that had transformed into the human form of Director Wang, and thought to himself.

In an instant, the two attacked simultaneously, like two beams of cold light suddenly shooting straight at the human face.

A soft "zzzz" sound.

The human face was instantly split in two.

"ah!"

The sound was a hoarse scream coming from the back of Director Wang's throat, his tone seemingly carrying surprise, resentment, and a hint of helplessness and disappointment.

But in the blink of an eye, before the stunned Zheng Qi could recover, the half of the human face that Director Wang had taken away suddenly floated down from his hand.

"Hmph! Just you wait!"

A transparent monster suddenly floated out of Director Wang's body and vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye. The words it uttered in anger as it left still pierced Zheng Qi and Mo Han's ears.

Everything inside returned to its former peace and tranquility.

Zheng Qi picked up the half of the monster's face skin from the ground. Just as he was piecing the other half together, a cluster of blue flames silently shot out from the face skin, instantly licking the thin, white skin.

Zheng Qi's hands, which were holding the human face, were suddenly scorched by the flames. He quickly shook them off, and the human face, along with a string of rapidly burning, blue-red flames, drifted swaying towards the ground.

Suddenly, Zheng Qi saw that Director Wang, whose body had been separated from the monster, had his expressionless face contorted in pain as the flames sizzled on his face. A trace of pain, a trace of affection, and even a hint of resentment and infatuation flickered in his dull, black eyes that had returned to their original color.

The human skin burned away in an instant, leaving nothing behind.

Director Wang also collapsed with a thud the moment his face was completely burned away.

Mo Han turned around and sheathed the bronze sword, then looked at Director Wang lying on the ground with Zheng Qi.

All that could be seen was that Director Wang's muscles were twitching and convulsing. His skin and flesh became increasingly dry, cracked, and taut, and soon turned into a puddle of green liquid. Finally, it evaporated into the air in the blink of an eye, leaving nothing behind.

Suddenly, a woman's faint weeping could be heard in the air, accompanied by the faint strains of a poem:

On the Double Ninth Festival, I climb a high place to see a lone wild goose.

The Mid-Autumn Festival in August is a time when the moon is full but people are not reunited.

In July, I burn incense and hold candles to ask the heavens.

In the sweltering heat of June, everyone is fanning themselves, but my heart is chilled.

In May, the pomegranate blossoms, as fiery as fire, are met with a cold rain that drenches their petals.

In April, before the loquats have ripened, I look in the mirror, my heart in turmoil.

Hurry, the peach blossoms of March drift away with the water.

Fluttering and drifting, the kite string snaps in February.

...

Zheng Qi returned home that night after exorcising demons at the newspaper office and rested for a day. Firstly, he was exhausted and wanted to rest properly, and secondly, he wanted to clear his mind and think about what to do next.

Although he was still vaguely worried about where the vengeful spirit had gone, he figured that the newspaper should be fine for the time being! This made him feel that he had finally lived up to the expectations of his uncle, Master Yuqing.

However, based on the current situation, he and his senior brother Mo Han still couldn't figure out what connection this vengeful spirit had with the newspaper, or why it wanted to kill Wang Hai and the others. Also, it seemed that Director Wang wasn't the vengeful spirit's vessel, so where was the vengeful spirit's true vessel?

As Zheng Qi was enveloped in billowing smoke, he pondered the words Mo Han had spoken to him when she returned yesterday.

Judging from last night's fight, the vengeful spirit could freely enter and exit Director Wang's body, indicating that its power had reached a certain level. Generally speaking, a vengeful spirit's final spiritual body can be divided into three levels. When it can detach its transparent initial form from the host body, it means it has reached the seventh level. After that, its spiritual body will no longer be transparent; the next level will be white, the ninth level black, and the tenth level, the final and highest level, will be purple. If it truly reaches that level, it will become a demon. If it continues to cultivate further, the demon's terror and potential will be immeasurable.

Judging from the magic it wields, it is a vengeful spirit formed from the resentment of its original self. In other words, it has absorbed and gathered all the resentment and merged it into itself, which explains why its resentment is so intense and its hatred so strong.

Thinking of this, Zheng Qi immediately pictured the vengeful spirit's ferocious, brutal, and chilling gaze as it looked at them.