Chapter 143: Eternal Life

My mother's tone was exceptionally grim, cold, and laden with such intense hatred that a shiver crept straight down to my bones.

Moreover, she had completely misunderstood me!

My face turned ashen. Gripping the Thousand-Nether Rope for dear life, I immediately blurted out, "Mother, it’s not what you think—"

"You really manage to surprise me. Calling me mother rolls right off your tongue, doesn't it? But your true age must be far greater than mine. You might get away with calling my original body 'mother,' but as for me, you can spare yourself the breath."

The Three-Corpse God incarnation of my mother gave me a frigid stare.

Suddenly, she kicked out, and I instantly felt a tremendous wave of force pushing me away with immense strength.

My expression changed drastically. Relying solely on physical strength, I was utterly incapable of withstanding the might of my mother's Three-Corpse God.

In an instant, I focused all my willpower entirely between my eyebrows!

My soul abruptly tore itself free from my body.

Unable to care about anything else at that moment, my soul-form grabbed the Thousand-Nether Rope and violently yanked it downward!

My mother let out a muffled grunt, her expression shifting in shock.

"The Three-Soul Fate Seal? You unlocked the Earth Soul and Human Soul. What an original body! What a cunning scheme! I admit you are my son, but is there any son who would launch such an attack against his own mother?"

The attitude of my mother's Three-Corpse God changed instantly.

A faint surge of hope flickered in my heart.

Yet right at that moment, a pale-yellow mist began to emanate from her body.

"The Three-Corpse Nether Array! Soul Shift!"

In an instant, her physical form vanished, replaced entirely by a billow of yellow mist.

The Thousand-Nether Rope was yanked as if by a massive force, disappearing straight into the yellow fog.

Clutching the end of the rope tightly, I had no way to resist the powerful suction, and my body was instantly dragged in along with it.

A sudden sense of emptiness washed over my body.

My vision blurred for a brief moment, and when things came back into focus, I realized to my shock that I was no longer inside the ghost crone's house.

Instead, I was somewhere entirely different!

My face drained of color.

This place—this was the entrance to Baohu Village!

And the moment I appeared here, although Baohu Village had originally been absent—having vanished just as it always did—

Now, the village entrance path and the houses within were quietly exposed to view.

The yellow mist shrouding my body slowly dissipated.

That very mist suddenly swarmed straight into Baohu Village.

I clenched my fists so hard my knuckles turned white.

An exceptionally eerie chill wafted outward from the village, accompanied by a faint pulling force.

After entering the village, the yellow mist transformed back into the appearance of my mother's Three-Corpse God, and she rapidly sprinted down the narrow country path toward the interior.

I had no more time to ponder why this was happening, or why my mother and I had been teleported here in an instant.

I lifted my legs and stepped straight into Baohu Village.

I felt a sudden jolt through my entire body, as if many things that had belonged to me had suddenly dissolved and vanished.

Right now, I existed purely as a soul.

There is always an indescribable, mysterious connection between a soul and its physical flesh.

That connection was normally so strong that with just a single thought, my soul could return to my body.

Even if there were obstacles or blockades in the way, it wouldn't have been too troublesome.

Yet at this moment, the sensation of that connection had completely vanished.

Aside from that, I also felt strangely light and transparent.

It felt as though something else that had been attached to me was also gone.

Subconsciously, I turned my head back.

Outside the village boundaries, a white skeleton stood rigidly, staring blankly at me.

Faint, wispy ghost-fires flickered within its empty eye sockets, as if it were utterly bewildered as to why it had been separated from me.

The separation of a companion ghost is entirely different from the feeling of it merely wandering outside on its own.

I raised my arm. On my soul-form's forearm, the mark belonging to the companion ghost was completely gone.

It had been thoroughly stripped away from me!

The companion ghost’s expression suddenly twisted into a frantic look of panic and terror, and it lunged forward, desperately trying to charge into Baohu Village.

However, an invisible barrier stood between it and the village. It couldn't break through at all, crashing against it like a man hurling himself against a towering wall, only to end up with a bloody head and shattered bones.

The companion ghost slammed into the barrier twice more, growing only more manic and frantic.

A trace of pity flickered in my heart. The companion ghost was never truly mine, but after all, it had accompanied me for so long. At the very least, it didn't realize right now that it didn't belong to me, and that I was not its true master.

I reached out, my hand hovering in empty air toward its head, and gently stroked the empty space. Pausing for a moment, I murmured, "I am not the one you've been waiting for. Go."

The companion ghost suddenly froze. The ghost-fire in its eye sockets flared up violently.

I didn't understand the cause of this change, but I could clearly sense that it was growing stronger.

Its removal had relieved me of many worries; at least I no longer had to fear being watched constantly by a pair of unseen eyes.

I turned around, ready to immediately give chase to my mother's Three-Corpse God.

Right at that moment, a hand suddenly appeared atop the companion ghost's skull.

It was a pair of weathered hands.

Though the hand itself looked young, the aura of weathered age on the back of the hand was exceptionally profound.

Faintly, one could see numerous thin scars lining the sides of the fingers.

These were the scars left behind from cutting the fingers to draw blood time and time again.

In the beginning, they would heal, but after too many repetitions, the flesh could no longer close completely—leaving long, thin marks like threads etched into the skin.

The companion ghost quieted down.

Its frantic rage vanished, leaving behind only absolute stillness.

And the ghost-fire burning within its eye sockets suddenly reverted to its original, stark white.

A ghastly, horrifying, deathly pale white.

I stopped in my tracks, staring fixedly at that hand.

A sleeve extended upward from the hand.

Red fabric embroidered with golden thread; the sleeve was long, and the garment was intricately crafted.

A figure materialized beside the companion ghost.

This person looked ninety percent identical to me.

He was dressed in an old-fashioned wedding robe, with a massive red silk flower pinned to his chest.

However, his complexion was far whiter than mine, devoid of even the slightest trace of blood.

"I never expected that even a wisp of my lingering soul could awaken, nor did I expect that the very body I desired would end up absorbing my soul."

"As a mere mortal, have you truly grown this powerful?"

The man said indifferently.

My pupils contracted sharply. I clenched my fists with all my might, gritting my teeth as I demanded, "Who the hell are you?"

"Oh? You wear my face, command my servant, and wield my Earthly Talisman Book, yet you ask who I am?"

"I am the one who bestowed all of this upon you. I am Shi Changsheng, and I shall put an end to everything of mine that you have usurped."

The man's tone was utterly detached, as if he were speaking to a dead man.

My entire body began to tremble.

Because it was precisely at this moment that I noticed another figure riding on Shi Changsheng's back!

Chanshu's lifeless body was strapped tightly against his back, flush against his skin.

The festive red silk flower sash was the very binding tool used to tie the two of them together.

Chanshu had not regained consciousness; her eyes remained tightly shut.

Yet I could feel with absolute clarity that the ghostly aura and yin energy radiating from Chanshu were continuously seeping into Shi Changsheng's body.

"You bastard! What have you done to Chanshu?!"

My voice trembled uncontrollably as I let out a furious roar.

Shi Changsheng smiled indifferently. "My wife is naturally doing things that benefit me. You usurped the body I desired and devoured my principal soul, which is why I finally awakened. Since I am merely a lingering soul, I naturally require power. Once I take back the power that belongs to me from you, Chanshu will wake up."

"You... you can actually do something this despicable! You're devouring Chanshu's soul!"

Shi Changsheng replied calmly, "It is not devouring, but rather a ghost-marriage ritual between spirits, combined with a soul-devouring constitution. This will allow her soul to be slowly absorbed by me. There is no need for you to put on the look of a mortal enemy. Once I kill you and take back what is mine, she will wake up."

"She will... only hate you."

Shi Changsheng's voice was far too calm and serene.

Yet it felt like a heavy mallet, striking fiercely against my chest.

I felt a violent churn of blood and Qi within me, and a metallic taste of blood rose to the back of my throat.

"Will Chanshu... only hate me?"

My face turned deadly pale.

Once that aspect of Chanshu's soul was obliterated, her main body would never remember me again, nor would she ever mistake me for Shi Changsheng.

Because the true Shi Changsheng had finally appeared.

And everything Shi Changsheng said was the absolute truth.

Between hating me and saving Shi Changsheng, she would undoubtedly choose Shi Changsheng.

"I will kill you! You are unworthy of Chanshu's sacrifice!" I yelled, my voice dripping with venom.

"You? Kill me? If you hadn't foolishly blundered into this place, you wouldn't even know how your soul was scattered to the winds."

"As for your body, it seems to have completely detached itself from you. Since that's the case, I suppose I'll go collect a little interest first."

Shi Changsheng turned around and slowly vanished from my sight!