Chapter 734

Upon seeing those two figures, I was greatly shaken.

Because these two people were none other than my parents!

In this life, the person I feel I owe the most to, besides Zhao Zixun, are my parents.

They raised me with great hardship.

In that turbulent era, I not only had enough to eat and wear, I also studied at a girls' school and received my parents' utmost affection.

Unfortunately, my brief life was cut short abruptly, without even a farewell, let alone repaying my parents' nurturing kindness.

My debt to them can never be repaid.

So when their two figures appeared before me, I truly could not remain unmoved.

I instinctively withdrew my attack.

My ghostly power dissipated all over, and the Coffin Nail in my hand also dispersed.

I cried out hoarsely: "Father, Mother..."

They looked at me with smiling eyes, full of affection, just as they used to greet me when I came home before anything happened.

Especially after comparing with my first life, this life's parental love for me appears all the more precious.

As Mother opened her arms and slowly approached, I longed to throw myself into her embrace, hug her tightly, and call: "Mother... Mother, I miss you so much, I'm sorry, it's my fault as a daughter, I've implicated you..."

At that moment, I was completely immersed in guilt toward my closest kin, utterly defenseless.

"Wanwan, be careful!"

A warning suddenly rang in my mind, as if also coming from the depths of the Nine Abysses.

It was Zhao Zixun's warning to me!

I snapped back to awareness and flashed aside, dodging my mother's hands as they were about to embrace me.

My parents in this life had died over a hundred years ago; their yang and yin lifespans had both been borrowed by Zhan Jiaoe, so even as ghosts they are empty shells and puppets.

They are no longer my parents.

If it weren't for Zhao Zixun's reminder, I would almost have been deceived.

Mother still wasn't giving up; she paused, then lunged at me again.

When I dodged her again, her kind smile vanished, turning grim and sinister.

She slowly opened her mouth, revealing a mass of sharp teeth inside.

I once again gathered ghostly power, pressing my hand to my lower abdomen.

The next moment, the Coffin Nail appeared in my hand.

I seized the Coffin Nail and, without hesitation, fiercely stabbed it toward my mother's brow.

The Coffin Nail entered my mother's Soul Body, and her outstretched arms froze in midair.

She threw her head back and let out a sharp shriek, her eyes scattering, as black vapors poured from between her brows.

Gradually, her scattered gaze gathered again, becoming clear.

My heart clenched painfully.

I understood: the Coffin Nail had removed the force controlling my mother's Soul Body; at this instant, she was truly my mother.

But this was also our final farewell.

I shed bloody tears in anguish, my hand gripping the Coffin Nail trembling incessantly.

I kept saying "sorry" over and over in my heart, but I could not retreat.

Mother regained consciousness.

She blamed me not at all and offered no resistance.

I saw liberation in her eyes.

Her Soul Body grew ever fainter; at last she burst into a warm smile toward me and whispered: "Thank you, Wanwan, thank you for coming into my life this lifetime as my daughter; Mother will always love you."

The moment her words faded, she vanished completely into ashes and smoke.

Blood tears kept falling; though I was nothing but a Soul Body, I still clearly felt my heart throbbing with pain.

But soon I sensed a chilling killing intent coming from my father's side.

I immediately gathered my spirit, raised the hand holding the Coffin Nail again, aimed at my father's brow, and thrust it forcefully once more to send him off on his final journey.

Likewise, when my father finally regained clarity, just like my mother, he had no blame for me, only praise: "Wanwan, you did right; you've finally grown up; Father couldn't protect you, so you must protect yourself well."

This is what it means to be parents.

Even if they were to turn to ash in the next instant, even if facing only a wisp of their daughter's soul, they still gave countless instructions, hoping she would fare well.

They hoped she would still have a chance to be reborn.

After my parents had utterly turned to ash, the seven-leaf blood lingzhi beneath them actually slid down a large segment.

From the surface of the blood lingzhi, two figures appeared once more.

These two figures that appeared this time were unfamiliar to me, yet I had seen them before.

At the Xijiekou of Wufu Town Pawnshop.

Now I seem to have understood something.

Aren't these pairs of souls appearing one after another precisely the victims sacrificed lifetime after lifetime to Zhan Jiaoe?

What I am doing now is like peeling an onion.

Each layer I peel away destroys one of Zhan Jiaoe's lifetimes.

So, are there still seven couples below waiting for me?

After I send them all off, does that mean I have defeated Zhan Jiaoe?

By then, will I be able to see my true form and Zhao Zixun?

Just now his timely warning to me was evidently through that Coffin Nail.

He sensed the Coffin Nail, and he sensed me too; this shows he is still alive and has not become a puppet.

Thinking that, I no longer hesitated, gathering all my ghost power, gripping the Coffin Nail, I went toward those two figures.

The Coffin Nail pierces the brow of each couple, and after they both turn to ash and vanish, that seven-leaf blood lingzhi will retract a segment.

One segment, one segment, there is a segment…… exactly seven segments……

Perhaps I had expended too much ghost power; by the end, my hand gripping the Coffin Nail was trembling.

There was no eighth segment.

Because in the end, I indeed came face to face with Zhan Jiaoe.

Zhan Jiaoe's whole body was covered in white fur the length of fingers, she lay prone on the ground, like a beast long neglected of grooming.

She lay prone on the ground, actually somewhat on her last breath.

She opened her eyes, meeting my gaze.

Our eyes met, and Zhan Jiaoe suddenly burst into loud laughter.

She laughed while saying, "Fu Wan?"

"I never expected you could return unharmed to the Nine Netherworld Abyss like this; indeed, you are the one I once chose, you truly possess deep blessings and virtue, and you have some fortune about you."

I shouted sternly, "He who commits many injustices will surely meet his doom, Zhan Jiaoe—your retribution has come!"

I gritted my teeth, raising the hand holding the Coffin Nail, my gaze falling on Zhan Jiaoe's brow; just as I was about to strike, she burst into mad laughter again: "Silly girl, look behind you—I told you before, we are kindred spirits; Zhao Zixun only wants to condense your true form into a battle spirit—why don't you believe me! Why!"

After this period of training, I had long become immune to Zhan Jiaoe's tactics.

I did not look back, nor did I have any doubts about Zhao Zixun.

At that moment, my mind held only one thing: to drive the Coffin Nail into Zhan Jiaoe's brow and send her on her way!