Chapter Ninety-Nine: The Child of Spirit

For some reason, upon entering the estate, Hong Yu felt an inexplicable connection to the place, as if it were her own home. When she caught sight of the Red-Clad Ghost General, her face registered a mixture of shock, delight, and bewilderment.

"You are..."

Just as she was about to call out and rush toward him, a chorus of ghostly wails erupted all around. The ground began to tremble. The sky turned dim as countless spectral shadows filled the air, circling the estate in layer upon layer.

A cold voice rang out: "Ghost General Feng, you have quite the audacity to snatch treasures from me, the Shahe Ghost General! And your daughter killed two of my fierce spirits—tell me, how do you intend to compensate me?"

In the distance, the earth turned to sand and mud, from which a gargantuan figure emerged. With eyes like bronze bells and a water bowl in hand, the hideous creature revealed itself to be another Ghost General.

The Red-Clad Ghost General replied indifferently, "I shall compensate you right now."

In an instant, a golden halberd appeared in his hand, igniting with flames. He moved like a bolt of lightning, striking toward the Shahe Ghost General. The Shahe Ghost General was caught off guard, barely managing to evade the blow.

The halberd, however, moved with electric speed, sweeping away all in its path. The surrounding ghosts were slaughtered in moments, their blood dripping to the ground, where it was slowly absorbed by the paintings the Red-Clad Ghost General had drawn earlier. Within three or four breaths, hundreds of spirits—including seven or eight fierce ones—were utterly destroyed.

Observing this, Chu Youcai realized that the Ghost General’s power was between ten and twenty years of demonic cultivation, and the Red-Clad Ghost General was clearly the superior of the two.

Enraged, the Shahe Ghost General shrieked, "I did not expect you to possess twenty years of demonic cultivation! Behold my cursed artifact!"

He tipped the bowl in his hand, and a river of blood poured across the sky. Countless grains of sand rained down from the torrent, each transforming into a ghost that surged toward the Red-Clad Ghost General. The hundreds of thousands of spirits, thick and overwhelming, brought with them a wave of carnage that threatened to tear the estate apart.

Chu Youcai felt a jolt of alarm. Though the attack was not as potent as that of the locust demon, the formless nature of these spirits made them difficult to defend against. Had he not possessed his own cursed artifact, he would have been in dire straits.

The Red-Clad Ghost General simply smiled. His halberd struck out like a divine dragon, seemingly imbued with the power of heaven and earth. Starlight infused his form, illuminating the world with a brilliant glow. Every spirit touched by the halberd vanished into nothingness.

He carved a bloody path through the hundreds of thousands of ghosts, the halberd absorbing the essence of the fallen to fuel its own ferocious strikes.

The Shahe Ghost General, pushed to his limit, unleashed all ten years of his demonic power. He invoked a curse, channeling it through his water bowl and bellowing, "I have a cursed artifact! How can you possibly resist?"

He merged his entire being with the torrential river, making the flow even more violent, crashing down with the force of collapsing mountains.

The Red-Clad Ghost General put away his halberd and drew a brush—the same one he had used for his paintings. It was crafted from cinnabar jade, with bristles made from the whiskers of a flood dragon and a body of cold, ten-thousand-year gold.

With a single point of the brush, the entire force of the torrential river was absorbed into its bristles.

"Impossible! You have a cursed artifact too? But the power of such items is halved in the Ghost Realm—how can it be this strong?" The Shahe Ghost General’s face was twisted in terror. "How did you do this?"

He stared at the Red-Clad Ghost General, his expression shifting in realization. "You are a Spirit Child! No wonder you are not restricted by the dampening effect of the Ghost Realm!"

"Indeed," the Red-Clad Ghost General said calmly. "I am a Spirit Child. After enduring the trials of the eleventh level of hell, I achieved the rank of Ghost General within ten years. What you see is my true cursed artifact, the Soul-Painting Brush. Your power is no match for it. As a Ghost General, surely you know the terror of a Spirit Child?"

"You cannot be a Spirit Child!" the Shahe Ghost General blustered, his voice trembling. "If you were, you would be in the Ghost Fortress, not here! The Fortress has countless ways to enhance a Spirit Child's power, while outside, you are vulnerable and even in mortal danger!"

The Red-Clad Ghost General sighed softly. "I came here only to find an old friend." He paused, gazing at Hong Yu with sudden tenderness. "Thankfully, I have finally succeeded."

The Shahe Ghost General froze.

"Shahe Ghost General, your river is filled with the souls of the innocent. Let it be you who becomes the sacrifice for this brush." The Red-Clad Ghost General activated the Soul-Painting Brush, and a painting unfurled across the void. The Shahe Ghost General struggled, but he could not escape the confines of the brush and was pulled inside.

Seeing this, the young girl nearby smiled with joy. "Father, can your Soul-Painting Brush control other Ghost Generals now?"

The Red-Clad Ghost General looked at her affectionately and shook his head. "It is not so simple. I cannot truly subdue him even inside the painting, but he will not be escaping anytime soon."

He turned his gaze toward Hong Yu.

"Are you... my father?" Hong Yu asked, hesitating.

Chu Youcai and the girl were both stunned.

The Red-Clad Ghost General spoke softly, "It is truly you, Hong Yu! It really is you!" He sighed and stepped forward, staring at the face he had missed for so many years.

"Father! I am Hong Yu! Yes, it is me!" Hong Yu sobbed, unable to contain her emotions.

The Red-Clad Ghost General pulled her into an embrace. For them, this moment had been worth an eternity of waiting. The tension that had held Hong Yu’s heart in a vice finally snapped; she felt as though her soul were trembling. The most beautiful thing had finally happened—her father was not dead; he was alive in the Ghost Realm.

"Dozens of years ago, I lost my consciousness and drifted through this realm," he murmured. "I was captured by the Ghost Fortress and discovered I possessed the body of a Spirit Child. I cultivated for over a decade to reach the rank of Ghost General. I never forgot you and your mother, so I left the fortress to search for you. When I saw you last, you felt familiar, but my spirit had been damaged by my cultivation, and my memories were blurred. I was in pain at the time and could not bring myself to speak to you."

A crystalline tear glimmered in his eye. "Heaven has been kind to let me see you again."

"What happened to Mother?" he eventually asked.

Hong Yu recounted her story—their separation, her life under the control of Lei Yinyang, and how she was finally saved by Chu Youcai.

The Red-Clad Ghost General sighed. "So, Hong Gu is already gone... If only I had been stronger then, I would have killed Magistrate Song; we would not have been torn apart like this."

Seeing his anger, Hong Yu felt a pang of sorrow, but he quickly regained his composure. "Everything has its cause and effect. Had it not been for this obsession, I would not have been reborn in the Ghost Realm. Perhaps Hong Gu’s soul can be purified, and we may yet meet again. That you are safe is the greatest blessing of all." He turned to Chu Youcai. "Young Master Chu, thank you for taking care of my daughter. I, Feng, am eternally grateful."

The Red-Clad Ghost General’s name was Feng Xiangru.

Chu Youcai bowed in return, unable to find the words to express how moved he was by Feng Xiangru's story and their long-awaited reunion.