father's killer

Hua Mulan was indeed a woman of noble character and grace. Just as I was forming a guess in my mind, she looked at me and said, "Have you guessed it already?"

I let out a long sigh and gave a wry smile, "You specifically instructed Xue Ru to make sure I saw the murals in the former chamber. Besides wanting me to learn about your life, you probably also wanted me to understand something about this Rouran prince, Doron, right?"

Hua Mulan nodded, her mood seemingly not very high, as she kept her head down in silence, apparently not in the mood to say more.

For some reason, my heart suddenly felt uncomfortable. Unable to hold back, I asked, "You and him..."

"Merely enemies!"

Hua Mulan glanced at me, and for the first time, this cold and proud woman explained to me, "Don't overthink it. My relationship with him was solely that of enemies. The reason he was buried here is that until his death, he was still dreaming of being my ghostly husband in the underworld. At that time, I had just been buried, and he was also on the verge of death due to a serious illness. So, he quietly brought his personal guards into the Qinling area. Not long after, he died, and his guards were buried with him as sacrificial victims. The shadow soldiers you encountered in the Ancient Temple of Suppressing Evil were his Rouran personal guards. You should know that on the battlefield, I had only one identity—a soldier! Having even the slightest entanglement with the enemy is an extremely irresponsible act for a soldier. Moreover, Doron was a very cruel and inhumane person at that time. He attacked the Wei state three times, once even reaching the capital city of Pingcheng, nearly annihilating our Wei state. Wherever he conquered, he would allow his soldiers to massacre the city, commit rape and pillage, and do all kinds of evil, bringing disasters to the common people that you, living in peaceful times, cannot imagine. If it weren't for their repeated invasions, my father would not have been conscripted by the emperor, and I would not have had to go to war in his place. Just now... I was just thinking of those comrades who died in battle..."

So that was it...

I sighed. The cruelty of war, especially during the period of the Five Barbarians' chaos, could definitely compare to the modern Sino-Japanese War. Although the Sino-Japanese War was fierce and the nation was engulfed in flames, it did not leave China as devastated and depopulated as Hua Mulan's era. The period she lived in was known in Chinese history as a time of great population decimation.

What is a great population decimation?

Generally, it is called a great population decimation when the national population death toll exceeds seventy percent. In the long history of China's five thousand years, there have been fourteen such instances, and the era Hua Mulan lived in was one of them. After the chaos of the Five Barbarians, the Jin royal family counted the number of Han people in the north, and the figures were dreadful. The northern Han population was almost wiped out.

Such cruelty is indeed unimaginable for someone like me who lives in peace. I wanted to ask who the man she was leaning on was, but in the end, I didn't ask because I didn't want to reopen her wounds. I could only change the subject, "When will I be able to know everything?"

"When you become stronger," Hua Mulan sighed softly and continued, "At the very least... you need to reach the level of your friend who can deal with flying corpses. He must be a junior Taoist priest by now. If you can't reach the level of a junior Taoist priest within three years, then don't ask about these things again in this lifetime. It's not something you can know. Remember, junior Taoist priest is my minimum requirement for you because only when you become as skilled as your friend can you barely protect yourself and be qualified to inquire about these matters."

Junior Taoist priest?

What level was that?

I was completely clueless about these things, but thinking of Qingyi's capabilities made me feel it was a daunting task.

Three years...

Even if I could split a second in half to use, I might not be able to reach Qingyi's level! Moreover, apart from some simple exorcism techniques recorded in the "Fa Qiu Secret Manual" I had, I was almost completely ignorant of Taoist methods. The only thing I knew was the "Invocation Technique," but this method was too dangerous. I couldn't always run to the underworld to invite a ghost to possess me whenever something happened, could I? This time I was lucky to have invited Black Impermanence, who is known as a kind ghost among the ten great Yin commanders of the underworld. Meeting him usually means not only escaping death but also a change in one's facial features and a small fortune in the near future. However, even so, I was almost worn out. If it weren't for Xue Ru's help, it would be uncertain whether I could even stand up now. Next time, would I be so lucky? What if I invited not Black Impermanence but the extremely vicious ghost kings like Black Tiger or Rakshasa? Wouldn't I be played to death?

Seeing my distressed expression, Hua Mulan seemed to guess what I was thinking and took out a red-covered booklet from her bosom and handed it to me, saying, "The Taoist stuff may not suit you. Since you are a descendant of the Fa Qiu lineage, you should learn the things in this booklet. This was given to me by someone who entered the Ten Dire Tombs a while ago. He claimed to be a descendant of the Fa Qiu lineage as well, but somehow he had a conflict with Doron. He fled all the way here and, seeing that I didn't seem like a fierce ghost and was different from the other tomb owners of the Ten Dire Tombs, he handed me this booklet. He said this was the method for your Fa Qiu lineage to become stronger and must not fall into Doron's hands, otherwise, in a few years, no one in the world of the living would be able to control Doron, and it would inevitably lead to a catastrophe. He entrusted me to keep this booklet safe and never hand it over. Since I was already at odds with Doron, I agreed."

A descendant of the Fa Qiu lineage?

Upon hearing this, I suddenly found it hard to breathe and quickly asked, "What did that person look like? Was he about 1.75 meters tall, in his forties, with a square face and a scar near the corner of his eye?"

Hua Mulan nodded.

I was finally certain that the person Hua Mulan mentioned was my father!!

I couldn't stay calm any longer, and in my emotional agitation, I grabbed Hua Mulan's hand. Her hand was smooth but ice-cold, without a hint of warmth. The chill brought me back to my senses, and realizing my impropriety, I quickly let go of her hand and apologized. Seeing that Hua Mulan was not angry, I finally asked, "Can you tell me what happened to that person afterward?"

Hua Mulan shook her head and sighed softly, "He was very powerful, not much different from a Taoist priest. But still, he was no match for Doron."

Upon hearing this, my legs gave way, and I sat down on the ground.

It had been some time since I received the news of my father's passing. I thought I had calmed down, but it turned out that I still hadn't emerged from the shadow of losing my only relative. At this moment, a sour sadness and endless hatred surged in my heart.

Doron!!!

Someday, I will tear him to pieces and roast his soul on a human oil lamp, so he will never be reborn and will suffer endless pain!

A cold hand suddenly touched my face, and Hua Mulan crouched down to look at me, asking, "Are you alright?"

Looking into her eyes, as cold as winter stars, the flames of hatred in my heart finally subsided a bit. I shook my head gently and said, "I'm fine."

There were some things I didn't say!

After learning who had killed my father, I swore to become stronger. Never before had I desired power as much as I did at this moment.

A feud over my father's death, irreconcilable!

Even if my fate was weak and my reincarnation was cut off, I would still fight that ghostly thing to the end!

I took a few deep breaths and finally opened the booklet Hua Mulan had given me.

On the first page, there was only one word—Kill!

I didn't know who had written this word, but the calligraphy was truly impressive. Even someone like me, who didn't understand much about calligraphy, could feel the chilling killing intent from it.

I was somewhat shocked, not knowing what this booklet left by my father was. The simple yet terrifying opening made me infinitely curious, and I couldn't help but continue reading.

The methods recorded in this booklet were completely different from the exorcism techniques I knew. It spoke of methods such as—destroying ghosts and spirits, absorbing the evil energy from ghosts and spirits, and eventually turning it into one's own killing intent!

Killing intent was divided into nine levels, each stronger than the last. Hua Mulan said that if I could cultivate my killing intent to the sixth level, I would be no worse than Qingyi.

Because killing intent breaks evil, it is very harmful to those malevolent entities. Therefore, the true method of exorcism in the Fa Qiu lineage is to cultivate killing intent!

After reading it, I was dumbfounded. Training to kill ghosts with murderous aura? Isn't that a taboo? Going on like this will scatter so many souls into nothingness. In the end, I'm afraid I'd be hated by the underworld, and after death, being sent to the eighteenth level of hell, climbing the mountain of knives, diving into the sea of fire, and being thrown into the frying pan would be considered light punishments!

But then, thinking about what happened to my father, I gritted my teeth - damn it, I'm all in! My father and I depended on each other for survival, and now he's gone. If I'm not willing to risk this flesh of mine to avenge him, I'd be unworthy as his son!

Just then, a series of loud noises suddenly came from outside, followed by Xueru's voice outside the main tomb chamber: "Master, that kid's friend has come knocking. I've been explaining to him for half a day, but he wouldn't listen. He said if we don't hand over that kid, he'll scatter my soul. He's too powerful, I can't defeat him."

I was stunned for a moment, my friend?

"It was your friend who destroyed the flying corpse and came after us!" Mulan stood up and slowly said, "I didn't expect him to care about you so much. Let's go out and meet them, it's a good opportunity for them to witness for us."

I was confused by her words and couldn't help asking, "Witness what?"

Mulan looked at me with a smile that was not quite a smile, "Did you think I was joking when I handed you the marriage book? In our era, once the marriage book is issued, it means the engagement is set. If you don't accept it, it means you're divorcing me. Do you think you'd have a good outcome if you dare to divorce me?"