Purging the Ghost King

Finally finished with the meal, Lonemoon was about to drag this lazy bum to the sea island when a disciple rushed over and greeted hurriedly, "Greetings, Supremacy!"

"You are a disciple of the Main Peak?" Lonemoon furrowed his brows. "Why is Xi Qiu looking for me?"

"Supremacy, Sect Master said that the Soul Devouring Banner is undergoing strange changes and would like for Supremacy to hurry over to examine it."

"The Soul Devouring Banner has not been purged?!" Lonemoon was shocked. Three days ago, he had already set up a huge purge array; logically speaking, the demon souls inside the Banner should have been purged no matter how powerful they were. Could something unforeseen have occurred again?

"Let's go to Jing Qing Hall!" He signaled towards the disciple. But just as he was about to ride his sword, he thought for a bit before turning around and grabbed Shen Ying aboard. "No sleeping! Didn't you bring that Banner over here? Come and take a look with me!"

"…" So troublesome.

The both of them flew over to Jing Qing Hall swiftly. The moment they stepped in, Xi Qiu came over wearing a grave expression.

"Uncle-Master!" Xi Qiu cupped his fists and bowed. He turned and pointed towards the inside of the hall. "You have finally arrived. Come and have a look at the Soul Devouring Banner ."

Lonemoon looked up and saw that the eerie Banner was indeed still floating above, looking as black as ink; it had not changed a single bit since three days ago. The huge purge array he had set up on the ground was still gleaming with a white glow while the rest of the hall masters sat around the array powering the Spirit Qi.

"What? Could it be that the Ghost Qi in this Banner is immune to my array formation?"

"No, that is not the case!" Xi Qiu quickly explained, "But we are not sure why the demon souls never came out of this Banner even when their Spirit Qi was eroded by the array formation, which was why they could not be completely purged."

"What? Even the purge array cannot force the demon souls out?" Did they want their souls to be pulverized into non-existence by staying inside the Banner ?

"You are right." Xi Qiu's expression became graver. "Demon souls are most afraid of Spirit Qi. Now that three days have passed and they have yet to come out, I'm guessing that this Banner may already have a Ghost King."

"The Ghost Qi of a Ghost King is overwhelming, but this Banner seems very clean!" It was too clean to be exact, with not a bit of Ghost Qi seeping out at all. This was also the reason they did not inquire clearly of Yi Qing about the Soul Devouring Banner in the beginning, thinking that it was nothing serious. But now that he wanted to ask, Yi Qing was having an epiphany.

"Perhaps this is a special Ghost King!" Xi Qiu continued, "Legend has it that a Ghost King has a formidable power different from the rest of the demon souls. Moreover, the day of its birth can cause the earth and sky to transform, bringing about strange changes. Five days ago, the waters of the Black Sea suddenly parted in the middle and an island on the sea along with Uncle-Master's Ling Yun Peak were simultaneously destroyed. Perhaps that was the sign of a Ghost King being born."

"…"

Lonemoon's mouth twitched as he understood what was being talked about. He faintly felt his forehead gathering wrinkles as he patted Xi Qiu's shoulder and said, "Xi Qiu, you think too much." No one else was clearer as to how Ling Yun Peak had disappeared than him! It was certainly because he did not have time to explain… absolutely not because it was too embarrassing to mention.

(ー` ́ー)

"But besides the birth of the Ghost King, what could have caused the earth and sky to transform?" Xi Qiu looked blank.

"Any… anyway, it has got nothing to do with the Ghost King! Rest assured, I will resolve this matter with the Soul Devouring Banner ." He was suddenly not worried about what ghost was inside the Soul Devouring Banner . He raised his head and looked at the Banner in the air, formed a hand seal and kept the Banner . Even upon taking a closer look, apart from the dilapidated array formation that could not be seen clearly, he still could not notice anything special about it.

"Hey, Shen Ying." He turned and nudged the sleepy person beside him. "Wasn't this Banner sent over here by your chef… pooh, disciple? What's this array formation on its top, do you have any clue?"

"Huh?" Shen Ying was dumbfounded. As she received the Banner , she asked, "What does array formation mean?"

"Array formation is… Wait a second!" Lonemoon was about to explain but all of a sudden his eyes widened as he looked at the object in her hand. "This Banner … moved?!"

The Banner that had not budged for the past few days suddenly trembled and started to sway in Shen Ying's hands as if flapping wildly from being blown by a strong wind.

"Shen Ying, what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" Shen Ying held up the Banner curiously. "Huh, why is it dripping water? Was this soaked in water?" The Banner was suddenly soaking wet, dripping from the water seeping out of it.

"Don't move!" Lonemoon quickly held onto her hand. "Listen, there's a sound!"

Everyone present became silent; there was indeed a tiny sound ringing within the hall. It was extremely soft as if holding back on purpose, and the sound was heard on and off: Waa… Waawaa… Waawaa…

Huh?! Why did he feel that this sound… sounded like sobbing?!

(ᄑ_ᄑ)

"Not good, it's the Ghost King's sound attack!" Xi Qiu immediately jumped back as if confronted by a formidable enemy. He shouted to the people in the hall, "Quick, set up a barrier!"

The rest of the four hall masters' expressions tensed up and they stepped back. One after another, they lit up the golden defensive barrier surrounding them. Xi Qiu explained while he removed the seal, "The Ghost King's sound attack targets the primordial spirit directly. It is not to be belittled!"

The rest of the hall masters supported this in succession.

"Never did I imagine this Banner to have a Ghost King. Uncle-Master, be careful!"

"Uncle-Master, quickly place the Banner back into the array. We must not let the Ghost King's sound attack be transmitted!"

"That's right Uncle-Master! Although you are at Soul Formation stage, you must not be careless! It is best to use a barrier!"

"The sound attack will only grow more powerful. You are alright now, but in a while it may be too late."

"Uncle-Master!"

"Uncle-Master!" x N!

The sound coming out from the Banner was indeed growing louder; compared to the previous almost indistinguishable noises that were being made, now it was already so loud that it was jarring. The entire hall was filled with the sounds made by the Ghost King from within the Banner . It cried out with deep emotions to its heart content, letting itself loose: Waawaawaawaawaawaawaa…

Shen Ying: "…"

Lonemoon: "…"

This is the sound of crying right? This is obviously the sound of crying!

Wait a moment!

Could the water from the Banner be tears? The Ghost King's tears!! (⊙_⊙)

Suddenly, he experienced a moment of eureka and an absurd thought flashed across his mind as he stiffly turned his head towards the person beside him. "You… what did you do to the Ghost King?"

That person looked blank as she tilted her head. "What's a Ghost King?" Had she seen it before?

"…"

At those words of hers, the sobbing from the Banner grew louder with anguish, and the droplets of water lined up and seeped out of the Banner .

Shen Ying looked at the black Banner in disdain but felt it would be rude to directly throw away an item given to her by another. Her eyes narrowed slightly and she said, "Too noisy! If you want to cry, come out and cry!" And following that, she shook the Banner .

All of a sudden, a copious amount of black gas burst out of the Banner .

It… came out!

(⊙_⊙)

In addition, it was the kind that rolled out in lumps.

The black gas landed and showed its form. A hundred feet tall. Green face with jagged teeth. Fierce-looking, bloody mouth. Large, bulging and bloodshot eyeballs seeming capable of devouring the soul of a human. It would have looked extremely terrifying…

If… It weren't kneeling on the ground.

(꒪Д꒪)ノ

The Ghost King was down on both its knees, its sharp claws laid properly on its legs in the most proper posture it could manage. Two streams of unknown liquid were leaking from the large and bloodshot eyes on its large face, but on the other hand the sound was now gone. Its sharp and jagged teeth capable of crushing souls were biting on its bottom lip, and it was wearing a pathetic look that seemed as if it wanted to cry but dared not.

Lonemoon: "…"

Xi Qiu: "…"

Hall masters: "…"

What exactly… was this ghost?

The hall remained silent for five minutes, and the entire place was filled with the sounds of tears being dripped onto the ground by a certain ghost: pitter-patter, pitter-patter…

"No wonder… it's my Uncle-Master!" The first to recover from the shock was Xi Qiu. It was unknown as to what he was thinking, but his face beamed with delight as he looked at Lonemoon. "This Ghost King was indeed drawn out by you."

"…" Lonemoon's mouth twitched. What has that got to do with me, wasn't it obviously shaken out by Shen Ying?

"Uncle-Master was right. Previously, I overestimated this Ghost King. Who would have known that under the coercion of Uncle-Master, it would not be able to even stand up."

"No, I can't suppress it." It was totally not afraid of him?

"Uncle-Master, you need not be so humble. It was all thanks to your help. The Ghost King did not come out all this while because it was too afraid of Uncle-Master."

"Are all of you… blind?"

Just as he was about to explain, the ground suddenly shook—Sword Qi seemed to emerge from all directions and the Spirit Qi in the air began to move towards a certain direction out of the door.

"This Spirit Qi…" Lonemoon turned to look at the person beside him. "Shen Ying, your chef… pooh, Yi Qing's epiphany was a success." He then quickly pulled her out of the door and said, "Quick, look at that!"

"Uncle-Master, that Ghost King…" Xi Qiu urgently called out.

"Since it's already out, I shall leave it to all of you to purge it!" Lonemoon replied and disappeared at the door.

Xi Qiu squinted at the Ghost King in the middle of the hall. Was he seeing an illusion? Why did it feel like after Uncle-Master left, even the Ghost King heaved a sigh of relief? Even its tears stopped flowing out?!

Uncle-Master was indeed formidable!

"Oh right, just now beside Uncle-Master… there seemed to be someone. Do any of you know who it is?"

"I have never seen that person before. Uncle-Master called that person Shen… Shen something? I didn't take a good look, so I'm not really sure as to that person's gender?"

"Forget it, not important. Let's conduct the array!"