Chapter 213 - The Tongueless Old Ghost
Chapter 213 of "Journey to the End of the Night" opens with dynamic events: Baili Anâs body slumped to the ground, unconscious and without a sign of life, at... Read on for more!
Baili Anâs body slumped to the ground, unconscious and without a sign of life, at the exact moment her tongue was severed.
The old ghostâs voice trembled slightly; he should have been the nightâs ghost hunter, yet at that moment, fear had finally seized his soul.
Under the moonlight, the young boy holding the severed tongue, with his crying blood-red eyes, was not the truly terrifying part; it was not the blood pupils that stared like a Ghost, but rather the fact that he had a pair of eyes that could intimidate the soul of ghosts.
And yet his face remained calm and gentle, a serene countenance amidst the eerie scene, truly bizarre to the core.
There was no more wind in the alley, but the old ghost felt a chill throughout his body and shivered, âHowâŚ
how exactly did you see through my true form?â
Baili An said indifferently, âYou talk a lot.â
The old ghost: ââŚâ
âSince the moment I appeared, youâve been talkative, as if you were deliberately proving your ability to speak to me.
Assuming the identity of the storyteller was likely the same tactic.
Your tongue is devoid of flesh, severed from her body, making your ability to speak quite difficult; yet, it seems you didnât want others to know you were a Tongueless Ghost, so you desperately showcased your eloquence.
But the more a human speaks, the blacker a ghostâs tongue becomes.â
Baili An leisurely lifted his eyelids and methodically wound the tongue in his hand like yarn, tying knots one by one until it was neatly wrapped.
The old ghostâs voice was filled with hatred, feeling mocked, âIf you had such powerful abilities from the start, why didnât you kill us directly?
Why go through this elaborate baiting just for me to fall into your trap?â
Obviously, it was a rhetoric question.
Yet Baili An honestly replied, âThat little girl is innocent; she didnât want to kill anyone.â
Fear or helplessness, the little girlâs expression wasnât fake.
She was just the old ghostâs Puppet, a vessel for the tongue, a pitiable being.
More importantly, an unusual darkness attacked Night City tonight, the situation so abrupt and peculiar,
Baili An faintly felt that if he didnât do something at this moment, he might forever miss out on something.
He acted according to his conscience.
There was no need to pretend as if nothing had happened if he could capture the ghosts and save the people who could be saved.
âDisgusting, even a ghost you want to save!â The old ghost suddenly became hysterical, âIf thatâs the case!
Why donât you save me too!
Iâm pitiful too, why does no one come to save me!â
With a spit, he cursed, âHypocrite!â
Baili An was unfazed, responding, âAre you trying to argue with me about the morality of good and evil?
Before the evil spirits, to loudly debate over the hypocrisy of ghosts, isnât that superfluous?â
He placed the wound-up tongue on the ground, pressed lightly with his palm, and the Mountain Seal glowed with a bright, golden light.
A seal heavy as a mountain suppressed the old tongue.
âKilling merits death, yet you have no life to taste.
I wonât kill you, only hand you over to the cityâs Guard Army.
Do you object?â
âYou little ghostââ
âOf course,â Baili An chuckled, âeven if you did object, it would be futile.â
He turned around and picked up the unconscious little girl, resting his palm on her cheek to check her temperature.
The old ghost suddenly laughed, his gaze unnaturally eerie, âArenât you afraid that once I am in the hands of the Guard Army, I will reveal this little ghost girl?
That group of people, for the sake of achievements, can be utterly unscrupulous!â he emphasized the last four words heavily, with deep resentment.
Baili An looked at him, remaining silent.
Shortly after, the sound of a night watchmanâs gong came from outside the alley, the clean and lonely sound resonating uniquely in the night.
Suddenly laughing, Baili An, under the old ghostâs gaze, raised his arm, revealing that what he held was a clapper.
As the night watchmanâs gong sounded again, the clapper in his hand followed in quick, crisp strikes.
The old ghostâs face changed drastically.
âDong, dong, dong!!!â went the night watchmanâs gong.
âClack, clack, clack!!!â echoed the clapper sound.
The night watchmanâs footsteps faded away, but the drumming sound seemed forcibly retained by the clapper, echoing for a while, each sound deeper than the last.
With each strike of the clapper in Baili Anâs hands, blood inexplicably splattered forth.
His fingertips were intact, yet the blood seemed to ooze from within the clapper, streaming endlessly.
Each clap caused the little girlâs body to convulse and shake.
Strangely, there was no pain on her face, instead, her eyebrows and eyes became progressively more peaceful and serene as if a long-imprisoned soul was finally being released.
As the clapperâs blood dripped down like threads, the little girlâs body started to decay and crumble away, dissipating into dust.
The blood from the clapper grew thick, yet it couldnât stick to fingers or wood, continuing to fall without adhering to any surface, except for soaking into the earth, covered by Houtu.
Until the very last drop of blood fell from the clapper to the ground.
The piece of wood in his hand quickly turned black, crumbling into ashes like charred wood at a gentle squeeze.
Simultaneously, a wisp of the girlâs soul floated from her forehead as her body turned to sand and drifted away.
Baili An swiftly opened an umbrella, capturing the girlâs soul within the fan.
Having done all this, he moved his foot, knocking over a small stove.
The clear water boiling on it, which was unknowingly transformed into corpse oil, instantly ignited in the fierce blaze, turning the humble âhomeâ into a raging inferno.
The old ghostâs green eyes stared deathly at the fire, tears of resentment slowly flowing from his eyes.
With the tongue spirit suppressed, he had no escape.
âHow exactly did you figure it out?â asked the old ghost, his voice no longer stern and ghastly but filled with a profound weariness.
Baili An answered, âYour goal was not merely to kill, but to steal human essence and energy, attempting to resurrect and become human.
As a ghost spirit, any additional human essence and energy that entered your body would instantly transform into Yin ghost Qi.
Therefore, you needed a living soul to nourish your ghostly essence.
You emphasized throughout your words that the little girl was a Ghost, using the tongue to control her to kill me, in order to convince my companions hiding in the shadows that she too was a ghost.
But in reality, she was not.â
From the city, the sound of iron horses and weaponry echoed.
That was the cityâs Guard Army, drawn by the fire in the alley.
The fire didnât only consume a humble abode but also the thick corpse oil within.
The crimson in Baili Anâs eyes dissipated, turning into a deep, ink-black profundity.
He held the umbrella, blocking the moonlight, crouching in front of the tongue and the old ghost, waiting quietly.
When Lan Youdie crashed through the old wall at the end of the alley on a battle horse, dust filling the air, she stared at the young boy in the midst of the flames in utter surprise, âIs it you?â
Baili An nodded in greeting, âMiss Lan.â
Lan Youdie frowned, her gaze surveying the scene; seeing the old ghost lying on the ground, her expression changed again.
With a metallic ring, she drew the Spirit Sword from the horseâs back, her gaze extremely cautious as she pointed the sword tip at the old ghost, sharply saying, âZhou Ruyan!
So itâs you wreaking havoc tonight!
Do you know whom youâve killed tonight?!â
The old ghost let out a cold, eerie laugh, declining to answer.
Seeing that he didnât move, Lan Youdie frowned secretly.
When she saw the sealed, elongated tongue beneath the young boy, she suddenly understood something.
Unbelievable.
A troublesome ghost that plagued the border city and harmed it for a hundred years, even the cityâs Guard Army was at a loss with it.
From the murder and theft of eyes to the escape, it was only a short span of three incense sticksâ worth of time.
The cityâs Guard Army hadnât even had the time to search and secure the city properly yet.
And this young boy had so swiftly subdued and sealed him?