Chapter 36: A Melodramatic Shell

"Zhiwu..."
"Have you come to find me?"

In the underground warehouse, the cement churned.
There was a great commotion outside. As Yu Yinghua crawled out of the mud and saw that it was Wu Xian and his group, she first shook her head in disappointment, then revealed a cruel smile.

Every night, Yu Yinghua would crawl out of the cement to search for signs of living people for Wang Zhiwu. She believed that as long as she did this—as long as she continued to sacrifice herself for Wang Zhiwu—his conscience would be stirred, he would regret what he had done to her, and he would come to find her to admit his mistakes and apologize. Therefore, she only wished for Wang Zhiwu to come for her.

As for the others... once they stepped onto her turf, they should forget about ever leaving!

Yu Yinghua stood in the shadows, waiting for these weak, foolish humans, who radiated such a delightful scent, to step into the cement trap she had painstakingly prepared. She wouldn't soften the cement right away; she would wait until they reached the center of the warehouse before turning the floor into a mire, ensuring they would have no way to escape.

But for some reason, these humans remained motionless.

"Since everything is ready, let's begin."
Accompanying a man’s voice that carried a mocking, snide tone, Yu Yinghua suddenly heard the click of a switch. Moments later, a blinding light flooded in, making it almost impossible for her to keep her eyes open.

"Is it sunlight?"
Yu Yinghua immediately wanted to flee, but she soon realized it was just the light from electric lamps. But this supermarket and the surrounding shops had long since lost power—why were there lights on?

The source of the light was actually quite simple: searchlights. Because the distance was too great and the searchlights consumed significant power, using multiple power strips would cause voltage drops and pose safety risks. To ensure nothing went wrong, Wen Chao had manually fashioned an extra-long power strip using thick cables. With this, he could draw electricity from elsewhere.

Yu Yinghua didn't want to reveal her form. Her face flattened, and her body sank into the cement floor, leaving only her face exposed to observe the humans' movements. Soon, she saw three figures carrying massive water-tank backpacks, walking to the edge of the warehouse, raising long, staff-like objects.

Yu Yinghua was puzzled: "What are they trying to do now?"
Before she could figure it out, three powerful streams of water mist sprayed from the nozzles, drenching her face and even cleaning the cement off her features. The sprayers had been found at a hardware store. The liquid being sprayed was a solvent Wen Chao had concocted based on a cement fortifier; as it landed on her, it caused her immense discomfort. The mist quickly ran out.

Wu Xian and the others returned to the ground, each dragging two bags. Yu Yinghua was enraged and leaped out of the cement. These humans were endless! How could she, a dignified Great Wandering Spectre, allow them to do as they pleased?

According to her experience, aside from perverts like Fang Zhi, normal humans would be scared witless at the sight of her. But just as she stood upright, a bag smashed against her face and shattered, coating her in white powder. She covered her eyes and let out a cry.

It was lime powder!

One wave, two waves—six bags of lime in total turned Yu Yinghua into a white specter, and the warehouse floor was covered in the dust as well.

Withered, burning, painful!
She was encased in wet cement, and this lime caused her more damage than it would to an ordinary human.

"Die!"
"All of you, die!"
Completely incensed, Yu Yinghua let out a piercing shriek and charged toward Su Huijin, who appeared to be the weakest of the three. Though these petty tricks weren't useless, what good were they besides making her angrier? Evil spirits were entities beyond common sense; simple cleverness could not kill her!

But Wu Xian and his group had never intended to rely solely on these methods. To kill an evil spirit, the most effective tools were magical artifacts and talismans!

Su Huijin was the first to act. She plucked two beads from her bracelet and, just as Yu Yinghua was about to rush her, threw them both simultaneously.

*Crackle!*
The two beads transformed into twin bolts of electricity, then merged into a single flash of thunder, exploding against Yu Yinghua’s chest and knocking her flat.

As Yu Yinghua lay on the ground, she slapped her palms against the floor, her body beginning to rise stiffly. Just as she was halfway up, Wu Xian and Shi Ji simultaneously drove a copper-coin spear and a poisonous child-urine-soaked blade into her body.

On one side was the righteous power of the copper-coin sword, and on the other, the bone-rotting toxin of the filthy blade. Yu Yinghua felt agony; she could feel the evil energy leaking from her torso, but this was also an opportunity, for the two men were now close enough to her!

She channeled her evil energy into the floor. The cement, which had been the weapon intended to seal her fate, now obeyed her command, and the entire warehouse floor instantly softened. In Yu Yinghua’s view, the two men were finished. They relied on their powerful weapons, but their physical bodies were still human; once they sank into the mire, they would have no ability to resist.

But suddenly, Yu Yinghua’s expression shifted drastically.
The floor had indeed softened, but it was not turning into mud; it was more like undulating sludge. The fortifier and the lime had taken effect, preventing the cement from fully liquefying!

Wu Xian and his companion paused for a split second, then seized the moment to unleash a flurry of attacks on Yu Yinghua. A fear more intense than what she had felt facing Fang Zhi welled up in her heart. She realized that if she didn't do something, she would die at the hands of these humans.

As a Great Wandering Spectre, even with her resilient body, she couldn't hold out for long. The toxins were making her sluggish, and the copper-coin sword was purging her evil energy.

"I don't want to disappear!"
"Zhiwu hasn't come to find me yet, he hasn't apologized, I... get away from me, all of you!"

Driven by intense obsession, Yu Yinghua’s body was enveloped in chilling, malevolent energy. The dense aura forced Wu Xian and his companion back. Her body cracked open in several places, and filthy sludge sprayed out, filling the underground space with the stench of raw cement.

Wu Xian felt his teeth ache, and the hair on his back stood up.
"Oh no, this mini-boss has a second phase!"

Yu Yinghua looked down at them with a cruel, hideous expression. She had caused the deaths of many for Wang Zhiwu, and the resentment and curses of those people had been stored within her, only now being unleashed.

"I will make you..."
"Make what, you piece of trash!"
*Splash!*

Yu Yinghua’s face flushed. A spray of foul blood had been splashed onto her, and the violent, malevolent energy she was exuding suddenly shifted from fierce and brutal to erratic and chaotic.

Shi Ji calmly put away a leather pouch. This was a magical tool he had obtained from a previous deity-worship ritual, known as the "Black Dog Blood Pouch." Over time, the pouch gradually filled with the blood of a black dog, which could injure evil spirits and break through both righteous and wicked methods. It was perfect for this situation.

Trying to transform and enter a second phase right in front of him?
In your dreams!
The Innate Filthy Sacred Body was specialized in curing all kinds of flashy tricks!