With no further outside interference, this territory was left with only Meng Po and Qi Hesheng.
As Meng Po advanced step by step, Qi Hesheng’s heart trembled. He instinctively retreated, recalling Meng Po’s earlier words.
"Did we meet in the mortal world?" he asked.
Meng Po paused, not denying it.
Qi Hesheng frowned. "In my memory, I’ve never met such a beauty." He couldn't possibly forget a stunner like Meng Po.
"Never met? Hahaha." Meng Po chuckled, tears of blood streaming from her eyes. "I followed you at fifteen and married you. Cooking, washing, serving your parents – wasn’t I devoted in every way? In those years with you, I became a hag!"
Meng Po shuffled forward, each step turning the sand and stones beneath her into dust. Each stride was like a farewell to past years. "A woman's prime years were all hidden away… Of course, you wouldn’t recognize me!"
Qi Hesheng was surprised, then confused. "We were married?" Images flickered in his mind. Though he had countless romantic entanglements, he had only married twice in his life.
One figure had fair skin, noble features, wore luxurious robes, and possessed an elegant demeanor. The other was thin, with sallow skin and an ordinary build. Though barely a teenager, she looked over thirty.
"You… you are Xiao Qing?!"
Xia Xiaoqing was Meng Po’s name when she was alive.
"The mortal world was only a brief hundred years, and you remember it now?" Qi Hesheng was shocked. Shortly after joining the army, he had, by chance, saved a princess. At that moment, he had a faint inkling that his chance for glory had arrived. However, if the princess knew he was already married, that opportunity would likely vanish. Thus, he staged his own death. He arranged for someone to send word back, informing Xia Xiaoqing that he had died and they would reunite at the Naihe Bridge.
Things proceeded as he had hoped, exceptionally smoothly. He not only became a mighty general but also successfully married the princess. Later, he sent people to inquire and learned that Xia Xiaoqing had passed away. He had sighed then, merely remarking on her misfortune.
But now, recalling what Xia Xiaoqing had just said: "You lied to me, telling me to wait for you at the Naihe Bridge, but you married another and had children, seeking wealth and status…" Could it be that this woman had taken her own life? All for a single sentence in a letter, "We will reunite at the Naihe Bridge"? Those who commit suicide must endure a hundred years of hellfire after death!
He looked at the tear-streaked Meng Po in disbelief. "Why must you be like this! Life is fleeting, like smoke in the wind. Why not seek joy early and let me go, and let yourself go too! You’ve resented me for a thousand years, but haven’t you also tormented yourself for a thousand years?"
"A mere hundred years? Life is fleeting?" Meng Po looked at him, her eyes blazing with fury. "Seek joy early? Let myself go? Anyone can say that, but not you!"
The livestream screen flickered and blurred for an instant. In that flash, Meng Po stood before Qi Hesheng, holding a still-beating heart, dripping with blood. Her fingers suddenly tightened.
*Splat.*
Blood splattered across Meng Po’s face. The livestream viewers were stunned.
"Did anyone see what just happened?"
"I didn't see anything either."
"Does this livestream have a slow-motion feature?"
"Slow motion? You’re dreaming. This livestream doesn’t even have a playback."
"Anyway, Meng Po took down the scumbag."
"Good, keep it up!"
Although the viewers hadn't seen Meng Po's move clearly, they were pleased with the outcome. A thousand years. For one person, for one sentence. She had been persistent for a millennium. Today, it was time for it to end.
*Drip.*
Blood dripped onto the ground. Qi Hesheng, a beat behind, looked at his chest. Even as a ghost, his heart and head were vital points. He hadn't seen Meng Po's move. Everything seemed to have happened in an instant.
Meng Po’s voice came from above. "Don't worry, I won't let you die so easily. You will be buried in the hellfire, for all eternity, suffering a fate worse than death! And finally, you will vanish into the hellfire."
In a daze, Qi Hesheng felt his soul being pulled towards something. "No wonder… no wonder that Taoist priest told me to wear a mask, or else… or else there would be a bloody disaster." He murmured, looking at Meng Po's exquisite face. A strange feeling arose in his heart. "Like this… it doesn't seem so bad…"
When he first saw her at fifteen, her eyes had shone brightly, just like now.
Two days later, Meng Po found Jiang Lin and asked him what he wanted. Among the rewards for her search mission was the fulfillment of one request, within her capabilities. Essentially, she owed him a favor.
"What do you want?" Jiang Lin, thinking of his limited-time mission that had one day remaining, replied without hesitation, "I want to be promoted to the late stage of Great Ghost General!"
"Late stage of Great Ghost General?" Meng Po blinked, then laughed. Facing a favor from someone at the peak of Ghost King, and he only asked for promotion to the late stage of Great Ghost General. "Alright, I’ll grant it."
As she spoke, she raised her slender hand and tapped Jiang Lin’s forehead. A torrent of ghost energy flowed from Meng Po’s fingertips into Jiang Lin’s body. She was directly transferring refined ghost energy to him, which was the fastest and most direct method.
According to the regulations of the Underworld, one could not forcibly absorb another's ghost energy, as ghost energy was the source of life for ghosts. However, if it was an enemy, or if someone willingly gave it, there were fewer restrictions. Thus, in many places, competitions were held under the guise of voluntary surrender of ghost energy by the loser. For example, there was such a place in the ghost market where Fang Lili was located, a place related to Cai Xing’s victims. It was dangerous, but it also held opportunities.
Jiang Lin felt a cool sensation on his forehead, and a comfortable flow of energy coursed through his body. Before he could fully savor it, the jade finger had already moved away.
"Done," Meng Po’s voice sounded. Jiang Lin opened his eyes. He circulated the ghost energy within him and realized he had indeed reached the late stage of Great Ghost General! The power within him even felt significantly greater.
"I accidentally promoted you to the peak of Great Ghost General, is that alright?" Meng Po looked at him with a smile. Jiang Lin shook his head dumbly. "It’s fine." Since he had known Meng Po, he had never seen her smile at anyone like this, not even when facing Lord Yama. At this moment, Meng Po seemed to have shed her obsession, and with it, her cold mask, giving off a sense of great ease. Jiang Lin wondered if, when Meng Po was alive, she had been this cheerful, and had now simply returned to her original self.
"Here, take this." Meng Po extended her hand, giving Jiang Lin a storage bag as part of his reward, then waved and left. Free-spirited, unburdened. Jiang Lin could only think of these two words to describe her. It was as if her task was complete, and she had no more attachments.
After Meng Po left, Jiang Lin opened the storage bag and gasped.