Chapter 49: The True Heart of a Swordsman
Yet in front of Qin Xuan, there was no one, nor anything else. After drawing the Taijing Sword, he set it aside, instead fiddling with its scabbard. After a while, he finally pulled out a crumpled paper talisman from within.
“This is it, the Spirit-Sealing Talisman...”
Before descending the mountain, his master had placed various talismans in his sword scabbard, and among them was this Spirit-Sealing Talisman, whose purpose was to seal all wandering souls and restless ghosts in its vicinity within its spell.
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
Qin Xuan formed several hand seals; the originally wrinkled talisman soon radiated a faint yellow light. “This building is thick with sinister energy and resentment, filling every corner, but all of it is merely fragmented souls and shattered spirits. I wonder who scattered this person’s soul, leaving it unable to enter the cycle of reincarnation and forever trapped here...”
He frowned, pressed the talisman against the wall, and formed more seals.
The light radiating from the talisman gradually shifted to a vivid crimson, and suddenly a violent wind arose, with the sinister energies and resentful spirits surging toward the talisman’s location!
This sudden phenomenon terrified Zou Qingshu so thoroughly that he fled the building in a panic, tumbling and scrambling, shouting as he went, “Qin Xuan isn’t human, there’s a ghost!”
Qin Xuan focused intently on the talisman before him, paying no heed to Zou Qingshu.
As more sinister winds and resentful energies were absorbed, peculiar blue lines began to appear on the talisman’s surface, growing denser until they covered it entirely.
In a brief moment, the sinister winds and resentful energies in the whole building were completely drawn away!
The talisman itself was now a sheet of paper shimmering with a mysterious blue glow, both enigmatic and eerie. Qin Xuan took it from the wall, concentrating for a moment.
“This...”
Soon, his brow furrowed tightly, and then, a trace of anger appeared on his face. Moments later, fury erupted.
“Miss, rest assured—I will help you.”
Qin Xuan spoke solemnly to the talisman, then tucked it into his chest, sheathed the Taijing Sword, and left the building.
The talisman had gathered all the fragmented souls in the building, and Qin Xuan finally found some pieces of memory among them. He learned that these souls belonged to a young woman, and from the fragments, he discovered the cause of her death and the reason her soul was shattered.
Yang Ling had entered Jinling University two years before him and was the belle of the Chinese Department at the time. Jinling University’s Chinese Department was famed for its beautiful students, but Yang Ling’s popularity was unmatched.
Unfortunately, she caught the eye of Li Shihao, then a senior.
Yes, Li Shihao—the very reason for Qin Xuan’s wrath!
Yang Ling did not accept his advances, rejecting him three times in succession. Li Shihao bore a grudge, and on a dark, windy night, he called several thugs and committed unspeakable acts against her.
Yang Ling, overwhelmed with grief, took her own life in her dormitory the next day.
The incident stirred much talk, but no one knew the real reason behind her suicide.
Li Shihao, upon learning of her death, used his connections to suppress the news as much as possible. As he thought himself safe, he began dreaming nightly of Yang Ling’s vengeful ghost.
After three nights of torment, he could bear it no longer and somehow found a wandering Taoist priest, who came to the sealed dormitory to perform a ritual.
Though the priest could do nothing about Yang Ling’s ghostly resentment, he was not entirely powerless. Unable to dispel her anger, he chose instead to shatter her soul and scatter it throughout the building.
From then on, Li Shihao was freed from his nightmares, but Yang Ling’s remnant soul wandered the halls for two years, fueling rumors of hauntings.
Until today...
“Boss, did you see Zou Qingshu’s cowardly state? Ha! We caught it all on camera—there’ll be plenty to talk about over meals for weeks!” Zhou Xiaoyu laughed uncontrollably as Qin Xuan returned.
But soon, they noticed Qin Xuan’s face was dark and grim.
“Boss, what’s wrong? Is the place really haunted?” Zhou Xiaoyu asked in confusion.
“Can you find Li Shihao? Tell me where he is.”
Qin Xuan’s voice was grave.
“Boss, what’s going on?” Zhou Xiaoyu sensed Qin Xuan’s anger and grew solemn.
“That scum—I intend to kill him,” Qin Xuan’s eyes flashed coldly.
“It’s already past eight in the evening—who knows where Li Shihao is... I don’t know him well, our relationship is terrible, I really can’t find out where he is,” Zhou Xiaoyu replied, troubled.
Qin Xuan said nothing. The next moment, he strode down the mountain.
“Boss, wait for me!” Zhou Xiaoyu hurried after him. “Did that guy do something despicable again?”
“Utter scum!” Qin Xuan spat, then suddenly quickened his pace; after several flashes, he vanished! Zhou Xiaoyu chased after him, gasping for breath, but never caught sight of Qin Xuan again.
Only then did he realize that the man he called “boss” was truly extraordinary!
“Wait, the boss just visited the haunted building, and rumor has it a girl committed suicide there... If he really encountered a ghost, could it be that her suicide is connected to Li Shihao?”
Zhou Xiaoyu, quick-witted, soon guessed most of the truth.
As for the specifics, no matter how hard he tried, he could not piece it all together.
At that moment, Gao Tie and Xiao Gang arrived, panting. Gao Tie, out of breath, asked, “Xiaoyu, where’s Qin Xuan? Weren’t you following him?”
“I don’t know—the boss ran too fast, I suspect he’s Superman,” Zhou Xiaoyu shook his head, then shared his suspicions.
Gao Tie snapped his fingers. “Exactly! Xiaoyu, you must be right. The forum said Li Shihao pursued that girl and was rejected three times, making him a laughingstock at the time...”
“Oh no, I’m afraid the boss intends to kill Li Shihao,” Zhou Xiaoyu’s face changed.
“What? K-kill someone?” Xiao Gang’s muscles trembled with shock, his eyes wide. Gao Tie looked equally astonished, as if seeing an alien.
They were but ordinary freshmen, mostly concerned with chasing girls, playing basketball, gaming. Murder? That was worlds away from their reality.
“I’m sure. We have to catch up to him!” Zhou Xiaoyu had no doubt of Qin Xuan’s rage. If Li Shihao appeared before him, Qin Xuan would surely kill him!
The three ignored their unfinished barbecue and hurried toward the campus gates.
...
Qin Xuan raced forward, intent on dealing with Li Shihao.
Framing him, aiding foreigners, hiring thugs to assault women—such overlapping offenses gave Qin Xuan ample cause to act! Though he knew that taking action would likely end his journey of trials and bring unforeseen consequences, he would not regret it.
To right wrongs and defend the innocent—this was the true heart of a swordsman!
Suddenly, he stopped near the campus entrance.
He saw a familiar figure at the gate, and beside her, two men in black were trying to drag her into a white van.
That figure was Su Muqing!