Although this was a red-clothed vengeful spirit, she did not give me the sense of malevolence that vengeful spirits typically carried.
I stared at her, neither afraid nor in a hurry to act.
I simply replied calmly:
"You didn't kill me and let me leave, which means you still have a shred of humanity.
I'm here today, either to take you away or to kill you."
I said it frankly and earnestly.
The red-clothed vengeful spirit did not turn around, nor did she look at me.
She merely continued speaking calmly:
"You can't take me away, and you can't kill me. Daoist priest, you should leave quickly! I might attack and kill you at any moment."
This female ghost repeatedly urged me to leave and not to bother with her.
She didn't even look at me anymore.
But since I had come, it was to deal with her, so how could I leave?
Seeing her like this, I let out a low cry:
"Twelve Demon Generals!"
As soon as the words left my mouth, the twelve demon souls within the purple bone vine transformed into black mist and flashed out.
Waves of Yin-demon energy surged, instantly stirring the entire floor.
The red-clothed vengeful spirit also turned her head, looking at me with some surprise.
Then, she saw streams of black mist condensing before me.
They were indeed the Twelve Demon Generals.
They looked at the red-clothed ghost before them, their brows furrowing, daring not to be careless.
They became vigilant, with Chen Long, Si Snake, Zi Rat, and others stepping forward to block in front of me.
After all, she was a red-clothed spirit, not to be trifled with.
Once such a vengeful spirit went berserk, the consequences would be unimaginable.
With the Twelve Demon Generals present, they did not dare to be the slightest bit negligent.
However, I signaled for Chen Long and the others to step aside.
Then I continued to speak to the female ghost:
"Now, can you tell me the reason?"
Just now, she must have felt my strength was too weak, which is why she was unwilling to say more.
Now, by summoning the twelve demon souls, I had made her deeply aware of my power.
If I could send her away without bloodshed while she was still lucid, it would be best.
If I could send away a red-clothed ghost, the merit and lifespan gained would be several times more than killing one.
Moreover, fighting a red-clothed ghost would undoubtedly be difficult.
There was no telling when there might be injuries or other unforeseen circumstances.
Seeing me summon the Twelve Demon Generals, the vengeful spirit noted that their auras were not weak.
Especially Chen Long and the others, their auras were powerful.
Even as a red-clothed ghost, she was no weaker than them.
She looked at me and said again:
"Do you really want to help me?"
I spread my hands:
"Of course.
All living beings have the right to reincarnation.
Although you have done many evil deeds,
if you have intelligence now and sincerely repent,
I can send you to reincarnation. As for how much suffering and torment you will endure for your karmic debts afterward,
whether you will be demoted to maggots in the next life, that's hard to say.
Although it sounds very miserable, it's better than being annihilated and never reborn.
In the future, you can have a brand new life..."
I didn't lie, I spoke truthfully and described things as they were.
All beings have the right to be reincarnated.
Broadly speaking, this is granted by the Heavenly Dao.
However, before all beings can reincarnate, they must first settle all their karmic debts and negative consequences from their past lives.
For a red-clothed vengeful spirit like her, based on the information I have, she has already taken several human lives.
When she goes down, she will receive all the suffering she deserves, not a single day less.
And even after enduring the suffering and going for reincarnation, ninety-nine percent of the time it won't be as a human. It will be as maggots or as pigs and dogs awaiting slaughter.
After hearing my words, the female ghost remained very calm.
After a slight hesitation, she nodded slightly at me.
Then she said:
"On our wedding night, the County Magistrate's son, in front of my husband, took me by force and beat my in-laws to death.
My husband, unable to bear the humiliation, brought me to beat the drum and file a complaint.
However, due to the collusion of officials, they even broke my husband's legs and castrated him.
They bought me and sent me to a brothel to be defiled.
My husband, relying on his hands, crawled a hundred miles to the brothel to try and bring me back.
But he was caught by the madam and brought before me. He was then beaten to death by the brothel thugs.
Under overwhelming despair, I hanged myself that very night..."
Upon hearing this, I felt my entire body go numb.
I hadn't expected this female ghost's life story to be so tragic.
In her mortal life, she had encountered such a terrible ordeal.
However, a vengeful spirit is a vengeful spirit.
My master taught me not to harbor any sympathy for ghosts.
You can kill them or send them away, but you must never show sympathy or be overly kind-hearted.
Doing so could very well lead to your own demise.
And the red-clothed vengeful spirit continued her narrative.
"After I died, my resentment did not dissipate.
I killed all the thugs and the madam of the brothel, and I also killed the County Magistrate's son who harmed me.
When I was about to kill the entire County Magistrate's family, I was suppressed by a Daoist priest.
I was pressed beneath a City God Temple, and it was only until recently that I saw daylight again..."
The female ghost recounted her entire life story.
Although it was tragic, there was one thing I didn't quite understand: why was she able to remain so lucid?
So I asked:
"I want to know, how do you maintain clarity with such a dense aura of malevolence? Why haven't you lost your mind?"
Logically speaking, she wasn't a ghost cultivator, just a simple evil ghost, yet she possessed normal thoughts, which was very strange.
The female ghost shook her head:
"I don't know, but perhaps it has something to do with this!"
Saying that, the female ghost extended her hand, and on her fair palm appeared a black plaque.
As soon as the plaque appeared, it captured the attention of all of us.
A peculiar aura emanated from the plaque.
The plaque was small and round, about the size of a palm, and its material was unknown.
But the three red characters on it were particularly conspicuous: "Taishan God"...