I lay on the ground, motionless for a long time, not responding to E Nian Wu Ge Ge's words.
Although I was thrown to the ground, my body wasn't hurting from the fall itself. Instead, it was the collision between E Nian Wu Ge Ge's Yin Qi entering my body and my own Xuan Yang Qi that caused my internal Xuan Yang Qi to run amok, leading to the pain.
Furthermore, I wanted to use my seemingly helpless state on the ground to lull E Nian Wu Ge Ge into a false sense of security. I only had one bag of the specially prepared rooster's blood left. If this last bag couldn't control her, my only option would be to throw the jade pendant.
However, the jade pendant was my last resort, usable only once. If I failed, E Nian Wu Ge Ge would definitely not give me a second chance.
Therefore, I wouldn't use it until the very last moment. E Nian Wu Ge Ge was currently playing a cat-and-mouse game with me. If I were to reveal the jade pendant directly, I felt this game would end, and it would undoubtedly conclude with my death.
Just then, E Nian Wu Ge Ge's voice echoed again.
"Hey, I know you're not dead. Are you too hurt to get up? Do you want me to help you?"
I "laboriously" lifted my head, gritted my teeth, and uttered a "No need." After standing up, I swayed precariously for a while before finally regaining my balance.
Seeing me stand up again, E Nian Wu Ge Ge's eyes held a flicker of excitement. "It's just like what I read in books. What was it called?"
As she spoke, she appeared to be deep in thought. After a moment, her eyes lit up with excitement again. "I remember now. Good people don't live long, while villains thrive for millennia. Right?"
Hearing this, I felt an urge to vomit blood.
This saying was a gross overstatement when applied to me. I wasn't Gao Qiu, nor was I Qin Hui. Had she stuffed her books into a dog's belly?
Despite my internal curses, I didn't voice them. I couldn't help but feel a sense of strangeness about the situation.
The Wu Ge Ge before me, though an embodiment of evil thoughts, seemed like a mischievous child in her early teens, curious about everything and wanting to investigate it.
If she truly was the embodiment of evil thoughts, as Shan Nian Wu Ge Ge claimed, why didn't she kill me the first time we met?
Instead, she brought me to the bamboo building in the Yin Bamboo Forest?
Could it be that she wasn't the embodiment of evil thoughts as Shan Nian Wu Ge Ge had said?
"Hey, if you don't speak soon, I'm going to kill you."
Looking at the ferocity in her eyes, yet hearing her verbally threaten to kill me, I felt something was amiss, but I couldn't pinpoint the issue.
I responded, "Come at me then."
Before my words had even finished, E Nian Wu Ge Ge, instead of rising and flying, remained in place. Her fingernails elongated explosively, shooting towards me like ribbons.
I remained still, silently reciting the Sky Retreat Seal. I formed the hand seals and, before the attack could reach me, unleashed the Sky Retreat Seal.
In this dark, eerie, ghost-like Yin Bamboo Forest, the Sky Retreat Seal was like the rising sun, emitting an incredibly brilliant light.
Under the radiance, E Nian Wu Ge Ge's fingernails were forced back by the golden light. Simultaneously, she let out a scream, and her hair transformed into black snakes, forming a wall several meters high in front of her, enveloping her.
This transformation happened in a flash. Watching the Sky Retreat Seal strike the wall of hair and dissipate into wisps of smoke, I was somewhat stunned.
What was going on? Was this Wu Ge Ge the same person I had met earlier, who had been fighting and killing? Had she switched personalities again?
As I stood there in a daze, a soft shout reached my ears.
"Why aren't you seizing this opportunity to strike the jade pendant into her body? What are you waiting for?"
I instinctively turned my head to look.
Shan Nian Wu Ge Ge, dressed in snow-white attire, had appeared beside me at some point. Her eyes held a look of anxiety as she gazed at me.
This was the third time I had seen her. Logically, I should have followed her instructions and hurled the jade pendant I held into E Nian Wu Ge Ge's body. Only then could Shan Nian and E Nian return to one entity, restoring the true Wu Ge Ge.
However, at this moment, I hesitated. Although I had met her twice and was convinced I should trust her words, a voice in my mind now warned me not to listen to her.
After a moment of hesitation, I spoke, "Wu Ge Ge, she's completely defenseless now. Suppressing her should be effortless for you."
Upon hearing this, Shan Nian Wu Ge Ge's expression shifted slightly, and she spoke rapidly, "What do you know? If I could enter her body directly, why would I need your help? Hurry, before she recovers. We'll both face only one outcome: death."
Seeing Shan Nian Wu Ge Ge's anxious demeanor, I became even more certain that I should not throw the jade pendant she had given me towards E Nian Wu Ge Ge.
Even a blind person could see that E Nian Wu Ge Ge was now powerless to resist.
When I had first learned the Sky Retreat Seal, it might not have been powerful, perhaps not even capable of dealing with an ordinary Yin spirit. But that didn't mean I couldn't handle Yin spirits now. And the E Nian Wu Ge Ge before me, while appearing powerful, actually seemed to lack even the strength of a common Yin spirit, let alone a Ghost General.
In contrast, the Shan Nian Wu Ge Ge before me, despite her seemingly harmless appearance, had her roar from the dream still echoing in my mind. If I were to compare Shan Nian Wu Ge Ge with E Nian Wu Ge Ge, I believed Shan Nian Wu Ge Ge was far more ferocious and posed a greater threat to me.
Shan Nian Wu Ge Ge's eyes flashed with a cold glint, which quickly disappeared. "Forget it. Since we've come this far, if you won't help me, just return the jade pendant. I'll do it myself."
I nodded, then tossed the jade pendant from my bag directly to Shan Nian Wu Ge Ge, stepping back simultaneously.
The moment Shan Nian Wu Ge Ge received the jade pendant, she let out a piercing scream. A visible shockwave radiated outwards from her, lifting the ground half a meter high in its path. As I reached the entrance of the bamboo building, the shockwave followed, but it was blocked by an invisible force about a meter away from the building.
Looking at the devastated scene before me, I inwardly marveled. This was truly terrifying. If I had been even a step slower, I would have been utterly dead, with no chance of survival.
After the shockwave subsided, Shan Nian Wu Ge Ge, still clad in snow-white, stood two meters away from me, her gaze filled with confusion.
"When did you find out?"
"Just now."
"Just now?" Shan Nian Wu Ge Ge looked at me with some bewilderment. "I don't understand where I slipped up that made you realize I wasn't her?"
Looking at the question in her eyes, I was unsure whether to tell her.
Seeing my silence, Shan Nian Wu Ge Ge, or rather, E Nian Wu Ge Ge, spoke again, "Tell me, and I can leave you with your body intact."
I hesitated for a moment before replying, "In the dream."
"In the dream?" E Nian Wu Ge Ge frowned, then relaxed her expression. "Was it because my roar flattened the pavilion and the bamboo forest?"
I shook my head. "No."
"Then what? I believe I've always maintained my disguise impeccably. Even if my own father were here, he wouldn't be able to discern any change in me. How could an outsider like you see through it?"
Looking at the somewhat frantic E Nian Wu Ge Ge before me, I said in a deep voice, "Because of your eyes."
This was no lie. The first time I met Wu Ge Ge, her eyes were as luminous as gemstones. When she looked at me, there was only shame, and she even asked with a hint of expectation if I had come to fulfill their ten-year promise.
The second time I saw her, her eyes were still as luminous as gemstones, but a faint bluish hue emanated from them as she spoke.
Since Wu Ge Ge always wore a veil when she appeared, I could only gauge her expression from her eyes. And it was precisely because of this that I suspected the "Shan Nian Wu Ge Ge" who had just appeared was the true embodiment of evil thoughts.
Although E Nian Wu Ge Ge had hidden it well, the unconscious bluish tint in her eyes was something that couldn't be easily concealed.
It was like a child who had played a prank. If you ask him if he did it, he might deny it at first, but upon careful observation, he would always give himself away.
"So that's how it is!"