"Alright!"
Everyone responded and gathered around Jing Minghe.
Six people, Chi Hao was responsible for two, and the remaining five each took one.
Fearing that Jiang Zheng and the others might hesitate or have other concerns, Jing Minghe decided that he and Chi Hao would be responsible for the three people possessed by vengeful spirits: Guan Wei, Zhang Yu, and Lin Ling.
With no clues to confirm they were still alive, Jing Minghe could only convince himself that those possessed were already dead.
Just as dawn broke, when the inscriptions on the foreheads of the seven ghosts began to flicker, Jing Minghe gave the order. The blood jade scepters in everyone's hands accurately pierced the chests of the vengeful spirits.
After the blood jade scepters were inserted, the pained wails of the seven great vengeful spirits echoed throughout the ancestral hall.
As the wails gradually faded, the seven great vengeful spirits vanished into nothingness.
"Idol!" Ke Wuwen shouted excitedly, "We succeeded!"
"Ah!"
As Ke Wuwen's words fell, Jiang Zheng suddenly cried out and knelt on the ground, his face contorted in pain.
"Brother Jiang? What's wrong?"
Seeing this, Ke Wuwen moved to help Jiang Zheng, but heard Jing Minghe roar, "Don't go near him!"
Ke Wuwen stopped abruptly and looked at Jing Minghe with confusion, "Idol?"
Jing Minghe said, "Everyone get behind me, quickly!"
You Mi and Tong Zheng, hearing this, did not hesitate and immediately ran behind Jing Minghe. Ke Wuwen, however, was still hesitating. Tong Zheng clicked his tongue, stepped forward, grabbed Ke Wuwen, and pulled him back.
"What are you spacing out for!"
"But, Brother Jiang he..."
"He is not Jiang Zheng," Tong Zheng said with absolute certainty, trusting Jing Minghe's judgment.
Ke Wuwen retorted, "How is that possible? If he isn't Brother Jiang, then who is he? Brother Jiang has been cooperating with our actions all along!"
Jing Minghe placed a hand on Ke Wuwen's shoulder and said, "Perhaps, from the moment you entered the instance, he was no longer the Jiang Zheng you knew."
"This..." Ke Wuwen found it hard to believe. "Idol, why... why do you say that? Brother Jiang he..."
"Why?" Jing Minghe took two steps forward. "You can let him tell you himself."
After the pain subsided, "Jiang Zheng" slowly recovered. He looked up at Jing Minghe and remained silent for a long time.
Jing Minghe, in turn, stood before "Jiang Zheng," silently waiting for him to speak.
But "Jiang Zheng" remained silent. Despite his silence, he showed no intention of escaping or attacking Jing Minghe.
Unable to wait for "Jiang Zheng" to speak, Jing Minghe decided to speak first.
"Before all of them were eliminated, you didn't know you were the leader of the eight vengeful spirits, did you?" Jing Minghe frowned slightly. It was dark, so he couldn't see the name on "Jiang Zheng's" forehead, but "Jiang Zheng's" current state gave him a guess.
"You are actually the man Xiao Rou wanted to save, aren't you?"
At these words, everyone's faces showed shock. Jing Minghe's guess was even more unbelievable to them than the fact that "Jiang Zheng," who had been with them, was the leader of the eight vengeful spirits.
If "Jiang Zheng" was the man Xiao Rou wanted to save, then who was Da Lang?
Da Lang?
Ke Wuwen and the others looked around. When had Da Lang disappeared? He hadn't noticed at all.
"Why... why is it like this?"
"Jiang Zheng" finally spoke. He turned to Jing Minghe and said, "You guessed correctly. I am the leader of the eight vengeful spirits, Zhujian, and also the man Xiao Rou wanted to save."
Seeing that he wasn't attacking them and was calmly speaking with Jing Minghe, and also that Zhujian was wearing Jiang Zheng's face, Ke Wuwen felt no fear towards him. Hearing his words, he stepped forward and asked, "Since you are the man Xiao Rou wanted to save, why are you the leader of the eight vengeful spirits?"
Zhujian sighed and gave a bitter smile. "You must be very clear about my death. Bearing the lives of so many children, their resentment gathered all on me. Therefore, after the yin and yang overlapped, I was made the leader of the eight vengeful spirits."
After speaking, Zhujian lowered his head and was silent for a moment before continuing, "Although I am the leader of the eight vengeful spirits, I did not want to harm anyone. So I worked hard to resolve the resentment within me. Somehow, it split into two parts: one part became a wolf, and the other became formless."
Jing Minghe nodded and asked, "Was the original Jiang Zheng replaced by you when you entered?"
"I suppose so," Zhujian replied. "I'm not quite sure. Until I merged with the wolf form of myself just now, I always thought I was Jiang Zheng. Actually, the moment they entered, the real Jiang Zheng was absorbed by the formless me. I became him."
"The story clues you told us, you thought you heard them from others, but they were actually your own memories, weren't they?"
Zhujian nodded, "Yes."
"No wonder everyone else had no leads, but you managed to get such detailed background information."
Saying this, Jing Minghe sighed helplessly. "What now? Although you are different from the other vengeful spirits, and can even be considered a victim, we must eliminate you to leave here."
"It's alright," Zhujian smiled faintly. "It was my arrival and my wrong decisions that harmed this place. As long as you can successfully save this place and restore the yin to yin and the yang to yang, I don't care what happens to me."
"However, time has passed," Tong Zheng said, looking at Zhujian with complex emotions. After spending two days together, he thought Jiang Zheng could become a trusted companion, but he never expected this outcome. "You have one more night. Is there anything you want to do? Or anyone you want to see."
Zhujian looked at Jing Minghe and said, "I can heal his eyes."
"Really?" Ke Wuwen exclaimed. "That's wonderful."
Chi Hao's brow furrowed slightly. Before he could speak, Zhujian added, "Don't worry, I won't lie to you."
"I believe you," Jing Minghe said. "Then I'll trouble you."
Zhujian's gaze swept over everyone, finally settling on Jing Minghe. He hesitated for a moment and asked Jing Minghe, "Can I talk to you alone?"
"Of course," Jing Minghe agreed without hesitation. "Let's go inside the hall to talk."
"Thank you."
Zhujian stood up, preparing to help Jing Minghe, but saw Chi Hao looking at him coldly, his eyes full of warning.
Jing Minghe sensed the unusual aura around him and patted Chi Hao's arm, raising an eyebrow and smiling, "Hao gege, didn't you admit I'm very capable? Are you worried about me? Don't you believe I can handle this?"
Chi Hao moved aside, "Call me if you need anything."
"Okay, I will."
Watching Jing Minghe and Zhujian enter the hall, Chi Hao became even more certain of his feelings. It turned out that he couldn't even stand Jing Minghe being out of his sight for a short while.