Chapter 519: Punishment
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Lu Bingqi found himself in an awkward position.
From the beginning, he thought that Fang Yuan was his saviour.
Now, he was clear that Fang Yuan was only treating him as a test subject!
The most frustrating thing was that he was too weak to resist anything because he couldn't even win a fight with Jiese the Monk!
"Unsealing the ghost is only half of the task. The other half will require you to spend a night in the Chen Residences..."
Fang Yuan dragged the regretful Lu Bingqi towards the entrance of the residences. "Monk, what's up?"
"Amituofo... I've already tried my best. However, we cannot be sure if the Buddha Array has any effect on the pawnshop..."
Jiese the Monk spoke truthfully.
"Wait up monk, isn't there a Buddhist saying that saving a single life is more meritorious as compared to becoming Buddha? How can you do this to me?"
Lu Bingqi screamed in desperation.
"If killing one will allow me to save 10,000 others, even if I go to hell, I will do it!"
Jiese the Monk retorted firmly.
"You d*mned monk!"
Lu Bingqi was already restless and could not resist as Fang Yuan dragged him out of the residences.
"It's over... I'm dead!"
He mumbled to himself and shivered in fear as he recalled the outcomes of those who had gone back on their agreements.
The real torture was not death itself, but the inability to die peacefully!
In the Paranormal Pawnshop, there was a row of brains decorating the corridors which would send chills down the spine of whoever looked at it. Those were... the traders who had gone back on their words!
Lu Bingqi knew that these traders were still alive and had been forced to stay alive for more than a hundred years.
Their consciousnesses were locked up in a small dark room. Anything with wisdom would go crazy after a prolonged period in the room.
This was intentional. The pawnshop had kept these brains alive to deter the rest from trying anything funny!
Because of this, there were extremely few traders who dared to go against the pawnshop.
But now, Lu Bingqi was being forced to do so.
In the eyes of the pawnshop, there would be the same consequences regardless if one was forced or not!
"It... It has come!"
As soon as Lu Bingqi was being pulled out of the Chen Residences, he could feel a bad omen approaching as he wailed in despair.
"Don't worry! Of course, I know it's coming!"
Fang Yuan smiled and walked towards Lu Bingqi. Suddenly, with outstretched fingers, he poked them into Lu Bingqi's eye sockets.
"Ahhh!"
Lu Bingqi's right eye was being dug out and blood dripped everywhere as he screamed in pain.
"I admire the lot of you who are daring enough to trade with the pawnshop in exchange for these strengthened abilities which are being tampered with... Although this Ghost Eye will allow you to see ghosts and give you strengthened abilities, if activated, they will explode inside you!"
Fang Yuan scoffed as he examined the Ghost Eye in his hands.
At that moment, the reflection of a soul appeared as it flew about in the eyeball.
"Hmph, boring!"
With a forceful clench of his fist, the entire eyeball exploded and even the powerful ghost within it disappeared in an instant.
"Ah..."
The one-eyed Lu Bingqi was rolling on the ground and wailed in pain. Suddenly, he held his head with both his hands. "It's useless... When I signed the contract, they had already imprinted the mortgage seal on my soul! Now, it will be able to harvest my soul according to the contract..."
"Amituofo, you don't have to worry about this!"
Jiese the Monk remained serious. "I have cast the Buddha Array so that your soul will be contained within you... Furthermore, even if your soul were to be pulled out of you, you don't have to worry. Master Fang will pull your soul back."
Lu Bingqi could slowly feel his soul being tugged out of his body. However, it only lasted for a few moments before another force pulled his soul back. The two forces pushed and pulled, leaving Lu Bingqi crawling on the ground like an exhausted dog.
"Of course, our actions are likely to infuriate the pawnshop, making it retaliate."
Fang Yuan nodded his head and examined the surroundings.
A thick layer of black fog appeared and shrouded them.
Amidst the green ghostly fire around, silhouettes appeared. These silhouettes turned into expressionless ghosts which began to flood towards them.
"Since the curse and restrictions within Lu Bingqi are being lifted, they are now attacking from the outside?"
Fang Yuan stood behind Lu Bingqi. His eyes turned golden as he swept his surroundings.
Evidently, the pawnshop's only target was Lu Bingqi.
If it were to recklessly pull Lu Bingqi out, it would have to enter this alternate dimension, cutting itself off from its own source of curse energy!
"Buddhas in 4 Directions, strengthen the fire! Om Mani Padme Hum! Om Mani Padme Hum!"
Seeing the approaching swarm of ghosts, Jiese the Monk quickly strengthened the array. A golden pagoda slowly appeared and golden flames were burning on the sides of the pagoda.
The swarm of ghosts arrived outside and remained emotionless but they remained outside and could not advance further.
"Ha... Never would I have thought that the first time I will execute this array after leaving the mountains will be against so many wronged souls..."
Jiese the Monk took in a cold breath. "Master Fang, don't worry. I am still able to hold up!"
"Is that so?"
Fang Yuan pointed in a certain direction.
A humongous female ghost appeared. Her size was almost as huge as the entire Chen Residences. With an opened mouth, she attempted to swallow the entire golden array. From her wide-opened mouth, countless ghosts floated out.
"Rumble!"
In an instant, the entire Buddha Array started to dim and cracks appeared on the ground beneath them.
Jiese the Monk shook a little and spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Sigh. At the end of everything, you are still too weak and you need me to help you!"
Fang Yuan sighed before releasing the first ghost which he had sealed.
"Whoooo!"
A chilly breeze blew across them.
The swarm of ghosts seemed to be shocked at something as they retreated.
Even though this sealed ghost had dropped in its Level, it had still originated from a Strange Level curse! These common Spirit Level ghosts would surely be no match for it and therefore, they started to retreat.
The humongous female ghost was relentless in her attacks. Sticking out her tongue, she started licking the array.
Upon a closer look, they realised that this 'tongue' was formed from countless human heads with bleeding eyes.
"It's another 'Murderous' Level ghost!"
Burnt marks started to appear on Fang Yuan's face. He had activated the ability of the second Murderous ghost and flames erupted everywhere before overwhelming the female ghost.
"This..."
Jiese the Monk looked at Fang Yuan in shock. "How many ghostly souls have you sealed in your body?"
"Not many, just two!"
Fang Yuan remained calm and composed. "Although I had pushed that ghost into the alternate dimension, I cannot hold her there for long. She will be back soon."
There was no way Jiese the Monk could deal with the Murderous Grade ghost. Fang Yuan had to deal with her himself!
"Look after Lu Bingqi!"
The scorched marks on Fang Yuan became increasingly obvious as it slowly covered over his original icy appearance.
At this moment, a huge ghostly hand appeared in mid-air and crushed downwards.
"Rumble!"
The entire Buddha Array shattered in that instant and disintegrated into sparks.
"Great!"
Jiese the Monk took out a lace of Buddhist beads and wrapped them around Lu Bingqi before pulling him to safety.
"Do you think you are powerful just because you are big in size?"
Fang Yuan laughed as he shot towards the humongous female ghost.
"Bang!"
Like a bullet, Fang Yuan flew through the face of the female ghost. There were burn marks where he had flown through and her face started to disintegrate.
"You are a mere Murderous Level ghost and there is no value in sealing you."
Fang Yuan stood on the forehead of the female ghost and looked at her expressionless eyes.
"I hate your expression!"
As he mumbled under his breath, he struck his claw out and broke a test-tube of concoction before landing the claw in her eyes.
With Fang Yuan's abilities and the exorcism skills of the Tantai Family, he was able to inflict severe damage to the Murderous Level ghost.
In that instant, the female ghost's body started to warp and the faces on her tongue started to shriek in unison.
"Heavenly Eagle... Slice!"
Focusing his energy, Fang Yuan gripped his right hand tightly and a 10-metre-long energy sword appeared in his hands. With it, he sliced towards the female ghost.
"Shiiingg!"
The sword was quick.
The female ghost was stunned. Slowly, her forehead started to break apart and her body became increasingly dim.
"Amituofo... With the sword, you will be able to exterminate all sorts of ghosts!"
Jiese the Monk was captivated at this scene and momentarily forgot that he was running away from the ghosts.
"This is impossible!"
Even Lu Bingqi could not believe his eyes.
Even an experienced trader would not be able to survive if encountered with such a humongous female ghost!
But what about this person before him?
In a single slice, the most fearsome ghost which he had ever laid his eyes on disintegrated without a fight!
How was this possible?
These were the powerful ghosts which had forced him into desperation!
At this moment, there was a turn of events!
"Whoosh!"
There was a quick flash and Lu Bingqi disappeared into thin air.
"How is this possible?"
Jiesi the Monk leapt towards Lu Bingqi, but all he caught was the lace of Buddhist beads.
"Whoosh!"
The lace broke and the Buddhist beads rolled on the ground, the sound resembling a mocking laughter.
"Has Lu Bingqi been... pulled to the Paranormal Pawnshop?!"
Fang Yuan walked over and seemed to be deep in his thoughts as he witnessed everything.
"That's right... It's my fault that I've caused his death!"
Jiese the Monk had a look of defeat on his face.
In the surroundings, the swarm of ghosts and even the humongous female ghost were all gone.
They were all here for Lu Bingqi. Now that he had been successfully pulled into the pawnshop, they would naturally disappear as though all that had happened was just an illusion.
"Whatever!"
Fang Yuan had a sneaky look on his face. "... Who said that we've lost?"
...
"Bang!"
Lu Bingqi fell onto the ground embarrassedly.
The building of the Paranormal Pawnshop stood before him.
The row of brains seemed to be focusing on him, hinting at him the possibility of experiencing mental torture.
"No... I did not go against the agreement on purpose..."
Lu Bingqi was desperate and fearful. "Let me off! Let me off this time!"