I was amazed to regain consciousness and still be alive!

I could no longer feel the spirits inside me. What had happened? Why was I still here? I slowly sat up. I put my hand to my forehead. It was hot! The pain in my head was throbbing. I must have had a bit of a fever! Normal considering my poor health, my spiritual state at zero and my state of mind not much higher!

When I put my hand on the ground to try to get up, it came in contact with my flute... I looked at it twice. It was not the one I had cut some time before, it was impossible ! I had cut it in a green bamboo, there, it was as black as the darkness which surrounded me. I took it and inspected it more closely.

On closer inspection, it was indeed her! The same protective inscriptions were on it, but it was a different color. There were also some kind of blood red arabesques... Although gloomy, I found it very beautiful.

I caressed it gently.

I felt a very powerful energy emanating from it! So powerful that even without a gold core, I could feel it! This could only mean one thing, that one of the spirits of the Burial Ground had invested it. And since I was still alive, it had decided to help me! As I looked around, I could only see that the wisps of damned souls were keeping their distance. They seemed to be afraid!

I got up and went back into the cave. The spirit of the flute did not seem to be affected by the protective talisman, probably because it had no hostile intentions toward me.

I put the instrument on the table and sat down on a stone that served as a chair. What exactly had happened? I had played the melody that was supposed to soothe the spirits, but it had had the opposite effect and had provoked their attack. I had to identify the chords to know what actions they allowed me to command. If the spirit in my flute had decided to help me, I should be able to do it. I had to go back.

I stood up, but just as I was about to pick it up, my flute rolled and fell off the table. The inclination of the ground made it roll down a large part of the cave and it finally stopped against the back wall. I was going to pick it up. I leaned on the stone to pick it up, when I felt the wall give way under my palm. At the same time, I heard a rubbing noise, like a stone being rubbed against another.

A hidden niche appeared in the wall. I approached it. A book was there. I took it and dusted the cover. I could read the name of the author: Xue ChongHai.

It was a manuscript written by his hand. I opened it and read a few lines... I had to read it several times... I couldn't believe my eyes! Xue ChongHai had written down all the experiments he had done to create Yin Iron! I turned the pages and read paragraphs at random.

But that was not all. His notes also included the control of dead and living spirits! This book ... this was the manual and the basics of demonic cultivation!

My eyes fell on the flute on the floor. Was the spirit that had taken up residence in my flute, Xue ChongHai's spirit? No, it couldn't be, a spirit like hers would have taken over the sword created from the Iron Yin.

I turned to it.

It was stuck in the ground in the center of the talisman. Making it inactive. I picked up my flute. A semblance of a smile came to my lips! With this spirit and this book, combined with my own talents, hope was reborn in my heart. I was sure I could get out of this hell, the only problem was whether I could do it before my resources ran out. I had no choice, I would rest later. I had to devise a melody that would allow me to take control of these spirits so I could get out of this cursed place.

Then I looked at the sword and the book. The Iron Yin was powerful, but was it possible to create from the piece of the sword, an amulet which would be more easily usable and especially less dangerous! The days to come were also going to be used for that!

Time passed. Thanks to the spirit of the flute, it didn't take me long to identify all the chords and the reactions they provoked.

My musician side composed an ominous tune that allowed me to control the evil spirits as I pleased.

I also made the innocent ones pass into the celestial light, giving them the possibility to continue their cycle of reincarnation. The atmosphere in the Burial Ground gradually became lighter. I could move about as I pleased. 

Thanks to the book, I was able to melt the Yin Iron and give it the appearance of a seal in two parts. If I didn't assemble them, the Yin Iron was useless. A simple lifeless artifact... at least until it was activated by a blood sacrifice!

I decided to rename this new amulet the Yin Hufu : the tiger amulet !

I placed it in my Qiankun bag and put a seal on it. It would be undetectable, even by the most powerful cultivator. Inside myself, I thought of Lan Zhan first.

I knew him and I knew that he would not like what I had planned to do.

I felt ready to leave the Burial Ground.

I took one last look at the cave that had sheltered me since my fall. I hoped with all my heart that I would never return.

I turned my back on it and headed for the edge of the dead forest. As I reached life outside, I looked up to the sky. I could see the stars and the moon. Until now, I hadn't noticed that I missed them! Somewhere under that sky, was there someone thinking about me all this time? Were Jiang Cheng and my Shijie safe in Qinghe, as I had hoped? And Lan Zhan, where was he? Had any of them been looking for me? Or were they all too busy fighting their own battles to pay attention to my absence?

I broke through the protective barrier that had once been erected by the Wen clan! A sneer twisted my face. Their magic had become paltry compared to the magic I had developed in that cursed place where Wen Chao had thrown me.

I headed for Yiling. I had to know how much time had passed and what had happened during my absence.

With my appearance, no one would recognize me. I had lost a lot of weight, my face was emaciated and my eyes were sunken in their sockets. I looked like a corpse. My clothes, let's not talk about it! They were dirty and torn.

Hygiene-wise, I hadn't had a proper bath or washed my hair since I fell into the burial mound.

No one would go near me.

I slipped into the outskirts of Yiling. The night helped me avoid the Wen patrols. So they were still there!

It reminded me that we had met in a tea house with Jiang Cheng, before I met Wen Chao! My heart sank. I hope nothing happened to him. Fortunately, with my golden core, he had more power than he had before.

In an alley, I found a wicker hat and put it on my head, just in case.

I intentionally walked along some busy places like tea rooms or inns.

I pretended to be a beggar. I listened, I observed, I spied. I gleaned all the information I needed to accomplish my revenge.

For neither Wen Chao, nor Wen Zhu Liu, his damned soul, nor Wang Lingjiao, his companion, would escape my wrath. They would all 3 pay the price of blood!

I had told them that I would come back to haunt them. And now I had the power to do so. Or at least, I had control over beings that would make their last moments a hell!

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)