The situation in the Northern Wasteland continued to deteriorate, and Magpie Mountain could no longer accommodate more people.
The Main God Ji finally gave the order—
Seal off Magpie Mountain…
On the day when Magpie Mountain’s gates were completely closed, outside the city gates, those who weren’t permitted to enter the city were all rushing against the gates. There was weeping, wailing, people screaming until their voices were hoarse, and people turning back in despair toward the Northern Wasteland that had already been consumed by evil miasma.
Before the city gates, the misery was indescribable, like a human purgatory.
But Main God Ji did not avoid it. He stood atop the city gate, watching people’s struggle for survival, enduring the abuse and rejection of angry people.
He didn’t say anything.
He seemed to have truly become like a deity in a temple, hearing all the suffering of living beings, yet only half-closing his eyes, compassionate but silent.
And from then on, the atmosphere within Magpie Mountain also began to change.
The marketplace was no longer bustling; no one was selling food or medicine anymore. In the refugee shelters, the refugees both rejoiced in receiving Magpie Mountain’s protection and felt confused about the future.
The soldiers patrolled every day, but morale was always low.
The only thing that remained unchanged seemed to be Xie Zhuo.
There were no children following him to learn techniques, no old people sending him clothes and hats. He still resolutely did what he needed to do—searching for traces of Zhu Lian and evil miasma at street corners and alleyways.
I floated beside him day after day. Now that I couldn’t find citizens of Magpie Mountain on the streets, I would circle around the military camp a couple of times, hoping to find a compatible person, briefly borrowing their body to tell Xie Zhuo a word of appreciation for his hard work and to take care of himself.
This day, Xie Zhuo happened to go near the military camp to investigate, so I floated into the camp, trying to find someone with affinity.
But upon entering the camp, I happened to see that Main God Ji was also in the camp today. He seemed to be discussing matters with several immortals in charge of Magpie Mountain’s military camp, and they entered the main camp.
So I floated to a corner of the military camp, looking for a suitable soldier.
As I searched, I truly found one.
The soldier was thin, seemingly still a young boy who had just joined Magpie Mountain’s military camp not long ago. The collar around his neck was still blue.
He wasn’t patrolling or training outside like other soldiers, but was curled up in a corner, hugging his knees, trembling continuously.
He buried his face in his knees, preventing me from seeing his face, but I could hear him muttering repeatedly:
“I’m so scared… I’m so scared… I don’t want to become like those people outside…”
The young boy was of tender age; it was inevitable to feel frightened in such a harsh environment.
I felt some sympathy for him, so I tried to channel his fearful mood, slowly approaching him.
I had thought that, based merely on his fear and my sympathy, it wouldn’t be enough for my soul to merge with his…
But unexpectedly, when I floated beside him, there seemed to be an attractive force that directly pulled my soul into his body!
This was a situation that had never occurred before.
When my soul merged into his flesh and bones, I suddenly felt a tightness in my heart, and a familiar feeling crept up!
It wasn’t the usual warmth and heaviness, but a cold, damp aura that traveled along this body, along our connected meridians, and in the blink of an eye, stabbed my soul with pain!
This was… evil miasma!
Inside this young boy’s body, there was evil miasma!
I immediately wanted to leave this body, but I found that my soul seemed to be entangled by the meridians in this body!
That evil miasma made the entire body convulse and tremble. The young boy’s original soul also began to scream in alarm after I connected:
“I’m scared! I don’t want to become like that! I’m scared!”
While listening to his screams, I felt that this body stood up completely beyond my control.
In the bloodshot eyes of the young boy, I saw black evil miasma emerging from this body. The aura tore through his skin and emerged from beneath the ruptured skin.
“Ah!”
“Stop screaming!”
Inside the young boy’s body, I shouted at him with my soul consciousness. But he couldn’t control himself at all now.
He raised his hand and touched his face: “I don’t want to, I don’t want to!”
I continued to shout at him: “Calm down first!”
Last time in the Undying City, I had experienced evil miasma entering my body. I remembered that at that time, Xie Zhuo kept telling me to keep my emotions stable.
So I shouted at the soul sharing this body with me: “You must control your emotions!”
“I’m so scared! I can’t control it!” He seemed to react, “Who are you! Why are you in my head? Are you an evil spirit trying to harm me? Ahhh!”
This was the first time I had a conversation with the original soul in a body I’d entered.
I was also somewhat at a loss, but I still forced myself to calmly direct him: “I want to save you! Evil miasma can be eliminated. Don’t lose your rationality. First, take back control of your body!”
“I’m scared! I’m just scared!”
The young boy kept repeating this sentence, making me anxious.
I immediately sank my consciousness, thinking that since I couldn’t escape, I might as well fully merge into this body and help him suppress the evil miasma!
I allowed my soul to be dragged by the evil miasma, merging into every meridian of this body.