At that moment, the heavy snow continued to fall.
By the time Wang Yu, the scholar, regained his senses, his sister's frozen body had already disappeared. In a hurry, he searched frantically until he reached the entrance of the exam hall.
At the bun shop by the entrance, the tempting aroma of freshly steamed buns filled the air. Many examinees, after leaving the exam hall, stopped to buy buns.
Wang Yu, his hair disheveled, collapsed to the ground.
After a long while, the man in green, Xiao Chen, who had faced off with him earlier in the poetry contest, walked over. He picked up a bun and threw it in front of Wang Yu.
"Eat, I know you're hungry. I just wanted to beat you, not take your life!" Xiao Chen said mockingly.
"I can't accept this! Thirty years of hard study—why should I lose to you?" Wang Yu exclaimed in disbelief.
Xiao Chen grinned wickedly. He leaned down and whispered in Wang Yu's ear, "Thirty years of hard study, huh? But you know what? I'm actually a study failure! I just happened to memorize a poem, and that's how I crushed you! Do you feel terrible? Hahaha..."
Xiao Chen laughed loudly as he was surrounded by others and left, leaving Wang Yu in stunned silence.
Beside him, Qing Xuan gripped her black sword tightly and was about to charge forward, furious.
But Qin Ming stopped her with a firm grip.
"Don't go! This is an illusion, probably something that happened in the past. What's the point of attacking him now?"
"Such a scum! He's just a failure who crossed over and is bullying others. Who does he think he is?" Qing Xuan growled in frustration.
Wang Yu, hunched in the corner, held a steaming bun in his hands. Unable to resist, he took a bite.
However, something lodged in his throat. When he pulled it out, it turned out to be an iron ring with the name "Niuniu" engraved on it.
In an instant, Wang Yu seemed to lose his mind!
"Niuniu! Niuniu… Ah…"
He stood up, wanting to confront Xiao Chen and settle things with the bun shop, but with a sudden stumble, he fell and never got back up!
Wang Yu was dead!
Blood stained the snow beneath him.
Just then, all the illusions around them suddenly vanished. The sky darkened once again, and a cold wind blew through.
The ghostly figure of the white-clad scholar on the rooftop suddenly charged toward them!
His disheveled hair was blown by the cold wind, and his face was covered in blood.
"You damn crossovers!" the ghostly figure shouted. "You damn crossovers! Give me back my life!"
Qin Ming instinctively darted to the left. It seemed that the ghost had reached the second level of spiritual connection.
Ma Qiang and Liu Zonghuo quickly retreated.
However, Qing Xuan, like a battle-crazed warrior, charged forward with her black sword in hand. She pushed off the ground and leapt into the air, gripping the sword with both hands.
Talent: Swordsmanship (Sequence 33), activated!
"Boom~" A five-meter-long sword energy slashed down.
Her cold expression mirrored the ice-like nature of her power at the first level of spiritual connection.
But the white ghostly figure instantly vanished from its original position.
"Bang~" The black sword struck the house, causing it to crack and splinter.
Just as Qin Ming grabbed his Blood Falling Sword, he heard the cold sound of breath behind him. Without hesitation, he activated his talents: Stealth and Turtle Breathing technique, retreating quickly as he performed the Sky Slashing Sword Technique.
"Whoosh~" A sword energy flew toward the darkness.
Although Qin Ming's cultivation was only at the third level of body refinement, his speed was incredible.
Ma Qiang and Liu Zonghuo watched in amazement!
The white ghostly figure attacking Qin Ming once again disappeared.
"Ke ke ke..." The eerie laughter of the ghost echoed around them.
The ghostly figure of the white-clad scholar appeared everywhere.
"You damn crossovers! You plagiarized my poetry and bullied me, you deserve to die!"
"All of you will die! Die!"
Ma Qiang clenched his fists.
"This ghost is just putting on an act! Let's go!" Ma Qiang clenched his fists, his muscles bulging with explosive strength. He stomped his foot on the ground.
Talent: Hard Bones (Sequence 40), activated!
In an instant, his muscles began to bulge, and his height increased by half a meter.
"Boom!" Ma Qiang threw a punch toward the ghostly figure behind him.
However, his punch missed completely.
The white ghostly figure suddenly appeared right in front of Ma Qiang. As he turned around, the ghost extended its long, sharp claws and aimed for his throat.
The ghost had instantly found the flaw in Ma Qiang's Hard Bones talent: his throat was vulnerable.
Liu Zonghuo quickly threw a fireball, about a foot in diameter, toward the ghost.
"Boom~" The fireball shattered in front of Ma Qiang.
The white ghostly figure was startled and quickly retreated.
The group rushed over to check on Ma Qiang's condition, but just then, the ghostly figure reappeared right in front of Liu Zonghuo.
Liu Zonghuo quickly used his fire talent, launching two fireballs that missed their target.
He was momentarily tense and turned to flee.
But the ghostly figure grabbed his neck in an instant.
"You damn crossovers! You all deserve to die!" the ghostly figure snarled, about to squeeze.
Just then, Qing Xuan swung her blade down through the air.
The ghostly figure, holding Liu Zonghuo, was forced to retreat three meters, just five meters away from Qin Ming.
Qin Ming took out his Yanluo Needle Box.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!" Three Yanluo needles shot out with precision.
The Yanluo Needle Box could harm humans, demons, ghosts, and beasts alike.
Sure enough, the three needles pierced through the ghostly figure.
The ghost let out a scream of agony.
After a breath's pause, Qing Xuan, holding the black sword, appeared once more. She struck again and again, forcing the ghost to retreat step by step.
Finally, with a loud snap, the ghost's image vanished.
Qin Ming immediately maximized his perception.
The sound of ghostly wails echoed from all directions, each one more mournful than the last.
Suddenly, Qin Ming felt a cold chill behind him. Without even turning around, he launched the Yanluo Needle Box toward the source of the chill.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Three needles flew out.
The ghost let out another miserable scream.
Liu Zonghuo, now on the ground, angrily threw several fireballs in quick succession.
Finally, the ghostly figure's form began to dissipate.
The ghost floated to the roof, but before it could move further, Qing Xuan, who had been waiting there, struck down with her sword.
The white ghostly figure was completely obliterated.
The group, breathing heavily, stood in the eerie silence.
"What's going on? Wang Yu's resentment should have died with him. Why hasn't this spiritual realm been undone?" Qin Ming thought for a moment, then turned his gaze back to Niuniu's body.
"Everyone, let's bury this body together," he said.
"Are you sure burying this body will help?" Ma Qiang asked, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, confused.
"I'm not sure, but based on what we saw in the illusion just now, I feel like Wang Yu and his sister had a tragic fate. Especially the little girl. She did nothing wrong, yet after starving to death, she ended up being made into a bun."
Qing Xuan, who had been silent, jumped down from the eaves, holding her sword.
"This is simple," she said. "Many of the exam candidates ate buns, so the fragments of Niuniu's body were scattered in various exam halls."
Qin Ming nodded and took a deep breath. He and the others began digging a deep pit at the corner of the left wall, carefully placing the dismembered body pieces into it. They then covered the pit with earth.
As soon as they finished, the illusory landscape around the Fengshi Examination Yard finally disappeared with a sudden burst!
In front of them appeared the desolate land with severed limbs and broken bodies, just like before.
"We've done it! The spiritual realm has finally been released!" someone exclaimed.
"The spiritual realm that the master gave us to experience was relatively simple," another person remarked.
"Simple? Simple my foot! If it weren't for Qin Ming's quick reaction, if I had been trapped inside, I would have been stuck for ten years and couldn't get out!"