The Aloof Lord's Mysterious Wife
Chapter 295: Testing the New Talisman

Chapter 295: Testing the New Talisman

The Duke of Jin, upon hearing her mention his son, was overcome with a mixture of sorrow and fury. Clenching his fists, his eyes burned with hatred. "Chu Nanli, if you had intervened that day, my son would not have perished, not even leaving behind a trace of his soul! Now that you’re in my grasp, do you regret your heartlessness?"

Nanli rolled her eyes. "You failed to raise your son properly and have no right to blame others."

The Duke of Jin choked on his rage, his anger boiling over. He sneered coldly, "You still have such a sharp tongue."

Nanli remained defiant. "When the paper crane suddenly traced the prince’s aura, I found it odd and suspected a trap. It’s not that you’re cunning, but that I willingly stepped into this snare."

Sure enough, the Duke of Jin revealed himself.

The Duke, indifferent to whether she spoke truth or lies, had painstakingly set up successive traps with one goal: to destroy those who had a hand in his son’s death.

He took a few steps back, saying, "You arrogant girl, you truly have no sense of your own peril."

Nanli, her eyes deepening with calculation, responded, "Duke of Jin, you’d better stop now, or you’ll bring calamity upon your own kin."

The Duke scoffed at her, "Do you think I’d believe you and let you escape?"

"Why waste words? I’ll take you hostage!" Qing Feng declared, using his lightness skill to leap forward and grab at the Duke’s neck. But as soon as he touched him, the Duke vanished, leaving only a humanoid puppet in Qing Feng’s grasp.

The puppet emitted a final message: "Chu Nanli, now you will taste the torment of being devoured by a thousand ghosts! Hahaha—"

Qing Feng froze in shock, the forest’s air turning frigid as if he were in an icehouse. The talismans he carried grew scorching hot, emanating a faint golden glow. Examining them, he saw the vermillion inscriptions fading.

What’s happening?

Nanli, wielding her Xuanyue Sword, swiftly moved to Qing Feng’s side. The sword seemed to repel the ominous wind. She then slapped a ghost-warding talisman onto Qing Feng’s forehead. The talisman ignited with a hiss, and as Qing Feng lifted his gaze, he saw a ghost with hollow eye sockets looming before him.

Nanli’s sword cleaved the ghost in two, but more phantoms floated over—some bleeding from all seven orifices, others with twisted necks and severed heads, each more horrifying than the last. Not just ten or twenty, but countless ghosts swarmed around them.

Qing Feng nearly suffocated from the sheer terror. Was this still the mortal realm? No, this must be hell!

Seeing him about to faint, Nanli yanked his collar and slapped him lightly. "So scared? Haven’t you fought on battlefields?"

Qing Feng, snapping back to reality, almost in tears, replied, "Princess, you should have warned me about the ghosts! I’ve fought before, but those were normal people, not these monstrosities."

With her formidable skills, low-level ghosts dared not approach Nanli, but Qing Feng, an ordinary man with abundant yang energy, was an irresistible target for them. Annoyed, she said, "I shouldn’t have brought you. With so many ghosts, I can’t protect you. You’ll have to fend for yourself."

No wonder they set up this soul-locking array; they had gathered so many evil spirits to devour her very soul. Hmph, it wasn’t easy to amass such a horde of ghosts—this had been meticulously planned.

Qing Feng quickly gathered his wits and said, "Princess, rest assured, I will not—"

Before he could finish, another ghost lunged at him, its gaping maw aiming for his flesh.

"Ah!" Qing Feng screamed halfway through his sentence, swinging his fist at the ghost. Unlike Yexi Heng, who seemed to have a natural gift, Qing Feng’s punch went right through the ghost. Not only did he miss, but his arm also felt numb. To his horror, the ghost was gnawing on his arm! His scalp tingled, and his body stiffened.

The protective talisman was no longer effective!

Just as he was thinking about what to do, Nanli delivered a swift kick, sending the ghost flying. The force of her kick toppled a group of ghosts behind it, all wailing in pain.

Qing Feng watched as Nanli retracted her foot, his eyes wide with admiration. He finally understood why the prince was so deeply enamored with her.

Nanli turned to see him dazed and assumed he was frightened. "Think of them as enemy soldiers. Show no mercy."

Exorcising or capturing these evil spirits would take too much time. Moreover, these ghosts had been cultivated and controlled; scattering them was the best solution.

"Princess, it’s not that I want to show mercy, but I can’t even touch them," Qing Feng said, his recent setbacks crushing his confidence. He had once been a formidable warrior on the battlefield, with numerous military honors. Now he couldn’t even handle a few malevolent spirits!

"With me here, you’ll have your fill of fighting."

Nanli cast a ghost-repelling talisman, temporarily dispersing the spirits. She then used the Heaven Star Brush to draw talismans on Qing Feng’s sword and hands. As soon as the talismans were completed, the ghost-repelling talisman was overwhelmed by the attacking spirits, who surged forward like an army.

"Let me charge in first..." Qing Feng began, but Nanli was already amidst the ghostly horde, fighting fiercely. With her sword in hand, she swiftly eradicated dozens of ghosts.

The ghosts, seeing her soul radiant with golden light, were driven by an insatiable desire to devour her and enhance their own power. They formed walls of spirits around her, trying to tear her apart.

"Princess!" Qing Feng shouted in alarm.

But then a burst of golden light exploded from within the ghostly walls, the wind howling and whipping up leaves and branches.

"Exorcise!" Nanli’s voice rang out sharply. The golden light intensified, piercing through the ghosts and turning them to ash. She stood at the center of the whirlwind, her hair and clothes billowing, a hint of wild excitement in her eyes. "This powerful ghost-repelling talisman is truly remarkable."

The ghosts hesitated to advance. It’s said that people fear ghosts, not the other way around, yet this seemingly delicate girl wielded a talisman of such power. Surely she couldn’t have another of such potency?

Realizing the drain on her energy, the ghosts exchanged glances and then regrouped, baring their fangs as they floated towards her again.

This time, Nanli didn’t use the powerful talisman. She summoned another type, channeling heavenly thunder into her Xuanyue Sword. With one sweeping strike, layers of ghosts were struck by the thunder, leaving them gravely weakened, though not completely destroyed.

Nanli pursed her lips, slightly disappointed. "This talisman still needs improvement."

She wanted a single strike to turn the ghosts to ash.

Qing Feng, blinking in sudden realization, asked, "Princess, you said you couldn’t protect me because you were busy testing new talismans?"

"Indeed," Nanli replied excitedly. "There aren’t many evil spirits in the capital these days. I had been fretting over how to test my new talismans. Who knew tonight would present such a perfect opportunity?"