Chapter 117: A Great Inheritance Skipping a Generation

"Roar!! Roar! Hiss!!" Li Cheng was completely driven mad by hunger. He swung his sharp claws frantically, desperately tearing at his mother. However, the disparity in strength between an adult and a child was simply too great; he could not cause her any real harm. Yet, Song Jiafang did not fight back. She only held him tightly, refusing to let him get near Li Jiankang.

This was a different kind of instinct.

The instinct of motherhood.

Even now, just as when she had been hacked to death, she still refused to harm her own child.

She simply remained silent, allowing herself to be clawed by him.

"Run..." Song Jiafang’s bloodshot eyes looked toward Li Jiankang, and she called out hoarsely, "Run... get away... run!!"

Li Jiankang was completely stunned, his gaze toward the two zombies filled with indescribable complexity. His lips trembled, but he could not utter a single word.

It seemed that only now did he finally realize what kind of creature he had raised.

"Let go..." He closed his eyes, wearing a smile of profound complexity. "A-Fang... let go..."

"When we were alive, we let go when we should have held on... now... why are we still clutching at him?"

The woman, her corpse covered in knife wounds, seemed not to hear him, still using every ounce of her strength to grip Li Cheng’s neck.

"Let go... let go!!" Even with the disparity in power, the energy Li Cheng unleashed due to his hunger was significant. Song Jiafang never once struck back at him, while he pressed his attack with every move. Finally, with a sharp cry, Li Cheng threw Song Jiafang aside with a boom and charged toward Li Jiankang like a madman.

"Dad... Dad... Dad... dearest Dad..."

"I... am here..."

"You love me so much... surely you’ll let me have a bite... won't you..."

The gaping mouth filled with sharp teeth grew larger and larger in his vision. Li Jiankang’s body instinctively made a defensive movement, but the next second, for some reason, he stopped and closed his eyes.

*Snap.*

The sound of bones breaking.

"Ah ah ah ah ah!!!" A shrill, miserable scream erupted from Song Jiafang. She did not even look at Qin Ye, instead rushing toward the corner where Li Jiankang was.

Right there, Li Cheng was biting into Li Jiankang’s neck, greedily sucking the bright red blood.

As for Li Jiankang, his gaze was fixed on the rushing Song Jiafang. Although her body was covered in black fur, her hair was disheveled, and her face was so hideously distorted that she barely looked human, a strange smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

It was over...

Was this what liberation felt like...

Had his sins... finally been paid off...

The world is not worth it... not worth the obsession, not worth the regret for the past, not worth doing evil... After all, good and evil have their rewards, and the price is too high...

His gaze grew increasingly unfocused, his entire body visibly withering. His hand lifted slightly, then finally fell heavily.

"Ah ah ah ah!! You... wicked son! Wicked son!! Hiss...!!" The crazed Song Jiafang rushed behind Li Cheng. Two lines of tears streamed from her pale eyes, and then... without a moment's hesitation, she grabbed Li Cheng’s neck and snapped it with a violent force.

*Crack...*

Another sound of breaking bones.

Li Cheng’s head was torn clean off, but because he was still biting into Li Jiankang’s neck, it did not fall away, instead nestling against him.

It was as if the father and son had finally reunited in death, finding the peace they had sought.

Qin Ye slowly drew his blade.

Perhaps Li Jiankang’s death was not within the laws of the living, but it fell within his judgment, within the realm of human ethics.

A life for a life—that is the natural order of the world.

The Li family affair had been resolved; the only thing left was Song Jiafang. She was the only innocent party in the entire mess.

"If you're ready, be on your way," Qin Ye said slowly, his blade pointed obliquely at the zombie.

The zombie did not respond. Three seconds later, a faint sobbing sound emerged.

Then it grew louder, turning into a wail.

Ghosts can feel sorrow, too.

Perhaps she no longer knew what sorrow was, acting only on pure instinct.

She leaned against the dead Li Jiankang, their three heads huddled together—the parents with Li Cheng’s severed head between them, as if posing for a family portrait.

Qin Ye sighed softly and swung his blade down toward Song Jiafang’s head.

For a zombie, only by severing the head could it be killed. And Song Jiafang—even if she still possessed some instincts and intelligence now, what of a year, two years from now?

Therefore, she had to die.

"Rest assured, I will claim your soul. I will see you to a good place; you... were still a good mother."

However, the moment his blade touched Song Jiafang’s neck, the space vibrated slightly, and the Ghost Official’s blade was violently repelled.

The next second, blood-red patterns began to appear on the bodies of the two zombies, resembling veins, yet as profound as ancient talismans.

These patterns flowed incessantly, as if they were about to bloom from within their bodies!

"It has begun." Arsha flew before him and said slowly, "The so-called 'Great Intergenerational Inheritance' is rare because the prerequisites are incredibly difficult."

"First, one of the ancestors several generations back must have been born a ghost—meaning they were turned into a ghost while still alive, whether by human intervention or natural cause."

"Second, this person must be from the maternal line. She must have been pregnant before becoming a ghost so that this Yin-ghost bloodline could be passed down... It is just like the DNA you study; the ghost’s DNA is hidden within human cells."

Qin Ye stared at the scene, murmuring, "And once the necessary conditions are met, it erupts?"

Arsha nodded. "Correct. The third condition: a descendant must be born a ghost again and possess a natural Yin-pulse. Only then is it possible to trigger the Great Intergenerational Inheritance."

Qin Ye nodded slightly, but then he thought of something, looked at Li Cheng’s head in astonishment, and gasped.

"Born a ghost... you mean..."

"Exactly," Arsha said coolly. "Li Cheng... was not actually dead at the time."

"But Li Jiankang mistakenly thought he was dead and raised him as a zombie... Look at this coffin; it couldn't be opened once locked. Li Cheng... was suffocated to death while being raised as a zombie."

Qin Ye sighed, then suddenly smiled.

Is this the retribution of Heaven?

Indeed... it may be late, but it will never be absent.

"Hiss!!!" With two cries, a crimson radiance burst forth from within the zombies, and the entire room was swallowed by a tide of scarlet. It was like the blooming of the Higanbana. And the two zombies, still clutching each other, actually began to... shatter in the red light?

Their iron-black skin, which had been incredibly hard, developed cracks. A crimson light projected from beneath like black-red diamonds. The next second, with a muffled sound, the two zombies erupted into a pile of flames, stirring up a gale throughout the room.

"What is this?" Qin Ye watched the ball of fire, over a meter high. Though it was fire, it felt as cold as ice. More importantly, he could clearly feel that a Yin-spirit-level Yin energy was slowly gestating within it.

From nothing to something—it did not belong to Song Jiafang, nor did it belong to Li Jiankang or Li Cheng. It was as if... it were creating something out of thin air!

Arsha seemed to read his mind and said calmly, "It is not creation. Creation... especially the creation of life, is the work of deities, something perhaps only the King of Hell could achieve. This is merely... manifesting something that was previously hidden."

"Such as the Yin energy hidden in their bloodline—their... ancestor."

Qin Ye did not ask further.

Because the soul fire in the pit had quietly bloomed into a lotus of crimson ghost fire, and within the lotus, there was a person.

A phantom person.

A phantom woman!

Though she was dead, her features were still distinct. She was about eighteen or nineteen, with short hair and a figure that could be called perfect—every curve in the right place, with a natural, bewitching allure.

She wore a cheongsam and stood about 1.68 or 1.69 meters tall. Her snow-white legs were visible through the slit of her dress. Her eyebrows were like the faint, distant mountains in a traditional ink painting, with a petite nose, cherry-red lips, and a pair of expressive peach-blossom eyes, with a single teardrop mole beneath her right eye.

Qin Ye was stunned.

"What is this?" he asked Arsha, looking at the woman who had not yet fully opened her eyes.

However, what followed was Arsha’s sneer: "What is this? This is a little hussy."

"I can smell the stench of a slut on her even with my eyes closed! And I haven't finished—once the Great Intergenerational Inheritance is fully activated, the host dies immediately, and the ancestor’s spirit occupies the body. Of course... since the body had already become a zombie, the ancestor’s spirit manifested naturally."

Qin Ye blinked, tentatively poking at Arsha’s nerves: "Why do I feel like you have a deep hostility toward her?"

"Hostility?" Arsha scoffed. "With a woman of this caliber, what hostility could I possibly have? First, her status is not equal to mine. Second, she doesn't even have her tongue hanging out, and it doesn't drag on the floor—her presentation is abysmal! Third... in short, she is not worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as me."

He understood immediately.

A clash between beauties... Qin Ye let out a long, meaningful "Oh." Though, Arsha, do you have any self-awareness about your own appearance as a Rakshasa woman with the sound of night-crying infants?

"With all due respect... as a normal man, I still think she... ahem... don't look at me with those murderous eyes; it makes me think you're coveting my magnificent beauty... Fine, fine, you are the most beautiful, she is far inferior to you!"

"And with all due respect, do you know the best destination for a Great Intergenerational Inheritance?" Arsha said coolly.

Qin Ye began to cough, his face flushing red, and he covered his mouth with his fist, testing the waters: "The King of Hell's harem?"

Arsha’s fury instantly hit the ceiling: "Do you think I’m not worthy of your harem?! Back in the day, countless judges and even regional governors pursued me, and I didn't even spare them a glance. With your meager status, you think you’re in a position to be picky?!"

Qin Ye felt his hair stand on end. You, a head without a body, are you going to use... No, that’s straying from the point. The point is, I’ve never even thought of such a horrific thing!

Just thinking about it would make a person wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat!

"No... how could you possibly have such a bizarre train of thought? Wake up! Stop talking in your sleep! The generation gap between us is wider than the Strait of Malacca; we are definitely not a good match!"

Arsha was even angrier than he was: "You?! Penniless, looking like a weakling! Your ghost official form is three dimensions inferior to mine! How do you have the confidence to think about riding on top of me?!"

"Holy crap... you even know what a 'weakling' is... And can you be a little more reserved? Who the hell wants to ride on you? I was just following your own line of thinking!"