The Years When I Was the Boss of the Evil Abyss

The desolate forest was in disarray, the traces of blood on the ground had already turned black and charred. Only a few disordered marks remained, and the huge handprints where the ghosts had seeped into the ground had disappeared. The two evil spirits had already fled, their souls scattered with not a trace left. The remaining evil spirit dared not move.

"I was wrong, Daoist! I won't run anymore!" the evil spirit trembled.

The boy's strange eyes turned toward it, seeming to want to move closer. But at that moment, the boy suddenly spat out a mouthful of thick blood, leaning back against a tree. His breathing was heavy, causing his chest to rise and fall violently, and the veins in his neck bulged, as if something was surging rapidly through his meridians.

The evil spirit, crouching low, caught a glimpse of the scene in the distance and suddenly felt an inexplicable chill rise from its feet. The boy, who had just subdued them, now looked like his skin was tearing apart and reattaching, blood pooling beneath him, while the surrounding yin energy swirled rapidly toward his body.

To anyone else, it seemed like the boy was on the brink of death—his leg broken, covered in wounds, bruises, and cuts. Yet, despite all this, his breath had not faltered.

The sensation of being washed by the yin energy was unbearable, as chaotic energies scrambled inside his body.

The boy first felt that these yin energies were slowly eroding his meridians. He desperately tried to expel them, but his body was behaving unusually, drawing the energies in, greedily pulling the cold, malevolent force into him, like an uncontrollable survival instinct.

In his empty dantian, large amounts of external yin energy were gathering. After it washed through his meridians, it slowly flowed toward the gigantic eye totem residing deep within his dantian. He struggled to reclaim his thoughts amidst the pain, but his mind was a storm of obscure symbols and memories, crashing through his sea of consciousness.

With a 'thump,' he felt himself being pulled from the scorching pain into a freezing, icy abyss. Suddenly, scattered memories began to surface in his sea of consciousness—

In the cold, bone-chilling depths of a pond, people around him laughed cruelly as they pressed his head into the water. Just as he was about to suffocate, they pulled him out almost as if out of pity… He heard his own desperate cries, while the instigators mocked him with smug, condescending pity, degrading him and pulling him back from the brink of death like an act of charity.

The cold sensation faded, and suddenly, a quarrel echoed in his ears. The man in the ancestral hall, who had always viewed him as an insignificant insect, was now furious. The elders, who had once held themselves above him, were now panicked… He was left isolated, kneeling in the center of the hall, a knife wound stinging in his palm. He heard the harsh, humiliating words of those elders, who had once shown him a sliver of kindness. It felt as if someone had stepped on his hand, grinding it into the rough sand, driving it deeper into the wound.

"Who is this?"

"It's you."

"Who am I…"

"Su Yu."

The noise in the ancestral hall suddenly faded, as if pulled away by an invisible force, like a revolving lantern.

And then, the last memory—Su Yu thought vaguely—ah, yes, he was pushed off a cliff.

In his sea of consciousness, the painful mantras returned, like a curse attached to his bones. The intense pain flooded his mind again—

"You can't die."

"Shut up, stop talking."

"Go away, get out!"

Su Yu instinctively tried to cover his ears. The water from the memory receded, and the rushing wind suddenly filled his ears. With a loud bang, all past memories were violently pulled back. He gasped for air, suddenly o

Soon, the strangling sensation vanish

Su Yu closed his ey

The wind howled thro

Th

Carefully,

The golden ve

The evil spirit shivered even mo

When Su Yu's fingers be

Th

No, wait. He s

Su Yu, lost in thought

"Come here."

Su Yu blinked his eyes in discomfort and watched as the white light ball rose and moved towards him according to his command. The evil spirit had been standing nearby for quite some time, not daring to move further. The more it watched, the deeper its fear of the young Taoist in front of it grew… How could he still be alive after being so severely injured? Was he even human?

However, the evil spirit dared not ask further questions. Whatever the Taoist told it to do, it followed without question.

After circling around several times, the Taoist finally stopped it from moving any further.

"What are you?" Su Yu asked.

The evil spirit was confused. "I... I'm just a little ghost formed by the Yin energy of Nanwu Mountain."

Yin energy? Su Yu observed the humanoid energy mass in front of him.

After asking, Su Yu did not speak again. The evil spirit thought it had not explained clearly enough and nervously continued, "My name is Zhang Fugui, from Xinglin Village in Nanwu Town. In my past life, I was a traveling doctor. I fell off a cliff while gathering herbs..."

The howling winds around them continued. The evil spirit's legs and feet began to feel sore. Its throat was dry as it noticed the Taoist had not responded. Cautiously, it asked, "Daoist priest...?"

Su Yu ignored it and instead began to assess his current condition.

When he raised his hand, there was still a dull, painful feeling throughout his body. The control of his body had returned to him, and as he touched his leg, he could tell from the angle of his broken bones that his leg had been snapped in two. His hand was covered with warm blood, and as he thought about how all that blood had come from his own body, he couldn't help but feel a sense of disbelief.

With all this damage, how was he still alive?

As this thought crossed his mind, the eye totem in his dantian reappeared. A strong, overpowering force enveloped him, and in the next moment, he involuntarily coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood.

He's still vomiting blood! The evil spirit looked on in horror. Is he even human?

Not far away, the young man had already taken on an inhuman, ghostly appearance. After vomiting another mouthful of blood, his body seemed to have reached its limit. Even though the evil spirit called out to him several times, the young man did not move. His eyes were closed, and he was leaning against a tree, looking as though he were already dead.

"Daoist priest?"

Is he really dead? A wave of joy rose within the evil spirit's heart. When it confirmed that the young man had not moved again, it turned and started to run toward the withered forest.

However, before it could get far, an invisible force immediately bound it. The evil spirit was yanked back several steps, and in shock, it turned around to find a blood-red chain wrapped around its ankle. The chain seemed to be made of coagulated blood, one end attached to it, the other to the distant Taoist.

It tried cautiously to move away, but the farther it moved from the young man, the more it felt as if its soul was being torn apart. After several attempts, it finally realized that it was bound to this Taoist. As a newly formed soul, if it were torn apart, it would lose the chance to cultivate and might even dissipate entirely.

At that moment, the Yin wind from the upper reaches of Nanwu Mountain grew stronger. The evil spirit watched the wind's direction and muttered to itself, "Could it be... that the seal is closing?"

Clenching its teeth, the evil spirit finally gathered enough courage to approach the young Taoist. As it neared the Taoist, the young man still showed no sign of movement. Seeing the Taoist's broken leg, the evil spirit hesitated, glancing at the approaching wind and the blood on the ground.

It couldn't die here; it still wanted to escape.

"Fortunately, it's still salvageable." The evil spirit sighed in relief. It floated to the Taoist's broken leg and carefully placed its fingers on the leg, seeming to feel around to assess the injury. When it found the right spot, it suddenly applied force, and with a sharp snap, the unconscious Taoist let out a muffled cry of pain.

The evil spirit froze for a moment, startled by the Taoist's pained sound. After a few breaths, it apologized and continued, "Daoist, forgive me. Your leg can still be saved. If I waited any longer, it might truly be useless."

The twisted leg was forcefully straightened. The evil spirit then gathered some nearby dry twigs and tore a few pieces of cloth from the Taoist's robe. With swift, practiced movements, it secured the leg and performed basic first aid to stop the bleeding.

Once these tasks were finished, it carefully lifted the Taoist onto its back.

The blood-red chain around the evil spirit's ankle showed no resistance, and the evil spirit easily carried the Taoist. When it had been dragging him before, the Taoist had seemed light, but now, as it carried him on its back, the evil spirit felt he was too light, almost unnaturally so.

The Taoist was well-dressed—why wasn't he a bit heavier? Did cultivators all like to maintain a slim physique?

The evil spirit thought of his long-missed son. When he was still human, his son had been a fat little boy, so plump at seven that he would wheeze while walking. When he told the boy to reduce his food and exercise, the little brat would always beg and act cute.

Thinking of this, Zhang Fugui realized he hadn't seen his wife and son in a long time.

Nanwu Mountain was a place where Yin energy prevailed, and in the fissures at the base of Nanwu Mountain, there existed a ghostly tomb that allowed souls to enter but not leave.

Zhang Fugui, the evil spirit, had fallen to his death on this mountain while gathering herbs. After forming a soul, he had tried every possible way to escape this place. But the entire mountain was sealed by a special enchantment left by some powerful being. All living beings who died here could never leave, not even the evil spirits residing in the mountain could stir the seal.

Zhang Fugui once thought that he would spend the rest of his life as a ghost in this place. However, a few months ago, the notorious evil spirits of Nanwu Mountain suddenly began fighting fiercely, seemingly over a secret treasure, and in the midst of this battle, the once-ironclad seal of Nanwu Mountain began to weaken. This weakening continued until just a few days ago, when a crack finally appeared in the seal at the western part of Nanwu Mountain. The chance to escape Nanwu Mountain had arrived.

Su Yu regained consciousness amidst the shaking, the dull pain in his sea of consciousness still lingering. He felt as though he was lying on a cold, eerie body. Slowly, he opened his eyes and saw the white light orb carrying him through the forest.

"Where are we going?" Su Yu asked.

Zhang Fugui, panting with exhaustion, instinctively replied when he heard the voice, "Of course, we're escaping. If we wait any longer, the seal will close... Daoist?! Daoist, you're awake!"

Su Yu tried to move, noticing that the pain in his body had decreased significantly. The most noticeable change was in his leg. He could feel the pain from the broken bones easing, as if they had been fixed somehow, and the jolting from the movement no longer affected the pain in his broken leg.

He lowered his head to look at the evil spirit and suddenly asked, "Did you do this?"

Zhang Fugui quickly nodded.

The person on his back did not respond. Zhang Fugui glanced to the side.

The young man's golden-patterned eyes were half-lidded, seemingly not noticing Zhang Fugui's nod.

Is he blind...?

Su Yu noticed the white light orb moving. "Why aren't you speaking?" he asked.

Zhang Fugui blurted out, "I—I did it."

If the broken leg wasn't treated, it would be useless, but the most critical issue was that the wound was bleeding uncontrollably, which could be fatal. Besides, if the wound wasn't treated, how could he continue carrying this person and run? If the blood kept flowing, it would attract wild ghosts within a ten-mile radius.

Zhang Fugui had been a traveling doctor in his previous life, and he couldn't stand patients not following medical advice. If it were one of his old patients, he would have scolded them mercilessly for such blatant defiance.

Zhang Fugui, feeling wronged but unable to speak, could only meekly reply, "If the wound is left untreated... it will be fatal."

Su Yu asked, "Isn't it better to die?"

Better to die? Not at all! It was a terrible idea.

But in front of the young man, Zhang Fugui didn't dare to say a word of reproach.

There was nothing more to it; it was just that he valued his life. Besides, death would only bring more suffering.

The conversation between the two ceased. Zhang Fugui remained silent, and the person on his back was also quiet. The young man seemed indifferent to where he was going. Aside from the few words he had spoken earlier, he hadn't said a single word since. It seemed like he wasn't interested in anything or in expressing where he wanted to go.

The seal exit of Nanwu Mountain was to the west. Zhang Fugui carried the young man for two hours, gasping for breath as they reached the end of the desolate forest.

From a distance, he could see the fog thinning, and the air from outside Nanwu Mountain began to seep in. Overjoyed, he quickened his pace. However, just as he was about to reach the edge of the withered forest, he suddenly felt the eerie grass and shattered Yin energy scattered around them.

It was too quiet. Why were there no ghosts in sight...?

A chill ran down Zhang Fugui's spine. As he took a few steps back, a strong gust of wind suddenly rushed from the distance, pushing him several steps backward. He hurriedly pressed himself against the withered tree to shield himself from the wild wind.

"What's going on—?"

Zhang Fugui, his eyes blurred by the wind, suddenly felt a hand firmly pressing down on his shoulder. "Daoist... Daoist?!"

The force seemed to pin him in place. Zhang Fugui, who had intended to escape, felt his legs frozen as if they were stuck in the ground. Turning his head, he saw that the young man on his back wasn't looking at him. Instead, his strange eyes were fixed on the distance.

The young man's eyes narrowed slightly, his calm pupils seemingly shifting.

"Don't move."