"Heaven and Earth without limit, Water God lend me your power, freeze!" Zhang Lingyu formed a hand seal and recited the incantation.

As her incantation ended, the Ice Soul Necklace flickered with a white light, followed by a cracking sound, and in the blink of an eye, the Second Miss was covered by a crystalline layer of ice.

The appearance of the ice layer seemed to stimulate the energy within Xiao Manxuan's body. Her hair started to ignite with strands of flame once again, and just as the ice layer was about to shatter like before, the Ice Soul flickered again, and the ice layer stabilized instantly.

"The Ice Soul is indeed extraordinary. Where did you get it?" Zhang Lingyu asked with a hint of awe.

"An Underground Ice Cave." Lin Tian did not hold back, looking at Xiao Manxuan encased in ice, resembling a sleeping beauty, and said worriedly, "The freezing created by the Ice Soul is very domineering. Can the Second Miss endure it?"

Zhang Lingyu shook her head and said, "The Ice Soul is domineering, but isn't her special energy also domineering? This energy is so peculiar, I think the Ice Soul can only suppress it for a while."

"You sent the Miss and her master away because you have something to say, right? You mentioned earlier that rescuing the Second Miss involves two steps, what is the second step? Even the Miss shouldn't know?" Lin Tian asked, his eyes flickering.

Zhang Lingyu nodded, speaking gravely, "What I'm about to say involves forbidden knowledge of this world, and others must not know it."

"Then why can I know?" Lin Tian asked in confusion, finding Zhang Lingyu's words strange; the world is just the world, what taboos could there be?

Zhang Lingyu glanced at him and said, "You yourself are an existence of taboo, what else can't you hear? Besides, the second step must be done by you."

"You're sounding more mysterious, what exactly is it?" Lin Tian was puzzled.

Zhang Lingyu paused for a moment, as if organizing her words, before finally saying, "Do you remember the Shishen in the Shrine?"

"Of course I remember, Shishen are spiritual bodies refined by Onmyoji using secret techniques, controlled through contracts, and they can be from any race such as humans or animals," Lin Tian simply stated. Having dealt with Onmyoji before, he had done some homework and naturally knew something.

"You are correct. Shishen are indeed a type of spiritual body, and among them, there are two types that are refined using humans as templates, the Floating Spirit and the Earth-bound Spirit. Floating Spirits are deceased people who do not believe they are dead and still harbor attachment to the world; their obsessions take form as special spiritual bodies that wander the human world. Such spiritual bodies, when captured by Onmyoji, are refined into Floating Spirit Shishen."

"Earth-bound Spirits are deceased people who have deep feelings or obsessions with a particular location, which manifest as spiritual bodies remaining there. These spiritual bodies, if captured by Onmyoji, are also refined into Shishen," Zhang Lingyu explained in detail.

Lin Tian curled his lip and said, "What you're talking about, isn't it just what we in Huaxia call ghosts?"

"If Shishen can exist, why is it strange for ghosts to exist? Ghosts are just another form of spiritual body. Everyone, apart from their physical body, has this kind of spiritual energy, which is commonly referred to as the soul or the three souls and seven spirits; it's all the same. The spiritual body and the flesh are interdependent, one cannot exist without the other," Zhang Lingyu said assuredly.

Lin Tian scratched the back of his head, incredulous, and said, "You're not joking?"

"Do I look like I'm joking? You yourself are a zombie, what can't you accept? I am a Demon Exorcist, what do you think Demon Exorcists do?" Zhang Lingyu looked at Lin Tian like he was a fool, and said.

Lin Tian was somewhat dazed, being suddenly told that ghosts existed in this world overturned his worldview of over ten years. But thinking again, he himself was a zombie, and he had seen Shishen, Fox Demons, Hair Demons, and vampires.

This world, from the start, was not the one he recognized; he just had never been willing to admit or face it.

Lin Tian said helplessly, "Alright, let's say all you mentioned are real and exist, what do they have to do with rescuing the Second Miss?"

Zhang Lingyu didn't answer immediately but continued to explain, "The physical body and the spiritual body, namely the soul, together constitute a complete person. If the physical body is damaged or dies and cannot bear the spiritual body, the spiritual body will leave the physical body, and the person will completely die."

"If the physical body is intact but the soul is damaged or leaves the body for other reasons, it becomes a living dead, or a vegetative state," Zhang Lingyu said.

"Are you saying the Second Miss is now in a vegetative state or a living dead?" Lin Tian asked with a frown, and Zhang Lingyu nodded, acknowledging Lin Tian's assumption.

"Is the Second Miss's soul damaged, or has it departed from her body?" Lin Tian thought of the crucial question and asked.

"It can be said to be damaged or separated. People have three souls and seven spirits; the seven spirits are Corpse Dog, Fu Shi, Que Yin, Swallowing Thieves, Non-Toxic, Chuhui, Smelly Lung, representing human emotions like happiness, anger, sorrow, fear, love, evil, and desire, and they reside in matter, so when a person dies, the seven spirits dissipate."

"After death, the seven spirits disperse. The remaining three souls: one returns to the tomb, one returns to the ancestral tablet in the shrine, and one returns to the Underworld, then reincarnation. After reincarnation, the three souls reunite."

"Xuanxuan's physical body hasn't died but has been repaired by special energy, so the seven spirits are still there. As for the three souls, due to soul damage, her third soul has already left the body, which is why medicine has no effect on Xuanxuan. Only by retrieving the third soul can Xuanxuan awaken," Zhang Lingyu explained at length and finally revealed how to carry out the second step.

Lin Tian didn't understand her explanation in the middle, but he understood the last sentence. Medicine has no effect on the Second Miss because her body has no health problems; her high body temperature is due to special energy. Her injury is to the soul.

"Where is the Second Miss's third soul?" Lin Tian asked. His zombie eyes could see any spiritual body, so as long as he knew where the third soul was, he could find a way to bring it back.

"I don't know either. A soul, once departed, only retains basic awareness; it doesn't even know where it goes. However, if an evil Onmyoji captures it, it would be bad. It would be refined into a Shishen, and once made into a Shishen, it would either become cannon fodder or be eternally enslaved by the Onmyoji, a very tragic fate," Zhang Lingyu said worriedly.

Lin Tian's fist tightened, his knuckles crackled. If the Second Miss really encountered an Onmyoji, not only would she never awaken, but she'd also be enslaved, which was something Lin Tian could not accept.

But Lin Tian had no understanding of the realm of souls, let alone how to retrieve one. He could only rely on Zhang Lingyu, the Demon Exorcist, who dealt with these matters.

"What exactly must we do to find the Second Miss's third soul?" Lin Tian asked seriously.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.