Strongest Scammer: Scamming The World, One Death At A Time-Chapter 709: A Wraith

Han Yu's eyes widened slightly.

"His body," he said quietly. "His torso was the anchor."

For the first time since the battle ended, Madam Cold Fang's expression shifted.

"That is correct," she said.

Han Yu felt a chill run down his spine that had nothing to do with the cold air.

A corpse as an anchor was not unheard of. Some Wraiths were bound to bones, particularly skulls or spinal columns that endured longer than flesh. But even then, such anchors were stationary.

They could not move.

But Danqing Xun's anchor had moved.

"His torso," Han Yu repeated slowly. "Preserved. Intact. Capable of movement." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

His mind raced through the implications.

A preserved physical anchor meant the Wraith was not bound to a single location. It meant mobility. It meant range.

It meant danger.

"That should not have been possible," Han Yu said. "Wraith formation takes time. During that time, the body decays. Even if the bones remain, the flesh should have long since rotted away."

Madam Cold Fang's eyes lowered slightly.

"That was partially my doing," she said.

Han Yu looked at her sharply.

"How so?"

"When I killed him," she explained, her voice steady, "I split his body apart. His lower body was destroyed, but his torso was caught within my ice arts."

She paused, as if recalling an old memory.

"My ice did not merely freeze him. It preserved him."

Han Yu inhaled slowly.

She continued.

"I buried that frozen torso beneath a mountain, sealing it with layer upon layer of cold Qi. At the time, I believed it would ensure his complete destruction."

"But instead," Han Yu said quietly, "it preserved the anchor long enough for a Wraith to form."

Madam Cold Fang nodded.

"I did not realize it then," she said. "By the time I sensed something was wrong, centuries had already passed."

Han Yu closed his eyes briefly.

Danqing Xun had not simply survived death.

He had been nurtured by it.

A High Elder of the Slaughtered Moon Divine Blood Sect would have possessed extensive knowledge of blood arts, corpse refinement, and spirit manipulation. Even if he had not intended to become a Wraith, his soul would have instinctively clung to existence.

Preserved flesh.

Unresolved obsession.

Hatred strong enough to rot the soul.

It was the perfect storm.

"He probably knew," Han Yu said after a moment. "At least partially. Even if he didn't plan it from the start, once his consciousness returned, he would have understood what he was becoming."

Madam Cold Fang did not deny it.

"He learned," she said. "Adapted. Fed."

Han Yu thought of the ritual sites. The drained corpses. The blood patterns carved into frozen ground.

"He was stabilizing himself," Han Yu said. "Strengthening his anchor. Expanding his influence."

"Yes."

Han Yu exhaled slowly.

"What we fought," he said, "was not just a Wraith."

Madam Cold Fang looked at him.

"It was a High Elder of the Slaughtered Moon Divine Blood Sect," Han Yu finished, "who refused to die, and had a thousand years to refine his hatred."

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

The wind howled faintly through the mountains, carrying snow across the battlefield, slowly erasing the last signs that such a thing had ever existed.

Han Yu felt an unexpected heaviness settle in his chest.

Danqing Xun had once been one of the Blood Sect.

And now, he had learned exactly how dangerous the remnants of the past could become when buried instead of destroyed.

Han Yu remained silent for a long moment after Madam Cold Fang finished speaking, the cold wind brushing past him while snowflakes drifted lazily through the air. His gaze lingered on the empty space where Danqing Xun had perished, though there was nothing left to see now.

Not a trace of blood, not a fragment of bone, not even a residue of spirit energy remained. It was as if the existence of the Evil Mountain Spirit had been erased from the world entirely.

He needed that moment.

Everything he had learned weighed heavily on his mind. The truth about Danqing Xun, the realization that a former High Elder of the Slaughtered Moon Divine Blood Sect had turned into a Wraith, and the fact that such a being had been roaming freely through the Harrow Mountains for centuries all pressed down on him at once.

Yet, amid all of that, one thought stood out more clearly than the rest.

'At least the Blood Sect would never know.' Han Yu let out a slow breath, feeling a rare sense of relief settle in his chest.

If the Slaughtered Moon Divine Blood Sect discovered that he had participated in killing Danqing Xun, even in his current state as a Wraith, the consequences would be impossible to predict.

At best, he would be dragged back to the sect for interrogation, imprisoned under suspicion of treachery, and subjected to soul searching techniques that would peel apart every secret he possessed.

At worst, he would simply be erased.

After all, Danqing Xun had once been a High Elder. Status like that did not vanish just because one died. The sect was not known for forgiving those who interfered with its internal matters, regardless of context.

In that sense, Madam Cold Fang's presence had been a twisted blessing.

If she had not intervened, Han Yu doubted he would have survived long enough to even worry about consequences. And if she had not revealed Danqing Xun's identity, he might have returned to the sect ignorant of just how deep the rot could run.

This place was cursed.

The Harrow Mountains were no longer merely dangerous. They were entangled with the past of the Blood Sect, with unresolved grudges that could reach out and devour the unwary.

Han Yu finally turned toward Madam Cold Fang, his expression composed but cautious.

"I should return to my sect," he said plainly. "The longer I stay here, the more unnecessary risks I take."

Madam Cold Fang did not react immediately, though the swirling cold Qi around her shifted slightly, as if responding to his words.