Chapter 91: The Ghost
They slipped into the room silently. The cat and dog made no sound, but the woman was acting strangely, still applying makeup at this late hour, the moon already high in the sky.
The ghostly aura in the room was so strong it was impossible to ignore. Bai Jingxue realized it was emanating from beneath the bed.
She had faced many dangers, but the thought of crawling under the bed and coming face to face with a horrifying ghost was too much for her heart to handle.
She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to calm herself, but in those two seconds, Lü Qingyan had already slipped under the bed, kicking out a red embroidered shoe.
The shoe, damp and cold, skidded across the floor, leaving a trail of water, stopping beside Bai Jingxue. Then, it began to shake.
A moment later, Lü Qingyan emerged, her paw planted triumphantly on the shoe, her voice filled with pride. “She retreated back into the shoe when she saw me.”
Their cultivation had improved. They could speak even in their animal forms. In her excitement, she had forgotten their current situation.
The woman, startled by the sudden voice, dropped her comb, her voice trembling with fear. “Who’s there?”
She turned, but she saw nothing.
Bai Jingxue quickly covered Lü Qingyan’s mouth. The dog was still standing on the ghost-possessed shoe. The two demons and the ghost remained hidden beneath the bed.
The woman was the one Bai Jingxue had encountered earlier. She glanced around, then, seeing that she was alone, she touched her forehead, her brow furrowed. “Don’t overthink it,” she muttered to herself.
“I’m just tired,” she said. “Time for bed.”
She blew out the candle and lay down.
The cat and dog, relieved that they hadn’t been discovered, exchanged a look. The ghost, its voice muffled by the shoe, said, “Aren’t you two supposed to be powerful demons? Why are you hiding?”
They had forgotten. Their cultivation had increased so rapidly that their minds hadn’t caught up.
They had already captured the ghost. Lü Qingyan, activating her teleportation ability, took Bai Jingxue and the ghost with her.
Ying was playing fetch with the fox, tossing a small ball. The plump fox would chase after it, retrieving it and placing it in Ying’s palm.
Bai Jingxue, watching them, thought the fox seemed rather dog-like. She glanced at Lü Qingyan, who was licking her fur, and asked, “Do you want to play?”
Lü Qingyan shook her head. “No way,” she said.
The ball suddenly flew towards them, and Lü Qingyan, her tail bristling, instinctively leaped, catching the ball in her mouth. She then realized what she had done and spat it out.
“Yuck! Yuck! Yuck!”
Ying, finding this amusing, seeing Lü Qingyan’s disgusted expression, quickly reassured her. “Don’t worry, it’s a new ball,” she said. “Xiao Bai hasn’t touched it.”
Bai Jingxue frowned. Ying was referring to the fox, but why was she calling it “Xiao Bai”? That was Lü Qingyan’s nickname.
But Luo Nianshang wasn’t here, and no one else would call Lü Qingyan “Xiao Bai.” She dismissed the thought.
The ghost, seeing Ying, her eyes widening in terror, was stunned. She hadn’t expected to encounter a dragon in this remote location. Her heart pounded in her chest, her initial desire to escape vanishing.
She wondered why these powerful beings were bothering with a small, insignificant ghost like her.
Realizing that hiding was futile, she revealed herself. Her hair was loose, her clothes, a red wedding dress, soaked through. She was identical to the woman in the room.
Her voice trembled with fear. “I haven’t harmed anyone,” she pleaded. “And I don’t taste good.”
There was a method of rapidly increasing one’s cultivation: consuming souls, especially those filled with resentment.
This method was considered demonic, but demons could also utilize it.
However, absorbing too much resentment could lead to madness. Even demon cultivators, who were known for their ruthless pursuit of power, considered it a forbidden technique.
But this ghost hadn’t been a cultivator. She was probably referring to something else.
Bai Jingxue, transforming back into her human form, stood before the ghost, her gaze piercing. “What are your regrets?” she asked. “Why haven’t you moved on?”
The ghost’s eyes filled with tears. “I have no regrets,” she said. “But I couldn’t find the path to reincarnation.”
Her body trembled, her voice filled with terror. “There were hands dragging me down, but they suddenly stopped. I managed to escape.”
Bai Jingxue’s eyes widened. She questioned the ghost about her death, learning that she had died seven nights ago. She had been engaged and had been trying on her wedding dress.
She had seen a cute cat in the courtyard and had gone outside to pet it, but she had accidentally fallen into a well.
When she had returned to the mortal realm, she had discovered that someone had taken her place.
She had been uneasy, afraid that this imposter had malicious intentions, so she had remained, watching.
Bai Jingxue thought for a moment. It was normal for a ghost who had died suddenly to linger, her resentment growing. And it seemed she harbored a deep hatred for the person who had taken her place.
Fang Xin had tried to tell her something, but she had been prevented from speaking, clearly bound by some kind of restriction. Was this what she had wanted to say?
But if that were the case, why could this powerless little ghost speak freely?
Seven nights ago…
Bai Jingxue suddenly remembered the stars she had seen that night. It had been seven days ago. Had something significant happened in this world?
The more she thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. She decided she needed to visit the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, or perhaps consult Luo Nianshang, to share what she had learned.
The ghost, seeing Bai Jingxue lost in thought, her voice a desperate plea, said, “Immortal, I truly mean no harm. I won’t hurt anyone. Please spare me.”
Bai Jingxue, her gaze piercing, as if she could see through the ghost’s facade, said nothing.
Ying, however, interjected, “I think she’s lying.”
Bai Jingxue nodded. She scooped up Lü Qingyan, who was sitting obediently beside her, then glanced at the darkened building.
She retrieved a scroll from her spatial ring, muttering a few words. The blank scroll glowed, and before the ghost could react, she was pulled into it.
She turned the scroll over, and the image of a woman in a red wedding dress appeared on its surface.
The Sword Saint’s gifts were always useful, though she seemed to be deliberately limiting their power, setting restrictions.
They could only use items that matched their cultivation level.
If it hadn’t been for those restrictions, they might have been able to defeat Ancestor Xuan Tian.
She rolled up the scroll, tucking it away in her spatial ring. “Let’s go,” she said to Ying.
Before leaving, she waved a hand, casting a spell on the sleeping woman in the building.
Ying had taught her that spell, but Bai Jingxue’s execution was even better. “You’re really talented,” Ying said, her voice filled with admiration.
Bai Jingxue, petting Lü Qingyan’s head, didn’t respond.
Lü Qingyan, however, puffed out her chest, her voice filled with pride. “Of course she is.”
Bai Jingxue squeezed Lü Qingyan’s ear.
The imposter was clearly human.
Armed with this new information, Bai Jingxue was no longer interested in playing detective.
The Dream Truth spell was a minor technique, its effects harmless. It simply amplified the victim’s guilt and anxiety through their dreams.
By tomorrow morning, the truth would be revealed.
As she had predicted, the next morning, the imposter went to the authorities, confessing her crime. She had been a servant in the Xiao household, her skills in disguise leading her down a dark path.
She had deliberately lured the young woman out with a cat, then had pushed her into the well.
The water had been cold, and the young woman, her body weak, her throat already weakened by a recent illness, had quickly drowned.
She had disposed of the body, but her guilt had haunted her. She had been terrified of being exposed, spending hours every day perfecting her disguise.
Bai Jingxue, in her cat form, sat on the roof of the courthouse, watching as the servant girl, her crime deemed unforgivable, was sentenced to death.
“Are you satisfied?” she asked softly, her voice directed at the scroll she had unfurled beside her.
The woman’s voice, filled with a weary acceptance, echoed from within the scroll. “So that’s what happened.”
After a long silence, her voice returned, this time laced with gratitude. “Thank you, Immortal.”
Bai Jingxue smiled. “What’s your name?”
“Xiao Yuyan.”
As they spoke, Ying landed gracefully beside Bai Jingxue. She frowned, her voice filled with confusion. “I followed her soul,” she said, “but it didn’t enter the cycle of reincarnation. It was dragged down.”
Just as Xiao Yuyan had described.
Bai Jingxue thought back to Fang Xin’s cryptic words.
“Humans have both good and evil within them,” she had said. “But what about the world?”
But how could she decipher the meaning of those words with so little information? Her head throbbed. She sighed, then stood up.
She leaped from the roof, transforming back into her human form as she landed.
Lü Qingyan had taken the white fox to feed the fish. Bai Jingxue, storing the scroll away, was about to join them when Lü Qingyan appeared.
She waved at Bai Jingxue, her voice cheerful. “Jingxue, are you done?”
Bai Jingxue nodded, feeling a pang of guilt. She had deliberately left Lü Qingyan behind, not wanting her to witness such ugliness.
This trip had been intended to help them relax and heal, not to expose them to the darkness of the world.
But their journey had to be postponed. They had to return to the Ejian Sect.
Lü Qingyan, seeing her silence, asked, “What’s wrong?”
Bai Jingxue shook her head, her voice gentle. “Nothing,” she said. “But we have to go back to the Ejian Sect. We can continue our trip once we’ve taken care of some things, okay?”
Lü Qingyan, realizing the source of Bai Jingxue’s guilt, chuckled. “It’s okay, Jingxue,” she said. “As long as I’m with you, anywhere is a good place to be.”
The white fox, circling Lü Qingyan, then leaped into Ying’s arms. Ying, petting the fox’s soft fur, her voice teasing, said, “That was a good line, Xiao Gou. Teach me how to do that.”
Lü Qingyan, though pleased by the compliment, was confused. Why was Ying learning how to flirt?
She suddenly remembered the book Help! All Seven of My Girlfriends Are in Love with Me!
She had read it. One of the girlfriends was a fox demon.
And the other six, except for one demon cultivator, were all furry beasts.
She stared at Ying, who was now petting the fox obsessively, unable to hide her disdain.
“Tsk,” she thought. “What a player.”
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