Chapter 73: Four Ghosts (Part 2)

In a daze for a moment and then awake for another, even Xu Qianyu, who was normally slow on the uptake, realized something was wrong and murmured to herself, “That wild ghost isn’t inside me, is it?”
The system responded urgently, “Yes, but it has no form; I can’t see it!”
Xu Qianyu suppressed her panic and asked Guo Yi, “Is something possessing me?”

Xie Yuzhen looked at her seriously, pulled aside the curtain, and said softly, “Don’t be afraid. Just lie down. I will definitely find someone to help you get it out.”
He was surprisingly calm.
All this time, he knew what was happening but remained composed. Xu Qianyu sensed that he was not the original Guo Yi.
Considering how he had protected her all along, he didn’t seem to have any ulterior motives. Even so, Xu Qianyu was still terrified. On one hand, she didn’t know the other’s true identity; though he hadn’t harmed her, it was hard to completely trust a stranger. On the other hand, she had died once before, with memories from her past life still vivid in her mind. She understood better than anyone how fragile life was; a single misstep could lead to devastation.

So once she noticed something wrong with her body, Xu Qianyu was immediately scared half to death.
She grabbed Guo Yi’s arm tightly. “Isn’t Big Brother a Taoist priest? Quickly call him here!”
At a time like this, she desperately wanted to find her senior brother to feel secure. Shen Suwei would definitely know what to do.
Guo Yi had been polite until he heard her mention Guo Heng; his expression changed dramatically. “Don’t even think about it.”

Without caring for Xu Qianyu’s pleas, he pulled up the curtain. “You lie down obediently and wait for a moment. I’ll be back soon.”
Before he finished speaking, Xie Yuzhen glanced from the corner of his eye and saw three more shadows pressing against the window outside.
He had sensed pursuers behind him on the way. The situation was urgent, and the knocking on the window grew more intense. A pale hand suddenly broke through the window, reaching in from behind to choke Xie Yuzhen by the neck. He twisted away, slipping out of its grasp like a fish.

Xie Yuzhen pushed against it with his palm, sending it straight back outside. Another ghostly figure followed, crashing into the window. Xie Yuzhen’s coat billowed as he leaped onto the table and out of the window, engaging in a struggle with them.
Xu Qianyu lay rigidly in the tent.
In the darkness, the witch’s spirit grew strong like a flame in a still wind, her limbs sinking into the bed as if filled with lead. In her panic, Xu Qianyu pressed down on the Penglai Immortal sect, wishing for help and hoping someone walking by could rescue her. Yet she hesitated for a moment.

If she asked for help, she would lose a hundred points again; she had earned those points by killing a big mother witch, which was not easy.
Taking advantage of her still being clear-headed, she should have time to save herself.
Xu Qianyu gritted her teeth and sat up. As Guo Yi was too occupied to pay her any attention, she pulled aside the curtain and stumbled out of bed, making her way toward Guo Heng’s room.
The courtyard was pitch black, and she walked faster and faster, disoriented, until she collided with someone.
Shen Suwei caught her shoulder and pulled her back slightly. He was just about to search for Xu Qianyu when he happened to run into her.

In the moonlight, Zhao Mingtang’s face was as pale as porcelain, reflecting a bluish light that almost gave her a ghostly hue. She looked at him with shifting eyes and smiled, “It’s you.”
Xu Qianyu was like a nimble spirit; she impersonated Zhao Mingtang, exuding a clean and proud air, but now her gaze held a hint of worldly dust, creating an indescribable sense of incongruity.
Shen Suwei’s eyes traced her face and then shifted to her back, noticing there was no one around; she had come out on her own.

“Let’s go.” He loosened his cloak with one hand, suddenly pulling her into his embrace and taking her back to his room.
When Xu Qianyu woke up again, she found herself in her senior brother’s chamber, though she didn’t know when she had gotten there. The doors and windows were tightly shut, and she sat on the plain gauze bed she had seen before, surrounded by a calming, purifying fragrance of incense.

Though she sighed in relief, in the darkness, the witch’s spirit began to regain the upper hand. She quickly called out to Shen Suwei, “Brother…”
The witch inside her “saw” the peach wood sword hanging on the wall and regretted talking to this person, mistakenly entering a Taoist’s residence; but since she was already there, she could only carefully hide within Xu Qianyu’s body, hoping not to be discovered.
Hearing her call, Shen Suwei turned and brought her a cup of hot tea, leaning down to offer it to her. “Drink this.”

Seeing Xu Qianyu’s uncertain expression, sensing something strange about her, he had infused the tea with a Clear Heart Pill and a purification talisman. If something was wrong, he would be able to detect it; if nothing was wrong, drinking it would at least warm her up.
Xu Qianyu took the tea, but a force within her compelled her to push it away, forcing a smile as she said, “I’m not thirsty.”
Shen Suwei lowered his eyes to look at the teacup, then at Zhao Mingtang’s shimmering eyes and the tear mole under her eye. Suddenly, he grasped her hand, half feeding, half forcing her to drink the entire cup in one go. “Drink it.”

Xu Qianyu couldn’t swallow in time, coughing several times, spilling a lot of tea on her clothes. She raised her hand to wipe her lips, looking at him in shock, a shiny streak of water glistening on her lips.
Shen Suwei noticed her astonished expression, fearing he had frightened her, and silently handed her a handkerchief.
Xu Qianyu grabbed it, just dabbed at her mouth, and felt a slow warmth spreading through her body. Her limbs felt as if they were ignited; the thing embedded in her soul was being dried and peeled away, restlessly crashing against her chest and sinking down to her back. She looked at Shen Suwei in panic.

Shen Suwei gazed at her quietly, his focus so intense it felt a bit unfamiliar, as if he were looking through her to observe the thing inside her body. Xu Qianyu had never seen him look this way before, and being stared at like this made her feel exposed, as if a blade had cut through her skin, instilling a sense of fear.
He had summoned the thin peach wood sword at some point, holding it in his left hand, the blade pointed outward.
Just as Shen Suwei was about to lift the sword, Zhao Mingtang made a surprising move.
She raised her arm, hooking her fingers around Shen Suwei’s neck, pulling him down until their faces were just inches apart.

The witch saw Shen Suwei looking down at her without rejecting her, paused for a moment, then embraced her waist and pulled aside the curtain to kneel on the couch. She commanded this body to lean back, sneering with disdain.
What of the Taoist? He seemed like a hypocrite too. There was indeed something different between the two of them. Now, she would add fuel to the fire, disturb his mind, and, in the intimacy of their closeness, exhale a cold, chilling breath, taking even this Taoist’s life for herself.

When Xu Qianyu woke up again, her eyes opened wide, slightly dazed. She was clinging to Shen Suwei’s neck, her arms stiffly bent, unable to pull back. Because they were so close, she could clearly see his skin and lashes in fine detail.
Guo Heng’s appearance bore a seven, or eight-point resemblance to her senior brother. Usually hidden within a layer of ice-cold restraint, his beauty now stood out starkly due to their close proximity.
His thin lips, never showing a hint of a smile, appeared cold and ascetic. Yet, ironically, they were an alluring shade of vivid red—a striking contradiction.

Her gaze shifted, and she decided to close her eyes. But the confined space filled with his scent a deep fragrance of sandalwood that was pervasive and overwhelming.
It was clearly the purifying incense used in temples, but gathered together like this, it seemed to have a cloying, almost aggressive intensity, causing her palms and forehead to break out in a cold sweat.
Noticing her sudden closing of her eyes, Shen Suwei’s lashes fluttered. When he was focused on exorcising demons, his reactions were slower. He simply looked at her, taking a moment to realize what was happening. As he became distracted, Zhao Mingtang’s face grew eerie, a sinister aura enveloping it. She opened her mouth, exhaling a breath of ice-cold air that condensed midair into a transparent gu insect, swiftly crawling towards Shen Suwei.
In the next instant, the Gu Po’s eyes flew open in shock. Tiny ice needles pierced her body, shattering the insect before it fully formed.

Before her stood someone with clear eyes, bearing an intense, frigid killing intent.
The Gu Po was terrified to her core, struggling to pull her arm back. Shen Suwei suddenly stepped forward, pressing her into his embrace, the bed curtains falling, shielding their figures from view.

Xu Qianyu leaned into her senior brother’s cool embrace, feeling his fingers trace slowly down her spine, one vertebra at a time. Suddenly, she had a flash of insight, realizing what he was about to do, and she let her consciousness sink into her spirit pool.
Sure enough, his fingers halted at her tailbone, freezing her spirit pool and sending his spiritual sense inside.

Through the ice shell, Xu Qianyu saw two strands of golden energy hovering outside it, like a double-headed dragon, standing quietly. Compared to this, her consciousness seemed like a tiny bird, forced to look up at the giant beasts before her. She couldn’t help but call out, “Senior Brother!”
Xu Qianyu heard her voice clearly, surprised—she could transmit sound now!
Shen Suwei was also startled. When she had first built her foundation, her consciousness had been as small as a firefly, flickering in and out. Now, the orb of light within the ice shell was as large as a pear, radiating brilliantly. She had progressed so much.
Between them, a black mist was visible, frozen within the ice shell, writhing like a fish caught by its tail.

The Gu Po had entered Xu Qianyu’s body because her three souls and seven spirits were incomplete, creating what was commonly known as a “yin body,” lacking a soul portion. This vacancy allowed a hiding place for malevolent entities. The ghostly presence had inhabited this gap, aiming to devour the rest of Xu Qianyu’s soul and take over her body. However, Xu Qianyu’s consciousness was as bright as a ball of fire, drifting around like a guardian before her soul, burning the ghost too fiercely for it to approach.

Thus, it could only act when her consciousness orb drifted to the other side, appearing to outsiders as periodic control shifts with Xu Qianyu.
A moment ago, the talisman water had forced the Gu Po from her soul’s position. Xu Qianyu’s consciousness sank into her spirit pool, suddenly blazing bright, shrinking the ghost further. Now, with the arrival of an incredibly powerful spiritual sense, the ghost found itself roasted on both sides, leaving it exposed and shrieking in terror.
Realizing that the ghost feared consciousness, Xu Qianyu’s orb of light shook, gathering momentum. “Senior Brother, if we hit it from both sides, wouldn’t we crush it?”

Gu Po: … 
Shen Suwei hesitated briefly. “No.”
“Why not?”
“Move aside,” Shen Suwei’s spiritual sense instructed. “Stay still.”

Interpreting his words as meaning her consciousness still lacked the power to kill the ghost, Xu Qianyu, though reluctant, obediently floated aside.
The two strands of spiritual sense suddenly penetrated the ice sphere, wrapping tightly around the Gu Po’s ghostly spirit.
At that moment, the door burst open. Shen Suwei’s eyelashes fluttered; his spiritual sense was still exterminating the ghost inside Xu Qianyu, but he lifted her, laid her flat on the bed, and dropped the curtain to conceal them.

Guo Yi had barged in, and Shen Suwei turned back, blocking him with his sword. “What are you doing?”
Xie Yuzhen suppressed his fury, looking at him coldly. “Eldest Brother, is Mingtang with you?”
“Your wife? How would she be here with me?” Shen Suwei replied calmly, “It’s late. Instead of sleeping, why come here to cause a scene?”
Xie Yuzhen grated his teeth. Earlier, he had barely escaped from those three ghosts, and returning to find Xu Qianyu missing had terrified him. Following her scent, he had tracked her here.

His heart, just somewhat settled, began to tremble again. He could smell Xu Qianyu’s scent distinctly in Guo Heng’s room, even in the bed area. What was the nature of their relationship that she dared act so openly? He had asked her to wait for a moment, yet she had snuck into another man’s room while he was being attacked.
Or perhaps this cultivator had taken advantage of the chaos to bring her here?
“Dare you let me look?” Xie Yuzhen’s gaze was cold and dark. Reaching out, he flicked the sword’s tip aside with a hum, striding forward as Shen Suwei blocked him again, raising his sword to point at Xie Yuzhen’s throat.
Xie Yuzhen clenched his fist, his dark eyes filled with wrath.

Shen Suwei raised his gaze sharply, with the same cold, murderous intensity he’d had on the rooftop that day. His eyes, bright as blades, said, “Get out.”
Before the words faded, swords clashed as they began to fight in the room.
Xie Yuzhen grabbed a pen stand to intercept the blade, splitting it in half as the force sent papers flying. He moved to bypass Shen Suwei, only for Shen Suwei to seize his robe, pulling him back.

Shen Suwei was at the peak of the Golden Core stage; with another advancement, he would reach Nascent Soul and gain the ability to project his spirit outside his body. His spiritual sense was still exterminating the Gu Po inside Xu Qianyu, yet he could fend off Xie Yuzhen simultaneously—a testament to his training in dual focus.
Expressionless, Shen Suwei dragged Xie Yuzhen by his collar and slammed him onto the desk. Meanwhile, he spared a strand of his spiritual sense to examine who this intruder really was, questioning why he, under Guo Yi’s guise, was so dedicated to his act—could it be that he’d come specifically for Xu Qianyu?

As his spiritual sense reached out, it encountered a powerful resistance that repelled him, preventing him from discerning the intruder’s true identity.

The true soul of Guo Yi is still alive, trembling within his body, unable to be killed for now.
The desk broke, pen fell, and paperweight shattered, causing a commotion. The servants rushed over, but before they could scream, Shen Suwei said calmly, “It’s fine. Leave.”
“Second Young Master, are you okay…?”
Xie Yuzhen wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, stood up from the mess, eyes filled with malice, and added, “Get out.”

Outside, the two were locked in an intense fight. Meanwhile, Xu Qianyu was immersed in the spiritual pool, completely unaware.
All he could hear were the terrifying screams of the evil ghost witch as it was destroyed, making his scalp tingle. Even the ice shell around him was trembling with frost-like cracks.
That vile witch dared to possess him—truly unforgivable. Watching as his senior brother subdued the witch, Xu Qianyu wanted to deliver a couple of extra blows, but with Shen Suwei’s command to stay put, he dared not move on his own.
If he could help kill this wicked spirit, how many points would he gain? Just standing on the sidelines felt like a bit of a pity.

Xu Qianyu thought that since he couldn’t kill the witch himself, maybe he could at least take advantage of any leftovers once Shen Suwei finished her off.
Just as he thought this, he saw the ghostly figure disintegrate, shredded into countless threads of gray smoke, which began to drift down through the golden net of Shen Suwei’s spiritual power.
Without hesitation, Xu Qianyu transformed into a light sphere and dashed forward, collecting all of the scattered smoke remnants into himself.
Immediately, his vision lit up with a flurry of notifications, like fireworks exploding. Points poured into his account.
But Xu Qianyu showed no reaction to the points.

As he lunged forward, he had briefly brushed against Shen Suwei’s spiritual aura. For a split second, an overwhelming heatwave surged over him, as if he had plunged into molten iron, melting him into smoke in an instant. His mind went blank, thinking for a moment that his consciousness had shattered.
Shen Suwei’s aura withdrew swiftly, almost in a panicked manner.
With no foreign spiritual presence left in the ice shell, it soon quieted down.
But a moment later, Xu Qianyu sensed a strange feeling, like tidal waves crashing over him, rolling out in layers. The light sphere started to tremble uncontrollably, flying around in a panic, crashing into the ice shell, and then rolling down like a marble, paralyzed and seemingly melting into a puddle.

Like a drunken light sphere, it quivered on the ground, rolling back and forth, unable to move, as if about to flow in all directions.
Shen Suwei, still engaged in his fight with Xie Yuzhen, tensed.
Xu Qianyu’s consciousness was still too fragile. While the sensation was weak for Shen Suwei, like a feather brushing by, he knew what had happened.
His blood surged, and his mind was in disarray.
He had dropped a level again.
At that moment, Xie Yuzhen seized the opening and pushed him back a few steps. Walking to the bedside, he grabbed the bed curtain, and just as he was about to lift it, Shen Suwei grabbed his hand.

Their inner strengths clashed; Xie Yuzhen struggled but couldn’t lift even a corner of the curtain.
“What’s wrong, feeling guilty? Afraid to let me see?” Xie Yuzhen’s eyes reddened slightly as he glimpsed the red figure inside the curtain.
She actually dared to lie in someone else’s bed.
Inside, Xu Qianyu frowned as the clamor came from just inches away.
She stopped meditating and forced her consciousness back, opening her eyes. Her limbs were weak, and her head was still dizzy.

“What’s all the noise?” She sat up, tidied her hair, and lifted the bed curtain herself, surprised to see the cold aura of Guo Yi outside.
“Why are you here?” Guo Yi clenched his jaw, staring at her face.
“Feeling unwell on the way, so I borrowed this bed to rest for a while. Feeling much better now,” Xu Qianyu said unashamedly. “Why that look?”
Since Guo Yi was not the original Guo Yi, she wasn’t worried about Zhao Mingtang’s nightly antics breaking his heart.
Xie Yuzhen sneered, “Just resting?”
“What else?” Xu Qianyu retorted, annoyed.

Xie Yuzhen stared at her, lips curled but with eyes red like a rabbit, as if suppressing something: “Shall I get you a mirror to see what you look like now?”
Xu Qianyu froze, touching her cheek. What was wrong with her face?
The system coughed, “It’s just a little red, that’s all.”
To Xie Yuzhen, her cheeks were flushed, her eyes misty, and the sharpness in her usually piercing eyes now softened and hazy.

What kind of “unwell” could make her look like this? His mind couldn’t help but wander.
Any further thoughts might just enrage the demon lord.
Before Xu Qianyu could respond, Xie Yuzhen was pushed aside. Shen Suwei saw her expression and paused before pulling her up, shielding her behind him.
Xu Qianyu had only been fatigued, but with the cold fragrance of his white robes wafting into her nose, her consciousness began to tremble again. The lingering sensation climbed up her spine, leaving her mind in a whirl.

The light sphere remained limp on the ground, unable to fly. After a few tries, it seemed beyond her control, anxiously sending a message: “Brother, my consciousness…”
Hopefully, it’s not broken.
“I told you not to touch the spiritual aura.” Shen Suwei glared at Xie Yuzhen. His tone was reproachful, but beneath his words was a faint, cold reassurance. “It should pass soon.”
“Oh, alright.” Feeling reassured, Xu Qianyu replied, “Shall we leave? There seem to be a few more snacks outside.”
“Let’s go.” Shen Suwei took her hand, channeling spiritual power through her palm to steady her.
Knowing their enemy was targeting Xu Qianyu, he would naturally protect her as his sect junior; besides, his master had entrusted her care to him. If she entered the sect, she would be his only junior sister. Giving her special attention was only appropriate.

Once he made up his mind, he wouldn’t go back on it. Let Guo Heng play the villain if need be.
Xie Yuzhen looked at their intertwined hands, sneering, “Elder brother, what do you mean by this?”
Shen Suwei replied, “Exactly what it looks like.”
He pulled Xu Qianyu closer, just as ghostly figures knocked on the window. Clouds darkened the moon; ghostly infants wailed in the night, sharp and eerie, forming a circle around them. Shen Suwei turned coldly to Xie Yuzhen: “You brought them here.”

Xie Yuzhen saw these malicious spirits lingering and was surprised. He said angrily, “How do you know they’re coming for me?”

Shen Suwei glanced at the ghostly shadows and replied, “Zhao Mingtang and I have no enemies. Could they possibly be coming for us instead?”