Lin Ji and Lu Xiaobai sat across from each other, their eyes locked in a fierce stare. 

In front of them was a square table, on which lay tokens transformed from spiritual power. 

Lu Xiaobai’s eyes darted, and he suddenly pointed in a direction, saying, “A Ji, look outside the window!” 

Unexpectedly, Lin Ji wasn’t fooled; he reached out to grab the tokens on the table. Lu Xiaobai reacted quickly, catching his hand, but Lin Ji countered and seized him instead. 

As long as it didn’t involve spiritual power, Lu Xiaobai’s responses in terms of techniques were not inferior to Lin Ji’s. The two exchanged moves, each grabbing opposite ends of a token, engaging in a test of strength. 

Strength was Lu Xiaobai’s strong suit, but Lin Ji didn’t back down at all. They struggled for an unknown amount of time, until Lu Xiaobai suddenly let go and tried to snatch a few more tokens. Lin Ji, having already secured his share, rushed to stop him. 

In the end, they reached a stalemate, each obtaining the same number of task tokens. 

Lin Ji glanced at the displayed text, “Why are you taking on so many tasks at once?” 

Lu Xiaobai replied, “There are many reasons. The main one is to get more spirit stones, so I can buy useful immortal herbs and spiritual flowers to refine pills and enhance my physique, which helps with cultivation.” 

“Also, I’ve used up too much high-quality vermilion for drawing talismans, so I need to restock. Sigh, why are prices in the cultivation world so high?” 

Lin Ji: “…” 

He really had an endless list of money-saving plans. 

The so-called mountain descent tasks were nothing more than commissions from the mortal world or other cultivation sects, where scattered cultivators sought help. 

Mortal tasks involved eliminating harm for the people, while inter-sect tasks were about mutual assistance. Completing these commissions would earn spirit stone rewards from the sect, which could be used to improve oneself. 

Unfortunately, the availability of commissions depended on the reputation of the sect. Larger sects with greater fame had plenty of commissions, while smaller ones might not receive many in a month, leading to a feast or famine situation. 

Peifeng Sect had an average reputation, and commissions had to be fought over; if you were a bit late, they would be gone. Lin Ji was puzzled about how Lu Xiaobai managed to grab over a dozen tasks. 

He looked at the tasks, which didn’t seem difficult to complete, but Lu Xiaobai shook his head repeatedly, saying that this one was too hard to trade and that one was too troublesome to exchange. 

As a result, Lin Ji ended up with demon-slaying tasks, while Lu Xiaobai got the boring ones like “There have been noises in the backyard at midnight, and the poultry has mysteriously disappeared without a trace. Is there a ghost? Please verify and exorcise, immortal.” 

Despite this, Lu Xiaobai still spent nights in seclusion, drawing a stack of life-saving talismans to stuff into his storage bag, along with various spirit pills and magical artifacts, preparing thoroughly. 

Before leaving the mountain gate, he tidied up around Luoxia Peak, put ingredients in the kitchen to prepare, steamed a pot of buns, and preserved medicinal soups with talismans, looking as if he was afraid Meng Wanqiu would starve to death. 

Lin Ji thought it was enough to remind his master to take medicine on time; a Nascent Soul cultivator eating was merely a hobby, not that he couldn’t go without food. Why bother? 

He rolled his eyes and said, “If you’re so worried, why not just slap a pancake on your master’s head?” Yet, he felt a bit touched; it turned out Lu Xiaobai was so good to those he cared about. 

Lu Xiaobai pondered: that could work. 

Seeing Lin Ji about to lose patience, Lu Xiaobai tugged at his sleeve and called out, “Let’s go, time to leave the mountain.” 

Walking was too slow, and since Lu Xiaobai couldn’t control a sword, he ultimately had to rely on Lin Ji to carry that damn guy. He suspected the other was deliberately treating him like a tool! 

Once they reached the mortal realm, Lin Ji said, “Let’s split up; we don’t have to execute tasks together.” 

Lu Xiaobai sighed dramatically, “It’s not that I don’t want to, but these tasks are scattered all over the place. By the time I finish one, the flowers will have wilted.” 

… They still had to work together. So why did he suggest they split up to grab tasks in the first place? For practice? 

Lin Ji had already done many meaningless things with Lu Xiaobai; he didn’t want the other to waste time returning to the mountain, so he reluctantly agreed. 

Speaking of which, Lin Ji was willing to accompany Lu Xiaobai down the mountain because he still had some thoughts he wanted to test about the other. He had some guesses about Lu Xiaobai that needed verification. 

When a person experiences a life-and-death crisis, they can no longer pretend; even the most rational person can be defeated by instinct, unleashing extraordinary potential. 

If Lu Xiaobai was truly as weak as he appeared, then any demon they encountered along the way would be enough to threaten his life. As long as he observed coldly, or even stirred the pot… he could see the other’s true strength. 

At worst, if Lu Xiaobai fainted from fear, he could step in to save him; that wouldn’t be hard for Lin Ji. 

As Lin Ji calculated, he began to feel a bit pleased, automatically ignoring Lu Xiaobai’s tugging at him. 

On the first day, they went to a household where poultry had mysteriously vanished, keeping watch overnight. They helped teach a lesson to two weasels, threatening them not to return, and advised the homeowners to keep their animals in the yard. 

In the following two days, they went to a nearby area to rescue a scattered cultivator who had accidentally triggered a demon-catching formation and got trapped, and then chased away a cat demon that was stealing fish from an old man’s fishing bucket. 

For several days, the tasks were easy to complete, and they didn’t encounter any slightly higher-level demons. Not to mention Lin Ji exerting himself, even the talismans Lu Xiaobai prepared were enough to scare them off. 

But Lu Xiaobai still hid behind him whenever something happened, clearly either afraid or reluctant to use the vermilion talismans he had exchanged spirit stones for. 

Lin Ji was a bit annoyed; setting up traps with small demons was too obvious. Lu Xiaobai was weak, not stupid. 

Until one day, they arrived at a relatively remote small town. The town wasn’t large, but there were quite a few families living there. 

They were approached by several households from the west of the town, with varying economic conditions. Some wore brocade robes, while others were in coarse cloth. 

The relationships among neighbors were decent; the wealthier families brought them in, and several heads of households sat together, looking troubled, with deep circles under their eyes. 

Even a cultivator could see that they were heavily affected by yin energy, likely having encountered a yin spirit. Over time, either they or their family members could face unforeseen disasters, potentially endangering their lives. 

Lin Ji glanced at the task card, “You called us here to… check the feng shui?” 

“Yes,” the businessman sighed first, “If the feng shui here is really bad, I will have to move.” 

The others in coarse clothing remained silent; with only a few plots of land, even if something did happen, they couldn’t move. Moving elsewhere would lead to a dead end for their livelihoods. 

Lin Ji held his temper: “You should find a feng shui master for this.” 

Although they could also see, Lin Ji was getting a bit impatient. Having experienced countless catastrophic events in his past life, he felt it was a waste of time to deal with trivial matters day after day. 

Someone asked in surprise, “Aren’t you a master?” 

Lin Ji: “…” 

Lu Xiaobai leaned in and whispered, “How can ordinary people distinguish between a master and an immortal? If you find it boring, just leave it to me.” 

Tasks like this were usually given out by cultivators traveling to accumulate merit for their own cultivation while also enhancing their sect’s reputation. They would casually promise that if they encountered extraordinary demons or ghostly events, as long as they sincerely sought help, a deity would come down to assist. 

There were many methods: some required burning talismans, some passed on mantras, and some directly gave tokens for wishes… as long as the immortal mountain’s stone wall sensed it, a sect task would be formed. 

But one could never know who a cultivator would whimsically assign tasks to, and what mortals would use them for, which was the reason for the disparity in tasks. 

Lin Ji looked at Lu Xiaobai, his meaning unclear: “Fine, you handle it.” 

He had been doing nothing and should contribute a bit. 

Lu Xiaobai smiled gently and asked softly, “Why don’t you all start by explaining the situation? I and…” He glanced at Lin Ji, smiling even brighter, “My junior brother will definitely do our best to help.” 

“…” Lin Ji secretly cursed; Lu Xiaobai really never forgot to take advantage of him verbally. 

Lin Ji thought to himself: What’s so great about calling me junior brother? In your past life, you called me brother all the time. 

This small town was located a few hundred miles southeast of Peifeng Sect, not too far. Although it was remote, it was also protected by the spiritual energy of the immortal mountain, enjoying good weather for many years, and the townspeople lived in peace, with no reports of demons or monsters for years. 

Until now, the town was still very calm, only the few families in the west were affected, and they didn’t know why. 

It turned out that these families had to pass through a narrow path, and for the past twenty years, every night, they would hear what sounded like a woman’s weeping, a sorrowful wail that scared them from passing through at night. They hurried home as soon as it got dark. 

If it were just a disturbance, they could have asked a master to perform a ritual to send the unknown wild ghost away. They initially thought so, but after performing the ritual, the woman’s crying became even more pronounced! 

“Sigh, from my father to my generation, we can hear the crying from time to time. We call that little road ‘Weeping Path.’ I’ve been hearing it since I was a child, and I’m almost used to it now.” 

Lu Xiaobai chuckled lightly, “Can you really get used to that?” 

The townspeople sighed, “There’s nothing we can do. During festivals, we burn paper money and perform rituals, and it’s been no less than a hundred times. The female ghost just won’t leave!” 

After performing the rituals, things would calm down for a few months, and neither they nor their families would suffer harm, so over time, they became accustomed to it. 

But if they forgot one year, passing through the little road would lead to being “bumped”—their sleeves suddenly caught by thorns, or their backs suddenly slapped, accompanied by the crying sound, that cold, sticky touch was terrifying. 

Lin Ji’s expression was calm: “Maybe she’s just hungry. She doesn’t want to cause a ruckus, fearing you might forget to offer her sacrifices.” 

At this point, he understood; the townspeople must have encountered a地缚灵 (earthbound spirit). 

Having died here without anyone collecting their remains or with no remains left, their lingering attachments and resentment prevented them from reincarnating. They became wild ghosts but couldn’t leave the place where they died, hence being called地缚灵. 

Logically, a feng shui master should have thought of this, but for some reason, they couldn’t drive the female ghost away. 

However, Lin Ji noticed that the female ghost wasn’t malicious; aside from pretending to be fierce to ask for food, she hadn’t harmed the people in the west of the town. Otherwise, after so many years, she would have become a vengeful spirit, and her heavy yin energy would have made it easy to kill someone. 

Lu Xiaobai also raised a question, and the brocade-clad gentleman excitedly said, “Yes, when we perform sacrifices, we should ask the master to negotiate. If it doesn’t work, let her send a dream to the master, and we will definitely find her remains to bury…” but it was useless. 

After many years, if they truly didn’t interfere, it would have been fine, but recently, the female ghost’s actions had suddenly intensified, and she began to cause harm. Her activity range expanded from Weeping Path to these households. 

There were loud banging sounds outside the door, or the earthen walls and tiles would rattle incessantly due to the yin wind. Last time, a chunk of dirt fell and hit a man’s head, and later, a child from another family broke his arm and was carried home, crying out in despair. 

“This time, the main one seeking help from the immortal is the Cui Bao family; someone in their house has really been killed.” 

The townspeople pushed each other, and a small, thin man stood up, scratching his head awkwardly, “Yes.” 

Lu Xiaobai asked, “My condolences. Who in your family met with misfortune?” 

Cui Bao hesitated for a moment and replied, “My father.” 

Cui Bao’s father’s body was discovered the next day, in a thicket along the narrow path. It was said that his eyes were bloodshot, unable to close even in death, his expression twisted in terror, and his body was covered in bruises that couldn’t be distinguished as being caused by thorns or the female ghost. 

But if it were just a fall, he wouldn’t have died without hitting a vital spot. 

After his death, the townspeople became even more frightened. They reluctantly accepted being disturbed by the ghost, but that didn’t mean they could sit idly by while the ghost harmed them! 

“The Cui family just built a new house, and we were wondering if they dug in the wrong place and ruined the feng shui. Otherwise, how could the female ghost come to their home?” 

If they could make amends, it would be good; if not, they should move away as soon as possible. 

“Alright, we’ll take a look later.” 

Lu Xiaobai seemed to be pondering, exchanging glances with Lin Ji.