Another merchant caravan was burning paper money halfway along the road, and Ji Zhaoxi hurried over to freeload some.
But halfway through, she suddenly felt a gaze fixed upon her.
Her body stiffened, and she looked over.
The atmosphere froze for a second.
Shaman Wang!
Terrified, Ji Zhaoxi quickly floated away.
Shaman Wang stood in the bushes, her expression flickering in the shadows. Watching the fleeing Ji Zhaoxi, she could not help but let out a cold sneer.
A ghost mixed with Daoist aura—how interesting.
Shaman Wang raised her withered, dark hand, and a large handful of blood-scented glutinous rice flew toward Ji Zhaoxi's direction. Ji Zhaoxi dodged frantically, constantly changing her path, terrified of being touched by the rice.
Some of the glutinous rice accidentally splashed onto a cicada ghost sleeping on a tree, and the affected area instantly emitted black smoke.
The cicada ghost woke up furious. Who dared to bully it? It was no longer a helpless cicada waiting to be slaughtered; it was now a cicada ghost!
But upon seeing Shaman Wang under the tree, the cicada ghost trembled and silently shrank back into the thick leaves.
Ji Zhaoxi had never floated so fast in her life, but Shaman Wang followed closely behind her.
"Let's see where you can run!" Shaman Wang sneered.
As she chased, she shook the copper bell on a red string. Every step she took landed exactly on the residual yin energy left by Ji Zhaoxi. The eerie ringing of the bell constantly echoed in Ji Zhaoxi's ears, making her face grow even paler.
"Be a good girl... come into Granny's arms..."
As soon as Patriarch Zhao and his servant stepped out, they saw Shaman Wang's crazed appearance and immediately screamed in terror.
"Ahhhhhh!"
Why did this Shaman Wang look even more terrifying than a ghost?!
Even though the two of them had never actually seen a real ghost before.
Her spellcasting interrupted, Shaman Wang's face instantly darkened.
Gritting her teeth, Ji Zhaoxi immediately flew toward Xie Qingyan's room.
Xie Qingyan had just stood up when Ji Zhaoxi crashed straight into his arms. Seeing the injuries on her body, his expression turned serious: "Miss..."
Bang—
The door was kicked open violently.
The atmosphere instantly became dangerous.
Shaman Wang stood there with a gloomy face, the bells on her body ringing constantly, making her look like a life-claiming evil spirit.
Squire Zhao followed her helplessly: "Shaman Wang, there are no ghosts in this courtyard. This is Daoist Xie's courtyard, so it's even more impossible for there to be any ghosts."
He muttered in his heart that the most ghost-like thing in this courtyard was Shaman Wang herself.
When she rushed in just now, he had pleaded with her to at least greet Daoist Xie inside first. Barging into someone's room like that was simply against all etiquette.
But Shaman Wang completely ignored him and just kicked the door open.
"Daoist Xie, Shaman Wang insisted on coming in." Squire Zhao looked at Xie Qingyan helplessly.
The servant beside him looked at Shaman Wang's face and wanted to slip away quietly.
But in the next second, his hand was grabbed by Squire Zhao, who gave him a smile.
This smile was not polite; it was a warning!
The servant stayed behind with a miserable face.
"Where is that female ghost?" Shaman Wang looked at Xie Qingyan sinisterly, her voice as raspy as sandpaper.
Xie Qingyan looked at her calmly: "What female ghost?"
Shaman Wang's face twisted for a moment: "What female ghost? She charged straight into your room, and you are asking me what female ghost?!"
Xie Qingyan's expression remained unchanged: "Shaman Wang must have been mistaken. This humble Daoist has been in the room the whole time thinking about the matters of the Linqin Orchard, and has not seen any female ghost."
Hearing Linqin Orchard, Squire Zhao immediately reacted: "Right, right, right, Shaman Wang, this Daoist Xie has profound Daoist magic. What female ghost would dare to approach him?"
Shaman Wang sneered: "Profound Daoist magic? Just a wet-behind-the-ears brat."
Squire Zhao hurriedly defended Xie Qingyan: "Shaman Wang, you are mistaken. Daoist Xie is a disciple of the Taichu Temple, the number one temple in the world."
The servant lifted his chin: "And the eldest disciple at that! He has caught countless ghosts."
Squire Zhao nodded vigorously: "Exactly."
Shaman Wang could not be bothered with these two fools. She wrapped the red string around the doorframe. The string was fully laden with bells. She gently shook the bells, muttering something continuously under her breath.
A gust of air suddenly surged into the room, and Squire Zhao and the servant quickly hid behind Xie Qingyan.
The gourd on his body suddenly twitched. Xie Qingyan stroked it imperceptibly, and the gourd soon calmed down again.
Squire Zhao was a little scared at first, but seeing Shaman Wang chanting over there for a long time without any reaction, he increasingly felt that she was just playing the fool.
He had been frightened by Shaman Wang's mystical charades in the past.
Now his confidence surged: "Shaman Wang, if you can't summon anything, let's go to the Linqin Orchard. Daoist Xie has something to ask you."
Squire Zhao smiled at Xie Qingyan.
Shaman Wang's expression was unkind: "Him? Can he handle something that even I, Shaman Wang, cannot?"
Squire Zhao straightened his back: "How would we know without trying?"
The servant behind him jumped out: "Shaman Wang, you spent so much of our Patriarch's money, and there hasn't been a single bit of effect."
Squire Zhao quickly stopped him, pretending to scold: "Don't say that. Shaman Wang didn't do it on purpose."
The servant grumbled, his voice just loud enough for Shaman Wang to hear: "But she can't keep raising the price either."
After their little performance, the two immediately jumped back behind Xie Qingyan.
Shaman Wang sneered. So this was what they were waiting for.
"Shaman Wang, let us go." Xie Qingyan nodded to Shaman Wang.
Shaman Wang snorted coldly and walked straight toward the Linqin Orchard.
Xie Qingyan quietly followed behind her.
He took out a Soul-Clearing Pill. The pill instantly turned into a wisp of blue smoke and drifted into the mouth of the gourd.
Squire Zhao kept muttering beside him. Xie Qingyan's hand gently stroked the outer wall of the gourd, his palm glowing with a warm, gentle light.
"Daoist Xie, is there truly an elixir of immortality in this world?" Squire Zhao asked curiously.
Xie Qingyan shook his head: "Patriarch Zhao, the mandate of heaven cannot be defied."
Squire Zhao whispered: "Do you know Squire Li next door? I heard he is already at this age."
Squire Zhao made a hand gesture.
"Birth, aging, illness, and death are inevitable processes of life. If one defies the mandate of heaven, they will inevitably be punished," Xie Qingyan said calmly.
Squire Zhao wanted to say something more, but thinking of Squire Li's appearance in his memory, he silently closed his mouth.
At this moment, Ji Zhaoxi was huddled inside the gourd. Tiny spots of white light constantly seeped in through the mouth of the gourd. As those spots fell onto her soul, they brought a tingling sensation and a steady, endless stream of warmth.
She felt as if something was constantly stroking her gently, wiping away all the pain from her body.
They finally arrived at the Linqin Orchard.
The Linqin Orchard looked even worse than before. The fruits on the trees were rotten and purple, oozing pus.
Squire Zhao's heart ached terribly; these were all shining silver coins.
"This is the Daoist you hired? He doesn't look like much," Shaman Wang remarked sarcastically from the side.
Xie Qingyan did not speak. He simply and quietly drew a talisman and pasted it on the bluestone slab nearby. Liquid flowed out from the talisman paper, drilling straight into the crevices of the bluestone slab.
Shaman Wang's expression changed, and she was about to step forward to stop him.
Xie Qingyan blocked her: "Does Shaman Wang also recognize this talisman?"
Shaman Wang gave a cold sneer, a hint of sinister chill in her eyes.
