The ghost’s finger lightly brushed against Wu Lingtian’s lashes. She sighed dreamily. “Even your eyelashes are longer than mine. But your facial structure is so lovely. Just the right balance of sharpness and roundness…your eyes…really remind me of my old lover’s.”

Wu Lingtian blinked up at her monotonously as she continued to trace his features.

“And this mole,” she brushed her thumb over it. “It really adds to your charm, do you know that?”

“…So, I’ve been told.”

“Do a lot of people compliment you?”

Wu Lingtian suddenly had a strange illusion of the tailors making friendly conversation as they measured him for a new set of robes. The vision quickly faded again and was, once again, replaced by the grotesque face that hovered above his.

“A lot.”

“I bet you’re very popular,” Wu Lingtian felt her hand trail down his chest. “Do women and men just throw themselves at your feet?”

“No.”

“Oh?” she giggled coquettishly. “It must be because of your icy face. Your personality is so cold…Young Master, if you smiled a bit more, I bet you would have people lining up just to see you for miles and miles. Not to mention your…delicious soul…”

“I actually prefer the silence that comes with not smiling,” Wu Lingtian said.

“Not a people person?”

“I don’t like noise.”

The ghost pouted. Her hand wandered past the lapels of Wu Lingtian’s robes. She lightly drew circles against his bare skin. “Goodness, you must be popular. A beautiful face mixed with your lofty personality…you must have many admirers.”

Wu Lingtian glanced down at the invading hand before lifting his cold gaze back up to the woman. “Are you the ghost that has been stealing souls?”

The ghost batted her eyelashes. “If I said I was, would you exterminate me?”

She lightly tapped his chest with her fist with a whine. “Coldhearted.”

“Do you know the ghost that has been stealing souls?”

“Mm, I may have seen her around here and there,” the ghost shrugged softly.

Wu Lingtian reached up and gently tucked away the few strands of hair that obscured the ghost girl’s face. “Has she been active recently?”

The ghost’s face lit up a fraction. She leaned back, sitting on Wu Lingtian’s abdomen. She began twisting her hair around her fingers. She seemed a bit bashful.

“I think I have seen her around a bit,” the ghost hummed. She glanced at Wu Lingtian out of the corner of her eye. “Though, last time, she said she was busy digesting a soul she had stolen recently.”

“How long ago was that?”

“Oh, about…two, three months? She’s probably hungry again.”

“I see,” Wu Lingtian sat up. The distance between them closed an uncomfortable amount, but Wu Lingtian really was tired of straining his neck to look up. “When you were alive, were you a courtesan?”

The ghost’s expression darkened.

“He never came to meet you, did he?”

“I’m only being kind to you because you’re handsome.”

“And I look a bit like him,” Wu Lingtian said. He reached out and pulled the ghost’s robes a little closer together, so it would reveal less skin. “When did you die?”

“…Five years ago.”

“The soul stealer,” Wu Lingtian’s gaze remained unmoving from the battered face. “You said she is probably hungry again?”

“Mn…”

“You’re here to protect me,” Wu Lingtian guessed.

“She’s always loved the powerful and handsome,” the ghost sighed. “But you’re far too beautiful to die so young.”

“Thank you,” Wu Lingtian hummed. “But it is also my job to get rid of her.”

“I know, I know. You men and your heroics,” the ghost slipped off of Wu Lingtian and sat on the edge of the bed. She glanced at the two disciples that were sleeping before looking back at Wu Lingtian.

It was rather apparent now that he had set up a barrier. Otherwise, why wouldn’t two cultivators, no matter how young, not wake up by now?

“The matter of your lover…I will look into it later.”

“No need,” the ghost mumbled.

“You have a kind heart. I wouldn’t want to see you trapped here,” Wu Lingtian said. “The mortal world is a temporary inn. Once you have passed, you should return home to the earth.”

The ghost slowly blinked at Wu Lingtian before nodding her head in consent. She slowly slipped off the bed, but before leaving, the ghost turned back one last time. “The souls of children and younger humans are especially delectable.”

Wu Lingtian waited for the ghost to leave before removing the sound barrier. He stood and lightly nudged the two disciples with his foot.

The woke immediately and looked up at their martial uncle, who had lit the candles again with a talisman.

“She should be attacking again tonight, but it won’t be us.”

“M-Martial Uncle…your robes…”

Wu Lingtian looked down to his chest. He set down the sword he had just picked up and nonchalantly fixed his disheveled robes. “A ghost stopped by. I am similar to her old lover in appearance, so she stopped the soul stealer from coming in. However, I have a hunch that she will be feasting on another member of this household.”

In their disoriented state, Liang Jun and Hua Anting only heard the words “ghost” and “similar to her old lover in appearance”. Mixed with his disheveled state, the disciples’ minds began to run wild and eventually ended up—

“I was not taken advantage of.”

“Ah.”

“Oh.”

“Done dreaming?”

Liang Jun and Hua Anting nodded like a pecking chick.

“Done, then stand. Let’s go find out where this ghost is.”

Liang Jun and Hua Anting fumbled to pull their shoes back on and grab their weapons before stumbling after Wu Lingtian.

Wu Lingtian readjusted the straw hat on his head before looking back at the two disciples.

“Do you remember if Master Yi has any children?”

“Earlier, he said that he was worried about his youngest son,” Hua Anting said.

“Master Yi said that he lives in the courtyard beside us.”

Wu Lingtian frowned. “Let’s hurry.”

With this statement, the trio hopped onto the roofs and by passed a few more curved streets.

Hua Anting gasped. “Martial Uncle—”

“You both stay outside,” Wu Lingtian said. “Make sure no one comes closer and the thing doesn’t get out. Set up an array.”

“Yes, Martial Uncle!”

Wu Lingtian jumped from the tile roof and threw the doors open.

The scene that greeted him was less than pleasant.

A woman sat upon the bed, holding the child on her lap. The scene would appear gentle, if it weren’t for the long nails that wrapped around the boy’s slender neck and the essence that was being drawn out from the boy. The woman seemed utterly distracted by the pure soul and didn’t notice Wu Lingtian’s presence until he had already unsheathed his sword and successfully snatched the child from her embrace.

Wu Lingtian looked down at the pale faced child and frowned. They had just started, thankfully.

“Oh?”

The ghost twisted on the bed and crossed her slender legs. Her ruby red lips curled into a smile as she silently observed Wu Lingtian.

“You’re the beau that I wanted to lay my hands on earlier. Handsome Cultivator, were you a little too bored, all safe in Ling Yiyi’s arms? Did you want to come have some fun with big sister?”

Wu Lingtian’s gaze turned steely. “You are the ghost that has been taking away the souls of people in this town?”

“So, what if I am?”

“I’m afraid you have overstayed your welcome,” Wu Lingtian set the child aside and turned back to the ghost.

His sword was swiftly blocked by the weapon-like nails. The ghost cackled before she faded from Wu Lingtian’s sight. He felt her fingers curl behind his neck and just narrowly flew back. He blocked her oncoming attacks and managed to stab her through the abdomen.

Wu Lingtian worked hard to avoid where the child was, but the sickening feeling in his chest slowly emerged again and his head began to ache. His expression did not betray the disturbing feelings that started to plague him though.

His movements remained swift, despite this sword pushing against his spiritual energy and trying to reject him. He began backing towards the door and leading the ghost out.

The ghost sent a palm to Wu Lingtian’s chest, hitting him where he had previously had his bones locked.

Wu Lingtian choked out a mouthful of blood, but quickly turned smashed the ghost into the doors. Taking this chance, he flew forward once more and drove his sword through her head.

From the open wound, thousands of souls began to escape one by one.

The ghost’s pitiful wailing sent chills down the spines of those who lived in the household, but none of them dared to leave their rooms.

The ghost tried desperately to grasp at the souls that were escaping her as her youthful skin slowly wrinkled and rotted, exposing her true form.

By the time the process ended, she had returned to dust and even her soul had been shattered.

Liang Jun and Hua Anting jogged over to Wu Lingtian and supported him.

“Martial Uncle, this—”

“What happened?! Was the ghost that powerful?”

Wu Lingtian steadied himself and flicked the dust from his sword before sheathing it. He held his chest and turned to the two disciples.

“I’m fine.”

“A-are you sure?” Liang Jun frowned. “No, Martial Uncle, I think it’d be better if we—”

“Martial Uncle!”

The world spun around Wu Lingtian and the words Liang Jun and Hua Anting tried to say to him became obscured by a high-pitched buzzing. Wu Lingtian’s head throbbed and he fell forward, directly blacking out.

A delighted cackle followed him into unconsciousness, leaving him behind one phrase: “Useless thing.”

---

“Is Martial Uncle going to be okay?”

Fan Yi glanced over his shoulder at Hua Anting and set Wu Lingtian’s wrist down. He turned to her and smiled. “Of course, he will be fine. He’s still a bit weak from when he first arrived, that’s all.”

Hua Anting frowned. “Just…what happened? For a cultivator of Martial Uncle’s abilities, he…he should be fine now, even if they had locked his bones and broken some limbs…Sect Leader, do you think they did something else to him?”

Fan Yi shook his head. “I can’t be too clear about that…you’re saying the ghost you fought was just a mid-level soul stealer?”

“Mn.”

“…I see. Well, your Martial Uncle will be fine. Don’t me too scared, okay? Go back and freshen up a bit. Sleep.”

“…Okay,” Hua Anting saluted to Fan Yi. She glanced at Wu Lingtian once more before leaving for her room.

Fan Yi turned back to Wu Lingtian and furrowed his brows.

Logically speaking, Wu Lingtian’s health had recovered about ninety percent. With this, he shouldn’t have trouble handling a mid-level ghost. But he had told the disciples to set up an array as a precaution and after taking a hit, he fell into a coma again.

Without answers, Fan Yi could only stare at Wu Lingtian until the latter stirred and opened his eyes.

“…”

Fan Yi smiled. “You’re awake?”

Wu Lingtian sat up and slipped into his shoes.

Fan Yi grabbed onto him. “Where are you going?”

“…There was a ghost girl. I promised her to find out what happened to her lover,” Wu Lingtian said. He reached for the borrowed sword, only for it to be snatched away. Wu Lingtian looked at Fan Yi calmly. “My health is fine, is it not?”

“You know that it is, but why did you faint all of a sudden?”

“…The ghost hit me hard,” Wu Lingtian said.

Fan Yi scoffed. “Child, I’m much older than you. Do you think I’m that easy to fool? Tell me the truth.”

“…”

Fan Yi set the sword down and grabbed Wu Lingtian’s shoulders, forcing him to sit back down. “Young Master Wu, even if I am a doctor, I believe the patient knows his body better than anyone else. You seem healthy on the surface, but there is something about you that doesn’t add up. You must know the reason behind this.”

Wu Lingtian looked at Fan Yi and brushed his hands off his shoulders.

 Fan Yi allowed his hands to fall from Wu Lingtian’s shoulders, but his gaze remained trained on him.

Wu Lingtian watched him in silence for several beats before slowly tearing his gaze away. “Before, you asked me what happened to my sword.”

“…I did.”

Wu Lingtian’s gaze rose to meet Fan Yi. “It’s gone. I shattered it.”

“…What?”