Chapter 77: Do you still dare?

“I’m not bad. Pretty Ghost is the bad one. Throwing yourself at me on purpose—what are you trying to do?”

Fu Ling reached out and pressed down on Liu Qiu’s shoulders, fixing her securely on her own lap.

Seeing Liu Qiu’s nervous expression, she couldn’t help but feel like teasing her.

“Humans and ghosts walk different paths. Seducing me won’t do you any good.”

Liu Qiu was currently sitting astride Fu Ling’s lap with her legs parted.

Originally, she had intended to trap Fu Ling with both hands and feet, but instead she had been restrained.

Now it didn’t look like Fu Ling was the one being confined.

Fu Ling could pin her down with effortless ease.

Liu Qiu opened her mouth.

“I’m not trying to seduce you. I just don’t want you to leave.”

Fu Ling laughed softly, reaching up to pinch Liu Qiu’s chin and lift it.

Her brows relaxed, the curve of her lips not exaggerated, yet her smile appeared gentle and lingering.

“And that’s not seduction? Listen to yourself—‘I don’t want you to leave’?”

“What a frivolous little ghost. How can you say something like that to someone you just met?”

Liu Qiu frowned, annoyance surfacing in her eyes.

“You’re deliberately twisting my words.”

Her face was small, her chin pointed.

Her eyes were large and round, with deep double eyelids and slightly drooping corners.

When she looked up at someone, there was an inexplicable, moist sense of grievance about her.

Fu Ling blinked and reached out to tap the tear mole at the corner of Liu Qiu’s eye.

She always felt that such a bewitching little mole did not belong on this face.

Liu Qiu smacked her hand away.

“Don’t touch me.”

[That’s right, Host! That’s how you deal with her!] the system chimed in.

This inexplicable Daoist wasn’t even the target character.

The target characters of this world were only the two Liu sisters.

The system disliked anyone who interfered with its host’s mission.

[This human’s attitude is far too frivolous—worse than that fox. Host, let’s quickly think of a way to escape.]

[I want to escape too, but this Daoist is very powerful.]

Fu Ling glanced at her hand that had been slapped away and shook her head.

“So fierce. I’d better collect you sooner rather than later, before you turn into a malicious ghost.”

Liu Qiu suddenly clenched her fingers tightly and stared at Fu Ling.

Her voice was muffled.

“I hate you.”

Fu Ling flicked her forehead lightly and smiled brightly.

“Alright, I’ll stop teasing you. I won’t collect you. But I really do need to leave.”

Liu Qiu immediately spread her arms and pressed her hands against both sides of the chair’s armrests, forming a sort of enclosure that boxed Fu Ling in before her.

“You can’t go.”

She had almost forgotten that Fu Ling had just threatened to capture the little fox and skin her alive.

Fu Ling narrowed her eyes slightly and called softly, “Xiao Chan.”

At once, a chill rose from behind Liu Qiu.

“Big sister, if you don’t move aside, I’ll climb onto your back.”

The distance was so close that Liu Qiu felt as if her hair were being tugged.

That little ghost named Xiao Chan was right behind her.

Liu Qiu shut her eyes.

Even though her entire body was trembling, she still gripped the chair arms tightly and refused to budge.

“Climb on then. I won’t move.”

Fu Ling’s mood soured again.

She roughly understood now why Liu Qiu refused to let her leave—because of that fox spirit.

Was she not even afraid of ghosts anymore?

Fu Ling’s gaze flickered.

She placed both hands on Liu Qiu’s waist and channeled spiritual energy.

Liu Qiu froze.

She suddenly couldn’t move.

Fu Ling’s lips curved in a teasing smile.

“Pretty Ghost might as well change your name to Silly Ghost. I was the one who brought you here. What made you think you could trap me?”

As she spoke, Fu Ling stood up, lifting Liu Qiu along with her.

Liu Qiu could move again, but she no longer had any way to restrain Fu Ling.

[System, I have an idea. I can kiss her and absorb all her yang energy to make her faint.]

[When she faints, you shock me awake, and then we escape.]

The system considered it carefully before rejecting it.

[Host, maybe not. There’s still that little ghost. Even if the Daoist faints, the child ghost is still here.]

[Let’s focus on cultivating first. Finish reading the professional manuals I gave you. Once you’re strong enough to defeat the little ghost, we can try your method. I’ll go find more useful books for you.]

The system’s reasoning made sense, but it mainly wanted to buy time so the Daoist wouldn’t immediately go after Su Li.

Liu Qiu grabbed Fu Ling’s arm and looked up at her, lips trembling slightly.

“I lied to you. I do have an old lover.”

“She looks exactly like you. Her name is Bai Qingqing.”

Fu Ling snorted softly.

“Is that so? I don’t feel like listening right now. Xiao Chan, watch her. I’m heading out.”

As she spoke, Fu Ling tapped Liu Qiu lightly on the forehead.

Liu Qiu stiffened instantly.

Fu Ling leisurely removed Liu Qiu’s hands, opened the door, and walked out.

“Pretty Ghost, wait for me to come back.”

She flashed a faint smile before closing the door.

Teasing this living soul was rather amusing.

A living soul meant the physical body was still alive.

Yet this little ghost bore the appearance of death, devoid of vitality.

To become a living soul in such a state, someone must have tampered with things and pulled her physical body back from the brink of death.

Aside from that fox spirit, who else could do it?

If that fox had any brains, she wouldn’t come knocking on her door.

Nor would she stay in that household.

She would likely retreat into the mountains and forests.

And that little ghost’s physical body was still young.

Her aura was pure and clean.

Her blood essence…

Perfect nourishment for a fox.

Last time, the fox had escaped.

This time, she could kill her outright.

Interfering with a mortal’s life and death was no trivial matter.

If taken seriously, it was an act of defying heaven—bringing the dead back to life and altering fate.

When a body’s qi reached a critical threshold, the soul would naturally return to it.

But a body without a soul was extremely dangerous and easily possessed by wandering spirits.

Thinking of that pitiful little ghost’s tearful expression, Fu Ling took out her magical artifact.

She needed to quickly deal with the fox and locate the little ghost’s physical body.

Yet halfway through searching for the fox, she was stopped.

Liu Feng’s face was somewhat pale.

Standing before Fu Ling, she placed her hands flat and bowed slightly, then straightened with a polite, gentle smile.

“Daoist, please return our elder sister to us.”

Liu Huang stood beside her, gripping a longsword tightly, her eyes sharp and cold as she stared at Fu Ling.

Looking at the two identical faces, Fu Ling chuckled softly.

Twins.

Both destined for wealth and status.

Yet why were they so determined to become offerings?

Fu Ling lifted her gaze without beating around the bush and pointed directly at the wooden puppet in Liu Huang’s hand.

“If you continue like this, both of you will die.”

“That Blood Locust Wood is no good thing. It was originally used to raise vengeful spirits.”

“It feeds on the lives of the living to turn ordinary ghosts into malicious ones, then controls them with spells to commit evil.”

“I don’t know where you learned about it, but right now I’m helping you.”

Liu Feng lowered her long lashes slightly.

“Daoist, we only want you to return our sister. As for other matters, they have nothing to do with you.”

Liu Huang sneered.

“You damned Daoist. You abducted our family member for no reason, and now you’re spinning nonsense. Who knows if you’re lying to us?”

“If you don’t hand her over, I’ll chop off your limbs.”

They truly refused to listen to reason.

Fu Ling glanced at the blazing sun overhead.

The light stung her eyes, making her squint.

“So you don’t value your own lives? If a malicious ghost burdened with human lives falls into the animal realm in her next reincarnation, do you still want her back?”

She was growing impatient.

On such a hot day, she ought to be holding that little ghost in her arms to cool off.

She only wanted to find the physical body, eliminate the fox, and leave.

She had no desire to chat with these two future dignitaries.

No.

She had to destroy the Blood Locust Wood first.

Her eyes flickered.

If she didn’t destroy the Blood Locust Wood binding the soul, the soul could never fully merge with the body.

She had nearly forgotten that.

Liu Huang gradually lost patience.

This Daoist was rambling nonsense, clearly unwilling to return the sickly girl’s soul.

She swung her sword at Fu Ling.

She was more accustomed to using a broadsword, but it was heavier and would drain too much stamina needed to search for her sister, so she carried a longsword instead.

Fu Ling dodged the strike with ease.

Liu Huang’s eyes grew colder.

She handed the wooden puppet to Liu Feng and lunged at Fu Ling again.

To her, as long as an enemy was tortured severely enough, they would eventually reveal what she wanted to know.

She had always believed that.

Fu Ling knew martial arts as well, but she specialized more in spells, and her stamina was not exceptional.

Suddenly, her waist twisted as the sharp blade grazed past, slicing her clothing.

Her expression turned cold.

She hadn’t wanted to escalate things, but it seemed they wouldn’t stop unless she was killed.

At that very moment, inside a room at an inn, Liu Qiu sat with her eyes closed, diligently studying The 108 Methods for Advancing in Ghost Cultivation.

“Big sister, talk with me,” came the little girl’s coquettish voice by her ear.

Liu Qiu opened her eyes and looked at the child.

This time, the little girl’s face was intact, no longer rotting as before.

But that earlier image was etched into Liu Qiu’s mind, impossible to forget.

Even with a normal face, she was still afraid.

“What do you want?” Liu Qiu asked stiffly.

The girl giggled.

“Big sister, my name is Jiang Chan. I’ve been dead for nineteen years. I’m actually a bit older than you.”

“I starved to death at home when I was seven. Actually, I wasn’t fully dead at first—I still had a little breath left, but I didn’t have the strength to chase away the rats.”

“The rot on my face was from the rats biting me. It was very hot then, so my face decayed quickly, and then I died.”

Her childish voice recounted the cruelty of her past without sorrow.

Liu Qiu’s fingers curled.

“Then why didn’t you reincarnate?”

Jiang Chan thought for a moment.

“I can’t. I’d go to the eighteenth level of hell, because I killed people.”

“They ate my corpse, even chopped up my bones. I was very angry, so I killed them.”

“I’ve been with Daoist since she was little.”

“She said if I ever don’t want to exist anymore, she’ll let me dissipate completely.”

Liu Qiu hadn’t wanted to talk to her, but this was too pitiful.

Just imagining it made her nose sting.

“Why are you telling me this?”

Jiang Chan circled around her and grinned.

“Because big sister is very pretty. I don’t want you to hate me.”

“Don’t you feel sorry for me now and fear me a little less? Daoist told me to scare you.”

Liu Qiu’s lashes trembled.

“Fu Ling is really bad.”

Jiang Chan’s smile widened.

Big sister was so easy to fool.

Fu Ling had never told her to reveal her true form.

She simply found Liu Qiu’s frightened expression adorable.

After their brief exchange, Liu Qiu was still afraid, but much better than before.

At least now she could meet the girl’s eyes.

She hesitated.

“You really can’t let me leave?”

Jiang Chan shook her head.

“No.”

“Big sister, tell me your story.”

She changed the subject quickly.

“Your hair is curly. Do you have foreign blood?”

“You said you’re married and have a wife. Women marrying women is rare. Did your parents agree?”

“What do you think of our Daoist? She’s very pretty too. She’s twenty-six—a bit of an old maid. Madam worries every day that the Fu family line will end with her.”

The child’s questions came one after another.

Liu Qiu felt dizzy, unsure how to answer.

Suddenly, a tapping sound came from the window.

It interrupted the girl’s chatter.

Liu Qiu pointed toward it.

“Can we open it and look?”

“Of course, big sister.”

With a wave of Jiang Chan’s hand, the window opened.

Liu Qiu immediately floated over.

“Big sister, the barrier is invisible. Even if nothing blocks you, you still can’t leave,” Jiang Chan reminded.

Liu Qiu placed her hand against the window and looked down.

Another small stone flew in from outside, passing straight through her body and clattering onto the floor.

She followed the direction it had come from.

A pair of snow-white furry ears entered her sight.

Her fingers tightened instantly.

Su Li had come for her.

And she hadn’t been caught by the Daoist.

That was such a relief.

She glanced behind her.

Jiang Chan stood calmly, smiling.

Liu Qiu looked out again.

The fox ears had disappeared.

She thought it was her imagination and felt a pang of disappointment.

But when she rubbed her eyes and looked again, she saw a fluffy fox tail.

The plump tail swayed before withdrawing.

Then an adorable fox face appeared.

Those brilliant golden eyes looked straight at her.

The fox opened her mouth, as if speaking silently.

Liu Qiu couldn’t help smiling, her brows curving beautifully.

Her lips parted, forming two soundless words.

“Su Li.”

Hidden behind a large rock, the little fox saw that Liu Qiu had noticed her.

Her tail wagged even more cheerfully.

This human had been captured and yet she was smiling so happily.

So foolish.

She ought to stay by her side forever.

After confirming there was no trace of the Daoist’s aura nearby, Su Li pushed off with her hind legs and leapt onto the first-floor eaves.

Liu Qiu was on the second floor.

Foolish human.

You know who came to save you, don’t you?

Let’s see if you dare to be so fickle again.

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