On the eve of the Feast of All Souls, lanterns lit up the entire City Lord’s Manor.
Inside Li Lanxiu’s room, he sat leisurely on a chair at the table. Chu Yue stood beside him with his arms folded. Ming Changsheng stood in front of the table, head slightly bowed.
Li Lanxiu pulled out a pouch of top-grade ghost-path spirit stones from his storage ring and set it on the table. “Take them. You may need them tomorrow.”
Ming Changsheng opened the cloth pouch and carefully took out a single spirit stone, cupping it in both hands. “Thank you, Young Master.”
Li Lanxiu glanced at him, eyes sweeping across the heavy pouch on the table. “Just one is enough?”
“Your top-grade ghost-path spirit stones…one of them alone is powerful enough to form a formation.” Ming Changsheng took out a handkerchief and wrapped the spirit stone up layer by layer.
Li Lanxiu found it tedious. He picked up the black cloth pouch from the table and tossed it to him. “Take the whole thing. Use it however you like from now on.”
Ming Changsheng caught the pouch in a hurry. A single top-grade ghost-path spirit stone could buy a highly coveted magical artifact in a cultivation market. A whole bag of them was more than most ghost cultivators could obtain in a lifetime—an unimaginable treasure.
That such priceless treasures were given to him so easily showed how much trust Young Master Li placed in him.
Ming Changsheng was deeply moved. His eyes shone as he looked at him. “Thank you, Young Master.”
Li Lanxiu glanced at the black cloth around his neck, hiding the slave seal completely. He teased, “I never asked—now that you’re my contracted slave, must you hide away in shame?”
Ming Changsheng froze and looked toward Chu Yue in confusion.
Chu Yue’s expression stayed calm and indifferent, as if it had nothing to do with him.
Ming Changsheng removed the black cloth from his neck, revealing the vivid red slave seal. He spoke honestly. “Becoming your contracted slave is the greatest honor of my life. I only worried others might misunderstand you.”
Li Lanxiu sat in the chair and beckoned with one clean, snow-white hand. Ming Changsheng stepped forward obediently. That hand landed on his arm with a few gentle pats. Li Lanxiu said, “Just focus on your own tasks. No need to worry about anything else.”
Ming Changsheng glanced once more at Chu Yue and bowed his head in submission. “Young Master, I understand.”
Chu Yue bent over and leaned close to Li Lanxiu’s face. “What about me?”
“Hm? What about you?” Li Lanxiu shot him a sideways look and pushed his face back a few inches.
Chu Yue took the opportunity to grasp his wrist and rubbed his cheek lightly against his palm, as if Li Lanxiu were stroking his face. “Is there anything I can do for you, Young Master?”
Li Lanxiu gave his cheek a light slap and pulled his hand away. “Just stay with me.”
Chu Yue straightened up and nonchalantly stepped back behind him. He sent a voice transmission. “Next time, Young Master, please slap my mouth. That way I can lick your palm.”
Li Lanxiu ignored him. After being teased a few times, Chu Yue had grown thick-skinned and dared to say anything shameless.
There was a visitor at the courtyard gate. Li Lanxiu gave a small nod, and Ming Changsheng opened the door. A young man in embroidered robes entered.
Jiang Zhuo paused at the sight of the people in the room. He had thought Li Lanxiu would be alone this late at night. He stepped forward and said, “Li… Streamcloud Sect’s disciples have received my message. They’ll be lying in wait outside Dreamsaint City tomorrow, ready to assist once the Feast of All Souls fireworks begin.”
Li Lanxiu lifted his chin, signaling him to sit. “Well done.”
Jiang Zhuo sat on a chair to the side, deliberately holding himself upright. He spoke with a casual air. “It’s nothing. I have some friends in Streamcloud Sect. They were willing to do me a small favor.”
Li Lanxiu asked casually, “How many disciples from Streamcloud Sect came?”
“Not many.” Jiang Zhuo inexplicably straightened his back and looked at Li Lanxiu. “We have seventy-two peaks. Each peak sent me a thousand men, so there are just over seventy thousand disciples.”
Li Lanxiu gave a slight nod. “More than I expected.”
Jiang Zhuo’s lips curled faintly. He spoke with composure. “In addition, the Four Seas Commerce Guild sent thirty thousand guards to protect me in Dreamsaint City. I have full authority over them.”
Chu Yue glanced at Li Lanxiu and chuckled. “Jiang-shaozhu has spared no effort for Dreamsaint City. The citizens will surely be deeply grateful.”
“…”
Jiang Zhuo shot him a fierce glare, like someone forced to swallow bitterness in silence.
Just then, Jing Mei and Han Qian entered one after the other.
Han Qian paused at the number of people in the room, then smiled and said to Li Lanxiu, “Young Master Li, disciples of Loftcloud Sect are already on their way. By tomorrow, they’ll be lying in wait outside Dreamsaint City. They’re all willing to do their part for the safety of the people.”
Jing Mei glanced over at Chu Yue, then at Jiang Zhuo’s cold face, and showed a subtle smile. “Li-daoxiong, our disciples from Jademaiden Sect are the same.”
Jiang Zhuo heard their reports and felt reluctant to be outshone. “You needn’t trouble yourselves. Streamcloud Sect has already sent seventy thousand disciples for Dreamsaint City. The Red Sect’s villains won’t escape even if they have wings.”
He finished and looked at Li Lanxiu.
Han Qian was again startled. Streamcloud Sect had gone to such great lengths. He was only a middling figure in Loftcloud Sect and far less influential than the young lord of the Four Seas Commerce Guild.
But he didn’t want to appear weak in front of the Young Master he admired. “Streamcloud Sect may have the numbers, but in terms of strength, Loftcloud Sect has the edge.”
Jing Mei withdrew her smile and looked at Li Lanxiu. “Why rush now? Once the Red Sect is dealt with in Dreamsaint City, let’s spar and see who comes out on top.”
No one but Chu Yue understood Jiang Zhuo’s painstaking efforts. He looked gloomy and said nothing.
Li Lanxiu took out several talismans from his storage ring and laid them on the table in a row. “I made these with the Blueword Brush. Carrying them wards off evil and protects the body. Take one each for defense.”
Jing Mei picked one up and put it away. “Thank you, Li-daoxiong.”
Jiang Zhuo stood and stepped forward, picking the talisman closest to Li Lanxiu and holding it in his palm. “Thank you, Li…”
He looked at Li Lanxiu’s face and asked curiously, “I haven’t asked your age. Should I call you daoxiong or xiaoyou?”
“Call me daoxiong.” Li Lanxiu’s current body wasn’t much younger than Jiang Zhuo.
Jiang Zhuo nodded and quietly said, “Li-daoxiong.”
Han Qian also picked up a talisman and thanked Li Lanxiu.
Two talismans remained on the table. Ming Changsheng picked one up without prompting. “Thank you, Young Master.”
Only the last talisman sat alone on the table.
Everyone looked at Chu Yue, who stood unmoving behind Li Lanxiu.
Li Lanxiu picked up the talisman between two fingers, reached his hand back and offered it to him. “Take it.”
A faint smile appeared on Chu Yue’s cold, indifferent face as he took the talisman from his hand.
With a gesture completely different from the others, he declared his status to everyone present.
Li Lanxiu had no idea what he was thinking. He looked at the others and said, “If there’s nothing else, please take your leave. Tomorrow we head to White Pagoda Temple together.”
Han Qian and Jing Mei left first, while Jiang Zhuo followed behind.
A few steps out the door, he turned his head and couldn’t help glancing at Li Lanxiu. In the lamplight, his figure looked slim and graceful.
Chu Yue stood behind Li Lanxiu like a loyal guard dog. He gave Jiang Zhuo a soft smile and bared a mouthful of gleaming white teeth.
“Just a dog riding on his master’s power.” Jiang Zhuo mocked him silently.
In the room, Li Lanxiu’s long shadow wavered gently with the lamplight.
Gu Zhengxing sat high atop the Hundred-Ghost Palanquin. A row of ghost guards knelt before him. His face was hidden behind heavy curtains, and none of them dared to lift their heads.
No one could guess what he was thinking either.
Gu Zhengxing’s mind wandered. Li Lanxiu was incredibly popular.
Even wearing that fierce mask, he still drew endless admiration and longing. This Young Master Li possessed a charm beyond the ordinary.
That night, in one soul-shaking glimpse, Gu Zhengxing had seen a snow-pale, jade-smooth side profile—stunning as a single stroke on a spring-painted mountain. In that instant, he understood why Li Lanxiu wore such a mask.
The underworld had its share of beautiful ghost spirits. Many mortals willingly gave their lives to those spirits, were drained dry and died without regrets. But not one of those beautiful ghosts compared to Li Lanxiu.
He didn’t know what thought crossed his mind. He raised a hand to brush his lips. A blush rose at the tips of his ears. He couldn’t help but smile faintly.
Li Lanxiu had better not take off that mask. If he did, a whole line of people would throw themselves at his feet, ready to die for him.
Outside the window, the sparrow that had been keeping watch vanished. In its place came a newly arrived hawk—powerful, sharp-eyed, its iron-forged body a fierce deterrent, guarding against those who might try something again.
At that moment, Bai Zhenchuan stood on a high platform within Conundrum Sect, watching Li Lanxiu’s every move through the hawk’s eyes.
They licked their lips slightly. They had fallen to Li Lanxiu’s charm and knew it better than anyone.
Unlike others, swept up by Li Lanxiu’s allure, they had once lifted his mask and seen most of his face. They knew exactly where his beauty struck deepest.
Anyone who had seen Li Lanxiu’s true face would never question Jiang Jiusi’s willingness to give up everything just to see it again.
From what he had seen, Li Lanxiu had best nail that mask to his face, or he would become a real headache.
The Feast of All Souls at White Pagoda Temple proceeded as scheduled. Outside the mountain gate, dense crowds surged. Nearly every citizen in the city came to the temple that day.
People dotted the towering mountain slopes. The place bustled with excitement. Vendors had set up stalls beyond the gates selling all kinds of lotus lanterns, and peddlers wove through the crowd hawking fruits.
Worshippers came in a steady stream, far more than the temple could accommodate. To handle the overflow, the temple brought out its treasured artifact—the “Heaven-Piercing Eye.”
A wrathful, vajra-surrounded eye stared down at the largest prayer hall in the temple. Inside the spacious hall sat rows of monks in red robes, all with heads bowed as they chanted, offering prayers to guide the dead to the afterlife.
A second Heaven-Piercing Eye projected the scene from the prayer hall above the plaza, casting it like a mirage across the sky. As chanting echoed softly, those who couldn’t enter the temple lifted their heads to watch, still able to feel the Buddha’s compassion.
Li Lanxiu stepped through the mountain gate of White Pagoda Temple. A massive golden Buddha stood beneath the white pagoda, its head nearly as tall as the pagoda itself.
The statue shimmered with gold leaf and wore a vivid red kasaya. Its features were gentle and kind, smiling at the corners of the mouth, eyes half-lowered in serenity and grace.
Pilgrims knelt reverently at its feet, holding lotus lanterns in their hands, praying for the Buddha’s protection.
Li Lanxiu stared at the statue, narrowing his eyes in thought.
Ming Changsheng sensed nothing sinister from the statue, but the immortal in the coffin felt deeply unsettled. He asked with concern, “Young Master, what are you looking at?”
Li Lanxiu shook his head. The statue bore a faint resemblance to Wuji.
Chu Yue noticed the same. He crossed his arms and spent a few seconds thinking. As someone with the Immaculate Spiritual Physique, his senses far surpassed ordinary cultivators. Yet despite the teeming masses in White Pagoda Temple, he couldn’t sense a trace of human presence.
Something seemed to be suppressing the mountain’s vitality—an overwhelming, heavy yin aura.
Han Qian walked up beside Li Lanxiu and quietly suggested, “Young Master Li, shall we take a look inside the prayer hall?”
Li Lanxiu glanced at him, his gaze lingering a little longer than usual. He nodded. “Alright.”
The group made their way up to the prayer hall. Wuji, dressed in a bright red monk’s robe, sat before the Buddha statue, leading the monks in chanting. Smoke curled through the air. Buddhist chants echoed in waves. Worshippers crowded the entrance, packed tightly shoulder to shoulder, kneeling and bowing one after another.
Amid this, Wuji suddenly raised his eyes. Through the dense crowd, he seemed to be searching for something. Then he smiled faintly and lowered his head to resume chanting.
As night fell, lotus lanterns on the White Pagoda Temple plaza lit up one by one. Their vivid glow resembled a river of stars fallen to the human world, adorning the darkness.
Children dashed across the plaza in joyful play. Their crisp laughter rang out as they ran about gleefully.
Suddenly, one child stopped and pointed toward the Buddha statue. “Wow! The Buddha opened its eyes!”
Passersby halted, turning to look. No one knew when it had happened, but the massive Buddha statue had opened its eyes. That gentle smile slowly faded, replaced by a cold, aloof gaze cast down upon the crowd.
“The Buddha has revealed his spirit!” someone cried out.
More and more people noticed. They rushed to kneel before the statue, chanting excitedly.
The Buddha statue lowered its eyes. Its gaze was dark and dull, full of indifference as it stared down at its worshippers. The chanting that had floated across the plaza grew deeper and heavier as the statue’s eyes opened.
Then, the monks’ voices faltered. Their chanting became uneven, slurred and wavering, like tongues cut from their mouths, every note muffled with weeping and dread. It was eerie and cold.
A chill swept through the crowd. Those with weaker nerves panicked and began to flee toward the mountain gate.
“Look! The Buddha’s mouth is moving!”
A sudden scream pierced the plaza.
The statue’s lips parted. A sound emerged, synchronized with the chanting. The articulation was muddled and distorted, each syllable squirming and struggling in its mouth, as though the statue meant to chew the words alive. The sound made every hair stand on end.
“It’s an evil Buddha! That’s an evil Buddha!”
Chaos broke out across the plaza.
The crowd scattered in a panic, fleeing from the terrifying Buddha statue.
Lotus lanterns rolled across the ground. The flickering flames lit up the terrified faces around them.
A loud boom echoed in the night sky. The next moment, brilliant fireworks burst forth, illuminating the entire mountain. The light was so bright people couldn’t open their eyes. Even ten miles away, it was still visible.
Thanks for the ch. ,:D
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