Holding a lantern, guiding souls across, Lady Hou comes from the underworld.

Hearing the evil spirit's cries, none of the people in the hall dared to come out and see.

Only after the commotion subsided did Yan Zhengchu become the first to walk to the door and glance outside.

Under the clear moonlight, all was quiet. Apart from a speck of black ash floating in the air, the red-clad woman and the evil spirit were nowhere to be seen.

Yu Lang and A Xia also came out.

"Those evil spirits, they're gone so quickly..."

"Gone without a trace."

It looks like it's already been dealt with.

Yan Zhengchu breathed a slight sigh of relief, but glanced at the location of the secret chamber on the peak and said to the two, "It's safe here now. You wait here. I need to go back to the secret chamber to check on my uncle's condition..."

Yu Lang said, "I'll go too. Let A-Xia stay behind and look after your junior brothers."

A-Xia: "..."

Yan Zhengchu wanted to refuse, but Yu Lang didn't let him say anything more and pulled him up the mountain.

At that moment, a familiar figure appeared in their line of sight.

Upon seeing it, Yu Lang was immediately both surprised and delighted: "It's Miss Xia!"

Hearing the sound, Xia Ximo turned around and glanced at them indifferently.

Yu Lang hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Where did you go just now? Master Yan said he couldn't find you anywhere."

Xia Ximo remained calm and composed: "I took a walk around."

"Do you know how dangerous that was? Luckily you weren't there, so you wouldn't be scared."

"..."

Standing to the side, Master Yan was speechless for a moment, but could only cough lightly and say, "There's no time to explain too much, we have to go up quickly."

The stone door to the secret chamber had been destroyed by evil spirits, and faint sounds of fighting could be heard coming from inside…

The three entered and found the room in complete disarray.

Yan Zhengchu rushed to the front and saw that Ren Yao and Tianji Daoren were locked in a fierce battle. He immediately picked up his jade sword and joined the fight.

"Uncle-Master, I'm here to help you!"

Ren Yao glanced at him briefly, then made a lighthearted joke.

"Look at your master, he's getting older and older, and he'll soon be running out of strength."

When Yan Zhengchu looked at his master again, his gaze was no longer filled with respect as before, but gradually became sharp and piercing.

At this time, the Taoist Master Tianji was indeed old and frail.

He looked much older than his actual age.

He believed that after releasing the evil spirits hidden in the cauldron using the Ghost Control Technique, he could use this to massacre Yunhe Mountain.

But to his surprise, his eldest disciple returned unharmed…

Two more people followed behind him.

Yu Lang and Xia Ximo, who were walking behind, both looked at Ren Fengjue.

Yu Lang, fearing that Xia Ximo might not understand, quietly explained, "The one fighting this old Taoist priest right now isn't the young marquis, but the spirit of the young marquis's uncle."

Xia Ximo responded lightly, but his gaze swept over Ren Fengjue intentionally or unintentionally, as if checking whether the body was intact.

With Yan Zhengchu and "Ren Yao" joining forces, Tianji Daoren faced increasing pressure and was about to be defeated in no time.

Due to exhaustion, he leaned against the cauldron in the secret chamber, using his jade sword as a support, panting and coughing softly.

When he looked up again, blood was seeping from the corner of his mouth.

He suddenly sneered and said to Yan Zhengchu, "I knew it. You were picked up by your uncle. Even if you become my disciple, your heart will never be with me."

Yan Zhengchu was even more annoyed that he had been turned on, and was about to argue with him when "Ren Yao" spoke first.

"Senior brother, I know what kind of person Xiao Chu is."

"He respects me, and he respects you. He remembers my kindness, and he will not forget your years of nurturing him."

"On the contrary, you took advantage of his trust in you to do these evil things, so you can only suffer the consequences of your own actions."

The Taoist Master Tianji showed no remorse whatsoever.

He even ruthlessly mocked, "In this way, it can be considered that the master is teaching him one last thing."

"You can't judge a person by appearances alone."

Yan Zhengchu felt a chill run down his spine when he thought about how he had been kept in the dark for so many years, and how he had never even seen his true face.

However, at that moment, an angry female voice came from inside the secret room.

"Bai Qingyan, you're right. When judging people, you can't just look at their appearance..."

The sound clearly startled the Taoist Master Tianji.

Until, when he looked up, he discovered a female ghost floating in mid-air, staring at him fiercely with her bloodshot eyes.

"It's you..."

"it's me."

He recognized the female ghost; it was the one he had personally sealed inside the mirror years ago…

The Taoist Master Tianji slowly regained his senses, but asked, "Isn't it good to live in that mirror?"

The female ghost became even more enraged. She immediately stepped forward, grabbed his throat with one hand, and roared almost in a piercing voice, "You lied to me! You actually lied to me like that!"

Seeing her like this, the Taoist Master Tianji showed no fear on his face. He even said in a detached tone, "Actually, it's not really a lie."

"You've always been perfectly aware of the gap between us. I could never abandon all the effort I've put into this life to be just an ordinary mortal with you..."

Upon hearing this, the female ghost's face was filled with grief and indignation, and a tear of blood streamed down her face.

Yan Zhengchu was completely baffled by the female ghost that had appeared out of nowhere.

But judging from its conversation with the Taoist Master Tianji, one can guess that there must be some connection between them.

Until "Ren Yao" suddenly called out a name.

"Peach Creek Girl".

The female ghost turned around, but didn't recognize him at all. "Who...are you?"

Ren Yao smiled slightly: "You and I have only met once, when I first arrived at Yunhe Mountain."

"So it was you, that little Taoist priest from back then..."

The female ghost then slowly remembered…

Yan Zhengchu couldn't help but ask, "Uncle-Master, who exactly is this female ghost? Why is she on Yunhe Mountain?"

Ren Yao seemed to think it over carefully before saying, "Let Miss Tao Xi tell the story herself..."

The female ghost Tao Xi looked at the Taoist Tianji before her again, her expression seemingly dazed for a moment, before slowly saying, "That was the tenth year of Daqi..."

Twenty-five years have passed since then.

Back then, Yunhe Mountain was quite famous, and many people went up the mountain every day to seek talismans to ward off evil spirits and protect their homes.

Taoxi is one of them.

But she was different from those people; she didn't believe in ghosts or evil spirits.

The reason he was willing to go up the mountain to seek protection from the talisman was because strange crying sounds could always be heard at night in his old house.

My mother was timid, so she fell ill. The medicine didn't help, so my father decided to take a trip to Yunhe Mountain.

Furthermore, because the family ran a medicinal herb shop, the father couldn't leave, and the younger brother was still young.

As the eldest daughter in the family, Tao Xi decided to make the trip alone.

From a young age, she accompanied her father on long journeys to collect medicinal herbs. The short distance from Kaiming County to Yunxia Town was nothing to her.

But unexpectedly, the horse was startled halfway there that day.