Hermit in the Mountains

At six o'clock in the afternoon, Gu Changsheng appeared at the entrance of the valley and saw a black Hongqi executive sedan parked on the road at the entrance of the valley, with two people standing next to the car.

He was not surprised to see Zhang Tianhu come to pick him up in person, because he had sensed the other's presence while he was on the mountain.

"Peak Master." Zhang Yuanfu stepped forward and clasped his hands in greeting.

"Master Gu... it's been a long time." Zhang Tianhu stepped forward and greeted Zhang Yuanfu from the side.

He originally wanted to call him Mr. Gu, but remembering that Gu Changsheng was a cultivator, he paused for a moment and changed his address to Master Gu.

Gu Changsheng remained calm and joked, "Director Zhang, how come you, such a busy man, have time to pick me up?"

"You don't care about zombies, ghosts, or the resurgence of spiritual energy. How idle do you have as the head of the National Spirit Bureau?"

Zhang Tianhu shifted the topic to specific events, saying, "Master Gu, please stop teasing me. Aren't we dealing with ghostly matters tonight?"

"I'm just an ordinary person, and I don't have the ability to be in two places at once. I can only be in charge of one event, while other places are handled by others."

Gu Changsheng looked up at the dark sky and said, "There's likely to be heavy rain tonight. Go early and come back early."

Zhang Tianhu personally opened the back door and gestured, "Master Gu, please."

Soon after, the car smoothly drove out of Xiahe Village and turned from the national highway onto the expressway leading into the city.

It truly proves the saying, "The weather is unpredictable."

As Gu Changsheng and his group approached Chang'an City, a dark cloud loomed over the city, threatening to crush it.

Thunder rumbled, a sudden gust of wind arose, and raindrops pattered against the car roof.

Suddenly, the rain poured down, and the roads into the city became congested. Fortunately, Zhang Tianhu had arranged for a police car to clear the way in advance, but they were still half an hour late.

As soon as the car stopped outside a villa, Gu Changsheng, who had been resting with his eyes closed, slowly opened them. An aura of elemental attributes appeared in his senses, and he looked curiously into the villa.

As soon as the vehicle stopped, several men wearing black raincoats approached the car door, opened their large black umbrellas, held the umbrellas above the car door with their right hands, and opened the car door with their left hands.

"Master Gu, we've arrived." Zhang Tianhu, who was sitting next to him, gestured, then stepped onto the ground with his right foot and got out of the car.

The moment Gu Changsheng took his left foot, a transparent gas rose around him to protect him. He stepped barefoot onto the wet ground, but there wasn't a single drop of water on his feet.

The torrential rain outside was blocked by the transparent gas as it approached him, and the raindrops slid down three inches away from his body in a regular pattern.

Zhang Tianhu, who came to lead the way, also saw that Gu Changsheng was not wet from the rain. He was stunned for a moment, but when he came to his senses, he became even more respectful to Gu Changsheng, bowed slightly, and raised his right hand to make a gesture of invitation.

"Master Gu, please come in."

Zhang Tianhu and Zhang Yuanfu escorted Gu Changsheng into the villa.

The men holding umbrellas also noticed that Gu Changsheng remained completely dry. They took a deep breath and finally understood why their bureau chief had personally gone to pick him up. This man was definitely a highly accomplished cultivator.

As soon as Gu Changsheng and his group entered the villa's living room, several people came up to greet them.

"Chief..."

"Director Zhang..."

Zhang Tianhu glanced around the spacious living room, not seeing Wang Jiuyang, and asked his assistant who had left the villa, "Where did Master Wang go?"

Before the assistant could answer, a piercing scream came from the second floor of the villa.

"what!"

"Don't come any closer, don't come any closer, help, help... Get away from me..."

"Chief, Young Master Yang suddenly fainted three minutes ago, and Master Wang went up first," the assistant reported briefly.

Gu Changsheng used his divine sense to scan the sound, and the scene inside a room appeared in his mind.

A man in his early twenties was wearing pajamas, his face was deathly pale, his eyes were vacant, and his dark circles were darker than ink. He looked like he had been pulling all-nighters for several days.

Gu Changsheng's attention was not on the man, but on a man in a purple Taoist robe in the room, and the 'ghost' on the back of the twenty-year-old man.

Under his divine gaze, the appearance of the 'ghost' became crystal clear. It was a woman of about twenty years old. The 'female ghost' was wearing a red dress, which was wrinkled and had many holes left from being torn.

The female ghost had disheveled hair, a sunken scar between her eyebrows, and her face was covered in purple and blue marks, with traces of bright red blood on her cheeks and the corners of her mouth.

The "female ghost" looks like someone who resolutely chose death to preserve her purity and dignity in life.

A special energy body formed from the resentment, pain, and other obsessions after a tragic death.

These special energy entities should be unconscious 'vengeful ghosts', but the female ghost's eyes are intelligent, as if she has preserved her memories from her previous life.

With a thought, Gu Changsheng's pupils turned grayish-brown and emerald green, and his withered and flourishing Dharma Eyes looked at the 'female ghost' for a moment.

He saw a wisp of purplish-black gas between the 'female ghost's' eyebrows and thought in surprise, "Blessed by the luck of the ghost realm and the virtuous deeds of the earth realm."

Upon seeing the "Ghostly Aura Blessing" and "Earthly Virtue," Gu Changsheng was startled. Without thinking, he took a small step back with his right foot and pushed off forcefully.

He flew out from the spot, using his right foot to step on the sofa in front of him and leap into the air. The next second, he jumped onto the three-meter-high second-floor corridor and ran towards the room where the 'female ghost' was.

Gu Changsheng moved so fast that no one in the living room could react in time. In the blink of an eye, Gu Changsheng's figure disappeared into the second-floor corridor.

By the time everyone realized what was happening, Gu Changsheng had already disappeared.

"The rest of you stay on the first floor," Zhang Tianhu shouted, then turned to Zhang Yuanfu, "Old Zhang, let's go."

Zhang Yuanfu followed behind Zhang Tianhu, and the two ran towards the stairs to the second floor.

On the other side, Gu Changsheng arrived at the door of the room where the 'female ghost' was in an instant. As soon as he appeared at the door, a loud shout came from inside the room.

"You audacious demon, harming living beings, today I will destroy you!"

"Hurry, hurry, as the law commands..."

With a thought, Gu Changsheng instantly suppressed the spiritual energy flowing within the purple-robed Taoist's body.

Holding the copper coin magic sword, Wang Jiuyang was concentrating on casting spells when he suddenly found himself unable to mobilize the spiritual power within his body. His expression changed, "Who is robbing this humble Taoist of his demon-slaying and monster-eliminating abilities?"

"Ghosts aren't necessarily harmful, but people aren't necessarily human." Gu Changsheng said as he walked into the room.

Wang Jiuyang was startled by the sound behind him. He turned around and saw a young man in a long robe. He recognized Gu Changsheng's identity the moment he saw the man's face.

Gu Changsheng was able to suppress the spiritual energy within him without causing it to backfire on him. Wang Jiuyang instantly realized that Gu Changsheng's cultivation was several levels higher than his. He put away his copper coin magic sword and greeted him with a fist salute.

He asked with a puzzled look, "Master Gu, have you noticed something?"

Just as the two were talking, the "red-clad female ghost" who was clinging to the young man's back seemed to see the giant beast approaching. She got off the young man's back, floated to the corner of the wall, hugged her knees, and trembled all over.

The young man felt a weight on his back and the sound disappeared. He scrambled to Wang Jiuyang's side, grabbing his legs and pleading for help, "Daoist Master, Daoist Master, have you taken her in?"

The young parents at the door also came to their senses, went into the room, and saw their son crying. They quickly went over and hugged him.

Ignoring the crowd, Gu Changsheng suppressed his own qi and cultivation, and slowly walked towards the corner where the 'red-clothed female ghost' was.