I saved the entire sect by playing idly by letting things fall apart.

"Holy crap—"

"Don't yell like that!!" Ye Qiao's expression cracked slightly, especially when she saw that it was a child lying on her arm, she got goosebumps all over.

Where did this child come from?

"Mother," the other child said pitifully, clinging to Ye Qiao's arm, "Don't you want Xiao Qi anymore?"

Ye Qiao was a little confused.

She couldn't understand what was going on. She just felt that something was changing as she stood there, as if something was extending out from under her feet and forcibly pulling her into a pitch-black space. What made Ye Qiao feel even worse was that she had no recollection of when the child had appeared.

Seeing this, Ye Qiao, who was not sure what was going on, could only say something perfunctory: "I want you, I want you."

The boy was about five or six years old, with pale skin, and looked quite frightening up close.

His eyes suddenly lit up: "Then will you give me some to eat? I'm so hungry, Mommy."

Ye Qiao thought to herself, "You have some rather unusual tastes. While others are eating, you're eating your own mother."

"Then I declare you an orphan now." Realizing the ghost infant's ill intentions, Ye Qiao blurted out these words and ran away, saying, "Goodbye."

This place was very strange. It was pitch black, and the fire-controlling talisman that Ye Qiao lit was of no use. The entire space was deathly silent, like a wild beast ready to devour its prey.

"Mother."

"What's your mother's name?" Ye Qiao asked jokingly as she ran. "I'm going to tell her right now that your son is missing."

The ghost baby relentlessly pursued her, while countless hands around her surged forward, seemingly trying to drag her down.

"Aaaaah! I treated you like a son, and you actually wanted to eat me!" Ye Qiao quickly dodged, shouting as she ran, "My heart aches so much, I feel like I'll never love again."

She shouted, but her actions were decisive; she turned around and swiftly and accurately delivered a sword strike to the brat.

Evil spirits are formed from lingering resentment, and these things are very difficult to deal with. Even if you disperse them with a sword, they will gather again.

Ye Qiao was so frustrated by the chase that she almost vomited. She remembered that Elder Zhao had mentioned during his lecture that in a domain, the other party is the one who sets the rules, and this little brat who was chasing her, calling her "Mom" and wanting to kill her, was the one who set the rules.

It turns out that attending more classes is indeed helpful!

Ye Qiao promised that she would never slack off again when she returned to the sect next time.

She stopped in her tracks, turned around abruptly, and flashed her signature smile: "Xiaoqi, Mommy's here."

Sure enough, the child stopped.

What does a five- or six-year-old child represent? They represent someone who is easily fooled.

Even if he is a ghost.

"Xiaoqi, Mom was just kidding. I know you're hungry. How about we play a game first?" Ye Qiao flashed her signature smile. "We can eat afterwards."

"Okay." The ghost baby thought for a moment and agreed. In his mind, other children all had their mothers to accompany them as they grew up and played games. He readily agreed to Ye Qiao's suggestion.

"Let's play hide-and-seek."

Ye Qiao briefly explained the rules of the game to the kid, then specifically instructed, "No peeking!"

"Close your eyes and don't try to sense where Mommy is. Xiaoxi doesn't want to be a bad child who breaks the rules, right?"

He was indeed fooled, and closed his eyes with a serious expression.

The instant the ghost infant shut down its senses, Ye Qiao swung her sword at a point in the domain without hesitation. The sword, infused with spiritual power, instantly caused a slight ripple in the external space. Zhou Xingyun noticed the movement, his expression changed slightly, and he and Mu Chongxi simultaneously swung their swords at the spot where Ye Qiao had struck.

Under the powerful collision of sword energies, a small gap was broken in the domain. Ye Qiao seized the opportunity and ran away without looking back.

She feared that if she delayed any longer, she would become a mother without pain and, incidentally, become the ghost baby's dinner.

"Did you see that ghost cultivator?" Song Hansheng frowned as Ye Qiao disappeared from his sight, but given the ghost cultivator's cautious nature, he shouldn't have made such a mistake.

"I didn't see the ghost cultivator," Ye Qiao said, still shaken. "I did see her son, though. And let me tell you, he was pretty scary."

"Was the place I just pulled you into the domain?"

Ye Qiao: "If nothing unexpected happens, it's definitely a domain." Only those at the Nascent Soul stage or above can comprehend a domain. Generally, being dragged into a domain is like being a sheep or cattle waiting to be slaughtered.

Song Hansheng's gaze was complicated; it was the first time he had ever seen someone survive after being pulled into the domain.

"So what exactly is that thing?" Mu Chongxi only caught a blurry glimpse of Ye Qiao the moment she appeared.

Ye Qiao: "It was a child, but he looked like a little devil from a legend. As soon as I went in, he grabbed me and called me 'Mom,' which scared me to death."

"Troublesome." Zhou Xingyun's face was expressionless. A ghost infant with its own domain, its mastermind must be at least at the Nascent Soul stage.

Song Hansheng frowned. "Why would it target you? Do you seem like the kind of person who would show maternal instincts?"

It's unbelievable that someone as morally bankrupt as Ye Qiao would have ghosts willing to seek her out.

Ye Qiao slowly looked at him: "Instead of wasting your time, why don't you go and check if there's a child named Xiao Qi, and follow the clues to see if you can find the mastermind behind it all."

The reason the Song family has been dragging this out for so long without any clues is simply because everyone who was pulled into the area has died.

Only the one who is alive is qualified to provide clues.

Mingxuan, who had been terrified out of his wits, perked up a bit when he heard this topic.

He looked up and said to Song Han in a serious tone, "So it's not easy to survive in your family. I used to think that everyone in the Ming family was a bunch of idiots, but now I see that everyone in my family is a good person."

Song Hansheng: "Who is it that gets scolded every time they go home because they can't break through to the Golden Core stage?"

If the Song family is rotten, the Ming family isn't much better off.

The direct descendants of the two talisman-cultivating families have resumed their daily routine of hurting each other.

"Stop arguing, stop arguing," Xue Yu stepped in to smooth things over.

He looked at Song Hansheng, his tone gentle, and skillfully began his attempt at moral blackmail: "Song Hansheng, we're all friends, aren't we?"

"Friends should help each other, right? We'll leave our stay at the Song family's place to you for the next few days."

Ye Qiao: "Remember to add plenty of meat."

Mu Chongxi: "I want to eat roast chicken."

Zhou Xingyun politely said, "Put less salt, thank you."

Song Hansheng's eyes widened, and he let out a breathy groan of anger: "Ha!"

You're even ordering food now?

These people couldn't be driven away, but if they weren't kept under his nose, Song Hansheng worried that with the Changming Sect's ability to cause trouble, they might blow up his house.

He finally gritted his teeth and had no choice but to bow down to the evil forces, angrily going to find someone to arrange accommodation for them.

"Oh, right." After arranging their accommodations, Song Hansheng suddenly remembered something, called out to the housekeeper, and said fiercely, "Don't pay attention to what they ask for. Just feed them pickled vegetables and steamed buns for the next few days."

Let's see if he doesn't let these people starve to death.

"..." The butler nodded: "Okay."

*

The only known clue so far is the ghost baby Xiaoqi. Starting with this child sounds simple, but putting it into practice is a long way off. Ye Qiao asked Song Hansheng for a list of Song family guards and servants.

Song Hansheng also wanted to resolve this mess as soon as possible. He still trusted Ye Qiao to some extent, after all, he had witnessed too much of her in the competition. When he saw that she wanted the list, he gave it to her.

Then Ye Qiao climbed up the pole and, without any hesitation, asked him for a few more sets of guard clothes.

Song Hansheng found her changing clothes strangely familiar, and his lips twitched as he couldn't help but ask, "What are you trying to do now?"

"I'll help you catch the mastermind." Ye Qiao's cold gaze met Song Han's. She shook the jade slip. "If you're really worried, you can wear it. We'll communicate through the jade slip, and you can just listen for any sounds."

In the past few days, many cultivators have come to the Song family one after another, ostensibly to take on missions and carry out acts of charity and evil.

When there are many people, things tend to get chaotic, but it's precisely when things are chaotic that it's easier to extract information.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Ye Qiao was dressed in casual clothes. Facing the guards' questions, she answered with unusual frankness: "I am a cultivator who has come to receive a mission."

"Could we talk more about this mission?" she asked in a low voice, somewhat embarrassed. "To be honest, I'm a little afraid of ghosts."

The guard stared at her for a few seconds, then sighed. "Alright. I only know a little about the Song family's affairs. I heard that the brat only hired female cultivators, and they were all wiped out after the incidents."

"Isn't there any way to deal with this?"

The guard pondered for a moment: "I've heard that the stronger the spiritual fire, the less likely they are to approach."

Ye Qiao immediately understood why that brat had come looking for her first. It was probably not just because she was a girl, but also because three of her senior brothers had top-grade fire spirit roots, and the remaining one was a half-step Nascent Soul stage cultivator.

She may not be famous, but she has KFC.

After getting all the information out of her, Ye Qiao turned and left gracefully.

Song Hansheng was speechless. "Are you guys crazy? Didn't you hear a single thing the elder said in class?"

He assumed that Changmingzong knew these common-sense facts.

Ye Qiao: "Sorry, I was only focused on hurting each other and sweeping the floor with Mingxuan at the time."

I didn't listen to a word of the lesson.

She changed into a guard's uniform and swaggered to the door. It was noon, and many cultivators had come to the Song family, all claiming to be there to complete a mission. Ye Qiao was skeptical of this.

The mission had been hanging for a year without any cultivators coming. How come there are so many people in the Song family now that they've arrived?

Ye Qiao changed her clothes and waited at the door for a full half hour. Finally, a few cultivators with high cultivation levels passed by. She suddenly raised her voice, "Hey, hey, hey, what are you all doing?"

Her clothes were very conspicuous. Upon seeing that she was a guard from the Song family, the cultivators exchanged glances and their tone became warmer as they struck up a conversation: "We are cultivators from outside."

It's well known that the guards of the Song family are quite difficult to get information out of. It was a rare treat to encounter someone who took the initiative to greet them. The cultivators lowered their voices and approached Ye Qiao in a friendly manner, "We've come to ask you something, fellow Daoist."

Ye Qiao: "Ask."

Hearing that she was so easily fooled, the other person's eyes lit up: "Have you heard of Ye Qiao?"

"..." Oh wow.

Ye Qiao glanced calmly at the guard's uniform she was wearing and asked, "No."

"Is she famous?"

"She's quite famous. She's been the talk of the cultivation world lately. In three major competitions, she, with only Foundation Establishment cultivation, completely outmaneuvered Golden Core cultivators. A rising genius of the Changming Sect. You don't know her?"

Ye Qiao remained unfazed by their flattery, replying, "Never heard of it."

The man was somewhat disappointed upon hearing this: "Then how about this, we'll stay in this courtyard. If you hear any news about that Ye Qiao, remember to let us know."

Ye Qiao smiled slightly: "Okay, no problem."

She glanced at the numbers of both sides and made a quick, light click of her tongue, vaguely guessing that these cultivators were all after her.

To be precise, they came because of the bounty.

Moreover, her price is not low; the fact that so many cultivators are vying to capture her means she must have gone to great lengths.

Seeing Ye Qiao in just a few minutes, Song Hansheng, who had changed his identity twice, felt somewhat suffocated.

Ye Qiao tells the guards she's a cultivator, and the cultivators she's a guard—is there not a single truth in her mouth?

……

Back at their lodgings, several of their senior brothers were lying around like corpses. They only perked up a little when they saw Ye Qiao return.

"Regarding the Song family," Mingxuan said solemnly, sitting up from his chair. "I have summarized the following two points."

"First, why don't you give us meat to eat?"

"Secondly, it's definitely that bitch Song Hansheng who's targeting us."

Xue Yu: "This is too much! How could they treat us like this?"

"Yes, indeed," Mu Chongxi echoed dramatically, "We're direct disciples!"

These people are all incredibly into their roles.

Ye Qiao sat down and got back to the point, "I just went out to gather some information, and I can basically confirm that the reason that ghost cultivator was able to deceive so many cultivators without them noticing is entirely due to the little ghosts she kept."

A brat with his own domain is a perfect assassination weapon.

It should be understood that domains are something that can only be obtained by chance. Only those who have reached the Nascent Soul stage can possess a domain, and whether or not one can comprehend their own domain depends entirely on individual talent. In terms of rarity, the ghost infant is simply a treasure.

"If that child hadn't died, he would be a rare genius even today," Mingxuan said with some regret.

Ye Qiao: "Excuse me, everyone, did anyone pay attention in class? What is the relationship between the ghost infant and that ghost cultivator?"

After a few seconds of silence, Xue Yu spoke: "It's a relationship of restraint and being restrained. The stronger party takes the initiative. In other words, between the two, the ghost infant is the master."

After he finished speaking, Ye Qiao couldn't help but touch her arm, and goosebumps rose on her skin.

"Excuse me," Ye Qiao thought for a moment, "what if I really offend it?"

Mingxuan was stunned for a moment: "? What did you do?"

He was also puzzled as to how Ye Qiao had come out of the domain.

Generally speaking, ghost babies are randomly selected and pulled into the realm, and these kinds of evil spirits with low intelligence usually don't hold grudges, right?

Looking at the confused faces of his senior brothers, Ye Qiao pondered for a moment and then recounted his experience of being pulled into the domain in detail: "I gave it two sword strikes, and then it chased after me, saying it wanted to eat me."

She shrugged innocently. "Then I started to trick him, saying I wanted to play a game with him called hide-and-seek. While he had his eyes closed, I broke through his defenses right in front of him and ran away."

The four people: "..."

Mingxuan: "When I have money in the future, I will definitely buy you the best burial plot."