Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Shi Changxuan slowly withdrew his gaze. Although he did not say anything, his expression and movements gave people a sense of denial, that was, he admitted that Xie Lingya was right.
Xie Lingya’s eyes slid to Xia Luoqing again.
Xia Luoqing pretended not to see it and had no intention of expressing his opinion. This was his daily habit and also the norm in China. He pretended to be deaf and dumb. He also knew that young people of Xie Lingya’s generation were more particular about not discriminating.
In fact, no matter how others understood it, Xia Luoqing believed that all things coexisted with yin and yang. Where there was yin, there was yang, where there were differences, there were similarities. There was no need to worry so much.
“Then it’s my fault.” Gu Yaoxian felt aggrieved. “If Lin Shi agrees to her, wouldn’t it be equivalent to letting me down again? Where can I go to seek justice?”
The green-clothed female ghost said grimly, “You can also die.”
Gu Yaoxian felt very cold when she looked at him, and shrank back again.
“Okay, let’s stop talking about those unrealistic things.” Xie Lingya said, “It’s definitely not okay for you to stay in the world of the living for too long. You met us today. If it were any other wizard, they would have eliminated you in one go. Although Lin Shi broke his promise to you in his previous life, it’s impossible for you to have a ghost love with Lin Shi. Think it over and change the conditions.”
This female ghost was too affectionate. She still wanted to renew their old relationship. Normally, those who came to collect debts would directly harm people, but she went to strangle her rival.
“I just want to be with her…” the green-clothed female ghost said unwillingly. This was her obsession that made her turn into a fierce ghost, and it was not so easy to let her be convinced.
Xia Luoqing burned the handwritten scriptures he brought with him to her. After the green-clothed female ghost received the scriptures, the resentment between her brows faded a little, and her mind became clearer.
After the green-clothed female ghost sobered up and thought about it carefully, she realized that her wish could not be fulfilled. Humans and ghosts had different paths. She and Lin Shi not only missed each other in gender but had also missed each other for decades.
The green-clothed female ghost hated: “Lin Shi can’t be with him… Oh, wait, I know, even if Lin Shi and this man are not together, and when I leave, there will be other people. So, I want you to dedicate offerings to me on all festivals, such as for a wife. Your husband and children will also enshrine me. And after a hundred years old, you also have to be buried with me.”
“Even for the ancestors, this is not the case! I have to give you offerings, then am I not disgusting myself? What do you mean, I am the second room, and you are the big room?” Gu Yaoxian was dissatisfied with her words. “We will do a ritual for you, burn more offerings. It will be enough for you to pay off debts.”
He looked at Lin Shi again and found that Lin Shi was still looking awkward. He then pushed her and grievously said: “You say something.”
Everyone: “…”
How do we feel that your conversation is upside down…
Lin Shi was pushed a bit and looked at the green-clothed female ghost in a dodgy way. She knew that she had lost her in her previous life and she still looked so pitiful. She was still lying on the ground. So, she also had some guilty conscience. “I can give it every day. Although I don’t remember, I don’t remember it, but since I did not fulfil my promise to you in my last life, this is also true. However, the offerings cannot be as good as those given to family.”
The green-clothed female ghost sadly said: “At this time, you still have to bargain with me.”
“You have to bargain!” Gu Yaoxian unconsciously forgot his fear and almost jumped up. “I have to be buried with her.”
The green-clothed female ghost screamed back: “The divorce rate is so high, you don’t have to worry about it so early.”
Gu Yaoxian: “…”
The green-clothed female ghost looked at Lin Shi again: “I could have killed you, brought you to the city of death, and continued the relationship between husband and wife. But I can’t bear to see your painful look, don’t you see?”
They went to the Taoists to catch her, and now they even had to bargain with her.
Lin Shi was conflicted for a moment. Although the green-clothed female ghost was very affectionate and her words made her heartbroken, she didn’t remember anything after all. So, she could only say weakly: “If I compromise, I will be sorry for you and him both…”
She didn’t even dare to say that she would promise her afterlife to the female ghost. She had already broken her promise once, so it was better not to make promises casually.
The green-clothed female ghost smiled bitterly: “You are still the same, affectionate and heartless.”
Gu Yaoxian was also in pain. He felt that his head was the same color as the female ghost’s clothes.
The green-clothed female ghost looked at Lin Shi deeply and said calmly: “Then you don’t have to offer sacrifices to me. But if you don’t kill me, I will come back to collect the debt after I reincarnate.”
She didn’t want to lose those memories and be full of resentment. After she turned into a ghost, she found that Lin Shi had reincarnated before her, so she ran back to the human world to seek justice. Now that things had come to this, it didn’t matter.
“…” Gu Yaoxian felt a chill when he heard this.
The green-clothed female ghost was extremely fierce and after the negotiations broke down, she decided to go through the official process herself and come back in human form to collect the debt.
In the end, Xie Lingya still performed a ritual for the green-clothed female ghost and sent her back to the underworld. It was impossible for him to beat her to death. She came to collect the debt because of a previous relationship, and in the end she failed to kill anyone.
The female ghost stood in front of the altar and said to Lin Shi, “You don’t remember my name, but can you call me Xiao Zhou again?”
Lin Shi subconsciously said, “Xiao Zhou?”
The next moment, her figure disappeared, leaving behind a meaningful, sad and moving expression, which made people feel lost.
Just now he couldn’t persuade the female ghost, so now Xie Lingya said: “We should recite more sutras and burn more paper for her, maybe her obsession will gradually fade away, and she will change her mind when she is reincarnated.”
Gu Yaoxian first breathed a sigh of relief, then said worriedly: “Will she be reincarnated immediately? If so, she will be a hero or a beauty again in twenty years…”
Everyone: “…”
Although he didn’t finish what he said, everyone could see that it sounded like he was worried that he would have lost his competitiveness by then, which was weird.
Gu Yaoxian thought: “I’ll burn a few paper figures for her. Maybe she’ll forget about us while enjoying herself.”
“…As long as you’re happy. It takes time to queue up in the underworld. If you’re late, you might meet her in your next life.” Xie Lingya said.
Everything had a cause. No one knew how much of the female ghost’s obsession would be carried over to the next life, and in what form it would be presented. By that time, it would be another story.
….
After bidding farewell to Gu Yaoxian and Lin Shi, the three of them returned to Tianran Temple.
On the way, Xia Luoqing couldn’t help but ask: “Xiao Xie, this sword technique…did you teach yourself?”
“I only learned a little health-preserving Tai Chi sword.” Xie Lingya said embarrassedly, “What kind of sword technique is that.”
Xia Luoqing felt ashamed when he thought of Xie Lingya’s posture before and said: “I think you still need to learn some practical sword techniques that are convenient to use and look good. Do you need me to teach you?”
Looking good was not exaggerating. Sometimes, in order to win the trust of others, you had to rely on superficial work. This was a helpless thing.
Xie Lingya thought about it and felt it made sense, “That’s not necessary, I can learn from Shi Changxuan.”
He had long envied Lian Tan’s swordsmanship. It seemed that not all Taoist techniques could be mastered quickly, and swordsmanship required hard study and practice.
“Just by looking at the way Master Shi holds the sword, you can tell how skilled he is.” Xia Luoqing agreed. An expert knew the ins and outs of a situation. Shi Changxuan had never used a sword in front of him, but just by standing there with the sword in hand, he could roughly tell whether the swordsman’s level was high.
….
The Qiuyang Wendao Group was discussing fasting and offering sacrifices with Tianran Temple when Xie Lingya’s cell phone rang. He took it out and saw that it was a message from Fang Xushan.
After police investigation, the identities of several suspects had been confirmed, and they all lived in that small building.
These people came from different places, most of them were from small cities or even towns, where the superstitious atmosphere was strong. There were quite a few female members, most of whom had religious experiences in their early years, and some even served as genuine Taoist priests. They had disappeared from their hometowns since the past two years, perhaps running away to preach across the country.
After checking the trajectory of their movements again, they found that they took the high-speed rail to the beginning and end of the province. But once they reached the border of Shouwei Province, they lost all trace. This was difficult to do in a city with widespread surveillance. But for some people, it was actually quite easy, like Pei Xiaoshan. These people were not as cunning as Pei Xiaoshan, but they were also more cautious. He wondered if the destruction of the evil Buddha made them alert.
Fang Xushan’s current worry was how to find the exact whereabouts of these people.
Shi Changxuan suddenly smiled.
Normally, everyone saw Shi Changxuan looking cold and indifferent as always. He was only more expressive in front of Xie Lingya. Now, when he smiled in front of everyone, it suddenly made people feel shocked as if thousands of years of snow had melted.
A Taoist priest who was speaking became nervous and asked, “Is there something wrong with what I said?”
In fact, Xie Lingya was also stunned for a moment. He didn’t think so much when he looked at Shi Changxuan before, but after thinking about it a few times before, when he looked at Shi Changxuan again, he figured out something different. He didn’t know if it was a problem with his eyes or if Shi Changxuan had really become livelier.
Moreover, Shi Changxuan was still smiling at him. Xie Lingya’s eyes were vague, “What’s wrong?”
“Since the Ming Dynasty, Shouwei Province has been the place where the Hongyang Dao has been most active, especially the cities of Qiwu and Tianyu.” Shi Changxuan put away his smile and said lightly, “They pretend to be monks and Taoists and travel around, and they also want to preach. Of course, they mingle in and around religious places.”
“Moreover, these people really have an understanding of Buddhism and Taoism. Such that even real monks may be deceived, and they are very confusing. By the way, their founder worked as a Taoist priest for a few years in his early years.”
“Yes, that makes sense.” Xie Lingya pondered, “Then we can focus on the temples and Taoist temples in those cities first.”
The scope was narrowed down at once, as there would not be too many temples and Taoist temples in a city.
Xie Lingya told Fang Xushan about Shi Changxuan’s analysis. Unlike Shi Changxuan, they had not read a lot of information on ancient religions. So when they heard the analysis and searched again, it seemed to be true. They immediately planned to follow this clue to investigate further.
“How about we go to Shouwei Province as well?” Xie Lingya was ready to go. He had already received his three swords, and his ancestor taught him the Thunder Method so that he could teach Hongyang Dao a lesson, so he was very active.
Those people were in the first and last provinces. They would definitely find them if they looked for them.
“You won’t be participating in the next trip?” Shi Changxuan asked.
“…We have to prioritize things. There will be opportunities for this in the future.” Xie Lingya said.
Shi Changxuan nodded and followed Xie Lingya.
So, Xie Lingya decided to leave the group and go to Shouwei Province to discuss with Fang Xushan. He and Shi Changxuan went to Qiwu City, Lian Tan would also go there, and Fang Xushan was in another city. There were also Taoist priests sent by other Taoist associations, who were scattered in various cities and were investigating together with local relevant personnel.
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