The turn of events came far too abruptly. No one present could have anticipated that Lang Jiuchuan would suddenly make a move — and for a ghost, no less. She was too fast. Even the Enforcement Hall cultivators had no time to react before the soul-binding chain in their hands was shattered by her strike, and the female ghost was seized in her grasp.

What had just happened — and where were they?

More to the point — where was the ghost?

By the time their minds caught up with events, what replaced their confusion was fury. The two men shouted in stern, ringing voices, “Outrageous!”

They immediately charged toward Lang Jiuchuan. From the cloth bags slung on their backs, each drew a seven-star copper-coin sword and leveled it at her. “Hand over this ghost, and you will be pardoned.”

This was an absolute humiliation. The ghost they had been holding so securely had been snatched away in an instant, and their ritual implement had been destroyed to boot — and for that one brief moment, they had not even registered what had happened. If their attacker’s aim had been to kill them rather than steal the ghost, a single strike would have done it.

Though both men seethed inwardly, they were not fools. Their opponent possessed such skill that she had shattered the soul-binding implement with a single move, revealing ability that was not to be underestimated. Her true cultivation level was unknown, and caution was warranted — this too was a form of self-preservation.

But the dignity of the Enforcement Hall could not be allowed to crumble.

Thus, the words “you will be pardoned” carried, to anyone listening, a faint undertone of bluster and bravado.

Gong Shiliu was still marveling at how quick Lang Jiuchuan had been — she truly had grown stronger. But then he heard the Enforcement cultivator’s pompous tone and gave a slight shake of his head. It sounded a bit like thunder with no rain behind it, didn’t it?

How extraordinary — he was actually witnessing the Enforcement Hall’s once-imposing, high-and-mighty cultivators looking less than fully commanding.

Following Seventh Brother to the capital had truly been an eye-opener.

Lang Jiuchuan flicked her sleeve and knocked the copper-coin sword pointing at her off to one side. She gripped the female ghost’s hand and stepped back two paces. “Red Maiden, are you alright?”

Indeed — this ghost was none other than the ghost bride of Tongtian Pavilion: Red Maiden.

Her spirit was weak and bedraggled, and she appeared on the verge of being unable to hold her soul together.

Just days ago, Red Maiden had cheerfully gathered a whole parcel of medicinal herbs for her. Now she was almost on the brink of her soul scattering entirely. Lang Jiuchuan’s fury was naturally ignited. She had not attacked blindly or without reason, but people always shielded those close to them — encountering someone she knew, her first instinct was to protect. Who was right and who was wrong could be sorted out afterward.

Besides, she trusted that Red Maiden was not the sort to go out of her way to cause trouble.

For a ghost to be able to walk in the world of the living again was, in truth, a rare luxury. Those who had such an opportunity would cherish it and be wary of skilled practitioners who might see through their nature and bring trouble down on them.

So the ghosts of Tongtian Pavilion were all careful never to stir up trouble on their own initiative.

That Red Maiden had ended up in the Enforcement Hall’s hands — and thinking back on what Gong Qi had said about why the Enforcement cultivators were late, that they had gone to help an old Daoist who was losing a battle against a ghost — it seemed the ghost who had been fighting that old Daoist was Red Maiden.

Red Maiden’s divine soul had been seared, and her voice trembled as she said, “I was burned by a talisman fire.”

Lang Jiuchuan’s expression darkened. She looked toward Gong Qi, whose neck went cold at once. He stepped forward immediately to stand between the two sides, turning to the Enforcement cultivators. “Fellow cultivator colleagues, we are all on the same side here — let’s talk this through calmly.”

“Gong Xiao-qi, you dare obstruct the Enforcement Hall’s business?” The cultivator with the upswept brows and an imposing, menacing face said coldly, “And another thing — the Enforcement Hall apprehends wicked cultivators and malicious ghosts to set matters right. Who told you we are on the same side as you?”

It was from his hands that Lang Jiuchuan had snatched Red Maiden. If word of this got out, how was he supposed to conduct himself in the Enforcement Hall going forward?

“What makes a ghost malicious?” Lang Jiuchuan narrowed her eyes. “My dear sir — does the Enforcement Hall simply act without distinguishing right from wrong? A Daoist and a ghost come to blows, and the one you apprehend is the ghost. What about the Daoist? Did anyone bother to ask what caused Red Maiden and him to fight in the first place?”

Sir — sir?

Yangming Zi’s face went black. This girl had called him “sir”?

Red Maiden’s whole body radiated resentment, her face full of fury. “That despicable old Daoist — it was he who proposed having me buried alive in a coffin to be paired with a dead man in a ghost marriage. He and I had a prior reckoning between us. This time as well, he was the one who provoked me first. I only fought back to protect myself — what wrong have I done?”

Everyone was momentarily taken aback.

Lang Jiuchuan had not expected this additional detail. She said icily, “Did you hear that? This is nothing more than consequences catching up with someone. And you — how can you bring yourselves to assist wrongdoers against the wronged?”

“She is a malicious ghost,” Yangming Zi said coldly. “As for the order between the living and the dead — once a person has passed into the realm of the dead, they ought to move on to reincarnation. To linger in the world of the living is to disturb the balance of yin and yang and to violate the natural order of the heavens.”

Lang Jiuchuan replied, “Life and death are governed by fate — which book of life and death ever stipulated that the deceased must report to the underworld upon dying? There are wandering, homeless spirits everywhere, countless ones who have not gone on to be reborn. My dear sir, why don’t you round them all up and send them on their way? I’m sure they would be most grateful to you.”

“You—!” Yangming Zi’s angular brows shot upward. “Sharp tongue. Who is your master, and how have they taught you?”

“My name has not changed whether I stand or sit — my master is the Venerable Luole!” Lang Jiuchuan said coolly. “Though if you were hoping to pay your respects to him, you would need to accumulate considerable merit and good deeds — enough to be reborn through several more lifetimes first.”

Yangming Zi: “?”

Who — who had she just said? Luole? That honorific title sounded somewhat familiar — where had he heard it before?

Wait — had she just told him to go and die?

Inside the Small Nine Pagoda, the wooden fish knocked out two haphazard strikes. Shameless — having merely inherited a lineage, she had already claimed a master on her own authority. If Luole himself were here, he would likely leap out with a stern warning: when you go out into the world, under no circumstances are you to say I taught you — I cannot afford to lose face like that!

Yangming Zi fixed Lang Jiuchuan with a cold stare. “So you are determined to protect this female ghost?”

Lang Jiuchuan answered with action rather than words, directly taking Red Maiden into the Small Nine Pagoda to recover — her attitude made perfectly clear. Then she said, “My dear sir, would it not be more productive to go and apprehend that wicked Daoist? Have you not heard what Red Maiden said? It was he who proposed burying her alive to be paired with a dead man in a ghost marriage. Such a vile, heaven-defying act — damaging the natural order — makes that wicked Daoist the very person your Hall ought to be apprehending. How have things managed to get turned entirely around?”

Yangming Zi and the others saw her tuck the ghost away into some unknown place, and inwardly they were startled. This girl actually possessed a ritual implement capable of storing ghosts — what could it be?

That plain, unremarkable little bell at her waist?

Only Gong Qi thought of the Diamond Pagoda — it must be that small pagoda, the replica of the Feng Family’s Diamond Pagoda. He glanced at the other man and quickly transmitted a message to Lang Jiuchuan, “Don’t bring your small pagoda out in the open. Yangming Zi is from the Rong Family. The one beside him, Qiu Zhen, is from the Feng Family.”

Receiving this message, Lang Jiuchuan’s eyes flickered briefly. She gave him a meaningful, sidelong glance.

“You take the word of a mere ghost — do you not know that ghosts are most skilled at deceiving hearts and minds? Or do you act this way with full knowledge?” Yangming Zi gave a cold smile, squinting at her. “The way I see it, you are cut from the same cloth.”

Lang Jiuchuan laughed despite her anger, fury transformed into something colder. “If I am, are you thinking of hauling me back to your Hall’s headquarters?”

How convenient — she had been sitting on a smoldering fire these past few days with nowhere to let it out. Now someone had walked right into the blade’s edge in search of their own end. And this someone was from the Rong Family, her mortal enemy — she would use him to break in the blade.

She stopped suppressing her murderous aura, letting it spill out from her entire body — surging and oppressive, black and dense as tar.

Yangming Zi was greatly alarmed.

Gong Shiliu then said, “Senior Yangming Zi — this young cultivator colleague is a close acquaintance of our Gong Clan’s Young Lord. Are you looking to make an enemy of our Gong Clan? Could it be that because our Young Lord declined the marriage proposal, you’ve come to deliver this humiliation in retaliation?”