It seemed the singing and dancing revelry of Luoyi was also keeping Wei Jie awake.

Fortunately, he wasn’t sleeping either and had come to the corridor, which allowed him to pull her back in time.

Xiaoxiao came to her senses and looked back at the wine house with suspicion and uncertainty—that singing voice was so dominating, able to bewitch souls. No wonder so many infatuated fools surrounded the wine house.

What kind of formidable character could weave such enchanting power into their song?

Xiaoxiao immediately thought of Wei Jie’s birth mother, mentioned in Master’s secret manual—the Numei Siling.

Could the one singing for Lord Can in the wine house at this moment be Wei Jie’s mother?

Xiaoxiao had only read descriptions of Numei in books before and never knew their power.

But now just the remnant echoes carried by the wind were so soul-stirring and captivating—if a Numei appeared in person, how could one resist?

Xiaoxiao suddenly understood the situation when the four great sects had clamored to attack the Wei family’s Qilao Mountain.

If the Wei family head couldn’t resist such enchantment, and if that Numei harbored evil intentions, she could indeed manipulate him and cause tremendous disaster…

Now, Xiaoxiao had no time to worry about the Numei using her song to manipulate people’s hearts—she was more concerned about… whether Wei Jie had recognized his mother’s singing voice.

But it seemed Wei Jie had no curiosity about that singing voice.

He only glanced at the distant wine house, then massaged an acupoint on the side of Xiaoxiao’s neck, saying lightly: “Bustling cities appear to have abundant yang energy, but they’re the best hiding places for ghosts and demons. Whether for seclusion or hunting, they’re much more convenient than deep mountains and old forests. This city seems to have many monsters. Your willpower isn’t strong enough yet—next time you notice your mind becoming unsettled, immediately press the Fengchi acupoint on the side of your neck. It connects directly to the human spiritual palace, and guarding it will keep your composure intact.”

Speaking these words, he seemed more like Xiaoxiao’s mentor, teaching earnestly with sincere care.

Wei Jie’s long fingers were strong and flexible. When he pressed the Fengchi acupoint, Xiaoxiao felt much more alert and strangely comfortable.

Combined with the lingering effects of the soul-enchanting song, she drowsily allowed Wei Jie to massage her neck.

As Wei Jie spoke, her whole body felt somewhat soft and weak, and she leaned against the handsome man’s broad chest with closed eyes, trying to gather her true qi to resist.

It had to be said, his massage was quite comfortable…

Just then, Yu Ling’er was also awakened by the drunkards’ shouting on the street. When she opened her eyes and found no one on the bed, she transformed into human form and came out, rubbing her eyes to look.

But unexpectedly, when she pushed open the door, she saw Cui Xiaoxiao like a little bird depending on someone, nestled in Wei Jie’s embrace…

A handsome man and beautiful woman embracing under the moon, their hair intertwining in the breeze… it was indeed pleasing to the eye.

But Yu Ling’er saw that Wei Jie was also reaching out to massage the slender neck of the girl in his arms, looking quite lustful… no matter how she looked at it, this was a man and woman having a secret nighttime rendezvous!

When Xiaoxiao was bathing, her words about being perfectly innocent with her disciple were still ringing in her ears, yet the little fox felt she was witnessing the ugly side of human nature!

Already being intimate like this, yet still claiming innocence? Sect Leader Cui could lie without even blinking!

No wonder her mother had previously warned her that human nature was more cunning and sinister than their fox clan!

Just then, Xiaoxiao finally came to her senses. When she turned to look at Yu Ling’er, she naturally saw her disdainful expression and immediately struggled out of Wei Jie’s arms, explaining: “I was bewitched and momentarily lost my soul—he was helping me guard my true spirit!”

Yu Ling’er smiled without warmth: “Yes, yes, your Talismonger Sect certainly has many ways to guard the true spirit! It’s not like you don’t have rooms—you could go back to your room to do this, no need to rush!”

Hmph, hanging onto the master-disciple relationship, why bother being intimate in the corridor for show? Don’t these humans know how to write the words ‘shame’ and ‘propriety’?

Faced with the fox woman’s cold mockery, Xiaoxiao truly had no way to defend herself. To make matters worse, Wei Jie leisurely added fuel to the fire: “Master, she’s right. Should we go to my room?”

Hearing this, the little fox snickered coldly, disdainfully flicked her tail beneath her skirt, and shut the door with a slam, no longer disturbing the secret rendezvous of the shameless couple.

Xiaoxiao looked guiltily at the tightly closed door and stared speechlessly: “Men and women shouldn’t have physical contact! Why would I go to your room?”

Wei Jie said innocently: “My room’s window faces the inner courtyard, far from the street! The sound can’t reach there either—perfect for you to rest. I can squeeze into one room with Tang Youshu.”

Xiaoxiao paused—so she had misunderstood… But if he had such good intentions, why didn’t he explain clearly in front of Yu Ling’er just now?

The singing voice was too dominating. Xiaoxiao didn’t dare challenge it, so she could only thank her disciple and quickly go to his room.

She wasn’t rushing to sleep, but afraid that if she stayed in the corridor longer, Wei Jie might hear that soul-enchanting song and become curious enough to investigate.

After all, once he and his mother met, it would be the beginning of misfortune.

Although the mother-son recognition followed by their tragic separation was an inevitable part of Wei Jie’s life journey, just thinking about it made Xiaoxiao feel somewhat cruel.

In her heart, she still hoped Wei Jie’s reunion with his mother could be delayed. At least he could live happily and peacefully for a few more days…

However, she didn’t know that when she turned away, Wei Jie stood in the long corridor, gazing with deep eyes at the wine house with its flickering candlelight and continuous laughter for a long time.

When Xiaoxiao entered Wei Jie’s room and lay on the bed, her face was pressed against the robe Wei Jie had placed beside his pillow.

Xiaoxiao casually hung up the robe, then discovered there were bamboo strips strung together with rope underneath.

Xiaoxiao tested it and found that these connected bamboo strips could perfectly support her arm.

Her injured arm couldn’t heal and couldn’t exert strength, so she had been simply propping it up with tree branches and bandages along the way.

During the day, she had seen Wei Jie buy a bundle of bamboo strips for making bamboo scrolls, never expecting he had used them to make an arm support brace for her…

She looked at the skillfully crafted support brace, placed it back as it was, then roughly pulled down the robe she had just hung up to cover that thoughtful gesture.

Then Xiaoxiao lay down again, slightly irritated as she turned to her side, gazing out the window.

She disliked Wei Jie’s attentiveness—it made her feel somewhat suffocated and prevented her from remaining detached while watching Wei Jie complete his destined tragic life.

Xiaoxiao forced herself to recall the shocking scene when heavenly punishment descended, hoping that the fearful feeling would dispel the inexplicable pity for him rising in her heart.

But tossing and turning like this, even without hearing the singing, she was destined for a sleepless night.

So when she woke the next morning, Xiaoxiao had slight dark circles under her eyes, her face full of fatigue from poor sleep.

When they went downstairs for breakfast, the little fox looked knowingly at the yawning Cui Xiaoxiao, then glanced sideways at Wei Jie, who also seemed to have had a sleepless night and looked slightly tired, snickered coldly, then muttered disdainfully: “Tsk tsk, actually staying up all night—I think this Talismonger Sect… might as well change its name to Hehuan Sect!”

Xiaoxiao felt the fox woman’s courage seemed to have grown, always enjoying making snide remarks.

She hadn’t slept all night and was in a bad mood. Just as she was about to scold Yu Ling’er, Wei Jie said coldly first: “Fine! Let’s change it today. In a while, you can stand at the brothel entrance dancing fox dances to recruit some vigorous male disciples for practicing yin-yang techniques!”

Hearing this, Yu Ling’er immediately couldn’t swallow the egg in her mouth, burst into tears with a “wah,” and ran out of the inn.

Tang Youshu understood that Wei Jie and his grandmaster weren’t people who practiced such absurd evil arts, so he could only quietly advise his master to calm down and not argue with a fox demon.

After driving away from Yu Ling’er, Wei Jie seemed much more comfortable.

While drinking hot porridge, he said to Xiaoxiao: “When I was wandering before, I met a friend who said there’s a Ghost Doctor in Luoyi City who can change life and death with miraculous healing skills. He used to see patients year-round, but in recent years, he sees patients fewer and fewer times each year. In the past two years, he has only made house calls at the hour of zi on the day when ghost gates first open in the seventh month. Those wanting his treatment must carry a white lantern and wait at the western vegetable market entrance. But it’s said he only sees one patient per year, so we can give it a try when the time comes.”

Hearing this, Xiaoxiao didn’t respond, just quietly ate her pickled radish.

Because she knew that in the original trajectory, Wei Jie had also sought out that Ghost Doctor.

But since it was Wei Jie alone who went then, Master Tang Youshu wasn’t clear on the process, only roughly describing that ten people went to seek treatment that night, but only Wei Jie survived.

When Tang Youshu rushed to the midnight vegetable market, Wei Jie’s arm had already healed, but he was covered in blood, hands dripping with blood, standing numbly among piles of corpses.

At that moment, a night watchman happened to pass by and screamed in terror, attracting soldiers to surround and capture him.

Fortunately, those soldiers were subordinates of the city lord Lord Can, and Lord Can was generous and loved recruiting talented people.

Upon meeting him, Lord Can felt an immediate kinship with Wei Jie, not only suppressing this midnight murder case but also treating Wei Jie as an honored guest…

However, such things couldn’t be hidden forever, and this incident ultimately left Wei Jie with a reputation for brutality and bloodthirst.

Previously, Xiaoxiao would have simply thought that a demon was a demon, whatever heinous crimes he committed were driven by his base demonic nature.

Killing other patients to secure the only consultation opportunity to heal his arm wouldn’t be surprising.

But now, having spent so much time with Wei Jie, she had come to understand him somewhat.

Though this person was sometimes casual and occasionally sharp-tongued in teasing others, he had no other malicious intentions.

She really couldn’t imagine Wei Jie killing so many unrelated people just to reattach an arm.

Could it be… that just because of the snake venom triggering his demonic nature, the original Wei Jie had become brutal and cruel?

Unfortunately, no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t figure it out clearly. For now, she could only take things step by step, following Wei Jie’s original trajectory.

But this time, she was the one seeking treatment, so surely it wouldn’t result in a bloodbath…

When Ghost Festival arrived—the day when ghost gates opened wide—Wei Jie took Xiaoxiao early to buy white lanterns at the lamp shop.

On this day, plain white lanterns without any decoration seemed particularly popular. When Wei Jie and the others went to buy them, they were sold out.

When they went to another lamp shop, Xiaoxiao caught sight of someone behind them from the corner of her eye, then casually said to Wei Jie: “Someone has been following us all along…”

Wei Jie also said calmly, “Not just following us—it seems all the customers who bought white lanterns before us are being tracked…”

Xiaoxiao’s mind stirred, and she guessed the reason for being followed…

The Ghost Doctor would only see one patient this year. This unique opportunity was crucial. Seeing how popular white lanterns are today, there should be quite a few people seeking treatment this year.

It seemed someone was eager for treatment and had already started working in advance.

She just wondered how this person planned to handle so many competitors to guarantee his exclusive qualification.

The master and disciple exchanged glances, immediately understanding each other, and walked together toward a dark, deserted alley.

After they entered the alley, they heard swift wind behind them, and two burly men jumped out from behind, holding sacks to cover Wei Jie and Xiaoxiao.

What followed was a series of muffled groans and screams in the alley, which soon fell silent.

When the master and disciple emerged from the alley again, they carried several daggers and a set of strangely-shaped hook claws—these were what they had taken from the two men.

The two men had been captured by Wei Jie and interrogated thoroughly. They were tight-lipped—no matter how Wei Jie questioned them, they wouldn’t speak, and they didn’t seem to be from the Central Plains.

Their weapons were also special, looking like hook claws for hunting and capturing fierce beasts.

Seeing he couldn’t get any information, Wei Jie knocked them unconscious, stuffed them in sacks, and threw them in the dirty water ditch behind the alley.

The water there wasn’t deep enough to drown anyone, but it would be enough to give those two a hard time.

After buying white lanterns, when they returned to that alley, they happened to see the two men break free from the sacks and limp away, supporting each other.

So the master and disciple followed them, wanting to see who was the mastermind behind preventing others from seeking treatment.

But those men were surprisingly good at escaping. After Wei Jie and Xiaoxiao followed for a while, they disappeared without a trace.

You should know they were covered in the smell of sewage and should have been easy to identify.

Wei Jie, being well-traveled, knew the reason: “They must be hunters, most skilled at tracking and concealing their presence and scent… When tonight comes, we should be able to see the real mastermind among the patients.”

Xiaoxiao nodded silently. For some reason, she had a premonition that this Ghost Festival night at the hour of zi would not be peaceful!

When they returned to the inn, Yu Ling’er, who had run away in a tantrum, had also returned.

There was no choice—bound by the poisonous oath to her mother, she couldn’t stay away from Xiaoxiao and the others for too long.

Because Yu Ling’er couldn’t flexibly control her tail yet, when the ghost gates opened wide, the excessive yin energy could easily cause the fox woman to revert to her original form.

Wei Jie had her stay at the inn. Of course, the little fox who naturally disliked being alone would need someone to accompany her, so Tang Youshu also stayed behind.

When nightfall came, Xiaoxiao and Wei Jie set out carrying white lanterns.

Recently, Luoyi City was holding a courtesan selection, with flower girls parading the streets daily—it was quite lively.

But tonight, perhaps due to the excessive yin energy, slightly superstitious people wouldn’t go out.

The vast Luoyi City suddenly became much quieter.

Though there weren’t many pedestrians, there were more patrolling soldiers everywhere, driving away staggering drunkards and telling them to go home quickly.

When they reached the vegetable market street, those shops had long been tightly closed. Except for a night watchman slowly approaching, there was no one else at this intersection.

The night watchman saw them appear at the intersection carrying white lanterns and shrank back in fright, then muttered under his breath, wanting to take a detour.

But Xiaoxiao was naturally friendly, quickly walking forward a few steps to chat with the night watchman: “Uncle, let me ask you something—do you know when the miraculous Ghost Doctor will come?”

After she asked this question, she saw the night watchman’s face turn pale with fright, his lips trembling.

The night watchman originally didn’t want to pay attention to Xiaoxiao, but she was delicate and beautiful, naturally inspiring pity. Seeing her so young yet about to venture into the gates of hell, he might as well advise her.

So the night watchman lowered his voice and whispered to Cui Xiaoxiao: “Miss, I advise you to leave quickly! In the past two years, people have always died horribly at this intersection on Ghost Festival nights. At dawn, this intersection suddenly appears covered with corpses! No matter how many soldiers patrol the streets, they can’t prevent it… tsk tsk, it’s too terrifying! Haven’t you seen the soldiers patrolling everywhere, driving away night wanderers? Go back quickly… You should know that beside those corpses, there are always white lanterns like the one you’re carrying!”

After speaking, the night watchman quickly picked up his wooden clapper and stayed far away from the vegetable market.

Hearing the night watchman’s words, Xiaoxiao and Wei Jie looked at each other again.

Wei Jie’s expression also became serious. He had only heard elsewhere about this Ghost Doctor’s excellent medical skills and how he had cured many people, but he didn’t know there were such bizarre murder cases on Ghost Festival nights.

But judging from the night watchman’s meaning, this seemed to be a recent development—what changes had occurred here?

Xiaoxiao suddenly thought of Wei Jie’s original trajectory—he had also been found standing in a pool of blood among piles of corpses at the intersection. Had the murders that year… really been committed by Wei Jie?

Just then, the night grew darker. For some reason, although Xiaoxiao and Wei Jie had been standing with white lanterns for a long time, no soldiers came to drive them away.

Today, being Ghost Festival, many street corners and alleys have paper money burning. Though people had been driven away by soldiers, the basins of burning paper remained. A breeze stirred up sparks.

In the choking smoke, mist filled the air. Xiaoxiao suddenly discovered that this intersection, which originally had four directions, suddenly… had an additional, unfamiliar alley.

At the alley entrance stood a stone tablet with “Nineteenth Li” written on it.

Xiaoxiao’s eyes widened slightly because when she was shopping during the day, she had also looked at the street layout map of Luoyi City posted at the intersection.

Luoyi City had a total of eighteen neighborhoods, each named with numbers, but… when had this nineteenth alley appeared?

On that stone tablet, there was also a medicine flag with “Enter Alley for Treatment” written on it.

Just then, Xiaoxiao noticed one or two groups of people also carrying white lanterns walking toward this alley.

So many white lanterns had been sold during the day, but only three groups, including Xiaoxiao, came to seek treatment—it seemed those unidentified people during the day had successfully done considerable work.

Xiaoxiao and Wei Jie looked at each other and followed behind these two groups into the alley.

This alley at first glance was no different from other neighborhoods—once night fell, every household’s doors were tightly closed.

But when Xiaoxiao walked closer, she discovered something odd—other alleys would have houses glowing with candlelight. But the households in this alley were all pitch black, with no cooking smoke or human presence.

Spider webs were everywhere in the alley, and there was a bone-chilling cold air.

Did people live here?

When Wei Jie entered the alley, he carried the lantern bought during the day. This type of undecorated white lantern was usually only hung under eaves during funerals for mourning.

In the night, the lit lantern’s white glow was somewhat eerie.

After entering the alley, they found two groups of people already standing with white lanterns in different spots against the walls.

Though these two groups were dressed like merchants, looking at their unusually dark and rough skin and the muscles exposed on their arms, they didn’t look like traders.

The two groups first silently sized each other up, then turned their gazes toward Wei Jie and Cui Xiaoxiao.

Compared to their numbers, Wei Jie and Xiaoxiao seemed quite vulnerable—just a young man and woman standing alone with their lantern.

However, no matter how many patients there were, the Ghost Doctor would only see one.

Now, with three white lanterns in the alley, it meant three people needed treatment. So Xiaoxiao noticed the other two groups looking at her with considerable hostility and full of antagonism.

Those who knew of this Ghost Doctor’s reputation were no ordinary people.

Xiaoxiao pursed her lips, thinking: I wonder how this Ghost Doctor selects patients—does he pick them like the street courtesan beauty contest, choosing only the pleasing ones?

At this time, night had fallen. Except for the distant pleasure quarters, everywhere was silent. This place seemed isolated from the world—they could neither hear the patrolling soldiers nor the night watchman’s wooden clapper.

So in the dark alley, only three eerily white lanterns quietly gave off dim light.

Just then, a thin old man in silk robes standing across from Xiaoxiao spoke hoarsely: “Miss, are you the one seeking treatment?”

Seeing Xiaoxiao’s supported injured arm, he made this guess.

Seeing Xiaoxiao nod, the old man smiled bitterly: “Looking at you, your complexion is rosy—you don’t seem seriously ill, just some external injuries. If you found some rare medicinal herbs, they could always be healed. Why must you come here for treatment? This Ghost Doctor only gives consultations once a year. Miss, please be kind and don’t compete with this old man, will you? Look how miserable I am!”

Speaking thus, he suddenly turned around and removed his large fur hat.

Behind his head, a hideous, suffering face appeared, glaring at Xiaoxiao with bared teeth. Looking carefully, beside this snarling face were two more fist-sized faces squeezed together like tumors, writhing. These faces were all baring their teeth at Xiaoxiao.

Xiaoxiao seemed like an ordinary young girl, turning pale with fright, hiding behind Wei Jie with tears in her eyes, looking quite frightened by the old man.

But the young girl was curious enough—even scared like this, she still peeked out her head and asked timidly: “May I ask, sir, what illness is this?”

Seeing that he had frightened the young girl, the old man sneered coldly and stopped answering.

But just then, someone from another group spoke up: “Already grown three heads—this is beast poison entering the brain marrow… In my opinion, your illness really doesn’t need treating. I’ve never heard of anyone surviving after being poisoned by the Kaiming Beast!”

Xiaoxiao looked over and saw the speaker had a hooked nose, but he wore a thick cloak with the collar raised too high to see his face.

But judging from the hooked-nose man’s meaning, he seemed to understand the old man’s condition and could even explain the cause.

Kaiming Beast? Xiaoxiao felt this name was somewhat familiar—she seemed to have seen it somewhere.