“Oh yes, how’s the frequency of the incidents nearby these days?” Lu Sheng asked. He had spent the past few days immersed entirely in training, shutting himself off from the outside world. He had even instructed Ning San not to disturb him unless it was a matter of life and death.
“Lord Jade Lotus goes to the headquarters once in a while for routine meetings. Everything else is the same. Nothing out of the ordinary for now. Once the situation changes, Crimson Whale will dispatch someone to notify you,” Ning San replied.
“As long as everything is in order. Oh, and how about the two beggar girls I brought home?” Lu Sheng asked, the memory surfacing suddenly.
“I’ve checked on them. They’re foreigners, and they’ve only been in Mountain-Edge City for less than a month. But they manage the greenhouses extremely well—better than most others. They don’t steal, they don’t slack off, and their conduct is clean,” Ning San said with a small smile.
“Observe them closely. If you notice anything unusual, inform me immediately.” Lu Sheng could still sense the lingering trace of Yin Qi on them. He had brought them back only to see how they differed from ordinary mortals.
“Yes, sir.”
They stepped out of the greenhouse together, moving to the gardener’s hut nearby. Sitting down, they wiped away the sweat beading on their brows, letting the shade cool their damp clothes.
“When we get back, take my command tablet and head to our blacksmith store. I want a fine weapon forged—something that suits me. An ordinary saber won’t do,” Lu Sheng instructed.
“Understood. I’ll send someone ahead to notify the blacksmith to prepare the materials. Oh, and Lu Manor’s funeral begins today,” Ning San reminded him.
“It’s Lu Chenxin’s funeral?” Lu Sheng exhaled softly.
“Yes…” Ning San murmured.
“I’ll head back a little later,” Lu Sheng said with a shake of his head. “Any word from Fine Treasures Hall?”
“No, sir… but why won’t External Head make a trip to the headquarters? I recall that Resident Elder Zhang Baiyu is an antiques collector, and the headquarters’ warehouse contains many excavated artifacts,” Ning San asked.
“I’ll go take a look later.”
Lu Sheng wolfed down his meal. A huge tub of rice vanished before Ning San’s eyes, consumed as quickly as if he were feeding an endless void.
After lunch, Lu Sheng rose and made his way toward his bedroom.
Passing by one of the greenhouses, he caught sight of the two sisters speaking quietly with the gardener. The elder was named Liu Qin, the younger Liu Caiyun—both bearing the same surname, both marked by misfortune. From his subordinates, Lu Sheng had learned that a terrible tragedy had wiped out their entire family, leaving the two girls to fend for themselves. They had never revealed the details, but from the very beginning, Lu Sheng sensed a hidden secret clinging to them like a shadow.
As he walked past, his eyes landed on a small section of exposed skin on Liu Qin’s arm. The sight gave him pause. Her arm was swollen, mottled in a purplish hue, almost warped—yet Liu Qin herself showed no sign of discomfort, as though she couldn’t feel it at all.
He offered them a gentle smile and a nod. The sisters returned it with polite, subdued gestures, while the gardener bowed deeply in reverence. Only when Lu Sheng’s figure vanished from sight did the gardener hurry off, giving a few last instructions before returning to his duties.
Only the two sisters remained by the greenhouse entrance now.
“Big Sis, can we stay here for a few more days?” Liu Caiyun whispered.
“We shouldn’t. Otherwise, we’ll implicate Young Master Lu,” Liu Qin replied steadily. “It’s nearly the time when your arm acts up again, isn’t it?”
“Mm.” Liu Caiyun nodded lightly.
“Those things will come again. If we remain here too long, this place will be destroyed too,” Liu Qin murmured, a glint of pain flickering in her eyes.
“But… I like it here. These flowers… they’re so pretty…” Caiyun said softly.
“Me too…” Liu Qin answered in a hushed voice. “But Young Master Lu is just a mortal. Everyone here is.”
Silence fell between them.
After a long pause, Liu Caiyun finally spoke, her voice trembling, “I understand…”
“It’s not your fault,” Liu Qin whispered, drawing her sister into a gentle embrace. “I can feel them. They’re coming.”
“…” Liu Caiyun said nothing. She only leaned her cheek against her elder sister’s chest, pressing into the blistered skin. A cluster of bubbles burst beneath the contact, and yellow pus seeped out, dampening Liu Qin’s robes.
Creak—
The door swung open as Lu Sheng stepped inside, closing it behind him. He was ready to collapse onto his bed when he suddenly halted, every sense sharpening as he swept his gaze across the room.
Several stools were still arranged around the black dining table. A handful of half-read books lay scattered across the square study table. The blanket on his bed was rumpled exactly as he had left it that morning.
But then his expression darkened. Beside the bed, a pale hand gripped the edge of the curtain.
It looked as if someone were sitting on the mattress, holding the curtain aloft to keep it from falling—yet from where Lu Sheng stood, only the hand was visible.
“Who’s that?!” His voice turned cold and dangerous. His right hand crept toward the hilt of the saber strapped to his waist.
No answer came. The hand slowly drew back, inch by inch, at an agonizingly sluggish pace—utterly silent. Yet Lu Sheng knew clearly that the direction it retreated toward was just a solid wall.
With a cold snort, he sprang forward in a swift motion and yanked the curtain aside.
Rip—
The curtain tore free, revealing an empty bed. Nothing stirred upon it.
The bed was wedged into the corner where two walls met. Two sides pressed against the walls; the other two were open and completely exposed. Lu Sheng scanned the room again, eyes narrowing.
“Trying to run?!” he spat with a low, cold laugh.
Without warning, he drove his palm straight into the center of the bed.
A blazing wave of heat exploded outward, slicing the air with an ear-splitting roar.
BOOM!!!
The bed shattered instantly. Wood splintered and cracked, pieces grinding against each other with a harsh screech. Amid the chaos, a faint scream echoed through the room.
A black shadow suddenly lunged out from beneath the shattered bed, hurling itself toward Lu Sheng.
“Blood Web!” Lu Sheng didn’t retreat. Instead, his inner Qi surged violently, spiraling around his body. Level Seven of the Ultimate Crimson Mantra ignited, and in the blink of an eye, an unseen layer of blood-red webbing unfurled across the space before him.
BOOM! SZZZZZ!
A shrill, blood-curdling scream tore through the room.
Moments later, a chilling gust swept past him and rushed out of the doorway. The room gradually settled back into silence.
Only after the final trace of wind faded did Lu Sheng lower his guard, his senses sweeping the room with razor-sharp focus.
‘Some filthy creature dared enter my room? Is it because my Body of Half-Yin has grown stronger… or because of those two little girls?’ His eyes narrowed as he studied the surroundings. Then came a rapid series of knocks at the door.
“External Head! Are you alright?!”
“I’m alright,” Lu Sheng replied, pulling the door open. “Carry the bed out and bring in a new one.”
His subordinates entered—and froze. The bed had collapsed into a pile of splintered wood. They exchanged startled looks, unsure what could have caused such destruction.
“Yes, sir,” they answered quickly. None dared to ask questions.
As they worked to replace the bed, Lu Sheng bent down and picked up a small pink purse lying on the floor.
It was decorated with an embroidered scene of mandarin ducks playing on water—roughly stitched, cheap-looking, likely something sold by a street vendor. Yet the purse felt cold in his grasp.
‘To think Yin Qi would deliver itself to my doorstep.’ A faint grin tugged at the corner of Lu Sheng’s lips. The Yin Qi within was minimal, but still useful. Biting his finger, he pressed it lightly against the purse.
Szzz—
A subtle, nearly silent sizzle followed as a thin stream of Yin Qi traveled up his arm and into his chest, where it was promptly absorbed.
The purse quickly lost its chill.
“Who’s that!” a shout suddenly rang out from the sentries outside. “How dare you try to barge into the External Head’s quarters?! Are you seeking death?!”
“Brother, Young Master Lu is in grave danger! You must wake him immediately!” Liu Qin’s voice cried out, breathless with urgency.
“Danger?” the men scoffed. “Only our boss ever puts others in danger. Alright, you two ugly hags, go on home and sleep. Stop hanging around here.”
Liu Qin and her sister?
Lu Sheng had overheard everything from inside his room. A faint trace of amusement flickered in his eyes. Stepping out, he immediately saw the sisters still attempting to push past the disciples guarding the doorway.
“You’re here? What’s wrong?” he asked casually as he approached.
“Young Master Lu… you… did you encounter any strange phenomena?” Liu Qin let out a shaky breath the moment she saw him, as though a crushing weight had fallen from her shoulders.
“Strange phenomenon? There was a burglar in my room. I struck her with a palm and sent her flying who-knows-where. She left behind a purse too. Didn’t expect it to be a woman,” Lu Sheng said with a chuckle, tossing the purse lightly into the air.
“That’s…!?” Both Liu Qin and Liu Caiyun recoiled, trembling visibly the moment they saw the purse.
“Young Master! This is our negligence!” The sect disciples turned pale and bowed their heads in a hurry.
“It’s fine. I was bored anyway. Training martial arts every single day… I’ve been dying for a little excitement,” Lu Sheng replied with a grin, casting the sisters a knowing look.
“Young Master Lu…” Liu Qin hesitated. “Aren’t… aren’t you afraid?”
“Afraid?” Lu Sheng waved his hand, dismissing the guards. “Both of you, come with me.”
He led the sisters through the courtyard to a secluded corner behind the newly constructed tower. It was a deserted stretch of yard, guarded strictly from the outside with clear orders allowing no one to approach.
Lu Sheng sat down on a stone stool, expression calm.
“Speak. Who exactly are the two of you? And why is it that ghosts are drawn to you?”
At the word ghosts, the sisters froze. But instead of shock or fear, their blank expressions slowly softened into relief—an unexpected brightness rising in their eyes. It was the look of shipwrecked survivors finally spotting land after drifting endlessly at sea.
Lu Sheng waited silently as they took several seconds to steady themselves.
“You… you know about ghosts too?” the younger sister, Liu Caiyun, asked softly, her voice tinted with caution.
“Of course. We run into troublesome things like that all the time. Otherwise, how do you think we managed to establish influence over such a large region?” Lu Sheng replied. But as he spoke, a faint frown formed between his brows—the sisters were reacting in a way he had not anticipated.
“That’s true… since Young Master Lu already knows about them, then there’s no need for us to hide anything,” Liu Qin said, her tone carrying a sense of release. “All this time, we thought only we could deal with ghosts and the supernatural. But now we’ve finally met an expert like Young Master Lu!”
Lu Sheng blinked, confusion momentarily clouding his thoughts.
“Start from the beginning. Why do I feel even more lost now?”
“Very well. We’ll start from the beginning,” Liu Qin replied earnestly.
As she gathered her thoughts, her expression softened. A blend of tenderness and lingering sorrow surfaced in her eyes as she prepared to recount their past.
ns216.73.216.134da2
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