The lake’s water was like a mirror, reflecting the moonlight.
In the pavilion with the ancient wooden carvings and flowers, incense burners sent smoke curling up in the air as the ethereal music played.
Under the slender fingers of a beautiful woman in spotless white clothes, a pitch-black, lacquered zither seemed to make the moonlight in the sky produce a fuzzy melody.
A gust of wind blew across the lake, ruffling the black hair that both reached her waist and covered half of her face, making the remaining half of her face appear even more fascinating under the moonlight.
Faced with such a person, the only description that could be used was a rehash of the description used on the purple-dressed female manager from the Three Thousand Restaurant—a demeanor resembling an immortal’s!
However, the former was an immortal that had descended to the mortal world, while the latter was probably a ghostly immortal.
This was because this pure white immortal energy clearly hid helplessness and resentment!
“Young Master, you’ve been standing and listening for a long time. Aren’t you planning to enter the pavilion to have a seat?”
The white-dressed lady spoke softly. Her voice was even more pleasant than the sound of the zither, but her tone was filled with resentment.
Nie Xiaoqian’s resentment was well-justified.
In the past, when ordinary men walked over under the allure of her music, most of them couldn’t resist pouncing on her once they saw her face.
However, the blue-dressed man who the Granny had requested to seduce hadn’t taken a single step forward. He maintained this state and listened to her play for nearly two hours.
It had to be known that playing the zither hurt the fingers. Even though she was a soul and her strumming of the zither would not leave a scar, strumming the zither as a soul was actually more draining than a living person.
“Oh, sorry!”
Ji Ye’s expression froze as he seemed to have snapped out of his daze.
Nie Xiaoqian was the daughter of an official, so her zither skills were definitely outstanding.
In particular, abilities like zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting in the Land of Inheritance were special to a certain extent.
Nie Xiaoqian’s music was enough for an ordinary person to immerse themselves in it, to the point of unconsciously sinking into it.
However, knowing that this was Lanruo Temple, Ji Ye could not help but be a little unromantic. Although he specially followed the music here, he secretly used the power of his divine senses to prevent himself from being affected by the music.
To put it simply, the two hours Nie Xiaoqian had spent strumming the zither was nothing but a waste…
However, to Ji Ye, it was a great harvest.
This was because he discovered that the process of resisting the music could actually temper his mental strength, causing his divine sense that had already reached the peak of Rank-3 to show signs of breaking through to Rank-4!
“Ah, my veil!”
Seeing Ji Ye like this, Nie Xiaoqian could no longer hold it in.
She suddenly released her grip and let the wind blow the cloth in her hand, sending it flying to Ji Ye’s side.
This time, Ji Ye finally stopped being unromantic. He reached out and grabbed the white veil that carried the faint fragrance of flowers.
“Thank you, Young Master…”
In the blink of an eye, a pair of milky-white hands and black hair that cascaded down like a waterfall had already stuck to Ji Ye’s shoulder.
When he turned around, the woman who had already arrived in front of him gave him a picturesque smile.
It was as if the moon in the sky had suddenly lost its luster.
Whoosh!
Ji Ye was previously puzzled.
In theory, anyone with a functioning brain would find it problematic if a woman suddenly appeared in such an abandoned temple. Yet, there were actually so many people who fell for it in this world.
Now, he more or less understood why.
This was because every frown and smile the woman in front of him had was mesmerizing. Ordinary men would find it difficult to resist such beauty.
“It’s too cold here. Come indoors with me!”
Ji Ye reached out and carried Nie Xiaoqian. She felt slightly cold to the touch.
As a soul, Nie Xiaoqian was actually colder than the surrounding temperature, but she was not completely without temperature.
In fact, he could even feel her weight. She did not have the zero-weighted feeling of a ghost at all.
Theoretically, warriors had powerful lifeblood. Ordinary ghosts wouldn’t dare to possess their bodies. But clearly, the ghosts in this world had special traits.
Ji Ye remembered that in the original book by Liaozhai, Nie Xiaoqian gradually resembled an ordinary person because she often interacted with living people. She even gave birth to a boy.
Could it be that this world had considered this point?
Sigh, I originally thought that he had some mental fortitude and was a promising talent!
I didn’t expect that he couldn’t get past a woman’s charms.
Forget it. I don’t care. Whether you live or die will depend on your luck!
Yan Chixia, who was holding the brass sword in his hand, had appeared in a distant corner. After seeing this scene, he shook his head in disappointment.
Forget it. I’ll hunt some game and cook some food under the moonlight.
Hmm, why do I feel that something is amiss tonight? There are so many wolves, and they aren’t small. I’ll hunt one, and it should be enough to last me a few days!
Then, the bearded Yan Chixia looked at the dark forest—especially the big gray wolves surrounding Lanruo Temple with obviously nefarious thoughts no thanks to their glimmering green eyes.
…
“Why are monks so heartless!?”
In Lanruo Temple.
Something similar happened by the lake.
A beautiful blue-dressed woman stood at the room’s entrance. A breeze blew at her thin clothes as she wore an aggrieved expression.
“Get lost. I don’t like women!”
Having been informed by Ji Ye in advance, Lu Zhishen naturally did not have any lustful thoughts.
However, he was not good at putting on a show. Therefore, he simply shouted for the female ghost that came knocking at his door to leave.
“Hmph.”
The female ghost named Xiaoqing’s expression turned green from anger. It was already embarrassing enough that Granny had sent her to seduce a monk, but this monk was way too boorish.
As for the other one…
Xiaoqing turned around and looked at Nie Xiaoqian who had been carried into the room by Ji Ye. The door and windows were immediately closed once they entered.
Jealousy made her face turn into a ghostly face shrouded in black gas.
However, she had no choice. She could only return and inform the thousand-year-old tree demon that she had failed.
…
However, after he successfully carried the “female ghost” that countless male players on Earth had probably once dreamed of into his room and closed all the doors and windows,
Ji Ye threw Nie Xiaoqian onto the couch.
“Young Master, you’re hurting me!”
“Miss Xiaoqian, I’ll tell you the truth. You aren’t human, are you?”
Ji Ye looked at the resentful Nie Xiaoqian, who was lying on the couch with her snow-white clothes and black hair covering her face. His expression turned solemn.
It couldn’t be helped. As a hot-blooded man who cultivated martial arts, it was really difficult for him to hold it in. He could only pull a poker face.
Thankfully, as someone who could easily survive in the wilderness for dozens of days, he had a firm will.
“You… Who are you? How do you know my name?”
Nie Xiaoqian, who had collapsed on the couch, immediately had a change in expression as she looked at Ji Ye with a shocked expression.
“The corpses on the roof are a result of your work, am I right?”
Ji Ye did not answer but continued to stare at her with a solemn expression.
“I…”
Nie Xiaoqian’s expression darkened.
She grabbed the corner of the couch with her milky-white fingers and felt a little guilty and afraid that she had been exposed for her wrongdoings.
“Miss Xiaoqian, I know that you didn’t have a choice. Your corpse is in the hands of a thousand-year-old tree demon. Under her threats, you are forced to harm humans. You are actually kind-hearted.”
“I came to Lanruo Temple to eliminate this tree demon to prevent her from continuing her scourge. Therefore, I hope you can tell me about her.”
Ji Ye’s expression finally changed as he spoke softly.
To be honest, if he weren’t in the Battlefield of Providence and was in the true world of a A Chinese Ghost Story, he might have slowly developed a relationship with Xiaoqian like most men on Earth imagined. He would use his charisma rather than strength to make her fall in love with him, beating Ning Caichen to the punch.
However, this was a “battlefield”. Times like this required him to use emergency measures.