Chapter 196: Absorbing Essence

Jingwu pinched the soft, chubby face, inwardly complaining.

His own father is so infatuated with another woman that he might have already forgotten he has a wife. Expecting him to name the child is something that might take forever.

She turned her gaze and thought for a moment. It was really unreasonable that the child had been born for so long without a name. She decided to give him a nickname herself.

Thinking this, she immediately calculated based on his birth date and time, and then said...

Since your Five Elements are lacking water, I'll call you Run'an for now.

She met his bright, sparkling eyes, and her eyebrows curved into a smile.

“Run’an, young master Run’an, what a fine name!” the nanny quickly chimed in.

Jingwu teased him a couple of times, then gave the wet nurse a few more instructions before turning and leaving.

The next morning, as soon as Jingwu got up, Tao'er was already waiting at the door with the carriage.

After quickly washing up, she got into the carriage. She closed her eyes and did some calculations, and only after realizing that she was being introduced to business opportunities did she breathe a sigh of relief.

The carriage slowly came to a stop at the gate of a mansion. As soon as Jingwu stepped off the carriage, he saw a woman getting off the carriage next to him.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Liu.

Jingwu felt strange and looked up at the mansion in front of him.

Looking at the large characters "Liu Mansion" on the plaque, I understood.

“Young lady, thank you for making this trip.” Liu stepped forward with a smile, “This is my family home. I invited you here so that you could help me see if my second brother is possessed by an evil spirit. He has been locking himself in his house for more than half a year.”

Liu was the youngest daughter of General Liu, named Liu Shuhua. She had two older brothers and was pampered from a young age. Now that General Liu has passed away, her eldest brother has followed in his father's footsteps and is also serving in the army, while her second brother is good at business and owns many properties in the capital.

Since returning from the suburbs six months ago, he has remained secluded at home, refusing to see anyone, and his properties have been left unmanaged.

Liu Shuhua walked and talked, sighing from time to time.

Jingwu followed behind her, listening to her story.

"It's strange, really. My second brother used to be so spirited and often went out to have fun. But not long ago, he came back from outside the capital and locked himself in his room. It's been more than half a year now. Apart from my sister-in-law bringing him food, he's kicked everyone else out."

Madam Liu sighed deeply and led her people slowly into the mansion.

"Tell me, if he were really sick, he could have been treated by the imperial physician. But he even chased the imperial physician away, and my second sister-in-law just kept indulging him, telling him to stay alone."

Jingwu walked into the courtyard, glanced at the feng shui of the surroundings, and didn't see anything wrong.

She had just reached the door when she heard a faint sound.

Jingwu narrowed his eyes, just as he was about to listen more carefully, when the door suddenly opened and a beautiful woman walked out.

She was dressed in purple, her hair loosely tied up, and greeted the newcomer with a smile in her eyes.

"Little sister, what brings you back? When did you get back?"

Liu patted her hand and said, "I just got back. I told Mother I'd bring some people to see Second Brother. Is he still awake?"

Qi Yu, Liu's second sister-in-law, stiffened slightly, then sighed and wiped her eyes.

"He's asleep now. He made a fuss earlier, saying he's the Monkey King and wants to go to the Heavenly Palace to pick peaches. I tried to persuade him, and it was only with great difficulty that I finally calmed him down."

Jingwu looked at the person in front of him, a ripple flashing in his eyes.

It's strange that there are two souls inside this person.

"Sigh, why is it getting worse now?" Liu Shuhua held her second sister-in-law's hand, her eyes welling up with tears. "Second sister-in-law, I specially brought a master with me. Let him go in and take a look. Maybe he's possessed by an evil spirit."

"Master?" Qi Yu turned his head and looked around, his gaze landing on the girl. He was slightly taken aback: "Master is...this young lady?"

"She's so young," she thought to herself, without saying it aloud.

Liu Shuhua nodded quickly and said, "This master is very effective, Second Sister-in-law, please let her go in and take a look. Maybe he can cure her."

Qi Yu's lips twitched. He thought this little girl was really confused, actually believing that such a young girl was a master.

Oh well, letting her in will at least soothe my little sister's heart.

Thinking this, she nodded: "Okay, I'll take you in. Just be quiet, because if your second brother wakes up, he'll kick you out."

"Okay." Liu Shuhua nodded repeatedly, then followed her second sister-in-law inside.

As soon as I entered, I was greeted by a sweet and cloying fragrance.

Jingwu smelled this scent and felt as if he had smelled it somewhere before, but he couldn't remember where.

She frowned, trying to recall the events carefully, but noticed that the woman beside her had already blushed.

Liu Shuhua tugged at her second sister-in-law shyly, lowering her voice so that the people around them wouldn't hear.

"Second sister-in-law, why don't you...why don't you ventilate after you consummated your marriage?"

Although it's a bit inappropriate to do these things during the day, the two are husband and wife after all. Even if she's the younger sister, it's not right for her to interfere in her brother and sister-in-law's private affairs.

However, it's not good for young girls to smell this.

"Oh dear! Your second brother insists, what can I do? Besides, he's sick right now, and he'll throw a tantrum if I don't go along with him." Qi Yu said, a hint of embarrassment flashing across his face.

Although they were speaking in hushed tones, Jingwu still heard them.

After hearing this, she immediately understood what the smell was.

I suddenly felt completely unwell and didn't want to stay in the house anymore.

Jingwu closed his eyes, suppressing the strange feeling in his heart, and silently recited the Heart-Cleansing Mantra twice, which calmed him down considerably.

After she finished chanting the incantation, she felt much more refreshed.

Only then did he walk towards the bed and look at the person on the bed through the bed curtains.

Jingwu was about to take a step closer when he was pulled back by the person next to him.

“Master, my husband is not dressed. I see you are still young and probably not married yet. You should not get close.”

Qi Yu smiled, but his eyes were scrutinizing her.

Jingwu turned to look at her, taking in the lines on her face, and then smiled.

"You possess another's body, which is intolerable to Heaven and Earth. Do you want to come out on your own, or should I force you out?"

Upon hearing this, Qi Yu's expression changed slightly, and then he chuckled softly.

"What do you mean by possession? I don't understand what you're talking about. Girl, have you finished reading? Can you figure out what's wrong with my husband?"

"His life force was drained by you..."

Upon hearing this, Qi Yu's face instantly turned cold, and he impatiently interrupted her.

"What do you mean I absorbed his life force? It was just normal intimacy between husband and wife, and you've made it all my fault. I'm not some kind of vixen, how could I absorb a man's life force? Little sister, is this the kind of slanderous master you brought here?"

When Liu Shuhua saw that her second sister-in-law was angry, she quickly tugged at her sleeve and said, "Second sister-in-law, don't be angry. Perhaps what Master Xiantian really said wasn't what you think it meant."

"You're still taking her side?" Qi Yu's face was full of disbelief: "Are you crazy? You're really crazy! You don't trust your own sister-in-law, but you actually believe an outsider!"

"I..." Liu Shuhua was about to explain when she heard the girl standing next to her speak.

"You are indeed not a fox spirit, you are a hundred-year-old vengeful ghost who cultivates by absorbing the essence of men." Jing Wu's lips curled into a smile as he looked at the person in front of him, his gaze indifferent: "Half a year ago, you were injured by a sorcerer and urgently needed to absorb the essence of men to recover. Just then, Qi Yu and his wife came to the suburbs for an outing and came into your sight. You then set your sights on the couple and possessed Qi Yu's body. Am I right?"

Qi Yu's face instantly turned cold. She frowned and looked at the person in front of her again. This time, she actually saw that the person was surrounded by golden light.

She was shocked; this person was actually a Nascent Soul stage Xuanshu master!

How could someone so young possess such profound cultivation? Why didn't I notice it earlier?

Qi Yu panicked. Although she had cultivated for a hundred years, her old injuries had not yet healed, and she had absolutely no chance of winning against the person in front of her.

Her eyes darted around; at this moment, the only option was to escape.

Thinking this, Qi Yu planned to use a clever escape technique, but unexpectedly, he couldn't get out of his body no matter what he did.

The next second, she looked at the girl in front of her in fear, her eyes filled with deep terror.

Is this girl really that amazing?!

"How can you leave before things are cleared up?" Jingwu turned around and sat down in the chair, looking at the person in front of him with a smile.

Qi Yu looked at the person in front of him, his mind racing, trying to come up with a suitable solution.

Since I can't leave now and I can't fight back, I might as well tell the truth and maybe I can be spared.

The person in front of me has accumulated so much merit; he must not be someone who indiscriminately kills innocent people.

Thinking this, Qi Yu took a deep breath and looked at the person in front of him, saying, "If I answer truthfully, will you spare my life?"

Jing Wu looked at her again, a slight smile playing on his lips: "You have several lives on your hands. Do you think I would spare your life?"

Qi Yu's face hardened, and a chill ran through him, as if he had been stripped naked.

She took a deep breath. Since she would die whether she spoke or not, she might as well fight to the death and maybe she could survive.

As she thought this, she instantly raised her eyes, a hint of ruthlessness flashing in them.

Qi Yu was just about to fight to the death when, in the next second, a net descended from the sky, trapping him inside.

Her hand accidentally touched the golden net, which instantly turned into a burning pain, causing her to quickly pull her hand back.

Qi Yu looked at the person in front of him with eyes full of horror, his face filled with disbelief.

"you……"

Jingwu smirked and looked at her leisurely: "Go ahead and speak."

Qi Yu silently cursed in his heart before speaking.

"As you said, I met the couple in the suburbs about half a year ago. At that time, I was seriously injured and desperately needed a man to heal me, so I possessed her body. For the past six months, I have been clinging to him every day to be intimate with him. After we are intimate, he falls into a deep sleep and does not see outsiders or go out. I tell others that he refuses."

Qi Yu briefly explained the situation, then looked at the person in front of her and continued.

“If you don’t come, I won’t stay here for long either. I’ll leave in a month at most. He won’t be affected much. At most, he’ll just be less at ease in bed. But he’ll get better with time.”

Jingwu coughed lightly, turned his head to pour himself a cup of tea, and took a small sip.

"I've said everything. You can take down this inescapable trap now." Qi Yu looked at the person in front of him and said mournfully, "Those few lives earlier were just because I didn't control myself well and accidentally drained them dry. I didn't kill them on purpose..."

Jingwu glanced at her and said, "But they did die because of you. I won't do anything to you. Once you're in the underworld, someone will naturally judge your crime."

"No, I won't go to the underworld! The underworld is in chaos right now. If I go there now, won't I surely die?"

Although she had already died once, this time her soul was completely scattered.

Upon hearing this, a ripple flashed in Jingwu's eyes, and she instantly thought of the Black and White Impermanence who had disappeared for a long time.

Could it be that something really happened in the underworld?

Jingwu thought about it carefully, and just as he was about to ask something, he realized there was another person beside him.

She reached out and removed the inescapable net, then said, "Aren't you coming out right now?"

Qi Yu realized that someone was talking to him, so he immediately nodded and came out of his body.

As soon as she came out, her body automatically went limp and collapsed to the ground.

Jingwu reached out and put the female ghost into his Qiankun bag, intending to take her home and interrogate her slowly.

When Liu Shuhua saw her second sister-in-law collapse to the ground, she immediately went forward to help her up.

"Master, this..."

"It's not a big deal, just find a doctor to treat her properly." Jingwu made a hand seal, removing some of the yin energy from the woman's body.

She then helped the person onto the bed and placed her next to the man.

Jingwu looked at the man whose face was pale and whose eyes were dark, as if his life force had been drained, and twitched the corner of his mouth.

She looked away, took out two Qi-Nourishing Pills from her Qiankun bag, and handed them to the person beside her.

"Feed them these two pills."

Liu Shuhua was taken aback at first, then nodded quickly and hurriedly fed it to her second brother and sister-in-law.

Only after he finished doing this did he look up at the girl.

"Master, when will my second brother and sister-in-law wake up?"

"They'll wake up soon, but one of them had their life force drained by a ghost, and the other was possessed by a ghost. After they wake up, their bodies will inevitably be weak for a while, and they'll need to find a doctor to take good care of them."

"Okay," Liu Shuhua agreed, then asked, "Master, what's the divination fee this time?"

Jingwu thought for a moment and said, "Two pills cost one hundred taels, and the divination fee is two hundred taels, for a total of three hundred taels of silver."

"Okay, sure." Liu Shuhua agreed without hesitation: "Please sit down and have some tea. I'll have someone go and get the silver notes right away."