Discipleship

Wen Ya had considered that the evil spirit might be an ancient ghost, but clearly, she had prepared herself mentally, but she was still not prepared enough. She hadn't expected the ghost to be so ancient.

The man's expression was calm but not wary. He seemed only slightly curious about Wen Ya and Si Mucheng's sudden appearance, even though their clothes were quite unusual.

Wen Ya had just opened her mouth when she said, "You..."

Si Mucheng immediately smiled and said first, "It's like this, we were just passing by and wanted to ask for a drink of water. We didn't mean to wander in unintentionally, sorry."

The man nodded, gracefully entered the courtyard, and politely said, "It's alright, please come in."

The little child beside him wiggled his short legs energetically and called out in a childish voice, "Master!"

The man's smile deepened as he patted the little boy's round head: "Go back to watching 'Spirit Weapon'."

The little child nodded, obediently sat on the stone bench, picked up a book from the stone table, and began to read it with great seriousness.

Wen Ya stared at the book. At this moment, the man said gently, "Please come in and take a seat. There's no good tea in this mountain village, so I'm afraid you'll have to make do."

“No, no, we’re not upset,” Si Mucheng waved his hand. “We’ve been the ones bothering you.”

Si Mucheng pulled Wen Ya into the house.

The room was even simpler, but very clean. The man brewed a pot of tea and handed the teacups to the two of them.

Wen Ya was still pondering the book. She heard the man say that the book was called "Spirit of the Weapon," which sounded familiar, as if she had heard it somewhere before, but she couldn't figure it out, so she stopped thinking about it.

She secretly observed the man. The two people, one big and one small, appearing here could be either evil spirits or illusions. She couldn't alert them, but she had to find a way to stay here.

Clearly, Si Mucheng had the same idea. Before Wen Ya could think of a solution, he spoke up: "Young master, this may be a bit abrupt, but my master and I are on our way home. However, we have gotten lost in the deep mountains and have run out of money. So... we are very sorry, but could my master and I stay here for the night?"

"Master?" The man paused, his gaze turning to the little child outside the door. His expression softened, and he looked at Si Mucheng and said, "I'm glad you two don't mind. As you can see, this place is simple and unpretentious, and I'm afraid it might be a bit of a sloppy experience."

“No problem, no problem,” Si Mucheng said without even thinking, “My master and I have traveled all over the country and we don’t care much about such things when we’re out and about.”

The man seemed quite interested in their identities, but didn't inquire further. However, his politeness didn't mean Si Mucheng was. Intending to elicit information, Si Mucheng smiled and asked, "May I ask your honorable surname, sir?"

The man said, "Just call me Shi Ling. That's my little apprentice, Ming Ruo."

Si Mucheng responded in kind: "My name is Si Mucheng, and this is my master, Wen Ya."

Shi Ling looked at Wen Ya curiously and raised an eyebrow: "Wen surname? If I'm not mistaken, you're a member of the Taoist sect, aren't you?"

Wen Ya and Si Mucheng were both taken aback. Seeing their reaction, Shi Ling knew he had guessed correctly. He pointed to the distance and said, "I'm sorry, but I just saw a talisman sticking out of Miss Wen's bag. Since the surname is Wen, and the Wen family is a Taoist family, I dared to guess."

Wen Ya glanced at her bag subconsciously, and sure enough, half of a stack of talismans was sticking out. This person was meticulous and clearly very familiar with the profession of Celestial Master. A thought flashed through her mind: "Are you also one of us?"

Shi Ling nodded: "Just a leisurely person."

Si Mucheng was clearly more curious about this secluded place deep in the mountains: "Sir, are you also a Celestial Master? Why would you live in seclusion here? Do you usually go out to exorcise souls?"

His question was offensive to someone he had just met, but Shi Ling didn't care. He smiled and said, "I was originally traveling around, but... after I found Ming Ruo, I settled here."

Shi Ling said that the times were turbulent and the world was not stable. During the war, ghosts ran rampant. He traveled around collecting ghosts and exorcising spirits until one day, in a village that had just finished a raid, he found a child.

The child sat crying amidst a pile of corpses, surrounded by what appeared to be his relatives. He was pushing a dead body, trying to wake the person up.

Shi Ling transformed the spirit of the corpse. The female ghost was worried about the child, but Shi Ling only said that he would take good care of him.

That child was Mingruo. Shiling personally sent away the souls of Mingruo's family members, and from then on, she adopted him. Raising Mingruo was both a promise and a matter of following her heart.

He had never raised a child before, and Mingruo was too young. At first, he never understood why Mingruo was crying. Shiling became an apprentice at a young age and traveled around after mastering his skills. He was the youngest in his master's school and had never had any experience taking care of people. In the end, he had no choice but to ask a wet nurse in a village for advice when he passed through it.

Learning to care for a baby is harder than exorcising a ghost. Shi Ling is considered one of the smartest and most diligent in the sect, and even her master says she has a natural talent and learns everything quickly. But facing the crying, hungry Ming Ruo, Shi Ling was clumsy and embarrassed for the first time.

However, his master was right; he learned everything quickly. Over time, although there were some setbacks, he gradually raised Mingruo to adulthood.

"My master and I have been living in seclusion here for three years," Shi Ling said with a smile.

"It's really not easy for you to take care of the child all by yourself," Si Mucheng exclaimed in admiration.

Just then, the little boy came over, pouting, and said, "Master, I'm hungry."

Shi Ling laughed: "Master will go cook now." He turned to Si Mucheng and Wen Ya, "It's just simple food, please don't mind it."

"How could that be!" Si Mucheng felt embarrassed to just wait to be served, so he said, "Let me help out." After saying that, he and Shi Ling walked towards the kitchen.

Wen Ya looked at Xiao Mingruo thoughtfully. Mingruo was no longer shy at this moment. She looked back generously when being looked at, blinked her big eyes twice, and smiled: "Sister, you are so beautiful."

Wen Ya wasn't very good at interacting with children. Even after being praised, she felt awkward and coughed lightly, putting her fist to her mouth. She then began an awkward conversation: "Your name is Ming Ruo?"

"Yes!" The little child nodded. "My master gave me this name!"

Wen Ya was stumped. She really wasn't good at small talk, and she didn't know how Si Mucheng usually handled this situation so easily.

However, Mingruo, despite his young age, already knew how to handle such an awkward situation. He replied, "What's your name, sister?"

“Wen Ya”.

"Sister, do you know Master? Are you also a Celestial Master?"

Wen Ya raised an eyebrow: "You know about Celestial Masters? Your master has already taught you how to exorcise souls?"

"Hmm!" Mingruo went outside and brought in her book, showing it to Wenya like a treasure. "Master is so amazing, he knows everything. Master said I have a talent for magical artifacts, so he wants me to specialize in magical artifacts!"

Looking at the book titled "Spirit of Weapons," and hearing Mingruo talk about magical artifacts, Wen Ya finally remembered. She had seen it in the library of Yuhuang Temple; it was a theoretical work on magical artifacts, but since there were no more magical artifact masters in the world, the book was relegated to a shelf. When Wen Ya was studying at Yuhuang Temple, she only remembered the title of the book; at first, it sounded familiar, but as soon as Mingruo mentioned magical artifacts, she remembered it. She even remembered the name Mingruo herself.

The predecessors of modern exorcists were ancient celestial masters. At that time, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was abundant, and there were many ghosts and monsters. The responsibilities of the celestial master were important, and the profession flourished. Celestial master cultivation was divided into three directions: talismans, formations, and magical artifacts. More often than not, all three were cultivated simultaneously, but each person had their own expertise.

Unlike the modern practice of "exorcising souls," the ancient method of exorcising ghosts emphasized the act of "exorcising." In an unjust and cannibalistic society, many evil spirits roamed after people died, and Taoist priests would almost always subdue them with violence, without considering any attachments or obsessions.

Wen Ya had heard these things since she was a child, but she never imagined that the names that her elders only used to tell stories about would now be standing alive in front of her, blinking their big eyes and looking at her innocently. This was truly...wonderful.

Lunch was served quickly. When Si Mucheng came out, he noticed Wen Ya's strange expression and thought something had happened. While the two masters and disciples went to wash their hands, he secretly asked Wen Ya, "What's wrong? Did you find anything?"

"Hmm." Wen Ya was somewhat at a loss for words, and then told Si Mucheng about her discovery.

Upon hearing Mingruo's identity, Si Mucheng chuckled, "So this is the ancestor in his childhood form!"

Nothing seemed to matter much to Si Mucheng. Wen Ya couldn't help but laugh at his assessment, but then thought his summary was quite accurate.

“Oh right,” Wen Ya thought of something else, “I forgot to tell you, Ming Ruo is the artifact maker who made the Soul-Returning Lamp.”

Si Mucheng was startled again and again: "Ah!"

Just then, Shi Ling led Ming Ruo in and, upon hearing Si Mu Cheng's short, startled cry, asked, "What happened?"

Si Mucheng quickly waved his hand: "It's nothing, it's nothing!"

This little incident went unnoticed. After the four finished eating, Mingruo diligently cleared the dishes to wash them. Si Mucheng was too embarrassed to let the ancestor wash them, but Mingruo insisted, saying earnestly, "Master said that housework is also a form of cultivation."

Shi Ling also said, "Ming Ruoxi is usually the one who washes, and there's no reason to make guests do the work. Young Master Si has already helped a lot."

Hearing them say that, Si Mucheng stopped insisting and instead secretly discussed the current situation with Wen Ya.

"I remember seeing a note at Shangguan Qin's house last time that said the Soul-Returning Lamp was forged by a magic weapon maker to revive his master. If the magic weapon maker is Ming Ruo, then his master is Shi Ling!"

Wen Ya nodded: "Then, the evil spirit in the Soul-Returning Lamp must be one of the two of them."

"Is it Shi Ling?" Si Mucheng guessed, but then immediately dismissed his own thought. "No, didn't they say the Soul-Returning Lamp had succeeded once? That means Shi Ling was resurrected... Wait, Ming Ruo is so young, is this dream going to last this long? How long are we going to have to stay here?"

Wen Ya remained silent, lost in thought.

The current situation is indeed unclear, but the only thing that can be confirmed is that the Soul-Returning Lamp must be related to these two, master and disciple.