Bai Yao shook her head seriously, her expression growing increasingly solemn. "Master, that's not what Yao'er meant. Of course, that's also very suspicious. Junior Brother Murong, who never wanted to cultivate, suddenly became diligent in his cultivation, and then his strength improved by leaps and bounds. Isn't that strange?"

"Is it strange? Girl, people can change, especially a young man who has a goal in mind. It's not a problem for him to work hard, is it?"

Bai Yao continued, "I don't think there's anything wrong with just this, it's just that some of the habits in the details are different."

"Oh? What kind of habits?" Xiao Yuhan asked in return.

Bai Yao thought for a moment, then opened her left palm, facing herself, and made a gesture of gently tossing her hair in front of a mirror. "Master, do you think this gesture is strange?"

Xiao Yuhan frowned. "It's not surprising. Yao'er, what exactly are you trying to say?"

"Master, I saw my junior brother do this movement!"

Xiao Yuhan was even more puzzled, "So what? Is there anything strange about fixing your appearance in front of a mirror?"

Bai Yao continued to shake her head, "No... Master, this is not a man's gesture of flipping his hair. This expression and behavior are those of a woman flipping her hair."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yuhan was startled. "You mean your junior brother has picked up some bad habit?"

Bai Yao snorted, "Master, what are you thinking? I mean he's not A-Zhi. Although A-Zhi's cultivation is poor and he's talkative, he's always been a very tough man. But the coquettish look in his eyes when he flipped his hair today doesn't seem like him."

"Could it be... that you've misread it?" Xiao Yuhan still trusted Bai Yao's judgment, after all, this girl was always meticulous.

"Master! Yao'er swears she couldn't have seen wrong. How could I dare to talk nonsense about such a thing? And that's not all!"

Xiao Yuhan finally took it seriously, "Go on!"

Bai Yao suddenly frowned, looking like she was still shaken. "Not long ago, he secretly called out Su Li's name behind me. When I realized what was happening, he was holding a pear and said it was for me, adding that pears were my favorite food."

Xiao Yuhan thought for a moment, "Could it be a coincidence? A pear? But... Yao'er, you do like to eat pears."

The girl's expression grew increasingly uneasy. "Master, I know that Su Li is an enemy of our Heavenly Sword Sect. The purple-clad woman you defeated before was Su Li, right? But why does Junior Brother call me Su Li? And he doesn't know that I like to eat pears. After all, I eat all kinds of fruit. Even you, Master, only found out that I like to eat pears after I told you myself, right?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yuhan's expression changed. He remembered that Yu Hui possessed the ability to possess bodies, whether it was Miao Xiaodie before or Su Li later. A bad premonition immediately arose in his heart, and he said immediately, "Don't make this public. Be wary of A-Zhi. I'll find an opportunity to test him. If there's really a problem, then we'll talk. Also, Yao'er, you must be careful!"

Bai Yao nodded seriously. "Master, of course, it's also possible that I've been too nervous lately, or maybe I just misread it? It might just be a misunderstanding, so I came to tell you about it today. You must have a way to confirm it, right?"

Xiao Yuhan thought for a moment and said, "Don't be anxious. I will find out if there is anything wrong with this little brother. But with the alliance meeting coming up soon, we must be careful in everything we do. After all, he is your junior brother. If we really wrong an innocent person, we, as his master and senior sister, will be too irresponsible!"

"I'll do whatever Master says!"

Xiao Yuhan thought for a moment and decided to put the matter aside for the time being. Then he raised his hand to touch the array set up by Bai Yao and asked, "Yao'er, did you find any reliable information when you went out today?"

"There's no useful information. The people of Cold Maple City don't know much about what's happening in the Northern Territory; it's all just rumors and strange tales."

"Yao'er, you've been following me for so long now. You should know that these rumors and tales might actually contain some really useful information!" Xiao Yuhan reminded her.

Bai Yao blinked. "Master, of course I understand, but do you know what kind of rumors these are?"

"What rumor?"

"They're all supernatural and ghostly stuff. For example, there's always someone closing the door when you go to the outhouse at night, but if you actually push the door open, you'll find a long-haired female ghost hanging upside down from the outhouse ceiling. Or there's the Cold Maple Forest outside Cold Maple City, where you can hear a woman crying at night. Or there's the old woman selling vegetables in front of the city gate, who can hear her husband, who died on the battlefield, crying out in pain every night. Is this information really useful?"

Xiao Yuhan smiled wryly, "This is the border town closest to the Northern Ghost Plains, isn't it normal for it to be haunted?"

Bai Yao suddenly said with a serious expression, "Master, don't talk nonsense. There are no ghosts in this world! They are just souls that haven't dissipated!"

Xiao Yuhan, as if thinking of something, continued to explain: "Ghosts are actually a type of spirit. After the soul dissipates, it transforms into a spirit and returns to the world..."

Before he could finish speaking, Bai Yao suddenly asked, "Why does Master believe that people return to the world after they die? Is the concept of reincarnation just a lie?"

Xiao Yuhan was taken aback, thinking that he hadn't studied this question properly either, and immediately said, "I don't know if there is reincarnation, but ghosts are really not scary at all. Most ghosts are unconscious spirits. They may have obsessions in life that cause their souls to remain after death, but those who become vengeful spirits are basically those with heavy resentment. They may not be common in other places, but it's hard to say about Hanfeng City. After all, outside of Taihang Mountain is the Ghost Plain."

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!