Artemisia tilted her head back slightly, reducing the overlap between herself and the female ghost.

Her gaze passed through the semi-transparent ghost in front of her and landed on the table.

Several ghosts floated on the table, reaching out to scoop up slices of meat from the pot, but they failed.

Ai Cao then turned around and swept the yard again.

Several ghosts hovered above the corner piled with corpses and hay, trying to pick up a few haystacks and cover a protruding, corpse's foot.

Their hands went straight through the hay, but they persisted in trying to retrieve it.

There are quite a few ghosts in the courtyard, but they are all repeating mechanical actions.

Ai Cao remained silent for a while, then took the handkerchief handed to her by Yang Lingyao and wiped away the blood.

Yang Lingyao asked, "Did you see anything?"

Ai Cao thought for a moment and said, "I see." She handed the handkerchief back to Yang Lingyao and said, "It just doesn't seem very smart."

Yang Lingyao nodded: "After all, they're all dead. If they were smart, they wouldn't have died so easily, still clinging to their obsessions and unwilling to be reincarnated."

Ai Cao smiled and sighed.

At the table, the proprietress had already stood up and was using serving chopsticks to distribute the blood tofu to the women. The women laughed and picked up their bowls, trying to sneak a few bites of meat from the pot when no one was around.

The proprietress laughed in anger and said, "This is the blood of the Demon King! Every single one of you, you have to eat it!"

The woman ran ahead, and the woman chasing after her with a bowl in her hand.

Only the little girl, Ai Cao, and Yang Lingyao remained sitting at the table.

The little girl held the bowl and chopsticks blankly. Only a layer of semi-solidified red oil remained in her bowl, indicating that she had already eaten all the food.

Ai Cao raised her hand and waved in front of her, but Yang Lingyao pulled her back.

Yang Lingyao whispered, "She's controlling the demon blood."

Ai Cao glanced at the golden blood tofu in the pot and sighed dryly, "It really works..."

Yang Lingyao nodded. She picked up a piece of golden blood tofu and put it back in the pot: "I already ate one piece, and my body feels enough; even if I eat this small piece, I don't dare to eat it."

Ai Cao nodded and asked, "Shall we pack it up?"

Yang Lingyao remained silent.

As they joked, a flame suddenly burst forth in the little girl's hand. The wooden chopsticks in her hand were instantly charred black and fell onto her. The temperature around her also began to rise—

Yang Lingyao quickly picked up her chopsticks and banged them on the bowl, shouting, "All mortals without cultivation, hurry back to your rooms!"

The courtyard was quiet for a moment.

The women laughed and cleared away the bowls and chopsticks, carrying the table and the pot on it into the main room. The proprietress hesitated at the door, but Yang Lingyao had already tucked the brooding hen into her arms and closed the door.

Ai Cao pointed to herself and said, "I have no cultivation either."

Yang Lingyao pasted a talisman on the door, rolled her eyes at Ai Cao, and said, "Now only we can control her."

The wooden bench beneath the little girl was now charred. She sat on the ground, holding a bowl, staring blankly into the void.

The porcelain bowl in her hand shattered, but her expression remained unchanged.

The mugwort asked, "How do we control it?"

Yang Lingyao said, "If we deplete her excess spiritual power, we should be able to control her temporarily."

Ai Cao understood and asked her again, "Does she have excess spiritual power now? Is she going crazy because of excess spiritual power?"

Yang Lingyao nodded.

Ai Cao smiled. She patted the little fox in her arms, who was still smacking its lips, and asked, "Can you consume spiritual energy?"

The little fox blinked and let out a blank "ooh".

Artemisia then tossed it onto the little girl and said, "It makes no difference, go on."

Under the terrified gaze of the little fox, it landed in the little girl's arms. The little girl stiffly lowered her head, and the little fox suddenly sprang up—its three tails stretched out, bracing themselves on the ground, supporting it as it left her arms.

Yang Lingyao: "...Huh?"

The strange fluctuations of spiritual energy in the air suddenly calmed down.

The mugwort said, "See, it really works."

Yang Lingyao didn't know where to begin her rant, and in the end she could only say, "...Aren't you afraid Qingyun will scold you?"

"Artemisia!" the little fox exclaimed as it landed on the ground.

The fox's face revealed a human-like expression, and its voice was Qingyun's, "How come you didn't even think of sharing a bite with me when you encountered such delicious food?"

Yang Lingyao found a relatively flat spot in the courtyard and sat down.

Artemisia asked, "What's wrong?"

Yang Lingyao rested her chin on her hand, looking at the human and the fox, and said, "I feel like I'm not cut out for cultivating immortality. I'm going to shut myself in for a while."

Ai Cao smiled and asked Qing Yun, "Can you handle this extra portion of spiritual energy?"

Qingyun nodded. Her nose twitched slightly as she said, "It can be handled, but I don't recommend it." She said slowly, "This little girl's head is almost completely muddled by this fire, but her soul is still quite resilient."

Ai Cao shrugged: "So?"

"So you need to take her to the demon race's settlement." A human-like, disgusted expression appeared on Qingyun's fox face. "Soak her in the blood of her other relatives, and she'll be fine."

Ai Cao nodded. She turned to look at Yang Lingyao and said, "We're going to the Demon Continent now."

Yang Lingyao asked dryly, "Now?"

The mugwort nodded again.

Yang Lingyao pursed her lips, sighed, and said, "You can't take this fireball-like child with you. I'll temporarily seal all her acupoints so you'll have more time on the road."

Ai Cao smiled and thanked her.

Yang Lingyao sighed and walked to the little girl's side. She summoned her weapon, made a cut on her hand, squeezed out some blood, and then drew winding lines on the little girl's body.

This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!