Obsession
"Holy crap! Something just flew by!"
"Ahhh, there's a ghost!"
Hearing the commotion, Qi Yuan quickly turned and ran towards the crowd, shouting, "What's going on?!"
Mu Qinghuai didn't react much until he saw her run over, then he followed.
One of the middle-aged men pointed at the air, trembling, and said, "There's...there's a ghost!"
"Be more specific!" Qi Yuan didn't care about anything else and added a large protective shield to the people in this circle.
The middle-aged man's legs were still trembling. His wife smacked him on the head a few times and scolded, "You're so spineless! Let me tell you, just now, this place suddenly turned dark, and a transparent female ghost appeared in the air and started moving! Oh my, my heart almost died of fright!"
"An invisible female ghost..." Qi Yuan murmured.
As if she had thought of something, she immediately said to everyone, "We will handle this. Don't panic, everyone. Go home first."
Still shaken, everyone returned to their houses.
Mu Qinghuai had a feeling that something was amiss: "Qi Yuan, is this... the soul of that female demon?"
“
"I've thought of that too. I'll use my psychic powers to ask; I've never seen anything like this before." Qi Yuan's throat was dry.
After a long pause, unease showed in her eyes: "I've inquired about this phenomenon; it's that female demon. She had unfulfilled regrets and unresolved issues when she was alive, and her obsession runs deep. Her vengeful spirit still lingers in the Zhu family and hasn't dissipated."
There is another path for people besides death.
It can become a demon or a ghost.
But it's not something you can achieve at will; you need a certain opportunity, otherwise, if you die, you die.
This female demon may have been born human, but became a demon due to some kind of resentment. After her demonic body was killed, her soul could only be scattered. However, a rare situation occurred: her obsession was too deep, and her soul remained in the human world.
Mu Qinghuai was silent for a moment: "We don't even know her name, how can we investigate?"
Qi Yuan's eyelashes trembled, and she thought for a long time: "She harmed people in the Zhu family, so she must have had a relationship with the Zhu family before she died. Moreover, she only harmed people in that small courtyard. We can investigate that courtyard."
"The words she used to lure others to the courtyard were to save me. It's highly likely that the female demon was murdered and turned into a demon." Mu Qinghuai calmed down.
He suddenly remembered what the female demon had said to him: "It's been a long time since I've seen a demonic cultivator."
The thought of that possibility made his face turn pale, and his lips pressed tightly into a straight line.
"I'll go find out who originally owned that courtyard," Qi Yuan said, turning her head.
She saw that Mu Qinghuai's face was deathly pale, so she reached out and touched his forehead. His temperature was normal.
Qi Yuan was startled by her own sudden movement, while Mu Qinghuai froze on the spot, a suspicious red flush rising on his neck.
She stammered, "I'm so sorry, I thought you had a fever..."
“It’s okay… I’ll go with you…” Mu Qinghuai lowered his head, his ears burning.
*
"I don't know!" The woman's eyes darted away, avoiding their gazes.
It's always like this.
Qi Yuan was helpless. She had asked many people, but they all gave evasive answers, as if they knew something but dared not say it.
What exactly is the hidden story...?
We've been asking for so long with no progress at all; we can't keep wasting time with that ghost.
I just wonder if Miss Li Mei will hold back something?
She looked at Li Mei intently and asked, "Do you know who owned the courtyard where the female demon harmed people before?"
Li Mei's heart was pounding like a drum, her face flushed red, and finally she sighed and closed the doors and windows tightly.
She stammered, her voice very soft: "Actually, that place used to belong to the head of the family. I heard that a woman died there before, and the head of the family thought it was bad luck, so he sealed the place off."
She became increasingly nervous as she spoke, her palms sweating: "The head of the family forbids us from telling anyone. If he finds out, we're doomed!"
"I see... Don't worry, this matter will absolutely not involve you. You said a woman died there? Do you know about the head of the family's love history?" Qi Yuan swallowed hard.
Mu Qinghuai listened silently from the side, seemingly lost in thought.
Li Mei nodded vigorously: "Of course! Back then, the patriarch's scandalous affairs caused quite a stir. When he first took office, he changed many women. I know of at least thirteen, and two of them were really not easy to deal with, and they were extremely possessive!"
"Which two? Tell me more." Qi Yuan seemed to have found a clue and listened intently.
Li Mei leaned closer: "I heard that there were two women who didn't want the head of the family to fall in love with every man they met. They insisted on being with the head of the family for life. One of them seemed to stop causing trouble later on, I don't know why. The other one seemed to have betrayed the head of the family, having sex with another man and getting pregnant with his child. The head of the family got angry and punished her, and I haven't heard from that woman since."
"You said at the beginning that a woman died in the yard, do you know which one it is?" Qi Yuan pondered the relationship between the people.
"I really don't know... I do know the names of those two women, one is called Cui Yulan and the other is called Xu Yufan."
Mu Qinghuai noted down the two names and asked, "Was it after that woman was punished that the head of the family sealed off the courtyard?"
Li Mei thought for a moment and said, "That's right."
"Thank you. Your information is very useful," Qi Yuan thought to herself.
"Shall we go? Qi Yuan?" Mu Qinghuai knew that she also had her own thoughts.
"Walk!"
In front of the courtyard gate.
"As expected, this place has the heaviest yin energy," Qi Yuan sighed.
She felt something under her feet, looked down, and was shocked to find that it was an ancestral jade pendant of the Silver Bamboo Sect!
How is this possible...?
Qi Yuan suppressed the absurdity in her heart and put the jade pendant into her divine consciousness.
They pushed open the door and went inside. Surprisingly, the scene inside hadn't changed after the explosion. It was really eerie.
"Hmph, you're here to laugh at me?" The succubus, or rather, the ghost, floated quietly on the ceiling.
Qi Yuan calmly said, "Cui Yulan."
The female ghost descended from the sky in a panic, her voice trembling: "You know my sister?! Who are you?!"
Her pale face revealed anxiety, making her even more chilling.
"Are you Xu Yufan?" Qi Yuan asked suspiciously.
The female ghost kept repeating that sentence, her semi-transparent red dress almost touching Qi Yuan's face.
Qi Yuan silently took a step back: "We're here to help you dispel your last obsession in this world. I just want to know if there are any hidden stories behind what happened back then."
"Heh, you're a cultivator, aren't you? It's no use telling you, who would believe me anyway?" The female ghost gave a bitter laugh, revealing her bleeding white teeth.
"If you choose to believe us and tell us the truth of what happened back then, we will give you justice. But you must leave this world completely and leave no trace behind." Qi Yuan's eyes were calm and unwavering.
Xu Yufan had a relationship with the head of the family before his death. That head of the family was a scumbag. Who knows if those rumors were spread by him to mislead the public?
Although this female ghost lured many innocent people and caused them to be poisoned and driven mad, she never caused any deaths.
Qi Yuan had no other thoughts; she just wanted to hear the truth.
Xu Yufan sized up the two men: one was a cultivator, looking righteous and awe-inspiring, who for some reason gave her a sense of security as a fellow woman; the other was actually a demonic cultivator, who seemed to hold a fairly high position in the demon realm. But she would never forget how this young man had severed her neck!
Although she didn't know how the two of them got together, their eyes were so pure and untainted; she hadn't seen eyes like that in a long time.
She floated back to the ceiling, her voice hoarse and weary: "I am not a member of the Zhu family. I lost my parents at a young age and have relied on my younger sister, Cui Yulan, for survival. When I was 16, I met that man, Zhu Rongfei, in the secret realm."
He fell in love with me at first sight and said he would marry no one but me. After six months of his pursuit, I fell for him and couldn't extricate myself. Originally, we were very much in love, like an ordinary couple, and I even became pregnant with his child when I was 18.
He had just taken over as head of the Zhu family. I was overjoyed and excitedly went to find him, only to discover that the man I loved most was... molesting my beloved sister!!!
I can't believe the man who loved me so much would do such a thing. Ever since I exposed him, he stopped pretending. He started frantically looking for women, and in a short period of time, he found a full eleven!
He's an absolute beast! I don't want to tell him about this child. I just want to give birth to my own flesh and blood and escape from here with my sister! He has so many women and he's still not satisfied. Despite my desperate attempts to stop him, he still forced himself on me when I was three months pregnant.
I miscarried. The fetus left this world before it even formed. He saw the blood, flew into a rage, and imprisoned me in our once sweet house—this very yard.
He started spreading rumors about me, saying that I had betrayed him and was having affairs. The Zhu family members all sided with Zhu Rongfei, who had thirteen women, saying that I was shameless.
I can tolerate all of this. But what about my sister?! Zhu Rongfei forbids anyone but himself from visiting me. My sister misses me terribly and secretly came to see me, only to catch Zhu Rongfei beating me. She stood in front of me and cursed him, and in a fit of rage, he ordered a demonic cultivator to kill my sister.
That's when I learned he was also colluding with the demons. I couldn't bear it any longer and fought him with all my might, inflicting numerous wounds on his face and body. He grabbed me, kicked me against the wall, and stabbed me with his sword, slashing my face and piercing my heart… I screamed for help frantically, but he ignored me, and the demons around him remained unmoved. With my last breath, I watched them leave.
I didn't disappear after I died; in fact, I didn't die. A man asked me if I wanted revenge, and I agreed without hesitation. He fed me a demon pill, and I transformed into a demon.
Being a monster is great. I always thought the Zhu family's unwavering support for that man was insane, so I indulged them, and truly drove them mad.
Xu Yufan forced a helpless, bitter smile at the corner of his bloodied mouth, trying his best to maintain his last shred of dignity: "Fortunately, my previous child came with me... It split into several parts, but unfortunately, they're a bit disobedient."
She's really gone mad.
Mu Qinghuai witnessed this mother crush one of her "children" with her own eyes, and now she's pretending to be a loving mother and filial son.
But who was the man who gave her the demon pill?
This Xu Yufan is both pitiful and hateful.
Qi Yuan was filled with thoughts and complex emotions: "I sympathize with your plight, but that is no excuse for your evil deeds against the people. If your obsession is with the head of the family, then I will help you kick him down."
"Really?!" Xu Yufan was so excited he went crazy, his eyes turning green.
"Hmm. You are not allowed to leave this place during this time!" Qi Yuan looked at her coldly.
"Of course," Xu Yufan said calmly. "As long as you can help me get rid of that bitch, I'll die however I want!"
"Do you think you're still alive?" Qi Yuan glanced at her sideways.
Xu Yufan: ...
Before leaving, she received a threatening look from Mu Qinghuai, as if warning her not to reveal the matter of the demonic cultivator.
Xu Yufan was terrified of him; every time she looked directly into his eyes, it reminded her of the fear of having her mind controlled.
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