In order to properly track Qiu Sheng, Lin Jiu had made thorough preparations during the day and secretly placed a tracking talisman on Qiu Sheng. Following the mystical directions provided by the talisman paper, Lin Jiu and his friends arrived at the exterior of an elaborate manor.
"Strange, when did such a manor appear in this location?"
Looking at the large and luxuriously decorated manor standing before him, Lin Jiu kept searching through the memories in his mind, trying to recall if he had ever seen this place before.
"Uncle Jiu, won't you know the truth if you go inside and take a look?"
At this moment, Gustave spoke up with practical wisdom.
"Mr. Gustave is absolutely right. Why don't we simply go in and investigate?"
After saying this, Lin Jiu strode confidently into the manor grounds.
Normally, there should be quite a few servants working in such a large and impressive manor, but after Lin Jiu entered, the entire estate became eerily silent. Not to mention servants, there wasn't even a single soul to be seen anywhere.
The strange and unsettling atmosphere permeating the manor immediately aroused Lin Jiu's professional vigilance.
Lin Jiu was just about to ask Gustave and Zhang Zhiwei if they had noticed anything particularly unusual about the manor, but he observed the two of them casually commenting on the architectural style of the estate as they walked, as if they were simply on a leisurely sightseeing tour.
Seeing the two of them behaving so nonchalantly, Lin Jiu abandoned his intention to ask questions and instead focused on following the spiritual aura emanating from the talisman he had placed on Qiu Sheng's body.
After passing through several ornate doors, he noticed a warm light glowing in a room not far ahead.
This particular room occupied an excellent location, positioned at the very center of the manor. Outside the room there was a charming small bridge spanning flowing water, creating a scene full of poetic and picturesque beauty.
Lin Jiu was not interested in appreciating scenic beauty like Gustave and Zhang Zhiwei, and walked directly toward the illuminated room with determined purpose.
But before Lin Jiu could get close to his destination, he heard distinctly alluring sounds emanating from within the room.
Although Lin Jiu was an elderly virgin. Those seductive sounds were obviously being produced during intimate relations between a man and woman.
Lin Jiu, the old virgin, found himself stuck in the middle of the path, not knowing whether to advance forward or retreat backward, feeling extremely awkward and uncomfortable.
However, after hearing Qiu Sheng's unmistakable voice coming from within the room, Lin Jiu steeled his resolve, silently chanted a meditation mantra for several moments, and then approached the room.
Lin Jiu quietly opened a section of the window paper and carefully observed the situation taking place inside the room.
In the room, Qiu Sheng was engaged in passionate lovemaking with a beautiful woman, but the quilt covered most of the scene, with only Qiu Sheng and the woman's heads visible above the covers.
Lin Jiu had never witnessed such intimate activities before, and his blood immediately began boiling with unexpected arousal. He had no choice but to recite the Heart Cleansing Mantra several additional times to calm himself.
"Clear the mind, cleanse the heart,
Sweep away thoughts that stray apart.
By heaven's light and earth's pure flame,
Return my spirit, still and tame.
Calm the blood, still the breath,
Let no shadow linger, nor passion's death.
Purify body, steady the will,
A heart like water, calm and still."
After the unwanted desire in his heart was properly suppressed, Lin Jiu chanted a revealing spell, wiped his eyes with his hands, and when he looked again, the magnificent manor had transformed into a desolate wilderness.
The originally luxurious room had become completely dilapidated and ruined. Lin Jiu now looked at the two people making love in the room with clarity. It was immediately obvious that the beautiful woman was definitely not human!
Lin Jiu might have had some lustful desires originally, but now, he was so furious that he was practically breathing fire. He, Lin Jiu, was an authentic Maoshan master, and Qiu Sheng, as his disciple, was also an orthodox Maoshan descendant. But now Qiu Sheng was intimately involved with such a supernatural creature and had completely lost face for their sect.
Lin Jiu only then understood why Gustave and Zhang Zhiwei had not told him directly during the day, but instead asked him to follow Qiu Sheng personally. It turned out that Qiu Sheng had committed such a scandalous transgression!
The enraged Lin Jiu kicked the door open violently, startling both Dong Xiaoyu and Qiu Sheng from their passionate embrace.
The entire manor was an elaborate illusion created by Dong Xiaoyu's powerful ghost domain. Under normal circumstances, if someone entered her territory, Dong Xiaoyu would definitely notice immediately, but these past several days, she had been having so much delightful fun playing with Qiu Sheng.
Especially tonight, Dong Xiaoyu was so thoroughly excited and distracted. Several living people had entered her ghost domain, especially Gustave, who radiated power like a miniature sun, but Dong Xiaoyu hadn't even noticed their presence.
All that could be said was that when someone is too happy and absorbed, they forget everything around them.
If Lin Jiu hadn't kicked the door open so dramatically, Dong Xiaoyu would still be happily engaged with Qiu Sheng.
"Master?"
Qiu Sheng was extremely surprised to see that the person interrupting them was Lin Jiu.
"Traitorous disciple, you still have the audacity to call me Master!"
It would have been fine if Qiu Sheng hadn't called him Master, but this address made Lin Jiu even more furious.
"Master, why are you here?"
Qiu Sheng obviously hadn't yet realized the full seriousness of the situation.
"Traitorous disciple, look at what terrible things you have done!"
After saying this, Lin Jiu raised the peach wood sword in his hand and thrust it directly toward Dong Xiaoyu.
Dong Xiaoyu quickly lifted the quilt and put on her clothes in a supernatural flash of movement.
"Master, what are you doing? Xiaoyu and I are genuinely in love!"
Qiu Sheng didn't understand why his master was treating Dong Xiaoyu with such hostility. There was no prohibition in Maoshan doctrine that prevented disciples from finding romantic partners.
"Traitorous disciple, why don't you put on your clothes immediately!"
"Oh oh oh!"
Qiu Sheng only realized at this moment that Dong Xiaoyu had wrapped herself in the quilt and he was having this conversation with Lin Jiu while completely naked.
So Qiu Sheng hurriedly put on his clothes in embarrassment.
"How dare you, evil spirit, seduce my disciple? Don't you know that he is from Maoshan?"
While Qiu Sheng was getting dressed, Lin Jiu directed his furious attack toward Dong Xiaoyu.
"Master, Brother Sheng and I are truly in love, please give us a chance!"
Because Lin Jiu was Qiu Sheng's master, Dong Xiaoyu couldn't take direct aggressive action against him. She could only speak desperately and see if Lin Jiu might give her an opportunity to explain.
"Nonsense, you still have the audacity to ask for a chance. Don't you know that humans and ghosts follow different paths? If Qiu Sheng hadn't studied with me for many years and built up his spiritual defenses, he would have been a corpse by now!"
Although Qiu Sheng possessed very strong physical constitution, Dong Xiaoyu was supernaturally powerful. Even though Dong Xiaoyu tried to control herself, she couldn't help but absorb some of Qiu Sheng's vital yang energy every time she made love with him.
"Ghost?"
Qiu Sheng, who had just finished putting on his clothes, grasped the most important word in Lin Jiu's accusation.
Lin Jiu stopped wasting time with words, and seeing that Qiu Sheng had dressed himself, he raised the peach wood sword and rushed forward again with renewed determination.
Even a clay figure would become angry when provoked, let alone Dong Xiaoyu, who had already condensed her own ghost realm. Seeing that Lin Jiu was completely unwilling to give her and Qiu Sheng any chance at all, Dong Xiaoyu made up her mind and rushed forward with her hands extended like supernatural claws.
Although Dong Xiaoyu's strength was considerable and she could gather a group of lesser ghosts and play at being a ghost king if she were outside, this time, the person she was facing was Lin Jiu, who was the second most powerful disciple of Maoshan after Shi Jian.
That ranking was only true within a major sect like Maoshan. If it were some smaller Taoist sects, with Lin Jiu's exceptional skills, he would definitely have no problem becoming an elder, let alone the head of an entire sect.
Dong Xiaoyu was injured by Lin Jiu almost as soon as they began fighting.
Dong Xiaoyu realized that she was completely no match for Lin Jiu, so she could only approach Qiu Sheng and look at him with pitifully large, pleading eyes.
"Brother Sheng!"
Facing Dong Xiaoyu's desperate call, Qiu Sheng felt tremendously conflicted. He genuinely liked Dong Xiaoyu very much, but he was a disciple of Maoshan after all, and the conflicting beliefs in his heart continued to torment Qiu Sheng mercilessly.
Seeing Qiu Sheng's hesitant appearance and observing Lin Jiu attacking from the other side, Dong Xiaoyu could only resort to supernatural tricks and blew a breath of enchanted air to confuse Qiu Sheng's perception.
The scene in front of Qiu Sheng changed drastically. Lin Jiu transformed into the appearance of Awei, who looked lustful and appeared to be attempting to molest Dong Xiaoyu.
How could Qiu Sheng possibly tolerate such behavior? He raised his fist and rushed forward, punching "Awei" with tremendous force.
"Qiu Sheng, what are you doing!?"
After being punched solidly by Qiu Sheng, Lin Jiu, whose eye had turned into a spectacular black eye, shouted angrily.
But Qiu Sheng refused to give up and continued attacking Lin Jiu with determined fury. As mentioned before, in terms of martial arts skills, Qiu Sheng had already learned most of Lin Jiu's techniques. In addition, Qiu Sheng was young and physically strong, and Lin Jiu found himself being overwhelmed everywhere. After a short while, Lin Jiu had been hit by several more punches, and his black eye became even more pronounced.
When Dong Xiaoyu saw Qiu Sheng thoroughly entangled in combat with Lin Jiu, she decided to attempt an escape. Anyway, Lin Jiu couldn't watch Qiu Sheng every moment of every day, so Dong Xiaoyu would have plenty of future opportunities.
It would have been perfectly fine if she hadn't opened the door. As soon as she opened it, Dong Xiaoyu ran directly into Gustave and Zhang Zhiwei who were observing the entertainment outside.
Zhang Zhiwei could already restrain his spiritual aura freely, but Gustave could not accomplish that level of control yet. Therefore, in the perception of evil spirits, Gustave appeared as a living miniature sun radiating tremendous power.
Dong Xiaoyu collided with this spiritual sun and the injury she suffered was far more serious than what she had endured from Lin Jiu previously.
It could be said that Dong Xiaoyu's supernatural skills were quite impressive. If she were an ordinary lesser ghost, she would have been reduced to ashes immediately upon encountering Gustave.
The seriously injured Dong Xiaoyu could no longer maintain her elaborate illusion, and the deceived Qiu Sheng suddenly awakened from his enchantment, then saw Lin Jiu who had been beaten quite badly by him.
However, Qiu Sheng didn't have time to concern himself with Lin Jiu because Dong Xiaoyu was nearly dying.
"Master Gustave, Master Zhang, please let Xiaoyu live. Although Xiaoyu is a ghost, she has never done anything to harm innocent people, and she didn't intentionally hurt me!"
Qiu Sheng immediately knelt in front of Gustave and Zhang Zhiwei and begged desperately.
Gustave looked at Zhang Zhiwei questioningly. He couldn't determine whether Dong Xiaoyu had ever harmed anyone in her past.
"Qiu Sheng, humans and ghosts follow different paths, there is absolutely no way that you two can have a future together."
Zhang Zhiwei shook his head with finality.
"Master Zhang, please, give Xiaoyu a chance!"
Qiu Sheng begged with complete desperation.
"Alas, people have their own destined ways, ghosts have their own destined ways. It is impossible for you and her to be together, but I can see that there is no evil aura surrounding her. As you said, she has never harmed anyone. This time I will give her a merciful chance and send her to reincarnate and begin a new life."
After saying this, Zhang Zhiwei took out a small mystical bag from his pocket, pulled it toward Dong Xiaoyu, and Dong Xiaoyu was drawn inside.
"Thank you, Master Zhang. Thank you, Master Zhang!"
Qiu Sheng understood that it was already the greatest mercy that Gustave and Zhang Zhiwei had not killed Dong Xiaoyu outright. Now that Zhang Zhiwei was willing to help Dong Xiaoyu reincarnate properly, this was already an tremendous favor.