Feng Yuan lay sleeping peacefully in his bed, completely unaware of the spectral figure hovering above him. A woman in a white servant's dress floated in the air, her long black hair flowing as if underwater. Her skin was pale as moonlight, and her eyes glowed with hungry red light.
She was beautiful in a terrifying way—her face delicate and feminine, her figure curvaceous even in death. The servant's uniform she wore was modest but somehow emphasized her otherworldly allure.
"A ghost," Alex breathed, his voice barely audible.
The spirit smiled with predatory satisfaction, her red lips parting to reveal teeth like pearls. She reached down with translucent fingers and began unlacing Feng Yuan's sleeping robe.
"Oh no," Jin Hao whispered. "She's going to—"
They watched in horrified fascination as the ghost carefully exposed the sleeping City Lord's lower body. Her movements were gentle, almost tender, but the hungry gleam in her eyes spoke of deadly intent.
The spirit lowered her head, her black hair cascading like a waterfall around Feng Yuan's hips. What happened next made both young cultivators' eyes bulge with shock and terror.
The ghost took the City Lord's member into her mouth with the skill of a courtesan, her technique both sensual and supernatural. Even in sleep, Feng Yuan's body responded to her ministrations, though his face remained peacefully unaware.
But as the ghost worked, Alex could see something far more sinister occurring. Threads of golden qi—Feng Yuan's life force—began flowing from his body into hers. The ghost's pale form grew more solid and vibrant with each passing moment, while the City Lord's healthy complexion turned ashen.
"She's draining his cultivation!" Alex realized with horror.
In the space of minutes, the ghost absorbed what looked like months of accumulated qi, leaving Feng Yuan with barely enough life force to survive. When she finished her deadly feast, she carefully rearranged his clothing and blankets, leaving no trace of her visit.
The spirit straightened, licking her lips with satisfaction. For a moment, her red eyes seemed to look directly at their hiding spot, and Alex felt his soul nearly leave his body.
Then she faded away like morning mist, disappearing as if she'd never existed.
Alex and Jin Hao remained frozen at the window for several long minutes, their minds struggling to process what they'd witnessed.
"That," Jin Hao finally whispered, "was definitely not in any of my alchemy texts."
"We have to tell the City Lord," Alex said, his voice shaking slightly.
"Tell him what? That we watched a ghost perform... that... on him while he slept?"
Alex winced. "When you put it that way..."
They crept back to their room, but neither could sleep. Instead, they sat up discussing what they'd seen and what it might mean.
"Ghosts are formed from powerful emotions," Jin Hao said thoughtfully. "Usually grief, rage, or unfulfilled desires. For one to manifest so strongly in the physical world..."
"Someone died here," Alex finished. "Someone with a very strong attachment to this place."
"Or to the City Lord specifically," Jin Hao added grimly.
The next morning, they found Feng Yuan at breakfast looking haggard and tired, though he tried to maintain his usual cheerful demeanor.
"Did you sleep well, honored cultivators?" he asked, though his own eyes were shadowed with exhaustion.
"City Lord," Alex said carefully, "we need to discuss something serious with you."
Feng Yuan's expression grew concerned. "Of course. What troubles you?"
Alex took a deep breath. "Last night, we witnessed something... unusual... in your chambers."
The City Lord went very still. "Unusual how?"
"A female spirit," Jin Hao said gently. "She was... feeding on your qi while you slept."
Feng Yuan's face went white. "You saw her?"
"You knew?" Alex asked, surprised.
"I've been having... dreams," Feng Yuan admitted quietly. "Every night for the past few weeks. Dreams of being visited by a woman in white. I wake up exhausted, my cultivation weaker than before, but I thought they were just nightmares caused by stress."
"They weren't dreams," Alex said grimly. "She's real, and she's slowly killing you."
Feng Yuan slumped in his chair, looking older than his years. "What kind of spirit could do such a thing?"
Jin Hao leaned forward, his scientific mind engaging with the problem. "Typically, spirits that drain life force through... intimate contact... are formed from people who died with strong sexual or emotional attachments. Usually women who were wronged by men, or who died before fulfilling their desires."
"Has anyone died in your manor recently?" Alex asked. "Particularly a female servant?"
Feng Yuan thought carefully. "There was a fire in the kitchen several years ago. A maid named Mei Hua died in the blaze. She was... she was a good woman. Kind, hardworking." His expression grew troubled. "I always thought it strange that she was in the kitchen so late at night, but the investigation concluded it was an accident."
"We need to know more about how she died," Alex said. "If she became a spirit, there was likely strong emotion involved—pain, anger, or unfinished business."
Feng Yuan nodded slowly. "I'll have the head chef brought here. He was in charge of the kitchen staff then. Perhaps he knows something."
An hour later, guards escorted a nervous middle-aged man into the dining hall. The head chef was sweating profusely, his eyes darting around as if looking for escape routes.
"Y-yes, my lord?" he stammered. "You wished to see me?"
"Tell me about the night Mei Hua died," Feng Yuan said quietly.
The chef's face went even paler. "I... it was an accident, my lord. A terrible accident. The poor girl must have been working late and..."
"The truth," Alex interrupted, his voice carrying the authority of a cultivator. "What really happened that night?"
The chef's resistance crumbled under Alex's spiritual pressure. The words spilled out of him like water from a broken dam.
"I... I didn't mean for her to die!" he sobbed. "I was drunk, and she was so beautiful, and I thought... I thought she wanted the same things the other girls did. Extra food, easier duties, protection from the other staff."
Feng Yuan's face darkened with growing anger.
"But she refused me," the chef continued. "Called me disgusting, said she'd tell you what I'd been doing with the other maids. She threatened to... to cut off my manhood if I ever touched her."
"So you killed her," Alex said coldly.
"I just wanted to scare her! I grabbed her, shook her, told her what would happen if she made trouble for me. But she fought back, screamed, tried to run..." The chef was sobbing now. "I hit her. I didn't mean to hit her so hard, but she fell and struck her head on the stone hearth."
The dining hall was silent except for the chef's weeping.
"She was still breathing," he whispered. "But I panicked. I thought if anyone found her, if she told them what happened... so I set the fire. Made it look like an accident. She never woke up."
Feng Yuan stood slowly, his face a mask of controlled rage. "You burned her alive."
"She was already dying! I just... I just..."
"Silence," Feng Yuan commanded, his voice like winter wind. "Guards, chain him."
As the guards moved to restrain the sobbing chef, Jin Hao pulled out a small brown pill.
"Wait," he said, approaching the criminal. "I have something for you first."
The chef looked at the pill with desperate hope. "What... what is it?"
"Justice," Jin Hao replied with a smile that would have made demons proud. "It's called a Karmic Retribution Pill. I've been working on the formula for months."
"What does it do?" Alex asked, curious despite the grim situation.
"It forces the subject to experience the same death they inflicted on others," Jin Hao explained cheerfully. "In this case, burning alive from the inside out while fully conscious."
The chef's eyes widened in terror. "No! Please! I'll do anything! I'll confess publicly, I'll—"
"You'll take the pill," Feng Yuan said coldly. "It's more mercy than you showed Mei Hua."
Guards forced the pill down the chef's throat despite his struggles. For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the screaming began.
The chef collapsed to the floor, his body convulsing as internal flames consumed him from within. His skin began to glow red-hot, steam rising from his pores. The smell of burning flesh filled the air.
"Fascinating," Jin Hao observed clinically. "The pill creates spiritual fire that burns away guilt and karma along with physical form. Much cleaner than regular execution."
Alex watched in grim satisfaction as the chef's body was consumed by ghostly flames. Within minutes, nothing remained but ash and a small wisp of white light.
"What's that?" Feng Yuan asked, pointing at the light.
"Purified soul energy," Jin Hao explained. "The part of him that can finally move on to proper judgment."
As if summoned by the chef's death, a figure materialized in the center of the room. Mei Hua appeared as she had been in life—a pretty woman of twenty-eight with kind eyes and work-roughened hands. Her servant's dress was clean and white, unmarred by fire or blood.