The primordial spirit returned.
Ao Qing on the bed slowly opened his eyes.
The sky was dark, but the sun rose in the east, and the ghosts in the temple gradually dispersed.
He stretched and pushed open the door, stepping out.
The dilapidated temple was covered in dust, and withered weeds grew half as tall as a person.
He cupped a handful of water from the air and washed his face.
Ao Qing smiled and walked towards Fa Hai's secluded courtyard.
The monk was already awake, standing in the courtyard, sorting through each set of bones, separating the corresponding pieces.
He wasn't familiar with human bones, but his cultivation was extraordinary. He managed to complete the task using his powerful divine sense.
After sorting the bones, he began to chant scriptures for the departed.
Mortals couldn't see it, only those with the Eye of Dharma.
Threads of Buddha light emanated from the young monk, illuminating the bones scattered across the ground.
The resentment and negative energy clinging to the bones dissipated silently under the Buddha light.
Ao Qing crossed his arms and leaned against the half-remaining courtyard gate, shaking his head.
“Their souls are in the tree demon's hands. Chanting over bones is a waste of breath.”
Fa Hai didn't look up, and his chanting continued uninterrupted.
Only after reciting the scripture ten times, and the bones were free of any negative energy, did Fa Hai fold his hands and look at Ao Qing.
“Where's the tree demon?”
Ao Qing pointed at the ground, then at the mountain behind them.
“Her roots are everywhere.”
Fa Hai understood, and said:
“Cutting these roots is useless, right? You need to destroy her primordial spirit. How do we find her?”
Ao Qing was interested, and walked up to Fa Hai, putting an arm around the young monk's shoulders.
“Did you see the female ghost yesterday?”
“Sacrifice yourself, and the tree demon will come.”
Fa Hai pondered for a moment, then looked at Ao Qing.
“Your dragon lineage has many members. Why not handle this yourself, Dragon King?”
Ao Qing shrugged.
“Exactly because I have many family members, it's not possible.”
“If you don't want to, we can only wait for the tree demon to lose patience and come herself.”
Fa Hai didn't refuse, and went back to the well to bring up the rest of the bones.
A whole day passed.
Fa Hai collected about forty more sets of bones, which he bundled together with straw and prepared to deal with after defeating the tree demon.
As evening approached, the sun sank in the west.
The orange sunset hadn't faded when dark clouds covered the sky above Lanruo Temple.
Just when Ao Qing thought he would be waiting another night.
He noticed a few figures sneaking up the mountain.
He glanced at Fa Hai chanting inside the room.
Ao Qing left the temple and walked towards the figures on the mountainside.
On the mountainside, four men carried a rolled-up straw mat, their expressions panicked.
Ao Qing followed behind the four men, his divine sense already seeing what was inside the mat.
It was a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl, barely breathing, her heart almost stopped.
But there was no doubt she was still alive.
Looking at the girl's face.
Ao Qing finally understood why he hadn't found Xiao Qian among the female ghosts.
“So she just died today.”
Ao Qing was relieved he had arrived in time.
Otherwise, if Xiao Qian had stayed in this demon-infested place for a while.
By the time Ao Qing saw her again.
He would only be able to send her to the afterlife.
One of the men, short and stout, looked at the nearby Lanruo Temple shrouded in dark clouds with fear.
“Brothers, they say this place is restless. Why don't we just dig a hole here and bury her?”
The other three men swallowed hard.
They were all locals who had been burying bodies for a living, and they knew the truth about this mountain.
As darkness fell, the leading man was also afraid something might happen. He gritted his teeth, took out a shovel and pickaxe, and started digging a hole.
But they didn't have the Eye of Dharma, so they couldn't see the flow of qi.
After nightfall, the negative energy from Lanruo Temple had flowed downwards, soon reaching the mountainside.
If these men didn't leave, they would soon become the female ghost's prey.
Ao Qing hovered in the air, invisible, and flicked his finger.
“Damn it! Who hit me?!”
The leading man's head ached, and he cursed loudly.
As soon as he finished speaking, cold sweat dripped down his forehead.
There were only four of them, including the one wrapped in the straw mat. Where could the fifth person have come from?
Unless…
“Stop digging! Let's go!”
The leading man was decisive, pulling out his shovel, and calling out to his three brothers, they headed down the mountain.
As for the corpse.
The man only knew that if he didn't leave, one corpse would soon become five.
Ao Qing raised an eyebrow, somewhat admiring this guy.
But before he could think more, the negative energy from the mountain rushed down.
The woman in the straw mat was already on the verge of death.
If she was hit by this bone-chilling negative energy, even a god couldn't save her.
Ao Qing landed, waved his hand, and the straw mat automatically unfolded, revealing the girl's pale, beautiful face.
“Zu Xian.”
Ao Qing bent down, placed one hand on Nie Xiao Qian's forehead, injecting his divine power to protect her whole body, while his other hand began to examine her body.
After a thorough examination.
Ao Qing found that Nie Xiao Qian's problem wasn't serious, just difficult for mortals to handle.
He picked up Nie Xiao Qian, held her in his arms, and hummed a song as he walked back to Lanruo Temple.
The temple had returned to its gloomy, yet 'lively' state.
Ghosts wandered restlessly in the courtyard, foxes and demons making all sorts of strange noises.
But most importantly.
There were two more people in the temple.
Ao Qing, holding Nie Xiao Qian, was stunned when he saw the two people cleaning the room.
Yan Chi Xia and the swordsman Xia Hou?