Chapter 184
Chapter 184
Dusk was approaching, and there was no sign of human habitation anywhere. With her horse gone, Taoxi had nowhere to stay.
Afraid that wild animals might attack during the night, she climbed a tree and planned to wait until dawn.
Around midnight, she was dozing against the trunk when she inexplicably felt the entire tree begin to sway.
At first, she thought it was her imagination. But when she opened her eyes, she nearly died of fright.
A woman dressed in bridal robes was hanging from the thickest branch nearby, her tongue stretched long as she stared at Taoxi with a sinister gaze…
Taoxi fell out of the tree in terror. Ignoring the pain, she scrambled up and ran.
The female ghost gave a vicious laugh and chased after her.
She crouched upon Taoxi’s shoulders, hands around her throat, her face hideously twisted.
Taoxi immediately remembered an old folk belief: a hanged ghost seeking someone to take its place.
The sight made even her, who had never believed in any Ghost God, long to run straight to Mount Yunhe and kowtow several times.
Just as the ghost was about to strangle her unconscious, a figure suddenly appeared before them.
At the sight of the figure, the female ghost immediately released her.
She tried to run, only to discover there was nowhere to escape.
The figure barely needed to act. A single talisman subdued the female ghost completely.
Only after Taoxi struggled up from the ground did she get a clear look at her savior.
He was a Daoist Master who appeared slightly older than she was, with a handsome face and an extraordinary bearing.
After subduing the ghost that night, he asked her only one mild question. “Are you hurt?”
Only then did Taoxi become aware of the pain in her foot.
“I fell out of the tree just now. I think I may have twisted my ankle…”
The Daoist Master lowered his gaze to it. “Sit down and let me have a look.”
Then he crouched and carefully examined her injury.
“The bone is unharmed. Apply some medicine, and it will heal.”
Taoxi’s family ran a medicinal-herb shop, so of course she knew how to treat such a minor injury.
But her present situation still frightened her. She cautiously asked, “Are you a Daoist Master from Mount Yunhe? I happen to be going there too.”
“But my horse bolted, and I cannot travel at night. I am afraid I might meet another ghost. Could we… travel together?”
The Daoist Master’s expression remained indifferent. “I am not returning to Mount Yunhe. I have orders to catch a ghost elsewhere. We are not going the same way.”
Taoxi, however, knew how to adapt.
“I am going to Mount Yunhe precisely to ask you Daoists to expel an evil spirit and catch a ghost. There is a ghost in my family’s old house, and my mother has been ill for some time. If you are willing to make the trip…”
“I will pay you twice the usual fee!”
She held up two fingers, smiling innocently.
The Daoist Master glanced at her. Whether the promise of double payment moved him or not, he asked, “Where is the old house?”
“In Kaiming County.”
The Daoist Master nodded. “Very well. It happens to be on my way.”
Taoxi was overjoyed.
The Daoist Master offered his hand and carefully helped her up from the ground.
Even now, remembering what happened that night made Taoxi feel as if it had been a beautiful dream.
But for a girl who had only just turned sixteen, it was in truth the beginning of a calamity.
During the journey, she found one subject after another and talked to him at length.
She learned that his name was Bai Qingyan.
It sounded less like a Daoist’s name than that of a young nobleman.
Yet he drove the evil spirit from her family’s old house without the slightest effort. Before leaving, he accepted only the agreed payment and refused to take anything more.
Afterward, her mother soon recovered, but Taoxi fell ill in her place.
Following a bout of wind chill, she began to dream constantly.
Whether she took a short nap during the day or slept through the night, she always dreamed of that Daoist surnamed Bai.
Even while measuring out medicine, her thoughts would sometimes wander to him.
Seeing her constantly distracted, Taoxi’s mother discussed the matter with her father, and the two began planning to arrange a marriage for her.
But when the matchmaker came to their home, Taoxi resisted with such frenzy that she tried to run away.
Once the idea of fleeing took hold, she could no longer cast it aside.
Then, on a quiet night, she left behind a letter and departed Kaiming County alone for Yunxia Town.
The act brought her an exhilaration unlike anything she had ever felt.
Although a voice in her heart warned her firmly that she had met the Daoist Master only once and nothing could ever come of it…
What was done was done. Taoxi would not allow herself to regret it.
She climbed Mount Yunhe and mingled with the other people who had come to request talismans.
When she reached the mountain gate, a young Daoist came to receive her, but she asked only to see “Daoist Bai.”
The young Daoist said his senior brother was not on the mountain. Though disappointment covered her face, she said she would return another day.
She heard the same explanation for the next several days, until all the young Daoists recognized her.
Still stubbornly determined, she climbed the mountain again on the sixth day. It was raining, and only one young Daoist stood guard at the gate.
When he saw her, he asked of his own accord, “Are you still looking for Senior Brother Bai?”
Taoxi nodded blankly. “Is Daoist Bai not here today either?”
The young Daoist smiled as if he had seen through everything long ago.
“You surely aren’t looking for Senior Brother Bai so he can catch a ghost or expel evil, are you?”
“…”
The question stunned Taoxi. When she recovered, she tried to defend herself. “I am looking for him… because I have important business.”
The young Daoist appeared youthful but spoke with the air of an old man. “Senior Brother Bai is wholly devoted to the Dao and has no interest in worldly affairs. It would be best if you did not persist.”
Taoxi’s heart gave a violent leap.
She had thought she had hidden her feelings well enough, never imagining they would be seen through so easily.
“Young Daoist, you misunderstand. Daoist Bai has left the secular world behind. How could I possibly harbor such thoughts about him?”
Her voice grew softer with every word…
The young Daoist smiled faintly. “There is no need to explain. It is enough that you understand your own heart. Senior Brother has recently been cultivating in seclusion at Yunxi Rock and will not return for some time. You need not come again tomorrow.”
Taoxi stood frozen. When the young Daoist turned to leave, she immediately called after him.
“Young Daoist, could you tell me… where Yunxi Rock is? I only want to see Daoist Bai. I will leave as soon as I do.”
The young Daoist stopped. After considering it for a moment, he turned back and pointed out a route for her.
Without pausing to think, Taoxi turned and set off.
The young Daoist remained where he was, watching her receding figure and shaking his head helplessly.
By this point in the story, the expression on “Ren Yao’s” face had grown complicated as well.
As an outsider that day, he had merely wanted to offer Taoxi a word of guidance, but he had grossly underestimated his senior brother’s methods.
He looked at Master Tianji again. “Senior Brother, if I am not mistaken, you had already set your sights on Miss Taoxi by then.”
“You placed a curse on her because you intended to borrow her life to cultivate your own art, did you not?”
Master Tianji remained silent.
The other three people, including Taoxi’s ghost, all changed expression at once.
“Ren Yao” sighed softly again. “You truly treat everyone this way…”
“You never feel gratitude toward those who respect, love, and protect you. You only exploit their affection and trust for your own ends.”
Master Tianji snorted coldly, still showing no remorse. He even looked as though his actions were entirely justified.
“Pursuing the Dao and attaining immortality naturally demand a price. Being of use to me may itself be considered a kind of merit.”