"Come with me," I calmly said to Zhiyan, "I dreamt of Lu Zhaoyao again yesterday, and she asked me to burn paper money for her. I couldn't go to the forbidden place, so I had to make do here."
"I...I dreamt of Lu Zhaoyao again yesterday, and she asked me to burn paper money... so I had to... make do here." The words were hesitant, but at least conveyed the meaning.
Moqing stared at her, as if pondering. Before I could figure out what he was thinking, he turned his gaze to the pile of burning paper money and the remaining stack.
Zhiyan awkwardly smiled, "Heh, it’s a bit excessive, but I had no choice, she insisted on having this much..."
"Shut up, stop talking!" I scolded her.
When it comes to playing tricks, the best approach is to be mysterious and vague, leaving people unable to figure it out completely. Revealing everything would backfire.
Zhiyan, scolded by me, immediately closed her mouth, looking both aggrieved and regretful.
Just as I thought she was wrong and she also felt she was wrong, Moqing, who had been cold-faced, suddenly... seemed to have emitted a faint laughter, not even opening his mouth, more like a light chuckle from his nose.
"It's her style."
I was a little stunned, looking up at him, but he was staring at the candle and the firelight, the flames reflecting in his dark pupils. He seemed absent-minded for a moment, then quickly became subdued again.
Lowered eyelids concealed obscure thoughts, while emotions were restrained and not revealed.
This appearance... really does bear a resemblance to what Zhiyan told me that day... sorrowful.
"Um... there are still some incense paper candles here. Would you... like to burn some for her too?" Zhiyan looked at Moqing and suddenly shook her throat, speaking these words.
"I don't want him to burn."
"She must not want to see me offering incense to her."
I and Moqing almost simultaneously said these words.
I saw Zhiyan, kneeling on the ground, twist her neck, seeming to have to restrain her desire to look at my direction with all her might.
I didn't explain the reason to Zhiyan, and Moqing also fell silent. Only Zhiyan remained kneeling in the middle, fidgeting like sitting on pins and needles.
"Shall I continue burning?" Zhiyan seemed to have gathered all her courage and asked, not knowing if she was asking me, or looking at Moqing for his opinion.
Moqing stepped back two steps, "Burn it." He lightly leaned against the tree in front of me, facing me, but not seeing me, only turning his head to stare at the increasingly vibrant fire and the flying ash in the sky, lost in thought.
After the paper money burned out, Moqing left just as suddenly as when he came. He didn't even inform Zhiyan.
Until Zhiyan watched the last spark extinguish, she turned around while kneeling and, seeing no one behind her, she "sighed" in relief, slumping to the ground and thumping her leg: "You two big villains... What sin am I committing..."
"Be careful what you say in the future," I said, "as soon as you burn the paper money, he shows up. You never know when he might be watching you with clairvoyance."
Upon hearing this, Zhiyan froze all over. Her lips tightly closed, not daring to move at all.
"But don't be too afraid. The sect leader is busy with official duties. He just came personally, and probably doesn't have time to keep an eye on you now." I speculated:
"For a demon cultivator like Lichen Lan, moving his body is like moving a god, and his thoughts and actions go where he pleases with just a thought. We talked back and forth in that forbidden area for so long yesterday, and he arrived at midnight. He probably just happened to sweep a glance at the valley at that time, saw you, and then came over without the report from below. It's probably the same today. Just happened to see, otherwise he wouldn't wait so long."
Zhiyan slowly relaxed her body and whispered, "So in the future, I should find a reason for everything I say or do? What if he sees me, I can explain."
"If you gave me your whole body, things wouldn't be so complicated." I looked at the sky, "It's noon, the paper money is burnt out, I will go rest and come back to you at night."
I thought, it would be better to go to the Ghost Market tonight. If the money Zhiyan burned for me has been accounted for in the underworld, I'll buy a God Traveling Pill, then I can float to the Library without needing Moqing's permission, saving me from arousing suspicion.
When trying to seduce and please someone, it's best not to start with conditions, demands, but to focus on flattery and seduction, letting the other person think you are solely interested in them.
It was late at night.
The peak of Xiyue was quiet, but there were still people coming and going outside. Unlike cultivating immortality, some cultivators preferred practicing at night. I entered Zhiyan's body, leaving her in the room, and went out.
Meeting people on the road, I didn't avoid them, allowing them to come over and pay their respects. I nodded, saying I was going for a walk, and they all smiled and watched me leave from a distance, still able to hear them bid me good night. Compared to what Zhiyan described to me earlier, it was a world of difference.
I'm so proud. I guess I have to be competent in order to be truly impressive.
Once in the woods, I recited a spell, and in the blink of an eye, I arrived at the ghost town that took three days to reach when I was drifting.
But it was strange. When my eyes could see, all I saw was a dark and desolate forest of dead trees, and there were no slow-moving ghost vendors on either side of the road. After a full circle, I felt like I must be on the right path.
I pondered for a moment, then walked to the side and sat down. I let Zhiyan's upper body out, and the moment my soul left her body, the world suddenly lit up. Along the same road, there were rows of shops on either side, with countless swaying vendors in front of them, a silent yet eerie bustle.
It was indeed a ghost market.
I went back into her body, and sure enough, when I looked at the road in front of me with her eyes, there was nothing.
Could it be that Zhiyan's body could only see me as a ghost?
I emerged from her body again, stood up, and turned around. I only saw her body leaning weakly against a tree, and Zhiyan's soul did not float over on its own.
It seems, only when the sun comes out, will Zhiyan's soul return on its own. As I contemplated this, a female ghost suddenly drifted by from behind, swaying toward Zhiyan's body.
Not good! What if she inhabits Zhiyan's body... I hadn't finished this thought in my mind when the female ghost passed through Zhiyan's body and then through the large tree behind her, continuing to float forward.
I pondered again. Could it be that with Zhiyan's body, I can only inhabit it at night? Is it because on a stormy night a month ago, she banged her head on my tombstone and started bleeding, so she has a special connection with me?
"Hey," I called to a ghost scholar next to me, and he turned his head slowly and looked at me, "Respectful..."
"Alright, hello. There's an empty shell here, why don't you try it on?"
"Male…, female... can't…"
Even in death, they are still sour. I ignored him and invited an old lady next to me who was leaning on a cane, "There's an empty shell here, why don't you try possessing it."