In the side room, Lu Yang had an oil lamp lit, absorbed in his reading, seemingly oblivious to the shapely figure in green that had appeared in the room.
Though Lu Yang appeared to be reading, he was actually conversing with the immortal in his spiritual space.
"Hmm? Lu Yang, did all your evil deeds finally catch up to you and get you kicked out of the Dao Seeking Sect, leaving you reduced to staying in a dump like this?" The Immortal Fairy beamed with glee, gloating openly.
"...Fairy, there is really no need for your imagination to be quite so vivid. And while other people measure sleep in hours, why do you measure yours in days?"
Her hands on her hips, the Immortal Fairy huffed indignantly, "How could an immortal be compared to mere mortals?"
"Yes, yes, yes. Your Fairy Highness is in a league of your own. So could you go back to sleep now? I have business to attend to."
"What business?" The Immortal Fairy's interest was piqued.
Seeing that the Immortal Fairy clearly had no intention of dropping the subject until she heard the whole story, Lu Yang had no choice but to lay everything bare.
"So you're trying to lure the female ghost over right now and capture her?"
"Right."
"That's easy! Leave it to me," the Immortal Fairy said, patting her chest with a confidence that looked as though she were under the influence of the Invincible Core.
The Immortal Fairy was currently in a soul state—which was to say, a ghost—making her tailor-made for this situation.
"Wait, Fairy, aren't you afraid of ghosts?" Lu Yang remembered back when the Immortal Fairy accompanied him to the tomb built by the Grand Elder; she had been terrified of the ghosts leaping out in the crypt.
"Why would I be afraid of ghosts I can see... Wait, no, I was never afraid of ghosts in the first place!" Realizing she had slipped up, the Immortal Fairy hastily corrected herself.
"Fine, but don't do anything out of line!" After giving her a stern warning, Lu Yang handed control of his body over to the Immortal Fairy.
"Young master~ I'm so lonely... Won't you keep me company?~" The shapely green-clad figure appeared before Lu Yang, gazing at him with eyes full of tender longing, her voice sweet and coquettish enough to melt one's bones.
Little did she know that the Lu Yang before her was no longer the Lu Yang of moments ago.
Lu Yang flashed a wicked, charming smirk, reached out, and pulled the green-clad ghost into a tight embrace.
The green-clad ghost was momentarily stunned. When Lu Yang was in the main hall earlier, he hadn't seemed like this kind of person at all!
Lu Yang extended an index finger, lifted the green-clad ghost's chin, and purred in a flirtatious tone, "Lonely little beauty, do you need Big Sister to keep you company?"
Lu Yang affectionately held the green-clad ghost, his hands wandering all over. "A pretty face, but your figure is a bit inferior to mine."
What did he mean, *inferior to mine*? And calling himself *Big Sister*?!
From his build, he didn't look like a woman disguised as a man, either!
A chill ran down the green-clad ghost's spine; she felt like she had run into a total pervert.
"Come now, little beauty. The spring night is short—come have some fun with Big Sister," Lu Yang chuckled with a sinister grin, not looking like a good person by any stretch of the imagination.
The green-clad ghost tried to flee, only to discover his grip was terrifyingly strong. Even at the Foundation Establishment stage, she couldn't break free.
"Heh heh, trying to run?" Lu Yang pounced on the green-clad ghost.
In the spiritual space, the real Lu Yang pounced toward the Immortal Fairy.
"Huang Doudou, damn your ancestors! What the hell are you trying to do with my body?!"
"I'm just playing around! I won't do anything for real!" The Immortal Fairy took to her heels and fled.
"Even that isn't okay! It ruins my reputation!"
***
Meng Jingzhou pretended to be sound asleep, struggling to suppress the smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth as he quietly waited for the female ghost to arrive.
A female ghost appeared by Meng Jingzhou's bedside, clad in red robes like a blushing bride on her wedding day.
The red-clad ghost blew a breath toward Meng Jingzhou, making him appear dazed and entranced.
"Husband, wake up," the red-clad ghost's tender voice whispered in Meng Jingzhou's ear.
Meng Jingzhou stirred groggily, looking at the red-clad ghost with some hesitation. "Who are you...?"
"Husband, have you forgotten? I am your wife."
Meng Jingzhou's eyes lit up! His twin Bachelor Golden Cores were working! The moment they met, she called herself his wife!
*Don't rush, don't rush. Stay calm.*
Then, he resumed his dazed, entranced expression.
The red-clad ghost's rosy lips drew closer and closer to Meng Jingzhou, whose heart thudded wildly with excitement.
*Bang—*
Before the red-clad ghost's lips could even brush Meng Jingzhou, she was blasted back by an invisible energy radiating from his body, knocked out cold. Her lips were scalded and swollen by the burst of energy until they looked like sausages, devoid of any beauty.
The Bachelor Golden Core was like a scorching sun, upright and unyielding, seated in the center of the dantian to hold dominion over all directions. Evil beings like monsters, demons, and ghosts could not come near it.
Naturally, the effect of twin Bachelor Golden Cores was even stronger.
Meng Jingzhou: "..."
The ghost couldn't even touch him.
***
In the main hall, Li Haoran lay before the half-standing Buddha statue, keeping watch on his surroundings with his five senses.
He didn't dare casually use his spiritual sense, worried the female ghost might notice.
She was here!
A shapely figure in white crept quietly toward Li Haoran, unaware that her every movement had long since been picked up by him.
*Whoosh—*
The white-clad figure exhaled a breath of chilling frost, making Li Haoran shiver violently.
"Who are you?!" Seeing the white-clad female ghost, Li Haoran seemed startled out of his wits.
The white-clad ghost said softly, "Benefactor, there is no need for alarm. This humble one is merely a powerless wandering spirit seeking to borrow a bit of your yang energy."
The white-clad ghost put on a pitiful, delicate demeanor, looking completely harmless to humans and beasts alike.
Li Haoran didn't believe a word of her ghostly nonsense. Powerless? Her ghostly form was solid, her mind was crystal clear, and faint wisps of dharmic power radiated from her.
Late Foundation Establishment.
Bloody hell, what luck—running into a ghost on the road, and she was at the exact same cultivation level as him!
"This humble one will make Benefactor feel very comfortable," the white-clad ghost whispered seductively, her voice teasing enough to set one's heart itching.
Li Haoran found it strange. By rights, there should have been a big commotion from Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou capturing their ghosts, so why was there still no sound from either of them?
Did something go wrong?
Li Haoran decided not to expose the ghost's lies, opting instead to play along and extract some information.
"What does a ghost need yang energy for? To return to life?"
"Benefactor must be joking. How could a ghost return to life? Collecting a little yang energy is merely to get by."
Flirting all the while, the white-clad ghost climbed on top of Li Haoran, human and ghost gazing into each other's eyes.
Suddenly, the doors to the main hall were shoved open, and a young woman burst inside.
"Excuse me, is anyone here? I've run out of travel funds—could I stay the night?"
The young woman had a tall, slender posture and wore plain clothes, yet carried no traveling bundle whatsoever. The ground around the temple was a mire of mud, yet not a single speck of dirt marked her shoes.
Li Haoran and the white-clad ghost stared in unison at the sudden intruder.
The girl was equally shocked by the scene before her. This was her first time traveling the outside world—were customs out here really this open-minded? They were even fooling around in a ruined temple?
A little embarrassed, she had never expected to stumble into something like this. However worldly naive she might be, she knew well enough that one ought to look away in such situations.
Instinctively, she turned to leave, only to realize the man lying on the ground looked rather familiar.
She stepped forward silently to confirm she hadn't seen wrong.
Looking down at Li Haoran from above, she asked with a stiff, icy smile, her voice even softer and gentler than the ghost's:
"Ex-Dad, what are you doing?"
Li Haoran swallowed hard with great difficulty, thinking that he was probably as good as dead.
This young woman was none other than the daughter from Li Haoran's past life, Qin Yanyan.
Chapter 297