A Way to Find the Ghost Mite's Mother

After listening to You Su's account, the father and son, who were huddled together, did not refute it, and accepted the punishment they were about to face with sorrowful expressions.

Upon seeing First Elder shook his head and sighed softly.

"Well..."

He lived for hundreds of years and dealt with evil spirits all along. He had witnessed countless acts of evil spirit mischief, and in fact, a large part of these tragedies were inextricably linked to humans.

If people's hearts were at peace with themselves, they wouldn't think of relying on evil spirits to satisfy their desires and achieve their goals, and countless unbearable tragedies would be avoided in this world.

How could the evil spirits blocked overseas by the Divine Radiance Stone alone have created such a situation where everyone is in danger?

"Xiang Wenting, the Ghost Mite and the Dream Centipede are both powerful evil spirits. Where did you obtain these evil spirits?"

The First Elder looked down at Xiang Wenting, who was weeping uncontrollably. The old man exuded an aura of authority that was hard to disobey, as if anyone facing his questions could only answer truthfully.

Xiang Wenting remained silent, whether out of sheer terror or a firm refusal to reveal the person behind him, it was unclear.

"Speak out, and you'll suffer less. Think of yourself, and think of your father too. The tortures inflicted by the Evil Warding Department are unbearable for any human."

The First Elder continued to coerce him, Xiang Wenting raised his head, his disheveled hair revealing his sorrowful face.

"He was just trying to distance himself from me, so why should I care? There's no need for you to ask, Immortal Master. That person has even erased my memories. Even if you dig out my brain, you still won't know who she is."

Upon hearing this, City Lord Xiang, who was still holding his son, felt utterly devastated. He pushed his son away in disbelief, as if he were realizing for the first time the cold-bloodedness of his own son.

"If your father hadn't been trying to protect you, he wouldn't have gone to such lengths to frame an ordinary woman. What's wrong with him trying to distance himself from her?"

Even the First Elder was secretly furious, looking at Xiang Wenting, this spendthrift son, with a desire to carve him on the pillar of shame.

The Xiang family's centuries-old foundation has been destroyed because of him. And his purpose was simply to keep a mortal woman by his side.

"His mistake was that he shouldn't have interfered with me and Ying'er in the first place!" Xiang Wenting broke free from his father's embrace, veins bulging on his jaw, and turned to shout hysterically at him, "As the lord of a city, haven't you done enough sordid things over the years?! What gives you the right to look down on a courtesan? At least she's much cleaner than you!"

This father and son, who were considered a model of love by outsiders, have now turned against each other, leaving onlookers feeling deeply saddened.

"Sigh, come back to the Evil Warding Department with me. Once we get there, you'll naturally say what you should and shouldn't say."

The First Elder shook his head helplessly, knowing that it would be difficult to continue the interrogation in this place.

Compared to the person behind Xiang Wenting, what are a Ghost Mite and a Dream Centipede?

Since the great battle against Evil Purge mountain a century ago, the number of Evil Cultivator in the world has decreased sharply. However, this also shows that every surviving Evil Cultivator is not someone to be trifled with. Each of them could be a huge hidden danger.

Suddenly, the First Elder opened his arms, and two thick, golden chains extended from his palms, binding the slumped City Lord Xiang and Xiang Wenting respectively.

Zi Yiyi's pupils narrowed slightly. As the most knowledgeable person in You Su's group, she naturally recognized that the First Elder was using an extremely high-level Technique Method — the Primal Dragon Subduing Lock.

This powerful Technique Method, rumored to be able to subdue dragon descendants, was cast out of thin air by the First Elder without even needing to be chanted. Truly worthy of being called the Celestial Venerable Tian Shu, the pinnacle of Technique Method in the Five Continents, he is terrifyingly powerful.

"Zi Yiyi, the true Mother of the Ghost Mite has not yet been found. You continue to supervise You Su's assessment. There's no need to worry about order in the city; I will have the Spiritual Treasure Sect send a new city lord as soon as possible. The City Lord's Mansion in Moxie City has been in the Xiang family for hundreds of years; it's time for a change."

The change of the city's ruler was as easy as crossing out a name on a piece of paper in the eyes of the First Elder.

"Yes."

Zi Yiyi bowed respectfully, somewhat flattered. She was merely a maidservant of the Hua Jing, First Seat, yet she never expected that this person of such high status would remember her name.

The First Elder suddenly turned his head and quietly looked at You Su:

"You did well, but the Ghost Mite is still lurking in this city. Your senior sister is on her way here; she won't help you, she'll only ensure your safety. I'm looking forward to seeing how you perform next."

"Thank you First Elder."

You Su bowed and thanked him.

"If necessary, crush the Jade Bead."

The First Elder gave You Su a final word of advice, then vanished like a gentle breeze, taking the two people he had mentioned with him.

In the dimly lit secret room, only You Su and his group of four remained, along with Qiao Xiuying, whose body had been turned into a dried corpse.

Ji Lingruo and Zi Yiyi both looked at the silent You Su with complicated expressions. They never expected that the situation had been under You Su's control all along.

Qiao Xiuyun had never experienced such an intense and dramatic scene before. Among this group of cultivators, she was like an ant. At this moment, she knew nothing but that her sister had been exonerated and that she and her family were no longer in danger. She hurriedly ran to the coffin and leaned against the coffin lid, sobbing loudly.

Ji Lingruo chased after her and gently patted the girl's back.

"Why don't you ask this father and son where the mother of the Ghost Mite is hiding? Now that they're gone, the trail of the Ghost Mite has gone cold again."

Zi Yiyi asked in a calm voice, clearly no longer daring to underestimate this blind boy.

"What they don't know... If they did know, wouldn't it have been easier to just capture the Mother of the Ghost Mite and put her inside Qiao Xiuying's corpse?"

Despite his words, You Su showed no sign of disappointment.

Zi Yiyi lowered her eyes, unable to help but think even more highly of the young man.

After Qiao Xiuyun finished venting her emotions, the steward of the City Lord's Mansion also found them. It was probably arranged by the First Elder, and the steward already knew everything.

He promised to cooperate unconditionally with all of You Su's investigations, and together with everyone, he cremated Qiao Xiuying's mummified body and even meticulously performed the memorial service for her on the seventh day after her death.

By the time we finished working, it was almost dusk.

In the shimmering twilight, the setting sun was edged with gold, and people walked slowly down the street, casting long shadows behind them.

Qiao Xiuyun was holding her sister's urn when she suddenly heard a faint sound. She exclaimed in surprise:

There's something in the urn!

She quickly opened the urn and found a letter hidden among the fine bone powder.

The envelope was intact, and four characters were written on the seal, "To be opened by Brother Ye."

Amidst the puzzled gazes of the crowd You Su put the item into his Universe Bag and began to read it using his Divine Sense.

Inside the envelope were two sheets of paper, one left by Xiang Wenting, and the other three were signed by Qiao Xiuying.

Xiang Wenting's letter was very simple. It began with words of gratitude and ended with the statement that he had no way to repay him except to give him Ying'er's three diary entries, hoping they would help him find the Ghost Mite.

You Su then began reading Qiao Xiuying's letter again.

The record above actually documented the girl's journey from Black Rock City.

The girl was born by the sea, and like everyone else there, she longed to leave that barren and dangerous black sand.

The vast majority of people there had no desire to leave; they seemed to believe that they were born to belong there and therefore had to live on the land designated for them by the immortals. If they wanted to leave, they would have to pay a price they could not imagine.

But the girl was different from them; she didn't just think about it, she was willing to take action.

She was the most hardworking girl in the village, even though there were few crops growing there; she would often walk more than ten miles to the beach to collect seafood, just to get more fish to sell for money.

One day, she found a red fish she had never seen before. She thought it was some rare deep-sea fish, but when she got home, she discovered that it was an evil spirit that the elders had been talking about and that they avoided like the plague.

It wasn't a fish at all, but a blood-red worm that fed on human Blood Qi.

She was only nine years old at the time, and she was terrified. She wanted to hand the evil spirit over to the officials. But she heard a rumor that someone in the next village had handed over an evil spirit, but his entire family had been arrested. Because evil spirits shouldn't be able to cross the Divine Radiance Stone on the coast, those who handed over the evil spirits were the real culprits who brought the evil spirits inland.

Helpless, she could only start feeding the worm with a mixture of pig's blood, chicken blood, and her own blood. Fortunately, the worm was small and not aggressive, and it was very affectionate towards her, just like a pet she kept.

Gradually, she became less afraid of evil spirits. Later, she found a colorful centipede, which was very beautiful. They were like her pets, very obedient to her.

Later, when her younger sister was born, she realized that even if she spent her whole life collecting fish and farming, she wouldn't have enough money to buy her sister a house in an inland city. They would be stuck on this black rock forever.

She began to waver; she felt she should leave. The sheep inside the pen couldn't escape; only the sheep outside could open the door for them.

The centipede would crawl on her neck, letting her have beautiful dreams she never dared to imagine. This strengthened her resolve to leave, and she continued like this until she reached adulthood, when she knew it was time to leave.

A capable outsider came to the vicinity of Black Rock City looking for female workers. She was the first to sign up and the only one chosen.

She knew that this was most likely a scam, a trick to sell people into brothels.

But for herself, for her sister, and for her family, she chose this fate.

Her beauty was exceptional, making her the undisputed queen of courtesans.

And so he encountered Young Master Xiang, who had been expelled from the Spiritual Treasure Sect for lacking talent.

Young Master Xiang was heartbroken at the time because of his father's harsh scolding and beatings. In despair, he decided to go to a brothel to lose his virginity, which he had kept for decades through his spiritual practice.

She received him, and the two, both deeply lost and dejected, fell in love at first sight, their feelings growing stronger with each passing moment.

But he couldn't give her a proper status; his father was the city lord, and there was no way he would allow his son to marry a courtesan.

To this end, he even went so far as to use his father's dirty laundry to confront him, ultimately leading to a complete break and his confinement to his home.

Just then, my younger sister sent me a letter saying that she had seen immortals flying and disappearing into the earth back in our hometown, and she was very envious.

This realization awakened Qiao Xiuying; perhaps becoming an immortal would change everything. Even though she knew she would die, as if to prove something, just like when she chose to leave the Black Soil, she resolutely accepted the power of the Ghost Mite, completely offering her flesh and blood to it.

Later, Xiang Wenting was released, and she successfully embarked on the path of immortality.

When Xiang Wenting learned about her sacrifice to the evil spirit, he didn't despise her. Instead, he was worried about her and felt that everything was fine as long as she was alright.

These two lovers don't care what the other looks like.

But the matter was still exposed, and City Lord Xiang discovered the clues. At that time, the mites and centipedes were also very affectionate towards Xiang Wenting, so Xiang Wenting took the blame and he also came into contact with evil spirits, just like his father.

Yes, City Lord Xiang also had shady dealings with evil spirits behind the scenes, which seems to be the reason for Xiang Wenting's mother's early death.

On the surface, City Lord Xiang tacitly approved of their love, but secretly instructed the madam to poison her food, thus hastening her death.

When the centipede told her these things in her dream, it was already too late.

She meticulously documented everything, preparing for her death. Before she died, she sent all her savings home and told her family that she had found a good husband and that they should rest assured and not come looking for her.

They also sent away the pregnant Ghost Mite, leaving the beautiful centipede to Xiang Wenting.

Thus ended her tortuous and tragic life.

Night had fallen. Ji Lingruo and Zi Yiyi sat in You Su's room, listening to You Su finish telling the story of Qiao Xiuying, while Qiao Xiuyun was asleep in the next room.

"So, although she wasn't the mother of the Ghost Mite, she truly was the source of Ghost Mite," Zi Yiyi sighed wistfully. "So Xiang Wenting was actually wronged? He was the one who was truly unrelated to evil spirits, yet he still had to face the death penalty."

"This is his decision, and I choose to help him."

You Su said calmly, without showing any joy or sorrow.

"What do you mean? You didn't know these stories before, did you? When did he tell you his ideas?" Zi Yiyi asked curiously.

"Sister Yiyi, have you forgotten? Whether it was finding Qiao Xiuying's body or everything else, it was all his doing behind the scenes. He wanted me to believe that he was the source of the evil spirit. Although I didn't know the truth, I sensed that he really wanted to die, so I complied with him. Perhaps you can interpret it as... a tacit understanding between men."

Zi Yiyi suddenly realized that the events leading up to the case were indeed too disjointed. Xiang Wenting had sent them to Cai Ling, but only to kill him.

"But why must he die? And why drag his own father down with him?" Ji Lingruo asked, frowning in confusion.

"Those who collude with evil spirits will have all their immediate family members implicated. He failed to protect his loved ones, so he chose to protect his loved ones' families with his own life. He no longer considered this heartless father as his father, but he couldn't kill his father on his own. He took on this crime, and he could still rely on the power of others to avenge Qiao Xiuying."

You Su sighed softly. In this tragedy, there were no winners; everyone was a loser. And what role did the evil spirits that people avoided like the plague play?

Upon hearing this, the two women fell into deep thought, speechless with sorrow over this tragic love between a celestial being and a mortal.

Zi Yiyi recovered faster than Ji Lingruo; she was more concerned about the exorcism.

"Unfortunately, this diary entry is of no help in finding the mother of the Ghost Mite."

You Su shook her head:

"No, it's very helpful. This diary entry tells us that even evil spirits have feelings!"

"What do you mean?"

You Su suddenly took out the Evil Warding Token, and the two tiny Ghost Mite were thrown back onto the table.

You Su had already hidden the melancholy on his face and said in a deep voice:

"Use its offspring as bait to lure it out!"

The second bonus chapter has been released in the Full Subscription Group. Happy Children's Day everyone!