The Forgotten Ghost

The moonlight, as white as frost, spilled over the jagged ice eaves of the sacred mountain, leaving a winding silver trail at You Su's feet.

He gazed at the deepening night outside the window, his throat burning with increasing anxiety—the "gentleman" lurking in the mist was like a thin blade hanging overhead, threatening to sever this hard-won peace at the slightest misstep.

"Senior sister, when you were navigating around Mount Shen... did you ever hear of a 'gentleman'?" he suddenly asked, his fingertips unconsciously tracing the rim of the teacup.

Wangshu Fairy's blue eyes narrowed slightly, as if searching through her memories, before she finally shook her head gently. "Never."

"Where's Bai Ze?" You Su turned to look at the girl in the pink dress curled up on the soft couch.

"Teacher? Brother, do you mean a schoolteacher?" Bai Ze mumbled, a candied fruit dangling from his mouth. "I've seen a few old men often scold me, saying 'this brat is hopeless,' but I've never heard of any teacher..."

You Su's fingers suddenly tightened, and the porcelain cup made a soft creak as if it were about to collapse under the weight. He tried to recall everything about this 'teacher,' but his memories were hazy and indistinct; it seemed that all he could remember was this respectful title for a teacher.

"Brother?" Bai Ze noticed his unusual behavior, and the candied fruit fell onto her skirt with a "plop".

Wangshu silently grasped You Su's hand, the icy warmth seeping into his palm. She sensed You Su's unease.

Though she remained silent, her eyes, like the moon reflected in a cold pool, clearly said: I'll help you investigate. Bai Ze, not to be outdone, moved closer.

"I'll go ask the two disciples on duty outside. Wait for me a moment." You Su pressed her senior sister's hand, then suddenly stood up, her black robes sweeping across the scattered light on the ground.

He stepped out of the backyard and pushed open the palace door. The night wind, carrying fine snow, rushed towards him. Two disciples on duty under the corridor were rubbing their hands together and breathing on them to warm them.

"Young Master You"

The two disciples were clearly trustworthy, which was why they were placed here. They knew that this wanted criminal, misunderstood by the world, had helped Bei Ao a great deal, so You Su greeted him warmly as soon as he came out.

"Do you two know of a 'gentleman' on the sacred mountain?" You Su asked the two men.

"Master?" the disciple repeated blankly, "The Immortal Academy does have several immortal masters who lecture on scriptures..."

"Is there anyone more powerful than Venerable Ningshuang? Or is there anyone whom Venerable Ningshuang would willingly address as 'Sir'?" You Su stared intently into the other's pupils.

The disciple trembled at the piercing gaze and hurriedly waved his hands, "Young Master, you don't understand. Only we call Venerable Ningshuang' Master,' how could he possibly call anyone else that? Please be careful what you say, Young Master. After the Palace Master regained control of the Divine Mountain, all the rebel henchmen have already confessed and are awaiting punishment. Even if they once taught you, you must never call those people 'Master' again, lest you be implicated..."

You Su then asked, "Who is the leader of that rebel party? Has it been found out?"

"The leader? I haven't heard of anyone as the leader. It's said that the group is led by those twelve Venerables. Young Master, you probably don't know much about Bei Ao. The people of Bei Ao are all proud. Apart from our Palace Master, there's no one who can keep them in check." Another disciple replied rather smugly.

Upon hearing this, You Su closed his eyes. Their answers seemed reasonable, yet he still felt a deep unease in his heart.

Was he being too sensitive? You Su didn't think so at all. His past experiences were enough to prove that he was able to see through illusions time and again because he had a clear-headedness that was independent of the world.

"If we're talking about someone, Venerable Chengliang, but it seems he's already been..." As he spoke, the disciple made a throat-slitting gesture, still shaken.

Venerable Chengliang! You Su felt a crack open in his memory. He clearly remembered Venerable Chengliang's last words before his death: that their 'Master' would send all the evil spirits back to the sea! A series of memories about that 'Master' then came back to him.

"Where is your palace master now?!" he asked in a deep voice.

The two disciples looked troubled. "How could we ordinary disciples possibly know the Palace Master's whereabouts? But please be patient, young master, perhaps we will be able to see the Palace Master tomorrow."

You Su knew very well that he couldn't wait until tomorrow!

He thanked them and quickly turned and ran back into the hall.

Bai Ze was peeking through the door frame on tiptoe when he was scooped up and placed on the seat.

The girl's eyes were wide and her face was flushed, as if she had accidentally touched half of a soft, fragrant area when You Su picked her up.

You Su's mind was elsewhere; instead, he cupped the girl's face in his hands, his expression unusually serious.

"Bai Ze, do you remember when we first came to the sacred mountain, the Flower Daoist was fighting with someone, and I was fighting with a man too?"

Bai Ze blinked, then quickly nodded in agreement.

"Do you remember that he also said he wanted to kidnap you and give you as a gift to his 'husband'?"

Bai Ze rolled his eyes, but then shook his head.

You Su's expression darkened; he knew there was no need to ask any more questions. Bai Ze would never lie to him, and the vengeful Bai Ze would never forget the insults uttered by that otherworldly youth.

Therefore, it must be that 'gentleman' who deliberately erased his existence; no one remembers him except himself!

"Bai Ze, your brother needs your help with something very important."

The little girl bit her thin lips, a hint of sadness flashing in her eyes. "I understand..."

Seeing this You Su also felt sorry for her and only hoped that this farce would end soon, allowing the personality of the Palace Lord of Dragon Seeing Palace to return to her own body, while leaving the silly and cute Bai Ze to him.

Immediately, You Su saw ripples appear in the girl's amber pupils, as if the moon's reflection had fallen into a deep pool.

He quickly released her hand, and the girl, her eyes fixed on him, said calmly, "Did you need something?"

"Take me to Ganlong Venerable." He was very certain.

"But I don't want to see her." The Palace Lord of Dragon Seeing Palace raised her elegant neck, revealing an arrogance that would never belong to a child.

"Now is not the time to throw a tantrum! She's not a bad person!"

Upon the Palace Lord of Dragon Seeing Palace's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise, but she concealed it well. "What do you want with her?"

"I need to prove something to her! And then, I need to get her to catch that ghost lurking in the shadows!"

He kept the conversation brief, telling the two women all his suspicions about the 'gentleman,' speaking with such conviction that it was as if such a person truly existed.

However, the reason You Su was willing to explain to them was precisely because You Su believed they would trust her unconditionally.

If he says yes, then that person really exists!

If their memories have truly been erased, then this gentleman might be even more troublesome than the twelve Void Realm experts combined!

"I thought she was too afraid to come see me, but now that I think about it, there might be something else going on." The girl glanced at You Su; with her intelligence, it wasn't hard for her to You Su no longer considered that woman an enemy. She gave a light snort, flicked her sleeve, and turned around. "Follow me."

You Su and her senior sister exchanged a glance, then followed closely behind the girl.

Bai Ze led the way, his snow boots creating tiny ice flowers as they stepped over the glazed steps.

"Light the lamp."

As the childish voice fell to the ground, a lotus flower bloomed from Wangshu's fingertips. The radiant light emanating from the unfolding petals illuminated what lay ahead—

"Are you sure she's not at the Dragon Seeing Palace?" You Su gazed at the illuminated eaves, a thirst rising in his throat.

"If she were here, she would be reviewing official documents in Tingxue Pavilion right now." The girl suddenly stopped, her fingertips tracing the dragon patterns on the pillars. "But the barrier hasn't been activated, and the documents on her desk are already three inches thick."

The three searched the seven palaces under the moonlight, but could not find the woman's figure, nor could they get any information about her whereabouts.

You Su could only choose to believe that the Palace Lord of Dragon Seeing Palace could find another version of her. After another long journey, Bai Ze suddenly stopped in front of the bronze beast head gate of the Evil Warding Department.

The location of the Evil Warding Department within the sacred mountain is a mystery to most people, but not to the Palace Lord of Dragon Seeing Palace, who is half the head of the Evil Warding Department.

Nine gilded beast eyes gleamed eerily in the moonlight, You Su's Ink Pine Sword suddenly hummed. This divine weapon, which had been with him for a long time, had slain countless evil spirits and seemed to have developed a sensitivity to Evil Qi. Whenever it smelled this putrid odor, it would eagerly try to cut through the rotting flesh.

"This is the Heavenly Prison." Bai Ze's pupils reflected the blood groove on You Su Ink Pine Sword. "If we can't find her even here, she's probably already left the Divine Mountain."

"We can even enter the Heavenly Prison of the Evil Warding Department?" You Su, somewhat surprised.

"She's good at formations, I'm good at techniques. Wherever manpower can be saved, she'll use Formation Technique to solve the problem. So, the ones who hindered us along the way were actually the menial laborers guarding the outermost layer."

As soon as the girl finished speaking, she turned and walked towards the dark, gloomy tunnel that was constantly spewing out a foul and putrid stench.

"It smells bad, just like Henggao's." Wangshu commented.

You Su had never been to the Heavenly Prison of the Evil Warding Department of Mount Henggao, but he knew that the fact that even his senior sister couldn't help but complain meant that she really hated this smell.

However, this kind of stench should be quite familiar to a Goddess who frequently deals with evil spirits You Su himself didn't find it unbearable. Given his senior sister's personality, she should be able to tolerate it even better than him...

Could there be something different about the smell here that he couldn't detect?

"Doesn't Senior Sister like the rotten aura emanating from evil spirits?"

The Fairy in a white dress with a jade rabbit covering her face shook her head; she seemed out of place in this dark and gloomy prison.

"They smell sad, angry, and make you feel terrible."

Upon hearing this, both You Su and the Palace Lord of Dragon Seeing Palace were taken aback.

You Su knew long ago that her senior sister's exorcisms were not out of genuine hatred for evil spirits. Therefore, her senior sister would not kill any evil spirits that had not harmed anyone, but she would not let any evil spirit that had harmed anyone go unpunished either.

Little did he know that his senior sister could empathize with the evil spirits and even sense their pain.

Is it because of Innate Pure Heart?

You Su knew that his senior sister's purity was because she was not human before, but the last 'Void' in the Five Continents. It was the purest and most ethereal existence, and also the being most in harmony with the power of the Heavenly Dao.

Therefore, while the senior sister is indifferent to human relationships and detests shackles, she is incredibly powerful and detached from the world, possessing a compassionate heart for all things, almost as if she has a faint divine quality. But would such a sacred girl also feel sorry for these filthy things?

Or perhaps 'evil spirits' is merely a name given to them by humans, and from the perspective of the Heavenly Dao Way, evil spirits are no different from all things, including humans?

The more I thought about You Su, the more it overturned my understanding, and my heart pounded like a drum.

Lost in thought, he even ignored the hideous monsters in the cages and unknowingly walked deep into the prison.

"You... why are you here?" The woman's voice, which sounded like it was mixed with ice shards, woke him up.

Thankfully, she really is here.

The icy cage gleamed coldly, Ganlong Venerable's skirt trailed on the bluestone slabs as her fingertips held an icy blade against a man's throat.

The man, with disheveled hair and a tattered, gaudy Daoist robe, was still smiling.

"If Your Sovereign Lord truly regards me as a 'master,' why not simply stab me with your sword? If I am guilty, Your Sovereign Lord should simply state it; why fabricate a charge?"

The man being interrogated turned out to be the long-unseen Archimedes Venerable.

"You know very well that I did not fabricate a person." Ganlong Venerable's tone was icy. "Those who teach in the mortal realm only call each other Immortal Master, but you alone prefer to be called Teacher when you teach in the mortal realm. Looking at the whole story, besides you, I can't think of anyone else more qualified to be Teacher!"

The Archimedes Venerable suddenly burst into laughter, "Why pretend, Your Sovereign Lord? Besides you, who else in the Northern Ao Continent can control this group? The reason I still remember 'Master' is because I realized I had forgotten something!"

The Flower Daoist tore his robe off his right shoulder, revealing two bloody words on his upper arm: "Master".

"Stop arguing!"

You Su suddenly rushed between the two, and despite being the person with the lowest cultivation level here, he silenced the entire audience.

You Su knew very well that the two had no connection whatsoever during the entire incident, which is why she mistakenly believed that the other was the mastermind behind it all.

However, since You Su had personally experienced things with them for a period of time, it was basically certain that they were not that gentleman. It was precisely because they were all so eager to catch the real culprit that their obsession ran so deep that they couldn't completely forget him.

"You remember too?" Ganlong Venerable's eyes lit up with joy, as if he had met a kindred spirit.

You Su nodded to her. "Have you interrogated those eleven Venerable Ones about the existence of 'Master'?"

No one remembers it.

The deeper You Su Sujian frowned, the more he caught sight of the handsome young man in the corner—the very same one who had tried to capture Bai Ze when he first arrived at the mountain.

The young man was huddled in the corner, trembling as he saw You Su slowly approaching. "Don't kill me... don't kill me... it's all my father's fault, it has nothing to do with me..."

"Who were you going to send Bai Ze as a gift to?"

"My... my father! My father Venerable Ningshuang!"

The young man's initial piety was undeniable, but now the confusion on his face was equally genuine. You Su felt as if her brain was about to explode, her chaotic thoughts like a tangled mess of rope.

He always felt that he had forgotten something very important, but he just couldn't remember it.

Is it possible that for these people, 'sir' was the most important thing, and that's why it was forgotten?

He suddenly realized, "This person, 'Sir,' doesn't exist at all!"

All eyes immediately turned to him.

"It is precisely because it doesn't exist that they can forget it so completely!"

Palace Lord of Dragon Seeing Palace's face was also pale, a great fear rose in his heart.

"This evil spirit has the power to make people forget; we've all forgotten the most important thing!"

The crowd exchanged bewildered glances. The flickering lamp in the prison was about to go out, and a gust of cold wind blew in from the direction they had come from, causing everyone to shiver involuntarily.

"But... how are we supposed to remember?" The Flower Daoist scratched his head, but couldn't recall anything he had forgotten.

"Rely on others! Others will help us remember!"

You Su's voice was as cold as ice. He immediately turned and glared at the woman with the peerless beauty, "You forgot to plug the Sea Well under the sacred mountain! That's the most important thing you've forgotten!"

Ganlong Venerable was taken aback by these words, and a chill ran down his spine, far colder than the deepest ice in Bei'ao.

She then suddenly realized that she had been busy all day but had forgotten the first thing she should have done!

"And what about me? What did I forget?" the Archimedes Venerable asked blankly.

"You deliberately made a commotion to lure me here; you must have something to report." Ganlong Venerable severed the restrictions on him. "You want me to save you."

You Su quickly helped the fallen Flower Daoist up, but the Flower Daoist waved his hand and said firmly, "Absolutely not. I'm quite comfortable here. Being suspended every day actually helps me concentrate more on my Arithmancy. There must be something else behind bringing the Sovereign Lord here."

The man looked around, still bewildered, but a strange feeling arose in his eyes when he saw the handsome young man:

"What are you doing in my cell, you good-for-nothing student?"

The young man smiled obsequiously, "I came to deliver a message to the teacher... and then the teacher kept me here to keep him company, hehe..."

"Report a message?"

The student that the Archimedes Venerable disliked the most was the eldest son of the Venerable Ningshuang, who had a very high opinion of himself. He also knew very well that this student disliked him as well, so it was impossible for him to come and visit his teacher.

Rather than delivering a message, based on his understanding of the student, it seemed more like he was there to show off and mock him, a strict teacher, for being forced to stay!

What message are you bringing?

"I've come to report to my teacher that my father and those seniors have already completed the modification of the Formation Technique on the Sea Well beneath the sacred mountain... In truth, I was caught in this turbid current against my will. My Sovereign Lord and teacher, please understand!"

The handsome young man immediately knelt down and kowtowed, displaying an obsequious attitude.

The Flower Daoist rushed up and kicked him to the ground, only then realizing the important matter he needed to report to the Sovereign Lord: those people still had an unsolved conspiracy!

Now everyone realizes that all the blame lies with the Sea Well beneath Kong Yuan Divine Mountain.

The Archimedes Venerable gave the order, "Sovereign Lord! Quickly plug the Sea Well!"

Ganlong Venerable did not immediately take a step, but instead looked at You Su with concern:

"And you? What's the most important thing you've forgotten?"

Yes... what have I forgotten?

"The evil spirits of dreams have no effect on me. I haven't forgotten anything. Let's go!"

We'll have meat tomorrow.