Meanwhile, over with Lin Guanhuo.
He was leaning against an old tree, eyes closed as he focused.
He was young and spirited, filled with righteous energy.
Combined with the fine saber skills he had cultivated, his aura was enough to keep the wandering ghosts in the darkness from coming anywhere near him.
Nor had the Yin energy here affected him.
However...
Not everyone could be as unconcerned as he was.
Just then, Xu Dadao, sleeping beside him, rolled over.
A sudden, urgent need to pee jolted him awake.
"Damn... I gotta piss."
Xu Dadao groggily sat up, feeling as if his bladder was about to burst.
"I drank too much earlier..." he muttered.
He looked around at the pitch-black woods. Withered grass grew everywhere, and some of it was still covered in snow.
Xu Dadao felt a little spooked.
But the urge was too strong. He couldn't hold it any longer.
Xu Dadao walked a few steps and came to a withered grove nearby.
He undid his belt and relieved himself in a clump of dead grass.
"Phew~~ That feels good."
As the pressure inside him eased, Xu Dadao shuddered.
He was just about to pull up his pants and head back to sleep.
But just then—
"Young master..."
A soft female voice suddenly drifted out of the woods behind him.
Huh??
At the sound, Xu Dadao stiffened all over, his hand frozen in midair as he pulled up his pants.
He suddenly remembered Chen Jianxing's warning!
If a woman's voice called out to him, he must never turn around!
"An illusion! It's definitely an illusion!"
Xu Dadao's scalp prickled. Pretending he hadn't heard a thing, he turned to walk back.
"Wuwu... Young master... please help me..."
The voice quavered with tears. "It's so dark here, and I'm so scared... Wuwuwu..."
Her sobs were soft and lilting, enough to make a man's bones melt. She sounded like a young girl from the neighborhood who'd been wronged.
Xu Dadao stopped in his tracks.
"Are you... human or ghost?" Xu Dadao halted, one hand resting on his saber. "Don't think I don't know that you demons love using women's voices to trick people!"
At his words, the voice fell silent for a moment.
Then came another string of sobs. "Wuwuwu~~ I... I just got lost~~"
"I'm not a demon~~~ Wuwuwu~~ I'm the daughter of a hunter from this mountain~~"
"If you save me, young master... I... I'll do anything~~"
The woman's voice was soft, delicate, and lovely.
Xu Dadao hesitated.
He'd been single for decades and had never been with a woman.
His greatest weakness in life was women, and his biggest dream was to marry one.
Especially a woman who sounded so deserving of his tenderness.
"A hunter's daughter? Lost?"
Xu Dadao swallowed. The fear in his heart was overwhelmed by a flicker of hope and lust.
Xu Dadao slowly turned around.
A few meters away, beneath the shadows of the trees, stood a woman with a bewitching figure.
"Um... miss?" Xu Dadao called tentatively.
In the moonlight, the woman's figure was lovely, and her face was beautiful. She leaned against a large tree.
The woman wiped away her tears, looking like a rain-drenched pear blossom, so pitiful and endearing. "Young master, you're a good person. Could you take me home?"
Xu Dadao stared at her face, utterly transfixed.
This girl was far too beautiful.
In all of Blackwater County, he'd never seen anyone so pretty.
And how could she possibly look like a female ghost? She was practically a goddess!
"Sure! Sure! I'll take you home!"
"I'm Xu Dadao! Heh! My dad gave me that name because he hoped I'd learn martial arts!"
Xu Dadao smiled, putting on a simple, dependable air, though inside he was already itching like a cat.
The woman stopped crying and led the way.
Xu Dadao followed behind her, his gaze fixed on her slender waist and swaying skirt.
But as they walked, Xu Dadao gradually began to feel that something was off.
The mountain path was rugged and strewn with rocks and dead branches. He stumbled along, stepping high and low.
But the woman walking ahead...
Her steps were far too light.
So light, it was as if she had no weight at all.
Her toes barely touched the ground, and beneath her skirt, he couldn't even see her heels make contact..
This...
At that moment, Xu Dadao's scalp suddenly prickled.
He stared at the woman ahead.
A terrifying thought suddenly surfaced in his mind.
He...
He thought this woman looked like... a paper figure.
She drifted along, light as a feather.
"Miss... slow down. This path's hard to walk." Xu Dadao couldn't help calling out.
The woman didn't look back. She only let out a string of bell-like laughter. "Young master, we're almost there. My home is just ahead."
After walking for a while, they finally arrived at the woman's home.
Up ahead, a mansion stood there.
It had a vermilion gate, high walls and a broad courtyard, with two red lanterns hanging by the entrance.
It looked rather eerie in the pitch-black night.
"H-how is there such a big mansion up here?" Xu Dadao was bewildered. He was sure he hadn't seen it on the way in.
"This is my home."
The woman pushed open the gate and beckoned to him over her shoulder. "Young master, thank you for bringing me home."
"Oh..."
As she spoke, the woman bent slightly.
Her red gauze dress slipped down a little, revealing skin smooth as jade.
She shyly tugged her dress back up and said, "Young master, why don't you come in and sit for a while~"
At the sight of this,
the last shred of reason left in old bachelor Xu Dadao crumbled completely!!
Grinning foolishly, he followed her inside.
The mansion was quiet. There were no servants and not a sound to be heard.
The woman led Xu Dadao straight into a boudoir filled with the scent of cosmetics.
"Brother Dadao, have a seat. I'll go change."
As she spoke, the woman walked over and sat down at the dressing table.
Xu Dadao sat on the edge of the bed, his heart pounding as he imagined what might happen next.
Looks like old Xu's finally getting a taste of the good life today!
But after waiting for ages, the woman remained facing away from him, motionless.
Her long, black hair fell down, covering her entire back.
"Miss?"
When she didn't respond, Xu Dadao couldn't help asking, "Why... are you sitting with your back to me?"
The boudoir fell silent as the grave.
After a long while,
that soft voice drifted out again.
This time, though, it was no longer coquettish. Instead, it carried a deathly chill. "Young master... what are you talking about?"
"I've been... facing you the whole time."
Xu Dadao froze, then chuckled awkwardly. "Miss, you're quite the joker. Your head's turned away from me. I can't see your face."
"You don't believe me?"
The woman's voice turned shrill and grating. "Then I'll turn around and let you see..."
Before she had finished speaking,
the woman sitting at the dressing table slowly, stiffly turned around.
In that instant, Xu Dadao's pupils widened to their limit. He gaped, but couldn't make a sound.
Because...
The "face" that turned toward him was still covered in long, black hair!
It was still the back of a head!
There were no features at all!
This woman... had a back where her face should have been!
"Heeheehee... Now, do you see?"
"Do you see!"
The woman's voice grew shriller and shriller!
Shriller and shriller!
"DO! YOU! SEE!"
Xu Dadao was dumbstruck!
It was over!
Help!
Before you continue