The Female Ghost

As the sky gradually darkened, thirteen Plum Blossom Snakes lay sprawled lazily across the floor. Whether they were tired or simply didn't want to move because they hadn't eaten enough was anyone's guess. Their massive bodies filled almost the entire second floor, leaving barely any gaps.

Three Octagonal Spikes lay on the table, just as listless. If their bodies hadn't twitched now and then, one might have thought the three little creatures had already kicked the bucket.

The only ones still full of energy were the five White Jade Ants. Their tiny bodies scurried all over the shop, stopping here for a moment and lingering there for a while. Most likely, they were looking for something to eat.

If Luo Mu hadn't warned them beforehand, the shop's furniture would probably have become a meal for the White Jade Ants.

By the dead of night, even the White Jade Ants had used up most of their energy and settled down. The entire shop sank into darkness, taking on a somewhat eerie air.

A faint white glow seeped from beneath Luo Mu's bed, accompanied by a trace of icy chill. Exhausted, Luo Mu was already fast asleep and completely unaware of it.

Two slightly translucent arms slowly crawled out from beneath the bed. A moment later, a faint, wavering silhouette appeared beside Luo Mu's bed.

The figure had no feet. Its body floated in midair, somewhat ethereal, as if a gust of wind could scatter it. Judging by the vague outline of its face and its figure, it seemed to be a woman.

A faint, icy chill constantly radiated from her. She was actually a ghost!

Looking at Luo Mu, who was sleeping soundly, the Female Ghost wore a sinister smile. She leaned toward him, preparing to drain his yang energy.

Just then, the thirteen Plum Blossom Snakes coiled on the floor began to stir. Their bodies thrashed against the floor, making a series of loud noises. Luo Mu's brows furrowed in his sleep, and amid the clamor, he woke up.

The Female Ghost was startled. She immediately turned into a wisp of white smoke and slipped back beneath the bed, vanishing from sight.

"What's going on?" After waking, Luo Mu felt a chill in the room and couldn't help shivering. Looking at the Plum Blossom Snakes thrashing their bodies on the floor, he was full of questions.

Curious, Luo Mu reached out to communicate with the Plum Blossom Snakes.

A short while later, Luo Mu's expression darkened, and all traces of sleep vanished. He sprang to his feet and stared coldly beneath the bed. After communicating with the snakes, he already knew what had happened.

"No wonder this shop was selling for such a low price. A ghost has been causing trouble here! The old man who sold me the shop was just an ordinary mortal. How could he withstand being frightened by a ghost? It would've been stranger if he'd stayed here." At last, Luo Mu understood why the shop had been so cheap.

Still, he felt a chill run down his spine. A ghost had appeared, and he hadn't noticed a thing. If the Plum Blossom Snakes hadn't warned him at the critical moment, he might have suffered a loss. The only explanation was that his cultivation was still too shallow.

Fortunately, the Female Ghost wasn't particularly troublesome, probably about evenly matched with Luo Mu. Otherwise, she wouldn't have failed to notice the Plum Blossom Snakes.

In fact, Luo Mu had guessed almost everything. The old man who sold him the shop had decided to put it up for sale because the Female Ghost had frightened him. The place was remote, business was poor, and at night he had to face a ghost that could take his life at any moment. How could an old man who still hoped to live a few more years dare to stay in such a dangerous place?

The old man had tried hiring cultivators to deal with the ghost. But whenever he spent a fortune to bring in cultivators, they couldn't locate the Female Ghost's hiding place. No one knew what kind of concealment technique she used, but it kept the cultivators from sensing her presence.

Every cultivator who came to exterminate the ghost assumed the old man was lying to them. They were furious and treated him accordingly. If the cultivation world hadn't had clear rules against cultivators attacking mortals at will, those enraged cultivators might have killed the old man several times over.

But as soon as the cultivators left, the Female Ghost would invariably reappear at night and drain the old man's yang energy while he slept. As time went on, he could clearly feel his health deteriorating.

At his age, he already had only a few years left to live. With the Female Ghost tormenting him like this, how could he possibly dare to stay? So when Luo Mu showed up, the helpless old man had no choice but to sell him this hot potato of a shop.

Luo Mu, who had thought he'd gotten a bargain, had also failed to notice the Female Ghost just now. He had no idea what kind of secret technique she was using.

But Luo Mu wasn't going to leave the shop like the old man had. Two hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones were no small sum to him. Now that the shop belonged to him, he certainly wouldn't allow the Female Ghost to keep living there.

Luo Mu stood beside the bed. The thirteen Plum Blossom Snakes had already appeared behind him, raising the front halves of their bodies in a threatening display. Three Octagonal Spikes perched on his left shoulder, and five White Jade Ants rested on his right. The eight little creatures seemed to know something major was about to happen, and had shed their earlier listlessness.

After standing by the head of the bed and thinking for a while, Luo Mu's expression darkened, and his eyes turned cold.

"Are you coming out on your own, or do I have to drag you out myself?" Luo Mu's icy voice rang out.

The pitch-black room remained utterly still. Luo Mu snorted and crossed his hands, sweeping them toward the wooden bed. A tremendous force surged forth, lifting the entire bed into the air.

With a muffled crash, Luo Mu moved the bed to one side, exposing the floor beneath it. The room was pitch-black. Though Luo Mu's eyesight as a cultivator far surpassed that of a mortal, his limited strength still made it difficult to see what was around him.

But Luo Mu remained unhurried. He held out his right hand, and five flames appeared at his fingertips. With a wave, he sent them flying toward the oil lamps on the table and walls.

In the blink of an eye, the lamps on all four walls and the table were lit, and the pitch-black room blazed with light. The scene beneath the bed came fully into view.

There was nothing beneath the wooden bed. It was just like everywhere else, with nothing out of the ordinary. Luo Mu's brows knitted together.

According to the information the Plum Blossom Snakes had relayed, the Female Ghost had definitely disappeared beneath the bed. Luo Mu and the Plum Blossom Snakes were connected heart to heart, so he had no reason to doubt what they had told him.

"Hmph! I refuse to believe you just vanished right under my nose!" Luo Mu snorted inwardly. At the same time, he waved his hand, and the wooden bed he had moved aside rolled over, exposing its underside.

He released all his spiritual sense and directed it toward the bottom of the bed. A moment later, his brows furrowed even more deeply. His spiritual sense revealed that the bed was no different from an ordinary wooden bed. There was nothing unusual about it, and he couldn't sense the Female Ghost within it either.

A cold smile appeared on Luo Mu's lips. The Female Ghost had clearly appeared; he refused to believe she could simply vanish into thin air. Unwilling to give up, he began another thorough search.

It was clear that Luo Mu wouldn't let the matter rest until he dragged the Female Ghost out.

After the time it took to eat a meal, Luo Mu still hadn't found anything. He had yet to locate the Female Ghost's hiding place, and his expression grew even darker.

"I don't believe you won't come out!" Luo Mu's face turned fierce. At his command, the five White Jade Ants on his shoulder became five streaks of white light and shot toward the wooden bed he had moved aside.

The White Jade Ants opened their mouths and began ravenously devouring the bed. Luo Mu didn't react; he was the one who had told them to do it.

The bed wasn't large, and Luo Mu knew how quickly the White Jade Ants could devour things. Under his cold gaze, it took them only a moment to swallow the entire bed, leaving not a trace.

"Not in there?" Still unable to find the Female Ghost, Luo Mu's expression turned ugly. But the five White Jade Ants didn't stop. After devouring the bed, they set their jaws to the floorboards.

Time passed little by little, and Luo Mu's patience wore thinner by the moment. By then, the White Jade Ants had already eaten half the wooden floor on the second floor.

Without an order from Luo Mu to stop, the White Jade Ants kept up their pace, and the floor vanished rapidly. Standing where he was, Luo Mu could clearly see what was happening downstairs. With most of the second-floor flooring gone, the entire floor was on the verge of collapse.

Luo Mu paid it no mind, intent on turning the place upside down to find the Female Ghost. If she wasn't in the floor, he didn't mind having the White Jade Ants devour the surrounding walls too.

The house could always be renovated, but unless he dragged the Female Ghost out, Luo Mu wouldn't feel at ease for even a single day.

Ordinary ghosts were just souls without physical bodies, making them very easy to conceal. Anywhere in the room could be the Female Ghost's hiding place.

Luo Mu had no magical artifact for searching for ghosts, so he could only use this clumsy method to find her.

Suddenly, Luo Mu raised his brows, and a hint of a smile appeared at the corner of his cold mouth. He walked toward where the White Jade Ants were. Just moments ago, the five White Jade Ants had discovered something, and Luo Mu felt a faint spark of joy.

The five White Jade Ants were restlessly crawling over the wooden floorboard in front of him, but they weren't opening their mouths to devour it. Luo Mu drew it toward him with one hand. A flash of green light passed, and the entire board appeared in his hand, clutched tightly.

The board was rectangular, about three feet long and roughly an inch thick. It looked completely ordinary, with nothing unusual about it. Yet Luo Mu held onto it tightly and released his spiritual sense into it.

Whether Luo Mu's spiritual sense was too weak or the board really was perfectly ordinary, he didn't detect anything unusual. Annoyed, he jolted his hand, and the board shattered.