Female Ghost

The sky gradually darkened. Thirteen Plum Blossom Snakes lay lazily on the floor, whether from exhaustion or a lack of appetite, they showed no desire to move. Their massive bodies filled the entire second floor, leaving barely a gap to be found.

Three Octagonal Spikes lay on the table, equally listless; if not for the occasional twitch of their bodies, one might have assumed the little things were already dead.

The only ones with any energy were the five White Jade Ants. Their petite bodies scurried incessantly across the shop, pausing here for a moment and lingering there for a while, mostly in search of something to eat.

Had Luo Mu not given them prior instructions, most of the furniture in the shop would have become food for the White Jade Ants.

By the time the night grew deep and silent, the White Jade Ants had also exhausted most of their energy and returned to stillness. The entire shop plunged into darkness, appearing somewhat eerie.

A faint white light seeped from beneath Luo Mu's bed, accompanied by a subtle, chilling aura. Luo Mu, utterly exhausted, was fast asleep and remained completely unaware of this.

Two slightly translucent arms slowly crawled out from under the bed. A moment later, a flickering, ghostly figure appeared at the edge of Luo Mu's bed.

The figure had no feet; its entire body hovered in mid-air, appearing so ethereal that it seemed a mere gust of wind could scatter it. Judging by the blurred contours of its face and its stature, it was likely a woman.

The woman constantly exuded a faint, chilling aura—she was a ghost!

Watching Luo Mu sleeping soundly, a cold, sinister smile hung on the female ghost's face. She leaned in, preparing to feed on Luo Mu's vital energy.

Just then, the thirteen Plum Blossom Snakes coiled on the floor began to stir, their bodies thrashing and striking the floorboards with a series of rhythmic thuds. Luo Mu, deep in sleep, furrowed his brows and jolted awake at the sudden, loud commotion.

The female ghost was startled and immediately transformed into a wisp of white smoke, retreating beneath the bed and vanishing from sight.

"What's going on?" Waking up, Luo Mu felt a chill in the room and couldn't help but shiver. He looked at the Plum Blossom Snakes, which were still thrashing their bodies against the floor, his heart filled with confusion.

Driven by curiosity, Luo Mu established a mental connection with the Plum Blossom Snakes.

A short while later, Luo Mu's expression turned grim. All traces of sleepiness vanished as he stood up abruptly, his gaze icy as he stared at the space beneath the bed. Through their communication, he had learned the truth of the matter.

"No wonder this shop was sold so cheaply; it turns out there's a ghost haunting the place! The old man who sold me the shop was merely a mortal—how could he withstand the terror of a ghost? It would have been strange if he hadn't left." Now, Luo Mu finally understood why the shop had been such a bargain.

However, a chill ran down Luo Mu's spine. A ghost had appeared, and he hadn't even noticed. If not for the Plum Blossom Snakes' timely warning, he would likely have suffered a loss. Such an oversight could only be attributed to his own cultivation level being too shallow.

Fortunately, the female ghost was not a particularly troublesome character; she was likely on par with him. Otherwise, she would have surely detected the presence of the Plum Blossom Snakes.

In fact, Luo Mu's guess was not far from the truth. The old man who sold him the shop had indeed decided to sell it precisely because he was terrified by the ghost. The location was remote, business was poor, and he had to face a ghost every night, risking his life at any moment. For an old man hoping to live out his remaining years in peace, staying in such a dangerous place was out of the question.

It wasn't that the old man hadn't sought out cultivators to deal with the ghost, but every time he spent a fortune to hire one, they were unable to locate the ghost's hiding spot. It seemed the ghost possessed some hidden technique that prevented cultivators from sensing her aura.

Every cultivator who came to exorcise the ghost assumed the old man was lying to them. They were filled with immense anger and naturally treated him with nothing but disdain. If not for the strict regulations of the cultivation world forbidding cultivators from attacking mortals at will, the old man might have been killed by these enraged cultivators many times over.

However, once the cultivators left, the ghost would inevitably reappear at night, feeding on the old man's vital energy while he slept. Over time, the old man clearly felt his health deteriorating.

At his age, he didn't have many years left to live, and being tormented by a ghost made it impossible for him to stay. Thus, when Luo Mu appeared, the desperate old man had no choice but to sell this hot potato of a shop to him.

Luo Mu didn't know what secret technique the ghost used, but having thought he'd snagged a bargain, he had failed to detect her presence just moments ago, just like the old man.

However, Luo Mu would not leave this shop like the old man had; two hundred low-grade spirit stones were not a small sum to him. Now that the shop was his, he certainly would not allow the ghost to continue existing here.

Luo Mu stood by the bed, the thirteen Plum Blossom Snakes already behind him, their upper bodies raised in an intimidating display. The three Octagonal Spikes clung to his left shoulder, and the five White Jade Ants to his right. The eight little creatures seemed to sense that something major was about to happen, having shaken off their previous lethargy.

After pondering at the bedside for a moment, Luo Mu's expression darkened, and his eyes glinted with cold light.

"Are you coming out yourself, or do I have to invite you out personally?" The icy words emanated from Luo Mu's mouth.

The pitch-black room remained silent. Luo Mu let out a cold snort and swung his hands in a cross motion toward the wooden bed. A burst of immense force erupted, lifting the entire bed into the air.

With a dull thud, the bed was pushed aside, revealing the floorboards beneath. Because the room was pitch black, and although Luo Mu was a cultivator with vision far superior to a mortal's, his limited strength made it difficult to see the surroundings clearly.

Luo Mu, however, remained unhurried. He extended his right hand, and five flames appeared at his fingertips. With a flick of his wrist, the flames left his fingers and flew 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. The dark room instantly became as bright as day, and the scene beneath the wooden bed was laid bare to Luo Mu's sight.

There was nothing under the bed; it looked exactly like the rest of the floor, with nothing special about it. Seeing this, Luo Mu furrowed his brows.

According to the information fed back by the Plum Blossom Snakes, the ghost had definitely vanished beneath the bed. Luo Mu's heart and mind were linked to the snakes, so he did not doubt their feedback in the slightest.

"Hmph! I don't believe you could just vanish right under my nose!" Luo Mu snorted inwardly. At the same time, he waved his hand, and the wooden bed that had been pushed aside flipped over entirely, exposing its underside.

He released his divine sense, directing it toward the bottom of the bed. A moment later, his brows furrowed even deeper. Through his search, he found that the bed was no different from an ordinary one; he could not sense the ghost's presence within it at all.

A cold sneer appeared on Luo Mu's lips. Since the ghost had appeared, he didn't believe she could simply vanish into thin air. Relentless, he began a carpet-style search.

It seemed that Luo Mu would not rest until he dragged the ghost out.

After the time it takes to eat a meal, Luo Mu still had nothing to show for his efforts; the ghost's hiding place remained unfound. His expression grew even gloomier.

"I don't believe you won't come out!" A ruthless look crossed Luo Mu's face. He issued a command, and the five White Jade Ants on his shoulder transformed into five streaks of white light, instantly leaving his shoulder and heading toward the displaced wooden bed.

The White Jade Ants opened their mouths and began to devour the wooden bed frantically. Luo Mu showed no reaction, for it was he who had ordered them to do so.

The bed itself was not large, and Luo Mu knew well the speed at which the White Jade Ants devoured things. Under his cold gaze, in just a short moment, the bed was consumed by the five ants, leaving not a trace behind.

"Not inside?" Still unable to find a shadow of the ghost, Luo Mu's expression turned ugly. However, the five White Jade Ants did not stop there; after finishing the bed, they turned their large mouths toward the floorboards.

Time passed bit by bit, and Luo Mu's patience was wearing thin, as half of the second floor's wooden flooring had already been consumed by the ants.

Without receiving a command from Luo Mu to stop, the White Jade Ants did not slow their pace, and the floor was rapidly disappearing. Luo Mu stood where he was, already able to clearly see the scene downstairs. The entire second floor, missing a large portion of its flooring, became precarious and could collapse at any moment.

Luo Mu turned a blind eye to this, determined to root out the ghost. If she wasn't in the floor, he wouldn't mind letting the ants devour the surrounding walls as well.

A house could be renovated if destroyed, but if he didn't drag the ghost out, he would never have a moment's peace.

Ordinary ghosts were merely souls without physical bodies, making them very easy to hide. Any spot in this room could be the ghost's hiding place.

Luo Mu lacked a magical artifact for searching out ghosts, so he had no choice but to use this clumsy method to find her.

Suddenly, Luo Mu's brows arched, a cold smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, and he walked toward the location where the White Jade Ants were currently gathered. Just a moment ago, the five ants had made a discovery, which brought a flicker of joy to Luo Mu's heart.

Looking at the floorboard in front of them, the five White Jade Ants were crawling restlessly on it but did not open their mouths to devour it. Luo Mu reached out with one hand, a green light flashed, and the entire board appeared in his hand, gripped tightly.

The board was rectangular, three feet long and about an inch thick. It was plain and unremarkable, yet Luo Mu gripped it tightly, releasing his divine sense and immersing it into the wood.

Whether it was because Luo Mu's divine sense was too weak or because the board was truly ordinary and had no issues, he could not find a single anomaly. In his irritation, Luo Mu shook his palm, and the board shattered into pieces.