"Miss, did you appear specifically to tell me all this because you need something from me?"
Xu Taiping had also guessed the ghost woman's intentions.
"You guessed correctly, young man. I appeared because I have a favor to ask."
The ghost woman nodded repeatedly.
"I have a younger sister named Liu Zijin. Three years ago, we came up the mountain together, but her exceptional talent won her immediate admission to the Fifth Peak. We had agreed that once I passed the Five Peaks selection the following year, I would join her in cultivating on the Fifth Peak."
"But around this time last year, a disciple of the Fifth Peak suddenly came to my dwelling. He said he was my younger sister's third senior brother and that, on his way down the mountain, he had stopped by to deliver a letter from Zi Jin and see whether I was well."
"Upon hearing that he was Zi Jin's senior brother, I naturally dared not slight him. I entertained him for quite some time with fine wine and food."
"But after three rounds of wine, that scoundrel went wild and violated me like a beast. Afterward, he threatened me, forbidding me from telling anyone. He intended to keep me captive as his private plaything, always at hand for his pleasure."
"I wanted to end my life, but he threatened me with my younger sister, Zi Jin. If I refused him, he would frame her and have her expelled from the Five Peaks."
"With no other choice, I could only submit to him. I hoped to wait until Zi Jin had secured her place in the Five Peaks, then find a way to tell her everything."
"But a few months ago, while that scoundrel was dead drunk, I happened to hear that he intended to use me to blackmail my younger sister, Zi Jin, and make her his plaything as well."
"If I alone suffered humiliation, I could endure it somehow. But once he set his sights on Zi Jin, I could not let him succeed, even if I had to fight him to the death."
"So while he was drunk, I took out a weapon I had long kept hidden in my room, intending to end that shameless wretch's life."
"But in the end, I underestimated the cultivation of a mountain disciple. The moment I revealed the slightest killing intent, he seized me instead."
"That shameless wretch flew into a rage from humiliation. After degrading me, he killed me and threw my body deep into the mountains near my dwelling. Before long, the Tiger Wraith captured me, and I became his ghost slave."
After hearing the ghost woman's long account, Xu Taiping's heart churned with indignation he could not quell.
He had never imagined that such villains and such vile deeds could exist on this immortal mountain. Compared with the third disciple of the Five Peaks, even the Tiger Wraith seemed a good man.
Of course, that was assuming everything the ghost woman had said was true.
"How can you prove that everything you said is true?"
After calming down, Xu Taiping questioned the ghost woman.
"To expose that shameless wretch, I used the only stick of Dust-Seeking Incense I possessed."
As she spoke, the ghost woman pointed from afar at the sleeve of the corpse below, then continued:
"Dust-Seeking Incense comes in a set of four sticks: one mother and three children. Light the mother stick, and it records images of everything that happens in the room before it burns out."
"When you wish to watch, you need only light a child stick, and all those past events will appear."
Hearing this, Xu Taiping nodded inwardly.
He had seen this treasure in the Bronze Mirror before.
"So you want me to give the remaining sticks of incense to your sister, Zi Jin?"
Before Liu Qingmei could speak, Xu Taiping asked her directly.
"Exactly!"
Liu Qingmei nodded emphatically, then spoke with a trace of despair in her voice:
"Lu Chen, the third disciple of the Five Peaks, is said to be the nephew of an elder there. The Azure Profound Sect would never punish him for the sake of a mere outer disciple like me. I do not ask for my injustice to be redressed. I only ask that my sister, Zi Jin, no longer be deceived by that shameless wretch!"
No sooner had she spoken than another cold gust swept through the courtyard entrance, and her figure began to fade little by little.
"Young man, if you ever have the chance to ascend to the Five Peaks, please give the Dust-Seeking Incense to my sister!"
Seeing that her soul was about to scatter, Liu Qingmei's voice suddenly grew urgent, and she waited anxiously for Xu Taiping's answer.
"If what you've told me is true, I will make sure this Dust-Seeking Incense reaches Sister Zi Jin."
Without much hesitation, Xu Taiping gave his promise, his gaze resolute.
"Thank you, young man!"
Having received Xu Taiping's promise, the ghost woman Liu Qingmei immediately bowed to the ground, striking her forehead heavily against it.
"Young man, the Tiger Wraith failed today, and he certainly will not let matters rest. Though he is extremely difficult to deal with, he is not without weaknesses. During my captivity, I happened to learn that he died from drinking while alive. Wine is like poison to his soul. Perhaps you can find a way to force him out of the body he possesses, then use wine against him."
Liu Qingmei suddenly raised her head and told Xu Taiping the Tiger Wraith's weakness.
"The Tiger Wraith's weakness is actually wine? Thank you for warning me!"
Xu Taiping thanked her in delighted surprise. Though he had yet to light the Dust-Seeking Incense, his trust in Liu Qingmei deepened a little.
"Young man, you must give the Dust-Seeking Incense to my sister."
The ghost woman shook her head and repeated her plea, her face full of supplication.
"Don't worry, Sister Qingmei. As long as I can get up the mountain, I will find a way to give this Dust-Seeking Incense to Sister Zi Jin."
Xu Taiping nodded solemnly.
At these words, a faint smile finally appeared on the ghost woman Liu Qingmei's grief-stricken face.
"One more thing, young man. There is a Tiger Essence behind the Tiger Wraith, and his abilities are formidable. If you can help it, never make an enemy of him!"
Just as the ghost woman's figure was about to vanish completely, she suddenly warned Xu Taiping in an urgent voice.
"A Tiger Demon?"
Watching the specks of green flame burst apart above Liu Qingmei's corpse, Xu Taiping murmured in surprise.
"So the story of becoming a wraith to serve a tiger was actually true."
Upon learning that a Tiger Essence was backing the Tiger Wraith, Xu Taiping, still shocked, suddenly recalled the tale of a ghost serving as a tiger's accomplice.
Although I now know the Tiger Wraith's weakness, according to the venerable Purple Sun True Lord, a single careless move against a ghost could get me killed on the spot before I break through to the Gate Opening Realm. It would be best not to fight him myself, but to report this to the sect and have them send someone to deal with him.
Thinking this, Xu Taiping jumped down from above the courtyard gate.
"In any case, I should report this to the sect first. Then I can bring over the corpse of that Demon Wolf in the mountains. Surely they can't turn a blind eye to that?"
Muttering under his breath, he took a small wooden box from the sleeve of Liu Qingmei's corpse.
He opened it and found precisely three sticks of incense inside.
"As for this Dust-Seeking Incense and Sister Qingmei's story, I'll light one stick today to check whether it's true. Tomorrow, I'll see how the people from the sect respond to the Tiger Wraith. If they're willing to deal with him, I'll tell them what happened to Liu Qingmei and hand these three sticks of incense over to them."
Xu Taiping stood and put away the wooden box containing the Dust-Seeking Incense.
Before you continue