A noble house, deep as the sea

A sudden knock sounded at the door!

Wang Qilin dashed to the door to open it.

The window paper was translucent.

He glanced through it but saw no sign of anything outside.

At least it wasn't a person knocking.

He looked at Xie Hama, who said, "Just putting on a spooky act. The truly vicious ones don't bother with this. They push the door open and get straight to it!"

Reassured by those words, Wang Qilin went over and pulled the door open.

As the door opened, a cold wind howled in.

Sheets of yellow ritual paper flew in on the wind like snowflakes!

Xie Hama formed hand seals and barked, "Swift!"

The fluttering yellow papers immediately fell to the floor.

The three looked at the yellow papers. Scarlet words covered them:

Die, all of you!

Xie Hama picked up a sheet and sniffed it. His face turned terribly grim. "Human blood!"

Wang Qilin turned to speak, only to glance behind him:

The door to the inner bedchamber had opened without a sound.

A woman in white stood in the doorway, her hair hanging loose.

Her eyes were tightly shut.

Her lips were tightly closed.

Huang Qingyun!

He hurriedly signaled the other two with his eyes. They turned and both looked horrified.

Wang Qilin was just as alarmed.

The door had opened without a sound...

She had walked without a sound...

It was too eerie.

And she actually sleepwalked? That was important, yet no one had told him!

Huang Qingyun stood in the doorway for a while, then walked out with ordinary steps...

At the same time, the outer door slammed shut by itself.

Xu Da snapped, "This trick again?"

He went over and pulled at the door.

Sure enough, it wouldn't budge.

The temperature in the room began to drop.

But with the door closed and the night wind shut out, the room shouldn't have been so cold.

Yet it was.

A cold that sank deep into the bones.

An eerie, sinister cold!

Wang Qilin instinctively reached to draw Horse Slayer, but delight appeared on Xie Hama's face.

The sight made Xu Da's skin crawl. He shot him a look. "Has the old Daoist gone mad with fright?"

Xie Hama glared at him. "Fool! A ghost has come!"

"Why are you happy about that?"

"This ghost is small fry!" Xie Hama grinned again and suddenly flicked a talisman from his sleeve.

The talisman flew out and turned into hundreds upon thousands of paper talismans that whirled around the room. Then they gathered in one place and wound together, actually outlining a human figure.

The scabbard fell to the floor. Horse Slayer was drawn!

Wang Qilin spread his legs into a bow stance, his soles scraping across the blue bricks with a harsh rasp. His long saber slashed and thrust, his body following the blade, and in an instant he charged up to the ghostly figure entangled in the talismans.

Unwilling to be restrained, the ghostly figure suddenly stretched into the shape of a giant python and twisted away.

Wang Qilin charged straight at it. Horse Slayer swept past, moonlight spilling across its edge in a burst of icy radiance-

Dark Night, Fierce Wind!

The supremely yin, supremely yielding, supremely swift Lunar Soul-Severing Saber unleashed one slash after another. Internal energy surged from his dantian into every limb and bone like a mighty river in flood, flowing endlessly, without pause!

The ghostly figure, which had intended to ambush the three of them, was caught completely off guard. It was a clever ghost, though. After taking the Lunar Soul-Severing Saber, it knew how fearsome it was and actually swept up the table and hurled it at Wang Qilin!

The solid wooden round table flew up with a crash!

Wang Qilin's expression was resolute, his gaze like iron. Without dodging or retreating, he continued charging straight ahead, his feet stamping the floor tiles as power spread from his legs throughout his body-

The demonic saber Horse Slayer swung in his hands, silently cutting the round table into four pieces that flew in four directions!

But the ghostly figure had achieved its aim. It bought time with this and seized the chance to smash through the window and flee, taking the talismans with it.

They had actually beaten it into retreat just like that!

Xu Da stuffed an Ice Plant Bead into his mouth. "Follow me!"

He kicked the door, sending both leaves flying.

Hearing the commotion, General Huang, the steward, and the others waiting next door all emerged. "Lord Wang, what happened?"

Wang Qilin shouted sternly, "Come catch the ghost with me!"

With that roar, he gripped his saber in both hands and delivered a heavy slash!

His internal energy surged into the demonic saber, and an icy blade light shot out.

Unable to dodge in time, the ghostly figure took a slash, sending a great cloud of bloody mist spraying out!

The ghostly figure fled much faster. Wang Qilin slashed again, but this strike landed on a stone table.

The blade light swept past, and the stone table crashed apart in two.

Huang Huaji's eyes narrowed at the sight. "A divine weapon!"

The ghostly figure ran like a rabbit under pursuit, while Xu Da stretched his legs and chased relentlessly like an ostrich. He followed it into a courtyard, then kicked open a door and charged into a room.

A woman's screams suddenly rang out inside. "Help! Help!"

Wang Qilin entered close behind him. A beautiful woman with a slender, graceful figure fled in panic to a corner and trembled.

Her clothes were disheveled, one fair shoulder half exposed.

Xu Da hurriedly covered his eyes, leaving enormous gaps between his fingers.

Wang Qilin entered, then hastily backed out again. In that fleeting glimpse, he had already recognized the woman: Huang Huaji's daughter-in-law, Madam Huang née Yao.

Once outside, he hurriedly scanned his surroundings and called, "Xu Da, where's the ghost?"

Xu Da swallowed and shouted, "In this room! It fled into this room!"

Huang Huaji and the others arrived behind them. The steward called loudly, "This is madam's inner courtyard. Come out at once."

Wang Qilin planted his saber in the ground and rested both hands on it. "I'd like to leave too, but what about the ghost? Are we just ignoring it?"

The steward asked, "The ghost fled in here?"

Xu Da said solemnly, "That's right. It vanished after fleeing in here!"

The steward said, "My lord, you mustn't make such claims lightly."

Just then, Madam Huang née Yao ran out in panic with an outer robe draped over her. She looked helplessly at the crowd. "What are you doing? What do you-what do you want?"

Xie Hama limped into the courtyard and smiled. "Madam, raising ghosts invites disaster."

Madam Huang née Yao cried out, trembling, "What are they saying? What are they doing? Father-in-law, you must stand up for me!"

Xie Hama smiled. "There's no need to act, madam. That won't work on us. You actually dared command a ghost before our Heaven-Listening Bureau? Do you underestimate our bureau's strength, or overestimate your own abilities?"

The steward said quietly, "My lord, you mustn't say such things lightly."

Xie Hama formed a hand seal. Sheets of talisman paper flew out of the room and landed on the ground like a paved path.

At the sight, Madam Huang née Yao collapsed to the ground.

The talismans formed a trail from the doorway to the dressing table.

Seeing this, Wang Qilin swung his saber down!

The dressing table split in two, and a black shadow shot toward him.

Wang Qilin raised his saber and advanced steadily, every slash vicious!

The black shadow was hacked back again and again. It couldn't withstand the blade light of the demonic saber Horse Slayer at all. Bloody mist roiled over its body until almost none of its blackness remained visible.

But it seemed to know it had reached a dead end. Rather than fleeing, it seized an opening and lunged at him again.

"You've got nerve!"

Wang Qilin charged forward with a long cry, gripping his saber in both hands and slashing again and again. There was no technique, only speed!

Of all martial arts under heaven, only speed could not be countered!

The black shadow transformed into a giant python again, trying to coil around Wang Qilin. He stepped back, gathered his strength, and changed his move-Lights of Ten Thousand Homes!

Numerous techniques merged into one, the light of ten thousand homes converging into a single point of cold radiance!

The blade light darted like a snake's tongue, thrusting into multiple places on the ghostly figure with lightning speed.

The ghostly figure convulsed and turned into a column of red smoke.

The Furnace of Creation flew out and sucked it away.

At that moment, Xie Hama sauntered over to the dressing table and felt around with his hand. He soon pulled out a palm-sized black figurine.

He handed the figurine to Wang Qilin, who passed it to Huang Huaji.

The figurine was exquisitely carved, its face lifelike. It depicted the criminal surnamed Su on the wanted notice.

At the sight, Huang Huaji looked at the steward, who said, "Madam, explain yourself."

Caught red-handed with the evidence, Madam Huang née Yao made no attempt to resist. She sneered, "Explain myself? What should I explain? That's right, I controlled Su Xin'an's ghost. I was the one who dealt with that little bitch Huang Qingyun. But she deserved it!"

The steward sighed. "What crime could a girl who never even leaves the house have committed? You're her mother!"

Madam Huang née Yao's voice was shrill. "She's committed no crime? Did she ever treat me as her mother? How did I lose the child in my belly, the child who would truly have treated me as a mother? Have you all forgotten what happened?"

"She ruined everything for me! If I could have given birth to that child, if I could still bear children, would my husband have abandoned me in this remote backwater?"

"I should have been the one staying in the capital to attend to my husband! But now? A lowly whore from a brothel has taken my place! Once she bears him a child, she'll take my position as mistress of the household too!"

Xu Da froze. "Fuck, that's a lot to take in."

Xie Hama stroked his beard and sighed deeply. "Once you enter a noble house, its depths are like the sea."