โโ"Did you appear before me to ask for my help, Sister?"
โโXu Taiping also guessed the female ghost's intentions.
โโ"Young man, you guessed right. I have appeared this time to ask for your help."
โโThe female ghost nodded repeatedly.
โโ"I have a younger sister named Liu Zijin. Three years ago, we went up the mountain together. However, she was exceptionally talented and was directly taken in as a disciple by the Fifth Peak. Originally, we had agreed that after passing the selection of the Fifth Peak next year, I would be able to practice cultivation with her on the Fifth Peak."
โโ"Last year at this time, a disciple from the Fifth Peak suddenly came to my residence. He said he was my younger sister's third senior brother and was delivering a letter from Zijin while on his way down the mountain, and also checking to see if I was well."
โโ"Upon hearing that he was Zijin's senior brother, I naturally did not dare to be negligent and treated him with good wine and food for a while."
โโ"But after a few rounds of drinks, he suddenly went mad, defiling my purity like a beast. Afterwards, he threatened me not to tell anyone about this matter and wanted to imprison me as his plaything, to be used for his pleasure at any time."
โโ"I wanted to die, but he threatened me with my sister Zijin, saying that if I did not comply, he would frame Zijin and have her expelled from the Fifth Peak."
โโ"Having no choice, I had to submit to him, hoping to wait until Zijin was firmly established on the Fifth Peak before finding a way to tell her everything."
โโ"But a few months ago, I accidentally overheard him when he was heavily drunk, planning to use me to threaten my sister Zijin, making her also become his plaything."
โโ"If it was just me being defiled, I could have endured it, but he actually had designs on Zijin. I naturally could not let him succeed, even at the cost of my life."
โโ"So I took advantage of his drunken state, took out a weapon I had hidden in the house, and prepared to end the life of that despicable man."
โโ"But I underestimated the cultivation of the disciples on the mountain. As soon as I revealed a bit of killing intent, he turned around and captured me."
โโ"That despicable man, enraged and ashamed, defiled me again before killing me and throwing me into the deep mountains near my residence. Soon after, I was captured by that ghost and became its slave."
โโAfter listening to the female ghost's long story, Xu Taiping felt a deep sense of injustice.
โโHe never expected that such evil people and deeds could exist on this immortal mountain. Compared to the Fifth Peak's disciples, that ghost was almost a good person.
โโOf course, this was on the condition that what the female ghost said was true.
โโ"How can you prove that what you said is true?"
โโAfter calming down, Xu Taiping asked the female ghost.
โโ"To expose that despicable man, I used the only Dust-Seeking Incense I had."
โโThe female ghost pointed at the sleeve of the corpse below as she spoke, then continued:
โโ"This Dust-Seeking Incense has one mother and three children, a total of four sticks. When the mother incense is lit, it records everything that happens in the room until it burns out."
โโ"To view it, just light the child incense, and the past events will be fully revealed."
โโHearing this, Xu Taiping nodded in agreement.
โโHe had seen this treasure in the bronze mirror before.
โโ"So, Sister, you want me to give the remaining child incense to your sister Zijin?"
โโWithout waiting for Liu Qingmei to speak, Xu Taiping asked directly.
โโLiu Qingmei nodded forcefully, then said with a tone of despair:
โโ"Lu Chen, the Third Disciple of the Fifth Peak, is said to be the nephew of an elder of the Fifth Peak. The Qingxuan Sect will certainly not punish him for a mere outer disciple like me. So I do not seek justice, but only hope that my sister Zijin will not be deceived by that despicable man!"
โโAs she spoke, a cool breeze blew through the courtyard gate again, and her form began to fade gradually.
โโ"Young man, if you have the chance to go to the Fifth Peak, please give the Dust-Seeking Incense to my sister!"
โโSeeing that she was about to dissipate, Liu Qingmei's tone became urgent, eagerly awaiting Xu Taiping's response.
โโ"If what you say is true, I will definitely deliver the Dust-Seeking Incense to Sister Zijin."
โโXu Taiping did not hesitate, his eyes firm as he promised.
โโ"Thank you, young man!"
โโUpon receiving Xu Taiping's promise, Liu Qingmei immediately knelt down, her head heavily touching the ground.
โโ"Young man, that ghost will not give up if it fails today. Although it is very difficult to deal with, it is not without weaknesses. During the time I was captured by it, I learned that it died from drunkenness in its previous life. Alcohol is like poison to its soul. Perhaps you can find a way to force it out of its host and use alcohol to deal with it."
โโLiu Qingmei suddenly lifted her head and informed Xu Taiping of the ghost's weakness.
โโ"The ghost's weakness is alcohol? Thank you, Sister, for the warning!"
โโXu Taiping was pleasantly surprised and thanked her, although he had not yet lit the Dust-Seeking Incense, his trust in Liu Qingmei increased.
โโ"Young man, you must deliver the Dust-Seeking Incense to my sister."
โโThe female ghost shook her head and repeated her plea with a look of entreaty.
โโ"Sister Qingmei, rest assured. If I can go up the mountain, I will find a way to deliver the Dust-Seeking Incense to Sister Zijin."
โโXu Taiping nodded solemnly.
โโHearing this, Liu Qingmei's bitter face finally showed a hint of a smile.
โโ"By the way, young man, that ghost has a tiger spirit behind it, which is very powerful. If possible, do not become its enemy!"
โโJust as her form was about to completely dissipate, she urgently reminded Xu Taiping.
โโLooking at the green flames scattering above Liu Qingmei's corpse, Xu Taiping murmured in surprise.
โโ"The story of the tiger and the ghost is actually true."
โโUpon learning that the ghost had a tiger spirit backing it, Xu Taiping was shocked and suddenly recalled the story of the tiger and the ghost.
โโ"Although I know the ghost's weakness, according to Ziyang Zhenjun, if I encounter a ghost before breaking through to the Open Gate realm, I might die if I am not careful. Therefore, it is best not to deal with it myself but to report it to the sect and let the sect send someone to handle it."
โโXu Taiping thought this as he jumped down from the courtyard gate.
โโ"Anyway, I will report this matter to the sect first. Then, I will bring the corpse of the wolf spirit from the mountain. They cannot ignore it, right?"
โโHe muttered to himself as he took a small wooden box from the sleeve of Liu Qingmei's corpse.
โโOpening it, he saw that the box contained three incense sticks.
โโ"Regarding the Dust-Seeking Incense and Sister Qingmei's matter, I will light one stick today to verify its authenticity. Tomorrow, I will see how the sect handles the ghost. If they are willing to deal with it, I will inform them of Liu Qingmei's plight and hand over these three incense sticks to them."
โโXu Taiping stood up and put the wooden box containing the Dust-Seeking Incense away.