Chapter 64: Chapter 64: Encountering Lu Wanqiu Again

At this moment, Zhao Huai was following the myna bird which had a skull in its beak, leading the way, as if it were a compass.

Now he understood why it took the bird so long to return in the first place.

Jinzhou is a big city and it would take time to travel there. Leaving aside the time to leave the city, coupled with the rugged mountain road, it’s indeed far. However, luckily for Zhao Huai, he knew how to use sword control for flight, saving a lot of time.

saving a lot of time.

But this is the geographical position of Jinzhou, backed by the sea, a big river passing through, once out of the city, there were countless towering mountains nearby.

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Zhao Huai went out of the outer city of Jinzhou and came to the mountains near the city. Backed by the endless jungle mountains and into the jungle, he couldn’t continue to fly,

What lay before him was a winding moun tain road that stretched deep into the jungle, with no end in sight.

Today, Zhao Huai was in a black robe, wearing a bamboo hat, with a myna bird perched on his shoulder. He took a step, and his body appeared on a tree branch.

With a light stamp of his foot, he was like an afterimage, appearing on another tree.

Traveling in this way, his speed was naturally very fast and before long, a temple appeared in front of him.

Hovering in mid-air, Zhao Huai couldn’t help but mutter, “Is there really a temple here?”

After slowly landing and going up the stone steps, he quickly came to a large temple with rubble and vermilion wall. The sign at the front read “Mingyin Temple”.

When he looked to the other side, he saw another road up the mountain, with groups of pilgrims coming in and out.

Two young monks at the temple gate were holding brooms, sweeping the fallen leaves at the gate.

A confused look on his face, Zhao Huai glanced at the myna bird next to him and asked, “Is this the way you led us to? You couldn’t possibly lead us astray, could you?”

The myna bird tilted its head to look at him and said nothing, but continued to fly into the temple with the skull in its mouth.

Zhao Huai followed it into the temple. He was walking very fast and the monks sweeping around didn’t notice him.

After entering, there was a large courtyard in front of him with the Buddha’s copper statue at the furthest end, visible at a glance.

Zhao Huai stopped a young monk who was passing by and asked, “Excuse me, sir. Do you know about any eerie places in the temple recently?”

What he wanted to find now was the location of the Lantern Woman. Maybe the monks here could know something.

The young monk folded his hands respectfully and said seriously, “Eerie? Sir, you might be mistaken. This is a pure and peaceful place of Buddhism. How can there be anything eerie?”

“If you really want to talk about eerie, there is indeed something going on near the temple lately. For the specifics, you should ask the abbot. He knows more than us.’

After the monk explained, he left.

Zhao Huai nodded his head and continued to follow the myna bird.

Upon reaching the prayer hall, the bird didn’t stop but continued to fly towards the back hill of the temple.

“So it’s not in the temple, huh.”

Zhao Huai had a slight realization and was about to call the bird back when he saw a familiar girl in a green skirt and an old monk with a white beard, walking shoulder to shoulder out of the side door.

“Miss Lu?”

Zhao Huai asked in surprise.

The woman in front of him was none other than Lu Wanqiu, a disciple from the inner sect of the Immortal Yearning Sect, wasn’t it?

Her long legs were as white and straight as ever.

At this moment, Lu Wanqiu seemed to be seriously saying something to the old monk in the cassock.

Suddenly, she noticed that someone was staring at her.

She moved her gaze and met Zhao Huai’s eyes.

Seeing Zhao Huai, Lu Wanqiu smiled politely and said,

“It’s Young Master Zhao. It’s been a long time since we parted after the fox demon incident.”

“Miss Lu, is this young man also here to deal with the Evil Spirit?” The old monk with the white eyebrows smiled and asked immediately.

“Abbot, I’m afraid you’ve misunderstood. It was Young Master Zhao who saved my life last time, and I was able to turn danger into safety. We’re just friends, not fellow disciples.”

Facing the two, Zhao Huai’s expression remained unchanged. He smiled slightly and said, “I just came to the temple to burn incense. I didn’t expect to see you here, Miss.”

“Indeed, it is quite a coincidence.” Lu Wanqiu replied with a smile.

“Boss Zhao, this is the Abbot Mingguang of the Mingyin Temple.” Lu Wanqiu introduced from the side.Zhao Huai and Abbot Mingguang both nodded at each other in acknowledgment.

“Did I hear you just mention the term ‘Evil Spirit’?”

Zhao Huai hadn’t forgotten the conversation the two of them just had and calmly asked.

When a sect disciple is involved, there must be signs of demons.

At the mention of the Evil Spirit, Lu Wanqiu’s expression became noticeably serious as she nodded:

“Yes, there’s been a very powerful Evil Spirit near the spiritual mine that our Immortal Yearning Sect is overseeing the excavation of. It’s said that it can kill people in their dreams. The victims go to sleep and never wake up. Many miners have been brutally murdered.”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Huai was reminded of the tough man who bought the coffin not long ago. Wasn’t he a worker in the spiritual mine?

He mentioned that every time someone came home at night, passing through a hillside, they would suddenly die the next day.

So, it was the work of the Lantern Woman!

At this thought, Zhao Huai seemed to understand where the skull came from.

Could it be that the skull was dug out from the spiritual mine?

Initially, everything was peaceful. But due to the digging of the spiritual mine, a grave was disturbed, and the skull was thus carried back by the myna bird?

“Amitabha.”

Abbot Mingguang recited the Buddha’s name, saying with regret: “The Evil

Spirit, after all, was once a pitiful human being.”

“Aren’t all demons ruthlessly cruel? How could they be pitied?”

Zhao Huai asked curiously.

He sensed that this abbot was not an ordinary person. He must know some inside story about the Lantern Woman.

Abbot Mingguang slowly began: “The story of this Evil Spirit has been passed down for a long time. It’s an old tale that few know nowadays. I only heard of it when I was a child, from a monk in the temple.”

“Several hundred years ago, there was no temple here, and Jinzhou was not called Jinzhou. Under the reign of Yan Country, this Evil Spirit was originally an elegant young lady from a prominent family in the state. One day, she sneaked out and happened to meet a destitute scholar. The two quickly fell in love. But her father was against their love, and she had a fierce argument with him. Instead, she took her dowry and eloped with the scholar.”

“The couple found a mountain and lived in seclusion, living happily and promising to grow old together.”

“After a long time though, the scholar got bored and decided to take the imperial examination. The woman was very supportive and spent their money to help him study. Years later, when the scholar went to the capital city to take the exam, the woman spent all their savings for his travel expenses and saw him off.”

“However, things did not go as planned.”

“Once the scholar left, he sent no word back home, no letter, not even when the exam results were posted.”

“One late night, she went out with a lantern, leaving the mountain to look for her husband.”

“But she never found him and ended up dying on the mountain. Her longing eventually turned into obsession, and she transformed into an Evil Spirit.” Having heard the tale, Zhao Huai fell into deep thought.

The story was not innovative; rather, it was too common and cliché. He had heard many such ancient tales before.

Was this an Evil Spirit from hundreds of years ago?

This was indeed a big fish he had caught. No wonder she was so powerful.

However, Zhao Huai saw some discrepancies in the story.

He could understand the Lantern Woman searching for her husband.

But why did she become an Evil Spirit?

Search, this was a virtuous thought, which shouldn’t transform into an Evil Spirit.

But her frightening appearance didn’t seem to fit the typical traits of an Evil Spirit. This hinted that there must have been intense resentment that augmented her power and turned her into a nightmare.

At that moment, Zhao Huai habitually tossed a copper coin to see the result.

The long-awaited result was finally out.

The Hexagram changed for the first time.

[Hexagram One: Tonight’s longing should settle, The cold rain mourns for the spirit at the gravesite, To dissipate resentment, your instruction is “Blessing”.]

PS: There’s more to come, to be published during the day..