Chapter 63

Mu Yu’s smiling face fell. This was her first botched job—not only had she failed to drag the ghost back, but its soul had scattered to the winds.

“Where did she go last night?”

Liu Changsheng lowered her hand and shot her a glance. “The courtyard was empty when I got back last night.”

When she had headed out with Qi Buyu, Yun Chu had still been huddled in the corner clutching the Liuli Lantern. Could she have… followed them to the Mountain God Temple?

Mu Yu clearly shared the suspicion. The two women exchanged a wordless look before turning their eyes toward the room where Qi Buyu was staying.

Noon was fast approaching, yet Qi Buyu’s door remained firmly shut, her windows blocked tight against the light.

Liu Changsheng strode over and rapped twice on the door with her knuckles.

“Qi Buyu, you in there?”

No answer. Liu Changsheng frowned. Had she not come back at all last night?

She raised her hand to knock again when the sound of shuffling footsteps echoed from inside.

Liu Changsheng took a step back. Her heel had barely settled when the door swung open.

Qi Buyu leaned against the frame in an oversized T-shirt that bared half her pale shoulder, blinking sleepily at her. “What’s up?”

Liu Changsheng gave her a pointed look. “Where were you last night?”

Liu Changsheng had braced for panic, evasion, or at least a flicker of guilt. Instead, Qi Buyu just grinned like an idiot with zero cares, tilting her head up at her. “I dreamed about us getting frisky last night. Dream-you wasn’t nearly this frosty—you went at it hard. I was all like… Mmph!”

Liu Changsheng slapped a hand over her mouth, her ears burning.

How could she blurt out something like that? There were people right in the courtyard!

Qi Buyu cracked her eyes open, snaked her arms around Liu Changsheng’s waist, and nestled her head shamelessly against her chest before dozing off again.

Liu Changsheng: “…”

It took some doing to wrestle her back into bed amid the nonsense.

Real sleep or fake, Liu Changsheng let it slide without a word.

She shut the door behind her to a teasing voice at her back. “You ignore even the prime suspect right in front of you? Word is you’re infamous for freezing people out, Liu Changsheng. So why let her cop a feel without batting an eye?”

Liu Changsheng turned, meeting her gaze steadily. “That’s not what I meant.”

Mu Yu tsked and shook her head. Stubborn to the core, especially that mouth of hers.

“I’m heading to the Mountain God Temple.” Liu Changsheng glanced at Song Qian, who sat at the stone table watching her with big, hopeful eyes. “Keep at the formation book. Ask this senior if you’re stuck.”

“Huh?” Song Qian gaped as Liu Changsheng marched off without a backward glance, then eyed the grinning Mu Yu beside her.

At least Ji Wuxin was off resting, or there’d be a scene.

Mu Yu plopped down next to Song Qian, propping her chin on one hand. “Fire away. Ask me whatever.”

“Does Senior know it all?”

“Senior? You’ll age me overnight. Call me Sister.”

“…”

~~~

Liu Changsheng reached the Mountain God Temple alone. The formation from last night had fizzled out, which meant Yun Chu really had come here. Had she stumbled on Qi Buyu and that other person’s conversation?

Gripping her prayer beads, Liu Changsheng shoved open the heavy doors. A blast of bone-chilling yin air made her turn her head aside.

Blazing sun overhead, yet the mountainside temple felt eerily forsaken, the breeze laced with frost.

No one inside. The staggering heaps of millions of Liuli Lanterns lay in glittering shards, catching the leafy sunlight like ripples on a river.

The Mountain God Statue brooded unchanged in the inner sanctum.

Liu Changsheng made for it, but as she mounted the steps, a small bump jabbed her sole.

She glanced down: a dull, unremarkable sliver of Liuli Lantern.

Bending, she picked it up. It felt strangely warm and smooth, like some treasured heirloom.

Liu Changsheng pocketed it and stared up at the statue, silent for a long beat before rasping out, “Aren’t you the Mountain God? What did they do wrong?”

No reply from the stone. Just the chill wind fanning her helpless rage.

Her hatred for Ming Wenjun deepened. Her own greedy whims had doomed two innocents.

Lost in bias, she still didn’t know who had scattered Yun Chu’s soul—and pinned it all on Ming Wenjun.

She turned and left the temple, eyes narrowing on the downhill path.

Something nagged at her. She’d missed a piece…

~~~

“Oh, got it.”

“Can we tweak the Ghost Subduing Array’s nexus?”

“How?”

Song Qian rearranged the two central talisman lines on the paper and added two quick strokes.

“Doesn’t this trap more than just ghosts and monsters now?”

Mu Yu stared at the diagram, transformed by those tiny changes, admiration lighting her eyes.

Most folks in the trade aped their masters’ lessons. Cocky prodigies tinkered with ancient sigils and paths, but successes were rare as hen’s teeth.

Song Qian’s tweaks were subtle, yet they flipped the array’s purpose on its head.

The classic Ghost Subduing Array pinned down nasty ghosts and evil shades. But swap the nexus, tack on those strokes, and it snared a much broader catch.

Mu Yu slid a look at starry-eyed Ji Wuxin beside her. Hell, it might even bag spirits now.

Little maid up to something?

Ji Wuxin had been lost in awe at Song Qian’s genius—mastering it on the fly—when she clocked Mu Yu ogling her like a sly fox. Her glare turned feral. “The hell you staring at her for?”

Mu Yu: “…”

Jade spirit, my ass. She’s a lit fuse.

Song Qian tugged Ji Wuxin close and gave Mu Yu an awkward apology. “Don’t mind her. Back to it.”

Ji Wuxin bristled, hissing in Song Qian’s ear through clenched teeth. “What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

Song Qian tuned her out, but under the table, her fingers traced soothing circles on her hand.

Gentle strokes, like calming a fussy kid.

Ji Wuxin simmered down, slumping against Song Qian’s back and shooting Mu Yu daggers.

Mu Yu blinked innocently, lips quirking up for a split second before flattening.

“Ahh—y’all up early.”

Qi Buyu ambled over yawning, claimed a spot at the table, and faceplanted into it.

She snagged a draft scribbled with Song Qian’s talismans. “What mess is this?”

Mu Yu jumped on it. “Can’t parse it?”

Qi Buyu shook her head, dropping the paper without a hitch. “Beats me. Why else hire my Changsheng as bodyguard?”

My… Changsheng?

Song Qian perked up inside. Gossip alert.

Mu Yu arched a brow. “How long you known Liu Changsheng?”

Rumor painted Liu Changsheng as a lone wolf, no bodyguard gigs on record. She wasn’t Special Investigation Group, so private jobs were scarce without the badge—who’d trust her otherwise?

Mu Yu herself had dragged her feet on joining, but sans credentials, you were just a con artist begging for scraps.

“Little over a month.” Qi Buyu pondered, whipping out her phone for the clock.

“Bang on—ten twenty. That’s forty-six days, seventeen hours, thirteen minutes.”

“Thirty-six seconds, to be exact.”

Mu Yu: “…”

What was her deal? Hiring Liu Changsheng for the perks?

“Sharp memory, right?” Qi Buyu preened at their faces.

“You sleepwalk?”

Mu Yu’s curveball made Qi Buyu’s hand fist under the table. She played it cool with a quip. “Hell no. Sleepwalk off a cliff in these hills at night? Pass.”

“Right.” Mu Yu fixed her with an unreadable stare.

“Was gonna catch sunrise on the peak last night. Spotted a silhouette from behind—dead ringer for you. Must’ve been a ghost.”

Song Qian’s melon-munching froze into alarm. Tension crackled between Mu Yu and Qi Buyu.

Some secret she’d missed.

Mu Yu tossed out “ghost” like chitchat.

Qi Buyu chuckled it off, doe eyes hooding to veil her calculations.

“It’s better not to go out in the middle of the night. What if you really run into a ghost? You’d regret it forever.”

“You’re right. Next time I go watch the sunrise, I’ll definitely drag someone else along with me.” Mu Yu tapped her fingers on the table, shaking her head with a tsk. “Looks like Liu Changsheng isn’t all that reliable after all. Who would’ve thought we’d still spot a ghost with her around?”

Qi Buyu’s expression grew strained, her fingers twisting together nervously.

What was she getting at? Had she and Liu Changsheng really seen her heading up the mountain last night? Had they spotted the Master too…?

Mu Yu shot her a glance, then leaned in closer and murmured, “You seem awfully tense.”

“Or perhaps… the thing we saw last night wasn’t a ghost at all?”

Qi Buyu looked up, meeting her eyes head-on. “How can you be so sure it wasn’t some mountain monster or demon that had shifted into my likeness?”

Demons with profound cultivation could indeed transform into all sorts of shapes, but…

Mu Yu’s piercing gaze seemed to cut straight through the facade. “You’re not fooling anyone by playing dumb.”

Qi Buyu: “…”

The charged tension crackling between them left Song Qian too frightened to utter a word. She’d caught the gist of it too—it seemed Qi Buyu had slipped out last night to watch the sunrise with the Master and had the bad luck of running into Senior Mu Yu.

Wait a minute…

Song Qian’s mind raced at full speed. Over the past few days, she’d noticed the friction between the Master and Qi Buyu. The Master had been dodging her, intentionally or otherwise, yet Qi Buyu acted like she didn’t care, relentlessly teasing her all the same.

Could it be…!

Qi Buyu had a crush on the Master, but she and Mu Yu had eyes for each other. Last night, the three of them had collided by sheer coincidence, and now Senior Mu Yu was calling out Qi Buyu for secretly tailing them.

Song Qian was convinced she’d pieced it all together. Her inner gossip fiend stirred to life once more.

This was getting thrilling.