Ruan Xiangning played her flute unceasingly, and a figure stumbled through the main gate of Shi Bingyuan’s residence. It was Zhou Huan, utterly devoid of spirit, as if his soul had been captured. His eyes were vacant, his pupils wide, and his limbs hung limp.

“Master Zhou! Wake up, or this will be trouble!” Shi Bingyuan shouted.

Ruan Xiangning drifted gracefully, positioning herself in front of Zhou Huan. “He is my man. Don’t even think about taking him from me. I won’t easily forgive anyone who tries to separate us.” Her eyes flashed with fury, and the bamboo flute in her hand slowly rose again toward her lips.

Shi Bingyuan looked at the soul-lost Zhou Huan, his heart filled with unbearable anxiety. A vibrant, living man, a prodigious talent in the arts of the Shoushi world who might even surpass him in skill... Shi Bingyuan was utterly perplexed.

“Master, we must act now, or who knows what will happen next!” Hong Kun reacted swiftly. Seeing Shi Bingyuan still standing there, frozen, he quickly drew a Chugui Fu (Ghost-Contact Talisman) in the air, held it between his right index and middle fingers, and lunged toward Ruan Xiangning, who stood poised in the main hall.

The talisman in Hong Kun’s hand shot toward Ruan Xiangning’s forehead like the wind. His left hand reached out, intending to snatch the bamboo flute from her grasp.

At that moment, Ruan Xiangning remained unhurried and made no move to dodge. Hong Kun’s talisman landed perfectly flush against her forehead. Seeing Hong Kun reach for the flute, she even extended the instrument for him to take, yet she seemed to exert no force whatsoever, standing there with her head bowed and her face directed toward Hong Kun.

Hong Kun strained with all his might, a grown man should surely be able to wrest the flute from Ruan Xiangning’s hand. But no matter how hard he pulled, it wouldn't budge. He had expected his talisman to have some effect, but instead, Ruan Xiangning casually plucked it off—the talisman was like a scrap of waste paper to her.

“You…” Hong Kun was drenched in sweat, his words stammering out.

“Hahaha, you little fool. Your old Master couldn’t manage anything, and you think your mere parlor trick will elicit a reaction from me? Die!” With one hand holding the flute, Ruan Xiangning used the other to clamp down on Hong Kun’s neck.

Hong Kun struggled desperately, while Ruan Xiangning tucked the bamboo flute into her mouth and blew a mournful melody with one hand.

Shi Bingyuan, who had been standing rooted, finally snapped out of his shock. He had been stunned by Zhou Huan’s condition and Ruan Xiangning’s methods. By the time he regained his senses, Hong Kun and Ruan Xiangning were already locked in combat. Seeing her choke Hong Kun single-handedly, his anxiety flared. He snatched a piece of durian pulp from the offering table, leaped to Ruan Xiangning’s side in two strides, bit his own hand, drew an Gongxin Zhou (Heart-Assault Charm) on the fruit, and lunged to shove it into Ruan Xiangning’s mouth.

Ruan Xiangning, the flute held in her mouth, freed her other hand and instantly clamped it around Shi Bingyuan’s neck. Shi Bingyuan struggled, but no matter how he thrashed, he could not break free from Ruan Xiangning’s spectral grip.

Master and disciple, Shi Bingyuan and Hong Kun, kicked and struck at Ruan Xiangning, but the music from her flute grew stronger and more potent. The two men, trying to block the sound from their ears, found their senses useless. The melody surged into their minds ceaselessly, like an incoming tide.

Time slowly ticked forward. The bodies of Shi Bingyuan and Hong Kun gradually lost all sensation. Ruan Xiangning withdrew her flute.

“Hahaha, you two idiots. From now on, you will follow me and serve me and your Master Zhou well!” Ruan Xiangning then turned, pressed her lips against Zhou Huan’s face, and kissed him tenderly. “Husband, hold on just a little longer, and we’ll go home soon!”

Shi Bingyuan and Hong Kun began kicking their legs, their faces turning a deep shade of purple.

Suddenly, from an unknown source, came the sound of an infant crying—a cry so heartbreaking it seemed capable of withering the seas, shattering the heavens, and tearing the earth apart.

The moment the sound arrived, Ruan Xiangning panicked. “Ah? My child, what... what’s wrong? Mommy and Daddy are coming to save you!” She immediately released the nearly suffocated Master and disciple, grabbing Zhou Huan’s hand and pulling him away.

“Cough, cough!” Hong Kun was the first to gasp for air, clutching his neck with both hands as he frantically crawled toward his master.

Shi Bingyuan sucked in a sharp breath, muttering under his breath, “This ghost is too powerful. It seems I’ll have to pay a heavy price to even stand a chance against her.”

“Master, they’re running! Should we pursue?” Hong Kun, being younger, recovered his breath faster.

Shi Bingyuan collapsed onto the ground, continuously rubbing his neck with both hands. “Disciple, you chase after them. I will stay here and devise a plan. I refuse to believe she can defy the heavens.”

Hong Kun staggered out of the house, closely following Ruan Xiangning, who moved with incredible swiftness. Zhou Huan, trailing behind, kept pace effortlessly.

Shi Bingyuan sat on the floor, desperately racking his brain for the secret techniques his own master had taught him. As he thought, he pulled a notebook from his leather trunk and flipped through it. He stopped at the very last page—the ultimate technique passed down by his former master: When encountering an unsolvable vengeful spirit, one must fight to the death. Mix various exorcism implements together, add incense smoke from the high furnace of a temple, soak the mixture in water, then soak oneself in that water. Upon emerging, one’s powers will be multiplied when using a technique.

Shi Bingyuan followed the instructions, bustling about until everything was prepared, then submerged himself in the hot water mixture.

Hong Kun chased Ruan Xiangning until they reached a crossroad. Unable to run further, he stopped to catch his breath. To his shock, the moment he lowered his head, Ruan Xiangning and Zhou Huan had vanished. This nearly drove Hong Kun mad—all that running, only to lose the ghost on such a long path.

Fortunately, Hong Kun recognized the road; it was the essential path leading to Zhou Huan’s Fushou Tang (Hall of Blessings and Longevity). A flash of insight told him that the ghost and the man must have headed there.

When Hong Kun finally reached the entrance of the Fushou Tang, he found the building deserted. He tried to push the door open, but it was locked. He then vaulted the wall from the backyard, and what met his eyes was Dongzi, holding a small coffin in his left hand and a saw in his right. Dongzi chanted the words for ‘climbing the wall’ while scraping the saw back and forth across the lid of the small coffin.

“Waaah, waaah!” The sound of the infant crying from inside the small coffin was truly desolate, yet what surprised Hong Kun was that even though he had arrived, the female ghost and Zhou Huan were nowhere in sight. Just as he registered this, a gust of wind whipped past his ear.

“Bastard! Put our child down!” Ruan Xiangning had arrived. As for why she lagged behind, it was because she was guiding a living person, Zhou Huan, and had expended too much spiritual energy wrestling with Shi Bingyuan earlier, forcing them to stop and rest briefly.

Seeing Ruan Xiangning charging toward him, Dongzi immediately turned and fled. As he dodged aside, Li Tianxiong materialized behind him, opening a Buddhist scripture and throwing it, along with his own talisman, toward Ruan Xiangning’s body.

A scar materialized on Ruan Xiangning’s skin. She snatched the scripture, ignoring the white smoke rising from her hand, and hurled the book back at Li Tianxiong.

“Dongzi, open the formation! Get the weapons!” Li Tianxiong spun around, drawing a seven-foot peach-wood sword. This sword was crafted from a peach tree in the rear courtyard of the White Horse Temple on Mount Wutai, imbued with potent spiritual and Daoist energy.

Dongzi retrieved Zhou Huan’s household short peach-wood sword. “Tianxiong, let’s fight them to the end!” The two charged toward Ruan Xiangning, brandishing their swords. When they reached her, Ruan Xiangning seemed momentarily flustered. Gritting her teeth against the pain in both hands, she seized the two peach-wood swords, shattering the impact of Dongzi and Tianxiong’s charge, and rushed straight toward the infant.

“Xiangning, take our child and go home. Stop fighting them.” The moment these words left his mouth, everyone present was stunned. The entire atmosphere became deathly silent, the infant’s cries completely swallowed by the stillness. All eyes, including Ruan Xiangning’s, turned to the person standing atop the wall—it was Zhou Huan.

“Zhou Huan, you are truly inhuman! You change your heart so easily, and you even have a child with her! I’m not done with you!” Wang Xiaohe burst out of the house. She had heard everything Zhou Huan said and clearly understood the situation unfolding before her.

The moment Ruan Xiangning saw Xiaohe appear, she instantly scooped up the small coffin and ran toward Zhou Huan, embracing him tightly with both arms. She snarled at Xiaohe, “Which wretched woman are you? Do you think you can steal my man just because you can?”

“You inhuman ghost! Zhou Huan is human! Why are you trying to steal my Master’s wife?” Dongzi’s retort was surprisingly timely, managing to elicit a flicker of protective, sibling-like concern from Xiaohe toward him.

Xiaohe strode purposefully to Zhou Huan’s side and gently pushed aside Ruan Xiangning’s hands. “Big Sister, I don't know what kind of ghost you are, but Zhou Huan is a human now. We are the ones who belong together. Are you determined to break us apart?”

“Naturally. What if I separate you? You are the latecomer. He has been my man for hundreds of years, and he remains mine now. This is our child!” Ruan Xiangning posed boastfully, pulling the half-dead infant from the coffin and shaking it back and forth in front of Xiaohe’s face.

Seeing the infant in Ruan Xiangning’s hands, Xiaohe’s heart turned to ice, feeling as if she were aboard the Titanic at the very moment it struck the iceberg.

“Zhou Huan, say something. I, Wang Xiaohe, will absolutely not blame you!” Xiaohe then reached out to shake the dazed Zhou Huan.

Ruan Xiangning immediately revealed the petty, combative nature of women engaged in rivalry, almost forgetting the ghostly arts she commanded. She reached out again to shove Wang Xiaohe’s hand away. “Move aside! Don’t touch!”

Tears unexpectedly flooded Wang Xiaohe’s eyes, reddening them. She stared at Zhou Huan. “Zhou Huan, just say one sentence—who among us is truly your woman. Once you’ve made your decision, I will respect your choice and handle things accordingly!”