Chen Yao had somehow run to the backyard.
She stood barefoot in the muddy ground, the pure white hem of her skirt stained with mud, yet it added a touch of sickly beauty.
And from within the long, narrow shadow cast behind her by the night rain, a thick, ink-like chill silently churned.
From that darkness, a ghostly figure, half a person’s height, forcefully emerged.
The ghostly figure was wrapped in bone-corrosive black energy.
Its face was so rotten that only two dark, hollow eye sockets remained, oozing a dark green, viscous fluid.
Its ten claws gleamed with a bluish-black, chilling light, each nail nearly half a foot long.
With a sharp sound that tore through the air, they silently reached for her delicate, completely defenseless neck.
Lin Yue’s eyes suddenly sharpened, and the aura around him exploded in an instant.
He was currently over a dozen steps away from the backyard.
The ghost’s claw tips were less than half a foot from Chen Yao’s neck.
Even if he pushed his movement technique to the limit and rushed over, he absolutely could not make it in that critical instant.
“Catch the sword!”
His thunderous shout echoed through the rainy night, half to halt Chen Yao’s strange movement, half to use the sound to boost his power.
He didn’t even throw his sword.
The fiercely masculine, cast-iron-like yang spiritual energy, cultivated over years of tempering the heavy sword, surged from his dantian through his meridians to his right palm in an instant.
Aiming at the ghost’s direction, he unleashed a supremely concentrated “Mountain-Piercing” force.
A nearly transparent force, carrying the sharp sound of metal and stone shattering, instantly cut through the curtain of rain.
Raindrops along its path were all shattered by the force, turning into a vast expanse of white mist.
It was precise to the millimeter, just barely grazing past Chen Yao’s temple.
A few strands of her hair were instantly shredded into flying fluff by the force, yet her skin wasn’t harmed in the slightest.
The next moment, it heavily, unreservedly, slammed into the ghostly figure behind her.
That ghostly figure, which relied on devouring living souls and the yin energy of spirit stones to cultivate, was most afraid of precisely this kind of supremely yang cultivator’s force.
The moment it was solidly struck by the “Mountain-Piercing” force, its originally ferocious body instantly contorted into a ball.
It let out a sharp, ear-piercing yin shriek, filled with pain and terror.
Its claws, wrapped in black energy, flailed wildly, trying to burrow back into the shadow to escape.
But the fierce yang spiritual energy had already drilled into its yin body, tearing at its soul from the inside out.
The sizzling sound of burning was especially clear in the rainy night.
The black energy on the ghostly figure dissipated at a visible rate, along with its ferocious body.
In the time of a single breath, it completely turned into a wisp of green smoke, washed away by the night rain, leaving not a trace of yin chill behind, utterly annihilated from the world.
Chen Yao was thrown off balance by this force, her body going limp as she directly fell onto the wet grass.
Lin Yue took two or three large strides over, kneeling on one knee beside her, asking with some tension, “Are you hurt?”
Chen Yao’s face was pale. She bit her lower lip tightly, one hand clutching her ankle, her eyes full of pain.
“Immortal Master… my foot, I can’t move it.”
Lin Yue frowned, reaching out to hold her small foot.
It was the most perfect foot he had ever seen.
Slender, pale, the arch shaped like a meticulously carved work of art.
Because it was wet with rainwater, it now had a sickly pink hue.
“Bear with it. The bone is dislocated.”
Lin Yue’s large hand gripped that delicate ankle, the thick calluses on his palm rubbing against her smooth skin.
Chen Yao let out a suppressed, delicate moan, the sound particularly alluring in the quiet night rain.
She shyly tried to pull her leg back, but Lin Yue firmly held it in place.
“Don’t move! After exorcising the evil, demonic energy has entered your body. I need to help you expel it.”
Lin Yue spoke utter nonsense with a completely serious face.
He mobilized a trace of gentle spiritual energy within his body, channeling it slowly through his fingertips into Chen Yao’s acupoints.
Chen Yao felt a stream of heat rush up her calf straight to her lower abdomen.
Her originally cold body instantly became feverish.
Her clear eyes gradually grew hazy.
Her entire body went limp on the grass, allowing Lin Yue to “administer treatment.”
The rain fell harder.
The figures of the two on the grass were blurred by the rain and mist into an extremely sensual yet strangely sacred picture.
The time it takes for an incense stick to burn later.
Lin Yue helped the blushing Chen Yao back into the house.
Chen Yao had changed into dry, plain clothes, but she still couldn’t hide the shyness emanating from her very bones.
She sat on the edge of the bed, her hands twisting the hem of her clothes, head lowered, not daring to look at Lin Yue.
“This Immortal Master’s great kindness and virtue… Chen Yao has no way to repay it. There really aren’t any spirit stones left in this house; they were all sucked dry by that evil ghost. I… I only have this.”
She took off a jade pendant worn close to her skin from her neck.
The pendant still carried her body warmth.
It was carved with a complex character for “Deed.”
“This is the Chen family’s property deed, and also my… deed of servitude.”
She blushed, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible.
“From today onward, Chen Yao… is the Immortal Master’s private property.”
Lin Yue took the warm jade pendant, his fingertips touching the lingering fragrance on it.
“The deed of servitude isn’t necessary.”
Lin Yue weighed the pendant in his hand, stood up, and looked at the gradually brightening dawn outside.
“I just need the three years’ worth of debt settled. As for you… stay here in this town. If anyone bullies you in the future, go to the Cloud Inn and look for a guy carrying an iron pillar.”
Chen Yao suddenly looked up, her beautiful eyes full of disbelief.
“Immortal Master… you don’t want me?”
Lin Yue looked at her expression that seemed to say, “If you don’t accept me, I’ll cry,” and his heart also rippled.
But this was the “pure-hearted widow” route; being too hasty could easily backfire.
“Put it on the tab for now.”
Lin Yue pinched her cute nose tip.
“I’ll come collect this ‘heavy payment’ from you someday.”
Chen Yao’s face instantly flushed to the tips of her ears.
She shyly lowered her head, but the corners of her mouth couldn’t help curling up slightly.
“Chen Yao… will wait for the Immortal Master.”
Dawn broke.
Lin Yue dragged his heavy sword back to the inn, the Chen family’s property deed tucked in his robe, feeling refreshed and invigorated.
Mo Feng was sitting in the main hall drinking morning tea.
Seeing Lin Yue return, he was just about to open his mouth to mock him when he saw Lin Yue casually toss a jade slip onto the table.
“Steward Mo, the Chen family’s debt is cleared. Also, I caught a Shadow Ghost that was eating spirit stones. Sir, take a look, does this count as a major merit?”
Mo Feng picked up the jade slip, probed it with his spiritual sense, and his originally ruddy complexion instantly turned a deep purplish-red.
“The Chen family… three years of accumulated debt, you recovered it all in one night?”
He stared at Lin Yue incredulously.
“And how did this property deed become your personal asset?”
“That was Miss Chen’s gratitude for saving her life; she insisted on giving it to me.”
Lin Yue picked up a meat bun, eating as he walked.
“If Steward Mo is envious, why didn’t you go last night?”
“You… you scoundrel!”
Mo Feng was so angry he almost snapped his fan.
But as he watched Lin Yue’s retreating back, a deep trace of wariness appeared in his eyes.
That was a Shadow Ghost even the inner sect inspectors hadn’t detected.
Lin Yue, just how many secrets are you hiding?
Lin Yue walked on the main street of Qingshui Town.
Ding! Karmic Debt Repayment Progress: 20%.
Reward Obtained: Heavy Sword Third Style ‘Mountain Quake’.
Chen Yao Favorability: Unwavering Devotion, Even Unto Death.
Lin Yue was feeling quite pleased with himself when suddenly, a green figure flashed past the alley entrance.
Mu Qingzhu, holding that black cloth bundle, stood in the shadows, her gaze complex as she stared at him.
“The Chen family matter… you finished it?”
Lin Yue stopped, taking a bite of his bun.
“Finished it. What, does your family also have a debt for me to repay?”
Mu Qingzhu was silent for a moment.
Unprecedentedly, she didn’t retort.
Instead, she said in a low voice:
“Tomorrow, the Nine Heavens Sect’s caravan returns to the mountain… they’ll pass through Dragon’s Mouth Gorge. There… someone is waiting for you.”
“Who?”
“Someone who wants to buy that jade token of yours. Also… an old friend you absolutely do not want to see.”
After saying this, Mu Qingzhu’s figure flickered, disappearing into the morning fog.
Lin Yue chewed his bun, looking at the distant Nine Heavens Mountain, a dangerous curve appearing at the corner of his mouth.
“Old friend? Perfect timing. I also want to test just how loud this newly unlocked ‘Mountain Quake’ really is.”