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"Just now outside, I clearly sensed an eerie aura in this courtyard, but once I entered, I could no longer find any trace of that evil spirit," the Taoist said, staring at the compass in his hand with confusion. "No, this evil spirit definitely did not leave out of fear of me; it must have hidden itself due to its deep connection to the ghostly realm."
"Hid itself?" Xing Ruyi's face showed surprise, but her eyes held a hint of amusement. "What if that evil spirit really has hidden itself? What should we do then?"
"Do not worry, Miss. Watch as I perform a ritual to capture this evil spirit," the Taoist replied, taking off the Bagua Pouch from his body. Xing Ruyi wondered if he would set up an altar and light incense or something similar. Just as she was about to ask, she saw him already walking on the ground with the Peach Wood Sword in hand. After making a circle, a shallow imprint appeared on the bluestone floor, forming a Yin Yang Bagua Diagram. The Taoist stood with his left foot on the Yin pole and his right foot on the Yang pole, muttering incantations while casting two talismans—one landing on the windowsill and the other striking a Hibiscus branch. Following that, A-Ling's body swayed.
Seeing this, Xing Ruyi felt her heart tighten and quickly formed a hand seal to stabilize A-Ling. Just as she was about to catch her breath, she noticed A-Ling's hands turning into bones and reaching directly for the Taoist's neck.
"A-Ling, no!" Xing Ruyi shook her head vigorously, forcing A-Ling's skeletal arm back just before it could reach the Taoist's neck.
"Sister Ruyi, please let me kill this despicable Taoist," A-Ling pleaded, her gaze towards the Taoist filled with rage.
Even Xing Ruyi, who was usually careless, could sense something was off at this moment. She then asked telepathically, "Do you recognize this Taoist?"
"I recognize this Dao robe," A-Ling said bitterly. "Just now, when this Taoist walked by the Hibiscus flower, I remembered. I recalled being carried out of Chang'an City by a wedding procession and then falling into a daze. When I woke up, it was already dark; I heard voices outside and the crackling sound of a bonfire being lit. I rubbed my eyes and was about to speak when I heard the Matchmaker asking me through the sedan chair curtain if I needed something to eat. Before she could finish her question, my stomach growled loudly. Embarrassed, I buried my head down and didn’t dare to say anything.
After a while, the Matchmaker handed me a piece of roasted steamed bun and some meat through the curtain. From her conversation with others, I learned that we had already arrived near the Rouge Shop. As for why I kept dozing off, it was because the Matchmaker was worried something might happen on the way and secretly drugged me. Although I was somewhat shocked and angry, considering how long it took from Chang'an to the Rouge Shop, it was understandable for her to be concerned. Fortunately, once dawn broke, the wedding procession would enter the city and she wouldn’t drug me again.
After eating the bun, I felt thirsty and lifted the sedan chair curtain to ask the Matchmaker for water. Unexpectedly... unexpectedly I saw a Taoist killing someone right in front of my sedan chair, and the Matchmaker lay dead before me. Terrified and unsure of what to do, when I looked up again, I saw the Taoist standing outside my sedan chair with blood dripping from his sword. Later on, I ran out of the sedan chair and somehow ended up in the woods."
A-Ling spoke and began to sob softly. As for what happened next, Xing Ruyi naturally did not need to ask; the white bones in that forest had already revealed everything. However, there were still mysteries left unsolved. For instance, how did A-Ling die? She had not been violated in life; her ghostly form showed no signs of injury or damage—how then did she die in those woods?
Xing Ruyi's speculation did not last long before A-Ling provided an answer: "He wanted to collect my soul as excellent training material. I was terrified and kept running while he chased after me. It was just like when Brother Sheng and his companions accidentally entered the woods; there were loud thunderclaps that startled me even more. When I reached an old tree just as lightning struck down upon it, I fainted from fear. When I woke up again, I had already turned into a ghost and was half-hanging from that tree with my own body lying beneath it."
"Where is the Taoist? Didn't he say he would collect your soul?" Although Xing Ruyi knew that the Taoist A-Ling mentioned might not be the one performing the ritual before them, she couldn't help but glance at the figure in the Daoist robe.
"I don't know either. When I woke up, he was already gone. After that, I told my sister everything. I wandered around that forest for a long time but couldn't find my way out."
"I will help you get to the bottom of this, but for now, you cannot act against him." Xing Ruyi pointed to the Taoist named Yuxuzi in front of them. "Don't forget, we need to find him for the child on the moon."
A-Ling pursed her lips and stared intently at the Taoist, making no other movements.
Xing Ruyi sighed in relief and continued to watch as the Taoist muttered to himself while searching with a Compass. After about a tea's worth of time, the Taoist returned to Xing Ruyi, looking dejected, and said, "I am unable to see anything. Although I know that evil spirit must be in this house, I cannot find her or subdue her."
He sighed repeatedly and then added almost as if talking to himself, "If only my senior brother Wu Daozi were here."
It was expected that Yuxuzi wouldn't be able to find A-Ling, and Xing Ruyi smiled faintly. After comforting the Taoist with a few words, she casually asked him about Moon Sacrifice. The Taoist had boasted earlier, but now he couldn't even catch a glimpse of a ghost in front of his host. Feeling somewhat ashamed, he realized that Xing Ruyi was asking about something he knew well and spoke freely about Moon Sacrifice and how to break its effects. In the end, he cautioned her that this method of Moon Sacrifice harms one's virtue and should never be used unless absolutely necessary.
When sending Yuxuzi out, he shamefully declined the silver offered by Xing Ruyi, stating that he would quickly find his senior brother to help subdue the evil spirit in the house. He then left barefoot with his bag of trigrams.
"It seems he is not the evil practitioner you are looking for," Xing Ruyi remarked softly as she watched the Taoist's retreating figure. A-Ling appeared silently behind her without saying a word.
That night, with the help of a fox, Xing Ruyi used the method of breaking the moon to draw the child's soul down from the moon. The infant was thin like a kitten, eyes tightly shut, with a slight smile at the corners of its mouth and tiny fists loosely clenched, lying amidst a swirl of silver light. Xing Ruyi gently poked the infant's cheek with her finger; surprisingly, it opened its mouth slightly as if smiling, though its soul was too weak for even a full smile.
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