It took me a while to pull myself together after listening to the story of the thirty-six women who had killed themselves to prove their love. I respected and admired them. At the same time, I had to figure out whyMr. Big Molewanted to harm Lu Ming.

Mr. Big Molecould be the descendant of one of the thirty-six women, and his familymight havepassed the grudge against Lu Yu to the next generations.

Lu Ming had the same ideaand askedskeptically,“If he wanted to harm me right from the start, whydidhe wait until now? Whydidn't hekill me at the time I bought the teapot?”

“I don’t know. We should remain vigilant, ready todeal with all changes. I’m sure he willmakethe next move soon,” I told him.

Mr. Big Molewas good at castingillusionspells, soI would just wait for him here. I didn’t think he was powerful enough to make this entire hotel disappear.

But what happened next proved he could do that…

Anyway, now that Iknew the old ghost’s identity, I didn’t want to arrangeadefensiveformation in the hotel room.Apart fromillusionmagic,Mr. Big Moledid not seemto have any other skills.After discussing the planwithLu Ming, wedecided to wait for him to come to us. At nightfall, we just stayed in the hotel.

I didn’t set up anything in the room, but I gave Lu Ming a few talismans just to be safe. I also kept the Peach Soul Flower at my waist.

There weren’t many people in the township, and things were even quieter atnight.Everything was fine before, butnow that wewere waiting,Ifelt somiserablehere.

Fortunately, wehadthe teapot with us. We weren’t scaredand just satquietly. Still, waitingdidn’t bring us joy.

After midnight,Mr. Big Molestill hadn’t come yet. Lu Ming yawned. “It’s so late. Idon’t think he willshow up tonight.”

“Perhaps. Anyway,you should sleep first. I’m going to wait for him for a little longer.” I glanced at the teapot, finding nothingstrange.

I told Lu Ming to rest. He nodded,tuckedintobed,and slept.

I was the only onewaiting. Around half an hour later, I also thought thatMr. Big Molewouldn’tshow uptonight. I letmy guard down and relaxedby playing Plants vs. Zombies on my phone.

As I waited, I heardaclanging noise that made me turn around to check. Lu Ming had just kicked the teapot.

I smiled. This grown man didn’t have agoodsleeping posture. I got up,picked up the teapot,and putit back. Then, I resumed my game.

I laterbecametired. Theclockonmy phone showedthatit was 2:00 AM. I was sure thatMr. Big Molewouldn’t come tonight. I turned to the bedand was preparedto sleep. Strangely, the bed was empty—Lu Ming was gone!Both the door to the room and the toilet were in front of me. If he hadgottenup to go there, Iwouldhave seen him. However, he disappearedwithout a sound. It wasas if he had evaporated into thin air.

DidMr. Big Moledraghiminto an illusionwhile he was sleeping? Why didn’t Lu Yu help him?

I turned to the teapot. It was tilted again. The purple clay surface of the teapot now had frightening cracks. I now realized that the clanging noise the teapot made wasprobablyLu Yu’s reminder to me.

Since Lu Yu hadn’t shown up, I had to rely on myself. However, I didn’t know how to deal with the Dai people’sillusionmagic. For the time being, I moved around the room like an ant running on a hot pan.

I suddenly saw Lu Ming’s coat on the hanger at the corner of the room. I got an idea.

I burned three joss sticks then opened the window. Then, I usedthe coat hanger toraisehis coat higher in the airand calledhis name loudly.

It was the most basic soul beckoning technique. People in many rural areas had used this technique for quite a long time. As my voice grew louder, the surroundings seemed colder. After a gust of wind, more shadows appeared at the window.

There were males,females, elders, and children. They were the wanderingghosts in this area. They came as I was beckoning the souls. I couldn’t deny them. Otherwise, they would try every means to hinder Lu Ming’s soul. I had to take out a stack of yellow papers from my bagandburnitfor them.

Most of the ghosts left after receiving the offering, except for three old ghosts thatlingeredby the window. They smiledevilly at me.

“Want totakeadvantage of me, huh?” I sneered.

I had heard that ghosts could sometimescommitfraud. I didn’t buy it at that time, but after seeing it for myself, myknowledge was widened.

If they didn’thave any dignity, I wouldn’t bepolitewiththem. I made some hand seals and threw a talisman. One of the ghosts got hit,screeched, and turnedinto a wisp of black smoke. The other two ghosts were scaredand quickly fled.

I didn’t have time to mind them and continued to call Lu Ming’s name. Soon, I found a strange phenomenonhappeningto the three joss sticks I had burned. Two of them were burning fast. One was burning much slower.

The three joss sticks represented Lu Ming’s three ethereal souls.Becausethe three joss sticks were burning at different speeds, it meant that Lu Ming had heard my calling. He wanted to return but he was trapped inMr. Big Mole’sillusionmagic. Under the two pulling forces, his three ethereal souls were parting!

If one of the three joss sticks burned down and Lu Ming hadn’t come back, my soul beckoning ritual would fail. Itwould mean that he wouldn’t return tonight.

One more second in the illusory worldwasone more second he was in danger. I became tense.

Atthis moment, the teapot behind me clanged again. Iloweredmy headtolook at it. The teapot tilted to one side. The lidhad brokeninto a few pieces.It seemed Lu Yu wasn’t in a better situation than I was. I couldn’t rely on him. I turned aroundand calledfor Lu Ming. Whenmy gaze fell tothe teapot without the lid, I suddenly got an idea.

This teapot was where Yu Lu dwelled. Even a small wisp of energy from this teapot was enough to subdue those ghosts outside.SinceLu Ming was Lu Yu’s descendant, hehad tobe familiar with his aura.

I thought it over then brought the teapot to the window. I broughtitto my mouthand usedmy best voice to scream as loud as possible. The sound echoed through the body of the teapot and escaped through the spout. It traveledfar in the air.

After screaming for a while, Isawthat the three joss sticks now had the same burning rate. It meant my method had worked!

A gust of cold wind came from a far distance. I then saw a black dot flying toward the window. It was movingso fastthat it became clearer in my vision. In the end, it turned into a dark shadow.

When I saw the shadow, I heaved a sigh of relief. It was Lu Ming’s soul.

However,sincehis soul was forced to leave his body, he looked a little bewildered. He gazed at me with hisdull eyes.

Ihad gottenwhat I wanted. After everything was settled, I put outthethree joss sticks.magic

Lu Ming’s soul would return to his body now, so I hurried tosticka talismantothe soul’sforehead. The talisman would slow downthesoulwithouthurtingit.It was a really good chance for me to follow his soulback tothe illusional magic formation.

I followed Lu Ming’s soul and recognized that it was heading in the opposite directionofLu Yu’s fortified village. Since I wasn’t familiar with the place, I became extra careful. WhenIarrivedat thesmall pavilion, Lu Ming’s soul disappeared.

This small pavilion seemed to be theentrance of themagic formation. I took out a handful of black beansand sprinkledthem onto the groundasI advanced.

Indeed, after entering the pavilion, my surroundings turned into a labyrinth. Fortunately, Lu Ming’s soul hadn’t gone too far. I rushed after him and eventually, I found Lu Ming’s body in the center of the formation.

When his soul saw his body,itwas excitedand quickly headed to the body.I had to make a few hand sealsto stop it. Then, Ilifted and supportedLu Ming’s body.

I grabbed his soul and walked toaplace where I could see the black beans. I tore the yellow talismanoffthe soul’s forehead.

Black beans had thick Yang energy, and although they couldn’tdestroyMr. Big Mole’s illusional magic formation,theycould damage Lu Ming’s soul. When the soul saw the black beans,itsubconsciouslywanted to run away. I had to holdittightly.

The most powerful feature of the formation was that it could change continuously. We may not be able tofind the exit. However, no matter how much this labyrinth changed, the black beans I had sprinkled on the ground wouldn’t disappear.

Thus, I stopped after every step and waited for Lu Ming’s soul to become nervous.I just followedthe black beansandadvancedwithouthesitation.

I kept walking for half an hour before Igotrid of the illusional magic formation.Lu Ming’s soul was weak because of the black beans. I made him return tohisbody and slapped him to wake him up.

Since Lu Ming’s soul was damaged, he needed to rest. However, the old ghost was in trouble and needed my help. I was afraid that if I left alone now, Lu Mingwould be trapped again. That’s why I had to wake him up.

“Master Zhang, you’re here…”Lu Ming knewthatI had rescued him. He gave me a thumbs-up but his voice was so feeble.

“That old ghost must be in trouble now. We have to save him. Can you put up with this a littlelonger?” I was worried that he would fallapartatacritical moment like this.