In the Locust Flower Nation's Ritual Baton Prefecture... There were many notices put up by the local government and wealthy clans near the city gates of the prefectural city, with all of them recruiting lofty beings to their residences to perform rituals. The bottom of these notices often promised extremely good compensation, but they all refrained from mentioning how many taels of silver this actually translated to. Chen Ping'an stood in front of the wall and carefully read over the notices, and by the looks of it, things were quite chaotic both inside and outside the prefectural city. Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡~𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚~𝙣𝙚𝙩 After purchasing some dry rations and other goods in the prefectural city, Chen Ping'an found an inn to stay at for the night. When darkness set in, he sat on the roof ridge and quietly drank wine. Sure enough, a snow-white figure flew around the city streets when it was late at night, with her expression twisted and her tongue sticking out. She hovered around with her feet above the ground, but her murderous aura was thin and she avoided the residences with door gods plastered on their front doors, regardless of whether these door gods still possessed spiritual energy or not. The night watchmen in the prefectural city had been replaced by two bold young men with flourishing yang energy, and the local government especially rewarded them with extra compensation so that they could purchase two pots of wine every single day. The female ghost in white attempted to approach them several times, but she would immediately be pushed back by their formless yang energy once she ventured too close to them. After failing several times, she could only huff in anger and travel elsewhere, making her way to the residences of the poorer families to drag her fingernails across their doors and courtyard walls. Some people were snoring loudly and fast asleep, so they were completely oblivious to the commotion caused by the female ghost. However, some people were easily woken, and they trembled in fear as they listened to the strange noises around their residence. This caused the female ghost to giggle in amusement, making the experience even more harrowing. Seeing that the female ghost didn't actually enter the residents' rooms to harm anyone, Chen Ping'an pretended that he wasn't able to see anything. He lay down on the roof ridge and crossed his legs, after which he retrieved his folding fan and lightly rocked it back and forth. One of the most frightening things about a certain chain of events was having it extend and failing to see the start and the end of the chain clearly. This was especially the case if the start of the chain reached the heaven, the end of the chain reached the underworld, and if the chain pertained to past lives, future lives, and the fuzzy notions of status and order. What was even more frightening than this was a complicated web of branch events extending from the main chain, leading to countless smaller chains and a blurry line between good and bad. Everything would become chaotic and interrelated. And when a certain chain of events was extended, rendering it impossible to objectively focus on the facts, then it would become increasingly difficult to look into the future. For example, it wouldn't necessarily be wrong for a cultivator to kill the female ghost who was purposely disturbing the residents of the prefectural city, and it would be reasonable for them to accumulate merit and virtue in this manner. If one cast their gaze further, however, would the mortal humans in the prefectural city and surrounding areas of Ritual Baton Prefecture feel the need to re-evaluate the notion of karmic fate and ever-changing fortune when they had sinister thoughts and urges in the future, given they became aware of the existence of ghosts in the world? Moreover, the female ghost wasn't truly harming people when she wandered around at night, so how should her rights and wrongs actually be evaluated? And indeed, why had she hung herself and committed suicide in the past, with her attachments so strong that she became a ghost? What injustices had she suffered? Chen Ping'an closed his eyes and slept until morning. Cultivation could be performed at any time and at any place now, so it no longer mattered how Chen Ping'an traveled and how quickly he did so. When Chen Ping'an left the prefectural city in the morning, he saw a group of four people boldly tearing down a notice put up by the local government. By the looks of it, they were going to directly target the group of ghosts that had forcefully occupied a nearby temple. Chen Ping'an felt slightly puzzled. The two males and two females weren't dressed especially extravagantly, and they clearly weren't pretending to be poor either. Rather, they genuinely weren't wealthy. The eldest of the group was a middle-aged man at the second tier of martial arts, and the young boy standing beside him was most likely his disciple. The young boy could just barely be regarded as a pure martial artist. As for the two females, they looked like young sisters who had just become Qi refiners and embarked on the path of cultivation, with the spiritual energy in their acupoints extremely thin and almost negligible. Chen Ping'an had seen through the powerful cultivator from the Blissful Dream Nation who had disguised himself as a storyteller, and this was due to the intangible aura that he had exuded. As such, Chen Ping'an had become alert even though the storyteller had disguised himself as a second tier Qi refiner. On the other hand, the two martial artists and two Qi refiners genuinely possessed lowly cultivation bases. Perhaps it wouldn't be difficult for them to deal with the female ghost hovering around the prefectural city, but the group of ghosts occupying the nearby temple was clearly great in number and power. After all, they had dared to blatantly occupy a temple with decent incense offerings and shoo away all of the monks. With this in mind, it would presumably be very difficult for the four cultivators to vanquish the ghosts. If they weren't careful, and if they didn't have any life-saving trump cards, then they might even be surrounded and killed in the temple. Chen Ping'an pondered for a moment and decided not to leave the prefectural city straight away. Instead, he listened to the quiet chatter of the four people who thought that their conversation was a complete secret. They discussed their plans to grind down the gold ingot in their possession, transforming it into gold powder. A young girl whose cheeks were bright red from the morning chill suggested that it would be best for them to use official gold ingots from the government, and that they should also use the official notice from the prefectural office to borrow a few incense-infused tools from the city god temple, the scholarly temple, and the martial sage temple. By doing so, they would enjoy a greater chance of success and also improve the safety of their trip to the Golden Bell Monastery. The young boy grumbled in slight displeasure, questioning why they didn't vanquish those fox spirits and rabbit spirits instead. This represented two sets of reward money, one from the local government and one from the large clans, and it would definitely be an easier and safer task as well. The slender and slightly older girl with an ordinary appearance explained to the young boy that the ghosts and spirits in the Golden Bell Monastery would become much more alert if they dealt with the fox spirits and rabbit spirits first, making it much more difficult for them to successfully clear out the temple in the future. Judging from their solemn tones and serious discussions, the group of four cultivators wasn't feeling relaxed at all. This was in stark contrast to the middle-aged man's bold and gallant demeanor when tearing down the notice from the city wall. Chen Ping'an left the prefectural city and made his way to the Golden Bell Monastery which was located fifteen kilometers away. He stopped at a roadside resting pavilion three to four kilometers away from the Golden Bell Monastery, taking a rest and waiting for the four cultivators to arrive. A mountain stream bubbled away beside the pavilion. Chen Ping'an waited all the way until noon for the four cultivators to finally arrive. Chen Ping'an started to make his way to the Golden Bell Monastery without waiting for them to arrive at the pavilion. Carrying the bamboo case on his back and holding a hiking pole in his hand, he purposely slowed down his pace and appeared like a frail scholar who was struggling to make his way forward. The four cultivators quickly caught up to the scholar in white, and the middle-aged man holding a large tube of incense sticks glanced at him as he walked past. He quickly retracted his gaze, and the young boy who appeared naive and expressionless cracked a grin, causing the scholar in white to also smile. The young boy smiled even wider, and he didn't immediately wipe the smile from his face even after he turned around. The slightly older girl frowned but didn't say anything. Her younger sister wanted to say something, but the slightly older girl grabbed her sleeve and gestured for her not to invite unnecessary trouble. The younger girl with bright red cheeks didn't say anything, but after taking a few steps, she couldn't help but turn around and ask with a smile, "Scholar, are you heading to the Golden Bell Monastery to offer incense? Haven't you heard that no one in the entire Ritual Baton Prefecture visits the temple anymore? Yet, you're still insisting on visiting? Are you rushing to offer the first stick of incense for the day?" The scholar wiped the sweat from his forehead, panting as he smiled and replied, "I only just arrived at Ritual Baton Prefecture, and I have a friend who's acquainted with the monks at the Golden Bell Monastery. He said that I could seek temporary accommodation and study there, not needing to spend any silver coins and also being able to enjoy a peaceful and quiet environment." The younger girl was just about to say something, yet her older sister pinched her arm and caused her to frown in pain. The younger girl turned her head and said in a low voice, "Big Sister, it's daytime right now, so there won't be ghosts and spirits from the temple sneaking around to spy on us. If this scholar follows us to the Golden Bell Monastery, then should we save him afterward when we start to fight with those ghosts? Won't this make things even more difficult? If we don't save him, then my conscience will feel troubled even if we vanquish the ghosts and spirits at the temple. "I need to tell him about the situation and warn him not to seek a futile death. Where can't a scholar read and study? Yet, he insists on barging over to a temple occupied by ghosts and spirits. Seriously, what's wrong with him? With his terrible luck, I surmise that he doesn't have any chance of becoming a champion scholar." The slightly older girl sighed and forcefully flicked her younger sister's forehead with a finger, replying, "Say as little as possible. After blocking this scholar, you're not allowed to act on your whims during our trip to the Golden Bell Monastery anymore. You need to listen to me!" The younger girl was overjoyed, and she slowed down until she was walking side by side with the scholar. Meanwhile, her older sister and the two martial artists walked further and further ahead. The younger girl's first remark was extremely interesting, and she asked, "Scholar, are you married yet? What do you think about my older sister's appearance?" The traveling scholar from a foreign region smiled and replied, "Please don't joke around , Miss." The younger girl smiled in amusement and conceded, "I'm just messing around with you." She then put on a stern expression and continued, "However, what I'm going to say next isn't a joke. The Golden Bell Monastery is extremely dangerous right now, and a large group of vicious ghosts suddenly appeared one night and occupied the temple after shooing away all of the monks. Even the abbot who was knowledgeable in Buddhism was killed on the spot, and many monks and worshippers who were unable to flee in time were also killed by the vicious ghosts. The ghosts that are occupying the temple will genuinely eat people, so it's best that you avoid visiting the Golden Bell Monastery. "In any case, there's not a single bald monk at the temple anymore. I'm not trying to scare you for fun, and if you don't believe me, you can verify what I said with the people in the prefectural city. If I'm lying to you, then you'll only be taking a slight detour and wasting a small amount of time. If I'm telling the truth, however, then won't you die a futile death in foreign lands? In that case, how will you become an outstanding scholar and bring glory to your clan?" "Then why are you and your three companions heading over to offer incense?" the scholar asked. The young girl stomped her foot and exclaimed, "Can't you tell that we're capable cultivators traveling over to vanquish the ghosts?" The scholar faltered for a moment before laughing loudly and remarking, "Since when did there exist ghosts and demons in the world? Please don't lie to me, Miss." The slightly older girl and the middle-aged man exchanged a glance and shook their heads. The young boy suppressed a smile. Only the young girl with adorable red cheeks became worried, saying in a frantic voice, "My older sister said that scholars like you are the most difficult to convince once you become stubbornly set on something. If you continue to ignore the dangers, then my only option is to knock you out with a single punch and throw you back inside the resting pavilion. However, this is dangerous as well, especially if one or two ghosts wander over at night. You'll still end up dead if they manage to catch your scent. You've become a dumb goose from studying too much, so hurry up and leave!" The scholar appeared slightly foolish as he replied, "But I'm extremely hungry right now, and I genuinely don't have enough money and food to travel to the prefectural city and back. I'll take a glance from outside the Golden Bell Monastery in a moment, and I'll immediately turn around and leave if what you say is true, and there truly aren't any worshippers or monks." The young girl sighed in grief and lamented, "My older sister told me that those ghosts are able to channel mystical abilities and unleash waves of murderous aura and black clouds enough to blot out heaven and earth. How will you run away at that time?" The young girl looked forward and shouted, "Big Sis, let me bring this dumb goose back to the prefectural city first. If push comes to shove, I'll just run a bit quicker and make sure that I arrive at the Golden Bell Monastery before nighttime." The slightly older girl had a furious expression as she scolded, "We already picked the time beforehand, and this was because we were afraid of the ghosts in the temple being able to appear during daytime. By arriving earlier, we'll be able to place more talismans around the temple. If you're not present, then what will we do if the vicious ghosts are able to soar into the sky and surround the entire temple? Perhaps you want to collect our three corpses when you arrive afterward? Have you already forgotten about the troubles that we faced before?!" The young girl felt dejected and in low spirits as she nodded in understanding. She then said to the scholar, "You should turn around and leave now. We're not familiar with each other, in any case, so I naturally have no reason to trick you for fun and purposely lie about the existence of ghosts and spirits at the Golden Bell Monastery." However, the scholar stubbornly insisted on going to the entrance of the Golden Bell Monastery to take a look, and this made the young girl so upset and angry that tears started to brim in her eyes. The young girl was just about to reach forward and punch him. He was completely dismissing her goodwill, but she naturally couldn't watch him stroll headfirst to his own death, could she? However, the dumb goose scholar surprisingly took a step back and lectured, "Please don't get physical and hit me, Miss. A noble person should settle disputes through reason and not violence! If you knock me unconscious and toss me back to the resting pavilion, what will you do if someone steals my bamboo case afterward? Will you compensate me?" The young girl turned around and briskly walked over to her older sister, raising a hand and roughly wiping her eyes. She didn't understand how there could be such a heartless person in the world. She was almost upset to death. However, she couldn't help but turn around and glance back, only to see that the dumb goose scholar was truly following them to the temple. She hesitated for a moment, thinking about whether she should catch him by surprise and knock him unconscious. However, the dumb goose was dumb when he needed to be clever, and clever when he needed to be dumb, unexpectedly stopping in his tracks when he saw her glance back. The young girl was just about to scold him, yet her older sister had already grabbed her arm and chided, "Stop wasting time!" The young girl lowered her head. Chen Ping'an smiled in his mind. By the looks of it, he had caused a good person to become disappointed. Chen Ping'an continued to slowly follow the group of four cultivators, falling further and further behind them as time went on. The young girl wanted to turn around again, but her older sister angrily scolded, "Will you only be happy once you ruin our plans and cause everyone to die? Are you not afraid that he's actually a ghost from that vicious group occupying the temple?" The young girl finally resisted the urge to turn around. She lowered her head and continued to walk forward, kicking the small stones on the road as she did so. Her older sister sighed in grief and lamented, "You'll eventually suffer greatly with a personality like that. Have we not witnessed a significant number of people doing good deeds but suffering bad outcomes during our journey through the cultivation world?" The young girl replied with a nod and didn't retort her older sister. In the distance, a bored scholar in white used his hiking pole to move the small stones back to their original positions, smiling faintly as he mused, "Is that truly the case?" The young girl secretly turned her head and glanced back when the group of four cultivators arrived near the Golden Bell Monastery, yet the twists and turns in the mountain path meant that she could no longer see the figure of that stubborn scholar in white. After walking forward for another five hundred meters, the area in front of the four cultivators suddenly opened up. "We're here," the slightly older girl said with a solemn expression. The middle-aged man nodded in acknowledgment.