Chapter 11: Chapter Eleven: Having Left the Ghost Gate Pass

Judge panted heavily, "Everyone stop fighting, quickly stop fighting!" When he saw the defeated Ghost King and the other ghost officials, he suddenly choked, "Hmm……"

"Hmm… please… please… Venerable Lord, show mercy!" the Judge said with difficulty, then lifted his head to glance at Ling Xiao and continued, "The Sixth Prince said, the Venerable Lord once showed kindness to him in the mortal realm; karma cycles, so the Sixth Prince ought to repay this favor!"

Ling Xiao couldn't immediately recall who this Sixth Prince was… huh, what ghost! But this matter should indeed stop here; continuing would be bad for everyone, so he sheathed his Dragon Chant Sword and calmly returned the salute, "Then, thank you!"

The Judge twisted his mouth dryly, having made a mess of his doorstep, and even pressed the Ghost King to the ground and beat him in front of all the ghosts, yet he only had one word of thanks!

The Judge's heart, dead for many years, suddenly began to ache; he clutched his chest, looking resentfully at the eighteen Ghost Kings' severed limbs scattered on the ground, and only then noticed a fish that had slipped through the net beyond the battlefield: "Liao'ai!"

Liao'ai shuddered all over, hastily dropped Shi Ran and ran to the Judge's rear, fawning: "Lord Cui, why did you personally make this trip? If there's anything, just tell the other officials! The weather's not good either; don't tire yourself out!"

"I'm not like you! Who has such good fortune!" Lord Cui sneered, though he also knew Liao'ai's character, he waved a hand, not wanting to quarrel; his current task is to hurry and send away these three plague gods, otherwise the underworld will surely fall into chaos.

Under Lord Cui's escort, the master and disciple trio quickly left Ghost Gate Pass; as thick mist spread, Shi Ran felt she had forgotten something, and upon seeing the sole intact Liao'ai she realized, "Ghost big brother! Ghost big brother! What's your name? I don't want to burn the wrong paper money!"

Otherwise, those paper money would all go to those lonely souls and wild ghosts!

Liao'ai jolted, even he himself had forgotten this, so he no longer could heed Lord Cui's fierce gaze, hastily jumping out and shouting, "Liao'ai, I'm Liao'ai, Liao'ai! Please don't burn the wrong paper money…"

Lord Cui couldn't stand Liao'ai's howling; with a flick of the Judge's pen, he directly sent the master and disciple trio back to the mortal realm.

Liao'ai stared blankly at the direction Shi Ran had vanished, "Darn! Darn!" She surely didn't hear my name—what a pity for Wang Po's melon seeds! Good heavens! At that moment, a mighty Ghost King silently shattered……

Another Ritual Officer Ghost King, whose solid form had shattered, reassembled himself and caught up to Lord Cui, "Lord Cui! Lord Cui! They three have bullied the ghosts too much—could you really just let them go so easily?"

"Release?!" Lord Cui laughed; under his Judge's pen, he never lets anyone go, whether human or ghost! "Rest assured! They'll still come back!"

Shi Ran suddenly opened her eyes; Liao'ai's ghostly howl still echoed in her ears—although she knew it was those two sounds, but which two characters were they?

"Liao'ai?" No way—how could it be so flirtatious? Or "flirt love"? Hmm… seems even less likely…

"Ahhhhh!" What on earth is it! It's those two characters! Shi Ran wanted to cry but had no tears—why rush to send them out of the underworld? She still hadn't confirmed what those two characters were.

"You're awake!" Ling Xiao's cold voice came.

Shi Ran instantly sat upright; opposite, Ling Xiao was meditating under a tree, sunlight filtering through the wutong leaves, casting specks of light on his clearly defined face. He lowered his gaze slightly, like scattered stars falling from the heavens, his long, thick black lashes sweeping an arc-shaped shadow across his cheekbones, trembling faintly with the light and shadow.

Shi Ran involuntarily counted the jumping light spots on his face; the seventh speck fell on his high nose bridge, while the ninth speck happened to land on a vermilion dot beneath his lip—a red point, delicately brushed, yet not as vivid as his tightly pursed crimson lips.

That's the mole beneath his lip, and moreover, his beloved!

Shi Ran's mind unbidden blurted out that sentence, her heart skipping a beat; she bowed her head in panic—this won't do! Shi Ran, you must know! Men only affect a woman's sword-drawing speed! She's here to lie low in this world, not to break the plot!

Ling Xiao frowned at Shi Ran's suddenly flushed face; just moments ago the light and shadow were mottled, he faintly saw a red thread flash across her cheek at extreme speed, but it was too fast for him to be certain.

"Huh? Master, where's Senior Sister?" To avoid losing composure, Shi Ran hurriedly asked; as long as Senior Sister was here defying heaven and earth, she could spare herself much embarrassment.

Upon mentioning Mei Ruoxue, Ling Xiao indeed stopped staring at Shi Ran, instead lowering his gaze to his own chest, "She's…"

"Ah! What! She's in your heart!!!" Shi Ran jumped to her feet! This, this—how could this be okay! This also won't do! The female lead belongs to the male lead!

"No!" Ling Xiao said with some helplessness, wondering what Shi Ran was thinking all day: "Her soul is currently nurtured by me in the Heavenly Glazed Jade Bottle! You… need not worry!"

Although Shi Ran doesn't look like she's worried! But Ling Xiao would rather believe they two truly have resolved their grudges with a smile—after all, their sect bond took a hundred years to cultivate.

Right right right! Mei Ruoxue is now a soul, she certainly can't appear in broad daylight—it's all because the Master is too alluring, she's forgotten even basic common sense.

Shi Ran glanced at the little porcelain bottle on Ling Xiao's chest, then began to wander in her thoughts— the Master just hangs the Senior Sister on his chest, occasionally touching? That's hardly proper!

"Master, seeing as I am sincerely repentant, why not entrust the Heavenly Glazed Jade Bottle to my care to offset my faults with merit? I swear I will wholeheartedly protect her!" Shi Ran even raised her left hand, "I swear, as long as I am with the bottle, I… the bottle… the bottle remains!"

Ling Xiao thought it over; after all, they're both women, so it's indeed more convenient— he pointed a finger, and the jade bottle flew to Shi Ran's neck; she paused, then hastily tucked the bottle close to her body.

She was satisfied, began to survey her surroundings, and discovered they were atop a high mountain, dense forests all around, mist and clouds swirling, like a fairyland!

Shi Ran smoothed her hair, tugged at her clothes, took a deep breath feeling alive again, "Master, Master, where are we now? When can we go home?"

"Abundant Capital, Ninefold Mountain!" Ling Xiao said and then stood up; he didn't answer Shi Ran's second question because he saw that red thread again, this time also extremely swift, almost a flash, but this time Ling Xiao was quite certain.

Ling Xiao stood up without speaking, instead giving Shi Ran a deep, solemn look; having been stared at, her heart fluttered, that hint of flirtatious thought had long flown away, leaving only uneasy anxiety.

"Master!" she rose cautiously, "What's wrong with me?"

"Reach out!"

Shi Ran blankly reached out, and saw Ling Xiao's jade-green finger resting on her hand—this… this is taking the pulse?

Ling Xiao's profile entered her view—indeed, a serious man is the most handsome! Unlike the unruly handsomeness of Gu Yusheng, Ling Xiao's handsomeness is like a piece of thousand-year-old jade, cool and gentle.

The gentle ancient jade withdrew its hand, "You…"

"What's wrong?" Shi Ran momentarily felt she'd been poisoned, because Ling Xiao's expression was grave, yet he outright denied it: "Nothing, just very healthy—it's that the spleen governs transformation, spleen deficiency with stomach excess!"

"Spleen governs transformation, spleen deficiency with stomach excess?" Shi Ran caught up to the retreating Ling Xiao, "Master, what does this mean! Have I contracted some illness?"

"... No illness!" Ling Xiao's clear, cold voice rang out, "Just hungry!"

The master and disciple gradually drifted apart, neither noticing that where they had just stood, a red mist slowly rose, as if wanting to pursue, but ultimately halted, only able to slowly dissipate, as if it had never been there.