Returning once again to the Junzi Pavilion, the glutinous rice and chickens he requested were ready. Ji Linxi acted with great solemnity, scattering a ring of glutinous rice around the courtyard. He then had the servants slaughter the chickens to collect three bowls of blood, which he sprinkled over the rice.

“Bring me a sharp dagger,” he said, his expression completely unchanging.

Master Wang signaled, and a servant hurried to hand over a previously prepared dagger.

Holding the dagger, Ji Linxi didn’t even twitch an eyebrow. He sliced straight into his own finger, watching the blood drip onto the ground, drop by drop, as if he had done this thousands of times before.

Seeing his unbothered demeanor, Master Wang’s suspicions couldn’t help but dissipate a little. It wasn’t until Ji Linxi had dripped blood all the way around the courtyard and his cheeks paled slightly that he finally put down his bamboo basket, pulled out a strip of cloth, and bandaged his hand.

“I still need to go into the bedroom to set up the array’s core. I need someone to act as my assistant.” Ji Linxi’s gaze swept over the servants before he casually pointed at the one he had noticed acting strangely earlier. “You’ll do.”

“M-me?” The servant put on a fearful expression, seeming rather reluctant.

“Since Daoist Chu picked you, hurry up and get over there!” Young Master Wang kicked him impatiently. “You’re just a servant, yet you dare defy the Daoist’s orders?” Having watched Ji Linxi bleed himself without batting an eye, Young Master Wang also felt this Daoist Chu must possess some real skill.

The servant was kicked to the ground. He quickly scrambled up, murmuring his obedience, and followed Ji Linxi into the bedroom with a terrified look.

Once the door closed behind them, Ji Linxi stood not far from a mirror to set up the core. This so-called “array core” was merely a handful of ash mixed with glutinous rice, circled with a bit of drawn cinnabar.

“What is your name?”

The man froze for a moment before realizing Ji Linxi was speaking to him. “Replying to the Daoist, my name is Changgui.”

Ji Linxi gave an “Oh,” and closed his eyes to begin his “ritual.”

With his back to Changgui, he performed some flashy, empty gestures, then cracked his eyelids open just enough to peek into the mirror.

At this very moment, Changgui’s eyes were filled with contempt and bitter resentment. All traces of his previous caution and fear had completely vanished.

Ji Linxi opened his eyes, burned a paper talisman, and sighed. “Miss, your life was pitiful, but that is no excuse for you to commit evil after death. Even if Young Master Wang forced himself upon you, you should have just endured it and reported it to the magistrate afterward to clear your name. How could you turn into a ghost and harm the living?”

Hearing this, Changgui’s fists instantly clenched tight.

Ji Linxi naturally knew he was spouting utter bastardly, animalistic nonsense. Given the Wang family’s power, the magistrate certainly wouldn’t side with her. If he had been the girl forced into that situation, he absolutely would have endured it while acting sycophantic. Then, the moment Young Master Wang let his guard down, he would have taken a hairpin and stabbed it straight through his throat first, preventing the bastard from making a sound.

Stabbing the throat wouldn’t kill a person instantly. While the young master was suffocating, he would leave the hairpin stuck in there, drag the guy around the room to find something sharp and heavy, smash his manhood to a pulp, and break his arms and legs. Once he was fully satisfied with his revenge, he’d flee. If caught, he’d just cleanly kill himself on the spot—not much of a loss. If he escaped, he’d have made a massive profit.

No matter the ending, it was better than losing one’s innocence and life in vain while the enemy went on living freely and unrestrained.

Changgui didn’t move.

Ji Linxi continued, “Giving yourself to Young Master Wang isn’t so bad anyway. The Wang family has so much wealth and power. Becoming his woman meant you could have enjoyed a life of luxury without suffering. You really didn’t know how to appreciate what you had.”

His inhuman words poured out one after another until Changgui finally couldn’t hold back. Gritting his teeth, he spoke in a dark, gloomy voice, “Daoist Chu, the dead deserve respect. Even if you are a Daoist priest who exorcises ghosts and demons, you cannot casually insult a young lady.”

Ji Linxi turned his head, looked at him, and smiled.

Realizing something, Changgui’s expression changed drastically.

……

“Why has Daoist Chu been in there for so long?”

Just as the words fell, the closed door opened. Ji Linxi walked out carrying his bamboo basket. Unlike when he went in, his forehead was now red and swollen. Master Wang immediately asked with concern, “Daoist Chu… your forehead, what happened…?”

“Oh.” Ji Linxi glanced up as if trying to look at his own forehead, feigning ignorance. He said lightly, “It’s nothing. While setting up the core, I sincerely kowtowed a few times to appease the girl’s resentment.”

Beside him, Changgui followed, his back hunched low.

Ji Linxi added, “I have finished setting up the array. The offerings must be brought inside before the Hour of the Rat (11 PM). Midway, no matter what you hear or see, ignore it. Pretend you noticed nothing.”

These words frightened Master Wang, Madam Wang, and the young master so much that their faces paled.

Madam Wang asked urgently, “Can’t you just deal with her today?”

Ji Linxi shook his head. “This malicious spirit’s resentment is far too deep. I just drained my pure-yang blood, so my strength is depleted. In two days, when her power drops and I have recovered, I will be able to subdue her.”

“Over these next two days, you absolutely must not disrupt the array I’ve set up. Otherwise, dealing with this ghost later will be extremely difficult.”

After issuing these instructions, he slung his bamboo basket onto his back and prepared to leave. Master Wang hurriedly asked where he was going.

“I am going out to buy some necessary supplies. I will return shortly.”

Master Wang smiled broadly. “Since Daoist Chu needs to buy things, it is only right that my Wang family pays for it.” He immediately summoned a servant and ordered, “Go to the accounting room and get fifty taels. Accompany Daoist Chu and make sure to protect his safety.”

In his heart, Ji Linxi secretly spat at Master Wang.

Indeed, birds of a feather flock together. This was clearly to prevent him from running away or colluding with others; they were sending a spy to monitor him.

On the surface, he remained completely indifferent and nodded. “That works.”

The servant went to the accounting room and returned shortly with the silver. “Daoist Chu, let’s go.”

Once out of the Wang estate, Ji Linxi was visibly freezing. All he wanted was to find a place with a fire to dry his wet trousers and shoes, then wrap himself in a thick blanket for a good sleep. However, because of the Wang family servant by his side, he could only keep his back straight and act as if the cold was nothing to him. Even though his fingers were red, stiff, and freezing, he forced himself to expose them, trying to look as calm as a gentle breeze.

“Daoist Chu, aren’t you cold?”

Just looking at him made the Wang family servant feel chilly.

“A cultivator who has walked through wind and snow for many years no longer fears the cold.” No, no, no, I’m freezing to death, freezing to death, freezing to death!

What on earth should he buy to bluff his way through this?

Ji Linxi’s brain spun rapidly as he led the servant on two laps around the main street. Everyone on the road was bundled up tightly; even the peddlers and porters wrapped themselves up like zongzi, their hands tucked deep into their sleeves. He was the only one wearing simple cloth robes. Though not exactly paper-thin, they certainly weren’t warm.

Looking left and right, he begrudgingly bought some cinnabar and talisman paper. Then he ducked into a luxurious-looking apothecary. After casting a critical eye over the goods, he hesitated and then browsed through them all over again.

“Daoist Chu, if you need to buy specific medicinal herbs, just tell this servant. I know every apothecary in Yongcheng like the back of my hand,” the servant offered eagerly.

Ji Linxi replied, “I just want to buy some herbs to replenish my qi and nourish my blood…” In reality, it was just because they were burning charcoal inside, making it a bit warm. If he wandered outside any longer, he really would freeze to death!

The Wang family servant was about to speak when the doorway suddenly darkened. Someone had walked in, accompanied by the crisp, melodious clinking of a jade pendant swaying at their waist.

“Young Master, it’s so cold in Yongcheng. If you wanted to buy herbs, you only needed to order this servant. Why trouble yourself to come in person?” An incredibly sycophantic, duck-like voice chimed in.

Which wealthy family’s young master is out for a stroll this time?

Ji Linxi secretly scoffed and glanced over with indifference.

He saw the newcomer wearing a cyan silk-cotton robe beneath a luxurious fox fur cloak, with a string of jade pendants hanging from his waist. His face was incredibly fair, free of a single flaw. His lips were like spring peach blossoms, his eyes like glazed glass. He was overwhelmingly handsome and elegant—words like “luxurious” or “noble” weren’t enough to describe him. With his eyelids lightly lowered, he naturally exuded the exalted aura of someone accustomed to absolute privilege.

As he walked in from the outside, the backlighting edged his hair in a glowing halo. This dreamlike, radiant sight instantly froze the gaze of Ji Linxi—the scamming, hiding, swindling fraudster. He completely forgot his disguise, staring blankly, unsure of how to react.

“It’s fine. Staying in the inn is boring anyway; it’s good to come out for some fresh air.” The young master entering the shop didn’t look at him, nor did he lift his eyes, simply speaking to the person behind him in a tranquil tone.

To his very core, Ji Linxi was not only greedy, vain, and full of wicked schemes, but he was also a massive lecher.

For a scammer like him, who couldn’t even squeeze into the lowest rungs of society, when he had worked as a handyman at the academy in his youth, he learned to read and bought a lot of miscellaneous books. Among those books were some explicit, “colored” materials—featuring both descriptive texts and vivid illustrations.

If a more gentlemanly figure saw such books for the first time, their reaction would likely be to frown or throw them away in embarrassment. Others might secretly finish reading them, then toss them aside as if they had committed a crime. Ji Linxi, however, shamelessly read them from cover to cover and then, well, got to work.

He was no different from a dog in heat.

Afterward, he studied the texts word by word. Later, when reading wasn’t enough to satisfy him, he took up a brush himself. It didn’t take much practice before he was writing extremely steamy, highly evocative smut.

For a real man, if he didn’t love money and didn’t love lust, what else was there to love?

Early on, Ji Linxi knew he was nothing but low-class trash. A year ago, after scamming a large sum of money, he specifically went for a stroll through the red-light district.

And he returned utterly defeated.

They weren’t beautiful enough, not pretty enough, didn’t have enough elegance—in short, everything was lacking.

Even though he was from the lowest caste and had no good future prospects—likely destined to cheat and swindle his whole life, enjoying things one scam at a time—he refused to compromise on this one matter. He was terrifyingly picky.

To describe exactly how picky he was: even when he had those kinds of dreams, the person in his dream always had a blurred, featureless face. But he could feel it himself—it absolutely had to be a beauty capable of toppling cities and nations. Otherwise, how could he completely abandon his sense of shame, lose his mind, and care for nothing but the ecstasy of lovemaking?

The noble young master who had just walked in finally lifted his eyes. His gaze lightly swept over Ji Linxi as if brushing past a speck of dust. Instantly, Ji Linxi felt a severe, electric tingle shoot down his spine, and his heart hammered wildly against his ribs.

And it was more than just that.

He shamelessly got aroused.