“Duke Qinghe?”

Lu Liangsheng stopped walking and turned his head to look at him. The latter quickly came back to his senses, smiled, and resumed walking, following him toward the fenced cottage.

“I never expected Fellow Daoist Lu to have taken in three disciples. It truly comes as a surprise.”

“They’re all children with nowhere to go. Taking them in and raising them is also a form of cultivation.” Lu Liangsheng spread his hands and, observing the proper etiquette of a host, invited him into the courtyard first. As they passed Li Sui’an and the other two, he offered them a few words of encouragement before entering the thatched cottage with Yang Su.

He gathered the few books scattered across the table and set them aside, then picked up Toad Daoist, who was sitting beneath the window lattice, basking in the sun, and placed him on the bookshelf.

“I built this thatched cottage on a whim. I hope Duke Qinghe won’t find it too shabby.”

Yang Su withdrew his gaze from the youth outside, who was bent over his work in the courtyard, casually sat down on a wooden stool, and waved his hand. “It’s of no consequence. Those who cultivate the Dao are free-spirited by nature. A little disorder inside the house is only to be expected.”

Resting his hands on his knees, his gaze swept across the room. The toad that had been placed on the bookshelf slowly crawled out, raised a webbed forelimb, and with a thump fell to the floor. It clambered back to its feet in a rather bedraggled state, seemingly muttering curses under its breath, then pushed open a small door and went inside. Just before closing it, those toad eyes seemed to glare at him.

“Fellow Daoist Lu, your toad is rather interesting. Has it already reached the Spirit Connection Realm? I wonder if you would be willing to part with it?”

Lu Liangsheng was briefly taken aback. He poured a cup of tea, handed it over with a smile, and said, “It has been with me for many years. I’m afraid I cannot give it away.”

“That is rather regrettable.”

The clear sound of reading drifted in through the window lattice from outside. The two sat there, leisurely sipping tea and chatting for a while before Lu Liangsheng returned to the question he had asked earlier on the way here.

“Earlier, I asked whether Duke Qinghe knows a technique for stripping away the evil spirit. Might you be able to tell me?”

“Separating an evil spirit?” Yang Su held his teacup and pondered for a moment. “I haven’t had much contact with such a technique. However, I do know the art of Human Puppets. I wonder whether it might be of some help.”

“Human Puppets?” Lu Liangsheng frowned slightly.

“Heh, heh… it is merely a sinister minor art.”

Yang Su did not conceal anything. Setting down his teacup, he rose, stroked his beard, and walked to the window lattice, gazing outside. “A person without yin and yang becomes no different from a beast. Without the Spiritual Altar, one is reduced to little more than vegetation. I am by no means a benevolent man. This technique is of great benefit in warfare and the deployment of formations, so I studied it for a time.”

At the mention of yin and yang and the Spiritual Altar, Lu Liangsheng immediately understood the principle behind it. Strip away a person’s yin and yang, and they lose all sense of right and wrong, becoming no different from a madman. Erase the Spiritual Altar, and a person’s consciousness is wiped away, reducing them to a puppet like a plant. Refining Human Puppets for use in war would naturally be of tremendous benefit.

It was indeed just as Yang Su had said—an exceedingly sinister art.

However, that was another man’s way of doing things and had nothing to do with Lu Liangsheng. After a moment of silence, he asked, “Does this technique touch upon the realm of the soul?”

“Reversing yin and yang is itself a method of that path.”

“And it does not harm innocent people?”

“If one is not refining Human Puppets, there is naturally no need to involve anyone else.”

Lu Liangsheng let out a sigh of relief. So long as it did not require human sacrifice like his master’s methods, then this technique was worth attempting.

He immediately summoned Honglian to stand in the middle of the room. Yang Su’s cultivation was far from shallow, and he had encountered ghosts and spirits on many occasions, so the appearance of a Rakshasa ghost caused him no surprise. However, when he looked back at Lu Liangsheng, his eyes carried a look that seemed to say, I understand.

“Fellow Daoist Lu uses his Primordial Spirit to leave the body and accompany a wandering soul. It is indeed a fine method. However, you must be cautious. Do not let the spiritual winds of Heaven and Earth scatter your Yang Spirit.”

Honglian rolled her eyes and quietly spat in disdain.

The sight left Lu Liangsheng both amused and exasperated. He then called for Sun Yingxian, who had been searching through a book in a cave on Qixia Mountain. As a cultivator of the lineage that subdued demons and exterminated evil, the Daoist possessed unique methods for dealing with ghosts and spirits. Ever since taking on this matter, he had spent the last two days buried in the cave, searching through the Daoist scripture his master had left him to see if there was any spell capable of separating a malevolent soul.

“I didn’t find one, but the three of us can work together.”

After exchanging greetings with Yang Su, the Daoist continued flipping through his book while rummaging through his cloth pouch. He took out a square Xiantian Bagua Diagram and spread it out on the ground outside.

“I’ll set up the formation and be responsible for guiding the soul!”

Yang Su took an awl from his sleeve. “My Human Puppet Art can be used to reverse yin and yang, and perhaps separate the evil soul. However, we will also need a vessel to seal the evil soul within—something this ghost frequently used.”

“What about this?” Holding an umbrella, Lu Liangsheng stepped out of the cottage. In his hand was the painted skin Honglian often used. The soft skin was as lifelike as a real person, with picturesque features and skin so vivid that the three youths peering over the courtyard fence shuddered at the sight.

Closing the umbrella, a wisp of green smoke drifted beneath the shade of a nearby tree, where it transformed into Honglian’s soul. She stared somewhat fearfully at the Yin-Yang formation spread across the ground.

“Don’t be afraid.”

Lu Liangsheng set the painted skin beside Yang Su and comforted the ghost with a few words before taking his place on the right side of the Yin-Yang Bagua formation. “I’ll stabilize Honglian’s soul. I’ll leave the rest to you two.”

With that, he cupped his hands and bowed to Yang Su and Sun Yingxian in thanks.

“You didn’t thank this Daoist when you took my talismans.” The Daoist curled his lips, took out several talisman papers, drew incantations upon them, and tossed them into the air. The talismans drifted lightly toward the eight corners of the formation.

“By my command!”

The light around everyone dimmed slightly as a gust of wind swept through the area. A drifting cloud covered the sunlight on the mountainside. The Daoist suddenly stepped forward and turned his head with a loud shout.

“Nie Honglian, enter the formation!”

In the distance, the graceful figure with flowing sleeves floated into the yellow-cloth Bagua formation. Pale yellow light instantly rose from its eight corners, surrounding her like a cage. The formation had originally been created to capture ghosts. Now that the yin qi within it had been activated, Honglian immediately felt an intense burning sensation, and even her soul began to waver unstably.

“Hold on!”

Lu Liangsheng formed a hand seal and extended two fingers toward the sky. His magic power burst forth, and a rumbling like thunder echoed through the mountains. Spiritual Qi, invisible to ordinary people, rolled and flowed from the sea of clouds above.

“Go!”

His sword fingers swept toward Honglian. The surging Spiritual Qi rushed into the Bagua formation and, like water splashed onto boiling oil, erupted violently. Mist spread in every direction as it enveloped Honglian, whose figure had become blurred and unsteady. The Spiritual Qi nourished and sustained her soul, preventing the Bagua formation from scattering it completely.

“Young Master… it hurts so much!”

Even under the nourishment and protection of the Spiritual Qi, Honglian wrapped her arms around herself. Hissing sounds continuously came from her body as black yin qi seeped from her entire form, while her face turned deathly pale.

“Duke Qinghe!”

Lu Liangsheng poured even more of his spiritual power into the stream of Spiritual Qi. Beads of sweat gradually appeared on his brow as he shouted to Yang Su on the opposite side. The latter remained silent, his eyes fixed on Honglian’s back within the formation. His feet suddenly slid apart as he settled into a horse stance.

Holding the iron awl horizontally beneath his chin between the fingers of both hands, his lips moved rapidly as he muttered an incantation. His robes and beard fluttered in the wind.

Hearing Lu Liangsheng’s shout, he suddenly opened his eyes, which flashed like lightning. The iron awl spun in his hand as his fingertip brushed across it, revealing line after line of magical inscriptions.

“Yin and Yang Reversed!”

The iron awl hovered in midair. With a push of his palm, it shot forward as a streak of black light toward Honglian’s back. The instant its tip touched the ghost’s back, Yang Su suddenly leapt up, gripped the end of the awl with both hands, and while chanting the incantation, pressed it downward inch by inch, as though it weighed a thousand catties.

A black runic inscription was carved from the back of Honglian’s head, extending downward.