"Since you have accepted me as your master, you must never again use living beings as sacrifices. If I find out, I will scatter your soul to the winds!"

Given his personality, Lin Mu would normally be reluctant to take someone like the Spirit Seer as a servant. However, upon discovering the man could survive as a splinter soul, he realized the Spirit Seer had already embarked on the path of cultivation.

Although it seemed the Spirit Seer had not been cultivating for long, this was Earth, after all. Spiritual Energy was scarce here, and the methods of cultivation had long since vanished into the river of history. For the Spirit Seer to have taken the first step on this path meant that in the Immortal Realm, he would be considered a top-tier genius.

Besides, keeping the Spirit Seer around would be of great use to Lin Mu.

"Master, please rest assured," the Spirit Seer said, hesitating for a moment. "You saved this splinter soul of mine, so I will naturally obey your every command. It's just… I am only a splinter soul right now. I may not be able to do much for you."

Lin Mu sneered. "If you want my help retrieving your original body, just say so."

The Spirit Seer kowtowed repeatedly, crying out, "Master, you must help me! Otherwise, I have no idea what the other splinter soul—the one currently occupying my body—will do."

"Alright, get up. I'll help you," Lin Mu said, glancing at the Spirit Seer. "That girl from before… you captured her, didn't you?"

"Yes, but rest assured, Master, I haven't had the chance to…" The Spirit Seer couldn't finish his sentence. Sacrificing a living person was an offense against the Heavenly Dao, and he was genuinely terrified that Lin Mu would obliterate him with a single slap.

"Let her go," Lin Mu ordered with a frown. He would save who he could.

"Yes!"

The Spirit Seer agreed at once. He formed a series of hand seals, and streams of sinister energy shot from his palms.

BOOM! BOOM!

A hidden passage was suddenly revealed where the mirror had stood, leading down into a dungeon.

Lin Mu was slightly surprised. There was a dungeon beneath the room. Inside, he saw a pile of skeletal remains—at least a dozen of them.

"To think you've killed so many people," Lin Mu's gaze turned cold. He could tell they had all been young women, around twenty years of age, who had met an untimely end because of a mere game.

"Master, you misunderstand! I didn't kill them!" the Spirit Seer exclaimed in terror, rushing to explain. "I have been cultivating for fifty years and have never slain an innocent person. Although I was sealed here and had to devour lifeblood to survive, I never took a life."

"Then these people…" Lin Mu trailed off as something occurred to him. He noticed chains and other restraints in the dungeon, suggesting it was used to imprison people.

"It was Chu Tian," the Spirit Seer said with a bitter smile. "I was sealed here, with the Chu Family tasked to guard me. To survive, I made a deal with them. I would only devour a little of their victims' lifeblood—not enough to be fatal. But Chu Tian never released them. Instead, he imprisoned them here and tortured them day after day."

"Since your original body could seal you, why didn't it just kill this splinter of yours and be done with it?" Lin Mu asked.

"My original body wouldn't do that," the Spirit Seer replied. "Killing me would also harm it. And while I may be weak, I still have a few tricks to stay alive."

Lin Mu nodded. Someone who had managed to step onto the path of cultivation would certainly not be a fool.

"So, you're saying your original body is with the Chu Family?" Lin Mu asked.

"Exactly," the Spirit Seer confirmed. "That other splinter soul needs a vast amount of resources to gain complete control of my body. The Chu Family has significant power in this area and can provide everything it needs."

"On one hand, they act as that beast's lackeys, and on the other, they want to cooperate with me. The Chu Family really knows how to play both sides!" the Spirit Seer scoffed.

"Let's go," Lin Mu said, shaking his head and starting to walk out.

"Where are we going?" the Spirit Seer asked instinctively.

"To help you take back your original body, of course."

Watching Lin Mu's departing back, the Spirit Seer's mouth fell open in utter shock.

***

「In the private room.」

Everyone was a little surprised to see Lin Mu and Qiu Ning return together.

"Qiu Ning, where have you been? We couldn't reach your phone; we were about to call the police," Cai Heng said, walking over with a concerned look.

"I'm fine," Qiu Ning replied, rubbing her head. She seemed to be in pain, feeling as if she had forgotten something important that she couldn't recall no matter how hard she tried.

"It's good that you're fine," Cai Heng said worriedly. "Qiu Ning, you look pale. Why don't we call it a night?"

"Yeah, we're done! We're done for the night!" the couple suddenly stood up. "It's getting late. We should head back." Before anyone could reply, the two of them hurried out. For some reason, they felt the place was eerie and terrifying.

Seeing them leave, Chu Tian's expression soured slightly.

"Qiu Ning, if you're not feeling well, there's a place to rest here," Chu Tian said, standing up and walking toward her. "How about I take you there?"

For some unknown reason, the sight of Chu Tian filled Qiu Ning with a primal fear. She instinctively took a step back and shrieked, "Don't come near me! Stay away!"

"Qiu Ning, what's wrong? It's me, Chu Tian," he said, continuing to approach her with a charming smile.

"Chu Tian? Chu Tian…"

Hearing the name, Qiu Ning reacted as if she'd recalled something horrendous. Her face filled with absolute terror, she clutched her head and screamed, "No, don't kill me! Please, don't kill me…"

Suddenly, Qiu Ning spotted Lin Mu. She ran to him, grabbing his hand and refusing to let go, her face ghostly pale as she trembled uncontrollably.

Cai Heng and Xu Yao were stunned. What in the world was happening?

Seeing Qiu Ning's reaction, a cold glint flashed in Chu Tian's eyes, but he quickly covered it with a smile. "Qiu Ning, do you have some sort of misunderstanding about me? Why would I want to kill you?"

"Senior Chu, please don't agitate her anymore," Cai Heng said, sensing something was deeply wrong. "We should take her back to the university first."

Chu Tian nodded. "Alright."

However, everyone noticed that Qiu Ning was still clinging to Lin Mu, refusing to let go.

"Uh… Lin Mu," Cai Heng said helplessly. "Could I trouble you to help us get Qiu Ning back? Thank you. It seems like she only trusts you right now."

Lin Mu's brow furrowed slightly before he gently pressed a finger to the center of Qiu Ning's forehead. Her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.

"You can just carry her on your back," Lin Mu stated, not bothering to explain himself to the astonished onlookers. "Yaoyao, let's go. I'll take you back to school."

In the end, Lin Mu left with Xu Yao, while Cai Heng carried Qiu Ning on his back. The group promptly departed from Tongling Mansion.

"Young Master, it's terrible! The mirror… it's shattered!" Mo Mo came running over, her face a mask of panic.

"What?"

Chu Tian's face drained of color. He rushed into the room and saw the shattered mirror. Where it had stood was now the entrance to a dungeon. Inside, countless white bones were piled high, and the walls were covered in frantic scrawls.

It was a single name, repeated over and over.

Chu Tian!

The script was chaotic, as if etched with blood and fingernails, radiating a boundless, seething hatred.

Seeing this, Chu Tian stumbled back a step. At that moment, he saw Mo Mo follow him in. She too saw the scene in the dungeon and slapped a hand over her mouth in horror.

A vicious light flared in Chu Tian's eyes as he lunged toward her.

"Since you've seen it, you can die too!"

However, just as Chu Tian was about to seize Mo Mo, the blurred figure of an old man materialized before him.

"You…"

The old man gave a toothy grin, and his figure flickered, diving straight into Chu Tian's body. The next moment, Chu Tian's body went rigid, then began to twitch with an unnatural awkwardness.

An ancient, hoarse voice issued from Chu Tian's mouth. "It's not as good as my original body, but it will have to do for now." The voice was filled with a tone of reverence as it continued, "The Repatriation Spell my master taught me is truly remarkable."

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