Chapter 74

Once again, it was a late night, the night as clear as water, the moonlight as dreamy as a dream.

In the room, Jiang Chen was cultivating Daoist techniques. With a solid foundation and abundant magical power, cultivating Daoist techniques naturally progressed smoothly. Although it had been only a little over a day, his achievements in the few spells he had chosen had already surpassed Qiu Sheng and Wen Cai, catching up to Uncle Jiu.

"Hmm," he murmured, silently contemplating, "Given my progress in these few spells, I should be able to subdue an ordinary ghost without any problem. I should complete the second side mission first."

Being mute means not being able to speak, for a thousand days, which is about three years. Although it is not a short time, it is not particularly long either. The key is that it ignores the cycle boundaries, meaning that no matter how many cycle worlds he enters, as long as it is within the thousand-day limit, he must continuously suffer the punishment of being mute.

Although being mute is not a severe punishment, it undoubtedly increases the difficulty of completing tasks in subsequent cycle worlds. This is why he, who had just achieved some success, was so eager to complete the second side mission.

"Bang"

Suddenly, a sudden sound came from the night, startling Jiang Chen out of his distraction. Could it be that the guy has broken out of the coffin? Without hesitation, despite it being late at night, Jiang Chen quickly got up and rushed out the door.

"Senior Brother, you're here too," As he arrived at the room where the coffin was stored, Jiang Chen met Uncle Jiu, who had also come at the sound.

"I was a bit worried, so I came to check." Uncle Jiu responded, hurriedly going forward to carefully inspect the coffin of Old Master Ren. After a while, he let out a sigh of relief, "There's nothing wrong. It seems we were a bit too nervous..."

"Rustle"

Before Uncle Jiu's words had even finished, a sudden noise broke the silence of the night. Both Uncle Jiu and Jiang Chen were startled, especially when they discovered that the source of the sound was Wen Cai's room.

"Oh no," Surprised, Uncle Jiu and Jiang Chen hurriedly ran to Wen Cai's room. However, when they pushed the door open, they found that their worries were unfounded.

There was no accident in the room. Wen Cai, who was sleeping soundly, had accidentally kicked over a shelf by the bed. At that moment, he was still hugging his quilt and snoring.

"Ah," Uncle Jiu shook his head helplessly, carefully tucking Wen Cai in, and then sighed, "Sleeping like a pig, this kind of person is best suited to run a mortuary."

Jiang Chen chuckled. Although Uncle Jiu's words were full of complaints, they were also a sign of his concern for his disciple. Qiu Sheng had his aunt to take care of him, and although Wen Cai might not achieve much, as long as he could inherit the mortuary, he could still make a living.

"It seems everything is fine." Uncle Jiu shook his head, yawned, and said to Jiang Chen, "Junior Brother, go back and rest. Don't always focus on cultivation. After all, Daoist cultivation is not something that can be achieved overnight; it cannot be rushed."

"Yes, Master." Jiang Chen responded and returned, but although he listened to Uncle Jiu and did not continue cultivating, he did not obediently rest. Instead, he followed the moonlight and left the mortuary.

Although the mortuary was a place for storing corpses, Uncle Jiu had already set up arrays and talismans and venerated various deities, so there were no ghosts or spirits to disturb. If Jiang Chen wanted to complete his mission, he needed to find a place where real ghosts and spirits appeared. Otherwise, staying in the mortuary, even if his Daoist techniques were ten times more powerful, would be useless if he did not encounter any ghosts.

To find ghosts, he could not go to places with many people. After all, where there are many people, there is strong yang energy, and ghosts, being yin spirits, rarely appear in such places.

Of course, "rarely" does not mean "never," but any ghost that can freely appear in a crowded place is undoubtedly a high-level ghost. If he really encountered one, it would be far beyond the capabilities of a novice like Jiang Chen, who had just entered the Dao. Therefore, he had to go to a sparse forest path, hoping to encounter a ghost that he could handle.

The moonlight was beautiful tonight, like water, filtering through the branches and leaves, casting a sparse and beautiful night scene.

Jiang Chen felt a sense of peace in his heart as he explored the quiet and mysterious path. Unconsciously, he found himself in a charming small garden. Looking around, he saw clusters of colorful flowers, artificial hills, caves, small bridges, streams, pavilions, and terraces, a truly extraordinary place.

"Ha ha ha..." Just as he was lost in the beauty, a clear and melodious laugh, like the tinkling of silver bells, reached his ears. Following the sound through the flower bushes, he saw a beautiful young woman, about eighteen years old, dressed in a light white dress, dancing gracefully among the flowers under the moonlight.

The beautiful scenery and the beautiful woman intertwined like a dream. At that moment, even with Jiang Chen's composure, he could not help but be momentarily entranced, his mind swaying, his soul trembling.

"Hmm," However, it was only a moment of distraction. Soon, Jiang Chen sensed something was wrong. He silently recited a Daoist spell, and with a sharp pain in his soul, he regained his senses. Then, a strange smile appeared on his face, "I've been here for some time, and I never knew there was such a place in town. This encounter, as Qiu Sheng would say, is either a dream or a ghost. It seems the latter is more likely..."

"Ouch," At that moment, the white-clad woman, who was dancing among the flowers, let out a cry of pain and fell into the flower bed.

"Should I say, as I expected? Then, it seems it's time for me to make my appearance." Jiang Chen chuckled, quickly stepping out from behind the flower bushes, and hurriedly went to help the woman, saying, "Miss, what's wrong?"

"Ah," The white-clad woman was startled at first, but then she smiled shyly and replied, "Sir, I think I sprained my ankle."

"Let me take a look." Jiang Chen squatted down with a gentle smile, reaching out to gently touch the woman's ankle.

"Ouch," The white-clad woman let out a soft moan, her face full of pain, and tears welled up in her eyes, a truly pitiful sight.

"Let me massage it for you." Jiang Chen, showing his chivalrous side, gently massaged the woman's ankle. At that moment, a cool night breeze blew, and Jiang Chen inwardly smiled, but his face showed concern, "Miss, it's cool at night. Let me take you back to your room to rest."

"This..." The white-clad woman hesitated for a moment, then bit her lip and replied, "Then I'll trouble you, sir."

"Not at all, not at all." Jiang Chen smiled, helping the white-clad woman to her feet and leading her into her room, where he helped her sit on the edge of the bed. Then he stepped back and sat on a round stool by the table.

The white-clad woman, blushing slightly, said, "My name is Dong Xiaoyu. Thank you, sir, for your help tonight. I am deeply grateful. May I know your name?"

"My name is Jiang Chen." He smiled and then said, "I don't know why, but I feel as if I have met you before."

"Oh, really?" Dong Xiaoyu laughed softly, "Do you think I look like someone you know?"

"A dead person." Seeing the sudden change in her expression, Jiang Chen smiled and continued, "And her name was also Dong Xiaoyu..."

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