Rong Zheng put all her effort into comforting her Shi Fu, and finally, Tao Mian emerged from that gloomy atmosphere, giving his disciple a reassuring smile.
"You have a basketful of your own troubles, yet you're still thinking of saving your Shi Fu."
Rong Zheng puffed up her cheeks.
"I've figured it out. We can take our time looking for the Bone-Illuminating Mirror and the Jade-Hiding Altar, but we can't let Du Hong bully us right at our doorstep. I'm annoyed with him and don't want to see his face."
She counted on her fingers.
"Even if I can only live to fifty-five, I still have thirty years left. Thirty years may be short for you, but for me, it's enough to do a lot."
"Thirty years is a long time for me too," Tao Mian glanced at her with a smile. "If you died, I wouldn't be able to move on for the next thirty years."
"Oh no, that won't do!" Rong Zheng waved her hand. "Why don't you just pretend I'm dead from now on? That way, when I really die in thirty years, you'll be able to accept it!"
"...What kind of logic is that? It sounds smooth, but the more I think about it, the stranger it gets."
"Stop thinking about it. Little Tao, where exactly have you brought me?"
Rong Zheng began to examine the unremarkable mountain before them.
With sparse vegetation and no spiritual energy, it looked like a featureless barren hill. She couldn't understand why Tao Mian had gone out of his way to bring her here.
"Because," Tao Mian stepped aside, raising his arm to show Rong Zheng, "this is a place I painstakingly searched for, a very suitable place for your cultivation—a graveyard."
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"…"
Rong Zheng took two steps back, turning away coldly.
Even as Tao Mian grabbed her by the collar, her legs continued to move aimlessly in the opposite direction.
"Little Hua, didn't you say you'd protect me? Shi Fu is so heartbroken."
"Little Tao, the wind was strong just now, you must have misheard."
"We won't stay long, just three nights here."
"Outside or inside? Are there any vacant rooms? This place looks pretty full. Little Tao, maybe we should leave…"
"Stop right there, what a great place this is, don't waste Shi Fu's efforts."
Rong Zheng was on the verge of tears.
She was really scared!
Resistance was futile, as Tao Mian enthusiastically led her to the most impressive grave in the barren land.
"This grave looks the largest, and the brother inside must be quite big when he rises," Tao Mian said with satisfaction. "When the time comes, we'll practice on him, and once we enlighten him, our cultivation technique will be complete."
Rong Zheng was at a loss for words. This crazy Immortal Little Tao actually wanted to preach to a vengeful spirit.
"What if he's particularly fierce? What if he doesn't listen to us at all?"
Rong Zheng was extremely anxious and couldn't help but ask.
Tao Mian replied seriously.
"Then we'll have to send him off early."
"??"
As dusk fell, the sky gradually darkened, marking the beginning of the night life on this desolate mountain.
Tao Mian's eyes were bright, almost glowing in the dark.
Beside him, Rong Zheng wished she could bury herself on the spot.
Soon, the last glimmer of twilight faded, and the sky turned completely dark.
Rong Zheng then experienced a night she would never forget.
After nightfall, the two of them sat facing each other as cold winds howled around them.
Rong Zheng trembled in anticipation of the unknown, and after half an hour, Tao Mian grew impatient.
"Why can't we even see a ghost?"
??
Do you even realize who you are? Would an ordinary ghost dare to come out?
Tao Mian complained for a while and then suddenly fell silent.
At that moment of quiet, Rong Zheng's sense of foreboding reached its peak.
??
He's definitely up to something!
Sure enough, when no ghosts appeared for a long time, Tao Mian conjured a long soul-summoning banner from nowhere and struck the ground three times with force.
The mountain shook, summoning the ghosts.
All the spirits, whether fully dead or not, were forced to come out, disturbed from their rest to work.
As soon as the first ghost appeared, Rong Zheng took off running!
But those ghosts, fearing Tao Mian's Immortal power, didn't bother him and instead chased after Rong Zheng!
Rong Zheng screamed.
"Little Tao! Stop your magic! Why are they all chasing me!"
Tao Mian sat cross-legged leisurely, even taking the time to shout to his disciple.
"Little Hua! Don't just run! You need to reason with them!"
"Reason with ghosts!" Rong Zheng cursed. "They can't even think! How can they understand anything I say!"
"That's why you need to come up with a solution," Tao Mian said, changing his position to watch his disciple's frantic run. "Little Hua, I don't need to teach you lightness skills anymore! What I want to teach is ghost communication—never mind, if your lightness skills improve, that's fine too."
The first night passed with Rong Zheng's frantic running and shouting.
By the time daylight broke, Rong Zheng was nearly out of breath.
"Weren't you saying not to use your powers recklessly…"
Tao Mian smiled.
"Don't worry, Little Hua, just running wildly won't trigger your poison. Shi Fu knows how to handle this."
"?? You might as well just bury me here."