Chapter 19: Qin Yun's Objective

Qin Yun was not only ruthless but also cunning and scheming. It seemed that the old bachelor’s intervention to save Qin Qing was partly orchestrated by Qin Yun herself. That old man, fully aware of her background, still fell into her trap—this woman’s methods were truly formidable.

I kept my voice calm and asked, “What do you want me to do?”

I never quite understood why the woman in red was so fixated on me.

Qin Yun exhaled softly and said two words: “Marry me.”

I thought I had misheard and asked again to confirm, “What did you say?”

“Marry me!” Qin Yun smiled. “I don’t need a grand wedding procession or a formal ceremony. All I ask is that you sign a marriage contract with me and acknowledge our bond.”

Her request was far from a simple contract. Otherwise, my grandfather wouldn’t have gone so far as to blind her and imprison her.

Seeing that I remained silent, Qin Yun continued, “Your identity in your past life is extremely special, and you crossed over from the underworld. The karmic debts and sins from that life have not vanished.”

“Those karmic ties might not fall on you personally but could affect your wife and children. If I bear those consequences for you, you can marry and have a family normally. Why wouldn’t you want that?”

I laughed bitterly. “Is there really such a good deal in this world?”

Qin Yun said, “I’ve told you before, your past life is unique, so your marriage fate will be incredibly strange.”

“If you marry a dead person, he can be reborn. But if you marry a living person, the underworld will inevitably gain another restless spirit.”

“If you agree, it benefits both of us.”

I fixed my gaze on her. “Have you told my grandfather this?”

Qin Yun hesitated, unable to answer immediately.

If she had told him and the contract truly benefited us both, my grandfather wouldn’t have refused.

If not, then she was lying to me.

Qin Yun’s expression darkened instantly. “Yuan Zheng, I wanted to resolve this peacefully, but since you don’t appreciate it, I’ll make you suffer.”

She pushed slightly backward, and the temple doors slammed shut. The lights inside went out completely, plunging the small twenty-square-meter temple into utter darkness.

Rustling sounds came simultaneously from the beams above and the floor, rapidly approaching me but stopping just short.

Moments later, I felt a chill creeping up from my feet, like a venomous snake slithering onto my shoe tip and winding around my leg.

At the same time, something seemed to be slowly descending above my head.

In the lore of the occult, if someone standing under a beam suddenly feels a presence above, it’s either a hanging ghost trying to loop a noose around your neck, or a spirit dangling its feet above, attempting to step on your shoulders to be led out.

If the person under the beam is unaware and only feels a heaviness on their shoulders, they will unknowingly escort the hanging ghost out of the house.

The enemy was attacking me from both above and below. Though I appeared motionless, I was keenly sensing their positions.

When facing spirits, the initial terror is often just a test; the true danger arrives when panic sets in. That is the ghost’s real killing move.

After a short while, I felt something gently brushing my hair, like a soft breeze passing over my head but carrying a sharp edge.

As the cold wind sliced across my forehead and then reversed from behind my head toward the top, I pressed my right heel down slightly, lifted my toes, and slashed a soft blade from my foot in a diagonal sweep half a foot long.

Phosphorescent flames burst from my sole, taking the serpentine shape of flickering fire, illuminating several meters around me.

The thing above my head was clearly startled by the sudden glow and paused momentarily. I swiftly reached up, grasped a furry claw, swung my arm, and slammed it to the ground.

A burst of phosphorescent flames in the shape of a lynx exploded on the floor, the fiery sparks dancing outward.

I stepped back several paces, turned, and kicked the altar’s offering table beneath the shrine. The two-meter-long wooden table flew into the air, and with a shove, I sent it crashing toward the temple doors.

The solid wood table smashed through the temple gates with a gust of wind, scattering splinters everywhere as it hurtled outside.

At the very moment the table was about to break through, I kicked the bricks beneath the shrine. A secret door instantly opened in the blue brick wall. I ducked inside and quickly triggered the mechanism to close it.

As the damp air in the secret passage invaded my nostrils, Qin Yun’s voice came from outside: “Where is he?”

“Where has Yuan Zheng gone?”

“Who owns this temple? Step forward!”

Someone whispered in response, “This is Bai Xian’s temple. He already ordered your death, and Yuan Zheng just destroyed your soul.”

“Bastard!” Qin Yun roared, followed by the other’s scream. She shouted again, “There must be secret passages here. Bring all Bai Xian’s people to me. If you can’t find them, kill them!”

I began to understand why Qin Yun killed relentlessly. She could only threaten the living immortals, never control them. But the ghosts obeyed her completely.

She never intended to wipe out the immortals on the mountain all at once. She feared their fierce resistance.

By killing selectively, she left a glimmer of hope for the others, making them believe her blade would not fall upon them. By the time they realized otherwise, they would be powerless to resist.

The sounds of her searching through the secret passage came from above my head.

I turned to look at the secret passage.

I was able to find the passage because the “Scout’s Manual” contained detailed records of traps and secret tunnels.

A scout who cannot familiarize himself with his surroundings and identify traps within seconds is essentially placing his neck on the chopping block, risking beheading at any moment.

Before entering the temple, I had noticed something suspicious beneath the offering table through a mountain rat. At that time, I suspected no one had ever triggered the mechanism under the table.

It wasn’t until I kicked the table aside that I realized the bricks were mixed with a special material that could block the spiritual senses of immortals.

Immortals are not skilled with traps, but their perception is extremely sharp; they can sense danger hundreds of meters away. This explains why Bai Xian had occupied the Plum Blossom Temple but never discovered the secret passage.

I lit a fire striker and used its flame to cautiously proceed deeper into the passage.

The “Yin-Yang Scout Manual” adhered to ancient methods and rarely used modern tools. Though primitive, the fire striker was far more useful than a flashlight in the secret realm.

Whether scouts, tomb raiders, or spiritual practitioners, they could judge the nearby situation by the color of the flame.

I had not gone far when the fire’s light suddenly turned green.

A green flame signaled the presence of yin energy nearby—ghosts were approaching.