Mo Fan paused slightly in his steps, while the three beside him hurriedly ran out of the courtyard.
Mo Fan frowned faintly, then resumed walking.
“Senior, I beg you, please save me!”
“This humble woman is merely an unjustly deceased soul. In the past, I was harmed by an evil cultivator and sealed here. Let alone harming people, I cannot even leave this courtyard. I implore senior to save me!”
Seeing that Mo Fan was about to depart, the female ghost suddenly began to weep. Her hoarse cries for help made Mo Fan sigh softly in his heart.
“Give me a reason to save you!”
Mo Fan’s cold and stern voice brought a trace of joy to the weeping female ghost’s expression. She immediately spoke urgently to Mo Fan, “Senior, this humble woman is only a wronged soul. In the past, I was harmed by an evil cultivator who sealed me here precisely to prevent me from ever transcending in future lives. Therefore, I need to leave this place to seek revenge!”
“This reason is insufficient!”
Mo Fan shook his head, turned around, and said to the female ghost, “I am not some righteous cultivator, nor am I a saint who delights in helping others. If you expect me to avenge you, you are greatly mistaken!
So you must provide a reason that convinces me to save you. Otherwise, stay here forever!
Since you have become a ghost cultivator, you should understand the treacherous nature of people’s hearts in this world.
In this world, you are not the only one who is the most tragic. There are people and events far more tragic than yours!”
Mo Fan’s words silenced the female ghost. In truth, she knew the chances were slim, but in the end, she still wanted to try.
“Since you cannot find a reason for me to save you, then fend for yourself!”
Mo Fan spoke indifferently, then walked outwards without looking back.
Just as he pushed open the dilapidated gate, the female ghost’s voice finally reached him.
“Senior, as long as you can rescue this humble woman, I am willing to obey senior’s commands! If I violate this oath, may this junior never transcend in future lives and suffer the most cruel punishments in the world!”
Faced with this final sliver of hope, the female ghost could not hold back any longer and spoke.
Mo Fan did not turn around, but a smile appeared on his face. Then, the power of his golden core erupted from his body. A wisp of core fire instantly engulfed the entire courtyard.
Outside the residence, Bei Yu and the other three cultivators were all startled by this sight.
“Senior brother, this Senior Brother Mo Fan is truly no ordinary person!”
One cultivator spoke with a bitter smile, still feeling lingering fear. If Mo Fan had not acted in time just now, the three of them would probably have all been killed by that fierce ghost.
“And you still dare to call him junior brother?”
Bei Yu glared at him, then said solemnly, “He was clearly pretending to be weak to devour the strong. From now on, all of you be more respectful and address him as senior!”
“I know, I was just saying…”
The cultivator nodded with a bitter smile.
“Senior brother, what is Senior Mo doing? Is he trying to completely destroy this yin residence?”
“Also, what exactly is Senior Mo’s cultivation level?”
Another cultivator asked curiously.
“How would I know a senior’s affairs?”
“I estimate that this Senior Mo has at least late Foundation Establishment strength!”
Bei Yu spoke gravely, feeling quite bitter inside. He had originally thought that even if his cultivation was inferior, he could at least hold an advantage in the bet, after all, he was a disciple of the Orthodox Dao Sect. In terms of techniques and artefacts, how could he be compared to cultivators from small sects?
But the result had greatly shocked him and made him realise how foolish his earlier words had been.
Mo Fan paid no attention to the conversation among the three outside. When he had arrived at this yin residence, he had seen the talismanic patterns and restrictions laid around it.
These restrictions were not particularly advanced, but for an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator, breaking them would not be easy.
Of course, before him, a mid Core Formation cultivator, these restrictions were somewhat inadequate.
With the core fire released, it was completely overwhelming.
Soon, the entire yin residence was burned to nothing under the core fire. Mo Fan’s voice rang once more in the ears of the somewhat panicked female ghost, “What are you waiting for? Reluctant to leave?”
The female ghost was slightly stunned. Just now, she had indeed been terrified. Mo Fan’s core fire was her natural counter, a power that could easily destroy her.
With a flash of black light, the female ghost vanished from the spot.
At the same time, a strand of sleek, jet-black long hair appeared at Mo Fan’s temple.
“Senior!”
When Mo Fan approached Bei Yu and the others, the three immediately saluted him respectfully.
“This time, many thanks to senior for saving us!”
“Without senior’s intervention, I fear the three of us brothers would all have died here today.”
Bei Yu smiled bitterly, then glanced at the additional strand at Mo Fan’s temple but said nothing about it. Instead, he said solemnly, “No matter what, in this bet with senior, we brothers have lost. We accept our defeat willingly!”
With that, Bei Yu handed the wooden sword to Mo Fan.
“Do you think I need your magical artefact flying sword?”
Mo Fan smiled ambiguously, then waved his hand and said, “Let this matter end here. Since you are disciples of the Orthodox Dao Sect, I hope that in the future you can uphold the sect’s principles, taking it as your duty to save the world and aid the people, rather than exploiting the common folk.
Remember, true experts never become powerful by bullying the weak. Instead, they rely on themselves, taking steady steps one by one to forge a true path to strength!”
“Senior speaks truly!”
The three nodded repeatedly upon hearing this.
Mo Fan smiled faintly, casually tossing out a cloth pouch and saying, “I see you are quite clever. There are a hundred spirit stones inside. I do not want today’s events to spread.”
The eyes of the three immediately lit up upon hearing this.
“Senior, rest assured. We brothers have never met senior!”
Mo Fan smiled with great satisfaction at these words, then soared into the sky, disappearing from the three’s view in mere moments.
“This… It seems we still underestimated this Senior Mo!”
“Where is he a Foundation Establishment cultivator?”
“To fly without relying on artefacts, he is clearly a Core Formation great expert!!”
Gazing at the figure vanishing into the distant horizon, Bei Yu sighed.
“Senior brother, what do we do now?”
“Naturally, return to the sect!”
“Then shall we not bid farewell at the city lord’s mansion?”
“Bid farewell my foot! Have you not lost enough face?”
“Should we report Senior Mo’s matter to the sect? I saw that he did not kill that fierce ghost at all. Raising ghosts is a demonic path practice!”
“Report my foot! If Senior Mo were demonic, would he have saved us?”
“See this? These hundred low-grade spirit stones are hush money!”
“Are you choosing thirty low-grade spirit stones each, or choosing to make an enemy of a Core Formation great expert?”
“Senior brother, is it not thirty-three each?”
“What? Cannot this senior brother take a few more spirit stones?”
“After all, who is the senior brother here, you or me?”
“…”
When Mo Fan returned to the city lord’s mansion, he briefly explained the matter of the yin residence.
He Yuanzheng had no doubts whatsoever and immediately wished to express his gratitude. Upon learning that the three immortal masters from the Orthodox Dao Sect had slipped away dejectedly, he even fetched the blood coral and insisted on giving it to Mo Fan as a gift.
Mo Fan naturally refused and instead expressed his wish to leave Xiao Bao at the city lord’s mansion.
He then recounted Xiao Bao’s experiences.
Upon learning that Xiao Bao was a child who had fled from the distant Hundred Thousand Mountains and had lost his parents and family, He Yuanzheng’s sense of justice was deeply touched. He immediately nodded in agreement.
When Mo Fan returned to the seaside cave dwelling and took Bao’er from Xiao Huang to send him to the city lord’s mansion, the little one did not cry or cling as Mo Fan had imagined. Instead, he was very quiet and obedient.
“Child, from today onwards, you shall be called He Xiao Bao. You are my son, He Yuanzheng’s son!”
“Mm, thank you, Father!”
Xiao Bao immediately knelt and respectfully kowtowed to He Yuanzheng, causing He Yuanzheng and his wife to burst into happy laughter.
At parting, Xiao Bao personally saw Mo Fan out of the mansion.
“Alright, go back!”
“In the future, live well with your family. City Lord He is a good person!”
Mo Fan rubbed Xiao Bao’s head, smiled, and walked outwards, waving without looking back.
“Big brother, will Bao’er ever see you again?” Xiao Bao shouted to Mo Fan with red eyes.
“If it is fated, we will meet again!”
Mo Fan soared into the sky, yet his voice echoed in Xiao Bao’s ears.
“Big brother…”
Xiao Bao immediately knelt towards the direction Mo Fan had left.
At that moment, a strand of jet-black long hair quietly fell onto Xiao Bao’s head…
