Chapter 18

Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW

Chapter 18

"Ghost!"

A dead person coming back to life, such a terrifying event happening right before his eyes, even the experienced butler was covered in cold sweat, his face pale, sweat pouring down. If he hadn’t grabbed the arm of the person next to him,

He might not have been able to stand and could have fainted on the spot.

"What kind of ghostly noises are these? We are cultivators of the spiritual world. Just look at how handsome we are; we don’t look like ghosts at all!"

Meng He covered his overly sensitive ears and rolled his eyes dramatically at the butler in front of him. Although he didn’t like Yu Jiu, Yu Jiu was a cultivator of the Qingxu Sect and Meng He’s only junior brother, so he could bully him as much as he wanted, but he wouldn’t allow outsiders to point fingers.

This was also something he learned from Yun Chuyou; Elder Martial Sister is very protective, and so is the Master. Unity among brothers is essential, and they stick together against outsiders, even written in the rules of the Qingxu Sect.

Although it was not yet curfew, the sun had already set behind the mountains. It was the time when day turns into night, and the moon was hidden behind thick clouds, making the sky unusually dark.

A gust of wind scattered the dark clouds, revealing most of the moon’s face. The moonlight shone on the four people, and at Yu Jiu’s feet was a long, narrow shadow.

The butler finally came back to his senses, "So, it is several Immortal Masters visiting. I wonder if there is an important matter…"

Inside the gate, this private house was well taken care of, with lush grass and trees, but the shapes were clearly shaped by people. The small gravel path showed no moss or fallen leaves.

Meng He said, "Did you not say this was your private house and that it was abandoned? But this house has people living in it. Yu… Wang Jiu, are you just boasting?"

It was one thing for Yu Jiu to embarrass himself, but he couldn’t let that happen to him too.

This villa with hot springs indeed belonged to Yu Jiu, at least when he was alive. Moreover, if one looked closely, the cultivator in front of him was much taller than that delicate, porcelain-like child.

If it were a ghost, it wouldn’t continue to grow after death; it would remain as it was before it died. The Ninth Young Master took his last breath in the lady’s arms, and after that, his body disappeared from the main house. The Yu family searched hard, but they could find nothing.

It turned out that Yu Jiu had encountered a chance for immortality; perhaps he had never truly died and was saved by a kind cultivator.

"It really is the Ninth Young Master! Wonderful, you have finally returned!" Anyone could be brave, and the butler, who had managed to piece together the situation, now had tears of joy on his face. "How could your house be abandoned? The family master has always arranged for people to take care of it, thinking you were gone, and this house was never taken by the second branch; it has always been held by the family master."

The spiritual world and the Mortal World only differ in the concentration of Spirit Qi. The Spirit Qi in the Mortal World is thin and nearly non-existent, and it cannot grow spiritual plants. There is no difference in the flow of time between the two realms.

The year Yu Jiu "died" was also his tenth birthday. The ghost child Yu Jiu soon appeared in the world of cultivation. For a certain reason, he entered Qingxu Sect at the age of fourteen and stayed there for six years.

Now, with Yu Jiu’s return, ten years have passed in the Mortal World. Humans have short lives, and the old steward who took care of him back then is still alive, though his body has slightly hunched, and he has some gray hairs.

Upon hearing about Yu Jiu’s miraculous return to life, the steward was very excited, his lips trembling. He trembled but spoke with great enthusiasm, "Emerald! Hurry, go send someone to the residence to invite the family master over! Tell him that the Ninth Young Master has returned!"

"It’s a bit late today, so as not to disturb the family master."

Facing the excited old friend, Yu Jiu’s expression was calm, "I did not intend to disturb anyone. I only came to sever ties with my younger martial sister and was planning to find a place to rest."

He did not randomly choose this house; it was where he had met his end and where many old belongings were hidden in the estate.

Even though he told Yun Chuyou that the house was abandoned, he was sure that after ten years, the house had not changed hands. After all, it was a place where someone had died, and only Yu Jiu knew where the old deed was kept.

Unless there was a change in royal power and the Yu family of the Imperial Capital fell from grace, this house would only be taken by outsiders. Before, while he was at the shop, Yu Jiu could easily find out about the Yu family’s situation.

The emperor was still the same emperor; except for growing old, there was not much change among the noble families.

Yun Chuyou glanced at Yu Jiu. His emotions showed little fluctuation, and his expression did not reveal his true thoughts.

But she knew that if he truly did not want to be disturbed, Yu Jiu would have agreed to stay at an inn in the first place. How could he have come all the way to this private residence?

There were not many stories about Yu Jiu in the book, and in such matters, Yun Chuyou also lacked the ability to foresee the future.

Dealing with people who are very clever can easily lead to headaches, so she decided to stop thinking about it. It did not matter to her whether Yu Jiu was here to seek family or revenge.

The purpose of this trip was to end her past connections, to cut ties with Zhong Wei, and meanwhile to also cut ties with Yu Jiu, saving time and effort.

Anyway, she just wanted to find a place to rest. As long as she could find a suitable place to stay today, that was enough. Yun Chuyou spoke up and reminded, "Can we stay in this house? If not, we can still look for an inn outside."

She was always a person of action and did not like to waste time or entangle herself in problems.

"Since you are the friends of the young master, you must be the benefactors of the Yu family. How can we let you stay at an inn? We have guest rooms in the village. Please come this way." The steward was also observant and immediately warmly invited Yun Chuyou and the others to stay.

He gave a signal for his son to quickly go to the main house and inform someone to come over, then he lit a lamp and invited Yun Chuyou and the others to the living room to rest.

The guests arrived suddenly, so the empty guest rooms had to be cleaned quickly and made ready with fresh, soft bedding.

As an important servant of the Yu family, the old steward was a mortal, but he had seen many cultivators. After all, the ancestors of the Yu family were cultivators, and some talented young ones had been sent to cultivate in sects.

He did not know which sect Yun Chuyou belonged to, nor could he tell her level of cultivation. Even though the girls looked young, if they were high-ranking cultivators, he absolutely could not afford to offend or neglect them.

"Please enjoy tea, esteemed guests."

The steward took out the most precious tea set and brought out the finest tea leaves from the bottom of the box, personally preparing the tea. He soon instructed someone to bring out snacks from outside.

While this estate had not fallen into disrepair and there were always people to take care of it, since there were no masters living there, the servants had only simple, coarse meals. Naturally, these could not be used to entertain noble guests.

"It’s not necessary; cultivators should not eat too much of the mortal grains."

However, Yun Chuyou waved her hand to refuse the old steward’s snacks and tea. After becoming a cultivator, although she still had three meals a day, she mostly consumed spiritual food.

In the Mortal World, even in the Imperial Capital, there are no special places to eat spiritual food. Even if there are some, the spiritual energy brought from the cultivation world is only provided for the rich in the Imperial Capital and will not be available on the streets for anyone to eat and drink freely.

The meal at the lamb soup shop was mainly prepared for Yu Jiu, who does not eat much spiritual food, so she ate very modestly.

"Younger martial sister, do you want to try this snack?"

Thinking about Zhong Wei’s difficult childhood, especially her love for sweets, Yun Chuyou asked her again.

The latter shook her head, "I have enough candy given by my senior martial sister."

Yun Chuyou told the butler, "Please take this away; we have brought our own tea."

Since she was going on a long journey, she had packed many items in her storage ring. Borrowing from the Yu family, she took out a set of jade green tea utensils, a small bag of spiritual tea leaves, and a water container.

The water was collected from the plum forest at the top of the Snow Mountain on Congyun Peak, absorbing the Spirit Qi of nature, so it would not waste this fine spiritual tea.

After pouring a cup for her younger martial brothers and sisters, Yun Chuyou looked at the old steward who was waiting eagerly by the side, "Get yourself a cup."

Although she had extra tea sets, this set was for her master and younger martial brothers and sisters to enjoy tea. It was a set of six cups, and she did not want to share it with an outsider.

"Yes!" The old steward quickly took a small cup from the tea cups that had just been removed, his hand still slightly trembling.

Yun Chuyou generously poured him a cup of clear tea, "Spiritual tea is good for the body, but you can only drink one cup."

This tea is not something overwhelming, unlike the flesh and blood of demon beasts; drinking too much won’t cause you to explode, but if a mortal drinks too much, they cannot absorb it and it would waste Spirit Qi.

As a rich person who started from nothing, Yun Chuyou is still very frugal in some ways and dislikes extravagance and waste.

The old steward in charge of hosting the honored guests looked at Yu Jiu, who nodded slightly and, in a condescending tone, said, "Since it is a gift from senior martial sister, you should just accept it."

Whether a cultivator or the former Ninth Young Master, they are all masters; this arrogance is deeply rooted in Yu Jiu’s bones.

Seeing that Yun Chuyou and the others were drinking tea naturally, the old steward no longer hesitated and drank the tea in front of the guests.

The Spirit Qi flowed through his body, washing away many blockages in his meridians. The old steward felt refreshed and suddenly ten years younger; this tea was definitely something that cannot be found in the Mortal World!

It seems that the guest’s identity is genuine and not that of a deceitful trickster.

A servant ran over to inform the old steward, "Steward, the family master is about to arrive."

"Dear guests, please wait a moment; I must go to greet the family master."

He looked at Yu Jiu and asked for his opinion, "Ninth Young Master?"

The latter brushed aside a long tea leaf floating on the surface of the tea and replied coldly, "Yu Jiu is already dead; I am Wang Jiu."

This familiar feeling made the steward even more certain of Yu Jiu’s identity; he was still as sharp and proud, even the family master was not in the Ninth Young Master’s eyes.

The steward did not try to advise him further; he was a perceptive and sensitive person. The Ninth Young Master had indeed grown up; he seemed much calmer and less capricious than his childhood days.

But he had changed from fragile porcelain to a sharply defined natural gem; broken porcelain can hurt, but it has a sense of fragility. A gem, being hard and sharp-edged, can wound others deeply while remaining unscathed.

In simple terms, it means he is more dangerous than before; confrontation is absolutely not an option.

The cultivator might not care about the Yu family master, but the steward, being a servant, could not ignore this. He quickly went out to make sure he could greet the Yu family master at the door right away.

A man who looked slightly like Yu Jiu got off his horse. As soon as he heard the news, he rode fast to come here, showing how much he valued Yu Jiu.

The Imperial Capital has a rule that forbids galloping horses in the city, but this rule clearly means nothing to the Yu family master, who is one of the four great families.

"I have seen the family master, sir." The steward and the servants responsible for cleaning in the courtyard all respectfully bowed to the man in the dark cloak.

When Yu Jiu died, the current Yu family master was his grandfather. Ten years have passed, and the grandfather has stepped down, while Yu Jiu’s biological father has taken over the leadership.

He was a very handsome man who, at the age of forty-nine, looked like he was in his early thirties; only his very deep-set eyes revealed his true age.

Yu Heng did not see Yu Jiu at the door and felt disappointed. "Steward Li, you better make sure what you said is true."

Yu Heng was a capable Yu family master, busy with many tasks. He hurried here just to see the rumored resurrected Yu Jiu.

Most young masters become fathers by age twenty, but he had his first child at twenty-nine. Yu Jiu is his eldest son, and he is undoubtedly valued.

As the legitimate eldest son, Yu Jiu was born as the first grandson of the Yu family, but he was not the first child of this generation; he was the ninth. Nine is the supreme number, symbolizing the highest power and status.

Unfortunately, this child was fated for misfortune and could not bear the heavy burden of such a precious fate, passing away when he was ten years old. For ten years, Yu Heng often regretted that he should have given his eldest son a less noble name.

The butler promised, "It is definitely the Ninth Young Master!"

He recognized Yu Jiu at first glance because this finely crafted young gentleman’s appearance was almost a perfect enlargement of the ten-year-old boy, showing almost no change.

"The Ninth Young Master has grown up, just like the lady."

"Take me to see him!" The usually strong man ordered in a cold tone, but the tight fist hidden in his loose sleeves revealed his true emotions.

As he walked through the corridor and reached the hall, upon seeing that face, Yu Heng’s steps unconsciously halted, and his breathing quickened.

Yes, it really is Yu Jiu, alive and well.

His child had grown up, yet it seemed he was not living well outside. Considering the age, he was now twenty but still appeared so delicate and fragile.

Compared to the strong-looking young man in black nearby, Yu Jiu seemed fragile and unsteady.

Yu Heng frowned; the Yu family became one of the top four families in Kyoto largely thanks to their well-respected ancestors in the spiritual world.

If Yu Jiu was not doing well in the spiritual world, as his father, he would find a way to place him in a sect that had Yu family members looking after him.

If Butler Li heard these thoughts, he would surely sigh that the family master has a very thick filter for his beloved son.

Yu Jiu had a slow growth rate and had a delicate and beautiful appearance that made him seem like a young boy, but he was still a handsome young man. When he stood up, he was tall and looked well-cared for, unlike the fragile glass doll he was ten years ago.

In the past, the Ninth Young Master’s face was always pale, almost ghostly, but now his snow-white complexion had a hint of rosy color, clearly showing he was in much better health.

Besides, he seemed small because Meng He next to him was tall and muscular, looking like a young man in his twenties. Compared to him, Yu Jiu appeared even more like a delicate young noble.

Yun Chuyou immediately noticed Yu Heng’s arrival. She looked at Yu Jiu and then at the Yu family master; both were handsome men, but they only vaguely resembled each other.

Good-looking people often share common features, and somehow, they didn’t seem like father and son.

According to the book’s description, the ghost child did not have a good life as a human for those ten years. Could it be that Yu Jiu’s mother betrayed the Yu family master?

But the scene of the father and son recognizing each other made her realize she might have overthought things.

Yu Heng tested, "Little Jiu?"

"Father." The child’s voice changed to a cool, indifferent teenage tone, and the pitch was exactly the same as it was ten years ago.

His former flesh and blood had disappeared, and his inner spirit was a pure ghost body, with no connection to the Yu family, yet Yu Jiu was still willing to call Yu Heng "Father."

"Hey, Little Jiu!"

Yu Heng was very emotional; he didn’t know what to say. He instinctively questioned in a firm tone, "If you are fine, why haven’t you returned to the Yu family? Even just to send a message or let us know you’re safe would be good. Your grandfather has always been worried about you…"

Yun Chuyou felt a bit awkward; she didn’t like getting involved in others’ family matters, especially since she didn’t know the full story. She cleared her throat twice to make her presence known.

"Where is the guest room?" She wanted to rest and thought it would be better to let the father and son who hadn’t seen each other in ten years talk alone.

The butler immediately said, "Dear guest, please follow me."

Yun Chuyou stood up, and Meng He and Zhong Wei quickly followed.

"Senior martial sister."

Yu Jiu, who was sitting in his original seat, called out to her with a soft and pitiful voice, "Master is not here, and I only have senior martial sister by my side. After ten years, I have forgotten many things. If senior martial sister abandons me too, I will be truly anxious…"

Meng He’s fists tightened: Here it comes, that indecisive tone. He couldn’t see any signs of Yu Jiu’s unease.

Yu Jiu spoke as if he were a heartless person, but his reasons were valid. After all, this Yu family master was being aggressive and did not seem like a good father.

At least for Yun Chuyou, who had once had a good father, this was not enough. She stepped back with a look of helplessness, saying, "Alright, you all continue talking."

It seemed that Yu Heng just noticed the other three people in the hall. His gaze swept over Yun Chuyou, Meng He, and lingered on Zhong Wei, who was wearing a red dress: this face looked familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere.

Recruitment of Editors: https://gravitytales.com/recruitment-of-editors/