"You tricked me?!" Mu Lichuan roared in his mind. He realized he couldn’t even suppress his own temper. This so-called "spirit" had completely taken control of the situation, sending an involuntary chill down his spine.
"This venerable one can’t be bothered to force the truth out of you. You admitted it yourself." The spirit - also known as Xiao Mo, spoke with an air of lofty pride.
Mu Lichuan steadied his heart. "Where is your body?" He knew he had no choice. Besides, if this being truly meant him harm, it wouldn’t have revealed its existence as a spirit.
"I don’t know." Xiao Mo’s reply was shamelessly blunt. He couldn’t very well admit he didn’t even remember who he was. He was simply following instinct, driven to find his physical form. As for why he had attached himself to this mortal - call it fate.
He had only just awakened from slumber. The moment he regained consciousness, he saw the boy weeping, on the verge of demonic obsession, and hastily intervened to pull him back.
"Are you mocking me for fun?" Mu Lichuan felt a vein throbbing in his forehead. Learning that his mother’s soul was temporarily safe and might even be revived had eased much of the darkness in his heart.
Xiao Mo scoffed. "Why would this venerable one waste time mocking a mere mortal?"
Though it was the truth, the words left Mu Lichuan feeling inexplicably hollow.
"Child, really? You can’t handle even this? The path of cultivation is anything but smooth. If you can’t overcome such minor setbacks, how will you defy the heavens?" After offering this advice, Xiao Mo found himself puzzled.
Why am I bothering to guide him? We’ve only just met.
Mu Lichuan quickly steadied his mind. If he wasn’t careful, this "spirit" might detect his thoughts, meaning his first tactical maneuver had succeeded.
"The heavens?" The term was familiar, but no one had ever explained its significance to him.
"Cultivation defies the natural order, it's rebellion against heaven’s will. Right now, you can’t even draw in spiritual energy. Knowing more is useless." Xiao Mo realized he was being too harsh. "First, settle your worldly affairs. Your heart is too cluttered for proper meditation."
In other words, the discussion was over. As Mu Lichuan gazed at his mother’s corpse, then thought of her soul, an idea took shape.
Mu Changnian was on the verge of collapse. A perfectly preserved body had vanished from the hospital without a trace. "Lichuan, don’t grieve. I will get to the bottom of this."
The surveillance footage showed no one entering the room. Lichuan hadn’t left either, yet by morning, the body was gone.
"Father, who could be so cruel as to desecrate Mother’s remains?" Mu Lichuan’s voice was hoarse, his eyes bloodshot, the very picture of overwhelming sorrow.
Mu Changnian’s face darkened. Cultivators, only they could spirit away a body without a trace. And the footage of his wife’s death… Someone was targeting the Mu family.
"Lichuan, review the footage yourself. Not a word of this leaves the room. I’ll handle it." His tone left no room for argument.
Mu Lichuan lowered his head, hiding his expression. "Understood, Father." Some people, some matters - interests would always outweigh blood ties.
News of the Mu family matriarch Zhang Xiao’s "suicide" and the theft of her corpse spread quickly among the core members. Special investigators were dispatched, but Mu Lichuan, rewatching the footage for what felt like the hundredth time, stared unblinkingly at his mother.
She had been standing calmly on the balcony when, abruptly, her body stiffened. Slowly, deliberately, she leaned forward and plummeted to the ground.
Heh…
Had Mu Lichuan not known of supernatural abilities, he might have suspected a sudden stroke. But his observations told a different story: his mother had been murdered, her body controlled. And these "special investigators" were none other than cultivators.
In Chuanshi, aside from the Mu, Zhang, and Mo families, he wasn’t sure which other clans had cultivators. One thing was certain: the perpetrator’s techniques were profound, leaving no trace, no witnesses.
In his past life, his mother’s death had severed ties between the Zhang and Mu families. Without the Zhangs’ alchemical support, the Mu clan’s cultivation progress had stagnated, until Mu Xiaolin’s triumphant return. As for the Mo family… they were odd, practicing metaphysics distinct from orthodox cultivation.
[玄学 (xuánxué): lit. "metaphysics"; fig. esoteric practices like divination, feng shui, etc.]
After his mother’s death, Mo Shanshan had brought him warmth. They became engaged, he had assumed she would naturally become his wife. Yet in the end… Everything seemed predestined, even his rebirth at age fifteen.
Mu Lichuan stood. "I wish to see Grandfather." Though his father managed secular affairs, his grandfather was the bridge between mortals and cultivators. To meet his great-grandfather, he needed his grandfather’s approval.
Mu Xiwang, though disappointed in his grandson’s lack of spiritual roots, still appreciated his talents. "What is it?" His tone was stern.
"Mother didn’t kill herself. She was murdered by an invisible hand." Mu Lichuan spoke calmly. "I saw transparent fingers."
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