Not long after the two people from the Li Feng Hall left, the ghostly spirit, possessing a decaying corpse, wearing a cloak, and riding a demonic wolf, arrived at the gate of Xu Taiping’s courtyard.
"Do you think they dare to come and catch me if you ask those useless people?"
The ghostly spirit shouted at Xu Taiping, who was standing on the rooftop, with a mocking tone.
"What can you do if I close the door?"
Xu Taiping retorted, then loosened his fingers, and an arrow wrapped in the True Qi of Residual Afterglow whistled through the air.
What Xu Taiping did not expect was that the ghostly spirit, clad in a black cloak, suddenly drew a long sword from under the cloak and accurately split the arrow he had shot.
"If it weren't for your sneak attack yesterday, how could a mere child like you, who hasn't even reached the Door Opening Realm, have injured me!"
The ghostly spirit sneered, pointing the sword directly at Xu Taiping on the rooftop.
Seeing this, Xu Taiping's expression turned serious.
From just that one sword strike, he could tell that the ghostly spirit was indeed much stronger than himself. Yesterday, he was only able to force it out of Liu Qingmei's body because of the element of surprise.
"The opportunity for a sneak attack only comes once. From now on, this ghostly spirit will be extremely cautious. It will be very difficult to force it out of the body again and kill it with alcohol."
Xu Taiping thought to himself as he drew another arrow and pulled back the bow.
"Little brat, don't think you're safe just because you're hiding in your courtyard. In ten days at most, I will dig up the underground channel leading to your medicinal garden at the back. Once it's blocked, your garden will have no water, and all the spiritual herbs will wither into dry grass!"
The ghostly spirit said with a cunning smile.
Hearing this, Xu Taiping couldn't help but feel a tightness in his heart.
The water source for his medicinal garden at the back was indeed an underground channel. Normally, a steady stream of water would flow through the garden's ditches, making it very convenient to water the plants.
If the ghostly spirit really could dig up that channel, he would have to go out to fetch water. Otherwise, the perilla plants he had just planted in the garden would all die in no time.
"If I store water in advance, I can last for four or five days after the water supply is cut off. That means I have only fifteen days to prepare."
Xu Taiping's mind was racing.
"Little brat, I'm telling you this because you seem quite clever. I want to show you a way out. If you surrender now and become my ghost servant, I will spare you. Otherwise, I will make you suffer like Liu Qingmei, using your soul as a wick to experience a life worse than death!"
After a series of threats, the ghostly spirit finally revealed his true purpose for coming today.
After yesterday's incident, he had taken a liking to Xu Taiping's cleverness and wanted to make him his ghost servant after offering his body to the Tiger King.
These days, even ghosts needed more subordinates.
"I am a righteous cultivator of the Qingxuan Sect. How can I be like you, aiding a tiger in its evil deeds?"
Xu Taiping sneered, then released another arrow with a "whoosh."
Without a doubt, his arrow was once again deflected by the ghostly spirit's sword.
After deflecting Xu Taiping's arrow, the ghostly spirit laughed as if he had heard a funny joke.
"Your Daoist teachings say that one begets two, two beget three, and three beget all things, which ultimately return to one. Therefore, all Daoist methods ultimately lead to the same goal. There is no distinction between good and evil, right and wrong. If you follow me, I will teach you the way of ghost cultivation. In time, you can achieve the same enlightenment!"
Failing to intimidate, the ghostly spirit changed his strategy to enticement.
"Perhaps the Dao has no good or evil, but people do. The Sage of Calligraphy said, 'Born as a human, you should cultivate yourself, help others, and be like water, remaining good even in the deepest abyss.'"
With these words, Xu Taiping drew another arrow and pulled back the bow, then raised his head proudly and looked directly at the ghostly spirit, continuing, "You, born as a human, not only fail to do good but also aid a tiger in its evil deeds, harming your own kind and bullying the weak. You are a great evil and deserve to be punished!"
At this moment, Xu Taiping, who was less than five feet tall, seemed much taller than the eight-foot-tall ghostly spirit when he spoke these words.
"Since you are seeking death, I will grant it to you!"
The ghostly spirit, enraged and embarrassed, coldly snorted. He turned his demonic wolf around and continued to glare at Xu Taiping.
"Do you think cutting off the water supply will only make the herbs in your garden wither? I will let you know that the ditches in your garden are the source of the spiritual power for the protective barrier around your residence. Once the water supply is cut off, the barrier around your courtyard will crumble on its own!"
Perhaps out of anger or underestimating Xu Taiping, the ghostly spirit revealed this crucial information.
"Wait and see. Within half a month, I will take your life!"
With these words, the ghostly spirit rode the demonic wolf and disappeared into the forest beside the courtyard in a flash.
"Half a month... it's enough!"
Xu Taiping looked at the forest where the ghostly spirit had disappeared and clenched his fist.
The arrows he had shot were not random but were intended to test the ghostly spirit's strength.
"Three consecutive arrows, and the ghostly spirit chose to block each one. This proves that when the body it possesses is injured, its spirit is also harmed."
"Moreover, the force of each of my three arrows was different. When it blocked the last two, it was clearly slower. This suggests that if my cultivation advances further, it might not be able to block my arrows so easily."
"If I can make it more complacent, there is a chance to injure it."
With this thought, Xu Taiping leaped down from the rooftop and scanned the courtyard, muttering to himself:
"According to my actual cultivation, I can only fight it if I break through to the Door Opening Realm. Within half a month, even if I can advance the Residual Afterglow technique to the Ice Formation stage, to kill the ghostly spirit, I can only set a trap and catch it off guard."
"There is only one chance, so I must be fully prepared."
Xu Taiping could choose to run, for example, by pouring a few bottles of strong alcohol on himself to prevent the ghostly spirit from getting close.
But the problem was that within a few hundred miles, it was all wilderness. How long could he run?
"Instead of thinking about how to run, I might as well fight with my back against the wall."
Xu Taiping turned and quickly walked toward his bedroom.
His time was very precious, and he couldn't afford to waste a moment.
However, what Xu Taiping didn't know was that the confrontation between him and the ghostly spirit had been seen and heard by a figure in the forest a few miles away.
It was an old man lying on a tree branch, with gray hair and tattered white clothes.
The old man had a bronze longsword hanging from his waist and held a wine gourd in his hand.