When I stopped licking, the lady panicked.

Liu Yao said with dissatisfaction, "Why do we have to burn raw rhinoceros?"

Lin Xuan remained silent, but he seemed to have a vague idea of ​​the reason.

"Ling'er, who's here?" came the old woman's voice from the inner room.

Mu Ling said, "Mother, we have guests."

Then, Lin Xuan saw an old woman, dressed in tattered clothes, pale and weak, come out.

"Please sit down, Ling'er just made some dumplings," the old woman said.

Mu Ling said, "Mother, the dumplings are for you."

The old woman smiled and said, "I'm not hungry, you can eat."

Lin Xuan and the other person sat down, and Mu Ling didn't say anything, just ate his meal in silence.

After finishing the meal, Mu Ling asked, "Where is the place for exorcising evil spirits?"

Lin Xuan replied, "Qingzhou City."

"Qingzhou City? Where is Qingzhou City?" Mu Ling asked.

Lin Xuan replied, "It is adjacent to the capital."

"The capital?" Mu Ling frowned and immediately stood up. "I can't go."

"Why?" Lin Xuan asked.

"I have to take care of my mother, so I can't go. You can leave now." Mu Ling directly gave them the order to leave, kicking Lin Xuan and Liu Yao out.

Lin Xuan glanced back at Mu Ling and said meaningfully, "Are you really planning to trap her for the rest of her life?"

Mu Ling was taken aback, his brows furrowing deeply, and he asked with some displeasure, "What do you mean?"

Lin Xuan said, "What happened back then wasn't your fault."

"Shut up!" Mu Ling interrupted Lin Xuan directly. "I said I'm not going. I need to take care of my mother."

After saying that, Mu Ling turned around and went home.

Liu Yao said angrily, "This man is too rude, Master. I will go and teach him a lesson."

Lin Xuan stopped Liu Yao, shook his head, and said, "No need."

"But he offended the master..." Liu Yao said, pouting.

Lin Xuan smiled slightly and said, "The one who tied the knot must untie it. Let's wait and see until his inner conflict is resolved."

With that, he turned and got into the carriage.

"Let's go find a place to stay."

Liu Yao glanced at Mu Ling's house with a hint of resentment, snorted, turned around, mounted her horse, and left.

……

Inside the room, Mu Ling sat quietly, his eyes deep and complex.

He was thinking, thinking about what the fat man had said, and also thinking about what Lin Xuan had said.

Looking out at the night sky, Mu Ling muttered to himself, "Am I really going to have to rely on cheating and swindling to get by for the rest of my life?"

At this moment, the old woman came to Mu Ling's side and said, "A good man should have ambitions beyond his hometown."

Mu Ling shook his head and said, "No, if I leave, who will take care of you?"

The old woman replied, "Mother can take good care of herself."

"If you don't take good care of yourself, you'll even forget to eat," Mu Ling said, shaking his head.

The old woman smiled gently and sighed, "Child, actually, I've never blamed you for what happened back then..."

Mu Ling's expression shifted, she pursed her lips, and tears almost fell.

"Mother, it's getting late, it's time to sleep." Mu Ling seemed unwilling to talk about the past and lay down to rest.

The next day, Mu Ling went to find the fat man as usual, intending to target a wealthy family.

This is how they've done it all these years: first identify the target, then address the specific problem.

Of course, they only target those who are rich but heartless, like the last family, whose wealth was largely stolen.

Mu Ling and his gang would show no mercy to such people, and would swindle as much money as possible from them.

However, before Mu Ling and his group could even choose a target, someone came knocking on their door.

According to them, a wealthy businessman's daughter was possessed by an evil spirit, and Mu Ling and his group needed to exorcise it.

Mu Ling had encountered similar situations before, and most of the time they were just faking it; a beating would fix it.

Therefore, Mu Ling did not refuse and followed them directly to their destination.

This wealthy merchant's house was very large, even larger than the previous one.

The fat man stared in astonishment at the large house before him, his eyes practically dazzled.

This was his first time visiting such a large mansion.

As for Mu Ling, he remained expressionless, as if he had already witnessed it.

The room was in a mess, with calligraphy, paintings, tables, chairs, and tools such as inkstones scattered all over the floor.

In the center of the room was a chair with a little girl strapped to it, looking pitifully at the people who came in.

Seeing the little girl's pitiful appearance, Mu Ling concluded that she was definitely another pretentious brat.

So he sent everyone away, walked over alone, squatted down to be at eye level with the little girl, and asked, "Little girl, how are you feeling?"

The little girl looked at Mu Ling pitifully and said timidly, "They all say I'm possessed by an evil spirit, big brother, is that true?"

Mu Ling smiled and said, "Don't you know whether it's true or not? The martial arts of the Great Qing Dynasty are flourishing now, where would any evil spirits come from?"

As he spoke, he took out a string of bells and said, "This is the Soul-Treating Bell. It doesn't usually make a sound. It only rings when you shake it when you encounter an evil spirit."

"But in all the years I've been exorcising evil spirits, it has never made a sound, just like today."

After saying that, Mu Ling gently shook the Soul-Shaking Bell, and heard it make a crisp "ding-dong" sound.

"Why?"

Mu Ling was stunned, speechless.

He thought he had misheard, so he shook it again, and the sound of the Soul-Treating Bell rang out once more.

This time, Mu Ling abandoned his relaxed demeanor, his brows furrowed, and he stared at the girl in front of him with a serious expression.

An eerie light emanated from the girl's eyes.

"What are you?" Mu Ling asked cautiously.

"And what are you?" the girl asked, her childish voice surprisingly mixed with an old voice.

Immediately, the house began to shake, and the debris on the ground seemed to come alive, trembling incessantly and appearing to fly away.

Mu Ling was startled and immediately stood up, took out the rusty iron sword, and kept a safe distance from the girl.

The girl tilted her head, looking at him with a wicked smile, and said, "Interesting, pretending to be a con artist to deceive people?"

The moment he finished speaking, the Soul-Shaking Bell in Mu Ling's hand shattered.

This evil spirit was too powerful; it even shattered the Soul-Trembling Bell.

Immediately, the girl broke free of the ropes, picked up a chair, and threw it at Mu Ling.

Caught off guard, Mu Ling was knocked to the ground by the blow.

At the same time, various items in the room flew into the air, including pens, knives, and inkstones, all aimed at Mu Ling at the same moment.

Mu Ling frowned deeply and looked at the girl, only to see a shadow slowly emerging behind her.

"It's you!" Mu Ling's eyes immediately flashed with anger.

Do we know each other?

"You've caused me so much suffering!"

"I've harmed far too many people."

Enraged, Mu Ling charged toward the other party.

The girl sneered, snapped her fingers, and all the items in the room shot towards Mu Ling.

Mu Ling brandished his rusty iron sword, deflecting the flying objects one by one.

However, the evil spirit suddenly lifted the floor tiles, knocking Mu Ling to the ground.

"Now that you're this useless, no wonder I've caused you so much suffering, hahaha." The evil spirit laughed loudly, smashed open the door, and flew out with the girl's body in its arms.