I subdue demons and monsters, and cultivate immortality in hell to become a saint.

Zhong Jiu finally got a good look at her. She was about 1.6 meters tall, with a round face and big, wet eyes like a deer. She was wearing pink bear pajamas and looked exactly like a cute anime girl. Wait, why does this face look so familiar?

"Are you that 'clumsy, flat-chested Yingzi'?" Zhong Jiu blurted out.

Wu Yuanying was instantly petrified. These were the three most popular derogatory nicknames in her live stream. She never expected that the landlord was actually her fan!

It turns out that Wu Yuanying was a top female anchor in Guiling City, with looks comparable to a star, and the original owner of this body was also a die-hard fan of hers.

Zhong Jiu inherited the original owner's memories and recognized her at a glance.

His eyes lit up instantly. It was Guiling City's top female anchor!

Isn't this a ready-made "faith value harvesting machine"?

With her help in promoting it, my idol's statues might be able to fill the entire city of Guiling!

boom!

Before he could think it through, the door behind him suddenly slammed shut, and all the curtains automatically closed with a "whoosh," completely blocking out the sunlight and turning the room as dark as evening.

A bone-chilling cold spread out, and the yin energy in front surged and slowly condensed into the figure of a man.

The ghost was in his thirties, with a face as flat as if it had been run over by a road roller, a sunken nose, and a deep, bone-revealing wound between his eyebrows. Dark red blood dripped down his chin, the "drip, drip" sound particularly eerie in the silent room.

"That's him!"

Wu Yuanying screamed and hid behind Zhong Jiu, clutching his clothes tightly. Tears and snot streamed down her face, turning her once beautiful woman into a little cat covered in snot. She cried out, "So that dripping sound was his blood!"

Zhong Jiu ignored the evil spirit and turned to Wu Yuanying with a smile, "It really is you, Little Yingzi! I've been following you for a long time; your little fox cosplay last time was especially cute!"

Wu Yuanying was dumbfounded: "Brother! Is this the time for idol worship? Even ghosts are standing in front of us!"

"Damn it! Do you guys think I'm invisible?"

The evil spirit finally couldn't take it anymore. He floated out to scare people, but these two actually chatted about live streaming right in front of him. It was an utter disgrace!

"You stay in the corner and wait. Don't speak unless I tell you to."

Zhong Jiu didn't even turn his head, waving his hand as if shooing away flies.

The demon froze for three seconds, then erupted in fury: "What the hell are you so arrogant about, kid?!"

A chilling wind arose around him as he lunged forward, baring his fangs and claws. His fingernails were long like sharp knives and carried a foul, black aura.

Wu Yuanying screamed in fright and closed her eyes, but Zhong Jiu moved. He pressed down on Wu Yuanying's head with his left hand and swung his right hand in a wide arc, slapping the evil spirit's face with a crisp sound.

The evil spirit spun three times in the air like a top, then crashed to the ground with a "bang" and couldn't get up for a long time.

Zhong Jiu clapped his hands and extended his hand to the dumbfounded Wu Yuanying: "Let me formally introduce myself. My name is Zhong Jiu, and I am your loyal fan."

Wu Yuanying stood frozen in place, forgetting to shake hands.

She had never seen such an outrageous scene before. The usually mild-mannered landlord slapped the evil spirit away. What kind of divine fighting power was this?

The evil spirit in the corner covered its face, its head buzzing, before it realized it had kicked a hornet's nest.

He shrank back, sensibly squatting in the corner, looking like a doormat, so aggrieved he was about to cry.

Zhong Jiulian didn't even bother to draw his Ghost Sword, which was only a level two evil spirit; two slaps would be enough to scatter his soul.

With his current abilities, he would be at least a B-level elite in the Special Operations Department.

"Who...who exactly are you?"

Wu Yuanying swallowed hard, her big eyes filled with admiration.

"Let's deal with this lecherous guy first."

Zhong Jiu glanced at the evil spirit in the corner, his tone mocking, "Peeping at someone changing clothes, scaring the girl so much that she didn't dare to take a bath for days, aren't you ashamed of yourself? Do you know that evil spirit named Huang Jingwen? At least he steals women openly and honestly, but you, you just hide in the shadows and act lewdly."

"I'm not a pervert!"

The evil spirit desperately tried to explain, "If I could leave this house, I would have killed her and run away long ago. I'm trapped here, so I'm just looking for some fun!"

"Trapped?"

Zhong Jiu's eyes flickered as his gaze swept over the TV cabinet, where a palm-sized jade carving of Guanyin was displayed, faintly exuding an eerie aura.

"Was it this thing that caused this?"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

The evil spirit nodded hastily, "I usually hide inside this jade carving, and can only go as far as fifty meters away. However, within this range, I can reveal myself even in broad daylight!"

Zhong Jiu walked over and picked up the jade carving. It was icy cold to the touch, and he could clearly feel that there was a small space filled with yin energy inside.

He weighed it in his hand for a moment, a smile playing on his lips; this was an unexpected bonus.

"Tell me, how did you get into this jade carving? Did you have any accomplices?"

Zhong Jiu pulled up a chair and sat down, staring at the evil spirit like he was interrogating a criminal. Wu Yuanying finally recovered and moved a small stool to sit next to him, her eyes full of curiosity.

The evil spirit shrank back, not daring to hide anything: "In my previous life, I was a thief. When I stole this jade carving, I was discovered by the owner. During the argument, I hit my head on the corner of the table and died. My soul was sucked into the jade carving and has been trapped there for three years..."

"Three years?"

Zhong Jiu raised an eyebrow. "How many people have you harmed in these three years?"

"No, the room where the jade carving was displayed was occupied by a rough-looking man, and I wasn't interested in it."

The demon glanced at Wu Yuanying, then hurriedly lowered its head. "It wasn't until I moved into her room, and saw how beautiful she was and how she lived alone, that I couldn't resist..."

"Pah! Pervert!"

Wu Yuanying was so angry that she kicked him. Although she was wearing cotton slippers and the kick didn't have much force, it still made her feel better.

Zhong Jiu ignored the tantrum of the female anchor and tapped his fingers on the table in thought. This jade carving could trap ghosts and also make them appear in broad daylight. It was quite a "ghost-trapping artifact".

Zhong Jiu snapped a picture of the jade Guanyin sculpture and immediately shared it in the group chat for independent cultivators, captioning it: "Hey everyone, take a look, what is this thing?"

The message had barely been sent when a group member nicknamed "Half a Knife About Two and a Half Feet Long" replied instantly: "Hey, this is just a low-level ghost pretending to be someone else, it's useless."

He added a bit of background information: "This jade carving is just a facade; the real purpose is the 'ghostly space' inside, a small cage made of yin energy that can imprison spirits. Some cultivators use it to raise ghosts as henchmen, but to prevent the ghosts from turning on them, they've added restrictions, limiting the ghosts to a maximum distance of fifty meters. It's not expensive, and desperate rogue cultivators love to make and sell these, either to raise ghosts or to harm people; the uses are quite dirty."

"Where did this jade carving come from?" someone in the group asked.

Before Zhong Jiu could speak, Wu Yuanying exploded, her face flushed with anger: "It was given to me by that 'Flower-Faced Fox' Hu Ting! I knew she was up to no good by suddenly becoming so attentive; she actually used this thing to get me!"

Flower-faced Fox is her arch-rival on the same platform; they usually fight tooth and nail for resources and popularity.

A few days ago, she suddenly brought this jade carving to my door and said, "Sisters, we had a misunderstanding before. This is an apology gift." Wu Yuanying foolishly accepted it, but almost lost her life.

"It's one thing for ghosts to harm people, but people are even more ruthless than ghosts."

Zhong Jiu shook his head. Sure enough, wherever there are people, whether in the mortal realm or the underworld, there is conflict.

If he hadn't arrived in time, Wu Yuanying would probably have been tricked and left in the dark.

"That's right! I was dragged into this! Please, brother, spare me!"

The lecherous ghost lurking in the corner seized every opportunity to beg for mercy, tears welling up in his eyes, "I'm a victim too, trapped inside the jade carving, I had no choice!"

"Even if you don't harm anyone, being trapped in this broken jade carving like a caged bird, even as a ghost, you'll have no enjoyment."

Zhong Jiu's tone was calm, yet it carried an undeniable authority: "Let me help you get rid of this."

The lewd ghost turned pale instantly and turned to float away, but Zhong Jiu grabbed his soul.

With a "bang," the evil spirit exploded into black smoke, leaving not a trace. The jade Guanyin sculpture next to it also cracked in two.