You've only been cultivating for a few years, and you're already talking about cultivating

"I'm offering a large sum of money to a Taoist priest to exorcise evil spirits!"

Qi Fei walked along the main street of Sanshan County and saw a table set up at an intersection in the distance. Behind the table sat a servant boy, who was idly propping up his chin.

A gray-blue cloth was wrapped around the table, with these words written on it in large characters.

Qi Fei had never encountered anyone on the road who was looking for someone to exorcise evil spirits before, and none of them had ever done so openly.

In his previous life, he had only seen scams involving "paying a large sum of money to have a child," so he figured there shouldn't be any scams like "paying a large sum of money to a Taoist priest to exorcise evil spirits" in this world.

"Is someone in your family possessed by an evil spirit?" he asked as he stepped forward.

The servant was yawning, but before he could even close his mouth, he saw someone approaching and quickly swallowed the yawn back, giving Qi Fei a once-over.

Qi Fei's clothes were not presentable, and he looked travel-worn, indicating that he had traveled a long way. However, the servant could tell at a glance that Qi Fei was no ordinary person.

He sat at this intersection for more than half a year, and saw dozens of monks come and go. Some were dressed in colorful clothes, and some were pretentious and put on airs, but none of them had such a unique temperament as Qi Fei.

"Master," the servant stood up, cupped his hands in greeting, and asked in a thick Fujian accent, "where do you come from?"

"I just happened to be passing by and saw it," Qi Fei said. "I have quite a bit of experience in exorcising evil spirits."

He wasn't exaggerating. If there really were evil spirits at work, "Shadow Observation" would be the nemesis of such things.

The servant's eyes lit up, and the weariness on his face vanished. He repeatedly said, "Good, good, good," and led the way while explaining the situation to Qi Fei in a long, rambling manner.

It turned out that this young man's surname was Wang, and he was a servant of the Niu family in the city.

The Niu family was considered a prominent family in Sanshan County, having been in business for generations and possessing considerable wealth. The young master of the Niu family was named Niu Lanshan. Two years ago, he went on a long trip, and upon his return, he seemed completely out of sorts.

"Young master often talks to himself," the servant said. "He sits there alone, his mouth moving constantly, as if he's talking to someone, but there's clearly no one around."

"He's also forgetful. He'll forget what he said in the morning by the afternoon. He won't recognize someone he met yesterday today."

"Sometimes I don't even remember if I've eaten or not. I just sit blankly at the table, staring at the dishes."

"What's most unusual is his fear of cats. He used to be unafraid of cats and even had two at home. But ever since he came back, he acts like he's seen a ghost whenever he sees a cat. He trembles all over, his face turns pale, and sometimes he even screams and chases the cats all over the yard."

Some say the young master is possessed by an evil spirit, others say he has contracted a strange illness.

"We consulted seven or eight doctors and took a whole basket of medicine, but there was no improvement; we also consulted more than a dozen Taoist priests, who drew talismans, burned paper money, and chanted incantations, but there was still no improvement."

The servant sighed, "Alas! I don't know..."

Qi Fei didn't speak, but listened very attentively.

He followed the servant through an alley, turned into a lane paved with bluestone slabs, and stopped in front of a vermilion gate.

Above the door hangs a plaque with the two characters "Niu Mansion" written in vigorous strokes, suggesting it has been around for many years.

The servant went in first to announce the arrival, and a moment later he ran out again, leading Qi Fei inside.

The Niu Mansion was larger than Qi Fei had imagined, with a front hall, a central hall, a corridor, and a garden, one after another, like layers of bamboo shoots being peeled away.

After passing through two moon gates, we arrived at the main hall, where a woman came out to greet us.

Qi Fei was slightly taken aback.

He had assumed that the person who came out to exchange pleasantries would be the steward of the Niu family or one of Niu Lanshan's elders, but he never expected it to be his wife.

The woman appeared to be in her thirties, wearing a light purple jacket and a plain silver hairpin in her hair; she wore no other adornments.

She walked quickly and spoke quickly, explaining Niu Lanshan's situation in just a few words. Her words were concise, clear, and without a single wasted word.

Her brows were always slightly furrowed, like two willow leaves twisted together. When she mentioned her husband, her voice carried a faint, deeply suppressed sadness.

She looked at Qi Fei, but there was little expectation in her eyes.

She invited too many sorcerers, each more eloquent and more extravagant than the last, but in the end, none of them were of any use.

The young man in front of me was dressed in drab gray clothes, with two gourds hanging from his waist. He didn't look like a "mage" at all.

She neither refused nor showed any disgust. She simply exchanged a few polite words before leading Qi Fei and several servants to the backyard, treating it as a last resort.

The backyard was much quieter than the front yard. There were no flowers, no trees, just a bare patch of dirt and a few half-dead potted plants in the corner.

The sunlight shone on the ground, so bright and dazzling that it hurt the eyes.

In the center of the courtyard, there was a bamboo chair, and a person was lying sprawled out on it, fast asleep.

Qi Fei stopped and took a look.

This person wasn't particularly thin, but he wasn't particularly fat either; he seemed to be just an average person.

"Husband." Madam Hong stood a few steps away, her voice soft, carrying a cautious gentleness, as if afraid of disturbing something.

Niu Lanshan's eyelids trembled, his eyelashes fluttered, as if something in his dream was pulling him back, refusing to let him go. After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes.

Qi Fei's gaze locked onto him the moment he opened his eyes.

Those eyes are not right.

Ordinary people's eyes, whether they are awake or confused, are always "seeing"—seeing people, things, and the world.

The eyes of the blue mountain goose are not "seeing", but "turning".

Something was constantly swirling, churning, and changing deep within my pupils, like fragments being stuffed into a kaleidoscope, spinning and spinning inside, never stopping.

The light was not the kind of light that a normal person should see; it was a kind of blank, scattered light that couldn't find its focus, as if looking at the world through countless things, or as if the owner of those eyes wasn't even there.

Niu Lanshan looked at Hong Shi, and a silly smile slowly spread across his face.

His smile was so innocent, unlike that of an adult; it was more like that of a child who knew nothing.

"Are you calling me?" His voice was slow and deliberate. "I already told you, I don't call you 'husband.' I call you..."

He suddenly frowned, his expression changing from confusion to anxiety, from anxiety to bewilderment, and finally to a blank, lifeless expression.

"What's my name again?"

Mrs. Hong stood to the side, her lips pressed into a thin line, saying nothing. Her fingers clenched and unclenched inside her sleeve.

She had seen this scene countless times.

Qi Fei didn't say anything more. His eyes narrowed slightly, and a faint light appeared deep in his pupils.

Then, he raised his hand, and a ball of light shone from his palm.

"Distinguish the shadow!"

The light was not large, not much bigger than an egg, and its radiance was not dazzling. In the sun-drenched courtyard in the afternoon, it was almost impossible to see anything unusual.

But this light can distinguish all illusions and phantoms in the world and see through the truth beneath the surface!