"Who wants to share a room with you?" Ji Lingruo rolled her eyes.
"Then what should we do? I can’t possibly share with..."
You Su’s words were cut off by the woman in purple:
"Each of you can have a room. I don’t need rest; I can meditate on the rooftop."
Despite traveling non-stop for nearly two days, the endurance of the Condensed Water Realm was still stronger than that of the Spirit Platform Realm.
"How can that be? You’re the examiner and a senior. You not sleeping is one thing, but whether we let you is another."
Ji Lingruo was still concerned about You Su’s assessment, but her indecisiveness left You Su confused.
"Then... you sleep? I’ll leave?"
"What? Planning to sneak back to the Xiao Xiang Pavilion to be with Miss Cailing? I’ll tell you this, no way!"
Ji Lingruo clenched her pink fist and turned her head away, her face blushing like a cherry blossom just starting to bloom, "Yiyi, each person gets a room... I won’t sleep; I want to keep an eye on the master’s room for the senior brother."
You Su smiled wryly at her words, finally giving the girl a reason to stay in the room with him.
"Come in first; I have something to say."
You Su opened the door for the two women.
The boss downstairs glanced up and saw two faint female silhouettes entering a room together. Envious of the young man’s good fortune, he weighed the heavy silver coins in his hand, thinking that the three could have shared one room, yet they booked two, which means he made a profit...
"Tell me, what’s the matter?"
Ji Lingruo crossed her arms, looking like a young detective interrogating a suspect.
"I’ve found the ghost mite."
You Su’s calm tone made people doubt if they had heard wrong.
"Where?"
Zi Yiyi’s beautiful eyes fixed on You Su’s face; she truly hadn’t expected him to succeed.
"It’s on Cailing."
Zi Yiyi was a little surprised. Could there really be such coincidences in this world?
The last person possessed by a ghost mite was a courtesan, and the next is also a courtesan? Is there a curse on the courtesans of the Xiao Xiang Pavilion?
And even more incredible, You Su, a newcomer, found the ghost mite after examining just one person?
What kind of luck is this? Could he really be the chosen one, with evil spirits lining up for him to destroy?
"Was that scream of hers because you were exorcising?"
"Indeed."
You Su nodded, then wiped his exorcism order, revealing two bright red worms on the tea table.
This was one of the pieces of knowledge learned from his Master; the exorcism order not only detects nearby evil spirits but can also store some small ones.
Most evil spirits turn into blood or fragments upon death, disappearing without a trace, so capturing them alive is the only way to store them in the exorcism order.
Ji Lingruo looked at the ugly worms, feeling unspeakably disgusted.
"Two ghost mites?"
Even Zi Yiyi was unaware of this information.
"I was surprised to see them myself. But thinking carefully, they’re not really ghost mites, or rather, not the ones we’re looking for. The Elder told me ghost mites should have the power of the Condensed Water Realm, and these two evil spirits are far too weak. Besides being invisible to ordinary people, they’re nearly just large leeches."
The two worms wriggled on the table, seemingly eyeless, probing their surroundings with needle-thin proboscises.
After a moment of contemplation, Zi Yiyi added:
"True, even the universally considered lowest evil spirit, the Black Water Fly, wouldn’t be as mindless as these two ghost mites, but we must admit they are indeed evil spirits..."
"Disgusting... they’re like premature babies that haven’t fully developed..."
Ji Lingruo squinted her eyes, unwilling to look any longer.
Her comment instantly froze the expressions on Zi Yiyi and You Su’s faces, both speaking almost simultaneously:
"Ghost mites certainly are more than just one; they can reproduce!"
How could they speak in unison with so many words?
Ji Lingruo’s gaze darted between Zi Yiyi and You Su, feeling somewhat out of place.
"Then doesn’t that mean... there might be more than just these two ghost mites?" Ji Lingruo boldly speculated, "Could everyone in the Xiao Xiang Pavilion have this evil spirit?"
"It’s very possible." Zi Yiyi’s face turned serious as she began pondering whether the current situation was still under her control.
"I don’t think it’s likely."
You Su used a stick to nudge the worms crawling around:
"When we were at the teahouse, the exorcism order showed barely any signs of evil, so there should be few evil spirits around the Xiao Xiang Pavilion."
"Perhaps they have dispersed, with the ghost mites sowing their seeds across the city’s population."
Zi Yiyi furrowed her brows tightly, as the situation would be quite tricky if that were true.
"That might be the ultimate intention of the ghost mites, but clearly, they haven’t achieved this yet. As the junior sister mentioned, these two evil spirits resemble premature, underdeveloped babies, yet they were born anyway. If possible, no mother would do such a thing. Also, why do you think the ghost mite would target a courtesan from the Xiao Xiang Pavilion specifically?"
Ji Lingruo found herself stumped, as curses were too difficult to believe; even Zi Yiyi found herself at a loss for ideas.
"Because these two little ghost mites were actually left when the ghost mite mother parasitized Qiao Xiuying, so they’ve always been in the Elegant Bamboo Pavilion where only courtesans reside. Qiao Xiuying perished from being drained by it, later discovered by Mr. Xiang. To escape, she had to abandon her two immature children and leave on her own. These two little ghost mites, due to their weak evil energy, were ignored, later inadvertently parasitizing Cailing."