Chapter 139: Breaking the Soul Curse!

Ling Qiu sat on the sofa, lighting a soul cigarette. This was the third to last one. Almost finished... It seemed it was time to find a way to capture more spirits.

“Speak,” Ling Qiu said, exhaling a plume of smoke. Soul cigarettes—each puff striking straight to the soul.

Qin Haishan took a deep breath. “Ling Qiu, I know you’re the Ling Qiu of the Ling family. Oh, and of course, I also know you’ve been cast out from your family. Although, regarding that...”

Ling Qiu waved his hand. “Get to the point.”

Qin Haishan paused briefly, then smiled faintly. “Alright... From the moment we first met, I knew you were no ordinary man. Over time, you’ve demonstrated remarkable strength. I imagine you must be a master of internal martial arts... and quite possibly, you understand some secret arcane techniques.”

Ling Qiu narrowed his eyes. “Once again, I’m telling you: get to the point.”

He could have let Qin Haishan ramble; after all, any lost time would be Qin’s own misfortune. But... Ling Qiu disliked how Qin spoke as if he saw through everything, yet hadn’t yet grasped the real issue.

Qin Haishan awkwardly cleared his throat. As a distinguished elder, he liked to keep some mystery in his words.

“Very well,” Qin said, rubbing his reddened nose. “This matter is a long story. Have you ever heard of Ma Wang Mountain?”

Ma Wang Mountain?

Ling Qiu froze for a moment at the mention. He had indeed heard of it before—back when he helped Lan Xiaoman seek revenge and dealt with that Taoist, who seemed to suspect he was connected to the northern Ma Wang Mountain sect.

“Continue,” Ling Qiu urged.

Qin Haishan nodded slightly. “Ma Wang Mountain inherits the orthodox Maoshan Taoist arts. Most of its disciples are Taoists, though there are some purely martial external disciples.”

Ling Qiu interrupted, “Let me find the point for you. So, the person you offended belongs to this Ma Wang Mountain sect, right?”

“No...” Qin shook his head. “Actually, strictly speaking, I am a Ma Wang Mountain man.”

Huh?

Ling Qiu was caught off guard by this sudden twist.

Qin Haishan took a deep breath, then looked meaningfully at Ling Qiu. “Ling Qiu, if you don’t mind, may I call you Little Ling?”

Ling Qiu gave a casual hum, indifferent to nicknames.

Qin slowly pulled a jade pendant from his clothes. It was ancient and worn, its age indiscernible and clearly incomplete.

He gently twirled it between his fingers, his old eyes slightly clouded. “Little Ling, look at this jade pendant. It’s the token of inheritance for Ma Wang Mountain. Unfortunately... only half of it remains.”

“When I was young, I went to Ma Wang Mountain to apprentice, hoping only to learn some internal martial arts—not as an inner disciple. But decades ago, Ma Wang Mountain was burned and slaughtered overnight. Before my master died, he entrusted me with this broken pendant. Perhaps because nearly all the inner disciples perished, my master had no choice but to give this token to an external disciple like me.”

Qin Haishan stood slowly, twirling the pendant as he moved to the window, gazing outside. “At first, I thought little of it, treating it as a keepsake. But a year ago, by chance, I learned the whereabouts of the other half. Out of curiosity, I attended the auction…”

Ling Qiu’s interest was piqued.

“And then... you had an accident?”

“Yes,” Qin nodded deeply. “At the auction, a strange man sat beside me, spoke a few words, then used some unknown method to make me faint. When I woke, I was in a hospital, gravely ill. The doctors said my body could only hold out for a year at most. From that day, I’ve been getting weaker by the day.”

Ling Qiu smiled slightly.

It seemed the strange man Qin spoke of was the culprit who cursed him with a malevolent spirit.

No wonder Qin Haishan’s constitution was strong; he endured a year of possession before finally weakening. A normal person might have succumbed within months.

“Why tell me all this?” Ling Qiu suddenly asked. “Surely this is your secret.”

Qin Haishan inhaled deeply. “Yes... I’ve already died once. If not for you, I’d be six feet under now. Little Ling, though I don’t know you well, my instincts tell me to trust you. Because I have no other choice. I’m willing to gamble.”

Ling Qiu smiled. Qin Haishan’s character was far better than his granddaughter Qin Siyao’s—an elder who understood reason, knew when to advance or retreat, and dared to make decisions.

No wonder the Qin family held such status. Qin Haishan was truly a capable patriarch.

“Alright, then I’ll tell you what problem you’re facing now.”

Ling Qiu rose and stepped forward, lifting Qin Haishan’s sleeve again. A breath of energy flowed directly into Qin’s eyes.

“Open your eyes wide and look clearly.”

“Huh?!!”

With Ling Qiu’s soul energy blessing, Qin briefly opened his heavenly eye and saw his arm covered in dense spiderweb-like patterns—yet they couldn’t be captured, as if shadows embedded beneath the skin.

“This thing is called a soul gu. If I’m correct, it was the strange man you mentioned who struck your Qin family a second time. And this poison gu has infected Qin Siyao as well.”

Qin Haishan’s face changed. “He even targeted Siyao!!”

Ling Qiu smiled. “Not surprising. You should have died from the ghost possession, but you survived. Knowing this, they surely escalated their methods. Elder Qin, if my guess is right, they don’t want you to reunite the two halves of that jade pendant.”

Qin Haishan took a deep breath. “Yes. My master told me that if the pendant is made whole, a miracle will occur! That’s why I went to that auction. They definitely don’t want me to reunite it.”

Ling Qiu nodded. “Let me see that pendant.”

Since Qin had chosen to trust him, he didn’t hesitate and handed the pendant over.

Ling Qiu turned it over in his palm. Instantly, a chill swept through his hand.

Hmm?

Ling thought he must have imagined it, so he examined it carefully again.

“Wait, wait... no way... How could this thing appear in the mortal realm?!”