Lin Mo left the inn and headed straight for Ding’s estate.

When the guards tried to stop him, he lost patience.

With a flicker of movement, he bypassed them entirely.

Guided by Liuli Sword’s intuition, he followed the trail of the strongest yin energy in the estate.

Eventually, he arrived at an underground chamber.

“A Yin Gathering Formation.”

Lin Mo immediately identified the problem.

At the center of the chamber was an ice coffin, and within it lay the corpse of a young woman.

Lin Mo quickly put the pieces together—this had to be Official Ding’s daughter.

Just then, the corpse’s eyes snapped open, and she lunged at Lin Mo.

“A corpse ghoul.”

Lin Mo remained calm, sidestepping her attack with ease.

With one hand, he clamped his fingers around her throat and lifted her into the air.

“I know you can talk. Now tell me—where are my junior sisters?”

“Mmm… mmm!”

The corpse ghoul let out muffled protests, glaring at him in frustration.

You’re choking me—how do you expect me to talk?!

Unaware of the issue, Lin Mo tightened his grip.

“Speak now, or I’ll turn you into a headless ghost.”

“Immortal, please stop! Don’t hurt my daughter!”

A voice called out in panic as Official Ding hurried into the chamber.

He looked terrified.

“I—I know where your junior sisters were taken!”

Lin Mo finally relaxed his grip, casually tossing the corpse ghoul to the ground.

His cold gaze locked onto Official Ding.

“Father, how rude can this man be?”

The corpse ghoul grumbled in complaint.

“I was peacefully cultivating, and this guy storms in, strangles me, and demands answers. Isn’t that just bullying a ghost?”

Official Ding swallowed hard, patting her shoulder.

“Don’t be afraid, dear…”

Inwardly, he was panicking.

He had been told that Lin Mo’s junior sisters had sneaked out on their own.

How did he manage to track them here so fast?!

Lin Mo ignored the father-daughter exchange and asked coldly:

“Where are they?”

Official Ding hesitated before responding.

“They broke into my estate last night. Tang Da took them away.”

“Tang Da?”

“The same man who got into a fight with your junior sisters the other day.”

Lin Mo immediately understood who he was referring to.

“Where did he take them?”

“They were most likely sent to ‘Night Raid’ to be auctioned off as merchandise.”

Lin Mo’s eyes narrowed.

“Night Raid? What kind of organization is that?”

His original memories contained no mention of such a group.

That Tang Da had used high-quality talismans to escape last time. That alone proved he had powerful backing.

“I don’t know much,” Official Ding admitted.

“But I do know they run an underground human trafficking operation in Daliang City.”

Human trafficking…

This Night Raid didn’t sound any different from demonic cultivators.

In fact, they might even be a demonic sect themselves.

“Who set up this Yin Gathering Formation for you?”

Lin Mo asked suddenly, his gaze darkening.

The formation was extremely well-crafted—there was no way an ordinary man like Official Ding could have set it up himself.

“Ah, well…” Official Ding hesitated before admitting:

“I paid a hefty sum to Night Raid for it.”

Lin Mo’s expression grew even colder.

His gaze shifted toward the corpse ghoul lying on the ground.

“The living and the dead should walk separate paths. Turning your daughter into a corpse ghoul only harms her.”

Hearing this, Official Ding’s tone turned emotional.

“Immortal, my daughter and I were once kind and generous people.”

“We never harmed anyone. We were charitable, honest, and good-hearted!”

“But one day, my daughter suffered a terrible fate!”

“She went to meet a poor scholar named Ai in secret, believing his sweet words.”

“That wretched bastard tricked her into following him into the mountains.”

“He intended to violate her—but before he could, they encountered a group of bandits.”

“The bastard fled, leaving my daughter behind!”

“She was tormented by those bandits until her death!”

His voice trembled with bitterness and pain.

“I devoted my life to doing good—so tell me, why did fate punish me like this?!”

Lin Mo didn’t respond to Official Ding’s complaints.

Instead, he turned to the corpse ghoul and asked:

“Let me guess. You were attracted to Ai’s so-called ‘talent’ and willingly met him in secret.”

“After he abandoned you, resentment took root in your soul—so now, you specifically target talented young men, don’t you?”

The corpse ghoul’s expression froze.

“How… how did you know that…?”

Lin Mo’s voice remained icy.

“Did you kill that bastard Ai?”

“No. Ever since that day, he left Daliang City. I couldn’t find him.”

“Ha!”

Lin Mo let out a laugh, filled with nothing but ridicule.

“So you redirected all your anger at innocent people instead?”

“Sure, maybe some of the young men you killed were scum—but do you really think every single one of them deserved to die?”

“From where I stand, you’re no different from the very bandits who killed you.”

“But did I deserve such suffering?!” the corpse ghoul roared.

“Yes, you did.”

Lin Mo’s voice was cold, but his smirk carried an unmistakable trace of mockery.

“Who told you to sneak off and meet that scholar in secret? Who told you not to protect yourself?

Your father raised you for so many years, and this is how you repay him?”

“Let me put it simply—because of your obsession with that scholar, your father kept your corpse at home.

The lingering yin energy has already seeped into his body. He won’t live for more than a few years.”

The corpse ghoul turned to look at Official Ding, as if seeking confirmation.

Seeing that his father did not deny it, she asked, “Father… you knew about this?”

Official Ding let out a bitter laugh.

“I am already old… I don’t have many years left, anyway. As long as you’re happy, I will support you…”

“Enough!”

Lin Mo cut off the emotional family drama before it could continue.

He had no time for this nonsense.

“Forgot to mention—yesterday at Jiangyue Pavilion, I won first place in the Talents Gathering.”

Lin Mo spread his arms.

“Now, here I am, standing right in front of you. If you hate talented young men so much, why don’t you try attacking me?”

The corpse ghoul remained motionless.

She wasn’t stupid—it was obvious that she was no match for Lin Mo.

Attacking him would be suicide.

Lin Mo saw right through her hesitation.

“That’s right, you finally get it. That scholar, Ai, was scum.

But what do you expect? Should he have stayed and died with you?”

The corpse ghoul froze.

A single sentence, and her entire belief shattered.

Like waking from a long, painful dream.

“In your next life, pay attention to the people who truly care for you. Don’t let so-called ‘love’ cloud your judgment.”

Lin Mo’s words were sharp but indifferent.

Moments later, his system notifications began popping up.

Regret Points gained.

Watching the corpse ghoul’s self-loathing and realization, Lin Mo felt rather satisfied.

Once the system stopped giving notifications, he slowly walked behind the corpse ghoul.

A burst of spiritual energy gathered at his fingertip.

With a swift strike, the corpse ghoul began to decay instantly, her body turning into a pool of festering sludge.

Official Ding stood frozen, unable to process what had just happened.

The next moment, his body trembled, and he collapsed lifelessly onto the floor—dead.

Lin Mo felt nothing.

He turned and calmly walked out of Ding’s estate.

Overindulgent parents raise useless children.

If you give a person too much free time, they start thinking about nonsense.

If Ding’s daughter had been occupied with meaningful pursuits, would she have even had the time to sneak out for secret meetings?

Lin Mo had never been the type to show mercy unnecessarily.

Ding’s daughter had, without a doubt, killed many people.

Just because she suffered a tragic fate doesn’t mean she deserved to be spared.

Of course, Lin Mo hadn’t been completely heartless.

Instead of obliterating her soul, he had only dispersed part of it—one soul and two spirits.

Her next reincarnation?

She would most likely be born as a fool.

Exiting Ding’s estate, Lin Mo followed the clues to track down the Night Raid organization’s human auction site.

Luckily, Daliang City had a Treasure Pavilion branch.

After some inquiries with its steward, Lin Mo was finally led to the underground auction venue.