Jingyi's sleeping body swayed and eventually toppled over Sizhui's who was sitting still widely awake. 

"Oops... Sorry." Rubbing his eyes languidly, Jingyi apologized without bothering to hide his yawn. 

"So it is 5 a.m already."

"Sorry I fell asleep. Please don't tell Hanguang-jun. "

"I won't. Don't worry." Sizhui smiled. "Besides, you must have had squandered the night for nothing if you didn't sleep."

"Now, I wonder why whatever was haunting this house didn't appear last night. Could it be because they were afraid to show up after sensing our spiritual energy?"

Shaking his head, Sizhui frowned. "It can't be because of our spiritual energy. We had performed purification before on our night hunting mission. The spirits appeared normally."

"I was only joking." he laughed through another yawn. "But seriously, what is it then?"

Both of them discussed about the possible reasons for the absence of the paranormal activity but nothing came about. 

A few hours passed, there was a knock on the door and Sizhui went to answer it.  A middle age man, whom he assumed to be another butler, greeted him and he returned the action. After a quick talk, Sizhui closed the door and walked back to where Jingyi was sitting. "Let's get ourselves ready. Master Zhang is waiting to have breakfast with all of us."

The dining hall, as expected, was capacious and lavishly bedecked; yet it was way too spacious for just eight people. The tables were already set, so when the Lan disciples arrived, there were no other people besides the head butler and a man Sizhui had never seen before. He was donned in emerald robe with jet black hair tied up tight to reveal his handsome V-shaped jawline and high cheekbones. Despite his young age, the man was emitting a potent aura that no doubt prove his nobility and authority.

"We, Gusu Lan disciples, greet Master Zhang." Said Sizhui while giving his courtesy. The others followed suit.

Master Zhang got up from his seat, which was on the top and center of the room, to greet the cultivators back when he stumbled backwards, face contorted with pain. Fortunately, the head butler was there to break his fall and helped him sit back down. 

"Master, please. No rush movement." The head butler whispered.

Sizhui meticulously noticed the strange way when Master Zhang place his hand on the arm rest.  "Master Zhang, may i ask if your hand is injured?"

Master Zhang nodded his head and sighed. "I was attacked on my way to see my business site. My butler must have told you that I received an urgent letter yesterday."

"Yes, I was informed about the letter." replied Sizhui. 

"That letter was fabricated. I think they use that to lure me out. When my destination was one stop away, I was met with an ambush. Luckily, I managed to escape. I didn't get to reach my business site but I sent my trusted person to go and check it while I was being treated at the nearby village. He came back to inform that nothing was wrong over there."

"Have you offended anyone lately, Master Zhang?" Sizhui asked.

He shook his head.  "No, but I must have indirectly. I mean, my business has a lot of rivals."

"Then, is there specifically anyone standing out amongst those rivals? The one you think is the most hostile and is desperate to see you die?" Jingyi asked. 

"Jingyi!" Sizhui glared at his best friend as to tell him to mind his words.

"It is okay, your friend just speaks his mind." Master Zhang chuckled. "Sadly I can't give you the answer. I really can't think of anyone. However, I am quite curious as well to know who want to see my death so bad that they even sent a ghost to target me personally."

Sizhui and Jingyi exchanged glances before Sizhui asked, "Master Zhang, what do you mean?"

"I told Master Zhang about last night. He thought the ghost didn't appear yesterday because it couldn't sense his presence." the head butler finally took part in the conversation. 

"Hmm... It seems reasonable enough for me." Jingyi rubbed his chin thoughtfully then turned to Sizhui. "What do you think Sizhui?"

"I have never encountered such an idiosyncratic case like this before." Sizhui uttered, gaving it a thought.  A brief silence filled the room. Then, stepping back a step with hands raised forward and his head lowered, Sizhui addressed Master Zhang. "My apologize Master Zhang. We may need to bother you for another night to get to the bottom of this."

"Oh please. It is not a bother at all. Please stay as long as you need." Master Zhang said with a smile that could capture every maiden's heart. 

The cerulean sky shifted to pitched black color leaving no trace of a single star. Just like yesterday, the Lan disciples were on alert in their respective rooms, readied to execute the pristine plan.

The silent night suddenly become noisy with heavy wind blowing. The doors and windows were rattling as if someone was banging on them. Sizhui and Jingyi looked at each other knowingly. Years of being best friend had earned them a telepathy. No exchange of words needed. Their eyes were saying, it is starting. A brief moment later, the rattling sound was accompanied by the sound of a woman crying. It began with a sob at first and subsequently cranked up to a high-pitched wail that could pierce eardrums . Jingyi winced and rubbed his ears "Let's go Sizhui. My ears are splitting."
With a nod, Sizhui sent an invisible signal to the others and rushed out of the room with Jingyi.

The fountain was now surrounded by white robes figures. It was emitting black smoke and the water was flowing out the fountain in crimson color. On the top, they could see a spirit of a woman in her late twenties floating in the air. Her long red robe and dark hair, in contradiction to her pearly white skin, were swaying beautifully along the strong wind. was slightly open, releasing an ear-splitting wail.

Everyone almost got blown away by the sound wave but tried their best to keep their position. Sizhui, however, was unaffected by this. He looked at the woman's figure and a nostalgic feeling crept up to him. She didn't look like an evil spirit as there was no dark energy surrounding her. Her eyes were showing a warm affection, especially when looking at him. They don't have the bloodshot anger like other vengeful spirits he had encountered before. Then, what was her purpose of haunting here? Sizhui knew he had to get the answer, and there was only one way to obtain it.

"Jingyi, formation." Sizhui sat down with his Qiankun pouch opened, his qin popped up in front of him.

Once Jingyi saw the instrument, he knew what needed to be done. "Everyone. Move your positions and create a big circle around Sizhui. He is going to do an inquiry."

The Lan disciples dispersed from their old positions and assembled into a new one. Sizhui closed his eyes and concentrated in transferring some spiritual energy to his qin. Once he opened them back, they were ablaze with determination as they were fixed on the spirit. Tracing his slender fingers gracefully over the strings, he began the first question. "What is your name?"

The spirit stopped her wail and looked at the instrument. The strings on the qin moved two times. "Can't tell."

Suzhui frowned. Well, if the woman wanted to keep her identity a secret, then he should respect her privacy. He played the qin again to proceed with the second question. "Are you here to revenge someone?"

"No."

Sizhui smiled in relief. "What is your reason of wandering in the living realm then?"

"Waiting to see my son."

"Who is your son?"

Silence.

Sizhui looked up at the spirit and saw her eyes filled with tears. She refused to answer and he wondered why.

"Is your son in this house?" he tried again.

"Yes." The spirit finally answered.

"Then, what is his name?"

Silence again. Sizhui was about to change to another question thinking the woman was going to avoid answering again, when he heard music from his qin.

" My son's name is... "

But before the name escaped the spirit's mouth, a shadow of a man was seen running into the circle, knocking one of the Lan disciples. The formation was broken and the spirit was disturbed. All of the sudden, an omnious aura filled the air. And it came from the woman's spirit. Her gentle eyes now engorged with murderous intend as she reached towards the intruder. In a panic, the disciple that stood close to the intruder drew out a sword that somehow was already cast with soul-piercing spell and aimed at the approaching spirit.

"No, wait!" Suzhui screamed at the top of his lungs but it was too late. The sword had already pierced the heart of the spirit. Sizhui wasn't really sure if it was real or just his imagination, but the spirit seemed to look back at his direction. With a sad smile, she let a single tear trickled down her cheek before dissolving into the thinnest of the air.

"Are you crazy?" Jingyi snapped at the junior disciple who was still shaking with fear. "How could you use soul-piercing spell on a spirit who wasn't even a vengeful spirit?"

"But... But..." The young guy stuttered. He hadn't seemed to recover from the panic stage yet.

"Do you even know what that spell will do? You just robbed her a chance of reincarnation! Her soul disappear! Into nothingness, you idiot!"

Sizhui took a deep breath before walking to Jingyi to calm him down. "Jingyi, cursing is forbidden." he put his hand on his best friend's shoulder. Jingyi turned and was about to protest when he felt a grip on his shoulder tightened. The look on Sizhui's face left no room of argument. With a huff, he walked a few steps away. Sizhui smiled his usual smile at his fellow member. "What's done is done. But I hope you can be candid with me about one thing. When did you enter The Library Pavilion's forbidden chamber?"

The Lan disciple dropped his sword in fright. His mouth dropped open but instead of forming words, a shirek echoed throughout the night. Surprisingly, it didn't came out from him. It came from a man crouching next to that Lan disciple's leg. An intruder that everyone almost forgot about. The sword was dropped next to the man's head which made him yelped in horror and lifted his head from the ground. Everyone looked down to see his face.

"Master Zhang?" Jingyi stepped in closer and exclaimed in confusion once he saw the face of the intruder.

The man got up and brushed the dust of his robes. Tugging a loose lock of hair behind his ear, he glared at Jingyi.

"I am not him. Call me MISS Zhang."