Senior sister, stop working and go home for dinner.

Chen Anran had also come to his senses by this time. He put his palms together in a gesture of respect and asked, "What a coincidence. May I ask what brings you here, fellow senior brothers...?"

Huiming became serious. His gaze swept over the old building behind Chen Anran and the other person, and he said in a low voice, "Amitabha. Since we have met you two, I will not hide anything. We are here on our master's orders to find a 'destined person'."

"A destined person?"

Huiming clasped his hands together and said, "Just last month, our Master Haishan sensed a sinister aura when he passed through this area. We then sent his disciples to investigate, and they discovered that a wicked cultivator who was skilled at raising ghost children was hiding here."

Chen Anran and Wei Qingyi exchanged a glance, both looking somewhat surprised.

Are there hereine practitioners?

"The spiritual energy recovery is only in its initial stage, and evil cultivators are already emerging?" Wei Qingyi frowned deeply. After hearing this news, she changed her previous demeanor. At this moment, she was no longer a working soldier or a debt-ridden school beauty, but a righteous cultivator!

The monk Huiming sighed, his face filled with sorrow: "The Dharma has been dormant for too long in this degenerate age, and demons and monsters are waiting for their chance. This evil cultivator uses strange methods, nourishing himself with the energy of yin spirits, which may harm people's lives." As he spoke, Huiming looked at the old building that Chen Anran and Wei Qingyi had just walked out of.

The next second, Huiming's expression turned serious.

"Not good! She's noticed!" Huiming shouted, not bothering to explain further. He waved to the four monks behind him, "Set up an array, seal off the surroundings, don't let her escape!"

The four monks responded to the call and moved with lightning speed, quickly spreading out to occupy several key positions in front of the building. They subtly formed a battle formation, and the powerful aura and Buddhist energy emanating from their bodies intertwined to create an invisible pressure that enveloped the old building.

Huiming then spread his body and soared up as lightly as a bird. Instead of taking the stairs, he used the windowsill and pipes outside the building to nimbly pounce on the fourth-floor window in a few leaps!

"Senior Brother Huiming!" Chen Anran called out subconsciously, but Huiming's figure had already swiftly moved forward.

Chen Anran's eyes lit up. "Is this what body cultivation is?"

Wei Qingyi calmly said, "Although our Yunyin Sect is not a body cultivation lineage, it is not bad either." As she spoke, she was about to follow.

Chen Anran quickly grabbed her, "Senior sister, what are you doing?"

"Naturally, we'll go help capture that evil cultivator!"

"The situation is unclear, let's wait and see!" Chen Anran was relatively cautious. He held Wei Qingyi's wrist tightly. "Senior Brother Huiming brought four martial monks, and their strength is not bad. Let's stay here and keep watch in case that evil cultivator has other accomplices or backup plans."

Upon hearing this, Wei Qingyi calmed down slightly and realized that Chen Anran's words made sense, so she suppressed her impulse.

Just then, a window upstairs suddenly shattered from the inside out! Broken glass shards flew everywhere!

"You monster! Where do you think you're going!"

With a loud shout, Huiming unleashed a dazzling golden Buddhist light from his palm, transforming into a giant swastika symbol that instantly enveloped the window area!

"ah--!"

With a cry of pain, a thick mass of black energy, illuminated by the golden Buddhist light, churned and melted violently, like ice and snow thrown into the blazing sun, desperately trying to break free, but was firmly locked in place by the "卍" Buddhist seal.

The next instant, the black mist seemed to be violently shoved out of the house by an invisible force, and a petite figure fell from it amidst the falling shards of glass and wood chips.

Upon seeing this figure, Chen Anran and Wei Qingyi's pupils shrank sharply.

"Xiao Man?"

"Miss Lin?"

Lin Xiaoman was shrouded in twisted and churning black energy, her delicate face contorted with pain and resentment.

Wei Qingyi hurriedly stepped forward to help Lin Xiaoman up, her face filled with shock and disbelief.

Her roommate, who offered her warmth and help during her most difficult time, turned out to be... a heretic?!

Chen Anran was also greatly shocked, and at the same time, he suddenly realized that he had seen this black mist before.

Isn't that the little evil cultivator that he and Feng Xiaolu forced back back then?

Before the two siblings could think further, they saw Monk Huiming leap lightly from the fourth floor like a falling leaf, landing steadily a few steps in front of Lin Xiaoman. He stood with one hand in a palm-up position, his eyes conveying both Buddhist majesty and compassion.

"Amitabha! The sea of ​​suffering is boundless, but turning back is the shore! Benefactor, you have used evil spirits and sorcery to harm others and nourish yourself. Why don't you surrender and come with me back to the temple to repent and atone for your sins!"

The four monks quickly surrounded her, forming a defensive formation. Their powerful qi and Buddhist energy acted like an invisible cage, firmly locking Lin Xiaoman in place.

Lin Xiaoman struggled to get up, but the intense conflict between the Buddhist power and the Yin energy within her caused her immense pain. She raised her head, her gaze sweeping over Huiming and the martial monk, finally settling on Chen Anran and Wei Qingyi. Especially when she saw the shocked and heartbroken look in Wei Qingyi's eyes, a complex and unfathomable emotion flashed across Lin Xiaoman's distorted face.

"Harm others? Who have I harmed?!" Lin Xiaoman's voice was hoarse, filled with stubbornness and resentment. "I'm surviving in my own way, what business is it of yours, you prestigious sects?!"

"Stubborn to the end!" Huiming shook his head, his tone becoming more severe. "The Yin energy on your body is so heavy, and it's mixed with the resentment of more than one wronged soul. How dare you say you haven't harmed anyone? If it hadn't been discovered in time, you would have become a scourge to the region!"

"They deserve to die!" Lin Xiaoman screamed, her emotions suddenly escalating, and the black aura around her surged again. "Those who bullied me, who forced me... I was only defending myself! I just wanted to live! What do you know?! Do you high and mighty monks understand the suffering of us ants struggling to survive?!"

Looking at her like this, Wei Qingyi felt a mix of emotions. She couldn't help but step forward, her voice trembling, "Xiaoman... did you really use evil magic to harm someone? Why? You clearly..."

Both she and Chen Anran were at the early stage of Qi Refining, so they couldn't see through Lin Xiaoman's disguise, who was also at the early stage of Qi Refining.

Lin Xiaoman glared at Wei Qingyi, tears mingling with dark energy in her eyes, and screamed, "Sister Wei! Do you think I wanted this?! In this ruthless world, if I didn't rely on these unorthodox methods, I would have been devoured long ago! Yes, I raised ghosts and cultivated with Yin energy! But I have never intentionally harmed innocent people! What I collected were the resentful souls of those who bullied me, abandoned me, and wished me dead! They deserved it!"

Her voice was shrill, filled with endless grievances and anger. The black aura around her surged violently due to her emotional agitation, attempting to break through the binding force of the Buddha's light, but it was steadily suppressed by the combined blood energy and Buddhist power emanating from the martial monks, emitting a "sizzling" burning sound.

Huiming frowned, his tone still firm, but less sharp than before: "Amitabha. Even if what you said is partly true, being haunted by resentment and using evil magic to control spirits will ultimately harm both yourself and others. If this continues, your mind will be corrupted by the evil spirits, and you will eventually lose yourself, becoming a puppet who only knows how to kill. Come back to the temple with me, and let Buddhism resolve your resentment; that is the right path."

"Resolve? And then, like those 'evil spirits' you've locked up, spend the rest of your lives in seclusion, or perhaps be 'converted' until your soul is scattered?" Lin Xiaoman smiled bitterly, her eyes filled with despair. "I won't go! I'd rather die than go to some Buddhist temple!"

As she spoke, she suddenly turned to look at Wei Qingyi and Chen Anran, especially at Chen Anran, her eyes filled with a final hope and a desperate madness: "Sister Wei! Master Chen! Help me! I don't want to be captured by them!"