Cultivation Retirement Plan (BL)

26. Suspicions at the Su Manor

Mo Yixuan's lips thinned as he insisted, "We received an appeal with the Su Clan Head's identifying seal at Star Pavilion Sect."

Su Shiyu remained impassive as he took another sip of tea. "Daoist Mo must be mistaken, for I haven't sent any requests for help. I am truly sorry you came all this way over a misunderstanding."

Mo Yixuan fell silent. Ouyang Che was a joker, but even he wouldn't go so far to pull such an elaborate prank.

"If it pleases Sir Daoist, I have some fine specimens of jade that may serve the interests of your sect. Perhaps we can review the selection after tea." Su Shiyu was quite polite, but his offer didn't move Mo Yixuan. Instead, the peak lord retrieved the letter of appeal and tossed it in the air, where it floated leisurely to Su Shiyu's table.

"I will have to ask Sir Su to take a closer look. If it is a case of fraud, then that too bears investigating," Mo Yixuan's voice was flat.

Su Shiyu accepted the paper graciously, unfolded it, and examined the contents written inside. After a while he said, "This is indeed the seal of my Su Clan. However, the ink used is darker than my usual missives to the Middle Realm and the handwriting is different as well."

"Then someone else stole your identity to write this letter?" Mo Yixuan was incredulous.

"Indeed. All in a bid to lure esteemed Daoists such as yourself down for an unnecessary intervention," Su Shiyu said. "The so-called 'demonic presence' mentioned in this message is simply an old spirit that's been haunting our clan for years; it's nothing we can't handle on our own."

Mo Yixuan didn't know what to feel surprised about first: the fact that Su Shiyu seemed unconcerned about his identity theft or that the Su Clan was actively harboring a ghost on its grounds. Wasn't this supposed to be a straightforward case of Catch the Bad and Kill It Quickly?

"Shizun, is it really all right for a haunted merchant to be selling jades to cultivation sects?" Nan Wuyue piped up in a timely fashion. He hadn't gone anywhere near this mission in his last life, so there was no foreknowledge to help him now.

"Young daoist, our years of business speaks for our quality," Su Shiyu replied calmly. "There have been no issues with the jades we've sent to the Middle Realms, nor would such low-level spirits be able to affect you cultivators there."

Mo Yixuan only found it strange that the Su Clan would allow this spirit to stick around in the first place, but he quickly found another point to raise. "Yet we heard that the influence of this spirit seems especially severe this year. Even the jade deposits were corrupted by its presence?"

Su Shiyu remained unruffled. "Blatant exaggeration. A few shipments of raw jade were found to have been damaged due to carelessness on the part of our newer workers. Daoist Mo and your disciple can naturally confirm the quality of our wares in person if you still have doubts."

So he's claiming that those reports are just hearsay, Mo Yixuan mused.

Nan Wuyue next asked, "Sir Su, what is the story behind this spirit? Isn't it unusual for the manor to permit its haunting?" Common sense dictated that the presence of ghosts were not only unlucky, but potentially sinister due to their attraction of death.

"It's harmless," Su Shiyu waved him off. "We've consulted experts on the matter and determined it's only a restless spirit without a home. We've tried to send it off a few times, but it hasn't budged and even helps us track down rare bands of jade within our quarries."

"What a generous ghost," Mo Yixuan murmured. Nan Wuyue was less forgiving.

"Then that's worse. No ghosts lingers in the living realm for long without a motive. Shizun, I advise we move to exorcise it right away. If Sir Su refuses, I am afraid that we will still have to fulfill our duties for the sake of maintaining peace in this realm."