My Lady Always Lacks Ambition

Tree-dwelling Ghosts, as the name suggests, are ghosts that reside in trees or wood. They are playful by nature and love to tease others without causing harm, especially enjoying it when those they prank call them Tree Gods.
The Jing Family’s manor has such a ghost living in a peach tree, a tree that happens to face the bedroom. It’s uncertain whether the old ghost in the tree could see what happened last night at least.
Upon hearing Qin Liuxi’s explanation, everyone felt a bit uneasy, especially…
Whoosh.
A shadow drifted over.
Their hearts pounded erratically, sensing that something was approaching.
The Marquis Chang’an was internally crumbling. Why would there be such a thing in his manor?
Even more disturbed was the Hidden Guard who had jumped down from the tree; he had been on watch here for several days. Although it was already April, the nights still felt unusually chilly, and occasionally something would yank his foot. It was precisely because of this that he remained fully awake during his night watch, diligently fulfilling his duty.
But now it seemed that his vigilance was enforced.
The Hidden Guard distinctly felt a chill breeze rushing past him, and with a howl, he leaped away, planning to find another tree to squat in.
“Lord Heavenly Master, have mercy, please don’t send me to be reincarnated. I, old ghost, just want to drift in this mortal world until the time changes, the stars move, and my soul scatters…” The Tree Ghost floated in front of Qin Liuxi, bowing with clasped hands and pleading for mercy.
Qin Liuxi saw that he was dressed in a pink robe, his body withered and frail, his hair arranged in a bun with a cluster of peach blossoms inserted, and his face somewhat fierce. Hearing him show off his literary flair, Qin Liuxi couldn’t help but raise his hand, “Enough, no need for the unnecessary talk. Just spill everything that’s happened here, and you can drift wherever you like.”
Some ghosts do not wish to be reincarnated, preferring to wander the world forever even if it means eventually losing their minds and their souls scattering.
For such cases, Qin Liuxi would not force them.
Jing Xiaosi saw Qin Liuxi speaking to the air, unable to see anything, and couldn’t help but shout, “Junior Temple Master, let me have a look.”
Marquis Chang’an looked at him immediately — are you crazy, wanting to see a ghost?
Qin Liuxi drew an Eye-opening Talisman in the Void, recited the Eye-opening Spell, and Jing Xiaosi and Marquis Chang’an felt a sting in their eyes. When they closed and then reopened them, they could see the peach tree ghost.
“Heh.”
Marquis Chang’an took several steps back frightened by the ghost’s appearance, his face turning pale as he wanted to close his eyes.
It was too harsh on the eyes.
Also, did Qin Liuxi let them see a ghost on purpose, just to torture him?
Regaining his composure, Marquis Chang’an supported himself on a table inside the room, only he knew that his legs were trembling faintly beneath his robe. After the Tree Ghost threw him a flirtatious look, he quickly turned his head away.
Crack.
Damn it, moved too fast, and now his neck was in pain.
Qin Liuxi snapped his fingers in front of the Tree Ghost, asking, “Who are you looking at?”
The Tree Ghost bashfully replied, “At the Marquis, still as elegant as ever, unchanged from the past.”
Marquis Chang’an: “…”
Don’t compliment me, I can’t take it.
The Tree Ghost glanced at the Marquis Chang’an without being noticed, a few shades of sorrow in its expression, followed by a sigh.
Qin Liuxi and Jing Xiaosi looked at the Tree Ghost oddly, silently stepping back; they felt this ghost had questionable inclinations.
“Alright, enough with the drama. Spill it, what did you see?” Qin Liuxi pointed at Lady Niu, urging the Tree Ghost to elaborate.
Following her finger, the Tree Ghost exclaimed: “This is too tragic, drained so thoroughly, not a drop of blood left.”
Qin Liuxi and Jing Xiaosi exchanged a glance, intrigued—they really saw something.
The Tree Ghost stepped forward disdainfully and spat at Lady Niu’s corpse: “For such a handsome and majestic man as the Marquis, you actually cheated on him with that old coot, truly blind. Well deserved, dead as you are.”
Supposedly, the Marquis Chang’an should have been moved by someone standing up for him, but why does everything this Tree Ghost says feel so awkward?
“Is that old coot Daoist Taiyang? Did he come here last night?” Qin Liuxi, afraid the Tree Ghost would ramble on about some melodramatic love story, quickly steered the conversation back on track.
“Yes, him! That’s him, the stinking Daoist who made the Marquis a cuckold!” The Tree Ghost nodded vigorously, almost dislodging the peach blossom from its head before steadying it again.
The beard on Marquis Chang’an’s face twitched, a sign of his seething anger.
Great, thanks for that, but can you shut up? There’s no need to keep reminding me that I’ve been cuckolded!
The Tree Ghost looked at the Marquis Chang’an with a pitying gaze and said, “The Daoist arrived here early last night, used an Eye-Blocking Technique, and swaggered into the room. The moment he did, this unfaithful woman rushed over and clung to him.”
Everyone: “!”
Qin Liuxi glanced unconsciously at the Marquis Chang’an, holding back a laugh, as the Tree Ghost proceeded—well done.
As if hearing Qin Liuxi’s silent praise, the Tree Ghost imitated Mrs. Niu: “Mrs. Niu was holding onto the Daoist, weeping with rain-like tears, pounding on him with her fists, repeatedly asking why he didn’t come sooner…”
“Enough!” The Marquis Chang’an interrupted, coldly saying, “There is no need to dwell on these irrelevant details.”
The Tree Ghost let out a drawn-out ‘oh’, then continued, “They spoke for a bit, and then the Daoist went to check on the child. That’s when the arguments began.”
Having left Jinhua Temple, Daoist Taiyang naturally wouldn’t have just left; finding out that the Marquis Chang’an had placed Mrs. Niu and her son at the manor, he intended to make thorough preparations, rejuvenate himself, and then take them away.
But to his surprise, he suffered a backlash yet again. Upon calculating the cause, he discovered that the magic he had performed to extend Jing Wu’s life had been broken yet again, prompting him to rush to the manor.
Having already been weakened by the previous backlash, Jing Wu wasn’t doing well, and because of the Marquis Chang’an’s orders, the mother and son were imprisoned without any decent food or drink. Jing Wu’s already deteriorated body gave in to the repeated backlash, leaving him gasping for life.
Upon seeing his son covered in the aura of death, Daoist Taiyang knew there was no hope for survival.
But Mrs. Niu teetered on the edge of a breakdown. She had plummeted from the esteemed position of the Marchioness into the mud in a single day, a difference too vast to bear. Now with her son visibly close to death, she had lost all calm, gnashing her teeth, confronting Daoist Taiyang: “Didn’t you extend his life? Why is this still happening?”
“Someone has broken my magic,” grinded Daoist Taiyang through his teeth.
Mrs. Niu laughed mockingly at him: “A spell broken once, and now twice—is this all you’re capable of? You can’t even save your own son, yet you claim to be the rightful heir to the Heavenly Master—bah!”
“Silence!” Daoist Taiyang, furious and ashamed, grabbed her by the neck.
Mrs. Niu’s eyes widened in terror.
As Daoist Taiyang gazed into her fearful eyes, he felt immense satisfaction. Glancing at the frail, pale Jing Wu covered in death’s aura, a shard of madness sparked in Daoist Taiyang’s mind.
The adage ‘third time’s the charm’: if two life-extension attempts had failed, it must be the will of heaven. And now, suffering from the backlash, he could no longer cast the spell a third time. Perhaps it would be better to keep his child with him forever, free from suffering, free from death.
In his head, Daoist Taiyang rapidly recalled a Forbidden Technique he had once seen, particularly one that described the practice of refining a little ghost, and that method started to take shape in his mind.