The righteous path’s attitude toward demons and ghosts is not one of total extermination. As long as they do not commit evil deeds, in most cases, disciples of the righteous path will not go out of their way to kill them.

The crowd of ghosts slowly withdrew from the courtyard. A gust of cold wind swept through, stirring up the fallen leaves. In that instant, Emily Thompson suddenly felt his hair stand on end.

The last ghost drifting at the rear suddenly lashed out, forming two sharp claws and lunging at David Brooks.

“Hmph!”

David Brooks merely let out a cold snort, sending a burst of flame from his hand that struck the old ghost.

The flame, condensed from magical power, was no ordinary fire. The old ghost’s claws shattered first, and before it could even let out a miserable scream, it was completely annihilated between heaven and earth. At the same moment, the other ghosts in the courtyard also became violent, rushing at David Brooks like moths to a flame, one after another.

“You brought this on yourselves. I’ll let you die one more time!”

With the evil spirits attacking first, David Brooks no longer held back. He waved his hand, releasing a fireball. In an instant, the fireball split in two, then four, and very quickly, the large fireball became a sky-filling shower of small fireballs, flying toward the ghosts.

Among the ghosts, only the old one was slightly stronger; the rest were the most ordinary of evil spirits, unable to withstand even a single hit from the fireball spell. As soon as they were touched by a spark, their spiritual forms collapsed and were utterly destroyed.

Emily Thompson’s ears were filled with the wails of the ghosts. He simply withdrew his magical power, choosing not to see or hear.

At this moment, a trace of doubt still lingered in his heart.

Those ghosts had clearly retreated—why did they suddenly go berserk?

Judging by the way they rushed at David Brooks, they had clearly lost all reason.

Pfft!

As the last fireball extinguished, not a single evil spirit remained in the courtyard. It all happened in an instant, and there was no need for the three of them to act—David Brooks had destroyed all the ghosts by himself.

However, that “Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers” move just now had nearly exhausted all of David Brooks’s magical power. He leaned against a pillar behind him, his chest rising and falling slightly.

He cultivated the Metal Spirit Vein, so casting basic fire spells consumed even more magical power than it would for a Fire Spirit Vein cultivator.

Sophia Carter stepped forward with concern. “Senior Brother Brooks, are you alright?”

David Brooks straightened up, puffed out his chest, and said, “Don’t worry, Junior Sister Carter. They were just a few reckless evil spirits—what could possibly happen…”

Emily Thompson stretched his body. He hadn’t really participated in this mission at all; he was just along for the ride.

Sophia Carter said, “Since everything’s fine now, let’s all go back to our rooms and rest. Tomorrow morning, we’ll return to the temple together.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Emily Thompson suddenly sensed something was wrong.

At some point, the surroundings had grown much darker—he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face.

Emily Thompson looked up and found that the moon had disappeared. Not only the moon, but even the starlight was completely gone. He tossed out a fireball, illuminating the area once more.

Only then did Emily Thompson realize that the sky above them was covered by a dense mass of black mist.

Drip.

Drip, drip.

Drip, drip, drip…

In the silent night, the sound of water droplets hitting the ground was clearly audible.

Emily Thompson suddenly turned toward the source of the sound and saw that black mist was churning from a well in the southwest corner of the courtyard. Then, a white figure floated out of the well.

He could vaguely make out that it was a woman in white. Her face was deathly pale, her body exuding a heavy aura of yin energy. Droplets of water fell from her clothes, landing on the stone slabs with a crisp sound.

Emily Thompson hadn’t channeled magical power to his eyes—he could see this ghost with his naked eye alone.

This made his pupils contract slightly. The woman in white before him was no mere evil spirit, but a true ghost!

A female ghost able to fully manifest her body was no weaker than a cultivator at the Qi Refining stage. The aura she emitted made Emily Thompson feel immense pressure.

This female ghost was stronger than any of the four of them. Even if she wasn’t at the second level of Qi Refining, she was at the very peak of the first.

The female ghost emerged from the well and suddenly turned into a white blur, flying in a certain direction.

Emily Thompson immediately called out, “Senior Sister Carter, be careful!”

Sophia Carter was already on guard, a barrier of flames appearing around her body. But the female ghost didn’t seem to be targeting her—she brushed past and sped forward.

David Brooks saw the white blur rushing at him and was scared out of his wits. He tried to channel his magical power, only to realize that, in showing off before Junior Sister Carter, he had used up every last drop—he couldn’t even cast a fireball spell…

Just as this thought crossed his mind, he felt a chill run through his body, shivered all over, and then lost consciousness.

In the eyes of Emily Thompson, Jiang Li, and Sophia Carter, the female ghost turned into a white blur and entered David Brooks’s body. David Brooks’s face instantly turned deathly pale, his hair fell loose, and when he opened his eyes again, his gaze was completely unfamiliar, his body filled with a thick aura of yin energy.

Sophia Carter’s expression changed dramatically. She cried out, “It’s possessed Senior Brother Brooks!”

Possessed by the female ghost, David Brooks raised his hands and looked at them, a wicked smile curling at his lips. His voice was cold and eerie, as if coming from the void.

“What a long-lost feeling…”