In the living room.
Fenric sat quietly, pretending to read a book.
Nearby, Ren Tingting was arranging flowers—or at least pretending to. In truth, she was constantly stealing glances at her teacher, captivated by how elegant and handsome he looked, even while simply reading.
He really is so charming, she thought, her gaze lingering. Why is he so attractive even when he's just flipping through a book?
At this point, Ren Tingting had fully transformed into Fenric's little fangirl.
Elsewhere, the two apprentices brought by Master Nine—Chong and Monmoi—were huddled together, whispering like scheming ghosts.
[TL/n: On the Left is Monmoi (Coward guy) in middle is Master Nine and on the right is Chong(Brave guy)]
"Hey, Chong," Monmoi muttered. "What's the story with that pretty boy? Even Master Ren seems to respect him!"
"How should I know?" Chong replied. "But it's not just Master Ren. Didn't you see how Miss Ren was practically glued to him with her eyes?"
"Hmph! He's just a pretty face. What's so special about him?"
"What? You wanna mess with him?"
"Is that really a good idea? If Master finds out, we'll get scolded."
"Can you really sit back and watch Miss Ren be taken away?"
"…Tsk! Fine, let's deal with him!"
Fenric, with his advanced senses, heard every word they said.
If this had been the old Fenric, he might have gone up to greet them out of politeness—after all, they were important plot characters.
But now?
Now, they were just small fries in his eyes. Not worth his time.
Still, hearing their scheme brought a plotline to mind.
In that particular scene, Chong and Monmoi had used a puppet talisman to control Weiha's body. They made him do all kinds of ridiculous things—slapping himself, stripping in front of Ren Tingting, and acting like a complete lunatic.
The memory made Fenric smile.
Let's see if such a petty trick could work on me now…
A few moments later, Chong and Monmoi crept toward Fenric with the subtlety of mischievous spirits.
Ren Tingting noticed them immediately and called out, "Hey! What are you two sneaking up to my teacher for?!"
She moved protectively between them.
"Teacher, be careful around those two. They're always up to no good."
Chong and Monmoi looked deeply offended—especially Monmoi, who had a crush on the lovely Miss Ren.
"It's okay, Tingting," Fenric said with a gentle smile. "Besides, they're guests. You shouldn't treat guests like that."
Chastised by her teacher, Ren Tingting lowered her head. "Sorry, Teacher. I understand."
"..."
Chong and Monmoi were both stunned. What kind of magic did he use to make Ren Tingting so obedient?
Fenric turned to them. "Is there something I can help you two with?"
"Oh, no. We just noticed your extraordinary presence and wanted to introduce ourselves," Chong said while secretly signaling Monmoi with a wink.
Monmoi nodded and casually moved behind Fenric, pretending to look around—then quickly plucked a single strand of his hair.
"Oh!" he said with a fake laugh. "Mr. Fen, I spotted a white hair and thought I'd help you pull it out. Hope you don't mind?"
"Not at all," Fenric replied with a calm smile.
Of course he knew exactly what they were up to.
Without his cooperation, they wouldn't have been able to touch even a single strand.
Seeing that Monmoi had succeeded, Chong quickly said, "We'll stop bothering you now, Mr. Fen. Come on, Monmoi, let's wait for Master outside."
"Got it, Brother."
The two of them hurried out of the room.
Fenric, unbothered, resumed reading—his expression as serene as ever.
Outside.
Chong pulled out a puppet talisman and carefully wrapped the hair in talisman paper.
"Monmoi, you eat it."
"Me?! Why me?" Monmoi frowned.
"You're the one who pulled the hair!" Chong reasoned. "Come on! Once you swallow it, you'll be able to control that pretty boy's body. Imagine what Miss Ren will think when he humiliates himself!"
Monmoi hesitated for only a moment before falling for it. He swallowed the hair in the talisman.
Then, he began chanting, fingers forming hand seals.
"Is it working?" Chong asked eagerly.
"It's done!" Monmoi said, excited.
"Alright! Make him slap himself. Let's see how effective it is!"
Without another word, Monmoi slapped himself—hard.
Inside the living room.
Fenric felt a sudden twitch in his right hand.
His eyes flickered.
But with a single thought, his powerful will instantly suppressed the impulse. His body calmed once again.
Interesting…
He chuckled softly.
With his current level of spiritual strength, it was impressive that the puppet talisman could influence him at all. For an ordinary person, control would've been absolute.
"Teacher, is something wrong?" Ren Tingting asked.
"It's nothing," Fenric said with a warm smile. Then he teased, "Tingting, that potted flower's about to be massacred by you."
"Huh?!"
Flustered, Ren Tingting's cheeks flushed. "Hmp! Ignore you!"
With that, she scurried off, too embarrassed to stay.
Outside, Chong and Monmoi continued watching through the window.
"…Why isn't anything happening?" Chong muttered. "Monmoi, did you screw up?"
"No way!" Monmoi insisted. "This worked last time! There's no mistake!"
"Then what gives?"
Just then, Master Ren and Master Nine exited the study.
"Master's coming. Let's go meet him," Chong said quickly.
"Wait, wait!" Monmoi said, gagging himself and finally spitting out the talisman.
Master Nine immediately noticed the suspicious behavior and glared at them.
"What are you two up to now?"
"N-nothing, Master!" they chorused.
Seeing that nothing seemed out of place in the living room, Master Nine frowned but let it go. "Fine. Come on, let's go back."
He didn't even spare a glance at Fenric.
Fenric sighed quietly. Looks like Master Ren failed to convince him.
As expected, once Master Nine left, Master Ren approached Fenric with an apologetic expression.
"Nephew Fen, I spoke to Master Nine for you, but… he's not planning to take in any disciples at the moment."
"I understand," Fenric replied with a calm smile. "Thank you for going through the trouble."
He was a little disappointed, but not overly so.
After all, he remembered that in the Samsara Tower, other Samsara players were selling Taoist skills—and they weren't that expensive. Worst case, he could just buy what he needed with some points.
Night fell.
Spirit Hall grew quiet and still.
In the dead silence, beneath the coffin containing an old man's body…
A deep crack echoed.
From within, a blackened hand covered in sharp claws emerged—slowly pushing the coffin lid open.
[TL/n: Spirit Hall is the name of the morgue.]