THIP Chapter 73

This time, Mu Liuyin once again woke up in a bed. She opened her eyes and glanced around. The room had a modern design, and aside from her, there was no one else inside. Judging by the silence, it was probably still the middle of the night.

Once she confirmed no one would disturb her, Mu Liuyin summoned the mission panel—only visible to her—which emitted a faint, translucent blue glow.

But as soon as her eyes landed on the panel, she noticed something strange: the name of the mission target in the first slot flickered, blurring into a single indistinct character—almost like the system had glitched. A moment later, it cleared up again.

This was the first time anything like this had ever happened. Mu Liuyin frowned slightly and continued reading the panel.

Mission Target: Ghost King
Main Quest: Exorcism — Send the Ghost King into reincarnation.
Host Identity: Cannon Fodder — Daoist Master Qi Jue
Note: Click here to view this world’s storyline.

When she saw the words “Ghost King,” Mu Liuyin’s brows furrowed even deeper. If she wasn’t mistaken, the blurred character that had appeared earlier looked like “Lin.”

However, she didn’t question Xiao Jiu right away. Instead, she chose to read the storyline first.

The background of this mission world was still modern-day, but unlike the previous worlds she had visited, this one was steeped in supernatural elements.

The Ghost King was originally only recorded in the inherited texts of various metaphysical families. No one knew how long the Ghost King had existed, nor had anyone truly seen it before.

The plot of this world followed a college junior named Yin Che, who, by sheer luck, acquired a ghost-hunting system and began his journey as a Daoist master who exorcised spirits and won over girls. In the story, any girl who was beautiful and came from a powerful background would eventually fall for him and become part of his harem.

The Ghost King didn’t appear until near the end of the story, so there wasn’t much written about her.

In the later part of the plot, Yin Che received a mission from the system titled Contract the Ghost King, and following the coordinates provided by the system, he found the Ghost King’s location. He used the method taught by the system to awaken her from her slumber.

He had intended to form a contract with the Ghost King while she was still waking up. However, even in her weakened state, the Ghost King was far beyond Yin Che’s ability to control.

The contract attempt failed, and Yin Che was seriously injured. He barely managed to escape with the help of the system. Afterward, he spread the news of the Ghost King’s awakening throughout the metaphysical world, hoping to gather experts and subdue her together so he could eventually contract her.

The system could track the Ghost King’s location every now and then. So while Yin Che cultivated, he also worked with other top practitioners to prepare. A year later, they finally managed to trap the Ghost King in a formation.

Yin Che believed he was on the verge of success and that the Ghost King would soon be his. But to his shock, once the Ghost King realized she couldn’t escape, she self-destructed, taking everyone with her. All souls were obliterated—no chance for reincarnation.

Mu Liuyin’s host body this time was Qi Jue, one of Yin Che’s classmates—a textbook cannon fodder.

Qi Jue came from a metaphysical family and was 20 years old. Gifted and powerful, with striking looks, he was regarded as a campus heartthrob.

To Mu Liuyin’s surprise, Qi Jue had someone he liked—his childhood friend Ye Hanyi, who also came from a metaphysical family. They attended the same university. Ye Hanyi was beautiful and considered a goddess on campus.

Their families were even considering an engagement. But before Qi Jue had the chance to confess, Ye Hanyi was rescued during a dangerous incident by Yin Che, who had already obtained the ghost-hunting system. From that point on, she began to develop feelings for him.

Up until then, Ye Hanyi had assumed she would marry Qi Jue one day.

After all, before the system, Yin Che was no match for Qi Jue—he only had a decent face and nothing else. He wouldn’t have even had the chance to meet someone like Ye Hanyi.

But once she fell for Yin Che, and as he grew more powerful, Qi Jue couldn’t help but feel devastated.

Qi Jue tried to talk to Ye Hanyi, telling her that Yin Che was just a normal person and not suited for her. She then revealed the story of how Yin Che had saved her and even subtly hinted that his strength had already surpassed Qi Jue’s.

Qi Jue was stunned—and refused to believe it. Ye Hanyi then clarified that she only saw him as an older brother, with no romantic feelings at all.

Heartbroken, Qi Jue didn’t press the matter any further. But one day, upon seeing Yin Che getting close to another girl, he confronted him, asking if he liked Ye Hanyi.

Yin Che, who had long disliked Qi Jue, provoked him deliberately. Qi Jue, enraged, attacked—but was defeated.

After that, Qi Jue’s cultivation began to deteriorate rapidly. He suspected Yin Che had done something to him, but even the elders in his family couldn’t find any evidence.

Although the Qi family considered capturing Yin Che for interrogation, by then he had already made a name for himself as a prodigy, gained government support, and received backing from the Ye family due to Ye Hanyi.

Since Yin Che denied everything and there was no proof, the Qi family couldn’t do much.

Within just three months, Qi Jue had lost all his cultivation. No matter how hard he trained, he couldn’t gather spiritual energy again—his path as a Daoist master was over.

Yin Che, on the other hand, grew more powerful with each day. And because of Qi Jue’s past feelings for Ye Hanyi, Yin Che held a grudge.

He lured Qi Jue away from home and had a female ghost drain him of all his yang energy.

Qi Jue died two years before the Ghost King’s appearance.

That meant if Mu Liuyin wanted to complete her mission, she first had to survive until the Ghost King appeared.

After reading through everything, Mu Liuyin couldn’t help but mutter, “Why does the original host’s fate sound worse than the Ghost King’s?”

Being drained of yang energy by a female ghost? No thanks.

“The Ghost King had it even worse~” Xiao Jiu meowed. “She didn’t even get a chance to reincarnate in the end… meow…”

Mu Liuyin grunted noncommittally, then asked the question that had been on her mind:

“At the very beginning, why did the mission target field say ‘Lin’ instead of ‘Ghost King’?”

Xiao Jiu’s eyes went wide in surprise—she hadn’t expected her host to catch that. She immediately responded in a high-pitched meow,

“Xiao Jiu doesn’t know either!”

Mu Liuyin: “…”

Rubbing her temples in frustration, she realized she wasn’t going to get anything out of Xiao Jiu, so she started reviewing the plot details in her mind.

Right now, it was the second month since the original Qi Jue began losing his powers. That meant she had about six more months before Yin Che made his move.

While going over the story, Mu Liuyin suddenly recalled a particular line that stood out.

It was something the Ghost King said right after being awakened by Yin Che.

The moment she saw him, the Ghost King froze for a second. But in the next instant, dressed in her crimson robes, she grabbed him with one hand and hurled him away.

Coldly, she said:

“You’re not her.”