Chapter 622 - 622: Giving up Reincarnation

Daddy?!

Hearing the little girl's words, Zhao Yuan jumped in shock.

'What's going on? Is this little Ghost's dad nearby too?'

Zhao Yuan hurriedly took a defensive stance and scanned his surroundings, but he saw nothing besides flowers, grass, and rocks.

"There are no other Ghosts here. Who is she calling?" Zhao Yuan was bewildered.

Before he could figure it out, the little girl suddenly leaped and pounced toward him.

"Hasn't her Heart Blood been neutralized? Why is she still attacking people?" Zhao Yuan was alarmed and subconsciously prepared to strike back and repel her.

Zeng Rui quickly shouted, "Don't hurt her! She means no harm!"

Zhao Yuan trusted Zeng Rui, so he hurriedly withdrew his killing move.

The little girl pounced on him, and then... she passed right through him, falling face-first onto the ground.

The little girl had not yet reached the point of taking physical form. She was just a Spirit Body, and without using Ghost Qi, she couldn't make physical contact with people. But using Ghost Qi would harm people, which would change the nature of the interaction entirely.

"Daddy, why didn't you catch me?" The little girl turned around, pouting as she complained.

"Are... are you talking to me?" Zhao Yuan pointed at himself, asking in surprise.

"Yep," the little girl replied.

"You're calling me Daddy?" Zhao Yuan asked again.

"Mhm," the little girl nodded, looking incredibly cute and innocent.

Zhao Yuan was dumbfounded. "Are you sure you're not mistaken? How did I become your daddy?"

"You are my daddy! Waaah, Daddy, don't you want me anymore?" The little girl pouted again, her big, watery eyes welling up with tears. Her pitiful appearance was enough to break anyone's heart.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't cry, please don't cry..." Zhao Yuan panicked. After a few words of consolation, he made a pained face and muttered, "What in the world is going on? I'm still a virgin, how did I suddenly get a daughter? And a Ghost daughter at that. Ah, could it be... she's my daughter from a past life?"

Zhao Yuan's imagination was certainly running wild with such unconventional thoughts.

Zeng Rui shot him a glare and said irritably, "Stop your wild guessing. She's calling you Daddy because you neutralized her Heart Blood, allowing her true self, which had been clouded by the Evil Technique, to recover. To her, it's like being reborn. Plus, she was very young when she was murdered, an age when she craved the love of a father and mother. That's why she sees you, the one who gave her a new life, as her father."

"So that's how it is." Zhao Yuan finally understood. He looked down at the cute and adorable little girl and couldn't help but sigh. "From the looks of her, she was probably only five or six when she died. How could the murderer have been so ruthless? And they used a method akin to death by a thousand cuts, stabbing her heart countless times and torturing her to death. The method was truly cruel, and the person utterly twisted and cold-blooded!"

Zeng Rui looked at the little girl sympathetically. "She was born in a Yin year, Yin month, Yin day, and Yin hour, giving her a Supreme Yin Life Chart. People with this Life Chart, whether they step onto the path of Cultivation or become a Ghost after death, are much stronger than ordinary people! That's why she was targeted and harmed by a vicious and evil Demon."

"To destroy another's life for one's own selfish gain... such people are simply too malicious! I can't let him remain in this world to harm others. I must eliminate this threat for the good of the people!"

Zhao Yuan took a brush and paper from his Storage Ring Space and performed the Tracking Technique to find the address of the murderer who killed the little girl.

The result of his query, however, was completely unexpected.

'Person not found?'

Looking at the three words that appeared on the paper, Zhao Yuan's brow furrowed. He deduced, "As long as the target is still in this world, whether human, Demon, or Ghost, the Tracking Technique can pinpoint their location. Getting a 'person not found' result can only mean one thing—that Demon is no longer among the living."

Zeng Rui snorted. "A person like that, with hands stained by blood and Vengeful Spirits, would surely plunge into the depths of Hell after death to suffer endless torment!"

Zhao Yuan nodded. "Mozi once said: 'He who harms others will surely be harmed by others in return!' That ruthless Demon must have died at someone else's hands! Truly, what goes around comes around; retribution is certain."

He didn't reach this conclusion without reason.

According to what he had learned at the real estate agency, the Cao Tang Peninsula District was built seven years ago. The landscaping in the district was professionally designed; every plant, tree, lake, and rock was moved here from elsewhere at that time.

Therefore, the little girl must have been brought here and killed by the Demon sometime between five and seven years ago, her soul imprisoned within this transplanted ancient tree.

A Cultivator's lifespan is far longer than an ordinary person's. Moreover, the fact that the Demon used such a vicious and vile method indicated he was alive and well at the time, still pursuing a higher and stronger Cultivation! Barring some accident, there was no way he would have died in just a few short years!

Zeng Rui nodded, agreeing with Zhao Yuan's assessment.

Just then, a holy and gentle beam of light descended from the sky, enveloping the little girl.

Zhao Yuan knew this was the Light of Reincarnation, signifying that the little girl was about to enter the cycle of rebirth and gain a new life. He smiled and said to her, "I hope that in your next life, you're born into a good family and can live a simple but happy life."

But what happened next was far beyond his expectations.

The little girl looked up at the Light of Reincarnation, then glanced back at Zhao Yuan a few times and suddenly said, "I don't want to be reincarnated! I want to stay by Daddy's side! I want to be with Daddy!"

The moment she finished speaking, the Light of Reincarnation enveloping her vanished.

"This..." Zhao Yuan was stunned.

He never imagined the little girl would give up reincarnation to stay by his side. He was even more surprised that the Light of Reincarnation would be so decisive, disappearing the moment she said she didn't want to be reincarnated.

Calming down and thinking it over, he realized the Light of Reincarnation didn't disappear because of her words, but because she had a strong, unfulfilled wish!

And that wish was to stay by Zhao Yuan's side.

Seeing Zhao Yuan standing there dumbly, Zeng Rui reminded him, "What are you spacing out for? Hurry up and take her in as a Ghost Spirit. She has left the Soul-locking Array and given up on reincarnation. If you don't take her as your Ghost Spirit, she can only become one of the Wandering Souls and Wild Ghosts, drifting between heaven and earth like rootless duckweed. The slightest misstep could lead to her soul shattering and scattering! I don't think you'd want to see that happen to her, would you?"

Zhao Yuan considered it. Taking the little girl in as a Ghost Spirit was actually an excellent choice. It would increase the strength at his disposal. Moreover, with her Supreme Yin Life Chart and his guidance as a Ghost Cultivator, her future achievements would be anything but low!

He just didn't know what the little girl herself thought about it.

"Are you willing to be my Ghost Spirit?" Zhao Yuan asked softly.