Huo Sining was shocked, and hastily took out a mirror from the storage ring. As soon as she looked into the mirror, her breath caught.

In the mirror was an entirely unfamiliar face.

Her once smooth and rounded cheeks had become much sharper, and on both sides of her face emerged rounded arc-shaped gill-like covers. Her ears were long and slender, her black hair had turned blue like seaweed, and her eyes glimmered like two sapphires.

Huo Sining’s mind was in a daze, she didn’t know what to say.

She had seen Su Lan and Qibao transformed into Jiaoren, so such a scene was not unfamiliar to her. But she absolutely did not expect that, just as Su Lan had said, she too had become a Jiaoren.

Huo Sining now understood that the multiple dreams she had just experienced were not dreams, but memories of Su Lan’s younger sister.

The little Jiaoren had not fully awoken, so it was not enough to completely devour Huo Sining’s soul. The little Jiaoren’s soul had been dormant in Huo Sining’s body, but after the recent baptism by Spiritual Energy, the Jiaoren’s soul and memories completely fused with her. That’s why Huo Sining saw those scenes and transformed to now look this way.

Understanding this, Huo Sining realized that in her current form, staying in this temple was inappropriate. If she remained like this, she might very well be discovered.

Naturally, Huo Sining knew how novel Jiaoren were. If seen by others, she would surely be in danger. Her expression immediately grew tense as she urgently asked, "Qibao, what should I do to turn this tail back?"

Qibao handed the pendant to Huo Sining and said, "Hold this pendant and recite with me. The Jade Clean Bottle will show you what to do."

Huo Sining nodded, taking the Jade Clean Bottle that she had smashed long ago, now restored to its original flawless condition, back into her hands. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Qibao gently chanted an incantation, and Huo Sining followed along. Instantly, the Jade Clean Bottle seemed to receive some sort of command and began to spin rapidly. As it spun, strings of golden incantations emerged in Huo Sining’s mind.

Almost instinctively, Huo Sining followed those incantations and slowly felt her body change. Within a few minutes, she had returned to her previous state.

However, through the mirror, Huo Sining could still feel that after her final fusion with the little Jiaoren’s soul, her appearance had slightly changed. Although she couldn’t quite tell how it was different.

Her mind was filled with many questions, but Huo Sining knew this wasn’t the time to ask Qibao. She was about to leave with Qibao when suddenly an angry shout came from the room next door:

"What nonsense about killing or not killing! Are you out of your mind, you old bald donkey? This is such a good opportunity. As long as we work together, those two Jiaoren won’t escape our grasp. Once we refine them, our ascension is just around the corner, and you choose to give up?! This is a shortcut far faster than wandering the world!"

Huo Sining was stunned. She recognized the voice as that of Lu Huairu, Manager Lu of Yin Yizhai. But what Lu Huairu just said sent a chill down Huo Sining’s spine, and she suddenly realized something was wrong.

Instinctively, she reached out and touched the wall of that room, using her Heavenly Eye to penetrate the heavy stone bricks and look into the room from where the voice came.

It was an empty Zen room. Some Zen Buddhist calligraphy and paintings hung on the walls. There was a low wooden table set in the room, with a few meditation cushions placed around it. On one of the cushions sat an old monk cross-legged, holding a wooden stick and slowly knocking on the wooden fish in front of him.

Opposite the monk sat Lu Huairu, the old manager from Yin Yizhai, who Huo Sining had recently seen at the street corner and secretly followed here.

"A flower a world, a leaf a bodhi. All living beings have their fates. The Living Buddha is compassionate, forbidding the killing of all sentient beings. If the heart is benevolent, it becomes relic, if the heart is not benevolent, merit is in vain, what’s the use of ascension?"

After knocking the wooden fish for a while, the old monk suddenly spoke calmly.

Lu Huairu was taken aback by the old monk’s words for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said:

"I think you recite too much, blinded by your chants. What nonsense about merit and benevolence? This old Taoist doesn’t believe it. Your Buddhism refrains from killing, but Taoism isn’t so particular. If you’re unwilling, forget it. This old Taoist will find a way on my own! That female Jiaoren seems smart, hard to deal with, but that little one shouldn’t be a problem. You can continue sitting on your cushion, knocking your wooden fish. When this old Taoist ascends, I hope you’ll be able to keep sitting!"

Huo Sining was shocked. She realized that when Lu Huairu talked about the female Jiaoren and the little Jiaoren, he was referring to her and Qibao.

Moreover, what surprised Huo Sining even more was that Lu Huairu, who ran an antique appraisal business on Antique Street and was quite insightful in the field, was, judging by his tone, actually secretly a Taoist practitioner of spells?!

Huo Sining was stunned. Over the years, she and Su Qingqing had visited Yin Yizhai frequently and had interacted with Lu Huairu many times. The old man had always appeared kindly, always sharing experiences and stories about the antique circle with her and Su Qingqing, appearing as a neighborly grandfather.

Never did Huo Sining expect that the old man was hiding so deeply, and had already set his sights on her and Qibao.

It was then that Huo Sining suddenly recalled that the old man hadn’t been without clues. The very first time she met him, he had asked her a strange question about whether she knew about Diaoti Country.

At that time, Huo Sining was naive and uninformed, not even having heard of Diaoti Country, let alone understanding the old man’s intention in asking.

The old man probably guessed her identity from the very first meeting, so he used Su Qingqing’s connection to deliberately be kind to her, drawing close to her as a pretense, all in an effort to deceive her and lower her guard, waiting for the right moment to strike!

Thinking that this person might pose a threat to her and Qibao, how could Huo Sining possibly let this person live?

As she saw Lu Huairu push open the door of the old monk’s room and sweep out, Huo Sining quickly opened a side door and silently followed him out.

However, what Huo Sining didn’t expect was that as she opened the door, she saw a young monk standing outside.