I Can Recognize Everything, But the Information is Wrong
Chapter 337 301 Lingering Evil Spirit

The one shouting that something went wrong was a middle-aged man in the Early-stage Foundation Establishment. Tian Lin recognized him as the merchant clan leader's brother.

When Tian Lin stepped out, he saw that Granny Mei and Ju Yunhai had already left the house before he did.

All three walked towards the middle-aged man, and Granny Mei asked harshly, "Who has disappeared this time?"

The middle-aged man's face looked terrible. He said, "The entire merchant clan, all of them have vanished without a trace."

This statement left everyone there momentarily stunned. Granny Mei first asked, "Where is your clan leader? Where are your elders? And what about the five idiots from the Shi family?"

The middle-aged man replied, "Only my elder brother and the Great Elder, along with a few fellow cultivators from the Shi family, remain. Everyone below the Foundation Establishment Realm disappeared overnight."

Upon hearing this, Tian Lin exchanged a glance with Ju Yunhai and asked him, "Where is the merchant clan leader now?"

"My brother asked me to invite the three of you to the main hall for a discussion."

Tian Lin and the others, knowing where the merchant clan's main hall was, went there together with the middle-aged man.

The merchant's residence was adorned in white, and the main hall was set up as a mourning hall.

In the mourning hall, a red coffin lay in place, and on either side of it sat the five brothers of the Shi family.

In addition, the Shi family's elder beside them was sitting the merchant clan leader and the merchant elder.

When Tian Lin and the others appeared, only the merchant clan leader and the merchant elder hurriedly stood up.

The merchant elder looked pale and listless as he said, "My entire clan, thousands of people, have fallen victim overnight to an evil spirit's trick."

Meanwhile, the Shi family's elder beside him sat in the chair, arrogantly saying, "This evil spirit doesn't seem to be without intelligence, knowing to pick easy targets."

When the Shi family's eldest finished speaking, the second eldest sneered, "Whether it's an evil spirit or an evil person, that can't be said for certain."

The merchant elder, who had been silent, could finally hold back no more. He looked at the Shi family's second and eldest:

"If you have something to say, say it directly. Why beat around the bush? Aren't you suspecting that the evil spirit is impersonated by my clan's young leader?"

"So you're finally admitting it?"

The Shi family's eldest stood up and said, "Your clan's young leader was severely injured, so he harbored the evil intention of devouring human souls to strengthen himself—it's not that surprising, given that the world is no longer as averse to soul cultivation.

Moreover, your young leader is consuming his own people, which doesn't concern us, so there's no need to be so sneaky about it?"

The merchant elder's face sank as he questioned the Shi family's eldest, "When did I ever admit it was my young leader posing as an evil spirit? You claim it's my young leader's doing, but where's the evidence?"

The Shi family's second brother chuckled, pulling out a sheet of paper from his storage bag: "I, being unworthy, kept the footprint of your young clan leader when your clan's ancestor 'possessed' him.

Last night, we brothers wanted to investigate which evil spirit was causing trouble and scattered bone ash at the entrance. Now, we finally caught the evil spirit's footprints—look, don't these footprints exactly match your young master's footprints?"

One of the two sheets left a pair of bloody footprints, while the other left black footprints.

But although the colors differed, the footprints were indeed identical.

Both the merchant elder and merchant clan leader's expressions changed, and the Shi family's eldest exclaimed, "Now, can you still deny it?"

The merchant clan leader quickly replied, "I know nothing of this, nor has my son ever mentioned it to me."

Instead, Granny Mei looked curiously at the merchant clan leader and asked, "Is your son perhaps a cultivator from the Goddess Sect?"

The merchant clan leader didn't understand Granny Mei's words, but Tian Lin and Ju Yunhai comprehended her meaning.

The Goddess Sect never accepts male disciples, and the female disciples of the Goddess Sect usually go barefoot.

Especially barefootedness, which has almost become a hallmark of the Goddess Sect. Other cultivators, regardless of gender, rarely walk barefoot.

The red footprints left by the Shi family brothers were created after taking off the shoes of the merchant clan's son.

But the black footprints were different, clearly stamped by the merchant clan's son himself.

Besides disciples of the Goddess Sect, there might be cultivators who like going barefoot, but this surely doesn't include the merchant clan's young lord.

Because after the disappearance of the merchant clan's son, Granny Mei and Ju Yunhai inquired a lot about him and never heard of such a habit.

"Are you suggesting, Ms. Mei, that the merchant clan's son is an impostor?"

"A physical body cannot be faked."

When Tian Lin asked, Ju Yunhai immediately spoke up, "Even if it was a disguise, you can't completely disguise footprints. So it can be predicted that the black footprints left last night were indeed from the merchant clan's son."

"Which means the merchant clan's son might have become an evil spirit, or perhaps hasn't become an evil spirit but pretends as one to commit misdeeds."

Granny Mei, reaching this point, looked at the merchant clan leader and said, "Could it be that this precious son of yours lost his mind after being possessed by a ghost? What on earth does he want to do?"

The merchant clan leader was left speechless for a moment.

Amidst the merchant clan leader's silence, Tian Lin suddenly said, "Perhaps the merchant clan's son is already dead, and the evil spirit now troubling the merchant clan is likely the merchant clan's ancestor."

The Shi family's eldest immediately denied: "Impossible, the Shi family's ancestor is still in my jar. How could it break out and cause trouble? Tian, are you saying this intentionally to stir things up?"

Tian Lin shook his head and said, "It should be said that the one in your jar is just a fragment of the merchant clan's ancestor's soul. Most likely, the larger part is still within the merchant clan's son."

As Tian Lin continued, he asked Ju Yunhai and the merchant elder, "The two of you entered the Sea of Consciousness with me. You should remember the state when the merchant clan's ancestor and his son were conjoined."

Ju Yunhai nodded and said, "At that time, half of the conjoined Divine Soul was the merchant clan's ancestor, and the other half was the merchant clan's son."

"Even though we forcibly separated their Divine Souls, they had been fused for too long. Could they really be entirely separated? Furthermore, both of them being partial souls, a portion of them had turned into mist. Could it be that no part of their souls was hidden in the Sea of Consciousness?"

After Tian Lin finished speaking, he said, "I suspect that the merchant clan's son now might have also become an evil spirit, having become a part of the merchant clan's ancestor."

Contrary to habit, the Shi family's eldest agreed with Tian Lin's conclusion, saying,

"That explains it well. The merchant clan's ancestor took over the merchant clan's son's body, hence the footprints belonging to their son. And he has been stealing people's souls daily to repair himself."

"He was already a Late-stage Foundation Establishment, on the verge of Golden Core, as an evil spirit. Given he has absorbed so many people, who knows how terrifying his power might have become?"

Tian Lin asked the merchant clan leader, "Clan leader, are you still going to hold a funeral for your clan's ancestor?"

Held back by the funeral arrangements for his ancestor, for which his family was already lost, the merchant clan leader filled with resentment, replied through gritted teeth:

"What funeral? I just want to spend all my fortune to refine this old scoundrel into a soul lamp. Had I known he'd be a curse to the descendants, I should've just sold him to the Xiangxi Sect for some Spirit Stones."

"What's the use of saying that? What you should consider now is how to deal with your ancestor. I reckon it's already after us. If not dealt with, it will likely haunt us endlessly."

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