Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 298: Ex-Dad

Ex-dad—referring to a dad from an ex-lifetime—was a novel and unique form of address for Li Haoran.[1]

Qin Yanyan had set out to travel the world, seeking fortuitous opportunities to form her golden core and comprehend the mortal world, striving for a breakthrough in her mental state.

She had only passed through a few commanderies and counties and decided to stay overnight in this dilapidated temple, yet she had already stumbled upon such an exhilarating situation.

After her mother persuaded her for a month, Qin Yanyan was just beginning to accept Li Haoran as her father despite sharing no blood relations with him.

I don’t think this is exactly how one is supposed to comprehend the mortal world.

“Wait, Yanyan, let me explain!” Li Haoran panicked. Heaven and earth, I swear on my conscience that I’m truly here to catch ghosts. Before I could extract any useful information, Qin Yanyan caught me red-handed.

The Central Continent is so vast. How did Qin Yanyan still run into me?

Is this the karmic entanglement between father and daughter?

The white-robed female ghost sensed something was amiss and tried to escape.

Li Haoran used Grappling Hand, transitioning between the tangible and intangible states as he pinned the ghost to the ground. This was a skill he had just learned while refining artifacts. With a slight alteration, he had adapted it to catching ghosts.

Despite also being at the Advanced Foundation Establishment Stage, the female ghost was no match for Li Haoran.

Li Haoran quickly explained, “I received a mission from the sect to catch ghosts with Senior Brother Lu and Senior Brother Meng!” If I let Qin Yanyan walk away with this misunderstanding and pass it to Su Yiren, I won’t have to inherit Qin Haoran’s memories anymore—I can just start my tenth life right away.

“Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou?” Qin Yanyan recalled the two prodigies from the Dao-Seeking Sect.

One is the disciple of the Dao-Seeking Sect Leader, and the other is the eldest young master of the Meng Family. They’re naturally much more credible than Li Haoran.

“That’s right! They’re sleeping in the rooms next door. They can definitely prove my innocence!” As Li Haoran defended himself, he used a refined Soul-Locking Chain to bind the white-robed ghost to a wooden pillar before going to find Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou.

Qin Yanyan was skeptical as she followed Li Haoran to look for the other two.

Li Haoran pushed the door open, speaking at a frightening speed. “Brother Lu, you must prove my innocence. We’re here to catch ghosts, right? You haven’t given the signal to act because the female ghost didn’t come to you...”

Before he could finish, he saw the corners of Lu Yang’s mouth carry an odd smile as he tugged at the cyan-robed female ghost. The latter struggled desperately but to no avail, her face filled with despair; she could only let Lu Yang do as he wished with her.

This scene looks nothing like what a righteous gentleman would do.

“Senior Brother Lu, you...” Li Haoran stuttered. I never expected Lu Yang to be someone like this.

Upon witnessing this scene, Qin Yanyan felt that Li Haoran was making excuses and flew into a rage. “And you still dared to say you’re here to catch ghosts?!”

“Let’s go check on Senior Brother Meng. He must be working hard to catch ghosts!” Li Haoran was certain there would be no surprises with Meng Jingzhou. With his Single’s Spirit Root, even if his brain can think of ideas, his body can’t act on them.

Then, Qin Yanyan saw the unconscious red-robed female ghost with Meng Jingzhou squatting beside her and observing her intently.

“Date rape?!”

Color drained from Qin Yanyan’s face. Why is it getting more and more outrageous?

Comparing the three, Li Haoran seems to be the most conservative.

Li Haoran, “...”

Why does nothing good ever happen when I go out with Senior Brother Lu and Senior Brother Meng? Last time, I ended up with a fiancée three thousand years older than me and a daughter with no blood relation, while I became the former leader of one of the Four Great Diabolic Creeds.

This time, when I need you to prove my innocence, the two of you just have to pull this kind of stunt on me.

“Rubbish! Date rape? Don’t you know I have a Single’s Spirit Root?!” Meng Jingzhou snapped in anger and turned around. Let me see who has such poor judgment.

“Eh, elder niece, you’re here to look for your dad?”

Qin Yanyan sensed the aura of a Golden Core cultivator emanating from Meng Jingzhou and repeatedly warned herself that she couldn’t defeat him.

Meanwhile, Lu Yang finally subdued the Everlasting Immortal Fairy and regained control of his body, dragging the cyan-robed female ghost over to find Li Haoran and Meng Jingzhou.

After the three presented the mission issued by the sect and Meng Jingzhou revealed his Single’s Spirit Root, Qin Yanyan finally believed the trio were here to catch ghosts instead of visiting prostitutes.

The cyan-robed ghost trembled like a leaf. These three are from the Dao-Seeking Sect, one of the Five Great Immortal Sects?!

Everyone headed back to the main hall. Li Haoran tied the still-trembling cyan-robed ghost and the unconscious red-robed ghost next to the white-robed ghost.

With that, all three female ghosts were captured.

“So, you’re saying that the Dao-Seeking Sect posted a ghost-catching mission, and you came to Guhuai Town to catch ghosts to complete the mission?” By now, Qin Yanyan had largely accepted their account of the story.

She still didn’t know that her former father was the reincarnation of the Nine-Netherworlds Creed’s leader. Li Haoran had only gained fragments of Qin Haoran’s memories after Su Yiren and Qin Yanyan had left.

This is not something I can explain to Qin Yanyan easily.

I mean, I can’t possibly just say, “Your father in his past life was the leader of a diabolic creed and was a bad egg.” That would really cause our father-daughter relationship to collapse.

“What about you? Why did you come to Guhuai Town?”

“Mother said that the last time I went to your house, I immediately started arguing and was too impatient, so I need to improve my mental state. As it happened, it was also time for me to form my golden core, so she suggested that I go out for a walk to train my mental state.

“Earlier today, I was in Shoutian Commandery. I wandered around the merchant guild and spent all my travel funds. Since there were no free inns in Shoutian Commandery, I could only keep heading north. When I saw this ancient temple here, I thought I’d stay here for the night. And here I am now.”

Li Haoran was deeply concerned about Qin Yanyan’s travel journey and experience.

In a few days, I’m afraid Qin Yanyan might find herself performing on the streets for a living.

“F-four great heroes, although we are ghosts, we have never harmed anyone!” the green-robed ghost cried out in grievance.

They had conscientiously absorbed yang energy without stirring up trouble, fearing it would attract righteous cultivators. Unfortunately, what you fear always comes true. And this time, it’s the Dao-Seeking Sect, the strongest of the righteous sects. I heard that righteous cultivators loathe demons and ghosts, killing every single one on sight.

Now that we have fallen into their hands, can we even survive?

“You have never harmed anyone?” Meng Jingzhou sneered. “The mission clearly stated that you absorbed people’s yang energy until they became listless and dazed all day. Don’t tell me all of that is false?”

The white-robed female ghost was on the verge of tears. “It’s really not true. We absorb the yang energy very carefully, only taking a small amount that doesn’t affect people. Moreover, the matter of our yang energy absorption has been registered with the town mayor.

“We also know that absorbing too much would have adverse effects on people. If we did that, who could come back? It’s better to absorb a little over multiple times than to suck someone dry all at once. We understand the principle of not draining the pond to get at the fish and killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.”

“Hold on, the town mayor knows about this?”

“Not just the town mayor; even the travelers in town can testify!” the white-robed ghost declared with conviction.

Lu Yang and the others were completely flummoxed.

“It’s true, we’re not lying to you. Earlier, the three of us sisters went around knocking on the doors of various inns and asking if anyone needed our services. After finishing one round of service, we returned and saw you three heroes lying in the temple. Seeing that your yang energy was quite strong, we thought we’d absorb a bit as the finale for tonight.”

Question marks were popping out of Lu Yang’s head.

You even offer door-to-door service?!

The white-robed ghost said sheepishly, “Good service brings repeat customers.”

Qin Yanyan was even more flabbergasted than Lu Yang. Is this what the mundane world is like?

1. “Former dad” may be more correct, referring to one’s father from their past life. However, due to how it sounds like ex-girlfriend and ex-boyfriend and the like in Chinese, I decided to opt for “ex-dad.” ☜