My Senior Brother's Ghost Won't Leave Me Alone

As one of the two pillars holding up Tianzhao Sect, Xie Lingfei lived in comfort and style, surrounded by admirers. He believed that nearly all the unhappiness in his life could be traced to one person.

Xu Ming Tai, Tianzhao Sect's bright and upright first disciple, his fellow disciple and senior brother, whose only real virtue was his face.

With a face of rare beauty, he was sharp-tongued and cold toward others, carrying himself with an unbearably self-righteous air. The things he did were infuriating to a degree rarely seen in this world.

Xie Lingfei had always disliked him. As children, they had fought over a few volumes of secret cultivation techniques. On their first expedition beyond the mountain, they had stabbed each other in the back over a demon beast. And even when their sect fell into turmoil and they took on the burden of leading it together, neither had ever shown the other the slightest kindness.

Xie Lingfei had a strong feeling that they would go on facing each other with cold expressions in this life, the next, and the one after that.

*

As one of the two pillars holding up Tianzhao Sect, Xu Ming Tai bore the hopes of his sect. He was exceptionally gifted and had made a name for himself at a young age. He believed that nearly all the unhappiness in his life could be traced to one person.

His junior brother Xie Lingfei, who never gave a thought to the righteous path, lived without restraint, and was bound to become a demonic menace and bring shame upon their sect.

He had talent to spare, but a poor disposition. He was popular within the sect, indulged by their master and respected by his fellow disciples, yet at such a young age he had already strayed down an evil path, behaving recklessly and showing no remorse.

Xu Ming Tai had always disliked him. From childhood on, whenever they met, there was always some kind of friction. Xu Ming Tai was invariably cold and cutting toward him, and Xie Lingfei returned every insult without mercy.

When they were young and first became disciples, it was the same.

When they went out together as youths to rid the world of evil spirits, it was the same.

Even on the night Xie Lingfei left the sect, covered in blood, it was still the same.

Xu Ming Tai had a strong feeling that they would go on facing each other with cold expressions in this life, the next, and the one after that.

...That is, if they could meet again, even after death, even after being reincarnated once, twice, or three times.

If Xie Lingfei had known Xu Ming Tai was cursing him like this in his heart, he would have done everything in his power to make sure he never died!!

Absolutely never!!

But the fact was, he died, killed by the backlash of the demonic arts he had painstakingly cultivated for years.

The notorious Tianzhao Sect renegade, who had slaughtered countless people in life, died in such a farcical manner that his only contribution was to give the cultivators of the orthodox sects more than half a month of dinner-table gossip.

When Xie Lingfei opened his eyes again, everything he had once known had been turned upside down.

The timid, tearful junior disciple who used to follow him everywhere had become the head of a reclusive great sect. In trying to find him, he had nearly had his men dig up an entire mountain.

The little junior sister who had once been a wild troublemaker, always eager to climb on top of her senior brother, had become a fearsome demoness ruling over her own territory. They said the people she had killed could fill another Tianzhao Mountain.

The junior disciples he had grown up with had all made something of themselves. The sect that he and Xu Ming Tai had once barely managed to hold together had scattered like stars across the sky. One had become so wealthy that his favorite pastime was throwing money from the city walls. Another had mastered extraordinary skills and traveled the world alone, vanquishing evil and defending the righteous.

Only Xie Lingfei had died a miserable death. His soul had even been sealed inside a divine tree by someone unknown, and his greatest daily amusement was listening to the children who came up from the foot of the mountain tell him stories.