The cries of the baby echoed through the skies!
The nine heads of Jiu Ying simultaneously turned towards Daoist Wang Liang.
The shadow of the Hell Three-headed Dog vanished into nothingness.
"Ahhh!"
Daoist Wang Liang let out a horrifying scream, his evil soul extracted from his body, frantically claimed and devoured by the nine heads!
Only a lifeless shell remained, lying on the ground, eyes filled with endless terror and regret.
Woo woo woo...
The evil spirits once tortured by Daoist Wang Liang, transformed into malevolence, crawled on the ground, wailing in satisfaction for their avenged grievances, and respectfully kowtowed to Yu Nianzhao.
"The Ghost Gate is open, the path to the underworld lies ahead. This is not a place for you to linger; go and reincarnate anew."
Yu Nianzhao raised a finger, pointing southeastward, where, amid the dense fog, a road glowing with eerie green light appeared.
"Thank you, my lord, thank you!"
The evil spirits, overwhelmed with gratitude, vanished swiftly into the white mist following the path.
[Master, Jiu has missed you so much, you've finally awakened from your slumber!]
[Master, that damned Daoist was so arrogant, daring to bring forth the Hell Three-headed Dog to confront you.]
[Phooey! Does that man's evil soul taste like fox? Why does it reek so badly?]
Jiu Ying, with nine heads, possessed nine different personalities, akin to split personalities, always competing among themselves.
Back then, when Jiu Ying was vanquished, it caused a tumult down in the netherworld underworld even in the Yellow Springs.
Even old King Yan couldn't handle him.
Yet, he was tamed by Yu Nianzhao, devotedly becoming her soul beast.
She was punished to descend to the mortal world, the soul of King Yan never awakening, thus Jiu Ying slumbered alongside her.
Now nourished by the evil Qi from Xie Jiuxiao, his body slowly began to awaken.
"The taste of evil souls, when was it ever delicious? This is just the first one, Jiu; we have eighty more evil souls and a ghost king to capture before we can return to the netherworld."
[Hehe, with Jiu here, the master will surely complete the mission.]
[Who knows which idiot couldn't guard the gates of the netherworld properly, letting out all these ghostly things!]
"Ghost King Xin Kui, always loyal to old King Yan, what went wrong for him to commit such a distressing act!"
Yu Nianzhao laughed angrily, "I suspect old King Yan knew about this long ago; otherwise, how could he pass the mantle to me so quickly, foisting this burden on me while he retired in leisure, truly outrageous."
[Old King Yan and Xin Kui are old acquaintances; he's not descending to capture him likely out of sentiment, unwilling to tear apart old bonds, hence dumping the responsibility on you, Master.]
[Descending with Jiu by your side, the mortal world is filled with fun and delicious things, Master should treat this as a journey to explore the world and relieve stress.]
[I'm the one accompanying Master, not you, so step aside!]
[I, I, I, I'm Master's favorite!]
[It's me...]
[It's me...]
[I, I, I...]
Hearing the noisy squabble in her mind, Yu Nianzhao frowned, silently raised her hand, and the soul shadow of Jiu Ying, as tall as a mountain, quickly shrank back and merged into her forehead.
Yu Nianzhao's forehead blossomed with a gold ornament shaped like a plum blossom, enhancing her bewitching charm.
"Wow!" A voice exclaimed in awe.
Yu Nianzhao turned her head to see a handsome man, identical to Pei Yunqi, standing in shock with his mouth agape.
"Pei Yunqi? No, you are Pei Yunlin!"
Their gazes were entirely different, one filled with malice, the other clear and innocent.
"Sister is amazing, the big snake 'shoo shoo shoo' and swallowed the man, the performance was so thrilling!"
Pei Yunlin laughed gleefully, bouncing and clapping, thinking he was watching a play.
"Naive child, still as foolish and simple as before."
Yu Nianzhao showed some regret in her expression; Pei Yunlin was born missing parts of his soul, always foolish since childhood, which is why he could see what others couldn't.
Because of this, he and Pei Yunqi were worlds apart.
Pei Yunqi was the cherished pride of everyone, while Pei Yunlin was mere dust underfoot.
"Ahhh! Someone died!"
With the fog dispersed, the Pei family thought everything was fine and returned to find Daoist Wang Liang's corpse on the ground.
Pei Yunzhi turned pale, pointing at Yu Nianzhao, "Zhaozhao, you killed someone? How could you do such a thing? Were you truly possessed by an evil spirit? This is a human life, you went to Tomb Guard City and now disregard human lives like grass?"
"You wicked girl, wicked girl!"
Pei Yuanzheng's face was full of anger, "How could you do such a thing? Daoist Wang Liang was invited from Qingyun Taoist Temple, you killed him, you'll surely bring disaster upon the Pei Family!"
Pei Yuncheng was furious, "Father, I've said it before, we shouldn't have brought her back; she's really brought bad luck to the Pei Family!"
Yu Nianzhao coldly looked at them, "What? Haven't you seen enough ghosts? Want to see more?"
As soon as she said this, the Pei family members shuddered.
Yu Nianzhao shrugged, "How many evil spirits plagued that ill-intentioned Daoist? Are you blind or heartless? Evildoers must meet their end, he died by self-destruction, what's it got to do with me?"
Pei Yunqing stepped forward and inspected Daoist Wang Liang's corpse.
"No external injuries, he died by self-destruction."
"How could it be? This must be Yu Nianzhao's sorcery, look, Yunqi is still hitting himself, isn't this witchcraft?"
Pei Yunqi continued to slap himself, his face swollen like a pig's head.
"I'm a pig, I threw the clothes and jewelry meant for Yu Nianzhao into the pond, causing her to be misunderstood..."
The faces of Pei Yunqing and Pei Yuanzheng changed, Pei Yunqi's words made them recall events from five years ago.
When Yu Nianzhao first returned home, everyone was eager to compensate her, sending a lot of things her way.
Especially Pei Yunzhi, who felt unease and guilt, and gave her all her new clothes and jewelry.
Yet Yu Nianzhao continued wearing her old clothes with restraint.
Later, when the maids retrieved the clothes and jewelry from the pond, Pei Yunzhi cried bitterly, how did Pei Yuncheng reprimand her?
"Yu Nianzhao, I knew you couldn't tolerate Yunzhi, how could you be so petty? Yunzhi offered her kindness with clean, unworn gifts, have you seen such fine things while orphaned in the countryside? Throwing Yunzhi's goodwill into a pond to disgust us? How can I, Pei Yuncheng, have such a vile younger sister?"
The disgust in Pei Yuncheng's eyes turned to shock, he couldn't believe the true course of events was unfolding this way.
Pain flashed in Pei Yunqing's eyes, remembering how he too suspected Zhaozhao wanted to drive away Pei Yunzhi intentionally, treating her coldly for several days.
Bringing joy and smiles when seeing him, turning later to timid anxiety, aimlessly wandering!
Unbeknownst to them, from the very start, it was they who pushed Zhaozhao far away...