9 a.m.

Having returned from the maple woods and not even four hours into his sleep, Chen Hao was woken up by the insistent ringing of his phone.

After struggling for a good while, Chen Hao finally opened his eyes, feeling an intense headache and extreme discomfort. He rolled over to look at the nightstand, and upon seeing the flute lying beside him, he couldn't help but think of Ye Yuqiao, which only intensified his anguish. His head felt like it was about to explode and his chest was seized by waves of tearing pain.

"Yuqiao," Chen Hao, caught in his agony, could no longer hear the phone still urging him on, "where have you gone? Do you really not want to see me again?"

After ruminating for a long time, Chen Hao finally came to his senses and reached for his phone.

Seeing that it was a call from Ren Deshan, Chen Hao immediately thought it must be some bad news. Just as he was preparing to call back Ren Deshan, he hesitated. He suddenly found he had no motivation to do anything.

This was the descent into despair.

"If I keep being disheartened, will Yuqiao come back to me out of sympathy?" Chen Hao wondered.

However, at that moment, the phone rang again, still Ren Deshan calling. He didn't give Chen Hao any chance to make a decision for himself.

After answering the phone, all he heard was Ren Deshan urgently saying on the other end, "President Chen, bad news, that fog has appeared again."

"That fog?" Chen Hao was stunned for a long time before he remembered Zi Que, who possesses the Hand of Death.

"Yes! That fog suddenly appeared outside our Association just now, luckily our Onmyoji had followed your instructions to gather the Yin Souls into the Soul-collecting Bottle beforehand, or else the consequences would be unimaginable!" Ren Deshan said, "Even though it didn't harm anyone in our Association, before it left, it threatened that unless we hand over the master of the Evil-Banishing Moon Sword, it would make us pay. President Chen, what should we do next?"

"Don't panic!" Chen Hao said in a low voice, "I'll head to the Association right away, and then we'll discuss further!"

After hanging up the phone and feeling a bit dizzy, Chen Hao lay back down on the bed, intending only to close his eyes and rest for a few minutes. Accidentally, he fell asleep again, and by the time he woke up, it was already past 6 p.m. Moreover, it was Tang Chao who had entered his home via the balcony and woke him up.

"Brother Chao, why are you here?" Chen Hao opened his eyes slightly and asked while looking at Tang Chao.

"Chen Hao, there's been an accident!" Tang Chao said with urgency and anger, "Didn't you say you were heading to the Association this morning? Why are you still in bed? And you didn't answer the dozens of calls I made to you?"

Chen Hao rubbed his bleary eyes and said nonchalantly, "Brother Chao, I accidentally overslept. What's wrong? Is it something serious?"

"People are dead, many people dead!" Tang Chao's voice suddenly filled with dejection, "Just now, a fog emerged on Coffin Street outside the Association, and then, suddenly, many drivers passing through suddenly died of heart attacks, causing their cars to crash into many people."

"Ah!" A flash of sharp light shot through Chen Hao's eyes, and he immediately became serious. "That was the Hand of Death! Is that fog still there now?"

"It's drifted away!" Tang Chao shook his head, "However."

"However what?"

"However, before the fog drifted away, it said we must hand you over, or else more innocent people will die later," Tang Chao said with a bitter expression. Before coming to find Chen Hao, Tang Jing had tried to stop him in every possible way, because both he and Tang Jing knew very well that if Chen Hao found out about this, he would definitely confront the Hand of Death.

And for Chen Hao, who only has a Yin Soul, to meet Zi Que, who possesses the Hand of Death, was tantamount to seeking death.

"Chen Hao, I'm sorry!" Tang Chao suddenly opened his arms and hugged Chen Hao, "I really didn't want to tell you this. I was afraid you would go after it."

"Brother Chao, you don't have to explain. I understand! If it were me, I'd do the same!" Chen Hao gave Tang Chao a faint smile. For him at that moment, life and death made no difference.

Just then, Chen Hao's phone rang again. It was a call from Tang Jing.

After some thought, Chen Hao hung up on Tang Jing's call, knowing well that she must have been urging him not to go to his death.

Then, his phone rang again; it was Lin Xiaofan calling. Likewise, Chen Hao also rejected Lin Xiaofan's call.

Afterward, Chen Hao called Ren Deshan, who told him that the fog had now reached the skies above Xinguang Street, one of the busiest commercial streets in Y City.

Once he hung up, Chen Hao patted Tang Chao on the shoulder and said solemnly, "Chao, I'm off!"

Tang Chao's face darkened, but he said nothing.

A dozen minutes later, using qinggong, Chen Hao arrived at the rooftop of Xinguang Building on Xingguang Street.

"Evil-Banishing Moon Sword, unsheathe!" Chen Hao summoned the Evil-Banishing Moon Sword. "Go and lure that fog down there over to us!"

"Mew mew mew!" The Evil-Banishing Moon Sword emitted a mournful sword cry.

"Go!" Chen Hao stroked the blade of the Evil-Banishing Moon Sword. "Don't worry, my qinggong is faster than it!"

"Mew mew mew!"

After flipping in the air several times, the Evil-Banishing Moon Sword shot towards the fog below, radiating a yellow glow.

In no time at all, the Evil-Banishing Moon Sword was speeding back, with a mass of fog trailing behind it.

"Mew mew mew!" The Evil-Banishing Moon Sword emitted an urgent cry to Chen Hao, signaling him to flee quickly.

However, even as the fog surrounded him, Chen Hao remained still.

"Is this sword yours?" Zi Que's voice sounded from within the fog.

"Yes!" Chen Hao nodded. "It's an heirloom sword of my family!"

"More than two thousand years ago, it was your ancestor who trapped me and Xinyu within a seal; two thousand years later, it was his sword that killed my princess Xinyu!"

Zi Que's voice from within the fog grew increasingly angry.

After speaking, Zi Que slammed the Hand of Death onto Chen Hao's shoulder.

"Our grudge is settled now. Just don't harm the innocent!" Chen Hao said. As soon as the words left his lips, he felt a powerful force tugging at his soul, his mind going blank, as if a waterfall plunging from the high heavens was inundating him.

At that moment, a black and purple light flickered above Chen Hao's left eye, and then a column of black and purple light shot from it, aiming straight for the sky.

As Chen Hao's Yin Soul was rapidly falling toward Hell, having left his physical body, a stream of black and purple Nether King's Power flowed from within him like a black dragon soaring towards his Yin Soul and finally coiling tightly around it.

Subsequently, Chen Hao's Yin Soul was being pulled by the Nether King's Power from the Hand of Death and the Nether King's Power flowing from his physical body. One was trying to drag his Yin Soul into the Eighteen Levels of Hell, and the other was trying to pull it back into his body.

After a fierce struggle, the Nether King's Power on the Hand of Death gradually gained the upper hand.

Just then, a black shadow appeared behind Chen Hao's slumbering Yin Soul, and then...

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