"Why did those people turn into headless ghosts?" Liu Xiajun wondered aloud, "Could it be because their heads were all chopped off when they were alive?"

"Yes!" Chen Hao nodded, "That should be the case, but why the perpetrator would want to chop off their heads is unknown, and everything will only become clear tonight."

In the evening, Chen Hao and the others had dinner at Liu Xiajun's house. This was the most sumptuous meal they had enjoyed since the Spring Festival, and each dish was personally cooked by Ye Fei.

Seeing Ye Yuqiao eating with relish and a great appetite, Chen Hao leaned in close and quietly asked, "Yuqiao, who do you think is a better cook, me or Ye Fei?"

Ye Yuqiao looked at Chen Hao, hesitated for a moment, and then said with a smile in her eyes, "Of course it's my Chen Hao."

"Then why did you hesitate for so long?"

"Well, wasn't I carefully considering and seriously comparing?" Ye Yuqiao said, "I've come to this conclusion objectively, without any bias just because you're my boyfriend!"

"There you go with your quick wit again."

Ye Yuqiao widened her eyes and pulled a face at Chen Hao.

Chen Hao smiled knowingly, feeling that since all the misunderstandings between them had been cleared, Ye Yuqiao had completely opened up to him without reservation, fully embracing her role as his girlfriend. She had become increasingly childish, affectionate, and temperamental, revealing her true self, which filled Chen Hao's heart with sweetness and happiness.

"Boyfriend, are you getting lovestruck again?"

"Yeah," Chen Hao said with a smile, "it's all your fault for being so attractive to me!"

After dinner, as night fell, the cold wind also became more brisk.

Leaving Liu Xiajun's home, when the group reached the entrance of the village, a headless ghost in white clothing appeared before them.

Seeing Chen Hao and his companions suddenly stop, Ye Fei asked, "Why did you all suddenly stop moving?"

After chanting a spell, Chen Hao opened the Yin Yang Eyes for Ye Fei and Liu Xiajun.

Startled by the sight of the staggering headless ghost not far ahead, both Liu Xiajun and Ye Fei, the master and disciple, were taken aback!

"Could it be the Yin Soul of Wang Xi?" Liu Xiajun asked with a frown.

"Very likely!" said Chen Hao, "Leaves always return to their roots, and so do Yin Souls. Even without heads to see, hear, or smell, they're driven by a strange feeling to walk on the road back home."

Upon hearing Chen Hao's explanation, Liu Xiajun let out a long, sorrowful sigh, quietly mourning for the plight of Wang Xi's bereaved daughter and widow.

"Can his head grow back?" Ye Fei asked.

"As long as the head can be reattached to the body, his Yin Soul can be made whole again. If it can't be found, he will have no chance of reincarnation in the next life and will be doomed to wander the mortal world as a headless ghost forever," Chen Hao replied.

Liu Xiajun sighed deeply again, his face filled with sadness. "It's not been easy for the kid, Wang Xi. He grew up without parents, raised by his hard-working grandmother alone. Now that he finally managed to marry, have a daughter, and enjoy a good life, he ended up like this!"

"Let's hurry to Wangu Town and see if we can find Wang Xi's body and head?" Chen Hao suggested, "We should leave his headless Yin Soul be for now, it will find its way home on its own."

Once in the car, the group headed towards Wangu Town.

As they drove for a while and the Feiwan Bridge loomed closer, Ye Yuqiao's voice suddenly echoed in Chen Hao's mind: "Boyfriend, after crossing this bridge, we will be on King Xin's territory. We must be cautious then, as the Eight Great Law Kings' men might have set up an ambush there!"

"Hmm," Chen Hao frowned slightly and nodded, "King Xin probably won't show up so soon, and even if there is an ambush, he is likely to have sent only some fierce ghosts that aren't hard to deal with."

Ye Yuqiao remained silent but clutched Chen Hao's hand tightly.

Half a minute later, the van finally crossed the Feiwan Bridge, and both Ye Yuqiao's heart and face tensed up at that moment.

Sensing Ye Yuqiao's anxiety, Chen Hao smiled at her and thought to himself, "Girlfriend, don't worry, your boyfriend is here!"

"King Xin's power is far greater than King Ning's!" Ye Yuqiao responded nervously to Chen Hao, "Boyfriend, to be honest, I'm not too happy that Xie Xiaofeng and Tang Jing are coming with us to face the Seven Great Law Kings. You have the Nether King's Heart protecting you, I have the Nether King's Power to defend myself, but they have nothing. If something happens to them, I won't be able to live with myself."

"Yuqiao, you are mistaken. Their willingness to join us in facing the Seven Great Kings is not just about lending us a hand, but more about the responsibility and mission of being an Onmyoji," Chen Hao said gently in retort, "So, don't always feel like they do it just to help you fight the Ghost King and burden yourself with that. Besides, we are friends, teammates, companions. Trust that we will turn danger into safety and overcome difficulties together."

"Yeah!" Ye Yuqiao looked up at Chen Hao and smiled, "Just like we have in the past! Boyfriend, what should I do? I'm becoming more and more dependent on you, could you ever get tired of me one day?"

"Haha!" Chen Hao laughed heartily and thought proudly, "The more dependent you are on me, the more it shows how essential and reliable I've become to you. And why would I ever find you bothersome? I can't wait for you to stick to me like glue every single day."

Twenty minutes later, the van stopped near the fork in the road where Ye Fei had observed traffic a few days earlier. Dismounting from the vehicle, Ye Fei and Liu Xiajun each led Xie Xiaofeng and Tang Jing, respectively, to the top of a nearby tree to watch the traffic passing by.

Meanwhile, Chen Hao and Ye Yuqiao stayed inside the vehicle, with Chen Hao activating his Nether Vision to search the surrounding area for suspicious ghosts and demons, paying special attention to the crimson eyes mentioned by Ye Fei. Ye Yuqiao then closed her eyes and lay in Chen Hao's arms, feeling the aura around her and sniffing for any suspicious scents.

Through Nether Vision, Chen Hao saw a large number of Yin Souls in the mountains, fields, and villages, but they were all just wandering spirits, hungry corpses, and the like, without any vengeful spirits harboring deep grudges or fierce ghosts with sinister countenances; Ye Yuqiao in his arms also didn't detect anything, her eyes remained closed as if she were asleep.

Until thirty minutes later.

Chen Hao, Ye Yuqiao, and Ye Fei all suddenly showed looks of alarm! Among them, Ye Fei saw a driver who was a man in his thirties through binoculars from afar; Ye Yuqiao smelled a very strong Yin Qi; and Chen Hao, through Nether Vision, saw a ferocious ghost with an evil appearance sitting in the passenger seat of that car.

That ferocious ghost looked at the driver as if eyeing its food, with a twisted face and a sly smile, as if he had already considered the driver as his for the taking.

"Here it comes!" Ye Yuqiao said coldly.

"Xie Xiaofeng," Chen Hao spoke into the walkie-talkie provided by Ye Fei, "that car is now heading toward Feiwan Bridge!"

"Got it!" Xie Xiaofeng responded immediately, "Don't worry; I won't let that car fall into the river."

The reason Chen Hao and his companions had not acted immediately was to confirm whether that ferocious ghost intended to harm the driver by making him drive into the river.

Seconds later, the car carrying the ferocious ghost passed through a junction and headed towards Feiwan Bridge. Just then, Ye Fei, holding onto Xie Xiaofeng's hand, utilized qinggong, swiftly following the car with Xie Xiaofeng in tow.

Three minutes later, the car was approaching Feiwan Bridge.

Chen Hao, with his left eye empowered by Nether Vision, saw through the winding roads and the trunks of withered trees, fixating on the ferocious ghost in the car.

However, a few seconds later, the car didn't veer off its course while moving forward but instead smoothly ascended onto the bridge.

Ye Fei, who had been dashing across the treetops with Xie Xiaofeng, stopped in his tracks.

"This is just a lazy ghost hitching a ride!" Xie Xiaofeng spoke into the walkie-talkie. On Chen Hao's end, aside from Xie Xiaofeng's voice tinged with disappointment, he could hear the whistling and tumultuous sound of the wind.

Just as Ye Fei was about to return with Xie Xiaofeng, suddenly, a sharp, urgent screeching of tires pierced through the sky.

At this moment, the car with the ferocious ghost inside had broken through the bridge's railing and was rushing toward the river.

"Xie Xiaofeng, quick!" Chen Hao's urgent voice came through the walkie-talkie.

"Got it!" Xie Xiaofeng replied shortly, then clasped his hands together, closed his eyes, and shouted, "Wood Magic!"

No sooner had he finished his sentence than countless thick vines sprouted from the bridge's surface, quickly moving toward the base of the bridge, intertwining with the car that was falling into the river.

Ultimately, with only a meter's distance from the river's surface, the car stopped falling.

Seeing this, Ye Fei standing nearby was so astonished that he froze.

"Ye Fei, quickly take me over there!" Xie Xiaofeng urged.

"Oh!" Ye Fei, snapping out of his daze, immediately carried Xie Xiaofeng towards the car that had fallen from the bridge and couldn't help but ask, "Is this magic? It's amazing!"

"This is Yin Yang Five Elements Magic!" Xie Xiaofeng explained.

No sooner had he spoken than Ye Fei had brought Xie Xiaofeng onto the roof of the car.

Feeling the violent shaking of the car, Ye Fei quickly asked, "The car won't fall, will it? Shouldn't you summon a few more vines?"

Xie Xiaofeng ignored Ye Fei and instead used a spell to command a vine to pull out the ferocious ghost that was sitting in the car's passenger seat.

"Who are you two?" The ferocious ghost, wrapped in vines and suspended in mid-air, glared at Ye Fei and Xie Xiaofeng, its gruesome face filled with hatred. "Release me if you want to live!"

"Hmph, still acting tough when you're about to die, I'll see how I deal with you later!" Xie Xiaofeng scoffed.

Then, he used the vines to drag the car back onto the bridge.

"Go check how the driver is doing," Xie Xiaofeng said to Ye Fei, "I'll take care of this ferocious ghost."

"Got it!" Ye Fei nodded.

However, the driver had already gotten out of the vehicle on his own, his face full of terror, looking at Ye Fei and Xie Xiaofeng he asked, "What just happened? Was it you who saved me?"

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