An iron arrowhead glinting with cold light emerged from the night behind those scarlet eyes and, in the blink of an eye, transformed into Xie Xiaofeng.

"Hmph!" Xie Xiaofeng sneered, then walked toward Ye Fei.

Ye Fei saw those scarlet eyes and the twisted darkness around them fall to the bridge's surface.

"Is it dead?" Ye Fei asked.

"Mhm!" Xie Xiaofeng nodded.

Subsequently, the scarlet in the eyes slowly faded away, and countless particles emitting a faint glow rose into the air.

"Are these stars?" Ye Fei asked, his eyes slowly following the particles as they ascended into the sky.

After a smile, Xie Xiaofeng explained, "These are the Primordial Spirit and Primordial Soul particles that comprise a soul!"

"Is this what they call the soul scattering?" Ye Fei looked up and murmured, "Actually, it's quite beautiful!"

"Yes! If there truly is a Creator in this world, then it shows that the Creator is still quite merciful, allowing every life and soul to release one last burst of beauty before fading away."

"Hey, you two, that's enough," Chen Hao's voice suddenly came through the walkie-talkie in Ye Fei's hand, "Two grown men not doing their job, but admiring the scenery instead? And speaking so poetically, Xie Xiaofeng, don't tell me you're into guys. Don't scare me! How am I supposed to explain this to your grandfather!"

"Asshole!" Xie Xiaofeng cursed disdainfully.

"Haha, Xie Xiaofeng, are you being shy?" Chen Hao's mocking laughter resounded through the walkie-talkie.

Xie Xiaofeng, grinding his teeth in anger, walked over to Ye Fei, turned off the walkie-talkie in his hand, then approached the fierce ghost and threatened, "Did you see that Night Ghost's fate? If you keep being stubborn or play dumb, I'll cut every part of your body into pieces and burn them with fire, tormenting you slowly! I am, after all, a renowned Five Elements Onmyoji, and I have three kinds of Five Element spells left to torture you with!"

After a shiver, the fierce ghost made a mournful face and said, "I'll talk, I'll tell you everything, just don't destroy my soul!"

"First, I'll ask you, who is Miss Tao Hua?"

"This..." The fierce ghost hesitated, looking utterly dejected and without any of its previous fierce and evil aura, which couldn't help but amuse Ye Fei who was standing to the side.

Xie Xiaofeng's face turned to anger, and in an unperceivable moment, his hand was already holding a piece of ice.

"I'll talk, I'll talk!" the fierce ghost hurriedly stammered.

With a sigh, the fierce ghost then told Xie Xiaofeng and Ye Fei that Miss Tao Hua was a personal maid to King Xin. Half a month ago, under King Xin's orders, Miss Tao Hua came to Wangu Town and commanded it and the Night Ghost to capture as many men over thirty as possible—the more, the better.

Thus, it and the Night Demon took turns appearing near this place every night, waiting for men over thirty to appear. To keep things secret and avoid unnecessary trouble, they created one bizarre disappearance case after another.

"King Xin!"

Hearing these two words, Chen Hao, Ye Yuqiao, and Xie Xiaofeng all trembled slightly inside, not expecting to be connected to King Xin so quickly.

After a pause, Xie Xiaofeng asked the fierce ghost, "Where did you take all these men?"

"This..." The fierce ghost's face filled with hesitation again.

This time, Xie Xiaofeng directly plunged the tip of the ice in his hand into the fierce ghost's body.

After a shrieking and chilling spell, the fierce ghost cried out, "Stop torturing me, I'll say anything, I'll tell you everything!"

After sniffling for a while, the ghost continued in a hoarse voice, "Every five days, Miss Tao Hua would come to pick up the 'goods,' and she would also bring along several flesh-eating ghosts raised by King Xin. When she collects the 'goods,' she would sever the heads of each man and place them in a bag while their bodies below the neck were used to feed those flesh-eating ghosts."

After the fierce ghost finished speaking, both Ye Fei and Xie Xiaofeng were taken aback in shock. A nauseating discomfort surged up to Ye Fei's throat, giving him an urge to vomit.

"So those headless specters that appeared around here are the Yin Souls of those missing men!" said Xie Xiaofeng, squinting his eyes and looking rather bitter.

"Exactly!" the fierce ghost nodded, "It's them!"

Just then, the sound of the wind above Xie Xiaofeng and Ye Fei's heads suddenly became urgent. The two looked up to see Chen Hao embracing Ye Yuqiao's waist, approaching them both.

After landing, Chen Hao, with a furrowed brow, asked the fierce ghost, "What does that girl named Tao Hua need so many heads for?"

The fierce ghost made a mournful face again and said with a bit of fear, "Sirs, I really don't know about that. We only do as we're told—how dare we ask questions!"

"When is the next time you deliver to Miss Tao Hua?"

"The day after tomorrow, after midnight, Miss Tao Hua will come to Wangu Mountain to find us!"

After pondering for a while, Chen Hao asked again, "Is this Tao Hua lady merely a Yin Soul or a demon?"

"She is neither a Yin Soul nor a demon; she has cultivated into a devil!" the fierce ghost said, its tone rising and falling as if to frighten someone. "A few years ago, she was just a little peach blossom demon. It's said that later King Xin killed hundreds of people to cultivate her Primordial Soul."

"Oh?" Chen Hao laughed dismissively. "It looks like we won't be able to avoid a fierce battle tomorrow!"

"I've told you everything you wanted to know, isn't it time you kept your promise and let me go?"

"Who promised to let you go?" Xie Xiaofeng said angrily. "You've killed so many people, even killing you a hundred or a thousand times wouldn't be enough!"

"You're going back on your word, you clearly promised you wouldn't kill me!"

"I won't kill you!" Chen Hao said, his left hand already activating the Hand of Death. He lifted his left hand, placed it on the shoulder of the fierce ghost, and sent it directly to the Eighteen Levels of Hell.

"Just sending him to the Eighteen Levels of Hell is letting him off too easily! He killed so many people; he should be scattered to the winds!" Xie Xiaofeng said through clenched teeth and furious eyes.

"The Eighteen Levels of Hell?" Ye Fei looked at Chen Hao in disbelief and sighed! The onmyoji before him had opened his eyes to a new world, as if he was reacquainting himself with the world.

"Ye Fei?" Chen Hao raised an eyebrow and smirked at Ye Fei, "Would you like a tour of the Eighteen Levels of Hell?"

"Hehe!" Ye Fei gave a bitter smile, then shrugged dejectedly, "Better not. I'm afraid if I went, I wouldn't be able to come back. Is everything you're saying really true? It feels like something out of a movie."

"Whether it's true or not, you'll know if you try!" Xie Xiaofeng said, patting Ye Fei's shoulder and then nudging him closer to Chen Hao's left hand.

"Alright, stop messing around!" Ye Yuqiao suddenly said coldly from the side, "Let's head back to Feishi Town first! Don't you find something odd? The day King Xin sent people to Wangu Town to collect heads is very close to the day we left Y City."

"Could it be that King Xin intentionally lured us here?" Chen Hao said with a puzzled face. "If that's the case, why hasn't she shown up, or sent powerful subordinates to deal with us?"

"Who is this King Xin you're talking about?" Ye Fei asked.

"We'll talk about it when we get back to Feishi Town!"

.

After learning the truth about the disappearances from the fierce ghost, Chen Hao and several others took a car back to Feishi Town, which is under the jurisdiction of King Ning's Manor.

Back at Liu Xiajun's house, they began to discuss the matter of dealing with the so-called Tao Hua lady in Wangu Mountain the day after tomorrow, and they didn't disperse until late at night, each going to the room arranged by Liu Xiajun.

Ye Yuqiao was taken away by Tang Jing again, leaving Chen Hao no choice but to sleep alone. A night without the unique fragrance of Ye Yuqiao was sleepless for Chen Hao.

"Goodnight, boyfriend!" Ye Yuqiao left just one sentence in Chen Hao's mind before she stopped responding, no matter how much Chen Hao missed her in his heart.

The night grew deep, and Chen Hao tossed and turned. Eventually, he left his room, stepped out of the house, and went alone to the quiet village entrance to enjoy the night scenery.

Soon after, upon hearing faint footsteps, Chen Hao turned his head only to see Liu Xiajun approaching him.

"Master Liu," Chen Hao said with surprise in his voice, "you're still not asleep?"

"Mm!" Liu Xiajun squeezed out an awkward smile, as smiling at others didn't come easily to someone accustomed to solitude. "I felt a profound Internal Strength passing by my window, so I came out to check."

"Profound Internal Strength?" Chen Hao gave a wry smile. "Master Liu, are you talking about me?"

Liu Xiajun gave an affirmative "Mm," and said, "Haozi, would you be willing to spar with me now?"

"Ah!" Chen Hao was startled and hurriedly waved his hands with a rueful smile, "Master Liu, I'd be willing, but the gap in our Internal Strength is huge. There's really no need to spar; I'm definitely no match for you."

"I beg to differ!" Liu Xiajun shook his head. "Although you're nearly thirty years younger than me, I can feel that your Internal Strength is immeasurable, far exceeding that of your peers Ye Fei and Tang Chao, maybe even surpassing mine!"

"Ye Fei!" A spark flashed in Chen Hao's eyes; he thought of the power of the merman within Ye Fei and then asked Liu Xiajun, "Master, may I ask you something about Ye Fei?"

"Mm!"

"Do you know about a mysterious power inside Ye Fei?"

Hearing Chen Hao say this, a sharp light shot from Liu Xiajun's eyes. Clearly, he was unaware of the merman power within Ye Fei. He shook his head and asked, "Haozi, I don't know about this!"

"Mm!" Chen Hao nodded thoughtfully, "Ye Fei probably doesn't know this either, it seems there must be some secret behind this!"

"Could this power harm his body?" Liu Xiajun asked, his face filled with concern.

"There's no need to worry about that for now!" Chen Hao chuckled lightly, "This power will not only not harm him, but it will also bring him back from the brink of death. If it weren't for this power, he would have died at the hands of that Night Ghost the night before last!"

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