Eighteen years ago, the mysterious ghost infant opened the Gate of the Nether King at the end of the Eighteen Levels of Hell, and the Ghost King, along with his Eight Great Law Kings, seized the opportunity to escape through the gate of the Netherworld. In order not to let the three Primordial Demons of the Underworld, locked inside the gate, awaken and escape, the Fourth Generation Underworld King, Yuqiao, sacrificed his own soul to reseal the great gates of the Netherworld.

Afterward, the Ghost King led the malevolent spirits imprisoned in Hell out of the underground palace and returned to the Netherworld continent, attempting to dominate the Netherworld.

Within the Netherworld, the Clan Leaders of the Eight Great Clans, second only to the Nether King in status and power, held an urgent meeting. After deliberations, the eight families declared their allegiance to the Ghost King, averting a war in the Netherworld.

After the Ghost King became the leader of the Netherworld, he dispatched his Eight Great Law Kings to oversee the Yin Soul realms of the eight major surfaces in the mortal world. However, according to the terms of allegiance reached previously between the Ghost King and the heads of the Eight Great Clans, the Eight Great Law Kings had to hand over half of the tribute offerings and wealth collected on their surfaces to the Eight Great Clans.

Had it not been for this condition, the Eight Great Clans would not have so readily agreed to submit to the Ghost King. Therefore, nominally, the eight major surfaces in the mortal world were co-managed by one of the Ghost King's Eight Great Law Kings and one of the Eight Great Clans.

Although in terms of status, the Eight Great Law Kings were on par with the Clan Leaders of the Eight Great Clans, in the eyes of most souls in the Netherworld and the Eight Great Clans, the identities and statuses of the Clan Leaders were higher than those of the Eight Great Law Kings and could even be considered equal to the Ghost King.

The leaders of the Eight Great Clans never regarded the Eight Great Law Kings highly, treating them merely as their underlings responsible for collecting money for them in the mortal world.

Dissatisfied with this, the Eight Great Law Kings had once secretly conspired to propose to the Ghost King the abolition of the titles and positions of the Clan Leaders of the Eight Great Clans, but the Ghost King dismissed the proposal as premature. Not long after, the Clan Leaders got wind of this matter, and from then on, the Nether Souls represented by the Eight Great Clans became openly hostile to the Yin Soul factions of the Eight Great Law Kings.

King Ning, the eighth of the Ghost King's Law Kings, oversaw King Ning's Manor, which was jointly managed with the Zhao Family located in the locust forest to the east of the Nether King's palace.

Since taking charge of King Ning's Manor, King Ning had faithfully split the collected offerings and wealth with Qian Feng every year and did not interfere with the Qian Family's business within his jurisdiction, Dao County in Y City. Later, as the Qian Family's business grew, King Ning sought to take a small tax from the Qian Family, but Qian Feng immediately refused. Because of this, coupled with the previous conflicts between the Eight Great Clans and the Eight Great Law Kings, King Ning ceased all dealings with Qian Feng.

At Heavenly King Mountain, in the Hall of the Heavenly King within Jade Peak.

A servant from the Qian Mansion, one of the Eight Great Clans, rushed to the Hall of the Heavenly King to see King Ning, informing him that Clan Leader Qian Feng had an urgent matter and summoned King Ning.

King Ning felt a surge of rage at the servant's arrogance, condescension, and the word "summoned." After a momentary pause, he restrained his anger and, claiming to be busy with other matters, rebuffed Clan Leader Qian Feng's summoning. With a sweep of his sleeve, he sent forth a strong gust of Yin wind that blew the disrespectful servant down Heavenly King Mountain.

After being tossed down Heavenly King Mountain, the servant of the Qian Family hurried back to the Qian Mansion in the Netherworld and recounted to Clan Leader Qian Feng how he was expelled by King Ning. Upon hearing this, Qian Feng was greatly enraged and sat in the grand hall, his face dark with anger, saying nothing.

After a long while, Li Zhengwen walked lightly to Qian Feng and asked cautiously, "Godfather, don't be angry. You know well that we've always had issues with those Eight Great Law Kings, and we've had unpleasantness with King Ning over some personal matter before."

"Ah!" Qian Feng sighed, his grey eyes inscrutable. "Although we Eight Great Clans and the Eight Great Law Kings are always jostling in the shadows, we maintain civility on the surface. Now King Ning has openly expelled our envoy from the mountain; where does that leave the face of our Qian Mansion and all the Qian Family?"

Li Zhengwen didn't know how to respond and silently watched as Qian Feng, lost in thought, sat brooding.

After some time, Li Zhengwen, seeing that Qian Feng seemed to have put the incident of his bride being abducted behind him, didn't dare to interrupt the leader's contemplation and left the hall dejectedly.

Leaving the hall, Li Zhengwen left the Netherworld and returned to his home in Dao County, Y City, in the mortal world.

Just having learned about the bride being snatched away, his whole family sat silently in the house, spirits low.

The Li Family had been so busy preparing for Li Zhengwen's nether-marriage for nearly half a month, spending a good sum of money just on hiring a wedding procession and making a bridal sedan. This amount meant little to the Li Family, but for an average household in Dao County, it represented more than two years' income.

Moreover, the Li Family had invited many guests to make the event festive, including netherworld business contacts from the Yin Soul. The news of the bride being taken caused the Li Family to feel utterly humiliated.

Seeing Li Zhengwen's Yin Soul float back home, everyone in the great hall immediately rose and swarmed around Li Zhengwen.

"Zhengwen, what did Clan Leader Qian say?" The head of the Li Family, Li Jiachang, asked.

"Brother, father, little brother!" Li Zhengwen swept his gaze over the people before him with tears in his eyes. "Dao County isn't under godfather's control, and if he interferes forcibly, it could draw criticism. He can only wait until the connections are cleared."

"Ah! If even Clan Leader Qian can't handle this matter, then it's very likely that it will come to nothing!" Li Zhengwen's elder father lamented with sorrowful brows, his face etched with pale lines of worry. Seeing his prematurely deceased son's nether soul marry was his ultimate wish, and after enduring until this day, the bride was snatched away, which was a severe blow to him.

With that, the old man's body swayed, and his eyes rolled back as if he were about to faint.

"Dad!" Li Jiachang and his two sons rushed to support him, "Dad, rest assured, even if Clan Leader Qian cannot take charge of this, your son will find a way to retrieve a bride for your brother!"

After discussing for a while, Li Zhengwen returned to the Netherworld while Li Jiachang made a phone call to Wang Chuan, the president of the Yin Yang Master Association in Y City. As a businessman who dealt in both the yin and yang worlds, one naturally meets many seasoned Onmyoji. However, the relationship between Li Zhengwen and Wang Chuan was not just a simple acquaintance but a secret business partnership.

After the phone was connected, Li Jiachang informed Wang Chuan about the Li Family's trip to Y City to welcome their bride, which ended in someone else snatching the bride.

As soon as Wang Chuan heard descriptions of "a few young men and women under the age of twenty," "the yin yang family Tang Family," and "eyes that shoot out purple flames," he immediately thought of Chen Hao, who was absent from tonight's Onmyoji conference.

After hanging up the phone, Wang Chuan immediately instructed his people to look up Chen Hao's home address and then rushed to Chen Hao's place.

At this time, in Chen Hao's home, Chen Hao, Xie Xiaofeng, and Tang Chao had just moved Tang Jing and Tang Chao's luggage upstairs.

Since the Li Family and the people from the Netherworld's Qian Mansion would send someone to take away Tang Jing, and the Tang Family lived too far away, Chen Hao arranged for Tang Chao and Tang Jing to temporarily stay at his house. This way, if there was any commotion, others could provide support in time.

For Chen Hao, it also provided a perfect reason to move into Ye Yuqiao's house.

"Ye Yuqiao," Chen Hao whispered in Ye Yuqiao's ear, "my house only has two rooms, and the beds are very small. Since the siblings will take one room each, I can only sacrifice and move into your place."

Ye Yuqiao cast a glance at Chen Hao, saying expressionlessly, "Although my house has two rooms, there's only one bed."

"But your bed is big."

Ye Yuqiao replied coldly, "If you want to stay, sleep on the sofa."

Chen Hao frowned, hesitated to speak, thinking that he might as well move in first and then play it by ear, acting stubborn if necessary.

At this moment, Tang Chao and Tang Jing walked side by side up to Chen Hao. They bowed deeply to him, with Tang Chao expressing his gratitude, "Thank you all! If it weren't for you..."

"Hey!" Chen Hao and Ye Yuqiao quickly stood up from the sofa to stop Tang Chao and Tang Jing, "Don't be so formal; helping each other out between friends is normal, plus we're not just friends, we're also battle companions! Now that we live together, we've become close battle companions."

"Does that mean I'm not a close battle companion?" Xie Xiaofeng emerged from the kitchen at this point, holding a can of beer.

"Why don't you move in too," Chen Hao suggested, then snatched the beer from Xie Xiaofeng's hand, asking, "Xie Xiaofeng, I didn't expect you to be so quick. When did you buy the beer? I didn't even notice. Spill it, were you trying to get bride Tang Jing drunk?"

Chen Hao covered his mouth, stunned by his own off-the-cuff remark. He was quite annoyed with himself for saying the wrong thing.

The others also felt awkward because of his comment, unconsciously directing their gazes toward Tang Jing.

"Sorry," Chen Hao said to Tang Jing, scratching his head. "I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay!" Tang Jing suddenly looked up at Chen Hao with a light smile on her face, her eyes brimming with tears. "Chen Hao, I'm the one who should apologize. I've been rude to you, mocking and belittling you. Hearing you consider me a friend and battle companion just now made me feel..."

Mid-sentence, Tang Jing choked up, tears streaming down. After coughing lightly twice, Tang Jing smiled through her tears and said with pursed lips, "From now on, you can joke around whenever you want. Anyway, I know you don't mean it."

Hearing Tang Jing's words, everyone felt awkward in an unpredictable way. After a few seconds of silence, Chen Hao cracked open the beer can and held it up in front of Tang Jing, saying with a laugh, "Well then, I'll toast to the bride's happiness and to having sons soon!"

"You...!" Tang Jing, not knowing whether to cry or laugh, stamped her foot and protested, "Stop it, you really are a joker."

"Haha!" Tang Chao and Xie Xiaofeng laughed loudly, and the atmosphere became lively once again.

Chen Hao took a sip of beer and then passed the can to Tang Jing.

Tang Jing hesitated for a moment before taking the beer. She closed her eyes and grimaced painfully as she swallowed a mouthful—it was her first time tasting beer and found it extremely distasteful. After drinking, she handed the beer to Tang Chao.

"I'm drunk!" Chen Hao leaned his head on Ye Yuqiao's shoulder, pretending to be tipsy.

Ye Yuqiao furrowed her brow and pinched Chen Hao's stomach hard. At that moment, she felt a sourness in her heart and was somewhat bothered by the playful interaction between Chen Hao and Tang Jing.

Downstairs, Wang Chuan, the president of the Yin Yang Master Association, had just gotten out of the car...

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