One day later.

As night fell upon the summit of Yue Mountain.

The night sky, bruised with purple hues, was adorned with a sparse scattering of stars. Below, the mountain forest was shrouded in dense fog, which, under the silvery glow of the moonlight, looked as if it had been coated with frost, emanating a bone-chilling coldness.

Suddenly, Qian Feng, the Clan Leader of the Qian Family, one of the Eight Great Clans of the Netherworld, and the steward of the Qian Mansion appeared on the mountain summit. The moonlight elongated their silhouettes, stretching them from the peak down to the mountainside. Unlike his usual obsequious and beaming manner in the Netherworld, the one-horned steward now had half of his body skeletal, with wisps of green smoke coursing between the bones, creating a frightful sight.

Several days had passed since Qian Feng last came to seek out the Shadow Demon on his own, and with no word from the Shadow Demon, he suspected that Chen Hao had eradicated it. Therefore, he brought the steward to the summit of Yue Mountain.

Qian Feng, with his hands behind his back, looked down upon the frost-like fog in the forest beneath him as if he were an emperor surveying his dominion. The hollow look in his eyes seemed to add a layer of frost to them. He paused for a moment and then called out loudly to the foot of the mountain.

The trees in the forest stirred, and a breeze rushed up to the peak, but there was no sign of the Shadow Demon.

After the commotion in the forest subsided, Qian Feng called out again.

Long after, the forest fell into deathly silence; not even a breeze arose this time.

"Wu!" Then Qian Feng shouted loudly again. Wu was the name of the Shadow Demon.

"Master," said the steward standing behind Qian Feng in a sorrowful tone, "perhaps it's best to stop calling. The Shadow Demon has been in Y City for so many days without sending a message; it's likely that this Chen Hao has already killed him!"

Qian Feng's expression suddenly turned grave, but still, his hollow eyes betrayed none of his true emotions from the depths of his heart. After a long silence, he sighed as if accepting the reality of the situation.

"I never thought this youngster Chen Hao would be so capable!" Qian Feng said with a frown, "I'd really like to meet him in person!"

As he finished speaking, Qian Feng's tone took on a ragged edge, laced with a cold murderous intent.

"Master, please calm your anger!" the steward quickly interjected, "After all, Y City is governed by King Ning and the Zhao Family. Going there to kill someone would not only anger the Eight Great Law Kings but is also likely to displease the Zhao Family."

Qian Feng coldly replied, "I'm well aware of that! However, this matter isn't at the point where we can just walk away. Think, who else could I send to deal with that boy?"

"This..." The steward fell into thought. After a long while, his face lit up with joy and he asked, "Master, do you remember that over a thousand years ago the Nether King personally went to the mortal world to seal an ancient beast?"

"The Nether King!" The image of Ye Yuqiao's stern yet handsome face flashed through Qian Feng's mind, "Are you suggesting that I unseal it and let it out?"

"Exactly!" The steward nodded with a smile, his half-smiling, half-bony face looking rather terrifying.

"Hmm!"

In the blink of an eye, the figures of Qian Feng and the Qian Mansion's steward vanished from the summit of Yue Mountain.

Shortly after, a faint rustling of the wind was heard at the summit, followed by a woman appearing out of thin air. The woman was dressed in a white gown, her skin as pale as snow, with waist-length hair that was also snow-white. At that moment, tears streamed down her face, and with a look full of sorrow, she sobbed quietly, "Did you really leave without saying a word?"

Before long, the woman's eyes revealed a vicious gleam, and she gritted her teeth and hissed, "Y City! Chen Hao!"

With that, the woman turned into a gust of wind and left the mountaintop of Yue Mountain.

Meanwhile, in Y City, inside a hospital room.

Ye Yuqiao would soon be discharged. As she lay in the hospital bed, watching Chen Hao busily packing, she felt a warm sensation in her heart.

"Ye Yuqiao," Chen Hao said while packing, "after we leave the hospital, we must first go to the police station. Tang Jing is still in jail, and you need to personally explain to the police that it wasn't intentional when she went to stab you with the knife, but that you accidentally ran into it."

Ye Yuqiao's expression darkened as she coldly said, "Would the police believe such a stupid reason?"

"Actually, the police are aware of what really happened, but they can't put it in a report. So they need you, the victim, to personally go and argue your defense," Chen Hao explained. "What's the matter? Don't you want Tang Jing to be released?"

Ye Yuqiao furrowed her brow and remained silent. After a while, she asked coldly, "You seem to care a lot about Tang Jing, don't you?"

Chen Hao suddenly stopped what he was doing, turned his head to look at Ye Yuqiao, and made a very surprised expression. He walked up to Ye Yuqiao and asked with a smile, "Your Majesty, the Queen, you're not getting jealous again, are you?"

After saying that, Chen Hao couldn't help but burst into hearty laughter, looking very pleased with himself.

"Jealous, my ass!" Ye Yuqiao muttered under her breath, her face full of displeasure.

"Ah!" Chen Hao's face darkened, and his smile immediately faded as he took Ye Yuqiao's hand and explained, "I do care about her a lot, but that's because she's one of our companions, just like the care I show to Xie Xiaofeng and Tang Chao. But the care I have for you is a different kind of care."

With that, Chen Hao brought Ye Yuqiao's hand to his chest and said with deep affection, "You reside here in my heart, irreplaceable by anyone."

Ye Yuqiao widened her bright eyes and gazed deeply into Chen Hao's. After a moment of pause, she shook off Chen Hao's hand and mumbled with her head down, "The way you talk makes it seem like I really am jealous. I just think that excuse is so silly, it makes me look stupid—who would voluntarily walk into the path of a knife."

Chen Hao tilted his head, trying to get a glimpse of Ye Yuqiao's blushing cheeks.

Ye Yuqiao quickly covered Chen Hao's eyes with her hand and urged, "Go pack your things now, be good!"

"Most of it is already packed," Chen Hao said, "just that you need to change out of the patient's clothing you're wearing."

"Oh!" Ye Yuqiao replied coldly, "then step aside, I'm going to change clothes."

No sooner had the words left her mouth than Ye Yuqiao sensed something was wrong and immediately looked up. At that moment, Chen Hao had unintentionally activated his left eye's Nether Vision technique.

With a "smack!" Ye Yuqiao slapped Chen Hao in the face.

Chen Hao covered his face and protested with a wronged tone, "I just wanted to see what you looked like blushing, that's all."

······

······

An hour later, outside the police station.

After recording her statement, Ye Yuqiao was waiting outside with Chen Hao, Xie Xiaofeng, and Tang Chao for Tang Jing.

Soft footsteps approached them, and a familiar figure slowly appeared at the entrance. After several days, Tang Jing had lost weight and both her eyes and cheeks were swollen.

"Sister!" Tang Chao immediately went up to embrace Tang Jing. The others closely followed behind.

"Brother!" Tang Jing, like a terrified child, threw herself into Tang Chao's arms and burst into tears.

After crying for a while, Tang Jing left Tang Chao's embrace, walked up to Ye Yuqiao, and sobbed, "Yuqiao, I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to that day."

"Shh!" Ye Yuqiao quickly interrupted Tang Jing, her face filled with caution. Holding Tang Jing's hand, she said softly, "Everyone knows you were possessed by a Shadow Demon, how could we blame you? On the contrary, you must have felt so wronged staying in jail all these days."

"Wuu wuu!" Tang Jing couldn't help but weep again, hugging Ye Yuqiao tightly.

"Haha!" Xie Xiaofeng suddenly laughed out loud, "Since the Shadow Demon is vanquished and Tang Jing is out of jail, let's have a big meal to celebrate. Chen Hao's treating!"

"Ah!" Chen Hao exclaimed in shock, "Why am I the one treating?"

"You're the chairman now; it's only right that you treat us to a meal."

"Fine," Chen Hao walked up to Ye Yuqiao's side, "Tang Jing, have you hugged enough? I'm about to lose some money, and I feel quite sad, so I need a hug too."

Tang Jing let go of Ye Yuqiao and, while still crying, said to Chen Hao, "You jerk, go ahead and hug, I won't fight with you for Yuqiao."

Hearing Tang Jing say this, Xie Xiaofeng and Tang Chao looked at each other, feeling that something was off.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Y City, a massive soul was drawing near.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.