Falling into a strange state of “self-loathing,” Jian Chou’s mouth twitched for a long time as she stared expressionlessly at Little Marten.

During this process, Little Marten didn’t dare move at all.

After quite a while, Jian Chou finally beckoned to it: “Come here.”

Little Marten was startled and shook its head, whimpering twice and instinctively backing away.

One step, two steps.

Jian Chou called again: “Come here.”

This time, Little Marten’s soul nearly left its body!

This damn well looked like she was going to confront it!

Whoever went over would be a fool!

Without hesitation, it turned and ran, practically transforming into lightning as it immediately darted into the pile of bookshelves in the study.

Jian Chou found it both annoying and amusing.

Something picked from teeth gaps was trying to throw a tantrum at her. At first she had believed it, but now she finally understood—what this guy tossed into the qiankun bag was definitely junk.

Running away now?

“Why are you running? I just wanted to see what structure you have in your mouth…”

Sighing, Jian Chou saw it had run far and couldn’t help laughing.

If it were before, she might not have been able to catch it, but now…

A glimmer flashed in her eyes as Jian Chou directly raised her hand to grip her sword. Instantly, a hurricane rose in the room, and she immediately merged with the Swallowing Wind black sword, transforming into raging black wind and ink tide, rushing toward Little Marten!

“Boom!”

The entire study seemed to suddenly have ocean waves rising.

Little Marten, who had been running happily ahead, couldn’t help but look back upon hearing the sound, only to see black wind and ink tide accumulating, magnificently descending!

“Ao!”

All of Little Marten’s fur stood on end as it cried out strangely, slipped under its feet, then ran even faster after getting up!

Oh mother, it’s a monster!

“Bang!”

There was clearly nothing ahead, but Little Marten crashed into something.

“Wu!”

Pain!

Little Marten looked up to see that Jian Chou, who had been behind it just moments ago, was already standing there holding her sword with arms crossed, watching it with great interest.

How, how did this happen?

Little Marten was confused.

But it was only for an instant—it definitely didn’t want to be caught by Jian Chou!

After stopping for just that moment, Little Marten immediately changed direction without thinking and began its escape route again, forcefully kicking off to run toward an even narrower space.

Seeing this, Jian Chou felt quite helpless.

She shrugged, and her figure disappeared again. The next time she appeared, she was once more in front of Little Marten.

…

This went back and forth repeatedly.

Poor Little Marten ran east and west, but whenever it looked up, it always found Jian Chou in front of it. After running several circles, it was completely despairing. Its four legs went soft, and it collapsed on the ground, exhausted and panting with its tongue out.

Jian Chou walked over leisurely like strolling in a courtyard, spinning the black sword in her palm before gripping it tightly.

Standing beside Little Marten, she nudged its small body with her foot and said amusingly, “Not running anymore?”

“Wu wu!”

Run my ass!

Can I outrun you?

Little Marten rolled its eyes, feeling bitter in its heart.

How had its cheap master’s speed become so mysteriously unpredictable in just this short time since they’d last met?

This was ridiculous!

Seeing it dejectedly pressing its head to the ground, Jian Chou was even more delighted: “After running just two circles you stop running? I thought you had more backbone.”

“Wu wu wu!”

Hmph!

Sooner or later this marten will show you backbone.

Just not…

Not now.

Little Marten secretly rolled its eyes toward the ground, preparing to continue playing dead.

Presumably Jian Chou wasn’t so cold-hearted as to punish it further?

The moment this thought flashed through its mind, its head was already completely resting on the ground. But at this very instant, a strange, very fresh scent penetrated through the gaps between the floor tiles.

What was this?

Little Marten immediately caught the scent and sniffed a couple more times.

Jian Chou was still standing there, wanting to directly pull Little Marten up, but unexpectedly, in a moment of inattention, she discovered it was sniffing on the ground and couldn’t help being somewhat startled: “What’s wrong?”

Little Marten stopped playing dead and actually got up from the ground, circling that small area. Its two wet eyes were extremely bright.

It was obviously excited, turning its head toward Jian Chou and calling out.

“Ao wu wu wu!”

Cheap master, there’s good stuff, good stuff down below!

Its meaty little paws stretched out as Little Marten vigorously pointed beneath its feet for Jian Chou.

Down below?

Jian Chou was startled, still not understanding what this meant, but in her mind flashed like lightning the sentence that had been pressed under the plum vase earlier…

Hidden underground Rebirth Pool water…

Although she didn’t know Little Marten’s true origins, Jian Chou didn’t doubt its intuition for “treasures” in the slightest. Otherwise, where would this ground full of priceless rare treasures have come from?

Could it be?!

Jian Chou frowned and was just about to bend down to investigate.

“Rustle rustle, rustle rustle!”

“Knock knock, knock knock.”

Two different sounds occurred almost simultaneously at this moment!

Jian Chou’s movement stopped, somewhat surprised.

The “rustling” sound was smaller, coming from her sleeve, with a faint blue light flickering.

Jian Chou immediately sensed what it was.

This was the paper talisman left by Big Head Ghost and Little Head Ghost, so when they returned to Wangsi City, they could use it to contact her and find her location.

The “knocking” sound was more distant, coming from outside the residence gate.

Someone was knocking at the door.

Only Old Zhou and Chen Tingyan knew where she lived. Old Zhou needn’t be mentioned—he had no relationship with her, so it must be Chen Tingyan outside.

This…

When it rains, it pours!

Jian Chou didn’t react for a moment, staring at Little Marten as they looked at each other wide-eyed.

“Knock knock knock.”

The knocking came again.

“Jian Chou, are you there? I’ve come to see you.”

Jian Chou, who had been in a daze, immediately startled, glanced at the messy ground full of various rare treasures, and felt her scalp tingle!

She kicked out, quickly and lightly tapping Little Marten, and lowered her voice: “Hurry up and put them away!”

“Ao!”

Little Marten finally reacted, transforming into an arrow released from a bowstring with a “whoosh” as it charged over.

In that instant, it opened its mouth wide—a full three zhang.

Its small body with an enormous mouth was bizarre and exaggerated to the extreme!

As if it wanted to devour heaven and earth!

“Ao hou!”

Little Marten roared, and with “ding ling kuang dang” sounds, all the treasures scattered on the ground actually flew up, rushing toward its mouth and disappearing into its dense teeth gaps.

With its mouth closed, the ground was already clean.

Little Marten transformed back into its small size.

Jian Chou scooped up both it and Guyu, stuffed them into the spirit beast bag, and they completely disappeared.

“Bang!”

After completing all this, Jian Chou looked up to see the tightly closed study door being pushed open.

“Jian Chou, are you alright?!”

Chen Tingyan appeared at the door with a tense expression, holding a folding fan and floating half a foot off the ground, momentarily carrying an intimidating aura.

However, when he saw the situation inside the room clearly, he was somewhat confused.

How was there nothing?

Where were the fierce beasts?

He had clearly heard strange roaring just now…

Everything in the room was arranged just as Chen Tingyan had seen it half a month ago. The bookshelves even had a thin layer of dust, showing that Jian Chou hadn’t had time to tidy up at all.

At this moment, Jian Chou stood in the room, looking at him with an indescribable expression, as if wondering how he had just entered.

This made Chen Tingyan quite embarrassed.

Neither advancing nor retreating, he could only stand at the door, covering his mouth with his hand, coughing once, and saying: “Uh… I was passing by your residence just now and heard sounds inside, thinking you should be awake. I didn’t expect that when I knocked just now, I suddenly heard strange sounds and was worried about your safety, so in my urgency, I broke down the door… This…”

Jian Chou continued looking at him with that same expression.

But this wasn’t because she found Chen Tingyan rude, but rather a feeling of “that was close.”

Even though Chen Tingyan seemed harmless to her, Jian Chou didn’t dare let him see the strange Little Marten. Who knew if there were creatures like Little Marten in the Extreme Domain?

Not to mention, there had been so many things on the ground just now.

Fortunately, both she and Little Marten had reacted quickly enough, or she really wouldn’t have known how to explain it.

Now seeing Chen Tingyan’s embarrassment, Jian Chou relaxed and actively smiled with a few points of composure, stepping forward: “Fourth Young Master misunderstood. I was just practicing a rather peculiar technique, so the sounds were strange, but there was no danger.”

“Oh, oh, I see.”

Chen Tingyan rubbed his forehead with his fan handle, still embarrassed.

Practicing techniques—this was perfectly normal. Among the Ten Great Ghost Clans, there were far too many strange cultivation methods, and those making various weird sounds were countless.

Jian Chou’s single beast roar here didn’t seem like much.

Although…

A female cultivator using a technique that could produce beast roars seemed somewhat mismatched.

Thinking this, Chen Tingyan subconsciously focused on Jian Chou’s cultivation level. Upon looking, he was somewhat surprised: “Your cultivation has improved so quickly!”

The topic suddenly shifted, and Jian Chou didn’t react immediately.

However, she then completely relaxed, looked down at herself, and smiled: “Thanks to Fourth Young Master’s concern, not only have my injuries completely healed, but my cultivation has also benefited. This could be considered a blessing in disguise. I originally planned to choose a day to visit Fourth Young Master’s residence to express my gratitude, but I didn’t expect Fourth Young Master to come first today. The room hasn’t been tidied yet—if Fourth Young Master doesn’t mind, please come in and sit.”

“No need to sit.”

Chen Tingyan was amazed in his heart, feeling that Jian Chou’s cultivation progress was visibly growing.

However, thinking of her originally dust-speck-sized soul pearl, he felt relieved.

Her cultivation had indeed improved, but ordinary Pearl Formation cultivators had soul pearls nearly two inches in diameter, while Jian Chou’s fingertip-sized pearl was only about two circles larger than a grain of rice—it really wasn’t worth seeing.

Originally small, so even if it only grew a little, it looked like it had multiplied several times, naturally appearing impressive.

In reality, Jian Chou at this moment still couldn’t compare with any other Pearl Formation cultivator.

Chen Tingyan couldn’t understand how Jian Chou could cultivate to this extent.

However, he hadn’t come today to discuss these issues with Jian Chou.

Wearing a casual smile, Chen Tingyan said: “The Cauldron Competition golden token has been flying for over half a month now. Do you remember the competition rules I told you about?”

“This time, the competition for entry qualifications is at the eighteen-story above-ground building, with eight spots for each city.”

“Today there’s a rather strong fellow competing—from the Ghost King Clan, first among the Ten Great Ghost Clans. Do you want to go watch together?”

The eighteen-story above-ground building was the tallest building in Wangsi City.

It was said that each of the seventy-two cities of the underworld had an eighteen-story above-ground building, symbolizing the eighteen levels of hell and being almost the tallest structure in each city.

The golden token’s arrival had announced the specific rules of the Cauldron Competition, but Jian Chou hadn’t had time to look and didn’t understand the details.

However, she could understand what Chen Tingyan was saying.

The Cauldron Competition had three rounds in total.

The first round competed for entry opportunities. The Ten Great Ghost Clans and Eight Yama Halls each nominated a certain number of people to directly enter the next round, while others wanting to participate competed for spots according to the rules announced by the golden token.

This year it was being held at the eighteen-story above-ground building?

Jian Chou became interested and nodded: “I have nothing to do now, so I could go broaden my horizons. But I don’t know what the specific rules are this year?”

As she spoke, Jian Chou had already walked out from the room.

Chen Tingyan naturally knew she had agreed to his invitation. Thinking he had taken another successful step, his face couldn’t help showing some excitement.

“There haven’t been any major changes. The golden token lasts a hundred days—the first ninety-nine days are for selecting entrants. The Ten Great Ghost Clans and Eight Yama Halls decide the quotas, while others compete for theirs.”

He walked out together with Jian Chou.

“This year, on the tenth floor of the eighteen-story above-ground building, eight cauldron rings have been placed, appearing one at a time. Once one is taken, a new one appears. Whoever can climb to the first ten floors and obtain a cauldron ring gains qualification to enter the second round together.”

After finishing, Chen Tingyan handed Jian Chou a jade slip, smiling: “This year’s Cauldron Competition rules were announced long ago. That day you were injured and needed urgent rest, so I didn’t have time to give it to you. Take a look now.”

Such matters were all similar throughout the world.

However, some rules were only known at the time, like the Left Three Thousand Minor Assembly, while others were established early and allowed preparation, like the Extreme Domain Cauldron Competition.

Jian Chou didn’t refuse, took it, and read carefully.

The first part was indeed as Chen Tingyan had said—

The first round, aside from the Eight Yama Halls and Ten Great Ghost Clans, others competed through the eighteen-story above-ground building;

The second round was the written test Jian Chou had known about before, like imperial examinations, where everyone answered questions individually, and only those who answered eighty percent correctly could enter the third round.

However…

The third round was actually conducted in the eighteen levels of hell!

Ghost cultivators who passed the second round needed to start from the first level closest to the ground and progressively go deeper, layer by layer into hell, until they reached the eighteenth level.

The ghost cultivators who ultimately remained in the eighteenth level would be the final “Cauldron Champion”!

Upon seeing the rules, Jian Chou couldn’t help but be amazed: “This…”

The eighteen levels of hell were the places where all beings trapped in reincarnation were punished, imprisoning those deemed to have “done more evil than good.”

The human world had always spoken of “ten thousand evil ghosts in the eighteen levels of hell.” Without thinking, one could know what kind of perilous existence this was.

Placing the Cauldron Competition here…

Even Jian Chou, who had experienced many storms, couldn’t help feeling a chilling coldness.

“Moreover… what if there are two people ultimately remaining in the eighteenth level?”

Jian Chou stared at those two characters “Cauldron Champion” again, developing this doubt.

At this moment, she and Chen Tingyan had reached the main street and could see the above-ground building not far away.

The tall eighteen-story above-ground building was like an upright cylinder with octagonal flying eaves curving high, painted deep black. Below, crowds were already gathered with voices buzzing.

People continuously arrived from afar, quickly entering the building with excited faces.

Chen Tingyan naturally noticed today’s lively scene. Hearing Jian Chou’s question, he looked back at her with a somewhat inexplicable smile and asked back: “How could there be two people?”

How could there not be two people?

Two people entering together was completely possible.

Jian Chou was about to ask more, but touching Chen Tingyan’s indescribable gaze, her heart suddenly jumped, and she couldn’t speak.

The Cauldron Competition.

This wasn’t the Left Three Thousand Minor Assembly that insisted on preserving life at all costs, but the Extreme Domain Cauldron Competition.

The ghost cultivators here, though distinguished between good and evil, acted more like demonic heretics. Since there could only be one Cauldron Champion, if two people truly entered, it would definitely be a deadly battle…

Jian Chou’s expression changed.

Chen Tingyan saw this and knew she had finished reading the competition rules, adding only one sentence: “The Cauldron Competition has always been a matter of life and death.”

This rule had always been implicit and wasn’t included in each competition’s official rules.

Sighing in her heart, Jian Chou shook her head and smiled: “So there really is only one Cauldron Champion. My knowledge was shallow.”

“Don’t feel bad—even I was frightened for quite a while at first.”

Chen Tingyan spread his hands somewhat exaggeratedly, comforting Jian Chou.

However, Jian Chou was recalling in her mind those companions she had met at the Left Three Thousand Minor Assembly.

Lu Xiangleng, Jiang Wenchao, Xia Houshe, Zuoliu, Xiao Jin, Young Master Ruhua…

Though they faced each other sharply on stage, once they came down, they could share hardships together.

The Left Three Thousand of the Central Domain, though only a part of the vast Nineteen Continents, had a quality like a paradise, different from other places.

Pei Qian from the Northern Domain she had encountered was scheming and ruthlessly decisive—no good person;

The Southeast Wilderness she had heard of was blood-drinking and violent, with killing rampant and heretical ways dominant;

The Tomorrow Star Sea she knew of gathered all nine streams, with roads lined with bones and rivers flowing red blood;

…

All such places had not the slightest connection to the Left Three Thousand.

The Extreme Domain she had accidentally arrived at was undoubtedly similar to the Southeast Wilderness and Tomorrow Star Sea.

The Cauldron Competition…

A killing feast?

This thought spontaneously arose in Jian Chou’s mind, and she couldn’t help shaking her head with a smile. After all, it didn’t have much to do with her, so she decided not to think about it anymore.

When the two reached the base of the eighteen-story above-ground building, they saw crowded masses making even walking difficult.

There seemed to be a checkpoint ahead with people collecting profound jade before allowing entry.

Handfuls of profound jade flowed into the large boxes at the entrance of the eighteen-story above-ground building like broken stones.

Chen Tingyan looked ahead and saw people still queuing, immediately sighing: “Great, we have to queue again. I had originally planned to come find you before dawn today, wanting to come here early to watch, but I didn’t expect to still be late…”

The outstanding figures of the new generation of the Ghost King Clan could already attract crowds running to tell each other, all coming to watch.

Chen Tingyan had anticipated this but still hadn’t expected it to be this lively.

He sighed and lamented, looking ahead with nothing but gloom on his face.

Jian Chou wasn’t anxious at all and actually found it novel, like going to a theater to watch a play.

She glanced at the large box filled with profound jade, remembering what Chen Tingyan had said earlier—only some people from the Ten Great Ghost Clans and Eight Yama Halls could operate “businesses” related to the Cauldron Competition. Wasn’t this quite a large business?

In Wangsi City, many people were still converging toward the eighteen-story above-ground building.

Not paying profound jade naturally meant no entry, but even standing outside the building to hear the latest news would be good.

By now, daylight had brightened considerably.

Shanhai Market had disappeared at some unknown time, as if it had never appeared. The originally obscured sky was also revealed, and though still dim yellow, it gave a sense of vastness.

The archway of the registry office cast a long, blurred shadow on the ground. The little ghost officials guarding in front had been tired all night and were now yawning continuously.

Newly registered ghosts gradually walked out from the registry office gates.

Big Head Ghost and Little Head Ghost followed behind Zhang Tang, walking at the very rear of all the new ghosts. Both were quite exhausted today.

“This is really cursed. We never heard of so many wrongfully dead ghosts before. How is it that when it’s our Reception Department’s turn to do this work, the wrongfully dead suddenly increase? Ayo, I’m exhausted!”

Little Head Ghost’s tongue was practically hanging out as he walked and complained.

Big Head Ghost was too tired to even speak, just nodding continuously: “Right, right.”

Only Zhang Tang ahead, with his substantial cultivation, walked without even a sway, maintaining steady composure.

Hearing Little Head Ghost’s complaints, his already slightly furrowed brow tightened further.

Raising his eyes, his gaze moved forward to rest on the new ghosts who were gradually departing.

Unlike before when there was only Jian Chou, this batch of newly registered ghosts in Wangsi City numbered over fifty, most wearing long robes with refined faces, clearly all scholars, with only seven or eight exceptions.

Having served as an official in Great Xia, Zhang Tang was familiar with these people’s attire. They were basically students from the Imperial Academy, and he even recognized several who had been extremely surprised to see him.

Over the past half month, the Great Xia scholars sent to Wangsi City numbered, if not three hundred, then close to it, and all were not “naturally deceased” but “unnaturally wrongfully dead”!

Zhang Tang contemplated as he slowly walked under the archway.

He recalled some things he had learned from questioning these people.

Not long ago, many strange incidents had occurred in Great Xia’s Imperial Academy.

Almost all text in books had completely disappeared. The teachers and students studying there also subsequently experienced bizarre situations—books they had memorized not long ago were completely forgotten, and sometimes they couldn’t even recognize simple characters.

Often they would fall asleep and never regain consciousness, their souls returning to the nine netherworlds.

No one knew how these events began, except for one person who had tremblingly mentioned that these incidents all started after the “National Teacher” returned.

National Teacher…

Zhang Tang was not at all unfamiliar with this title.

His arrival at this place was precisely thanks to this “National Teacher Fu”!

Now, many more people had lost their lives…

Was Great Xia about to fall into chaos, with demonic calamities running rampant?

His eyelids slowly lowered as Zhang Tang continued contemplating.

Little Head Ghost behind him felt somewhat fearful. He was still holding a hand seal, using the paper talisman previously given to Jian Chou to determine her location.

“That, Old Zhang, I heard that today Lihan from the Ghost King Clan is going to the eighteen-story above-ground building to compete for a Cauldron Competition spot. Big Head and I are planning to find Great Master Jian Chou to watch together. Do you want to come along?”

After much consideration, Little Head Ghost approached Zhang Tang to speak.

Zhang Tang was somewhat absent-minded.

He hadn’t heard clearly the first half of what Little Head Ghost said, only catching “Great Master Jian Chou” and the latter part, subconsciously nodding.

Little Head Ghost was immediately delighted, thinking he had hit Zhang Tang’s soft spot.

It was widely rumored that Zhang Tang had gained the appreciation of King Qin Guang of the Eight Yama Halls and had already been given a spot to directly enter the second round. Though Cui Jue seemed somewhat incompatible with him for a while, he had still been ordered to take good care of him.

Zhang Tang, who would participate in the Cauldron Competition, should naturally be interested in competition matters.

So Little Head Ghost’s mind turned and he thought of going to watch the excitement.

Zhang Tang agreed so quickly that he felt proud, thinking his relationship with Zhang Tang had grown closer and his hold on this powerful backing had become more secure.

Immediately, Little Head Ghost continued holding the hand seal, pulling Big Head Ghost along excitedly: “This way, this way. Great Master Jian Chou seems to be at the above-ground building too.”

Two were joyful and excited, one was cold as ice, as they moved forward together.

Nearby were many new ghosts who didn’t know where to go, all recently deceased and newly arrived in Wangsi City.

Though Little Head Ghost had chattered and introduced much along the way, when they truly reached this unfamiliar territory, everyone felt somewhat fearful. Fortunately, they basically all knew each other and could walk together for courage, or they might have been frightened to death in this city.

Even unfamiliar new ghosts couldn’t help crowding toward this group of scholars, wanting to walk together with everyone.

Only one person was an exception.

He was quite tall, wearing a black cloak, apparently a man.

His entire face was hidden behind the hood, preventing anyone from seeing his appearance clearly. Standing by the street like a shadow painted with thick ink, he had no presence and no one noticed him.

While everyone chattered about their future destinations, he only looked ahead.

Zhang Tang and those two little ghosts had gradually moved away.

The corners of his mouth, hidden in the shadows, lightly curved upward.

He recalled the words he had just heard, followed the direction they had gone, silently stepped forward, and merged with the surrounding crowd, similarly moving ahead.

In front of the eighteen-story above-ground building.

Chen Tingyan and Jian Chou had been queuing for quite a while.

Jian Chou remained calm, but Chen Tingyan kept shaking his head and sighing: “What a pity my clan members have already gone in, or I could have asked them for help, and we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

“It doesn’t matter. We’re not in a hurry either. Besides, that Ghost King Clan cultivator hasn’t arrived yet, has he?”

During their wait, Jian Chou had also learned about today’s important figure.

Lihan, from the new generation of the Ghost King Clan.

The Ten Great Ghost Clans each had rankings—Ghost King, Day Wandering, Night Wandering, Impermanence, and Bull Head clans ranked in the top five, with the Ghost King Clan holding the highest position.

This year, each of the Ten Great Ghost Clans had five spots, all given to the outstanding members of each clan.

This Lihan had cultivated for over thirty years, with a previous closed-door cultivation lasting ten years. After emerging, he already had mid-stage Jade Nirvana cultivation—truly exceptional talent.

If not for his insufficient cultivation years and his insistence on participating in this Cauldron Competition, in a few more years he would definitely be a strong contender for “Cauldron Champion” in the next competition.

With his current strength, he could only rank sixth in the talent-rich Ghost King Clan.

The unlucky sixth place.

Therefore, in this Cauldron Competition, Lihan hadn’t received a clan-given spot and could only come to the eighteen-story above-ground building to compete for one.

When the news came out, all of Wangsi City became lively.

So, for Jian Chou and Chen Tingyan to wait this long to watch a master in action really wasn’t much.

Jian Chou was easy-going, but Chen Tingyan was dissatisfied, muttering: “Hmph, this young master is also at Jade Nirvana stage! How many years have I been practicing? Even if it’s by swallowing pills, I’m still better than him… Really, making this young master queue…”

Hearing this, Jian Chou was somewhat embarrassed.

Using pills to cultivate wasn’t unusual, but to proudly mention it like this—she was impressed.

Chen Tingyan really wasn’t an ordinary person.

Sighing in her heart, Jian Chou wanted to persuade him, but just as she opened her mouth, an excited voice called out—

“Great Master Jian Chou… no, Jian Chou! Jian Chou!”

As if wanting to call her by another title but suddenly realizing this was a public place where such addressing wasn’t appropriate, the voice quickly changed.

This voice was extremely familiar—she hadn’t heard it for a while.

Jian Chou immediately looked toward the sound and saw Little Head Ghost ahead.

He pushed through the crowd first, waving at Jian Chou, ran to her front with an excited face: “Finally found you! You’re here to watch Lihan too, right?”

When Jian Chou hadn’t left home, she had sensed the paper talisman’s movement. Now that Little Head Ghost had found her, though she was somewhat surprised, it was only momentary.

“Coming to watch the excitement. What about you all?”

“Just escorted a batch of new ghosts here, working straight from midnight to dawn—exhausted to death!”

Little Head Ghost was complaining to Jian Chou, then said happily: “We heard there was excitement to watch and were planning to find you to watch together. Didn’t expect you’d be here too.”

Jian Chou was amused. Though she knew what this little poor ghost was calculating, she didn’t mind at all.

She smiled: “Then we can indeed go inside together to watch the excitement.”

As she spoke, she raised her head to look behind Little Head Ghost.

Chen Tingyan, standing beside her, only now realized that this suddenly appearing little ghost actually knew Jian Chou? And spoke so casually—they must be familiar?

We?

Us?

And there wasn’t just one?

Chen Tingyan became curious and looked over with Jian Chou.

With this look, he was stunned.

Little Head Ghost had a pointed head and was clever, squeezing through crowds effortlessly.

Big Head Ghost suffered—with his large head and slow mind, he clumsily followed Little Head Ghost, squeezing together, working up a head full of sweat before finally reaching the front.

However, not far behind Big Head Ghost, the originally crowded masses were now gradually parting, slowly making way.

A man in official robes walked over with heavy, steady steps.

His face was expressionless, as if everyone owed him a life, rigid and gloomy with cold severity.

Chen Tingyan recognized him and recalled how this clerk had impeached his father with several memorials back in Great Xia. Momentarily infuriated to the point of heart attack, he couldn’t help sneering: “Look here, isn’t this the officially powerful Zhang Tang, Zhang Tingwei? Long time no see—you’re still not dead!”

In that instant, it was truly like drawn swords and taut bows!

Jian Chou, along with Big Head Ghost and Little Head Ghost, all three were dumbfounded: What, what was this situation?

Only Zhang Tang remained composed.

He glanced at Chen Tingyan and recognized this former “Fourth Master Chen,” but he didn’t care.

Zhang Tang had always only contended with people at his father Grand Tutor Chen’s level. Chen Tingyan, though capable, was still too inexperienced and not worth considering.

Therefore, he simply tucked both hands into his wide sleeves and said flatly: “No need to worry. Zhang has died once and cannot die again.”