The moment Daoist Master Cheng finished speaking, Qi Xinmei barely kept her expression from cracking, though inwardly she seethed. She could not let it show on her face — the man before her had only come at all because she had begged her husband at length and parted with a considerable sum of money, only to then endure her stepdaughter’s mockery on top of it. If she drove him away, she wouldn’t just be offending this Daoist Master Cheng — she would likely be offending the entire Rong Family.

She was merely the daughter of a minor official. Being able to marry into the Rong Family at all, even as a second wife, was entirely thanks to that face of hers.

Qi Xinmei smiled softly and said, “That the Daoist Master has made this trip is already a blessing for Yuer. Whatever the outcome, we are deeply grateful.”

Daoist Master Cheng glanced briefly at her face. No wonder she is the Eight Master’s most treasured one. That face truly is something to look at.

He stepped forward into the courtyard, and the moment he crossed the threshold, his hand instinctively closed around the copper-coin sword at his waist. He called out sharply, “What manner of demon shows itself — come forth at once!”

Wait — there was truly a demon here?

Qi Xinyu’s parents darted behind Qi Xinmei in unison, faces drained of all color. They had no protective artifacts to save their lives.

Qi Xinmei’s expression was deeply unpleasant, but she didn’t push them away. She followed close behind Daoist Master Cheng, her teeth chattering faintly.

It was cold inside — the kind of cold that seeped into the very marrow. In the air lingered a faint smell of blood, mixed with the stench of rot, deeply offensive.

Yet within the room, several braziers burned with vigorous flames.

Daoist Master Cheng’s expression darkened inwardly. I was too careless. This much resentful energy — it’s already fermented into baleful fiendishness. Today may not end cleanly.

The deeper they moved toward the inner chamber, the more oppressive the resentful, baleful energy became — mixed with that nauseating stench.

The little paper figure crept silently along the base of the wall, scaled one of the room’s pillars, and found the best vantage point. From there, it had a clear view of Qi Xinyu lying in the bed — eyes wide open, expression twisted and fierce, moaning softly in pain.

Lang Jiuchuan raised an eyebrow. The Qi Xinyu before her was nothing like the vivid, sharp young woman she had met before. Dark, malevolent blood-fiend energy was burrowing in through the wound on her forehead, forcing the flesh open and eating it away — the wound had already rotted down to exposed bone, the meat of it blackened and curling back at the edges. The fiend energy continued spreading from that entry point, crawling over her entire face and then down across her body.

Around her clustered several resentful ghosts. Some of them wore faces Lang Jiuchuan had seen that day. And one was draped directly over her body, while another hung suspended above her head, staring straight into her eyes.

Lang Jiuchuan’s gaze was cold and unmoved. How many people did she kill to accumulate this?

As Daoist Master Cheng and his group drew nearer, all the resentful ghosts turned to look at once. Ghost energy surged. Resentment flooded outward.

Jingle jingle jingle.

The string of bells hanging at Daoist Master Cheng’s waist began to shake violently. Simultaneously, a fierce yin wind swept through the room.

“Ah!” Qi Xinyu’s mother let out a sharp scream.

Daoist Master Cheng leveled his copper-coin sword horizontally. The coins along its blade rattled and shook as well. His face changed sharply. “What manner of demon dares to cause havoc here — dares to harm living people! Acolyte — set up the ritual altar, burn the yellow talismans! Suppress and destroy the evil spirits!”

The young acolyte quickly reached into the bamboo hamper on his back and drew out talisman paper, passing it over, then produced a bowl of rice, incense, and candles.

Lang Jiuchuan shook her head slightly. This won’t be easy.

As though sensing their intent, the resentful ghosts let out eerie, jeering laughs. Their ghost energy surged again. Yin winds tore through the room, scattering the acolyte’s materials every which way. The room’s furnishings rattled and trembled violently. Porcelain vases toppled from a curio shelf and shattered to pieces.

Daoist Master Cheng’s eyes hardened. Powerful. There’s clearly more than one resentful ghost in here.

He bit down on his fingertip, drew a swift talisman in blood on the copper-coin sword, and chanted rapidly: “By decree of the Celestial Emperor, I descend in spirit; I proclaim the Righteous Law and scatter all evil soldiers; should any demon ghost dare remain, my eyes perceive the divine; the Five Sacred Peaks shall crumble in their wake — I, disciple Cheng Qingzi, invoke the Emperor God to descend and dispel all evil; banish them, by urgent decree!”

The incantation complete, golden light blazed across the copper-coin sword. Daoist Master Cheng planted his feet in the Seven-Star stance, spun with a sweeping turn, and brought the blade slicing forward.

The golden light struck one of the resentful ghosts. A sharp, piercing ghost-cry rang out.

Qi Xinmei and the others, hearing it, screamed in fright, pressing together in a terrified huddle.

“Demon — you still refuse to show yourself?” From his sleeve, Daoist Master Cheng pulled a Talisman to Slay Evil and Extinguish Ghosts, and with two fingers raised, cast it forward. “The talisman commands — suppress all evil. By the urgent decree of the Great Supreme Lord, destroy all wickedness!”

The talisman caught flame without fire. Another faint burst of golden radiance flared outward — it seemed to connect with the ghosts. There was a brief suspension in the air.

“Meddlesome Daoist.” A sharp voice suddenly rang through the room — neither male nor female in register.

Qi Xinyu’s mother and two of the younger maids immediately rolled their eyes back and collapsed.

Qi Xinmei shook from head to toe. She pulled the bracelet from her wrist and pressed it against her chest, legs going weak — she too very much wanted to faint.

The resentful ghosts directed their combined energy toward Daoist Master Cheng, surrounding him heavily, trying to drag him into the ghost domain they had temporarily constructed. Unfortunately for them, these were new ghosts — they had accumulated baleful resentment but had not yet harmed anyone to gain additional power, and so had not yet risen to a truly dangerous level. Daoist Master Cheng was quick on his feet as well, his expression sharpening. He unhooked the bell at his waist and swung it outward.

The bell rang out with a grating, piercing sound — a note like a ghost-killing curse. The spiritual awareness of the resentful ghosts was struck with sudden pain. They let out even more wretched, ear-splitting wails.

“Kill them.” The resentful ghosts turned their gaze to the other people in the room. Their eyes had gone crimson.

Daoist Master Cheng heard this and stamped his foot hard upon the ground. “Wicked ghost — you dare?!”

He seemed to make a decision. He drew out a precious Open Heaven’s Eye Talisman, chanted the incantation and burned it, then drew two fingers along his copper-coin sword before pressing the flat of the blade against the space between his brows. Golden light entered the point between his eyebrows.

Lang Jiuchuan, watching this, thought involuntarily of Ou Miaonan. If this Daoist ever learned of that child’s Heavenly Eye, his greed would know no bounds — he’d been so reluctant to spend even one Open Heaven’s Eye Talisman. But to have a genuine pair of Heavenly Eyes born into someone — how invaluable that would be.

With the Heavenly Eye now open and looking upon the scene, Daoist Master Cheng’s face turned ashen. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven — seven resentful ghosts. Every one of them was wreathed in deep resentment, carrying a cruel and murderous blood-energy. If he let them unleash a full slaughter here, they would without a doubt transform into the most terrifying of fiends.

“Acolyte.”

The acolyte tossed over the bamboo hamper. Daoist Master Cheng thrust his hand in and pulled out a flask of black dog’s blood, which he hurled at the ghosts.

“Meddlesome Daoist — mind your own affairs — die first!” The foremost ghost, a girl of no more than twelve or thirteen in appearance, was also the one seething with the deepest resentment. She bared crimson eyes and a grotesque expression, lunging at Daoist Master Cheng with fingers curled into claws, slashing at him.

The copper-coin sword blazed with brilliant golden light and cleaved down. She let out a piercing, anguished shriek. Her resentment surged even higher. She roared in fury, “You so-called righteous ones — you aid tyranny, you make no distinction between right and wrong. You deserve to die.”

She revealed the form of her death — slaughtered, her intestines spilling out. It was precisely because of this that fury and unwillingness had consumed all reason — her resentment spiked violently.

Boom.

Blood-fiend energy exploded through the room. Her crimson eyes shifted from red to black. All the resentment wreathing her body turned black as well, coiling around her.

This is bad. The resentment had peaked. She was becoming a wrathful fiend.