Yu Ling’er felt somewhat disheveled in the wind, tightly grasping Tang Youshu’s hand. Her fox brain wasn’t as complex as a human’s, and she couldn’t comprehend what kind of human ethical tragedy was unfolding before her eyes.

Tang Youshu didn’t speak, only frowning and concentrating as he watched everything unfold.

Although he had experienced two lifetimes, in his previous life, there seemed to be no occurrence of soul marriage, nor did this person called Ye Yi appear before his master.

Now, due to Cui Xiaoxiao’s appearance, many worldly affairs were developing in unpredictable directions.

Just then, the princess kneeling beside King Changshan was already desperately shaking her head and crying. Her disheveled hair almost covered her face, accompanied by shrill wails, as if she had gone mad and wanted to fight Xiaoxiao to the death.

Xiaoxiao was also shocked by this human ethical tragedy. Tears welled up in her eyes as she said helplessly, “I… I only said he might be fake. I’m sorry, I didn’t know it would cause such trouble… But you should be able to distinguish between real and fake. How could you believe everything just because someone else said something?”

Princess Yongning seemed to have been touched on a painful spot, again regretting like a madwoman as she shook her hair and wailed loudly.

Just then, dark clouds suddenly rolled across the sky, and the wind swirled strongly across the wilderness, stirring the bushes and wild grass.

Ye Yi, who had been frightened into collapsing on the ground earlier, had somehow stood up. He had been wearing that light, breezy smile throughout, silently watching this tragedy of a daughter killing her father.

Now, in the fierce wind, Ye Yi’s long robes fluttered, and his hair danced. He slowly raised his head again.

He was still the same person, but his entire bearing had changed once more.

That elegant, jade-like young master from beneath the magnolia flowers seemed to descend like a god, appearing before everyone’s eyes again.

That mysterious soul had once again possessed Ye Yi’s body.

Wei Jie raised his sword toward Ye Yi and said coldly, “What did you do to the princess?”

Although Ye Yi was smiling, there was a cold indifference that saw through worldly affairs as he said softly, “When she killed her father, her will was clear. It’s just that the killing intent in her heart was stirred up by the soul-confusing incense in the palanquin. She was the one who misunderstood her father, and she was the one who acted. This sin of patricide cannot be blamed on others…”

He spoke with light indifference, as if this human ethical tragedy had nothing to do with him at all.

But Xiaoxiao suddenly understood the entire cause and effect. She said coldly, “This matter is connected to you! If the previous King Changshan was real, how could the princess have mistaken him? That face-covering gauze was a deceptive illusion! The one who previously spent time with the princess must have been someone else, just to arouse the princess’s suspicions. You and Lord Can had already calculated that Princess Yongning’s birth chart met your requirements. Lord Can faked his death, controlled King Changshan, then used the excuse of fire disfigurement to wrap his face. When Princess Yongning became suspicious, you switched back to the real prince, then used words and incense to provoke the princess’s killing intent, creating this patricidal tragedy! The purpose was to make the princess become a suitable vessel for soul marriage!”

Master Tang Youshu had explained very clearly before that living souls with attachments to the human world cannot exchange complete souls from the underworld.

Although Ye Yi was full of lies and deceit, what he said before about not knowing Princess Yongning had “married” early might have been true.

Because this soul-possessed Ye Yi had arranged Princess Yongning’s wedding day from the beginning, the day she would personally kill her father.

Only this way would Princess Yongning’s heart be filled with regret, making her the perfect vessel for soul exchange!

After hearing Xiaoxiao’s analysis, Ye Yi still smiled elegantly, his eyes bright as he examined her. “You… are truly clever. What exactly is your background? Even the Book of Life and Death cannot penetrate your three previous lives?”

Wei Jie didn’t like hearing this scheming man fortune-telling for Xiaoxiao. Treating his rambling words as nonsense, he said coldly, “Your plot has succeeded. What do you plan to do next?”

Ye Yi was too lazy to even look at Wei Jie, once a life-and-death nemesis who could fight him to a draw, now just a lowly life in the mortal dust. With his divine status shattered, Wei Jie was no longer the former master of the underworld, a god feared by the three realms.

Such a person who couldn’t achieve greatness was ultimately just an unlucky fool whose fate would be usurped by others, not worth too much of his attention.

Now everything was within his layered calculations. This feeling of having everyone’s destiny in his hands, manipulating them at will according to plan, was truly quite pleasant.

Ye Yi wore his light, breezy smile, calculated the time with his fingers, looked up at the lightning and thunder in the sky, and said slowly, “Princess Yongning’s heart is now full of guilt and regret toward her father. She has no interest in living. Having killed her father, she’s worse than a beast. How is she worthy of living in this world? Better to form a good karma and go to the underworld to exchange for someone in my place…”

After speaking, fierce winds came. The brocade carriage that King Changshan was sitting in suddenly changed color at Ye Yi’s wave, becoming a glaring, striking red.

On those red cloths were covered the most malicious curses written in fresh blood. In an instant, all the attendants around the convoy had their souls captured by the red cloth. One by one, they suddenly became wooden-faced, drew knives, and cut their wrists. Gurgling fresh blood stained their snow-white servant clothes, slowly turning them deep red!

The soul marriage convoy to the underworld had been formed, only missing a bride who had lost all interest in life!

Seeing Wei Jie and Cui Xiaoxiao about to pull Princess Yongning away, Ye Yi casually raised his hand and waved. A bell-like barrier immediately trapped the several people from the Talismonger Sect, preventing them from interfering.

Ye Yi gently waved his robes. Princess Yongning, who had been crying in pain, suddenly stood up and walked step by step toward her father’s corpse lying on the ground. Then she bent down, pulled the sword from her father’s chest, and thrust it straight toward her abdomen.

The position of this sword was very clever, avoiding vital points while still bringing one to the brink of death.

Only this way could Princess Yongning’s soul infinitely approach the River of Forgetfulness, while awakening that trace of soul sleeping at the river bottom, summoning the soul back to Yongning’s body…

Watching Princess Yongning thrust the sword without hesitation amid everyone’s exclamations, Ye Yi’s eyes flashed with a kind of triumphant excitement.

Heaven knows how long he had been waiting for this moment…

Ye Yi didn’t want to waste more time. He waved his hand to draw Yongning into the blood-red palanquin, then flew to appear before Yongning, covering the princess’s head with a blood-red bridal veil.

Just as success was about to be achieved, fierce winds swirled. The originally wooden princess suddenly extended her hand to quickly attack Ye Yi.

Just as Ye Yi was startled and his attention was diverted, a small paper figure carrying a talisman floated from the wind and fallen leaves, slapping onto Ye Yi’s forehead with a “snap.”

This talisman was made of silver foil, also covered with intricate blood-red runes. Ye Yi’s head tilted slightly back, and a golden light tried to escape from his crown, but was firmly locked in place by the glowing runes on the yellow talisman.

At this time, Ye Yi’s physical body was motionless, and whatever god or demon possessed him could not escape.

This flesh had become a cage binding gods and demons.

The moment his primordial spirit was trapped, the barrier that had isolated Xiaoxiao and the others immediately dispersed.

Xiaoxiao wore a cunning smile as she flew over and quickly high-fived Princess Yongning, who had jumped down from the carriage, indicating their pleasant cooperation.

Then the street charlatan Xiaoxiao imitated Ye Yi’s light, breezy smile, tilted her head, and asked, “Dare I ask this young master, how did you find our magic trick just now?”

Where the talisman was pasted on Ye Yi’s forehead, a blue light seal glowed faintly.

Xiaoxiao had seen similar blue light appear on Wei Jie’s forehead, though their patterns were somewhat different.

Tang Youshu had said that it was the divine seal only deities possessed!

This man, full of lies and a vicious heart… was a god?

At this time, the sealed Ye Yi also stared wide-eyed in disbelief. Although he couldn’t move at all, he still couldn’t believe that the scheme he had painstakingly arranged had been so easily broken by these ant-like people!

What was going on? Princess Yongning had committed the great crime of killing her father and should have been mentally disturbed, with no interest in living. How did she suddenly counterattack?

And what kind of talisman did she use that could immobilize him?

Just then, Princess Yongning pulled out the sword she had inserted in her abdomen, pressed the spring mechanism with her finger, and easily pressed the retractable steel blade that could extend and retract, saying proudly, “How about that? This is the treasure I exchanged for a pair of jade bracelets.”

The sword she had used to “kill” her father earlier was a sword-swallowing prop she had traded from the farmhouse owner.

When Princess Yongning first got this treasure to play with, she had followed Yu Ling’er’s suggestion and modified the sword, installing a fish bladder filled with chicken blood in the hilt. Once broken, it would be covered in blood with a terrifying effect.

When they were at the farmhouse, she had demonstrated it many times before everyone, becoming quite proficient.

Xiaoxiao watched Princess Yongning showing off there and had Wei Jie unlock King Changshan’s acupoints.

The “deceased” King Changshan, when his immobilization points were released, suddenly gasped for breath and looked around in panic. When he saw his daughter, he immediately embraced her and burst into tears, crying out that he had been captured by the souls of royal ancestors and nearly gone to the underworld.

Ye Yi was too lazy to watch the father-daughter reunion scene. He only looked at Xiaoxiao, his eyes somber as he asked, “When did you see through the deception?”

Xiaoxiao circled the motionless Ye Yi, examining him while saying, “You know, we’ve been staying at the farmhouse these past few days, eating the same things over and over – like preserved meat, mountain goods, and the stinky fish pickled by the house owner… Oh right, we had stinky fish for dinner today too!”

Ye Yi frowned, not understanding the meaning of her rambling.

Xiaoxiao simply made it clear: “You were only busy harming people, so of course you didn’t know that the real King Changshan hates stinky fish the most – he can’t even stand the smell!”

Xiaoxiao only became suspicious when King Changshan suddenly vomited earlier when Princess Yongning grabbed his neck and spoke face-to-face, as if he was affected by the smell from Princess Yongning’s breath.

This King Changshan had been too quiet today, hardly speaking at all, with everything handled by his attendants, like a puppet.

When Xiaoxiao saw him suddenly vomit, she had a flash of inspiration and suddenly remembered that during dinner, Princess Yongning had complained about eating red oil stinky fish every meal, making her mouth smell terrible.

Her mind had always been quick. In that instant, many thoughts flashed through her mind, especially when she realized that today’s events seemed designed to anger Princess Yongning, she began to understand.

What if the bandaged King Changshan before them… was the real King Changshan?

She had been deceived once by that gentle, jade-like man and nearly couldn’t return from the underworld.

What goes around comes around! Fortunately, with her years of street experience deceiving people, in that instant, Xiaoxiao thought of turning the tables.

The fake sword that could retract into the hilt had been dropped on the ground when Princess Yongning was being chased, and Xiaoxiao had picked it up casually. Now it could be put to good use.

When she opened the sword and handed it to Princess Yongning, the furious princess didn’t notice and only gripped the hilt tightly, simultaneously triggering the spring mechanism and “inserting” the sword into her father’s chest.

Xiaoxiao took the opportunity to hit King Changshan’s acupoints, perfectly coordinating to temporarily stop the prince’s breathing.

This magic trick was much more sophisticated than when Xiaoxiao led the entire Talismonger Sect in street performances in Luoyi!

Xiaoxiao even felt that if they ever lacked money again, performing this act on the street would be more thrilling and profitable than the great fox transformation!

When Ye Yi thought his scheme had succeeded and Yongning regained her senses, Xiaoxiao cleverly used the paper figure that had fallen on the ground, pasted it to Princess Yongning’s ear to remind her that she had used a fake sword, while having the princess continue shaking her head with disheveled hair, acting mad to lure the self-satisfied Ye Yi into the trap.

As for the talisman that trapped Ye Yi, it was a masterpiece that exhausted two hundred years of the Talismonger Sect’s efforts.

The silver for making the talisman was the most yin silver from the underworld; the blood on the talisman was from Xiaoxiao, the second-generation sect master of the Talismonger Sect who was full of magical implements and demonic power; the patterns on the talisman contained the lifelong magical power of Tang Youshu, the first-generation old sect master who had been immersed in the Talismonger Sect’s ways for over two hundred years.

This was the perfect soul-fixing talisman they had researched together when they were bored at the farmhouse, thinking about how to deal with Ye Yi if they encountered him again.

Although the two generations of master and disciple from the Talismonger Sect had split up, the soul-fixing talisman jointly created by the two Talismonger Sect experts Tang Youshu and Cui Xiaoxiao was not to be underestimated.

This soul-fixing talisman, different from yellow paper talismans, was truly no joke – it trapped whatever immortal or demon was inside Ye Yi’s body in one go.

After Xiaoxiao finished speaking, she carefully examined the divine seal on his forehead and very sincerely asked Ye Yi, “Dare I ask this young master, what exactly are you? If you say you’re an immortal, why do you commit such vicious acts? Could it be that divine justice makes exceptions for immortals like you?”

Ye Yi remained silent for a long time. The smile of a worldly expert on his gentle, jade-like face had completely disappeared.

He never expected that he would be deceived by crude street magic that could be seen for a penny in busy markets!

And the one who planned all this and quickly countered him was a young girl who had just formed her Golden Core.

Even as carefree as a deity, having his carefully laid plans so casually and easily destroyed would make him cough up three bowls of immortal blood.

Hearing Xiaoxiao question his identity, Ye Yi’s expression gradually darkened. The lightning and thunder originally summoned by the blood talisman had slowly dissipated. It wasn’t easy for him to come to the human world, and he had originally thought that by personally planning everything, he would surely find that person.

But he never expected that such an opportunity would be destroyed by these lowly ant-like people!

When dawn began to break and the distant village echoed with cockcrows, immense despair struck his heart.

Just as Wei Jie raised the Heaven’s Punishment Sword, wanting to strike down this demon with one blow, Ye Yi suddenly roared. In an instant, heaven and earth shook, and the talisman pasted on his forehead also cracked.

But as the silver talisman shattered, the fragments cut Ye Yi’s forehead. In an instant, his lightning-shaped divine seal bled – this was a sign of damaged divine status.

Ye Yi swept his sleeves and disappeared in clouds of thick smoke, vanishing without a trace…

Xiaoxiao stamped her foot in frustration, feeling that the man had escaped again. But Tang Youshu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said, “Fortunately, the silver talisman cut his divine seal. Otherwise, once he broke free, none of us would have been his match!”

A god was still a god. Even if he was only possessing a mortal’s body, he was still an insurmountable peak for worldly people.

Xiaoxiao’s calculations had enraged that god, so in his fury, he shattered the silver talisman.

But Xiaoxiao’s luck was too good – she had coincidentally caused the silver fragment to cut the god’s most vulnerable part, barely allowing everyone present to escape disaster.

Thinking of this, Tang Youshu looked at his final disciple with reverence. This Cui Xiaoxiao was an even more terrifying demon than his previous life’s master.

Counting this way, Cui Xiaoxiao had already caused the divine status of two living immortal gods to shatter or be damaged.

This ability to hammer gods when encountering them, and shatter them with one blow, was comparable to the Heaven Court’s “Bane of Immortals”!

Such natural talent was truly worthy of being his master ancestor in this life – Master Ancestor Cui above, please accept this disciple-grandson Tang Youshu’s bow!

Xiaoxiao watched Tang Youshu suddenly kneel and bow to her in silence, frightened into immediately jumping aside, then supporting his arm and asking, “You… what are you doing?”

Although she still hadn’t forgiven Tang Youshu, he had been her master after all. How could she properly accept his kowtowing?

After hearing Tang Youshu’s admiring words, Cui Xiaoxiao was somewhat amused and helpless. She could only sigh and say, “You were the one who plotted to trick me into coming to this time two hundred years ago because of my unlucky fate. How can you now praise my good fortune? Could it be that my ten-injury destiny suddenly changed? I’ve repeatedly caused two high gods to damage their divine status. This proves even more that I’m a disaster star – anyone who gets close to me won’t end well…”

Seeing Xiaoxiao becoming more and more dejected, Tang Youshu felt too guilty to look at the young girl.

Instead, Wei Jie walked over, put his arm around Xiaoxiao’s shoulder, then said coldly to Tang Youshu, “Didn’t I tell you not to provoke Xiaoxiao for no reason? She gets irritated just looking at you now!”

Xiaoxiao pushed him away: “You missed one – I get irritated looking at both you, master and disciple.”

Wei Jie never acknowledged the sin of deceiving Xiaoxiao. He now kept himself cleanly separated from his previous life as the demon lord.

What a joke – if he acknowledged it, Xiaoxiao would turn her back on him.

Xiaoxiao had no mind to settle old scores with this master-disciple pair now. She looked at the guards who had their souls captured by that Ye Yi and had all cut their wrists.

These people still had some breath left. They needed to save these people first.

The sins committed by immortals could be brushed off, and they could walk away. But when there were injustices in the human world, how could those who hadn’t become gods sit by and watch?

So Tang Youshu’s carry-all bamboo basket came in handy this time – hemostatic medicine and gauze all came into play.

Even the precious Princess Yongning rolled up her sleeves to help Tang Youshu and Xiaoxiao stop bleeding and save people.

At this moment, in a shrine in the outskirts, a long-unseen person was kneeling before the hall, bowing to the deity enshrined on the altar.

The people of Great Qi were superstitious, with various gods and Buddhas flourishing. In this rural shrine, the widely worshipped deity statue was enshrined.

The person burning incense and silently reciting prayers was none other than the long-missing Lord Can.

He had impersonated King Changshan for a long time and could finally breathe freely without the gauze wrapping his face. He closed his eyes in prayer for a while, then slowly raised his head to look at the deity enshrined on the altar – the Dong Yuan Emperor.

This deity had an extraordinary origin – he was not a mortal who ascended, but the divine son born to the Nine Flower Heavenly Emperor and the Heavenly Pool Saint.

He was born a god. In ancient times, when assisting the Heavenly Emperor in conquering the three realms, he could eliminate thousands of demons above and exterminate myriad monsters below, establishing brilliant military achievements.

Originally, he should have been the one to govern the underworld. But his mother pitied him and petitioned the Heavenly Emperor, saying this son had already committed too much killing of all living beings. If he entered the underworld again, he would sooner or later become a demon god, which would ruin his great immortal path.

The Heavenly Emperor felt these words made great sense, so he appointed another deity who had made military contributions, the Ancient Flame Emperor, to go to the underworld.

While the equally murderous Dong Yuan Emperor entered the immortal palace, no longer dealing with mortal demon subjugation. He washed away killing intent with Heavenly River water, managed immortal palace ceremonies, cultivated body and mind, waiting to transform and ascend to the Heavenly Emperor realm.

All deities could accept incense from the human world. For some reason, myths about his conquest and demon subjugation had always been widely spread in the mortal world.

So in shrines everywhere, there were almost always positions for this righteous god, receiving endless incense and blessings. It seemed this high god’s divine mother had foresight.

If the Dong Yuan Emperor had gone to the underworld to manage ghosts and spirits, how could he have had such abundant incense to nourish his divine status?

Thinking of this, Lord Can couldn’t help but show a cold smile on his face that revealed some age.

Those ignorant people only cared about burning the incense in their hands to worship. How could they know whether they were worshipping a benevolent god or an evil spirit?

But just as Lord Can was concentrating on burning incense and praying, a cracking sound suddenly came from this quiet shrine.

Lord Can slowly looked up to see that the sacred, transcendent divine statue’s forehead divine seal showed signs of cracking, while gurgling fresh blood flowed out…

Lord Can couldn’t help but grip the incense in his hand tightly, his eyes showing some surprise and uncertainty.

Were those Talismonger Sect people so difficult to deal with? Why did the Dong Yuan Emperor’s divine statue show such ominous signs?

Just as he stood up, the door behind him was suddenly pushed open. The man who walked in with the wind was Young Master Ye Yi, who had gone to fetch Yongning.

At this time, the blood traces on his forehead hadn’t dried, and they were the same as the cracking on the divine statue!

Lord Can squinted as he watched, quickly walking over and saying in a low voice, “Emperor, what happened to you?”

Ye Yi walked to the divine statue, looked up at it, and smiled softly, “Don’t you humans have a saying about training an eagle but getting pecked in the eye by the eagle? I never expected to be fooled by such a third-rate trick…”

Just earlier, when he discovered he had been fooled by such a third-rate trick, his momentary poisonous rage damaged his divine status.

He was a heavenly god. Without divine orders or human summoning, he couldn’t privately descend to the mortal world. This time, his private visit to the human world had become somewhat difficult to resolve.