Clutching his aching back, Ou Luozhong stared in horror at the maids and servant women who had collapsed at the entrance to the main room in the inner courtyard. Every one of their faces was covered in a layer of dark energy, without the slightest movement — no telling whether they were alive or dead.

“They’re still alive — they’ve merely been struck by the malevolent yin killing energy,” Lang Jiuchuan said. “Have someone move them inside. Otherwise, in this bitter cold, if they keep lying here, they won’t be far from death.”

Ou Luozhong immediately called the steward who had just followed them in to move the women, then said, “If even they are in such a state, then what of my wife?”

Lang Jiuchuan said nothing, but quickened her pace, the Dizhong Bell in her hand never stopping its movement.

The Dao energy spreading through the Dizhong Bell broke through the pervading yin killing energy, and at the same time, the bell’s resonant tones rang like an inescapable incantation, washing away the fury, resentment, and rage lodged in people’s hearts.

Lang Jiuchuan walked ahead of Ou Luozhong to the doorway, where a ferocious wave of killing energy surged straight at her face.

She shoved Ou Luozhong aside with one hand, and with a sharp shake of her wrist, the supreme Dao intent erupted from the Dizhong Bell, repelling the malevolent killing energy back, while simultaneously adding a powerful and domineering will-energy of suppression and soul-obliteration.

A cry of pain came from inside — very small and soft, almost delicate.

“Miaomiao.” Ou Luozhong’s eyes grew wet. He recognized it as his daughter’s voice, and wanted to charge inside — but remembering Lang Jiuchuan’s instructions, he dared not move rashly.

To his dismay, the moment he called out, his daughter’s voice came from inside: “Father, save me — save Miaomiao — Miaomiao is in so much pain.”

“Miaomiao.” Ou Luozhong collapsed to the ground, old tears rolling down his face.

Lang Jiuchuan heard that soft, delicate voice, yet remained unmoved. She stepped over the threshold and entered the room.

The people inside were in the same state as those outside — all knocked unconscious by the yin killing energy, including Madam Ou herself, whose face was covered in murky dark energy, her breath faint and weak.

“Madam.” Ou Luozhong, who had followed behind, rushed over and gathered Madam Ou into his arms. He then took out the yang talisman he had been hiding against his chest and tucked it inside her collar before looking up.

When he looked up, his eyes nearly burst from his head.

There was his youngest daughter — usually gentle and soft as a rabbit — but now her face was covered in a thick, dark and sinister layer of cosmetics, her eyes outlined heavily in black with an eyebrow brush, her lips a vivid blood-red, her expression ferocious and hideous, like a demon ghost.

This was not his daughter at all — this was a demonic witch, an evil ghost!

She was staring at Lang Jiuchuan, her eyes blood-red. “I thought someone remarkable had come — turns out it’s nothing but a frail little short-lived ghost. And you dare try to ruin my plans?”

“Even a short-lived ghost can subdue you,” Lang Jiuchuan said coolly. “If you willingly leave this child’s body, I can send you to reincarnation. If you insist on fighting, then we shall fight.”

She gave the Dizhong Bell in her hand a shake.

Ou Miaonan’s body gave a slight tremor. The blood-red eyes filled with even deeper hatred, yet also a hint of wariness. The possessed girl’s eyes shifted, and she looked toward Ou Luozhong who was staring at her, her expression changing — she began to cry piteously: “Does Father no longer love Miaomiao? Quickly drive this wicked person away — am I no longer Father’s darling?”

Ou Luozhong roared, “You monster — utterly repulsive. You are not my Miaomiao. Get out of my daughter’s body right now, or even if I must die — even if it means my soul is scattered to the winds — I will chase you all the way to the Yellow Springs.”

Ou Miaonan’s expression darkened: “You old wretch — you are not fit to be my father!”

The malevolent ghost energy surging from her body swelled and swept toward Ou Luozhong — but the yang talisman on his body blazed with golden light, blocking all of that ghost energy and sending it right back.

Ou Miaonan jolted, and while she was filled with wariness, she began building up power. She screeched, “So I, the Ten-Thousand-Ghost Matriarch, underestimated you, you short-lived ghost — you can actually draw effective talismans. But do you think this alone can stop me? Dream on!”

Before her words were finished, a dense and chilling ghost energy surged massively, flooding the room. In an instant, the small main chamber had transformed into a nightmarish ghost’s hell.

Countless resentful souls howled and wailed within it, their ghostly cries sharp and piercing, crying so intensely that it stirred a vicious rage in the chests of those who heard it — a murderous desire to slaughter everyone in the world.

Gnashing and clawing resentful souls, laced with cold and vicious energy, swept down upon Lang Jiuchuan and Ou Luozhong from every direction, seeking to tear them apart and devour them.

Ou Luozhong felt a dull pain in his chest, a sweet and metallic taste in his throat, and he vomited a mouthful of blood. His mind was heavy and muddled, and a vicious voice was cursing him, saying he was unfit to be a father — unable to protect his own child.

He was guilty!

Ou Luozhong’s eyes hardened. His mouth began to move, his teeth about to bite down on the tip of his tongue — when both his cheeks were seized with violent pain, and something was stuffed into his mouth: a pill with a medicinal fragrance. It dissolved the moment it touched his tongue, and his mind instantly cleared.

He blinked and looked at Lang Jiuchuan, who was pinching his cheeks. He let out a sound of surprise.

She looked quite slight and delicate, yet her grip was powerful — she had pinched his cheeks with enough force to actually hurt.

Lang Jiuchuan released him and gave a cold snort. “A petty soul-bewitching formation, and you dare show it off in front of me?”

Her two fingers formed a hand seal, and her mouth moved rapidly through an incantation: “Divine light illuminates, the Great White Star brings auspiciousness, shattering the malevolent, vanquishing the wicked — break!”

A talisman flew from her hand. With a thunderous boom, golden light erupted — and the ghost’s hell before them vanished entirely in that radiance, leaving only the original main chamber once more.

Ou Miaonan’s spirit soul was struck with a sharp pain. She raised her arm to shield herself from the blinding golden light and swiftly retreated several steps back into the shadows. Her voice turned vicious and malevolent: “Fine, fine — you’ve forced my hand. I’ll devour this little girl’s soul right now.”

What?

Ou Luozhong was aghast: “No!”

Ou Miaonan sneered, “Father — you’re the one who pushed me to this.”

As she spoke, her expression shifted, and the original soul emerged — the real Ou Miaonan — weeping as she cried out: “Father!”

It was her — his daughter. Ou Miaonan had always called him Father — never anything else. Ou Luozhong, both furious and desperate, immediately looked toward Lang Jiuchuan.

But Lang Jiuchuan was watching Ou Miaonan, a thoughtful expression in her eyes — something seemed not quite right.

This female ghost was a malevolent spirit who had devoured untold numbers of resentful souls, becoming a vicious and powerful great ghost. She had then found an opportunity, broken through the protective talismans of this courtyard, and seized the young girl’s body.

By rights, if she wished to fully possess the body, having already taken hold of Ou Miaonan’s physical form, she should have long since devoured the original soul — this would both increase her own cultivation and complete the possession.

But she had not.

Moreover, all the people in this courtyard were still alive — not a single one had been killed by her.

What was she waiting for?

Ou Miaonan noticed Lang Jiuchuan standing in her way and grew a little anxious. Her gaze couldn’t help but drift toward the outside — curse it all, she didn’t know what kind of person this woman was, yet she truly could block her.

A trace of urgency showed on her face.

Before Lang Jiuchuan could work out what was happening, Ou Miaonan spoke again: “Short-lived ghost — if you keep blocking me, even if you can destroy me, I promise you’ll only end up with a cold corpse. Oh, a frail little corpse, just like yours. You practitioners of the Dao — aren’t you dedicated to putting people first, to saving lives as your sacred duty? If a person dies — and dies because of your stubborn inflexibility — then you’ll be carrying that karmic burden on your shoulders.”

“Jiuchuan, get over here quickly — there’s a little ghost here, and it’s trying to be reborn into the body of the woman in labor. I can barely hold it back anymore.” Jiang Che’s anxious voice rang out suddenly in the spirit altar of her mind.

Lang Jiuchuan’s eyes went cold. So that was it.

“Enough idle talk,” Lang Jiuchuan said, raising the Panguan writing brush and hurling it at her. “Why don’t you try devouring someone — and let me see!”

Spells and formations — all fabricated, not to be believed, not to be believed!