Chapter 29: Utter Loyalty

Xie Sui had just stepped out of the side hall when, to his surprise, the young Taoist followed him out as well.

It was safe to say that he and this Kunyi¹ Taoist shared a mutual dislike for one another.

The Kunyi Taoist had been targeting him ever since Taoist Master Ganchen expressed interest in taking Xie Sui as a disciple.

First, he had controlled a headless little ghost to scare Xie Sui, hoping to make him look foolish. As it turned out, that show of force was completely ineffective and resulted in Kunyi having to wait an extra hour. Then, he tried to argue with Xie Sui in the side hall, only to be shut down by Xie Sui’s sharp retort.

He couldn’t win in a fight, he couldn’t win in an argument, and he had even been punished by his Grandmaster because of it. Consequently, the Kunyi Taoist could only use his facial expressions to convey his dissatisfaction with Xie Sui.

Looking at the young Taoist’s twisted and strange face, Xie Sui was somewhat speechless.

“Since you hate me so much, stop following me. I know the way down the mountain; I don’t need you to see me off.”

The Kunyi Taoist rolled his eyes hard. “You think I want to follow you? I have no intention of seeing you off. Grandmaster told me to help you carry the physical body of Shiduo Hariti. My Grandmaster is being considerate of you so you don’t have to make another trip back to the side hall. Don’t act like a spoiled brat when you’re getting a favor.”

Xie Sui didn’t want to argue with such an emotionally unstable fellow. Since he was willing to follow, then let him follow.

Just as Xie Sui was wondering how to find Liu Wuyong, he noticed the little novice monk who had led them in at the entrance of Shikong Temple standing not far from the side hall.

The round little novice was standing by the railing, his eyes slightly closed as if he were nodding off while standing.

The gaps in the wooden railing of the corridor were just the right size for him. To maintain his standing posture, the little novice had wedged himself into a gap, using the wooden posts on either side of the railing to support his body. His round head rested against a post, and his chubby cheeks were squeezed into two lumps of flesh, making him look like a little bun being pinched by a hand.

Seeing this scene, Xie Sui’s heart softened instantly, and the frustration caused by communicating with that monk and Taoist in the side hall vanished.

He walked up to the little novice and smilingly poked the two lumps of flesh on his face. “Little Master? Wake up. You’ll catch a cold sleeping here.”

“Hmm?” The little novice opened his eyes in a daze.

Seeing it was Xie Sui, he hurriedly squeezed himself out of the railing gap.

Although his eyes were still blurry as if he had just woken up, he reflexively gave Xie Sui a Buddhist salute². “Amitabha³. Benefactor, you’ve come out? Please follow me; your companion is resting in the side hall on the other side.”

“Alright, please lead the way.” Seeing the little novice swaying as if he were about to fall, Xie Sui quickly gave him a steadying hand.

Shikong Temple was really exploiting child labor. Such a small child; why didn’t they let him get enough sleep before coming out to work? Sleep is very important for young ones.

The little monk led Xie Sui to the side hall on the other side. Old Liu, who had been resting inside for half the day and had fully recovered his strength, heard the movement outside and hurried out to meet them.

Upon noticing the young Taoist behind Xie Sui, Liu Wuyong was stunned.

Was this the helper the boss had found? Speaking of which, this was a temple; he had thought the helper Xie Sui invited would be a monk or something similar. Moreover, this Taoist was far too young, and his face was twisted like he’d suffered a stroke. He looked very unreliable.

Despite his doubts, Old Liu didn’t show them. He looked at Xie Sui, waiting for his next instructions.

Xie Sui asked the little novice, “Little Master, does your temple have a shrine for Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva⁴ or the Ten Kings of Hell⁵?”

The little novice nodded obediently. “Yes, they are at the very back. Usually, very few pilgrims go there to worship. Do you want to go there, Benefactor?”

“Yes, please lead me there, Little Master.”

Since he needed to open the Yin-Yang Gap, he had to find a suitable location.

Xie Sui and Liu Wuyong followed the little novice for more than ten minutes, arriving at a large hall at the very rear of Shikong Temple.

Compared to the Mahavira Hall where other Buddha statues were enshrined, this hall dedicated to the Ten Kings of Hell was clearly much more dilapidated, with very few pilgrims.

When worshipping other Buddha statues, people felt at peace, as if their minds and bodies were being cleansed. But this Hall of the Ten Kings of Hell seemed only to evoke fear and awe. Before even entering the doors, a sinister feeling already emanated from within.

The sun had not yet set, but the light seemed unable to penetrate the interior regardless. Standing at the entrance, one could only see pitch blackness, unable to even make out the appearance of the statues directly facing the door.

The little novice was too young. Although he tried hard to speak with an adult’s tone, he couldn’t hide the emotions on his face when facing something he feared.

As they reached the vicinity of the Hall of the Ten Kings of Hell, the little novice hesitated and refused to go any closer. He said to the three of them, “The Hall of the Ten Kings of Hell is just ahead. You may enter on your own, Benefactors.”

Xie Sui felt nothing facing this gloomy hall. No matter how sinister or terrifying a place was, it felt like coming home to him.

The Mother Talisman that controlled the entrance and exit of the Yin-Yang Gap was being carried by Liu Wuyong. After entering the Hall of the Ten Kings of Hell, Liu Wuyong handed the talisman to Xie Sui.

The Kunyi Taoist was still working hard to maintain his expression of disdain toward Xie Sui. One eye looked at the sky, the other at the ground, anywhere but at Xie Sui. His contemptuous mouth was twisted almost to his ear, and each of his features seemed to point in a different direction, as if they had been haphazardly cobbled together.

While Xie Sui didn’t care what expression he made, Liu Wuyong cared quite a bit. Along the way, he couldn’t help but keep looking at this young Taoist, silently wondering if he suffered from neurological facial paralysis or the aftereffects of a stroke.

To suffer such an incurable disease at such a young age was truly tragic. No wonder he had turned his back on the secular world and become a Taoist.

Xie Sui looked at the statues before him.

The statues, dominated by shades of blue and green, were carved in an inset style that occupied two walls.

Directly facing the door was a very tall statue of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. On the side walls were statues of the Kings of Hell surrounded by blue-faced, sharp-toothed ghosts, looking extremely intimidating. Standing in the hall, being looked down upon by these statues, felt as if one had already fallen into hell, prepared to face the coming judgment.

If someone with a guilty conscience entered this hall, they would likely be overwhelmed by the oppressive atmosphere and fall to their knees on the spot, confessing their sins.

It was no wonder there were so few pilgrims here. After all, those in this world who could truly claim a clear conscience were a rare minority.

Xie Sui stood before the statue of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and used a talisman to open the Yin-Yang Gap.

Yin energy erupted violently with Xie Sui at the center. The instantaneous spread of this energy made the already dim and terrifying hall appear even more sinister. Under the weight of this almost physical Yin energy, the statues of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and the Ten Kings of Hell swayed like illusions, looking as if they might come to life at any moment.

Kunyi’s face turned deathly pale as he watched the transformation with terror.

To be honest, back in the guest wing when Xie Sui claimed he had placed the physical statue of Shiduo Hariti within the Yin-Yang Gap, Kunyi thought Xie Sui was just bragging to leave a deep impression on Taoist Master Ganchen.

Before leaving the room, Kunyi had already decided that if Xie Sui had simply dragged the statue out from some random corner while claiming it came from the Yin-Yang Gap, he would definitely report the truth to his Grand-Uncle Master to thoroughly tarnish Xie Sui’s reputation.

Black mist swept through the entire hall like a rising tide. A distorted world, wedged between the realms of the living and the dead, slowly unfurled before them like a scroll.

The Yin-Yang Gap was a void space without a fixed form; it shifted and changed according to the environment of the physical world.

This particular Yin-Yang Gap, anchored by the talisman, no longer resembled the streets near Bihu Park where it had first appeared. As the black mist dissipated, a pitch-black, eerie space replaced the grim Hall of the Ten Kings of Hell, slowly enveloping the three of them.

Above, below, and to all sides was an endless black void. The bottomless abyss beneath their feet made them hesitate to move. The three of them were like people suspended in a deep well, neither touching the sky nor the ground, with nothing but emptiness in sight.

This state of black void did not last long. Soon, Kunyi noticed slender figures slowly appearing around them.

These figures were extremely tall, wearing hats with wide brims and cloaks stitched together from colorful rags. These towering silhouettes crowded around the three of them, yet they seemed to lack physical substance. Despite being surrounded, there was no sense of crowding, only the overwhelming scent of incense ash.

The moment these figures fully materialized, countless pale arms suddenly dropped from above. These dense clusters of arms swayed over the three men like a field of wheat in the wind. They were so close that Xie Sui and the others could clearly see the faint cadaveric spots branded onto the bloodless skin of the arms.

Kunyi hadn’t originally taken Xie Sui seriously, viewing him as nothing more than a lucky rogue cultivator who had somehow caught his Grand-Uncle Master’s eye.

As a disciple of the Shangqing Sect of Zhengyi Dao, trained in the most orthodox Xuanmen techniques, Kunyi had always considered himself superior and habitually looked down on others.

However, he hadn’t expected this rogue cultivator he despised to give him such a harsh lesson.

Kunyi was on the verge of tears. He bit his lip hard, his breathing instinctively slowing to a crawl.

It really was the Yin-Yang Gap. He had actually entered the Yin-Yang Gap. Were those Ghost Soldiers? Projections of Ghost Soldiers? He was actually seeing Ghost Soldiers. In all his years of cultivation, the only ghost he had ever seen was the headless Little Ghost his master had given him. He never expected that he would not only enter the Yin-Yang Gap but also come face-to-face with Ghost Soldiers.

This felt like encountering a high-level raid boss immediately after leaving the starting village. It was a total mental breakdown.

His face white as a sheet, Kunyi instinctively grabbed the arm of Liu Wuyong standing next to him, his legs shaking as if he were stepping on a live wire.

In this state, he was far worse than Xie Sui, and even inferior to Old Liu, who was just an ordinary person.

Kunyi was only eighteen years old and had not yet completed his apprenticeship. This was his first time leaving the mountain. His master had only this one disciple and wanted him to gain some experience. Since Taoist Master Ganchen had just ended his secluded meditation, his master had shoved Kunyi toward him, hoping to temper the boy’s character.

He finally understood Taoist Master Ganchen’s well-meaning intentions from earlier. He was truly grateful to his Grand-Uncle Master; once he returned to the sect, he wouldn’t leave the mountain again for five years, let alone three. The outside world was too terrifying. Even a random rogue cultivator could open the Yin-Yang Gap.

Liu Wuyong, who had tried and failed several times to shake Kunyi off, was speechless. He finally couldn’t take it anymore and complained, “Boss, you didn’t hire this guy as backup, did you?”

This weakling was worse than he was. To be this scared just by entering the Yin-Yang Gap—was this guy even capable? He didn’t want to have to rescue the kid in the middle of a fight.

“Ah, no,” Xie Sui replied expressionlessly. “He’s just a porter. Our main help will be the monks from Shikong Temple.”

Xie Sui didn’t have time to deal with the shivering Kunyi. He raised his arms and began searching through the pale, dangling limbs above.

Because the environment within the Yin-Yang Gap had shifted, the location of Shiduo Hariti’s physical body had also changed. Xie Sui could sense that the statue was hidden somewhere among these arms.

With a pale face and a distorted expression, Kunyi watched Xie Sui rummage through a pile of arms and pull a charred, wax-covered mummy out from the pale ghost hands.

He began to shake even more violently.

Xie Sui was about to hand the body of Shiduo Hariti over to Kunyi when he turned to see the young man practically trying to hang himself off Liu Wuyong, clinging to him with both hands and feet. No matter how hard Old Liu tried to peel him off, he refused to let go.

Xie Sui fell silent.

With this kind of courage, he was a cultivator? Hadn’t this guy been quite adept at controlling that headless little girl? Why was he scared out of his wits now?

What Xie Sui didn’t know was that when Kunyi usually controlled that ghost, he never let her manifest her head. It was precisely because he found the girl’s head terrifying that he had used the head-dropping trick to scare Xie Sui, hoping to make him look foolish.

Looking at Taoist Master Kunyi’s current state, it was clear he couldn’t be relied upon to carry the Shiduo Hariti’s physical body back to the guest rooms.

Xie Sui let out a helpless sigh. He would have to make the trip himself… Seriously, what was this guy even here for? Was he just here to tour a haunted house?

Xie Sui reached out and yanked off Kunyi’s Taoist robe, using it to wrap the Shiduo Hariti’s corpse.

Old Liu didn’t have a jacket; his work coat was still being worn by Xie Sui. Xie Sui needed that coat to cover the wound on his chest, so he could only use Kunyi’s robe to hide the Hariti’s body.

There were still many pilgrims outside. If he walked around openly cradling a dried corpse, he would definitely terrify the visitors and might even attract the Law Enforcement Team.

Even after being stripped of his outer robe, Kunyi remained clung to Old Liu, refusing to open his eyes and face reality.

It wasn’t until Xie Sui put away his talismans and deactivated the Yin-Yang Gap to return to reality that Kunyi finally let go of Old Liu, trembling all over.

Having regained his freedom, Old Liu ran behind Xie Sui as fast as he could, vigorously rubbing his arm where Kunyi had squeezed it red.

After a trip through the Yin-Yang Gap and returning to the eerie Hall of the Ten Yama Kings, Kunyi found the oppressive statues much more welcoming… The real world was definitely better.

Kunyi’s cowardly display in the Yin-Yang Gap made Xie Sui worry whether he could successfully deliver the Shiduo Hariti’s body to the guest room where Taoist Master Ganchen and the others were staying.

Consequently, he didn’t even mention handing the body over to Kunyi. Carrying the robe-wrapped corpse himself, Xie Sui followed a young novice monk back to the guest rooms and handed the Shiduo Hariti’s body over to Master Liaokong.

Kunyi remained silent throughout, looking dejected as he retreated behind Taoist Master Ganchen. This time, he didn’t dare utter a single word.

Xie Sui didn’t linger at Shikong Temple. After handing the body to Master Liaokong, he took Old Liu and headed down the mountain.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Xie Sui had originally set a three-day deadline with Master Liaokong not only to give Shikong Temple time to prepare and take a headcount, but also to avoid alerting the enemy.

Old Liu always waited until the very last day to complete his tasks. If he suddenly turned in a mission early, his former boss would inevitably become suspicious.

Xie Sui didn’t want any accidents when it came to capturing that evil cultivator. It was best to pull him up by the roots in one fell swoop.

During these three days, Xie Sui stayed at his orphanage watching over the children, while Old Liu and Xiao Wu continued to stay at the hotel in the city center.

To be safe, Xie Sui didn’t bring Old Liu and Xiao Wu back to the orphanage since they were still technically the evil cultivator’s subordinates. Before that man was completely dealt with, Xie Sui didn’t want to take any risks.

After three days of rest, the injuries Xie Sui sustained from the Shiduo Hariti in the Yin-Yang Gap had improved significantly.

After saying goodbye to his father and the children at the orphanage, Xie Sui took a bus back to the city center, prepared to have Old Liu contact his former boss.

He wanted to finish this mess as soon as possible. Xie Sui was truly exhausted and irritable, his body and mind kept in a state of high tension. Having to deal with the people from Xuanmen and Shijiao on top of that had pushed him near his limit.

Xie Sui had only one goal in life: to protect his younger brothers and sisters, kill the evil cultivator who preyed on children, and then make money through live streaming to provide a good environment for his siblings and a comfortable life for himself – living out his days as a healthy, ordinary person.

This was something Xie Sui had promised that person, so he would absolutely see it through.

The old grudges had vanished with the reincarnation of the evil spirit. Xie Sui didn’t want revenge, he didn’t want to cause trouble, and he certainly didn’t want any further involvement with the people of Xuanmen. He just wanted to be an ordinary person… a wealthy ordinary person, spending the rest of his life with his family.

He hoped the children in his father’s orphanage would grow up healthy and receive a good education. He hoped that in this world, there would be no more abandoned children, and no more souls of children who could not find peace.

As the reincarnation of an evil spirit, Xie Sui had no past life and no future life. He could not be reborn and did not enter the cycle of reincarnation. Therefore, he only wanted to live this single life well, without regrets.

After Xie Sui met up with Old Liu and the others, Old Liu happened to receive instructions from his boss.

That evil cultivator surnamed Zhang had actually come to Xiangcheng in person. He ordered Old Liu to meet him at a Tulou in Lin’an Village, Nanjing County.

Because the Shiduo Hariti he had labored to create was so important to him, he insisted on personally receiving the talismans that controlled the Yin-Yang Gap from Old Liu’s hands.

However, this move played right into the hands of Xie Sui and the monks of Shikong Temple.

Xie Sui had been worrying about how to transport a group of monks to the evil cultivator’s lair without drawing attention. After all, a group of nearly twenty muscular bald men traveling together was quite conspicuous anywhere, and it would be equally suspicious if they all wore hats in unison.

Master Liaokong was a man of his word and sent eighteen warrior monks down the mountain to assist Xie Sui. These masters averaged about 1.9 meters in height, their muscles bulging against their tight training robes. Just looking at them provided a profound sense of security.

The people sent by Taoist Master Ganchen didn’t appear with the warrior monks. Having learned of the evil cultivator’s other hideouts from Old Liu, Ganchen had the Xuanmen practitioners lie in wait at those locations.

Once they received the signal from Xie Sui’s team in Xiangcheng, the Xuanmen forces would simultaneously raid the other dens, ensuring the evil cultivator’s foundation was thoroughly wiped out this time.

The drive from the city center where Xie Sui was staying to the Nanjing County Tulou took about two hours, even further than the trip to Pinghe County.

Xiao Wu was left behind by Old Liu to watch the hotel, but even without him, their group numbered twenty people. A van definitely wouldn’t fit them all. After some thought, Xie Sui simply rented a tour bus.

The Tulou in Nanjing County were famous tourist attractions, and the area was never short of tour groups and buses. Driving a tour bus there wouldn’t look out of place at all.

Fortunately, one of the eighteen warrior monks was the head of the kitchen at Shikong Temple, responsible for procuring supplies and cooking, and possessed skilled driving experience. Therefore, they only needed to rent a vehicle, avoiding the need to involve an unsuspecting driver.

Old Liu received the message from his former boss around four in the afternoon. By the time everyone arrived at Lin’an Village in a tour bus, the sky was pitch black. Because the village roads were difficult to navigate, the tour bus could not drive inside, so they parked outside the village.

From their current position, they could look down upon the clusters of circular buildings in the village.

As the light slowly faded, red lanterns beneath the arc-shaped eaves of the earthen buildings lit up one after another, resembling pairs of blood-red eyes opening in the darkness.

Lin’an Village was a complete tourist destination with no long-term residents.

Visiting hours had passed, and the crowds had gradually dispersed, either heading to nearby guesthouses or leaving directly by bus. The ancient structures slowly returned to a deathly silence, with only those blood-red lanterns remaining lit, possessing a powerful presence in the deep night.

The message the evil cultivator sent to Liu Wuyong told him to wait outside the village and enter only after receiving further instructions.

Once the last group of tourists departed, Liu Wuyong received the command from his former boss.

[Come to Buyun Building. I am in the central courtyard.]

In the courtyard of Buyun Building, at the very center of the Lin’an Village earthen buildings, a Taoist dressed in black robes stood in the middle of the open space, looking upward.

He appeared to be in his forties with an ordinary face, the kind that could instantly vanish into a crowd. If he weren’t wearing a hair bun and Taoist robes, he would go completely unnoticed on the street.

This man was Liu Wuyong’s former boss, the evil cultivator who had created the Shiduo Hariti, Zhang Dadao.

Zhang Dadao put away his phone and waited for Liu Wuyong’s arrival with his hands behind his back.

He had personally come to Xiangcheng for two reasons: first, to personally receive the Shiduo Hariti from Liu Wuyong, and second, because he had tracked down Xie Sui’s whereabouts.

Zhang Dadao was very interested in the bounty Taoist Master Xuanxu had posted using five years of his lifespan. His actions against Xie Sui were entirely for the sake of those five years.

Judging from the spiritual sense talisman sent by Taoist Master Xuanxu, Xie Sui was just an ordinary evil cultivator who raised ghosts. Furthermore, the one he kept was a mere infant spirit, a little ghost with no resentment and zero combat power. Killing such an ordinary evil cultivator to gain five years of life was practically like picking up a treasure for free; it would be foolish not to take it.

However, Zhang Dadao was still somewhat annoyed, feeling that his subordinates were all useless. He could find Xie Sui’s location with a casual search, yet during this time, not a single person had reported any intelligence regarding Xie Sui to him.

But he quickly let it go.

Because Zhang Dadao was suspicious by nature and prone to paranoia, fearing a stab in the back from his own people, he had no one by his side he could trust wholeheartedly despite having defected from Xuanmen many years ago. His subordinates were essentially all controlled by his Death Curse.

Zhang Dadao only trusted himself and the ghosts he raised.

Although the intelligence suggested Xie Sui was just an unremarkable ghost-raiser, the habitually cautious Zhang Dadao had still brought his best fierce ghost to Xiangcheng.

What he did not know was that Xie Sui had long been aware of his existence through the talismans Liu Wuyong used in the video. Moreover, Xie Sui had intercepted his escaped Shiduo Hariti, turned Liu Wuyong against him, and was now leading a group of Shijiao monks to surround and kill him.

Ignorant but exceptionally confident, Zhang Dadao stood in place in a striking pose, waiting for Liu Wuyong’s arrival, waiting for the admiring gaze of his subordinate, and waiting for the familiar words of flattery.

Meanwhile, a shadow wandered around the perimeter of the earthen building.

She wore a blood-red bridal gown, and a matching veil completely covered her face, with a purple talisman stuck to the very top of the red veil. Small embroidered shoes flickered beneath her skirt, making no sound as she moved. She seemed to have no weight at all, drifting and shifting with the wind.

This female ghost in red was a defensive line Zhang Dadao had set up to protect himself. The command he gave her was to eliminate anyone other than Liu Wuyong who entered the vicinity of the building.

What if an ordinary person accidentally wandered into the ghost’s patrol range? Naturally, they would be killed as well. To Zhang Dadao, the lives of ordinary people were cheaper than the stones on the ground. He was already being merciful enough by waiting until nightfall to act; if any blind fools dared to linger nearby, they were simply seeking death.

After receiving Zhang Dadao’s message, Liu Wuyong made no move, and Xie Sui was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, all eighteen monks from Shikong Temple entered the village and surrounded the exits of the building.

The female ghost in red, having circled the perimeter, happened to encounter these sturdy warrior monks radiating Buddhist light.

The ghost paused. Using her limited rationality, she considered Zhang Dadao’s command – these hairless monks were clearly not the thick-haired Liu Wuyong.

In the next instant, a ghostly gale rose. Terrifying resentment erupted from the female ghost in red, and blood-red light instantly filled the area. The ghost raised her sharp claws high, carrying a horrifying killing intent as she lunged at the eighteen warrior monks without hesitation.

Still posing in the courtyard, Zhang Dadao suddenly felt a bad premonition.

Immediately afterward, Buddhist light suddenly shone across the horizon outside the building. A massive phantom of a Buddha, visible only to practitioners, lit up nearly half the night sky.

Zhang Dadao was dazed for a moment, feeling as if he had accidentally wandered into a Buddhist temple.

What was happening? Why would people from Shijiao appear here?

A possibility suddenly occurred to Zhang Dadao – could it be that while the Shiduo Hariti was wandering through Xiangcheng, she had been sensed by the monks of Xiangcheng’s Shikong Temple? And then that group of monks had followed the Shiduo Hariti’s scent all the way behind Liu Wuyong to find this place?

Damn it, what a stroke of bad luck.

That fellow Liu Wuyong really is useless!

It never even crossed Zhang Dadao’s mind that Liu Wuyong might have defected. Having had the man under his command for so many years, Zhang Dadao knew exactly how cowardly and afraid of death that drifter was.

With the Death Curse in place, it was absolutely impossible for Liu Wuyong to betray him. If Zhang Dadao died, Liu Wuyong wouldn’t survive either.

Seeing the Buddhist light drawing closer and closer, Zhang Dadao had no choice. He released all the ghosts he carried on his person, hoping these entities could buy him a little more time.

He didn’t dare face those monks head-on. Judging by the phantom image of the Buddha statue from earlier, Shijiao had clearly sent a large number of people.

He had come to Xiangcheng alone this time. Aside from the ghosts he carried, the only one who could help him was the useless Liu Wuyong.

Under the pursuit and interception of those warrior monks, Zhang Dadao was in a state of extreme distress.

Never having imagined he would be ambushed, Zhang Dadao was ill-prepared. Seeing that his ghosts couldn’t stop the monks, and operating on the principle of stalling for as long as possible, he even threw out all the ghost-trapping talismans he had on him.

Just as all his ghosts were captured and his talismans were exhausted, and he was being driven into a dead end by the warrior monks of Shikong Temple, a familiar figure suddenly appeared not far ahead.

“Boss! Quick! Come this way! I have a talisman that can open the Yin-Yang Gap! Let’s escape into the Yin-Yang Gap first, those monks will never find us there!” Liu Wuyong poked his head out from a corner ahead, speaking with a face full of loyalty.

Zhang Dadao had originally assumed Liu Wuyong had fled long ago. He hadn’t expected the man to be so loyal, actually daring to come back and save him while being hunted by these monks.

He knew well that Liu Wuyong was a lazy and useless fellow. Even if given a simple errand, he would drag it out until the very last day of the deadline to barely finish it. Liu Wuyong’s only real use was filming videos to make money for him… yet in the end, he was actually being saved by this man.

Although it was highly likely that the Shijiao people had been drawn here by Liu Wuyong, that only proved Liu Wuyong was a piece of trash who couldn’t handle a mission. It didn’t shake the image of loyalty Liu Wuyong projected by not fleeing alone in a moment of crisis and instead returning to save him.

True loyalty is only seen in times of trouble! Zhang Dadao couldn’t help but sigh emotionally in his heart.

Once he escaped the pursuit of these Shijiao monks and made his comeback, he would definitely place Liu Wuyong in a position of great importance.

Being useless wasn’t scary; what was scary were backstabbing traitors who hid daggers behind smiles. Although Liu Wuyong was truly a waste, at worst, he would give Liu Wuyong a few more powerful ghosts in the future and train him properly.

Being able to find a truly loyal subordinate through this incident could be considered a blessing in disguise. Having managed his own power alone for so many years, it was impossible to say Zhang Dadao wasn’t lonely. It was time to find a loyal subordinate to share his burdens – Liu Wuyong’s appearance made Zhang Dadao see his future second-in-command.

Zhang Dadao looked at Liu Wuyong’s back with appreciation and followed him, plunging headlong into the Yin-Yang Gap.

However, after Zhang Dadao entered the Yin-Yang Gap, he discovered to his despair that the “loyal” subordinate he had just acknowledged was standing respectfully behind another person.

It was Xie Sui.

Seeing Zhang Dadao appear in the Yin-Yang Gap, a smile like that of a malevolent ghost appeared on that exquisite, beautiful face.

“I heard you were looking for me?”

An extremely terrifying aura radiated from Xie Sui’s body. That horrific Yin energy, surging like a tsunami, was more frightening than the fiercest vengeful spirit Zhang Dadao had ever seen.

The roles of prey and hunter had been completely reversed.

Zhang Dadao looked at Xie Sui with a face full of shock, completely unable to understand why the prey he was hunting would appear on his final path of escape.

And you call this an ordinary ghost raiser?! That damned Taoist Master Xuanxu actually lied to him! He knew there was no such thing as five years of lifespan for free in this world!

Translator’s Notes