After transmigrating into the body of the Jade Rat Spirit, I became Nezha's adopted sister.

The thin man in black robes looked terrified when he saw the crimson figure. His Adam's apple bobbed, and the tip of his white bone staff pointed at the boy on the treetop.

"Who are you?!"

Before he finished speaking, a chilling aura of death suddenly erupted from the tip of his staff, condensing into several gray-white ghost hands that let out a sharp shriek and pounced on the red-clad boy on the treetop!

This was his trump card, a dark technique that could extract souls and steal spirits. Even if it couldn't severely injure him, it would force back this mysterious evil star and buy him a moment to escape!

On the branch, Nezha didn't even lift his eyelids. He didn't even look at the hideous ghostly hands that pounced towards him; he simply casually curled his fingers, which were resting on his knees, and flicked them.

"laugh--"

A tiny spark, as small as a firefly on a summer night, floated out lightly.

Mars collided with the first ghostly hand.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a sizzling sound like grease falling into a fire.

The hideous ghost hand froze instantly, and then, starting from the point of contact, the gray-white color was rapidly swallowed by the intense, pure red, like ice and snow melting into boiling water, leaving not even a wisp of smoke before being completely annihilated.

Then came the second, the third...

In the blink of an eye, those several ghostly hands, powerful enough to shatter the souls of ordinary cultivators, vanished completely, as if they had never existed.

A night breeze swept by, carrying a few withered leaves.

The thin man in black robes stood frozen in place, his face drained of all color, leaving only a deathly ashen hue. The evil demon behind him trembled violently, almost collapsing.

What kind of tactic is this?!

Nezha then raised his eyes, his gaze lazily sweeping across the area below.

He didn't speak, but simply tapped the horizontal branch lightly with his toes.

The figure disappeared.

The next instant, they appeared right in front of the last remaining evil demon, within arm's reach.

The evil demon only saw a blinding red shadow and a pair of beautiful, chilling phoenix eyes; he didn't even have time to react.

The hand clad in silver armor and wrist guards loosely clenched its five fingers and pressed them against the top of his head.

There was no force, not even any contact, just a tiny bit of empty space between them.

The demon's eyes widened to their limit, reflecting the flickering flames in his pupils. Then, his entire body silently erupted with crimson-gold flames from the inside out!

The flames were bright but not explosive, burning quietly. In just one breath, only a small clump of ashes remained, which were scattered by the wind.

Clean and neat.

Nezha withdrew his hand, as if he had merely brushed away a speck of dust. Only then did he turn around and look at the last, thin man in black robes, the so-called Bone Staff Master.

The muscles on the skinny man's face twitched violently; fear finally overwhelmed everything. He let out a strange cry, no longer caring about sacrifices or his master, and slammed his bone staff into the ground. His body instantly transformed into a thick plume of black smoke, preparing to burrow underground and escape with earth magic!

"Trying to leave?"

Nezha gave a light snort and didn't even chase after him. He simply raised his right foot and casually stomped lightly on the ground where the black smoke was about to disappear.

The phantom image of the fiery wheels beneath his feet flashed and disappeared.

"Buzz—!"

The ground trembled slightly.

Centered on his landing point, the land within a radius of several feet instantly turned crimson and scorching hot, as if it had been burned by an invisible branding iron!

The solid soil and sand seemed to lose all their pores in an instant, becoming as hard as iron, and a scorching, masculine, and domineering aura spread out, dispelling all evil and escaping magic!

"puff!"

The black smoke that was about to disappear underground was forced out and reformed into the disheveled figure of the thin man in black robes.

He staggered backward, his face filled with horror and despair. The backlash from the forced interruption of his earth-遁术 (earth-遁术 is a type of magic technique) made his throat taste sweet, and a trickle of black blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

It’s over.

He knew he was completely finished. Before this red-clad youth, his supposedly powerful evil magic was as fragile as paper.

The instinct for survival overwhelmed everything. The thin man in black robes knelt down with a thud, frantically kowtowing to Nezha, tossing his bone staff aside.

"Immortal, spare me! Immortal, spare me! This lowly demon... no, I was blind and didn't recognize your greatness! I offended your divine presence! I was only following orders; it was all my master's doing! I beg you, Immortal, have mercy and spare my dog's life! I'm willing to serve you like a slave, at your beck and call!"

Tears streamed down his face as he kowtowed repeatedly, all trace of his previous cold arrogance completely gone.

Nezha frowned even more deeply at his pathetic state, his disgust almost overflowing. He hated spineless people the most.

"Noisy."

He raised his hand, his fingertips pointing at the forehead of the thin man in the black robe.

Just as flames were about to burst forth from his fingertips!

"Wait!" Bai Yeying's voice suddenly rang out, sounding somewhat urgent.

Nezha paused, the flames flickering at his fingertips, and turned his head slightly to look at her.

Bai Yeying, clutching her injured arm, hurried over. She glanced at the limp, skinny man in black robes, then looked at Nezha, her round almond-shaped eyes still lingering with fear, but her voice was pleading: "Could you... not kill him yet? I have some questions for you."

Nezha raised an eyebrow, said nothing, and the flame at his fingertips quietly went out. He withdrew his hand, crossed his arms, and stood leisurely to the side, adopting an attitude of "ask, I'm watching."

Bai Yeying breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to the thin man in black robes, her face darkening: "Who are you people? Who was the master you mentioned earlier? What do you want to do by opening the Yin Meridian Rift? Also, besides that woodcutter, are there any other people you've captured?"

Her voice was clear and crisp, with a cool, mountain-spring-like quality, completely different from the panic she had shown when facing Nezha.

Seeing a glimmer of hope, the thin man in the black robe dared not hide anything any longer and spilled everything out:

"We...we are outer disciples of the Xuan Yin Sect. We are here on the orders of Elder Hei Sha to collect living souls, refine the Hundred Ghost Banner, and attempt to open a hidden Yin vein node to draw in the Yin energy from the earth for the elder to cultivate the Xuan Yin Demonic Art..."

"Besides this woodcutter, before... before that, in two villages on the other side of the mountain, I captured the souls of seven or eight strong men, and they've all been refined into the banner..." He spoke softer and softer, secretly glancing at Nezha's expression.

Bai Yeying felt a surge of anger mixed with a chill run down her spine. Stealing souls and crafting evil weapons—the Xuan Yin Sect's actions were truly wicked! Those seven or eight innocent villagers…

Suppressing her anger, she continued, "Where is your stronghold? Besides that Elder Black Fiend, who else is a powerful figure here?"

"The lair... the lair is deep in Black Wind Ridge in the northwest. I don't know the exact location. I'm always led there blindfolded. Besides the leader, the Xuan Yin Sect has four protectors. Elder Black Fiend is one of the four protectors."

Having gotten the information, there's no need to keep this person around.

She subconsciously looked at Nezha, wanting to see how he would handle the situation.

Nezha remained with his arms crossed, his expression indifferent, as if he hadn't heard a word of what was said.

In his view, these people from the Xuan Yin Sect were probably no different from the evil demon that had just been burned.

Bai Yeying withdrew her gaze, knowing that further questioning wouldn't yield any more core secrets. She looked at the thin man in black robes and coldly asked, "Can the souls you captured be brought back?"

The thin man in black robes had a flicker in his eyes and stammered, "If...if the Hundred Ghost Banner is not completely refined, perhaps...perhaps there is still a glimmer of hope, but we need to find the location of the main soul and carefully extract it with pure Yang power. It's difficult, too difficult."

In other words, the hope is slim.

Bai Yeying sighed inwardly, but there was nothing she could do. She was already lucky to have saved the woodcutter in front of her.

She looked at Nezha, her eyes asking a question.