Holding a lantern, guiding souls across, Lady Hou comes from the underworld.

Mo Gu had long anticipated that the Earth Lord would not stand idly by when it came to the reputation of the Ghost King Palace.

Just now, she did indeed have murderous intent towards Xueyin, but in reality, she was also secretly keeping a close eye on things.

At this moment, the Lord of the Underworld looked at the servants prostrate at his feet and began to give instructions.

"Han Yuan, I spared your sins back then and sent you to the mortal realm to atone for them."

"You, on the contrary, have not shown any remorse even now, but instead continue to make mistakes. You have truly disappointed me."

Xueyin trembled and sobbed softly.

"Han Yuan knows his sins are grave and has no face to see the Earth Lord again..."

"Why not just have Mo Gu kill me, Lord Earth? Why bother condescending and making this trip?"

The Earthly Lord scoffed, "Want to die? Not so easy!"

Mo Gu crossed his arms and watched the two ghosts, master and servant, "act" with a cold eye, then deliberately yawned.

The Earth God then looked at her, his words carrying a hint of reproach.

"Mogu, actually... you don't need to destroy your own body."

"What should we do then?"

Mo Gu glanced at the "body" not far away. Although it was still being held in Ren Fengjue's hands, it looked like it was already dead.

"Isn't it all because of this 'Cold Abyss Attendant'? Lord Earth, how are you going to compensate me?"

Upon hearing this, a muffled laugh immediately came from behind the Ghost King's mask: "Once you leave the illusion, you will naturally 'come back to life'."

"this one?"

"...I'll give you another ten percent of your soul power."

"Okay then."

Mo Gu agreed and turned to leave.

But the Earth God immediately called out to her, "Are you leaving already?"

Mo Gu stamped his foot, but didn't turn around: "Is there something else I need to do?"

"Of course, wouldn't you like to know the whole story about my servant and Bright Moon Manor?"

Mo Gu replied without hesitation, "I don't want to."

Seeing her leave so gracefully, the Earth Lord raised his voice and said, "Even if it concerns you, you don't want to know?"

Upon hearing this, Mo Gu stopped and turned around.

"Speak."

The Earthly Lord didn't mince words, stating directly: "A hundred years ago, I sent Han Yuan, the attendant, to the mortal realm to retrieve souls..."

Mo Gu frowned. "Soul-catching?"

The underworld has Black and White Impermanence. Black Impermanence is responsible for taking souls, while White Impermanence is responsible for locking them. For ordinary ghosts, either one of them can easily capture them.

Even if they are evil spirits or demons, the two of them working together are no match for them.

The fact that the Earth God could send out the head of the twelve attendants shows that this wisp of soul is not simple.

Mo Gu vaguely wondered if this wisp of soul was related to him.

"This soul is extremely adept at concealing its tracks, making it difficult to trace..."

"Han Yuan investigated in the mortal realm for several years before he got any results, but unexpectedly..."

At this point, the Earth Lord turned and glanced at Snow Hidden.

The other person kept their forehead pressed tightly against the ground, not daring to lift it even slightly.

The Earth King's voice also turned colder: "She lured me away from the Underworld and then stole the Book of Life and Death in the chaos."

Mo Gu had already guessed a thing or two.

"For a man?"

The Earthly Lord replied, "Indeed, during her years in the mortal realm, she fell in love with a man and completely forgot her duties."

"She went back to the underworld to steal the Book of Life and Death, trying to exchange it for that man's eternal life. She was even willing to give up her status as a deity in the underworld so that she could return to the human world and be with him forever."

Hearing this, Mo Gu frowned again. "And the result?"

The Earth King snorted, "I will grant her wish."

"..." Mo Gu asked doubtfully, "It can't be that simple, can it?"

"Of course, there are conditions."

This is more like the style of the Lord of the Underworld.

Mo Gu asked, "Is it to capture that wisp of soul?"

The Earth Lord nodded.

"and then?"

"No news at all."

"..."

Both gazes turned to Xueyin on the ground. She finally raised her head, her face full of pain.

The Earth King said, "Now that things have come to this, it's time for Attendant Han Yuan to give me an explanation."

Upon hearing this, Xueyin knew she couldn't avoid it any longer, so she slowly began to recount what had happened back then...

After stealing the Book of Life and Death from the underworld, she returned to the mortal realm.

On both the scrolls of life and death, the names of the loved ones were crossed out.

Having come this far, she had no regrets and anticipated that the Earthly Lord would soon come looking for her.

However, the Lord of the Underworld did not punish her for this. Instead, he promised her that as long as she brought that wisp of soul back to the Underworld, he would forgive all past transgressions.

They might even grant their wish.

Xueyin believed that the Earth Lord's word was law, and she was thrilled and full of hope as she continued her search in the human world.

However, a shocking reversal shattered all hope.

She realized she had been used.

The wisp of soul that the underworld wanted to capture was hidden in the body of her "beloved".

This result almost drove her insane.

Admittedly, she couldn't bring herself to use the other person's soul to complete the task, and she knew she could never return to the underworld to face the Lord of the Underworld again…

For a century, she languished in the human world, trying to forget everything.

Thus, Mingyue Manor came into being.

"Mingyue Manor was built by him for me. We spent a period of happy, secluded days there in the beginning."

"But I know that his ambitions go far beyond that."

"He found immortality uninteresting; he also desired power that transcended the world."

"He even fantasized about becoming a god..."

Upon hearing this, Mo Gu couldn't help but think of the "ghost and god" legends in Beiding County.

I wonder what the connection might be between these two things...

Xueyin continued, "Gradually, he would go out every now and then, and the time he stayed away from home became longer and longer, from a few days to a few months, or even a few years."

"I knew I couldn't keep him, so I set up a protective barrier at the manor, leaving only two servants and a rabbit to keep me company."

"But mortal life is short. After the servants die, I can only keep a fragment of their soul and bring back a soul similar to theirs from outside. The manor will always remain as it was in the beginning."

"But he returned less and less often, until one day, he was seriously injured..."

"I don't know what he went through, but he told me that once his injuries healed, he would no longer be afraid of the underworld. Unless the Lord of the Underworld personally intervenes, no one can do anything to him."

"He begged me to use my spiritual energy to help him heal. I knew that if I helped him, I would be aiding and abetting evil, and making an enemy of the entire underworld."

"But I also understand that I'm already on his side, and there's no turning back..."

As she said this, Xueyin's expression turned somber, and her eyes held a complex look.

"But after his injuries healed, he still did not stay in the manor. He would only come back every now and then to absorb spiritual energy."

"I am unaware of the changes in the outside world, and I do not have the courage to step out, so I can only confine myself in this mountain villa."

"Until one day, I felt an unprecedented emptiness, and I made a decision in my heart that these days should come to an end..."

Xueyin smiled, but there was a hint of madness in his smile.

"So I opened the manor's barrier, allowing strangers to enter, and killed those greedy, hypocritical, depraved, and lustful villains."

"I turned the ghost flowers that nourished the spirit into blood red, and I was finally no longer some underworld deity."

"Instead, it is a demon that lingers among humans."