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

Inside the Ghost King's Palace, the Earth Lord had already repaired the strings on the seven-stringed zither.

As the soul envoy led everyone in, he was plucking the strings of his zither, playing an out-of-tune tune.

When faced with the sheet music that had been retrieved, he neither cared nor was surprised, as if everything was within his expectations.

This gave Mo Gu an inexplicable feeling that he had been tricked...

"Earth Lord..."

She handed over the sheet music and said, "We've already received the sheet music."

The Earthly Lord responded calmly, took the rolled-up silk in his hand, and then looked up at her.

Then, however, he asked, "Just now...did you say anything bad about me?"

Upon hearing this, Mo Gu paused for a moment, but stubbornly replied, "Not really, after all... just now, we all thought we had no way out."

Yan Zhengchu chimed in, "Indeed, that spectacle...it almost scared the soul out of me!"

The Earth Lord snorted and suddenly stood up.

"You guys are quite capable, sending you to retrieve the sheet music and you ended up breaking the seal too!"

Mo Gu was speechless for a moment, and Yan Zhengchu also didn't know how to respond.

Ren Fengjue spoke up again: "Lord Earth, the situation was urgent at the time, and we only wanted to get the sheet music, so we didn't consider anything else."

"I broke the seal, so if you're going to blame someone..."

Before he could finish speaking, Mo Gu interrupted him, "You didn't break the seal by yourself."

Yan Zhengchu: "And me!"

Wuyou also joined in, "Actually, it has something to do with me too."

Seeing that they were all about to take responsibility, the Earth God remained silent.

"Soul Reaper! Soul Locker!"

At his command, the black and white soul messengers outside the door immediately entered.

The Earth God commanded, "Send these two wisps of souls away first."

"Yes."

Yan Zhengchu was startled and didn't understand what the other party meant for a moment. He was about to ask for clarification.

Ren Fengjue stopped him, saying, "I believe that Lord Earth is a man of his word and will certainly keep his promise!"

The Earth Lord did not respond, but with a slight wave of his hand, the Black and White Soul Envoys led them away from the Ghost King's Palace.

Mo Gu couldn't figure out the Lord of the Underworld's intentions until the other party suddenly walked up to her, extended his index finger, and touched her brow.

"I'll leave you with 30% of your soul power. If evil spirits or demons cause trouble in the mortal realm in the future, you must not stand idly by."

The Earth God withdrew his hand and handed the Soul-Crossing Lamp back to her, saying, "Until a new soul-crossing person takes over, you shall keep this item."

Inside the lamp, Wuyou, who had been feeling quite dejected, immediately became overjoyed.

He couldn't help but peek out halfway, about to cheer, when he noticed a pair of cold eyes sweeping over him, and he was so frightened that he pulled his head back in.

Mo Gu took a while to react, "Earthly Lord..."

"What? You don't want to?"

"No…"

Mo Gu felt a warm sensation spreading through his heart, and his nose tingled with emotion, almost causing him to lose control of his feelings.

She glanced at the Lord of the Underworld before her and bowed deeply to him.

"Thank you... for your kindness, Earth Lord!"

Hearing this, the Earth King was visibly relieved. He put his hands behind his back and said, "My word is my bond. When have I ever gone back on my word?"

"You have rendered meritorious service in guiding souls, and the underworld should grant you a chance for reincarnation. However, judging from your wishes, you desire this life more than the next."

"In that case, I will do you a favor."

"As for what I said earlier, that I would make you stay in the Nine Netherworld for another hundred years, it was just a test."

He waved his hand, "Let's go. We'll meet again a hundred years from now."

Mo Gu felt a surge of emotion, but in the end he simply nodded and said nothing.

She held the Soul-Crossing Lamp in her hand, about to leave, but suddenly stopped and returned to the Earth Lord.

She took a piece of bone from the lamp and handed it over.

"This is a fragment of bone left behind by Chongli that day. Inside is a wisp of an unformed soul. Now... it is handed over to the Earth Lord for disposal."

The Earth Lord seemed somewhat surprised. After taking the broken bone into his hands, he nodded slightly, as if deep in thought.

After Mo Gu left, he took the broken bone to the depths of the Ghost King's Palace and looked at Xue Yin, the attendant in the Frozen Prison.

"This is a soul embryo nurtured using your spiritual essence; you almost made him succeed."

Having said that, he used his soul power to turn the bones into ash, and the spiritual essence within them was finally returned to its rightful owner.

-

In the southern courtyard of the Marquis Renxuan's residence, the wedding candles were about to burn out, and the long night was about to end.

Yu Lang and Zhao Wan hadn't slept a wink all night, and as they watched the east turn white, their anxiety intensified.

At this moment, Yan Zhengchu and Ren Fengjue, who were sitting cross-legged on the couch, fell down on the couch one after the other, and then sat up in surprise the next second.

"My lord! Master Yan!"

Seeing that the two souls had returned, Yu Lang and Zhao Wan immediately went over to them, asking, "How...how are you?"

Ignoring his stiff and numb body, Ren Fengjue rushed to the bedside. He glanced at Xia Ximo and found that she was still pale and cold, showing no signs of coming back to life.

For a moment, my feelings were a bit complicated.

Yan Zhengchu was somewhat annoyed: "If it doesn't work, we'll try again!"

He couldn't figure out the temperament of the Lord of the Underworld, and he had no confidence in himself.

But if the other party breaks their promise, they are not afraid to venture into the underworld again.

Zhao Wan was impatient and couldn't wait to know the situation: "Have you seen Xia Ximo? How did it go?"

Yan Zhengchu sighed and replied, "I've seen him. Now it's up to the underworld to see if they'll release him."

Ren Fengjue glanced at the nearly burnt-out red candle beside him and said, "If the underworld doesn't release them before this candle burns out, we'll go again..."

Yan Zhengchu nodded solemnly.

The four waited in the room for a while, when they heard a few clear birdsongs coming from the branches by the window.

This immediately reminded Yan Zhengchu of the phoenix feather given to him by the Fengzhuo clan, but when he reached into his pocket, it was empty.

Suddenly, the south-facing window was blown open by the wind, and a colorful bird flew in, carrying three phoenix feathers in its beak, and landed right beside the bed.

Everyone was astonished by what they saw.

The next second, Xia Ximo's eyelids twitched, and he slowly opened his eyes.

Immediately, the colorful bird flew away, the red candle burned out, and the sky became completely bright.

Everyone looked at Xia Ximo who had woken up, and perhaps because they were too surprised and happy, they were speechless.

Ren Fengjue couldn't help but pull her into his arms.

In an instant, silence speaks louder than words.

After a long silence, Zhao Wan finally managed to say, choking back tears, "Xia Ximo, it's so good that you're back!"

Mo Gu, having returned to the mortal realm, slowly regained his senses only after feeling Ren Fengjue's embrace and the warmth of his body.

She gazed at the morning sunlight in the new house, the familiar faces around her, and the breath of early spring flowing in from outside the window.

Between his brows and eyes, it was as if ice and snow were melting, gradually turning into a pool of spring water.

She replied softly, "I'll miss you all too."

-

Not long after the young marquis of Renxuan Marquis's mansion got married, Princess Fenghua directly asked Emperor Qingkang for a marriage decree, betrothing herself to Yu Lang, the vice minister of the Court of Judicial Review, which became another beautiful story.

After Yan Zhengchu returned from the capital, Yunhe Mountain became famous, attracting many people to seek talismans. In fact, there were even more people seeking to become his disciples and learn his skills. Finally, some of its former glory could be seen again.

During the day, Ren Fengjue was still busy in the court, dealing with various unsolved cases and murders, but after 5 pm, unless it was urgent, he would consciously go home to accompany his wife.

Although Xia Ximo is the young mistress of the Marquis of Renxuan's mansion, she is not confined to the mansion and can come and go freely at any time.

The Marquis and his wife doted on her and never restrained her.

She would always sleep until the sun was high in the sky, eat a delicious meal made by Tianqing himself, and then bring out a chair to doze off in the sun.

The Soul-Crossing Lamp quietly kept him company, and the lamp's spirit, Wuyou, also became drowsy.

Most of the time, life was peaceful and leisurely.

Of course, there are also times when it's necessary to step in and resolve some "minor troubles".

Late spring and early summer are always rainy.

As night fell, a man sneaked out of the back door of a small courtyard in northern Beijing.

Looking around to make sure no one was there, he ran all the way to the sesame seed cake shop at the end of the street and bought a few sesame seed cakes.

Because he left in such a hurry without an umbrella, his hair and clothes were quickly soaked by the rain, but he couldn't hide the panic and anxiety in his eyes.

After taking the sesame seed cake, he returned to the courtyard, slung a bag over his shoulder, and looked like he was about to embark on a long journey.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps outside the door. Perhaps feeling guilty, he opened the door a crack and peeked out.

A slender figure was reflected on the ground.

The man looked up and saw a beautiful young woman standing in the light rain, holding an oil-paper umbrella in her right hand and a black lotus lantern in her left, slowly walking towards him.

She walked to the door, her face cold, her eyes even colder.

The man, unaware of her purpose, shivered inexplicably. "Who...are you? What do you want?"

The woman stared at him with her cold eyes, her thin lips parted slightly, and she replied, "I've come to seek justice for the dead."

As soon as he finished speaking, a heart-wrenching scream echoed through the alley.

Before long, the woman left with her umbrella, but brushed past a group of constables and yamen runners.

At the end of the street, a carriage was waiting by the roadside. The people inside got out of the carriage before she could get close.

Xia Ximo's gaze softened instantly upon seeing him, and her tone warmed as she asked, "How did you know I was here?"

Under the rainy night, Ren Fengjue stood by the car, as bright and clear as the moon.

He replied with a smile, "I just happened to be passing by and came to pick up my wife and take her home."

The End