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

Yan Zhengchu's words confirmed Ren Fengjue's suspicions.

Simeng's appearance and her words in the Red Sleeve Pavilion seemed far too deliberate.

It's difficult to determine the truth from her one-sided account.

So before leaving, he deliberately left A-Xia behind to investigate Simeng alone.

However, it was ultimately too rash to come to the temple to investigate based on a distrust of her words.

Ren Fengjue looked down at Xia Ximo in his arms, his feelings indescribable.

He asked, "So, the real killer of Ruyan was Simeng?"

Yan Zhengchu said, "It must be related to her..."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a chilling laugh echoed outside the carriage.

At the same time, three voices spoke in unison—

"Heh, ignorant and foolish humans."

"For personal desires, they would even betray their closest relatives and friends."

"Dirty stuff should be eaten by me!"

Ren Fengjue recognized the voice as that of the "three-headed monk" from the illusion. He felt a chill and instinctively protected the person in his arms.

The horse neighed, clearly provoked, and broke free of its bridle, abandoning the carriage and running away.

All that was heard was Yan Zhengchu exclaiming, "Oh dear! Young Marquis, the horse has run away!"

"This evil spirit is quite powerful; it's about to break through the seal!"

"Young Master, I left a soul-suppressing talisman outside the carriage. Please, do not come out!"

After leaving a brief explanation, the car suddenly stopped, but no one knew what had happened to Yan Zhengchu.

"Master Yan!"

Ren Fengjue could not hear any sound and was starting to get anxious.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew in, and the curtains and windows of the carriage made a loud noise.

Then, as if pulled by some kind of suction force, the carriage began to move backward frantically.

Ren Fengjue called Yan Zhengchu's name again, holding Xia Ximo tightly with one hand and gripping the car wall firmly with the other.

Seeing that the entire carriage was out of control, he knew he could not stay any longer. He immediately kicked open the car door, picked up the person in his arms, and was about to rush out.

However, countless ghostly hands reached in from outside the door at the same time, but dared not approach because they were afraid of his aura.

Upon seeing this, Ren Fengjue's expression turned cold, and he coldly ordered, "Step back!"

The ghost hands were stunned and retreated as expected.

But just then, another gust of cold wind blew up, as if issuing a command.

Encouraged by this, the ghostly hands transformed into a giant Buddha's hand, which pressed down on Ren Fengjue.

In a split second, a flying talisman descended from the sky, shattering the ghost hand.

It turned out that Yan Zhengchu, who was fighting the evil spirit on the treetop, had taken a moment to help, but the battle was in full swing and he couldn't get away for the time being.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Ren Fengjue jumped out of the car with Xia Ximo in his arms. Before he could run two steps, he heard the wind whistling in his ears again.

He heard a strange laugh coming from beside him, which surprised him.

Turning his head to look at the tree, he discovered that the evil spirit fighting with Yan Zhengchu was just a "two-headed monk".

The next second, a "flying skull" came hurtling towards them.

Ren Fengjue immediately spun around and dodged, then flew back with incredible speed, kicking the "head" squarely.

"court death!"

"Flying Skull" was also surprised to be kicked, and was somewhat embarrassed and angry. Its evil and empty eyes began to spew out evil energy.

Ren Fengjue saw the black mist spreading out, like dark clouds, enveloping him.

Knowing that escape was impossible, he immediately made a decision, quickly put the person in his arms on the ground, and used his body to block the oncoming black mist.

Suddenly, a white figure separated from his body, blocking the black mist a foot away.

Xia Ximo, who was lying on the ground, suddenly opened his eyes at this moment.

She reached out and pulled the person in front of her into her arms. To his astonishment, she hugged him tightly, while the ten fingers hidden behind his back tightened one by one.

Unbeknownst to anyone, a red glint flashed in her eyes.

The evil spirits scattered and fled, but before they could hide, they were instantly annihilated and turned into nothingness.

Ren Fengjue could feel that the body embracing him was gradually regaining its warmth.

You can even hear a clear heartbeat.

The expected pain of being pierced through his body by the black mist did not occur. Instead, the soft, warm body in his arms made him freeze.

He was starting to panic.

"Miss Xia..."

Seeing that everything had returned to normal, Xia Ximo slowly released his grip.

When she looked at Ren Fengjue again, she was slightly taken aback.

Are you hot?

"..."

Ren Fengjue quickly shook his head, but the sudden heat rising in his body made his cheeks and ears feel numb.

When he realized what had happened, he felt a little embarrassed.

I have so much to say, but I don't know where to begin.

Just then, out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of a figure rushing towards me.

"Young Master!"

Yan Zhengchu also seemed flustered, and his expression turned strange when he saw Xia Ximo.

He seemed completely baffled.

"How...how could this be?"

Just now, seeing the sky filled with malevolent energy, he thought Ren Fengjue was in grave danger.

Thinking of his junior uncle who died young, he felt he had to save the life of the only son of the Ren family no matter what.

But the clear white light that suddenly appeared looked exactly like the sword light of my junior uncle…

For a moment, he almost thought that his junior uncle had "manifested" himself!

Yan Zhengchu was slightly distracted and almost fell under the spell of the evil spirit.

However, the next second, without any warning, the "two-headed monk" disappeared without a trace, his face contorted in pain.

All of this was enough to leave him completely bewildered.

Now, he actually saw Xia Ximo, who had come back from the dead.

This is even more astonishing than seeing a ghost.

Yan Zhengchu was still unwilling to give up. He calculated with his fingers again and again, but he still couldn't figure out this move.

This person's fate... it's as if they've been removed from the "Book of Yin and Yang" in the underworld.

Xia Ximo, however, acted as if nothing had happened. He slowly stood up, glanced at Yan Zhengchu, and said indifferently, "I thought you, this Taoist priest, would be useful."

"What—does that mean?"

Yan Zhengchu almost thought he had misheard, and his face instantly turned bright red.

Ren Fengjue, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but chuckle.

Xia Ximo glared at him coldly, showing him no respect whatsoever: "So, it's useless because it allowed ghosts to break free of the seal?"

"..."

Yan Zhengchu grew increasingly angry, yet he had no words to refute her.

He could only try to justify himself: "I admit I underestimated it, but that doesn't mean I was useless, does it?"

"Do you know that you two were just trapped in an illusion and almost couldn't get out? If I hadn't broken the barrier with a talisman..."

Xia Ximo picked up where he left off, saying, "If you hadn't broken the barrier, none of this would have happened."

"..."

"I'm so angry!" Yan Zhengchu was practically jumping up and down in anger. "What do you know, you little girl?!"

Ren Fengjue stepped forward, blocking Xia Ximo's path, and bowed to him, saying, "If it weren't for Daoist Yan's divine power in subduing the evil spirit, we would still be trapped in danger. Thank you, Daoist."

Although Yan Zhengchu knew that the evil spirit had not been subdued by him, he felt relieved after hearing this.

He snorted coldly, then deliberately put on a profound and unfathomable expression: "However, I suspect that the evil entity that truly stole the twelve 'Soul-Nourishing Pearls' was not the evil spirit of this temple."