As a dignified max-level Celestial Master, who am I supposed to explain this to?

Liu Rushi's ghost stopped struggling.

It hovered in the center of the lightning array, its body having shrunk to the size of a normal person.

The two pale white will-o'-the-wisps dimmed considerably, flickering as if they were deep in thought.

Then it suddenly laughed.

The laughter was hoarse and grating, like sandpaper rubbing against glass.

"Little Taoist priest, you're very powerful. I admit, I can't beat you."

Its voice softened, carrying a strange, seductive quality, "But...do you really know what you're doing?"

Han Xuan didn't speak, he just looked at it.

"What's in this well isn't just my resentment."

Liu Rushi's voice grew softer and more alluring, "At the bottom of the well lies a treasure left behind by the Netherworld. Endless death energy, resentment, and yin energy are enough to grant a person unimaginable power."

"Don't you want to possess that power?"

It paused, and the will-o'-the-wisp flickered.

"Let me go. I'll take you to find those treasures. If we join forces, we'll be invincible."

Han Xuan remained silent for three seconds.

Then he laughed.

"Do you know where the last person who said that to me is now?"

Liu Rushi was taken aback.

"It turned to ashes in the deep mountains of western Hunan."

Han Xuan's tone was as flat as if he were telling a lame joke, "And you've got one thing wrong."

He raised his right hand, and the Heavenly Thunder Technique in his palm transformed into a purple thunder whip, whipping out a beautiful arc in the air.

"The deathly aura, resentment, and gloom you mentioned... to me, they're not even as good as garbage."

The thunder whip lashed down.

*Smack!*

With a sharp crack, Liu Rushi's ghost was lashed to pieces by the thunder whip, and black resentment scattered everywhere.

It let out a piercing scream and, with all its might, pieced the fragments back together.

But each time they come together, it's slower and more difficult than the last.

"Wait a moment!"

Liu Rushi's voice had changed, "I surrender! I'll go back to the well! I..."

"It's too late."

Han Xuan's voice turned cold, as cold as a knife.

"I gave you a chance. Two chances. You didn't choose."

He clenched his right fist, and a golden thunder dragon formed on the surface of his fist.

Unlike when it blew up the silver-armored corpse before, this time the thunder dragon was more restrained and more concentrated.

There was no earth-shattering momentum, no deafening roar, only a quiet, extremely compressed golden lightning.

"You chose the third path."

Han Xuan raised his fist and aimed it at Liu Rushi's ghost.

"His soul was scattered and his spirit was destroyed."

"No----!!"

Liu Rushi's scream echoed in the night sky, but lasted for less than a second.

Because Han Xuan's fist had already been thrown out.

There was no explosion, no shockwave, only a very faint "poof".

It was like popping a bubble.

Golden lightning shot out from Han Xuan's fist, silently passing through Liu Rushi's ghost.

Wherever the lightning passed, the black resentment evaporated instantly, like snow meeting the scorching sun, leaving not a trace.

Liu Rushi's ghost slowly dissipated in the golden lightning.

On its face, that face that originally had no features.

Finally, an expression appeared.

It wasn't anger, it wasn't fear.

Rather, it's a sense of... relief.

One hundred and twenty years of imprisonment, one hundred and twenty years of resentment, one hundred and twenty years of obsession.

At this moment, it finally came to an end.

"Thanks……"

Two extremely light words dissipated in the night wind.

And then, nothing was left.

There was no resentment, no death, no ghosts.

All that remained were the collapsed backyard wall, the overturned roof of the ancestral hall, and a faint smell of decay in the air.

Han Xuan withdrew his fist, stood still, and remained silent for a moment.

He hadn't expected Liu Rushi to say "thank you" in the end.

A vengeful ghost, imprisoned for 120 years, said "thank you" in his final moments before his soul dissipated.

Han Xuan shook his head, banishing the thought from his mind.

He turned around and looked in the direction of the moon gate.

Xia Zhiwei was still standing there.

She didn't leave her side for a single moment from beginning to end.

Her face remained expressionless, still with that aloof demeanor, but her fingers were trembling slightly.

"Is it over?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.

"it's over."

Han Xuan nodded, "The resentment in the well has also been purified by the Heavenly Thunder Technique. There won't be any more problems in the future."

He paused, then added.

"The seal is no longer needed. I'll fill in the well, and relaid the ground above it. Your family's ancestral hall."

He glanced at the overturned roof and collapsed wall, and scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly.

"Sorry, it was a bit too loud. I'll have someone fix it tomorrow."

Xia Zhiwei looked at him for a long time.

Moonlight peeked out from behind the clouds, shining on the ruins in the backyard and also on Han Xuan.

His Taoist robe was covered in dust, and there were several black marks on his face.

His hair was blown into a mess by the aftershocks of the lightning, making him look extremely disheveled.

But under the moonlight, the faint golden glow on his body had not completely faded.

It was like an invisible cloak, making him look...

Well, how should I put it?

He doesn't seem like the senior disciple of the Celestial Master's Mansion.

He's more like a deity who descended from heaven and doesn't care much about his appearance.

Xia Zhiwei suddenly smiled.

It wasn't the polite yet distant smile from before, nor the faint, scrutinizing smile from the garden.

It was a genuine, heartfelt smile, carrying a sense of relief and warmth.

Her smile was faint, but under the moonlight, she was as beautiful as a painting.

"Master Han," she said.

"Um?"

"You're... not very reliable."

Han Xuan was stunned for a moment, then he smiled.

"I know."

Xia Zhiwei turned around and walked towards the central courtyard.

After taking a few steps, he suddenly stopped and said without turning his head:

"But... thank you."

Her voice was very soft, so soft that it was almost inaudible.

But Han Xuan heard it.

He stood there, watching Xia Zhiwei's figure disappear behind the moon gate, and suddenly felt...

This fiancée doesn't seem so difficult to get along with.

He turned around, looked at the ruins in the backyard, and let out a long sigh.

"I need to get up early tomorrow to find someone to repair the ancestral hall."

He muttered to himself, "And that well, it needs to be filled in. The ground needs to be repaved. The wall needs to be rebuilt..."

He counted on his fingers, but the more he calculated, the more overwhelmed he felt.

"How much will this cost...?"

He sighed and went back to his room.

As he passed by Xia Zhiwei's room, he noticed that the door was closed and the lights were off.

But he could hear faint breathing sounds coming from the room.

It's much calmer than before; there's no longer that kind of tension that I'm trying to suppress.

She slept soundly.

Han Xuan's lips curled up slightly, then he withdrew his smile and pushed open the door to his room.

Lying in bed, he closed his eyes, and every detail of the evening flashed through his mind.

Liu Rushi's final "thank you".

Xia Zhiwei's smile under the moonlight.

There is also the Netherworld Path.

One hundred and twenty years ago, it was a branch of the Netherworld Path; one hundred and twenty years later, it has grown and expanded into the Netherworld Cult.

Is there any connection between these two things?

There must be.

Han Xuan opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling.

The Netherworld Cult has set up a network in western Hunan, controlling the Zombie King.

Remnants of the Netherworld Cult appeared underground in the Xia family's territory.

Is there any connection between these two events?

He turned over, temporarily suppressing these questions in his mind.

We'll talk about it tomorrow.

Anyway...

He rolled over, closed his eyes, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

A max-level account has plenty of time.

Outside the window, the moon emerged completely from behind the clouds, its silvery light bathing the Xia family's courtyard.

The golden lightning on the backyard ruins had completely dissipated.

All that remained was a mess and a faint smell of ozone in the air.

But that chilling aura that had lasted for 120 years completely disappeared.

Instead, there is a long-lost, warm, and reassuring tranquility.

Xia Yuanshan sat on the bed, feeling the tranquility, and tears welled up in his cloudy eyes.

"Father……"

He whispered, "The thing in the well is finally gone."

He slowly loosened his grip on the prayer beads, leaned against the headboard, and let out a long breath.

The burden that had been borne for over fifty years has finally been lifted.

Outside the window, the moonlight was like water.