After I stopped trying, a rich woman trained me into a demon emperor.

That was no ordinary river.

It is a flowing night, a liquefied stillness, with countless tiny starlight surging in the darkness.

Every star is a soul that once lived.

The mist along the shore was silently torn apart.

A small boat, seemingly sailing from the end of time, with a lantern hanging at its bow, burning a ghastly green flame.

The boatman was a woman.

She wore simple clothes and a plain hairpin, her face hidden in the shadows, with only a pale chin visible.

She didn't look at the room full of living people.

In the eyes of the underworld officials, all living beings are future passengers, sooner or later.

She simply beckoned with her finger.

The small ball of light, suspended in mid-air, seemed like a fledgling bird that had heard its mother's cry, and drifted shakily down to the bow of the boat.

Only then did the woman slightly raise her head.

His gaze crossed the boundary between Yin and Yang, heading towards Zhang Xuansu, and he nodded slightly.

This is not a thank you note, just a confirmation of receipt.

puff!

Zhang Xuansu suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood mist, his body swaying precariously.

That was the backlash from the clash between Yin and Yang.

Mortals who peer into the River Styx will have their lifespan shortened.

Zhou Ran, however, put his hands in his pockets and looked at the boat with great interest.

Their gazes were unrestrained, like tourists commenting on the sightseeing boats at a scenic spot.

The woman seemed to sense something.

She turned her head, and her eyes, which should have been empty and devoid of anything, met Zhou Ran's purple-gold demonic eyes the instant they met.

A ripple appeared in her eyes, which were as clear as spring water.

"Is this the ferryman?"

Zhou Ran's calm voice broke the suffocating silence.

Zhang Xuansu's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and looked at Zhou Ran in horror.

He had used his Dao power to open his Dharma Eye, and with the amplification of the compass, he barely managed to see a blurry outline, even while spitting blood.

This jinx...

Is it seen with the naked eye?

"Tch, he's just a temporary worker."

The shriveled mushroom skin on Zhou Ran's shoulder came back to life.

Bai Xuan poked his head out, his two mushroom tendrils casually placed on his hips in an old-fashioned manner:

"The proper ferrymen of the River of Oblivion are all officially employed and carry mourning sticks, while this guy is carrying a bamboo pole. He looks like he's just running errands in the shallows."

"I think she has a good figure, and she still retains her charm."

Zhang Xuansu: "..."

The old Taoist priest nearly fainted.

Those are ghost messengers!

It's a spirit!

One of you is just looking at it as scenery, while the other is commenting on its figure?

What kind of people are these?!

Be careful what you say!

Be careful what you say!

Zhang Xuansu lowered her voice, wishing she could rush up and cover the mushroom's mouth:

"Those are reincarnated beings under the Tenth Prince, walking between Yin and Yang, untouched by cause and effect."

"Lady Fengxi governs the souls of the dead in Jiangcheng; you must not offend her!"

Zhou Ran remained noncommittal.

Even officials from the underworld appeared.

He wouldn't be surprised if anything else appeared in the cultivation world on Earth.

However, Zhou Ran was very interested in this "reincarnator".

The covered boat disappeared into the mist.

The ripples subsided, and the conference room returned to reality.

Lin Qingxue knelt on the ground, gazing into the void, her face still wet with tears, yet her eyes shone with an astonishing brightness.

Goodbye, Xiaoqi.

"In my next life, I hope I never meet bad people again."

She murmured softly, a sound that was both liberation and rebirth.

Zhang Xuansu plopped down on the ground, panting heavily, as if he had just finished a marathon.

"Thank you, Taoist priest!"

Lin Qingxue came to her senses and kowtowed deeply.

"When entrusted with a task, one should be loyal to it."

Zhang Xuansu waved his hand, but his eyes kept glancing at Zhou Ran.

This isn't helping Lin Qingxue at all; it's clearly a pledge of allegiance to this master.

Zhou Ran walked over.

He patted the old Taoist priest on the shoulder with a large hand.

Thanks.

boom.

Zhang Xuansu's newly gathered inner energy was instantly dispersed, almost knocking him down.

"Cough cough..."

"You're too kind, Fellow Daoist Zhou."

Zhang Xuansu smiled wryly, then said seriously:

"This matter concerning the Song family has blown up too much."

"Although you've eliminated the missile, the mess in this secular world is more difficult to deal with than killing people."

at this time.

As dawn broke.

The pale dawn light shone through the broken French windows into the devastated top floor.

The air was filled with the smell of gunpowder, blood, and concrete dust.

Zhou Ran walked to the window.

Beneath my feet lies the newly awakened city of Jiangcheng.

The sirens wailed incessantly, and red and blue lights crisscrossed the area below the building.

"A mess?"

Zhou Ran lit a cigarette.

The flickering firelight illuminated his sharply defined profile, cold and hard as iron.

"There is no mess in this world to begin with; as more people die, it gets cleaner."

Zhang Xuansu's eyelids twitched wildly.

This is an attempt to wipe them out completely!

"Fellow Daoist Zhou..."

The old Taoist priest pointed downstairs.

"That's an official."

You've really messed things up this time. If you don't handle it well, you'll be going against the entire system.

Zhou Ran turned around.

The purple-gold demonic eyes had disappeared, leaving only a pair of unfathomable black eyes.

"In this world."

"Only the weak adapt to the rules."

Zhou Ran took a deep breath, his tone contemptuous:

"And the strong make the rules."

"Since the Song family dares to use missiles to clean up the ground, I can make sure they don't have a single hair left."

"That's my rule."

Before he could finish speaking...

The phone with the cracked screen on the table vibrated.

Caller ID: Liu Jianguo.

Zhou Ran pressed the speakerphone button.

"Mr. Zhou."

Liu Jianguo's voice was filled with extreme exhaustion, and the background noise was a cacophony of dispatching instructions:

"On-site command has been handed over to me."

The official announcement was issued one minute ago:

The Jiangcheng North Ring Overpass collapsed due to a series of major construction violations, triggering an explosion of an underground natural gas pipeline.

"I've already shifted the blame to the Song family's urban investment company."

"As for the Xiao Group Building..."

Liu Jianguo paused for a second, his voice slightly helpless:

"Aging circuitry caused a fire on the top floor."

Zhou Ran lit a cigarette and exhaled a smoke ring:

"Governor Liu, do you even believe this reason yourself?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

"Whether you believe it or not is not important."

Liu Jianguo's voice took on a fierce edge.

"The important thing is that this is the only truth at present."

"In addition, all of the Song family's asset accounts in Jiang Province were frozen five minutes ago."

"The 137 assassins who participated in the siege of the Chen family compound..."

"Not a single one survived."

"very good."

Zhou Ran hung up the phone.

This is the kind of efficiency he wants.

He looked at the three women in the corner.

Lin Qingxue curled up in Xiao Hongli's arms and fell asleep, like a frightened kitten.

Chen Ya was wiping the dust off her face while looking at her phone screen.

Even amidst the ruins, she maintained the dignity of a queen.

"Walk."

Zhou Ran did not use the main entrance.

The place is now full of reporters with their cameras and microphones.

He walked to the elevator shaft.

He threw a punch.

boom!

The twisted metal door panel flew out.

He embraced the three women with one arm, as if they were weightless feathers, and leaped into the bottomless abyss of darkness.

The wind howled.

Zhang Xuansu stood by the hole, peering down.

Watching that black Maybach disappear into the dawn like a ghost.

"The water in Jiangcheng is murky."

The old Taoist priest sighed and took out the precious purple-gold compass from his sleeve.

Click.

Before he could even cast a divination, the magnetic needle, passed down for three generations, broke in two right before his eyes.

"Big... big evil?!"

Zhang Xuansu's face twitched with heartache as she tucked the broken compass back into her bosom.

"No, this is a sign of great chaos."

He took one last look in the direction of the capital, which was the location of the Song family's headquarters.

"Those old fogies in the capital have really messed up this time."

"I think I should return to Longhu Mountain and go into seclusion."

Zhang Xuansu bowed, then his figure flickered and disappeared into the morning breeze.

"This mundane world is too wasteful of magical artifacts."