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

Zhou Ran's eyes gleamed with a purple-gold light, his gaze piercing through the scroll inside the sandalwood box.

The original camouflage covering the surface was completely peeled away, revealing the true nature of the substrate.

That was no ordinary Xuan paper.

Instead, it is a single piece of skin from a young woman's back, tanned using a secret method, with extremely fine texture.

The pigments used to paint were mixed with oil from boiled bones until they turned black.

The stench of blood assaulted my face, leaving me nowhere to hide.

Just then, the Japanese lady in the painting, who had her eyebrows furrowed and head bowed, slightly raised her eyelids.

The original whites of the eyes and pupils have disappeared.

The eye sockets were filled with countless wriggling black cocoon egg cases.

The foul-smelling blood dripped onto the paper with a plop.

The stench of blood quickly filled the lounge.

Zhou Ran frowned slightly and tapped the table lightly with his index finger.

Hey.

Hey.

"How many days have you had this item in your house?"

Han Hongmei's forced smile froze on her face, and her expression turned to panic.

"Three or four days..."

She asked eagerly.

"Master Zhou, something's not right with this painting?"

"My husband, Lao Han, has been complaining of headaches all night long these past few days."

"He couldn't eat or drink anything, and his eye sockets were frighteningly sunken. He went to several hospitals and consulted with specialists, but they couldn't find anything wrong."

"It would be a miracle if ordinary instruments could detect it."

Zhou Ran pinched the edge of the painted skin with two fingers.

Pull upwards with force from your wrist.

With a piercing tearing sound, a thin, transparent membrane, as thin as a cicada's wing, was ripped off by him.

"The skin of young girls was peeled off alive to serve as canvas, and the bones of violently murdered evil spirits were boiled to make paint."

"Hidden in this hidden compartment is an evil spell from the Black Dragon Society of Japan, designed to kill off their descendants."

Zhou Ran spoke calmly and recounted this shocking scheme in detail.

The wealthy women who had been peering around to watch the spectacle were so frightened that they backed away repeatedly.

Several people couldn't stand the smell and covered their mouths, leaning against the wall and dry heaving.

Han Hongmei lost her footing and fell hard onto the side of the coffee table.

"Is this thing killing my husband?"

"Then I..."

"You are already infected by evil spirits and your illness is terminal."

Zhou Ran raised his hand and pointed to her neck.

Following the direction of his finger, a black spot the size of a coin appeared on the side of Han Hongmei's neck.

Thin tendrils sprout from the edges of the patches and spread outwards.

Ultimately, the outline of a bewitching red spider lily was drawn.

"This evil energy travels throughout your body through your breath and sweat."

"Once your yang energy is exhausted, the life force that was taken from you will transcend space and be given back to the Yin-Yang Master who set up the formation."

Zhou Ran flipped his fingertips and conjured a ball of purplish-black demonic flame.

He flicked it off with his fingers.

The flame touched the human skin scroll.

There was no visible flame, nor any burnt smell.

In the blink of an eye, the entire painting, along with its framed sandalwood box, turned to ashes.

A shrill female scream drifted out from mid-air.

The whistling sound had barely begun when it was completely consumed by the domineering demonic fire.

All evil things are destroyed.

The black spots on Han Hongmei's neck caused by the spider lily gradually faded and disappeared.

She collapsed onto the carpet, panting heavily, her clothes soaked with sweat and clinging to her back.

"Thank you so much, Master Zhou, for saving us!"

Han Hongmei clenched her teeth, her facial muscles contorted with resentment.

"These despicable scoundrels from Japan dare to extend their reach to my Han family!"

"I'll immediately have Lao Song gather some men and smash that damn cultural exchange center!"

Zhou Ran raised his right hand to stop her from speaking.

"Take a break."

Zhou Ran turned his head to look at Lin Qingxue.

The life or death of others is none of Zhou Ran's business.

But since they've acted dishonestly and overstepped their bounds by touching Chinese property...

Then all of these people must be spared.

At this moment, Lin Qingxue lowered her eyelids.

The purple-gold mark on her forehead, half-hidden by her hair, gleamed faintly.

The Dharma Eye of Nirvana operates.

The vibrant colors of the surrounding world quickly faded from her sight.

Only black and white light and shadow remain between heaven and earth, along with veins representing life and death.

Tens of thousands of gray-black lines of light crisscross the sky above Beijing.

At the end of each energy line lies the lifespan of an ordinary person.

These lines of energy, when traced back to their origin, all point to the eastern part of the city.

Lin Qingxue opened her eyes again.

"Dongcheng District is 15 kilometers away as the crow flies."

"A plundering formation has been set up over there."

The lounge was completely silent.

Her lifelong understanding has been shattered today.

The elegant object, acquired at great expense, turned out to be a death warrant.

"Master Zhou..."

Her lips lost their color.

"This disaster..."

Do we need to report this to the government?

"Contact the government?"

Zhou Ran leaned back in his armchair, his tone lowering.

"Yes, but it's too slow."

His gaze swept over the group of noblewomen huddled in the corner, trembling.

"Everything I've seen today, I'll keep to myself."

"Who dares to gossip and leak even a single word?"

"If this deadly flower grows on your body again, you'd better prepare your own coffin and wait to die."

Several wealthy women nodded vigorously, covering their mouths tightly with their hands, not daring to make a sound.

Just as Zhou Ran was about to go and take a look at that cultural center.

The words "Restroom" on the door began to change frequently.

Without a sound.

The edges of the gold-colored paper curled up and wrinkled violently.

Finally, they coalesced on the door into a single word that was reddish-black, as if it were about to drip blood.

【Come】

Zhou Ran's gaze passed over the group of noblewomen and fixed on the words that had taken shape on the door.

Li Zhiyao.

The way this woman sends messages is truly sinister.

However, the timing of the message was impeccable.

The Life-Devouring Evil Array in the east of the city had just begun to reveal itself when her note was delivered to her.

This was by no means a coincidence.

Could it be that it has some connection to the underworld?

Zhou Ran gave up the idea of ​​going to Dongcheng.

"Sister Ya."

He leaned down and whispered in Chen Ya's ear.

"The Song family's business is now in your hands."

"I might have to go away for a while."

Chen Ya did not ask any further questions.

"it is good."

"Within a month, all the territories and venues left behind by the Song family will be rebranded with the Zhou family's nameplate."

......

"Boss, we're going the wrong way."

Above the dashboard in the passenger seat, a pale white mushroom was crouching.

"The car headed west; the challenge location is in the east of the city!"

"The evil and malevolent energy gathered in that broken formation."

"I can swallow it all up with one big mouth, there's no need for me to go through all that trouble."

Zhou Ran gripped the steering wheel with one arm and turned it.

"Let's go meet an acquaintance first."

His eyes were fixed on the bustling traffic ahead.

The soft, white umbrella surface quickly became taut and straight.

"Li Zhiyao?"

"You'd better be very careful when you step into her territory."

This woman is a bit strange.

Zhou Ran glanced at him sideways, his face full of mockery.

"Did you used to boast about how capable you were?"

"Now that they've run into someone who makes their living in the underworld, even their roots are trembling with fear?"

The white umbrella canopy, mostly covered in black, immediately revealed a purplish-red color.

"I have lived for over a thousand years, and I have never feared anyone else!"

It stubbornly retorted.

"But those guys who take on jobs in the underworld don't follow the laws and regulations of the living at all."

It moved the stem to secure the base at the air conditioner vent.

"Do you perhaps mistake reincarnated beings for ordinary ghost hunters roaming the streets?"

"The true reincarnators are the iron nails firmly wedged between the realms of Yin and Yang."

"Nails?"

Zhou Ran repeated the two words.

That's right.

The mortal realm governs life, while the underworld governs death.

These two realms originally existed in harmony, each following its own path.

"Who knows what kind of changes have occurred? Right now, these two realms are about to collide and merge."

Bai Xuan lowered his voice and put away his previous arrogance.

"To prevent the conflict between the two realms from causing the destruction of the world, a being with extraordinary abilities drove in dozens of iron nails."

"These people were forced to stand at the juncture of life and death, splitting the two worlds apart."