Vice President Ding sat in the conference room, looking at the senior leaders above, still not fully recovering from what had happened yesterday.

He could hardly describe how chaotic the scene became after that little monster across from them had nodded slightly.

First to explode were the two men beside Ye Wangxing. Before Ye Wangxing could stop them, the dark-faced Ghost Emperor concentrated his yin energy and blasted it directly at Yu Yi’s face, while Lu Shi finally got to use the single-person rocket launcher he had previously restrained.

The only relief Vice President Ding felt on that smoky battlefield was that his hands were fast enough to put up a barrier in time, preventing ordinary people from noticing the commotion.

Then the staff, shocked back to reality by the roar of the rocket launcher, let out sharp screams.

It was not because they were surprised by gossip, but purely because the rocket launcher and the yin energy had struck Yu Yi solidly, tearing off part of his limbs.

—Most people would scream if they saw someone shaped like a slime, being molded by themselves.

“I go, it looks like it has super strong suction. No wonder Master Ye got so excited,” Xiao Wu stammered, scared when she saw the tentacles.

Fortunately, Xiao Wu and the other staff had decent psychological resilience. Even when they screamed, they stayed huddled behind Vice President Ding, too scared to come out.

Then came the four-way battle, with Ye Wangxing joining in and other masters rushing over to assist.

The scene was a complete mess. By the time Vice President Ding came to her senses, they were already sitting in the conference room. Outside, the sky was still dark, but it was the second night.

The senior leaders above also looked tired. They had rushed over immediately after receiving the news, and their age did not support working so late.

Though fatigued, their nerves were taut.

…After all, the monster that had almost devoured the entire ancient town and bypassed their surveillance system, tracking from the northern homeland to the south, sat right in front of them.

And they had no protective measures at all.

The senior leaders felt as if they were facing a wild Siberian tiger, the sense of pressure and adrenaline making their faces serious, though their backs were already drenched in cold sweat.

It was not that they did not want to put any protective measures in place.

They genuinely did not know what would work.

The previous “Concentric Array” had been tested by a pair of master Taoists the association brought after he investigated it, but it could not control the monster. Since they had tested it secretly, the monster had not even noticed and had walked out in a single step.

—Humiliatingly, it had heard their gasps, smiled shyly and awkwardly, then returned to the array.

It had then looked at the small Taoist beside it, seemingly emotionally linked, and smiled as if claiming credit.

As for that Ye Wangxing…

He trembled, covering his face with both hands, unable to watch the cruel scene.

It was indeed cruel for the officials present.

Now the monster still smiled at Ye Wangxing, but Ye Wangxing kept his composure, maintaining a blank expression without showing fear.

The senior leaders nodded silently in their minds, recognizing a hero emerging from the young. As for the previous rumors… most likely, they were just hearsay.

The meeting then began, and the senior leaders prepared to negotiate with the monster before them.

This time, the higher-ups had specifically sent him, someone who had worked at the UN, because he had experienced many large-scale events. No matter how absurd, ridiculous, or unreasonable the reason, he could keep a straight face while either objecting or agreeing.

No matter how unreasonable the conditions, he could handle them!

He would absolutely negotiate a mutually satisfactory agreement with the other party!

The senior leaders rubbed their hands, ready to show their best skills.

But…

“Comrade Yu Yi’s request is to satisfy his appetite and to stay with Master Ye Wangxing 24 hours a day.”

Hearing this, the senior leaders froze, then abruptly turned to look at Minister Li, who had spoken.

Did they hear wrong, or did Minister Li speak incorrectly?

The first condition seemed normal, but the second—how could he possibly make such a demand?

They had prepared for the monster to demand sacrifices like an ancient river god, but this was it?

If they could limit his activity range, they would have immediately intervened and persuaded Master Ye to maximize the monster’s abilities.

But then Minister Li, in a rare moment of tremor in his calm voice, said: “His Majesty, the Northern Ghost Emperor Xie Jiu, upon learning of Comrade Yu Yi’s conditions, made the same request and added an additional condition.”

Minister Li swallowed hard and continued: “No one else may have contact with Master Ye for more than eight hours.”

Senior leaders: “…”

Leaders: “…”

Everyone else present: “…”

The senior leader, unusually, let out a rare “Ah?”

The situation on both sides had completely confused the official leaders.

They had originally thought they came to discuss life-and-death matters concerning humanity, but now it seemed…

They quietly turned their gaze to the mentioned Master Ye. The young man now could not care about appearances, he covered his cheeks with his hands, almost burying his head in the table.

—The issue to be resolved was a matter of emotions.

Nothing was particularly surprising about that.

The senior leader, seeing him like this, recalled the intelligence he had heard before coming.

For example, the romantic entanglements between Master Ye and the three others.

Come to think of it, he had also seen the large pit in front of the hotel when those four had fought.

The national defense cables below had almost been damaged, lying at the bottom of the pit.

‘It seems…’ the senior leader thought. ‘This national defense cable survived because Master Ye noticed they were about to break it, shouted forcibly, and when that didn’t work, beat the three of them up to save it.’

Yet the three didn’t seem angry. Could it be that they actually liked such a forceful approach?

The senior leader looked in that direction, unable to resist.

It seemed things would be a little simpler.

Although the Ghost Emperor side was prone to jealousy, if the relationships were balanced properly, greater benefits could be obtained.

The leaders, as expected, thought like leaders. Though initially stunned by this quadrangle romance, they quickly figured out the key points and began adjusting their plans.

Of course, they did not pin all hope on the emotional entanglements. The SWAT officers outside and the equipment specially brought in by the state served as backup.

Minister Li, after explaining the monster’s specific demands, let out a slight sigh of relief.

When he looked at Master Ye Wangxing, his expression carried some sympathy.

Not everyone could accept a monster publicly advertised as capable of destroying the world, yet obediently following them—especially…

Minister Li glanced at Yu Yi across from Ye Wangxing.

This monster, after almost blowing up the plaza in front of the hotel, still wore that fragile, helpless expression, and when the two men beside Master Ye Wangxing glared at him, he still pretended to look pitiful.

—The monster’s manipulative charm was effortless.

This reminded Minister Li of the words he had seen in a report while investigating the Yu Yi incident, mentioning the first, second, and third “houses.”

He quickly shook his head, thinking he was overthinking. Seeing the leaders finally process these matters, Minister Li resumed reading his script to wrap up the pre-meeting remarks.

“…This meeting aims to promote mutual understanding, respect, and cooperation among the three parties, contributing wisdom and effort to build a more harmonious and better society. We hope all leaders can, through sincere communication and in-depth discussion, work together to achieve a peaceful society.”

Minister Li spoke steadily, but even with her qigong training, she crumpled the script slightly in her hands.

‘…What kind of script did Xiao Wang write? So many empty phrases, but no concrete content? Didn’t I tell her to follow the old format?!’

After her internal complaint, she looked up at the little monster below, seeing it was not angry, and relaxed slightly.

Upon reflection, it seemed Xiao Wang had indeed followed the old format.

Moreover, Xiao Wang probably didn’t dare to innovate, after all, the monster sat right there. If she had called it “Black Mud” as in previous reports, the monster might have exploded on the spot just to show them what a slime looks like.

Fortunately, Xiao Wang’s script returned to normal, and after finishing the empty phrases, Minister Li finally began the meeting.

Then came a flurry of verbal sparring, with the officials and the Ghost Emperor side refusing to yield on their interests.

As for Yu Yi…

He acted like a machine, only repeating his own demands.

The forced overtime Ghost Chancellor almost turned red with anger and tears because of him.

The officials were the busiest, having to safeguard their interests while preventing the two sides from fighting.

Honestly, Yu Yi’s demands were easy to resolve, he only wanted to stay beside Master Ye Wangxing. As long as Master Ye agreed, there was little to worry about.

—But unfortunately, a Northern Ghost Emperor stood there obstructing matters.

Thus, what was originally an easy-to-handle request became complicated.

Ye Xiao, the Taoist had already solved that problem.

“…If I sacrificed a little time, they wouldn’t harm society. I don’t mind doing that,” he finally said, raising his face in a somewhat desperate manner.

He looked like he had handed everything over to the others. The senior leader wanted him to help negotiate with the two of them, but seeing the kid shrinking like a bullied little puppy made it hard to insist.

Having this kid step out to sacrifice himself was already forcing him, why rely on him for everything else?

The senior leader could only roll up his sleeves and go back to work with the other ghost and human machine.

While the situation stalled, the man sitting on the other side of Ye, finally spoke.

“…Sorry, leaders, may I interrupt? I really want to ask Comrade Yu Yi something.”

The leaders frowned, initially wondering which department’s young member was so undisciplined. But when they saw the department badge on his chest, they understood.

He was in a professional role, maybe he really had discovered something.

The senior leader thought this and suppressed the other leaders’ words of rebuke.

Lu Shi, however, never looked anywhere else. He stared directly at the seated young boy, smiling, but the expression carried a heavy pressure.

The boy still looked so weak and helpless. Compared to Lu Shi’s tall figure, he looked even more pitiful.

“Comrade Yu Yi, may I ask, are you sure you have never caused a human to lose their vital signs by any means?”

The young boy immediately nodded, looking somewhat frightened, glancing at Ye Wangxing.

Ye Wangxing pressed his lips together and turned his head aside, not looking at Yu Yi at all.

Lu Shi pressed on, leaning slightly forward with a smile: “Are you sure? And did you really tell the truth?”

Yu Yi nodded again under Lu Shi’s intense questioning, looking like a pitiful little creature harassed by unreasonable demands, tears welling up in his eyes.

The senior leader frowned, sensing a hint of danger. This was not normal questioning—what exactly was Lu Shi doing?

As he thought, the tall young man leaned back in his chair, smiling broadly. His smile wasn’t friendly but felt predatory, like a feline.

“Well then, this is very strange, Comrade Yu Yi,” the young man said cheerfully.

“In your past life, you appeared for only a short while and already devoured a village of crippled people.”

“Clatter—! Crack—! Boom—!”

Everyone at the scene jumped from their seats, knocking over chairs, cups, and vases. The conference room erupted with noise.

The young man, however, acted as if he couldn’t hear it, addressing the still-pitiful Yu Yi in front of him.

“If I remember correctly, the past-life Yu Yi didn’t have such fluent language skills from the start.”

The leaders were shocked, the remark seemed reckless. Luckily, Yu Yi did not get angry.

Instead, tears welled up again, making him look like a frightened little animal, glancing at Ye Wangxing for help.

The young man stood up, blocking Yu Yi’s view.

Vice President Ding noticed Ye Wangxing looked relieved behind him.

‘Relieved about what?’ he wondered, but the thought vanished before he could grasp it. He focused on the scene, his heart in his throat.

The young man continued pointing out Yu Yi’s inconsistencies, undeterred by his pitiful act.

“At first, I thought it was a butterfly effect caused by my and the Ghost Emperor’s rebirth. After all, the Ghost Emperor was quite scary back then, scaring a mute to scream was normal.”

The Ghost Emperor chuckled softly at this.

“But the monster from the past life hasn’t harmed anyone this life, showing high intelligence, and—without anyone leaking information—went to the old execution ground and saved another Taoist present that day.”

Lu Shi said, watching Yu Yi, who still tried to act, and softly added: “The key point is, the Ghost Emperor remembers Wangxing’s prank from the past life. I’ve spent the most time with him, so… why did you speak about the third house in front of us?”

The Ghost Emperor muttered it wasn’t a prank, but Lu Shi ignored him, looking down at Yu Yi: “Wangxing isn’t a charmer with a halo, anyone who likes him must have spent some time with him.”

“So either Wangxing made you control your nature and appetite in just two hours, letting you fully comply with his preferences without harming anyone, or…”

Seeing Yu Yi finally stop pretending to be pitiful, staring expressionlessly, Lu Shi leveled his mouth and said flatly: “You were reborn too, Yu Yi.”

The meeting ended somewhat abruptly.

After Lu Shi revealed Yu Yi’s rebirth, Yu Yi didn’t answer directly whether he had spent time with Ye Wangxing before dying.

Everyone knew the question’s purpose: they wanted to know if Ye Wangxing had truly died when he perished alongside Yu Yi.

Yu Yi avoided the question, instead redirecting his focus to Ye Wangxing, reducing the previously requested 24 hours by his side to 8.

Everyone understood that this was Yu Yi’s final concession. He even agreed to supervision, specifying Ye Wangxing as the overseer.

Lu Shi and the Ghost Emperor nearly lost their temper at his evasive response, initially wanting to continue pressing.

Unexpectedly, Ye Wangxing stood up, bowing his head slightly.

“I agree,” he said.

Everyone was shocked, they wondered if Ye Wangxing truly didn’t want to know how he had died in his past life.

They understood why he stepped forward now: stabilizing both sides was best under the circumstances.

The senior leader confirmed his previous thought: heroes really emerge young.

—Though in emotions, this one had surpassed his predecessor.

But this wasn’t Ye Wangxing’s fault, it was the mess left by his past life.

The senior leader thought while getting into the car. The plan had been finalized, signed under Heaven’s approval. Whether Heaven could control Yu Yi remained unknown, but at least a safety lock existed.

Before leaving, the senior leader noticed a Taoist standing at the hotel entrance with luggage.

…He seemed familiar from the report.

He was the one Yu Yi had saved, shoved aside and silenced during the conflict.

The senior leader sighed at the numb expression, even if the problem was resolved, trauma remained.

Indeed, for Zhou Tianning, the trauma existed and was massive—big enough to cover the entire globe psychologically.

Zhou Tianning sat in the car, dazed. He couldn’t understand—was there something wrong with the days of rebirth?

Why did so many people rebirth that day? Lu Shi and the Ghost Emperor was one thing, but another had appeared—an incredibly terrifying monster who had wreaked havoc after his death!

The more he thought, the more anxious he became. He no longer worried about his own rebirth being exposed—there were already three reborn—but… he seemed to have no chance of rising.

Thinking this, he twisted his face toward the window. His expression was grim, fear and resentment making him bite his lip until it bled.

Why?! Why?! The monster rebirthed, fine—but why was Ye Wangxing treated so specially?!

Yes, specially treated. Zhou Tianning didn’t want to call it emotional attachment—it made him feel disgusted.

Yet he no longer sought to surpass Ye Wangxing or use rebirth to change fate.

Though near madness, he still had his mind.

When Lu Shi and the Ghost Emperor were devoted to Ye Wangxing, he couldn’t act—and now he lacked the ability entirely.

Thinking this, his expression grew even more sinister.

—Even the child on the nearby bus cried in fear.

The crying irritated Zhou Tianning further. He adjusted his face and turned his head back, only to see Tang Fang ahead, smiling and organizing the association members.

‘Tang! Fang!’

His anger finally found an outlet.

—Tang Fang had latched onto the Southern Ghost Emperor. The world crisis was resolved, and he could work safely under the Southern Ghost Emperor, get promoted, even prepare posthumous tasks!

He wanted to kill him—he absolutely wanted to kill him!

In the past life, Tang Fang had ruined him, even if he couldn’t reach life’s peak this time, he would kill Tang Fang!

But how to do it? Zhou Tianning’s exhausted mind struggled.

Even if Tang Fang’s body was mortal, under the Southern Ghost Emperor’s protection, his ghost could still serve him after death.

He could bring Tang Fang back to the Zhou family, but the Zhou family wouldn’t protect him if the Southern Ghost Emperor demanded Tang Fang.

So he had to plan an escape route.

In a country-wide surveillance system, escape was nearly impossible.

Zhou Tianning pondered deeply, eventually touching the jade gourd around his neck.

His eyes lit up, shining with terrifying fanaticism.

Inside the gourd, Pei Si, bored and dozing, heard his wife speak words both tender and terrifying: “Husband, I’ve always been with you, alright?”

After all, in ghost-taming techniques, no one knew where those fierce spirits came from. The Zhou family had previously been Taoists of the Association, and although they had the right to capture fierce spirits, they did not have the authority to abuse private punishment.

However, this time the authorities did not intend to adopt an “eradicate all” strategy against the Zhou family, because they had not previously established laws in this regard.

If the Zhou family could stop in time, honestly submit to the official investigation, and comply with the law in the future, the authorities would not do much to them—at most, they would confiscate the family’s ghost-taming resources.

But no one knew what the Zhou family had imagined, the entire family panicked, seeking help everywhere, and even blamed Zhou Tianning, thinking he had offended the Religious Association in prior events, which led to their near destruction.

As a result, the Zhou family argued constantly, and the whole mansion was in chaos.

Tang Fang sighed. The Zhou family had once been so glorious. He had invested so much effort to attach himself to them. And now, their mansion was crumbling.

But Tang Fang only sighed for a moment before moving on. What he regretted most was…

Why hadn’t he thought to report the Zhou family to the authorities back then?

Although it might earn him a reputation for being ruthless, if he managed it well and acted convincingly, the Zhou family could have become a stepping stone for him to join the authorities.

Tang Fang thought this, showing a trace of regret in his expression, but then he composed himself and began confirming how many people wanted to work with them.

Once everything was confirmed, Tang Fang smiled, said farewell to everyone, met with the old leader again, drank some tea, and finally left.

When Tang Fang stepped outside the Religious Association, the brilliant sunlight made him feel like he had stepped into another world. He felt like someone who had just been released from prison, standing under the sun for a long time before finally moving forward.

“…Feels really like being released from prison,” he muttered softly, turning into a corner of a small alley. He planned to go through the alley to buy some milk tea from a shop behind to deliver to the Religious Association.

When trying to poach people, appearances had to be perfect.

Milk tea in hand, small cakes ready, Vice President Ding surely couldn’t give him a hard time, right?

“I have to tell the staff not to add sugar to those two special orders.”

Tang Fang was noting this on his phone, planning to pick up the order himself. But as he turned into the alley, he suddenly felt a chill all over.

Something was wrong. Even in the alley, sunlight wouldn’t feel this cold.

Tang Fang didn’t look up, pretending to send a message, but one hand had already secretly gone into his pocket.

—But a colder hand moved faster.

The hand was as cold as a dead person’s, making Tang Fang instinctively think it belonged to a fierce spirit.

The hand grabbed Tang Fang’s wrist firmly, pressing it into his pants pocket.

Tang Fang had never hated himself so much for not being a combatant.

‘But why is this spirit so strong, daring to attack me next to the Religious Association?’

Tang Fang tried to peek at the spirit, but met a pair of eyes filled with anger.

He couldn’t help but scream: “Tianning!”

Indeed, the person in front of him was Zhou Tianning.

And now, his complexion looked just slightly better than a corpse.

But his breathing was warm—he was alive.

This relieved Tang Fang slightly. He frowned and said: “Tianning, what’s going on? Why are you stopping me here? You could have messaged me. The place I’m going to is a dessert shop with seating, we could sit and talk properly.”

“That dessert shop isn’t far from the Religious Association. It’s only 200 meters. Everyone likes sweets. Why don’t you have some first to calm down?”

Tang Fang spoke gently. He knew Zhou Tianning had probably come because of the Zhou family situation.

Although he wouldn’t promise anything, given Zhou Tianning’s current state, he needed to get him to the dessert shop to calm him down.

Otherwise, who knew if Zhou Tianning might attack him?

Tang Fang thought while speaking, keeping his phone ready. He switched to the emergency number 110, lowering the call volume to minimum and raising the microphone to maximum.

The address had been spoken, now it was a matter of buying time until the police arrived.

Tang Fang thought this, but Zhou Tianning didn’t seem calmed by his words. Instead, he spoke deliberately: “…Tang Fang, you scumbag! When you approached me, was it because you wanted to use me and climb the Zhou family’s power?”

Tang Fang wanted to answer, but seeing the truth talisman in Zhou Tianning’s hand, he didn’t know how to respond.

This question was dangerous, one wrong answer could cost him his life. Tang Fang tried to think of a way to escape the topic.

But Zhou Tianning seemed unconcerned with the answer, asking further: “…Regarding reporting the Zhou family previously, I know you weren’t involved. But if given the chance, would you participate?”

Now this was a truly deadly question. Tang Fang broke into a sweat, while Zhou Tianning pressed the truth talisman further against him.

At this moment, Zhou Tianning’s ghost-taming spirit floated from the jade gourd around his neck, holding Tang Fang firmly in place.

Tang Fang thought he saw the spirit looking at him with sympathetic eyes—perhaps just his imagination.

Zhou Tianning pressed the truth talisman fully onto Tang Fang.

“—Yes, but—!”

Tang Fang could only reluctantly say “yes.” Just as he tried to add a qualification, a sudden chill struck his temple.

The next second, Tang Fang lost consciousness.

Then, the next second, his vision brightened again.

—And he faced his own corpse, staring back at him.

“I… am dead?”

Tang Fang looked at his body for a long while, then began to hate his past self.

Why had he been so foolish to climb using connections? Even if he wanted to climb using connections, why hadn’t he been straightforward?

Now it was all in the hands of a perverted person.

Switching jobs had led to his own downfall.

At this time, Tang Fang still naively thought the trigger was his job switch.

Only when Zhou Tianning restrained his soul and brought him to the Zhou family did he realize something was wrong.

He looked at the fierce spirits screaming sharply, and the serious Zhou family members conducting some kind of experiment, swallowing nervously.

—It seemed Zhou Tianning wasn’t done hurting him yet.

Ye Wangxing didn’t know what Tang Fang was facing, he was explaining upcoming tasks to 19.

[Host, you are approaching the final critical plot point. The key information in your script hasn’t been revealed by anyone, nor disclosed to others. If the live scene doesn’t connect, the performance may be affected.]

19’s calm voice said, lifting the host, who had collapsed like water flowing onto the sofa, back up.

When Ye Wangxing was placed back on the sofa, he realized how improper his earlier posture had been. He coughed and sat properly.

Hearing 19, Ye Wangxing spoke: [The last key information, I didn’t plan for anyone specific to say it. I’ve already disclosed it to others, Vice President Ding, Zhou Tianning, Tang Fang, and the authorities should have noticed.]

The young man, like a little dog, leaned back against the sofa again.

[Whoever notices first will reveal it. The final task involves Zhou Tianning receiving lashes for Pei Si. Vice President Ding and the authorities will go there. If they don’t react in time, either I or 19 can prompt them.]

Ye Wangxing always trusted others’ intelligence, especially when acting so obviously. If no one noticed, he would have had to worry about the Association’s future.

19 nodded at Ye Wangxing’s words, it made sense.

Seeing 19 agree, Ye Wangxing felt reassured. A plan approved by 19 had a high chance of success.

Relaxing, Ye Wangxing mentioned a small detail he noticed while reviewing the original plot.

[I didn’t expect that Tang Fang really reported the Zhou family in the past life.]

He remarked.

During this time, Zhou Tianning and Tang Fang had little interaction. Even if Tang Fang tried to approach Zhou Tianning, various tasks kept them separated.

[Luckily, 19, these tasks kept Tang Fang and Zhou Tianning apart. Zhou Tianning’s mental state hasn’t been good lately. If he saw his ex-scammer doing so well, he’d probably break down.]

Ye Wangxing sighed.

Zhou Tianning’s personality was indeed prone to extremes. Seeing an enemy doing well could be quite provoking.

Fortunately, recent tasks had kept them apart, so things should be fine.

“Eee-ooo-eee-ooo-eee-ooo—”

…Yeah.

Ye Wangxing stared as the system space suddenly flashed red, the entire space turning crimson, and alarms sounding. He didn’t know what had happened.

[Host, situation is out of control. Zhou Tianning killed Tang Fang and brought him to the Zhou family for torture. Now, someone discovered that the tortured soul belonged to the Southern Ghost Emperor, causing internal strife in the Zhou family.]

19’s voice rushed through Ye Wangxing’s mind. Ye Wangxing snapped back and exited the system space to control his body, rushing to Vice President Ding’s office.

19 continued: [Zhou Tianning and his ghost are now fighting the Zhou family outnumbered. Six people have already lost vital signs.]

At the same time, Ye Wangxing received a group notification on his phone.

He ran faster, ignoring 19’s words. When he reached Vice President Ding’s office, the other three were already waiting. But just as he was about to push the door, Vice President Ding stepped out first.

 

 

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