A dark shadow sweeps through the wind, revealing natural and man-made disasters.

No one answered, no one knew.

The thieving Taoist priest claimed that the energy ball was spiritual energy, but the energy ball that surrounded Huaiwen that night was surrounded by black energy, so it was clear that this energy ball was definitely not benevolent.

Jiang Liyan lowered his head, unable to figure it out either. After fruitless discussion, Jiang Liyan stood up and said he had received a reward from the magistrate and needed to buy Huaiwen a chicken to make soup to nourish him, then left.

As soon as Jiang Liyan left, Xuan Ye waved and closed the door. Seeing this, Huai Wen tilted her head, her eyes darting around: "You...you want to see me?"

Xuan Ye gave a soft hum in response. Huai Wen immediately asked him what was wrong.

After Xuan Ye calmly sat down, he stared intently at Huai Wen and slowly said, "Is there something you haven't told me?"

Huaiwen's heart skipped a beat. He racked his brains trying to recall if there was anything he hadn't told him, and after thinking it over, only that one thing remained. Since it was that thing, he could just admit it later since he had acted first and informed the other party without asking.

To cheer himself up, Huaiwen poured himself and Xuanye a glass of water and said slowly, "Don't look at me like that. Haven't I told you everything that happened along the way?"

Xuan Ye took a breath to calm himself down: "Huaiwen, tell me the truth."

Huaiwen bit her lip, Xuan Ye's gaze burning her with pain. She had no choice but to obediently admit, "I know I had Ghost Slayer take all the money the Qian family steward gave us back to the Demon Exorcist's Office without consulting you. It's a bit unfair to you, but you know our Demon Exorcist's Office is desperately short of money right now. This money is a lifesaver, saving us from dire straits!"

Huaiwen, fearing Xuan Ye would be angry, added, "But don't worry, you won't be shortchanged while you're my bodyguard. See, I haven't let you go hungry along the way..."

"So... you secretly sent all the money away behind my back." Xuan Ye chuckled.

"Ah—it's not about that..." Huaiwen felt guilty.

Xuan Ye laughed instead: "I will settle this score with you naturally. But that's not what I want to talk about."

"What is it?" Huaiwen had learned his lesson this time and didn't jump to conclusions.

Xuan Ye raised his eyes and asked seriously, "What's the deal with the cursed shackles on your body?"

Huaiwen was truly stunned. Until now, apart from her master, no one had ever told her about this curse, nor had anyone ever discovered it.

But Huaiwen forgot that at the temple, before she fainted, Xuanye saw her dark aura. When outsiders brought this up, she thought she would be terrified, but unexpectedly, Huaiwen remained surprisingly calm.

She gradually calmed down and joked, "I was born with it, so what? Are you going to unlock it for me?"

Xuan Ye answered without hesitation.

Huaiwen was momentarily dazed, then immediately asked, "Why?"

Xuan Ye's deep eyes held a hint of regret as he replied with a slightly bitter tone, "Because... A-Jun's wish is... for peace and prosperity throughout the world, and for the continuation of her lineage. You may be the last bloodline of their clan."

Perhaps it was the regret of the past, for Huaiwen's eyes welled up with tears at just one sentence, her eyes filled with boundless tenderness. She recalled everything that had happened since she met Xuan Ye, and it all seemed to reveal one thing: she, Ruan Huaiwen, had some connection with her ancestor, Ruan Shiyun.

It's not just about the connection between future generations.

Although Xuan Ye was turned to the side, the regret he felt for the past kept emanating from him, permeating the entire room. Huai Wen wanted to pat him on the shoulder to comfort him, but felt it would be too much. So she told Xuan Ye that she would not die because of this curse.

Xuan Ye's tone was calm, but it brooked no refusal: "I will find a way to help you get rid of it."

Huaiwen tilted her head, letting her guard down, and smiled: "In that case, I will live well."

But that black cloud of mist still aroused a lot of curiosity.

Once he recovered, Huaiwen couldn't wait to investigate what had caused that cloud of energy. Fortunately, this time, because Jiang Liyan had caught the thief, he was considered a hero by everyone. Naturally, visiting the homes of those high-ranking officials and nobles became much easier.

As soon as Huaiwen entered, she sensed something was wrong. An innate intuition told her that the energy cloud had done something to this place. Xuan Ye also sensed it naturally; his five senses were amplified, and he quickly detected something.

The people here lack vital energy, are mentally confused, and have unstable energy flow.

The servant led them to the main hall, where the master, Master Chen, slowly walked out.

When Master Chen saw Huaiwen and his two companions, he first thanked them flatteringly for catching the thief. Then he asked them what business they had of visiting.

Huaiwen bowed and said gently, "Master Chen, I wonder if you have ever heard of the Transvestite Bureau in Transvestite City?"

Mr. Chen shook his head, indicating he had never heard of it. Huaiwen then patiently explained, "The Human-Demon Association is a place where humans and demons resolve all sorts of troubles. We came here because we learned that you fell into a coma while being robbed. We thought that since they were Taoist priests, they might have cast some kind of spell on you, so we came here specifically to help you take a look."

Upon hearing this, Master Chen couldn't help but worry. People like him were most afraid of dying unexpectedly. Master Chen quickly asked Huaiwen if he had figured anything out.

Huaiwen shook his head, saying that he had not yet thoroughly investigated the mansion and could not conclude that there was nothing there.

Master Chen immediately ordered Huaiwen to thoroughly investigate every corner of the mansion, and it would be best to perform a ritual to remove the bad luck.

Huaiwen agreed to all of them. After instructing several servants to follow Huaiwen and listen to her instructions, Master Chen left with peace of mind.

Seeing Master Chen leave, Jiang Liyan gestured for Huaiwen and Xuan Ye to come closer, but Xuan Ye ignored him. He had no choice but to approach them: "Have you discovered anything?"

Huaiwen nodded: "Something's not right in the manor."

Jiang Liyan agreed confidently: "Then what should we do?"

"Investigate first, then wait until night."

But after the investigation, no gas cloud was found, and the night passed without anything happening.

After much thought, Huaiwen worried that this yin energy wasn't just present in Master Chen's house, but probably in other places as well.

So she discussed with Jiang Liyan and Xuan Ye, and they split up into two groups. She would exorcise the demons and evil spirits at the Chen residence, while Xuan Ye and Jiang Liyan would go to other places to investigate whether they had also been possessed by that energy mass. If so, they would eliminate it.

Xuan Ye disagreed. Huai Wen knew what he was thinking—he was afraid of dying without Xuan Ye by his side. Huai Wen patted his chest and said, "I'm tough, I'll be fine. Besides, among the three of us, who knows more about this than me?"

That was true, but Xuan Ye was still worried. However, he couldn't resist Huai Wen's repeated persuasion and had no choice but to agree, but he ordered Huai Wen to send a distress signal as soon as anything bad happened.

Huaiwen nodded, then boasted that her fireworks signal had been excellent last time. Xuan Ye took a deep breath and disappeared from Huaiwen's sight, followed by Jiang Liyan.

A servant from the Chen household stepped forward to help Huaiwen set up the formation. Huaiwen nodded and instructed them to place the four tall bronze bird and beast-shaped square vessels they had prepared in advance at the four corners of the courtyard, and then string the bells that Huaiwen had prepared at the four points together.

The bells were lined up in a row, dancing in the wind, their clear sounds ringing out. In the center of the courtyard, there was a long wooden table with a burning red candle on it, and Huaiwen placed the red talisman he had written on it on top of it.

She first looked around the entire courtyard to make sure that no one was within the range of the formation before she officially began casting the spell.

With a "whoosh," Huaiwen floated in the air, and the red talismans on the table followed him, flying to the top of Huaiwen and covering the entire formation.

A golden-red light gradually appeared around Huaiwen, and she chanted: "The throne returns to nothingness, the four directions receive their mandate, dispel the yin and expel the demons, disperse..."

"boom--"

Huaiwen was attacked! She dodged and swiftly retaliated. In the midst of the fight, she recognized the attacker. It was the "golden armor and jade suit" she was looking for, or rather, the young master of the Qian family who had not yet completed his "resurrection."

However, the true form of the young master of the Qian family was nowhere to be seen; there was only a dark mass of energy with a concave body.

The golden-armored warrior unleashed a barrage of attacks, forcing her to dodge repeatedly. The next instant, the golden-armored warrior turned towards the servant of the Chen family, who was draining their life essence!

"This is bad!" Huaiwen thought.

Without a word, Huaiwen threw all the red talismans he was using for his ritual at the golden-armored jade suit, intending to swing them around. But the golden-armored jade suit dodged quickly; its ability to absorb human essence had become increasingly powerful.

Huaiwen could stop one or two at a time, but he couldn't stop ten or more in an instant. Left with no other choice, Huaiwen quickly untied the straps that were originally wrapped around his arms, which transformed into a spiritual belt that held the golden armor and jade robes.

The golden-armored figure, restrained, turned fiercely to face Huaiwen, and without a word, charged straight at him, attacking him relentlessly. Huaiwen leaped across rooftops and walls, constantly dodging the attacks.

She tightened the spirit belt with all her might, binding the golden armor and jade suit together. But soon, with all her might, the spirit belt exploded with a loud bang. The golden armor and jade suit attacked the fleeing minions, and Huaiwen rushed to stop it!

Unexpectedly, while saving the servant, Huaiwen was also struck in the heart by the black energy emitted from the golden armor.

Immediately, Huaiwen felt dizzy, and her chest tightened. The nightmare of being beneath the stone tablet resurfaced in her mind. The stone tablet seemed to be calling out, "Come back, come back, come back to me."

The sound swirled around Huaiwen, making her dizzy. She barely managed to regain her composure when she saw the golden-armored woman escape. Without a word, Huaiwen gave chase!

They chased after him, but seeing that Huaiwen was difficult to deal with, the man in golden armor and jade robes conjured a black whirlwind and surrounded him.

"Black Whirlwind!" Huaiwen exclaimed in surprise again.

This series of events made Huaiwen ponder the relationship between the stone tablet, the golden armor, the black aura, and herself.

The black whirlwind grew stronger and stronger, interrupting Huaiwen's thoughts. She was swept up and floated in the center of the whirlwind, slowly losing her vital energy.

Huaiwen painstakingly pressed her acupoints to hold her breath and regain consciousness. She knew that with her current magical power, she could not escape the Black Whirlwind.

She couldn't even send out any distress signals. This time, she miscalculated.

Even so, Huaiwen didn't want to give up. She thought that if she could hold onto something, perhaps she wouldn't be taken away.

Since she had no rope, she thought long and hard and decided that she could only use a hairband. She took the hairband off and her hair came loose, but when she picked it up, she found that it wasn't long enough, and her magic wasn't working at the moment.

For a moment, Huaiwen felt utterly hopeless.

Just then, a light appeared below, and Huaiwen's eyes lit up. In an instant, her body seemed to be sucked in by something and pulled downwards. Huaiwen's eyes widened, and the light that had just appeared in her eyes instantly turned into panic. The worry in her heart doubled, and she didn't know what force was pulling her down.

As they drew closer to the ground, Huaiwen prepared her sneak attack, but amidst the purplish-red light, she seemed to be able to guess who the newcomer was.

As she waited, she finally confirmed the person below—the one she had been most looking forward to and hoping to see at that moment: Ling Shan Xuan Ye.