It's a den of tigers and wolves inside, fraught with danger. Children, go home.

Nie Zhen shook his head. "I invited you two masters, and I cannot stand idly by and watch you risk your lives to save my family."

"No, no."

"Master Huaikong, Daoist Jingyun, please grant my request."

Since Nie Zhen was determined to leave, Master Huai Kong and Daoist Jing Yun allowed him to travel with them.

Upon entering Liuyun Courtyard, one is greeted by a vibrant atmosphere filled with surging spiritual energy.

"So strange?" Master Jingyun's eyes widened like copper bells. She clearly sensed an evil aura outside, emanating from Liuyun Courtyard, yet the courtyard was filled with spiritual energy. Since ancient times, good and evil have been irreconcilable. In places with abundant spiritual energy, evil aura is generally hard to find.

Master Huaikong frowned, his peaceful mind as a monk was shattered by the vibrant courtyard.

“This place is extremely strange.” Master Huaikong swallowed hard, his heart pounding. “Master Nie, you should stay close to this humble monk and Daoist Jingyun.”

“Yes,” Nie Zhen replied obediently.

The three continued their journey, and before they knew it, they had explored Liuyun Courtyard inside and out three times.

"Master Huaikong, what have you discovered?" Master Jingyun asked.

"No," Master Huaikong replied truthfully.

The two men looked grave. They hadn't found any demons, either inside or outside the courtyard, yet the place Luo Geng had pointed to was this Liuyun Courtyard. Why hadn't they found any demons?

After waiting for a while, they decided to retreat first and seal Liuyun Courtyard to prevent the demon from escaping.

"Huai Kong Da..."

A loud bang interrupted Master Jingyun's words.

On the floor of the main hall of Liuyun Courtyard, beneath the floor tiles, a deep underground passage is revealed.

"Such a strong aura of malevolence!" Master Jingyun exclaimed in alarm.

With such a strong aura of malevolence, and so many dangers lurking within, one can imagine that it's a matter of life and death.

The three of them walked down the path, turning back every few steps. With a few clattering sounds, the oil lamps on both sides of the path spontaneously lit up, and they entered an underground palace without any hindrance.

“This should be an underground palace,” Master Huaikong concluded, looking up at the surroundings.

"Looks like you're not that stupid after all!"

A light and melodious female voice suddenly rang out.

"Monster!" Master Huaikong roared.

"Hehe... a prodigy? You'll find out what a prodigy really is in a moment," Ji Xiaoxiao reminded her. "This is the Nie family's underground palace, the one Nie Zhen mentioned earlier."

Master Huaikong and Daoist Jingyun turned around at the same time. When Lou Yu was alive, Nie Zhen personally hid Lou Yu in their Nie family's underground palace. If this is the underground palace that Nie Zhen mentioned before, then Nie Zhen must know Liuyun Academy. Why can't he explain it clearly?

The Liuyun Courtyard was strange in every way, and even Nie Zhen of the Nie family was mysterious and unpredictable.

Then, Ji Xiaoxiao revealed the truth: the original owner of this body was killed by Nie Zhen.

What? Lou Yu was killed by Master Nie himself?

"Master Nie, is what she said true?" Master Jingyun was the first to lose his composure.

Nie Zhen lowered his head, and the dim oil lamp made it impossible to discern his expression.

silence!

Silence means consent!

"Indeed, what she said was true." Master Jingyun asked, puzzled, "Why? Master Nie, why did you want to break the promise between me and Master Huaikong?"

Master Jingyun and Master Huaikong eagerly awaited Nie Zhen's answer.

One minute, two minutes, and after a cup of tea, Nie Zhen remained silent.

"There's no need to wait for his reply. Why don't you see for yourselves?" Ji Xiaoxiao revealed her true form, placing her palm on the cold bluestone. Black energy permeated the air, corroding the bluestone until it crumbled and fine sand fell away.

"This is it." Master Jingyun almost couldn't catch his breath.

Master Huai Kong laboriously clasped his hands together and quietly chanted the mantra.

The bluestone crumbled, revealing what lay behind the wall: skeletons of varying sizes and degrees of decay. Their number was countless, and not all of them could be seen, as the skeletons were so densely packed that the back was obscured.

“Thirteen thousand fifty-six skeletons, a veritable mass grave,” Ji Xiaoxiao laughed. “A family of great benevolence? A benevolent man named Nie Zhen? What a joke. The Nie family has killed countless people and committed all sorts of evil deeds. What does the word 'benevolence' have to do with them?”

Ji Xiaoxiao was filled with rage. "You call yourselves righteous people, but ask yourselves, what have you done? To rid the world of this evil spirit, to rid the people of a scourge, to act on behalf of Heaven? You Taoist priest, you just said that Heaven has its order, that cause and effect are cyclical. Nie Zhen killed me, so what's wrong with me taking revenge?"

---Aside---

Thank you Shenyu_Qingchen for the two monthly tickets!

Thank you Shenyu_Qingchen for the two monthly tickets!

Thank you Shenyu_Qingchen for the two monthly tickets!

This book is being published here for the first time; please do not reproduce it!