Chapter 154 So that's how it is...
It turns out that Ajarn's trap was set here, waiting for her.
But why me?
In a short time, Xu Fei quickly went through all the potential benefits she could have, and the answer was no.
She was just an ordinary person, and her child was nothing special. Why would Ajarn prey on them? To prevent her child's soul from being lost in this world, Xu Fei had no choice but to grit her teeth and agree, "Yes."
Thus, the life-swapping ritual was completed. The afterimages she had deceived herself into believing were illusions now revealed their forms. All the candlelight was filled with ghostly figures—countless children huddled together—who carried away the candles symbolizing her and her children's lifespans, transferring them all before the Ajarn. In an instant, a chill ran down her spine; the Ajarn's words were full of traps, causing Xu Fei immense suffering. She told Nezha, "After the ritual was completed, he took away all my lifespan. I asked him why he did that, and he told me it was because he killed a ghost messenger."
The mortal's lifespan was nearing its end, so he needed to inhabit Xu Fei's child's body, allowing his soul to possess it and enabling him to regain human form. He chose Xu Fei because he had rented her house; their karmic entanglements were deep. It was Xu Fei's disregard for their family's legacy by transferring the shop that led to his horrific act of killing the ghost messenger. This was Xu Fei's unintentional consequence, and she had to bear the consequences herself.
After telling her story, Xu Fei looked at Nezha with hopeful eyes. She asked cautiously, "God... my child, can he still live?"
"It's nothing."
Nezha answered decisively.
He was never stingy in helping those who could benefit him. Whether human or deity, a relationship can only last if there is give and take. After Xu Fei finished speaking, he reached out and placed his hand on the top of her head.
The boy gently grasped, and a thin, black thread appeared at his fingertips. It was like a wisp of smoke, soft and fluffy, floating with elusive black spores. Nezha wrapped it around his finger and then reached out to grab the child's neck. Xu Fei thought of Nezha's righteous indignation and felt a pang of anxiety. But she also knew that Nezha was a soft-hearted child god, so she suppressed her fear and covered her heart with her hand.
Nezha gently lifted the infant from the swaddling clothes, raising him into the air. The baby, feeling the pressure of survival, opened his mouth to cry. But when he opened his eyes, he saw a pair of golden eyes. The golden light emanating from Nezha's pupils, like a scorching sun, forcefully pushed back the blackness that occupied the whites of the infant's eyes. The compressed black clouds howled and struggled to emerge from the infant's eye sockets. They seemed unconscious, like earthworms sown in the soil by a drug, eagerly poking their heads out, trying to rush towards Nezha.
The boy turned pale and reached out his hand.
With clenched fingertips, they pinched the vital point of the evil insect that wreaks havoc on mortals.
"This technique is not the right way."
When the insect dies, the curse is broken.
These words clearly reached the ears of the ghost boy, Xu Fei, and even the Ajarn in the building.
The baby's dark eyes returned to their normal, clear state. He showed no fear of Nezha, giggling and even reaching out for a hug. After the evil spirit was banished, Nezha waved to the sky. Suddenly, tiny orbs of different colors floated in, and with Nezha's movement, they gently merged into the child's body.
Having done that, he put the baby back in his swaddling clothes.
"If I remember correctly, he was full-term."
"Yes, yes!"
Xu Fei nodded hurriedly and reached out to pull the baby out of the swaddling clothes. The baby's face had lost its evil nature and regained its childlike innocence. The ghost boy was very perceptive and took a bottle of mineral water from the box and opened it. Nezha washed his hands and said, "He has the fate of a child spirit, and he has reached a critical point in his life, which is why he has a fever. The plague doctor can't find the cause."
"Your Highness, then I should..."
“It’s all right now,” Nezha interrupted her, “I’ve stabilized his spirit, so he won’t do it again.”
"Thank you, Your Highness! Thank you, Your Highness!"
The old man kept kowtowing, two lines of clear tears streaming from his eyes.
Meanwhile, the Ajarn inside the building was also covered in blood.
This startled the woman in front of him and Ping Yu. They exchanged a glance, thinking: I haven't even made a move yet, how did this Thai guy become like this? Could it be... her?
Let's rewind to half an hour ago.
Pingyu didn't want to stay in the room any longer. Clutching the photo album, she forced herself to ignore the stares of those sitting on the outer edge and began to explore her surroundings. After walking down a few corridors, she heard Ajarn's voice coming from a room on the inner side of the wall. The conversation was fragmented and disjointed: "I...buy..."
The other voice was a woman's: "Return...the...purchase..."
They were probably the people who went out with Ajarn earlier.
An invisible force pulled the door inward from behind. Pingyu lunged into the room, nearly falling to the ground. Her body swayed from side to side like a clay doll before she barely managed to regain her balance. Her scalp tingled, and she was so embarrassed that her toes dug into the ground. The room was so quiet it was suffocating…
Why is no one talking?
Ping Yu took a deep breath and raised his head.
"Hi…?"
The scene before him left him speechless: Ajarn was shrouded in black aura, and the woman with the high ponytail, who had been led here by the monk, held a peach wood sword wrapped with talismans. Ping Yu's face shifted, looking left and right, before finally settling on the sleeve of the woman's right arm.
It appears to be made of stiff leather, with heavy embroidery depicting the words: 【749 Bureau】.
749th inning...
Holy crap, 749 rounds!
The third eye that Nezha left for Pingyu still exists, allowing her to clearly see the golden energy flowing within the woman's body. The presence of energy proves that the woman is not a delusional teenager, but the real deal.
This is Porcelain Mom's soldier, the legendary female soldier in the department!
Qi moved with incredible speed, so fast that the other two didn't even see her afterimage. She appeared behind the woman in the blink of an eye, as if she had flashed past.
What are you doing?
The woman was completely bewildered.
Ping Yu grabbed the other person's back and started yelling, "Sister, he had ulterior motives towards me and tried to abduct a minor!"
Woman, Ajarn: ?
Both of them were completely baffled by the girl's sudden accusation.
Ping Yu continued, "He also turned many children into ghost children in an attempt to control the people of White Water Street."
On the page is a photo labeled "Treasure Acquired." In the picture is a one-eyed iron mask. On the surface of the mask, there is only a tiny, deep eyehole in the very center, surrounded by three sets of spiral patterns. The nose and lips are lifelike, as if cast directly from a human face.
Pingyu pointed at Ajarn again and angrily shouted, "He even buys and sells our country's cultural relics! Those belong to our family!"
Ping Yu didn't know what it was, but Chinese artifacts had a distinctive style that made them instantly recognizable. To ensure the artifact's authenticity, the tomb raiders had left some sand or soil from the burial pit on it. The woman looked at Ping Yu suspiciously: "How do you know who I am? And..."
The woman paused for a moment, then asked, "How do you know everything?"
“Because I read novels,” Pingyu said, grabbing her hand and nodding solemnly.
The woman was at her wit's end.
Ping Yu felt a lightness in his hand as the woman took the photo album from him and pointed the page at Ajarn, saying, "Phakun, you illegally obtained our cultural relic, the 'Nine Netherworld Soul-Binding Mask,' and are also suspected of manipulating the Infant Burning Pagoda in Baishui Village, causing widespread negative impact. I, Ling Quan, the executive officer of Bureau 749, am ordered to demand that you return the Nine Netherworld Soul-Binding Mask. We will compensate you at the original purchase price. Furthermore, you need to liberate all the infant spirits in the pagoda. It would be best if you could cooperate with us; otherwise..."
The peach wood sword in her hand gleamed with sharpness: "I have the right to act first and report later."
The words had barely left his lips when Ajarn, who had been so composed, suddenly widened his eyes. His body trembled, and the color drained from his face, turning into blood slowly trickling down from his seven orifices. Pingyu and the woman were both stunned, exchanging glances and pointing at each other with a clear meaning: Could it be you?
Only Ajarn himself knows what happened.
The contract he made with Xu Fei and her child was completely destroyed by a third party. All the karma returned to him, causing Ajarn unbearable pain from the backlash. He reached behind his head, stroking and probing, finally prying into the crevice connecting to it. The woman felt a chill run down her spine and rubbed the goosebumps on her arms. Upon hearing the words "Infant Burning Tower," Ping Yu roughly understood the source of the endless stream of infant spirits in Baishui Street. Having tasted the pleasures of immortality, people no longer wished to return to the era when life and death were governed by law.
So what if the 749 Bureau sends people?
Once he replaces Yama as the new god of Naropa, these mortals bound by their physical bodies will be no threat. As long as the Nine Netherworld Soul-Binding Mask remains, he will kill every one of them who comes. Once enough people have died, naturally no one will dare to do anything to him anymore.
Ajarn wiped the blood from his face, looking like a demon or a monster: "What can you do if I don't give it to you?"
The French windows are shattered.
It shattered cleanly, devoid of any beauty, and was regarded as trash by the magical artifacts. The sky darkened, and the sun sank in the west. A burst of flame suddenly shot into the sky, abruptly stopping before the broken window.
As the flames were blown by the wind, the figure of the person was revealed.
The boy's muscular, beautiful arms extended beyond the flames, firmly grasping the golden ring. Nezha, standing on his Wind-Fire Wheels, let the magical artifact return to his side.
"Holy crap..."
The woman stared at the scene, unable to resist uttering a curse. Anyone in China would recognize this person in that attire. Her expression was complex. The real person? A clone? Was she dreaming?! Just who was this girl to be able to summon this prince… even the spirit medium in the bureau couldn't do this!
The Universe Ring spun in Nezha's palm before he slowly pointed it at Azan.
"You, come and hit me."
The young god spoke crisply and decisively.
Author's Note: Holy crap, it's almost the ending! I'm so excited, I'm rubbing my hands together, thinking about the epilogue! What kind of epilogue would you all like to see?
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