After the Feng family members knelt down to apologize, several clan elders stepped forward to clean the portrait.
Once the ancestors were freed, the first thing they did was come down and give Feng Mushan a good beating.
The descendants of the Feng family couldn't bear to watch their ancestors fight.
Yuan Qi didn't think much of it, since it wasn't her business. She took out a handful of melon seeds from her cloth bag, found a small stool, and sat down to watch the fun.
Those ancestors who had died many years ago had been schemed against by Feng Mushan, and he had absorbed all their ghostly essence. Even though Feng Mushan was beaten up by a group of people, his injuries were not serious. At most, he would only have a bruised and swollen face.
The descendants of the Feng family dared not stop their ancestors from venting their anger; they also wanted to gang up on Feng Mushan and give him a good beating.
After the ancestors had finished beating them, the Feng family descendants lined up according to their seniority, waiting for the storm of punishment from their ancestors.
As Yuan Qi had expected, an ancestor of the Feng family who had passed away a hundred years ago had not yet been reincarnated. He personally intervened and gave his descendants a good scolding, not caring about the integrity and reputation of his ancestors.
Yuan Qi chuckled to himself as he ate sunflower seeds.
A gust of cold wind blew by, and the Black and White Impermanence walked in.
Black and White Impermanence are the leaders of the underworld officials. They are out in other places catching evil spirits, specifically the ones that escaped from Wuji Palace a while ago. They haven't finished catching them yet, and there are simply too many to catch, so the two of them have to personally get involved in the work.
The appearance of the Black and White Impermanence startled the Feng family descendants, who all thought that the Black and White Impermanence had come to collect souls.
After Yuan Qi finished cracking the last melon seed, he walked over and threw the broken half of the mourning stick at them, saying, "You've finally arrived. Let's see whose it is."
The mourning stick is considered a ritual implement, and it's not distributed randomly by the underworld. Each mourning stick has its own serial number, and by checking the number, you can find out who owns the mourning stick.
Bai Wuchang took it, and stroked the mourning staff with one hand, revealing the number on it; it belonged to a lowly underworld official in Kyoto.
"Where did you get this? Why is it only half there?"
Yuan Qi briefly explained the origin of the mourning staff to the two of them.
Bai Wuchang thought for a moment and actually remembered an old incident from many years ago. Two underworld messengers had always disliked each other and got into a fight over the inner core of a tree demon. Many underworld messengers had heard about this incident. At that time, the underworld messenger who lost the fight lost his mourning staff, which is still reported lost in the underworld.
Yuan Qi calmly told Bai Wuchang, "This mourning stick has caused trouble, killing many of the Feng family's children and grandchildren. What do you two think we should do? Also, there are probably underworld officials colluding with Feng Mushan to harm people. You should also investigate that."
Black Impermanence grabbed Feng Mushan, who was huddled in the corner, and bound him with the Soul-Binding Chains. He said very seriously, "Don't worry, this matter is of utmost importance. A living soul has been killed, and the list of living people in the mortal world and the list of people in the underworld doesn't match up. This matter has blown up. Don't worry, we will definitely get to the bottom of this."
Yuan Qi sneered at the Black and White Impermanence: "How do you plan to investigate? What about those younger members of the Feng family who died unjustly? The Feng family lost so many children, who can they complain to? In the end, it's because you didn't do your job properly that such a mistake happened. Don't think you can get away with this so easily."
Yuan Qi glanced at the two underworld officials with disdain: "Don't think I don't know. No matter who is in charge of the capital, you will also be held responsible if something goes wrong. You just want to downplay the incident and get away with it."
Bai Wuchang immediately smiled obsequiously: "How could that be! Everyone knows about the tree demon's inner core back then. It was Zhao Chen and He Hu who stole the tree demon's inner core, and it was Zhao Chen who lost the mourning staff. This matter doesn't need an investigation to know; it must be that Zhao Chen was blackmailed by this Feng Mushan, which is why he turned a blind eye to the Feng family's affairs. The King of the Underworld also knows about this. If you're not at ease, come with us to the Underworld and explain it to the King of the Underworld in person."
The Feng family descendants stared at Yuan Qi in disbelief; it turned out that there really were people in the underworld.
Yuan Qi waved his hand: "No need. With such a huge blunder, Zhao Chen will definitely have to deal with it. I can leave this matter alone. But how do you plan to compensate the Feng family for losing so many children?"
The Feng family members stared wide-eyed. Wasn't this just accepting bad luck? Could there be any compensation?
Black Impermanence and White Impermanence couldn't make such a decision, leaving them in a very difficult position.
They were aware of Yuan Qi's connections, and it was possible that he could appeal to the divine realm.
After pondering for a while, Black Impermanence said, "How about we have the King of the Underworld go to the Guanyin Bodhisattva's house to play chess?"
Yuan Qi raised an eyebrow slightly: "Those children of the Feng family shouldn't have died young. This is a mistake on your part in the underworld. You dug your own grave and buried it yourself. Don't ask me, I don't know either! If you didn't handle it well, it's not impossible that someone might send family members to the Jade Emperor to burn some incense, or have the Kitchen God pass on a message. Hmph!"
The Black and White Impermanence were in a real bind. Originally, the Feng family didn't know to offer incense to the Jade Emperor or ask the Kitchen God for help, but after she said that, the Feng family all found out.
The underworld can no longer fool them.
"Can't we just take Zhao Chen to the underworld right now?"
Yuan Qi then allowed the two to leave with Feng Mushan. The Feng family was incredibly impressed; what was originally a difficult matter had now become much simpler.
Feng Aotian cupped his hands in thanks to her: "Thank you, Seventh Miss. So, it seems the children of the Feng family can still come back?"
Yuan Qi shook his head: "How is that possible? Their souls have been scattered, their spirits have been dispersed, do you understand? Even if the Feng family has more children, they are all reincarnations of other people. But after this incident, some important figures or even star lords among the Feng family's descendants may be reincarnated. Just wait and see, Feng family."
The Feng family members all showed joy, and even the ancestors who came down were very happy. For Yuan Qi's sake, they did not beat up the filial son and grandson.
Yuan Qi yawned: "I'm sleepy. We still need to visit the ancestral graves tomorrow. Let's all go to bed early."
After this commotion, none of the elders of the Feng family objected to opening the coffin and disturbing the ancestral grave.
Just as Yuan Qi was about to go back, a maid rushed in to report: "Master, Madam, the eldest young mistress is shouting incessantly in the room, but we can't open the door and don't know what's wrong inside."
Everyone's hearts were in their throats again. The one who was in trouble was Bai Yulan, who was seven months pregnant. The culprit had been caught, and she couldn't afford to get into any more trouble.
Yuan Qi's expression changed: "Feng Mushan really does have accomplices!"
The group went to Bai Yulan's courtyard, with Feng Chenghai running ahead. He was so focused on his own side that he forgot about his wife! He felt incredibly guilty. When he returned to his own courtyard, he heard Bai Yulan calling from inside the house, "Don't come any closer, ah..."
Feng Chenghai kicked the door, but the wooden door didn't budge.
Yuan Qi made a hand seal and the door opened instantly.
Some vines quickly retracted, and a vine demon stood in Bai Yulan's bedroom. The vine demon had not yet fully transformed into human form and was holding a small section of a mourning stick, about to strike Bai Yulan's stomach.
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