Chapter 60: Names in the Ghost Register, Lou Yan.
This feeling is just too amazing.
Lou Yan initially thought he had fallen into some kind of illusion again. He tentatively jumped around a couple of times, and when he met Heng Qichun's eyes, which were filled with a smile, he could barely believe that he had actually turned back into human form!
If it weren't for Emperor Yi still watching him with a sinister expression from behind that spider web, Lou Yan would have wanted to kneel down and cheer to show his gratitude.
Waaaaah, he's almost accepted the fact that he'll be a wolf for the rest of his life!
But the wolf cub never shows weakness to anyone, and he would never beg for mercy from his defeated opponent in his previous life.
He quickly adapted to human form, put his hands behind his back, tilted his head back, snorted coldly, and said to Emperor Yi, "I didn't expect you to have some skills... Judging from your previous appearance, I thought you were just another hypocrite."
The Yi Emperor had already reconstituted a ghost seal at the other end of the spider web, looking at him with a half-smile. He didn't ask who else was a "hypocrite," but simply said in a gentle tone, "I didn't expect you to be so talkative."
"If you want to see something even more powerful, I can turn you back into a wolf right now."
Lou Yan's stiff neck stiffened, his head quickly straightened, he sized up Emperor Yi with a pair of eyes for a moment, then took a step back, then another step back, and quietly circled around to Heng Qichun's back.
The Yi Emperor continued his hand seals, but couldn't help letting out a sneer.
He smiled at Heng Qichun for the first time, his eyes crinkling slightly, and said meaningfully, "I really don't know how you can stand him."
Lou Yan, hiding behind Heng Qichun, was stunned for a moment when he heard the Yi Emperor's question, wondering if he was asking him.
He couldn't understand, so he poked half his head out from behind Heng Qichun. Just as he was about to speak, he felt a tightness on the back of his neck—Heng Qichun had already grabbed him by the neck and dragged him out.
"Come out." Heng Qichun lowered his eyes, clearly suppressing his emotions, but still spoke gently to Lou Yan, "He scared you."
Lou Yan then realized that Emperor Yi had just been mocking him.
After all, he had reflected on himself countless times. It was one thing that he hadn't increased his cultivation level in this second life, but why had he become more and more timid?
After saying those two sentences, the ghost seal in the Yi Emperor's hand grew larger and larger.
The thick, black ghostly aura completely enveloped the spiderweb, filling the entire Netherworld Palace with ghostly energy that seemed to be eroding every part of a person's body, making it difficult for them to move even half a step.
Lou Yan actually strongly resisted that kind of ghostly aura.
He knew that one day he would expose his demonic nature hidden beneath his wolf identity, leading to a break with the immortal sect and the murder of his friends and master.
So he didn't want to.
If Heng Qichun discovers that his body is even more greedy than those demons in absorbing ghost energy, he will most likely be killed by his master with a single sword strike, eliminating him completely.
Who doesn't want to attain immortality?
Lou Yan closed his eyes and forcibly gathered the still stagnant spiritual power in his dantian to resist the ghostly energy.
Surrounded by ghostly energy and with countless black wisps clamoring in his ears, he clearly heard the spiritual energy whistling past his ears, as well as a faint melody from a zither mixed in with it.
It was the sound of a stringless zither.
Lou Yan's heart skipped a beat, and she suddenly opened her eyes to look at the scene before her, only to find that the view had changed again.
In the Netherworld Palace, only the floating dark blue ghost flames remained; there were no spider webs, no stringless zithers, and not even the pervasive ghostly aura.
Emperor Yi had already leaned back in the soft chair he was sitting on, gathering spiritual energy at his fingertips and silently chanting a ghost incantation.
Then there was a loud "boom".
All his spiritual power surged toward Heng Qichun in the blink of an eye.
Heng Qichun had been observing the commotion. Upon seeing this, he grabbed Lou Yan's collar with one hand and took two steps back. The Qin Mirror in his palm was struck by the Yi Emperor's spiritual power and shattered into pieces in an instant.
The glass shards shattered on the ground with a "crash," leaving only a clear and lustrous white light.
If not reminded, who would know that this is Qin Jing, who almost caused chaos in the demon realm?
Seeing the mirror that had been causing so much harm to all sides easily shatter into pieces under the hands of the Yi Emperor, Lou Yan instinctively breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, he raised his hand to cover his chest and frowned almost imperceptibly.
At this time, he was still a keen-witted demon wolf, able to sense certain subtle changes in the demon realm.
For example... the roars of demons are rising from Mount Sixiang, and countless evil spirits are howling and transforming into human form.
The air was thick with demonic energy, and even through the gates of hell, he could almost smell the thick, pungent stench.
There must be many foxes among the demons!
The situation took an unexpected turn, and Lou Yan began to doubt whether the spider web and the sound of the stringless zither were just her hallucinations.
By the time he came to his senses, Emperor Yi had already withdrawn his spiritual power, brushed off his clothes, lifted his robe, and stood up again.
He didn't come down, but stood on the stone steps, pretending to look down. His voice was still casual and nonchalant as he said, "It's resolved. Those demons that were revealed to their original forms by the Qin Mirror have all been released from their restrictions. Your Lu Duan Sect will be very busy."
Previously, Nan Yushan and his disciples captured countless demons, including Lou Yan's good friend, the rhinoceros demon, which were all packed up and sent to Lu Duanmen, where Wei Xiuzhu temporarily took care of them.
Lou Yan was unaware that Wei Xiuzhu was on the verge of death and had already run away with Fu Yusheng. At this moment, he was still silently sympathizing with the little fool.
But it's all good. If Lu Duanmen is a little busier, that brat might not realize that Fu Yusheng is the white snake.
Lost in thought, Lou Yan heard Heng Qichun say, "This is a matter that the immortal sect cannot shirk. I am extremely grateful that Emperor Yi has been able to solve this urgent problem."
He even bowed as he spoke, which caused the Yi Emperor to retreat repeatedly with a dark expression, barely managing to avoid the bow.
From Lou Yan's perspective, he discovered that Emperor Yi's face was more than just foul-smelling. His face, which had long resided underground and was now a ghost, was indescribably weak and pale, and his narrow eyes were slightly squinted, bearing a resemblance to his previous life.
Emperor Yi let out a cold snort, wrapped his sleeves around his arms and said, "Now that this matter is settled, I should also attend to the trivial matters of the underworld. The paths of gods and ghosts are different. I will send someone to escort you out. Your Majesty, you should visit the gates of the underworld less often in the future."
Heng Qichun looked at him hesitantly, opened her mouth for a long time, but ultimately swallowed the words she couldn't say.
The underworld messenger assigned to escort them must have been a confidant of Emperor Yi. He turned and left with them, looking them up and down with his eyes constantly shifting between Heng Qichun and Lou Yan, probably wondering why these two could leave the underworld unscathed.
For thousands of years, no one has ever entered the underworld and come out alive, except for that person who knelt and begged their underworld lord a few hundred years ago.
The underworld official, lost in thought, stumbled and nearly bumped into the person coming from the opposite direction.
Lou Yan kindly helped him stand up, and the underworld official thanked him repeatedly before looking up at the person opposite him.
Then another fierce-looking underworld official came over with a group of people bound tightly in chains. They were wailing as they walked over—the same group of underworld officials who had harassed the woman on the ferry and fought with Heng Qichun.
When Emperor Yi said he needed to take care of the trivial matters of the underworld, it seems he was referring to this very issue.
But the ghost guard beside him was unaware of this. Seeing this, he looked at it with curiosity and asked, "What is this...?"
The underworld official opposite him was a burly man with a cold face and few words. He had a thick booklet tucked under his waist. He clearly did not want to say much, but simply pointed behind him and said briefly, "They want to rape a woman on the ferry in exchange for being brought back to life. The King of the Underworld ordered me to bring them here."
"Tsk, then hurry up and go." The underworld official curled his lip in disgust. "After something like this, being executed by the King of the Underworld would be too lenient."
So the big guy pulled on the iron chain in his hand, dragging the group of ghostly messengers who were howling and wailing towards Emperor Yi.
Lou Yan stood still, his gaze fixed on the big guy, his whole body trembling with anticipation.
"Want to watch the show?" Heng Qichun asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Aww!" Lou Yan hadn't expected such a good thing. Overjoyed, she almost forgot that she could speak now. She bit her tongue and spoke again after exclaiming, "Is it okay!"
Heng Qichun looked at him with a half-smile, "Then you can stay here by yourself."
After saying that, he turned and left.
The observant underworld official quickly followed, leaving the little wolf, who was eager to watch the excitement, behind.
Lou Yan gritted her teeth, her fingers curled tightly together, her untrimmed nails leaving several red marks on her palms.
Undeterred, he silently cast an invisibility spell and stole the booklet from the big guy's waist.
I want to see if that poor mother and daughter are really dead, or if the underworld officials are just too greedy and deliberately kidnapped them.
Upon holding the book, it felt much heavier than he had imagined. Lou Yan stared at the seal script characters on the title page, his gaze momentarily lingering.
That's... the Book of Ghosts.
The "Records of the Underworld" states that the Book of Ghosts in the underworld is a register of souls recorded in the netherworld. Fates are marked with cinnabar ink, and souls are recorded in black ink. Underworld officials collect souls according to the names in the register, and it also records the names of all the deceased.
Lou Yan's gaze fell on a line of small print at the front of the page, and then he couldn't look away.
Heng Qichun was still unaware of why Lou Yan was standing still. He didn't really intend to leave the little wolf there, so he stopped and looked at the motionless figure behind him. "Lou Yan?"
Lou Yan remained motionless, as if he hadn't heard the question at all.
Take a few more steps.
Emperor Yi let the group of underworld messengers who had committed grave errors kneel down and beg for mercy, while he himself jogged down the stone steps and looked at Heng Qichun with his narrow eyes.
"Wait!" He suddenly called out to Heng Qichun. After hesitating for a while, he finally softened his tone and said, "Although Qin Jing's crisis has been resolved, after this incident, those demons who have absorbed the ghost energy and escaped by chance have become powerful. When demons fight each other, trouble will arise between humans and demons."
He pursed his lips, his thin lips turning white, and whispered, "Senior brother, be careful."
Heng Qichun glanced at him thoughtfully, a look of doubt appearing in his clear eyes. He paused for a moment, then finally replied, "Okay, I understand."
Lou Yan did not hear their conversation. He remained standing in the same spot, his tanned skin drained of color, leaving only the striking beauty mark at the corner of his eye.
Like a tear stain etched beneath the eyelid after two lifetimes.
He couldn't erase the words he had just seen from his mind; his thoughts were completely bound by those two words, and he couldn't hear Heng Qichun calling him no matter how he called.
—On the Book of Ghosts, he clearly saw his own name.
Lou Yan.
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Author's note: After all, you're a wolf who's died once.
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