After Marrying the Lord of the Underworld

The place Lu Yingjiu was talking about was outside the Information Hall.

 

From his angle, he could just see the upstairs of the hall outside. His keen vision allowed him to see in the dark that there was a trace of a door on the wall.

 

It was very light and easy to overlook if one weren’t careful.

 

Chen Xiaoling asked again, “So, has this Liang Qiufeng been dealt with? Will there be no more ghosts here?”

 

Lu Yingjiu shook his head, “There is still a strong yin energy here. If left unchecked, in a few days, the tourists from that tour group will appear here again, entering the next cycle of death. There’s one thing I don’t understand, what is Liang Qiufeng’s motive for revenge against these people?”

 

“I don’t know either. Give me some time, I’m sure I can find out, but it’s really troublesome,” Chen Xiaoling blinked, “My makeup is about to be ruined.”

 

The three of them first went to the director’s office.

 

Jing Xian put down the door panel and aligned it with the traces on the wall.

 

The wall began to squirm, the door panel sank lightly, and finally fit perfectly into the wall. This time, Lu Yingjiu was able to turn the handle, and with a “creak”, the door opened.

 

What caught their eyes was a cold moonlight.

 

The moonlight was extremely bright, shining on the pear wood table, illuminating a pile of messy files. The nameplate was placed in front of the table, reading “Zhang Chengzhou”. The books on the bookshelf were densely packed, most of them were materials from the museum, and journals studying mental illnesses.

 

A scroll of calligraphy hung in the middle of the room.

 

[Heavenly Way]

 

The brushwork was free and unrestrained, and it had the same ingenuity as the calligraphy in Ye Deyong’s office.

 

The Zhang family’s reverence for the Heavenly Way was much more fanatical than other families. Lu Yingjiu walked around the entire office and found small talisman marks in the corners, at the bottom of the bookcase, and on the back of the table, all for praying to the Heavenly Way. Including the pendant on the bookmark, the front was carved with [Di Ting stepping on clouds], and the back was an eye in the auspicious clouds.

 

Even after many years, the room still looked neat.

 

Lu Yingjiu found unused talisman paper, water pen, copper coin string, protective talisman, etc. from the drawer. Going back to the side of the pear wood table, he found a locked small cabinet.

 

Jing Xian leaned in, “I’ll help you open it.”

 

Lu Yingjiu pushed him away with one hand, “Don’t cause any damage.” After saying that, he took out the versatile paperclip, straightened it, and probed into the lock hole.

 

His skills were proficient, and he quickly pried open the lock.

 

Inside was an old-fashioned mobile phone with a few scratches on the screen.

 

He tentatively pressed the power button, and surprisingly, the screen lit up.

 

The boot animation was exceptionally long, and the bright white light illuminated the room. When the loading was completed, the SMS page automatically popped up, displaying a few messages from half a year ago.

 

[Sender: Liang Qiufeng

 

I heard everything, there’s something wrong with that tour group, they’re all scum.]

 

—Lu Yingjiu couldn’t help but frown.

 

Liang Qiufeng had already died half a year ago, which means his obsession had not disappeared, and he continued to communicate with the living in this way. And the director Zhang, who had resigned two years ago, was his contact.

 

Zhang Chengzhou replied: [Did you move the Di Ting formation in the museum?]

 

Liang Qiufeng did not reply.

 

Zhang Chengzhou sent another message: [What are you thinking?]

 

[Don’t have any evil thoughts, I don’t want to do anything to you.]

 

[Liang Qiufeng, reply to me.]

 

[We all know about your son’s situation, he wouldn’t want you to do this. Wait for me, I’m in Huanzhou right now, I’ll come back to find you soon, good brother, I hope you can go to the next life in peace, you must not step on the path of no return!]

 

After that, Zhang Chengzhou sent several more messages.

 

Liang Qiufeng never replied.

 

Chen Xiaoling compared the time of the messages and said, “A day after this message, the guesthouse fire incident occurred, and all the people from that tour group died. Of course, no one else was injured.”

 

She looked at the message again, “But what does this ‘Di Ting formation’ refer to?”

 

Lu Yingjiu didn’t answer her immediately.

 

He took out the other papers from the drawer, along with the materials found on the bookshelf, and sat down in the office chair.

 

The office chair was comfortable and large, and he could easily sink into it. He leaned against the back of the chair, and the moonlight outside the window just fell on his half body, outlining his picturesque side face.

 

He then pointed at the materials and said, “Di Ting is contracted with the Zhang family, hearing all things, including the human heart. If a formation of it is set up in this museum, those who are knowledgeable, will be able to hear the voices of passers-by.”

 

“In other words,” Chen Xiaoling said, “for some reason, Liang Qiufeng knew about the formation and heard the voices of the tourists.”

 

“Right. He and Zhang Chengzhou are old friends, and if he knows some exorcism techniques, learning the formation is not difficult.” Lu Yingjiu nodded, “After he became a ghost, he used the formation, heard the voices of the tourist group, and planned revenge.”

 

“As for the reason for revenge, it might be this.”

 

He pulled out a newspaper.

 

It was a news report: [14-year-old boy with depression bullied at school, committed suicide by jumping off a building on the evenign if the 18th.]

 

“This is…” Chen Xiaoling squinted, “Is this Liang Qiufeng’s child?”

 

“Yes.” Lu Yingjiu said, “Here is their photo. His son had a mental illness and committed suicide after being bullied by classmates. So he hated people who disrespected patients so much. The power of Di Ting allowed him to hear the voices of the tourists and plan this revenge.”

 

Chen Xiaoling suddenly realized, “So that’s how it is, no wonder his ghost is still wandering in the museum. He was actually fishing for law enforcement. However, it’s not easy for this tour group to gather so many scumbags.”

 

Lu Yingjiu said, “Have you heard the joke about a plane and God?”

 

“What?” Chen Xiaoling blinked.

 

Jing Xian also pricked up his ears to listen: this was the first time Lu Yingjiu told a joke.

 

Lu Yingjiu said, “A man swore at his wedding that if he betrayed his wife, God would punish him. Not long after, he betrayed her.”

 

“Scum.” Jing Xian said, suddenly very sincere.

 

Lu Yingjiu: “…”

 

He felt that Jing Xian was hinting at the fact that he hadn’t given him a status before.

 

He cleared his throat and continued, “When the man was on a plane and encountered a storm, he remembered that oath and quickly prayed to God: ‘I shouldn’t have broken my oath, but the other passengers on the plane are innocent, please spare me for now!’”

 

“And then God told him: ‘What innocence? Do you think it was easy for me to gather all the people on this plane over so many years?’”

 

Chen Xiaoling: “..…”

 

Lu Yingjiu said, “Sometimes it’s not a coincidence, but something destined in fate.” He looked at the contact message on the phone again, sighed lightly, “It’s not easy for him to take revenge for his child, it’s within reason, but things can’t continue like this.”

 

He piled up all the materials and said to Chen Xiaoling, “But we know that Zhang Chengzhou was in Huanzhou half a year ago, and he probably came back to this museum once. At least there is one clue.”

 

Chen Xiaoling nodded, “Yes, I can check, but it will take a lot of time.”

 

In the end, they searched the room again to make sure there were no remaining items.

 

Hairball sniffed around on the ground, suddenly wagged his tail, and barked madly at the corner bookcase. Jing Xian went over and moved the entire bookcase.

 

Behind it was a white wall with nothing on it.

 

Lu Yingjiu frowned slightly and touched the wall. The wall was very smooth, and during the exploration, the wall powder stuck to his fingertips.

 

Jing Xian also leaned in, standing shoulder to shoulder with him, and also lightly touched the wall.

 

After a while, the two looked at each other and said in unison, “Blood.”

 

“What blood?” Chen Xiaoling leaned in. Lu Yingjiu and Jing Xian were too tall, even with her high heels, she couldn’t see over their shoulders, so she could only try to look around.

 

Lu Yingjiu lightly tapped the wall, “There used to be a formation here, and it was a yin formation. There are ways to make it appear, it is said that qi is yang and blood is yin, pouring fresh blood can restore it – of course, it is best if it’s female blood.”

 

Chen Xiaoling: “…”

 

She looked at Lu Yingjiu, then at Jing Xian.

 

Under the moonlight, the two of them, one handsome and the other clear, had the same angle of their heads tilted, quite a couple’s look.

 

And their gazes were all focused on her: Lu Yingjiu’s eyes were filled with inexplicable expectation, and Jing Xian, following his gaze, also had an interested exploration.

 

She backed away half a step with her hands around her chest, “What are you guys going to do? I’m anemic! Even donating 200cc of blood in a blood donation car makes me dizzy!”

 

Lu Yingjiu sighed lightly, somewhat disappointed, “Then forget it, I’ll find another way.”

 

But Jing Xian said, “No need.”

 

“What do you mean no need?” Chen Xiaoling immediately became alert, “I don’t want to lose a drop of blood!”

 

Jing Xian shook his head, casually slapped the table next to him.

 

A crimson formation silently appeared.

 

The formations drawn by exorcists, most of the time, give people a sense of righteousness. But his formation, every stroke was like thick blood, outlining a strange, twisted figure, making people feel uneasy.

 

Kaka——

 

A terrifying sound came from it, something was stirring. Jing Xian directly reached out, his entire right hand disappeared into the formation, and he gently tugged.

 

Kakaka! In his hand, a black bat with only a mouth was constantly flapping its wings, and its body was filled with yin energy. Lu Yingjiu had never seen this ghost before, and judging based on his experience, it was some kind of carrion-eating ghost.

 

“What the hell is this?!” Chen Xiaoling stepped back a few steps and leaned against the corner, “A big-mouthed bat? I didn’t expect you to be a Pokemon master.”

 

“This is called a blood bat.” Jing Xian explained, “It likes to suck blood and brain pulp the most.”

 

He let Lu Yingjiu move away from the wall, then grabbed the blood bat’s wings and aimed its mouth at the wall.

 

Vomit! Vomit—— After a violent vomiting sound, the blood bat “yue” vomited a large mouthful of blood paste on the wall.

 

Then there was a continuous flow of fresh blood. Jing Xian held it, like holding a water gun, pouring blood on the wall. For a while, the white wall was red, and the smell of blood filled the air.

 

Lu Yingjiu: “…”

 

Jing Xian really has a lot of weird things.

 

He had every reason to suspect that Jing Xian was raising this thing in one of his palaces, and maybe he even let his little ghosts fight blood battles with blood bats… This was something Jing Xian would do.

 

The blood flowed down, but a few pieces of wall skin remained white.

 

Gradually, Lu Yingjiu saw the figure: the white part formed a circular logo, the middle was a very similar seven-pointed star pattern, but it was mixed with more complex other patterns.

 

He had never seen this formation.

 

The blood flow stopped.

 

Jing Xian casually opened another formation, stuffed the wilted bat back after vomiting blood, and then returned to Lu Yingjiu’s side.

 

Hairball was jumping up and down below, anxiously barking. Jing Xian picked it up and touched its head. “Don’t bother that ugly bat, I still like you the most.”

 

Hairball was so happy that it kept sticking out its tongue.

 

Lu Yingjiu ignored the scarlet on the wall, stretched out his hand to touch it lightly, and analyzed every line carefully.

 

Based on his understanding of exorcism, he knew that this was a formation that required seven mediums to complete, and it should summon… or open something.

 

——What is the medium?

 

His gaze swept over the intertwined patterns like tree roots: those patterns intertwined into an obscure human figure.

 

So, the medium is a person.

 

But it’s not the kind of live sacrifice, but it required seven exorcists to maintain the formation together.

 

——What is it opening?

 

Lu Yingjiu observed for a long time, but had no clue. There were too many unknown secrets in the exorcism business. The Zhang family, as one of the ancient families, had a long history, and it’s not something he could understand all at once.

 

He stepped back half a step, took out his phone and took a picture of the formation.

 

But he saw Jing Xian’s solemn expression and said, “This formation is related to the ghost world.”

 

Lu Yingjiu was taken aback, “How could it be?”

 

Jing Xian pointed to the formation. “These ten different symbols here represent the ten halls of the ghost world. But even in the ghost world, this symbol is very old, and I haven’t seen it for many years.”

 

Lu Yingjiu stood back by his side and said, “The Zhang family respects the Heavenly Way and generally does not want to communicate with the ghost world, let alone this kind of large-scale formation that requires seven exorcists to operate together.”

 

Formations related to the ghost world were generally evil arts.

 

For example, forcibly summoning souls, soul suppression, or summoning fierce ghosts to claim lives. A serious exorcist would not touch such things.

 

There was a barrier between yin and yang.

 

The first one who borrowed power from the ghost world, the first one who dared to invite gods, Chu Qianju, received a terrible punishment. Knowing and respecting the power of the Heavenly Way, how could the Zhang family do such a thing?

 

But Jing Xian was very sure. “I will never admit my mistake. If traced back, this should be a symbol from the time of the previous ghost king.” He looked at the wall and said again, “I don’t understand the formation of exorcists.”

 

Lu Yingjiu glanced at him. “It’s completely unfamiliar.”

 

Jing Xian readily admitted, immediately changed his words. “I am completely unfamiliar with the formation of exorcists, but just talking about the parts related to the ghost world, they should want to… go to the ghost world.”

 

Lu Yingjiu’s eyes widened slightly.

 

He hesitated and said, “That should be a sure-death thing.”

 

Countless exorcist predecessors have proven: the living going to the ghost world is undoubtedly a death sentence.

 

That is a place that belongs only to yin energy, bloody smell, and violent ghosts.

 

“Perhaps this is the direction they are striving for.” Jing Xian squinted his eyes, and a trace of fierceness flashed across his face, “The ghost world is boundless, even I can’t always see every corner. Moreover, the previous ghost king is very cunning, maybe he really left some flaws.”

 

“The previous ghost king?” Lu Yingjiu thought for a while, “Where is he now?”

 

Jing Xian smiled. “He died a long time ago.” This smile was chilling, like a beast showing its fangs.

 

Lu Yingjiu: “…..” As expected.

 

However, could it be that the Zhang family is really trying to go to the ghost world?

 

Chen Xiaoling saw them whispering for a long time, and couldn’t help but ask. “How is your discussion going? It seems to be getting colder here, is that Liang Qiufeng coming again?”

 

The surrounding yin energy was indeed getting heavier.

 

Lu Yingjiu looked around the room again, confirmed that there were no omissions, and then said, “Let’s go out.”

 

He took Zhang Chengzhou’s mobile phone and various materials, called Jing Xian over to stuff them into his four-dimensional backpack—the stuffing process was not too smooth, hairball bit off a few pieces of corner material and ate it with relish.

 

The three of them left the office.

 

After closing the door, Chen Xiaoling looked back, but her peripheral vision caught something.

 

There was actually a black figure at the end of the corridor!

 

She held her breath and quickly patted Lu Yingjiu. Lu Yingjiu had noticed it early, looked over, and only heard the black figure say in a hoarse voice, “Outsiders are not allowed to enter the office…”

 

“You are crazy about being an employee!” Chen Xiaoling hid behind Lu Yingjiu and Jing Xian, feeling particularly safe, shook her head, “Are you still managing tourists now?”

 

The figure stuttered again, “Not allowed, not allowed to enter his office, not allowed to enter the director’s office. Outsiders, not allowed to enter the office…”

 

He tilted his head and thought for a few seconds.

 

Thick black fog gathered around him, and the wind rose—

 

Whirl!

 

Countless faces flew out in the darkness, hovering in the air, looking down at them from above.

 

It’s those horrifying self-portraits again! They broke free from the frames in the hall and chased here!

 

Chen Xiaoling cursed in a low voice. “So fond of these damn ghostly things…”

 

Lu Yingjiu was holding a talisman in his hand and was about to throw it out, but the self-portraits began to flip.

 

They folded and danced in the air, gathering together, as if an invisible skilled hand was weaving them together.

 

Layer upon layer, climbing up.

 

They… formed an object shaped like a brain, with all the necessary structures, brain grooves, frontal lobes, temporal lobes… nothing was missing, it was as high as two floors, facing them. The paper was still rubbing against each other, as if the brain was wriggling. If they had a fear of large objects, they would probably be weak by now.

 

But they didn’t.

 

“It’s really ugly.” Jing Xian expressed his opinion.

 

“Indeed.” Lu Yingjiu agreed with his view.

 

Chen Xiaoling: “…Is this the point?”

 

The brain wriggled violently again.

 

Suddenly, a bright light came out from it.

 

Its brightness was like a large spotlight on the stage, and it was like the beam of a flashlight during a museum night tour. With a “click”, it brought heat and focused on Chen Xiaoling.

 

Chen Xiaoling hadn’t reacted yet, and her eyes became hollow.

 

“Eh?” She murmured, “How many steps are there to go up to the second floor? Why didn’t I count them just now?” She turned her head stiffly, her voice dry, “I, I have to go back and count again, the numbers absolutely cannot be wrong.”

 

Obsessive-compulsive disorder!

 

It’s obsessive-compulsive disorder again!

 

Liang Qiufeng must have used this method to force the tour group to suffer from mental illness. Lu Yingjiu frowned, put a talisman paper and went forward to grab Chen Xiaoling’s wrist.

 

The light fell on him, and he also had a slight dizziness, as if something was trying to tamper with his brain consciousness.

 

But the problem wasn’t big, there was enough time for him to take Chen Xiaoling to a safe place. It’s just that the heat from the light was like an oven, causing him to break out in a thin sweat on his forehead.

 

He was about to step forward when suddenly it went dark in front of him.

 

Looking back, Jing Xian was standing in front of them. He chose his angle well, his long shadow just blocked all of them.

 

Without the light, Chen Xiaoling’s eyes suddenly cleared, she covered her head and said, “Ah my head…hiss, it hurts, what just happened…”

 

Lu Yingjiu quickly walked towards Jing Xian.

 

Rationally, he knew that Jing Xian could not be threatened by this level of ghost, but he was still anxious at this moment.

 

“Jing Xian, are you okay?” he asked.

 

“How could…” Jing Xian looked back at him, suddenly frowned, “Ah my head hurts so much!”

 

Lu Yingjiu: ?!!

 

He was in a panic—heaven knows how long it’s been since he felt this way during an exorcism. He quickly took out a talisman paper to stick on Jing Xian, and while sticking it, he wanted to lead Jing Xian behind him.

 

Unexpectedly, Jing Xian didn’t move, but he was hugged.

 

Lu Yingjiu hadn’t reacted yet, and he was kissed on the face.

 

Lu Yingjiu: ?

 

Jing Xian looked sincere, “I feel much better after kissing you! How about we kiss again!”

 

Lu Yingjiu: “……”

 

He pushed Jing Xian away and poked him hard. “Did it enhance your love brain??”

 

“Yes, yes, yes.” Jing Xian was not ashamed at all, “This might also be a kind of mental illness, you have to help me cure it.” After saying that, he hugged his wife’s thin waist again, content.

 

Chen Xiaoling: “…..” She just felt that her head was throbbing and hurting even more.

 

Seeing this scene, Liang Qiufeng at the end of the corridor let out a deafening roar!!

 

“Ah ah ah ah!” he shouted, furious to the extreme, “Ah ah ah!”

 

——At this moment, even though it was very inappropriate, Chen Xiaoling still inexplicably sympathized with him.

 

“…Brother, I understand,” she murmured, “I also want to kill this dog couple.”