After Marrying the Lord of the Underworld

This mirror was originally made by the Zhang family specifically for Di Ting.

 

Ever since they drew the formation inside, they arranged blinding talismans to prevent the Heavenly Way from discovering this place.

 

Zhang Shuwan showed them the talismans.

 

Countless green lanterns were lit in mid-air, illuminating countless mirrors.

 

The mirrors were all suspended in the air, their angles intricately designed to reflect the light off each other, making for a spectacular sight at first glance. If one walked into it, it’s like entering a maze, seeing thousands and thousands of one’s own reflections.

 

“They can block the prying eyes of Heavenly Way,” Zhang Shuwan led them through the mirrors, “There are countless formations in this space, covering each other, plus Di Ting’s full protection, which buries our core formation at the very bottom.”

 

“Unfortunately, this formation can’t hide people, otherwise you would be safe in the mirror.”

 

Lu Yingjiu said, “I’ve already been to the ghost world once.”

 

“…” Zhang Shuwan opened her eyes in surprise, “You succeeded? You passed through the gate of the ghost world?”

 

“Yes, thanks to your father,” Lu Yingjiu smiled and pointed at Jing Xian, “and him.”

 

He briefly told Zhang Shuwan about what happened on the Kangli Bridge.

 

He also mentioned that he saw Zhang Haokong in the car, who helped point the way.

 

Zhang Shuwan was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and said, “He’s still guarding there… But seeing you walk away safely, he should be able to go where he should go with peace of mind. That’s great, their efforts were not in vain.”

 

She smiled.

 

After walking for a while, she couldn’t help her curiosity and asked, “So, can I ask what the relationship between you two is?”

 

Before Lu Yingjiu could speak, Jing Xian happily pulled him into his arms.

 

“Ah.” Zhang Shuwan said, “Hehe.”

 

Lu Yingjiu: ??

 

This “hehe” was really quite spiritual.

 

The world in the mirror was endless, and without the green lantern to guide the way, it’s easy to get lost.

 

They took a simple tour, looking at the edge of the huge formation. Along the way, Lu Yingjiu took notes, recording the details.

 

According to Zhang Shuwan, this formation was called “Kan”, and its function was to find the location of the Heavenly Way.

 

Walking past the flickering runes, Zhang Shuwan explained, “Although the Heavenly Way is formless, there have always been doubts about the Heavenly Way within the family: that is, the Heavenly Way may have been contaminated by something, possibly karma, possibly yin energy, in any case, there are many theories… Otherwise, its demand for sacrifices is hard to believe.”

 

“The live sacrifice was something that happened nearly five hundred years ago,” Lu Yingjiu said. “Did it start then?”

 

“I’m not sure,” Zhang Shuwan shook her head. “My father and Mr. Chu You have been researching it, but there’s no result. If it really is contaminated, then this formation can take you to the source of the contamination.”

 

She sighed lightly, “The goal of the aristocratic families, in addition to protecting you, is also to purify the violent Heavenly Way. Of course, these are all theoretical.”

 

They spent quite a long time walking through the formation.

 

There was a bit of a problem when they were going back.

 

The world in the mirror was too vast, and Zhang Shuwan usually rode Di Ting back and forth.

 

But Di Ting only wanted to carry its contractee.

 

Jing Xian originally wanted to catch some demons and ghosts, but hairball was spinning around their feet, wagging its tail madly.

 

Its body grew larger, quickly turning into a giant hairball two people high.

 

—Probably trying to express that they should ride on it.

 

Zhang Shuwan was amazed.

 

She especially liked fluffy things, she reached out and hugged hairball, rubbing it a few times, and even praised it for its good hand feel and elasticity.

 

Lu Yingjiu and Jing Xian got on.

 

Its fur was too much and too soft, and the two of them almost sank into it.

 

In the next few tens of minutes, Di Ting led the way in front, and hairball, with its short legs, tried hard to keep up, and surprisingly didn’t fall behind.

 

Jing Xian proudly said, “Isn’t it because I raised it well, look how strong it is now.”

 

Lu Yingjiu held his forehead and said, “How many times have you used it as a kitchen waste bin, do you think I didn’t see it?”

 

Lu Yingjiu was absolutely right.

 

In the following days, he saw Jing Xian use hairball as a trash can every day.

 

Zhang Shuwan, in order to maintain the formation, often stayed in the mirror for a long time.

 

She couldn’t leave, so the little demon that Di Ting transformed into cooked for her – in this space, there were not only temporary rooms, but also a small kitchen.

 

Di Ting’s cooking skills were surprisingly good.

 

It was said that it had eavesdropped on many chefs’ recipes by listening to their heart sounds.

 

Lu Yingjiu was a bit frustrated, poking hairball, “Other people’s contracts can buy groceries and cook, why are you only always thinking about eating? Even if you eat, don’t be happy to be a trash can.”

 

Hairball: “Awoo–” It looked quite wronged, blinking its eyes and following Jing Xian into the kitchen.

 

Jing Xian personally cooked for Lu Yingjiu, who was studying the formation. All kinds of kitchen waste were directly thrown into hairball’s mouth, which was extremely convenient.

 

They spent the night in the small house.

 

It was still green tiles and red walls, with a black roof. The house was simple but very comfortable.

 

Jing Xian was still not satisfied.

 

The next day, the Ghost Lala Company brought a bunch of furniture, moving them into the mirror one by one. What rosewood tea table, what luxury mattress, what silk quilt, what velvet pillow, a bunch of them lined up for Lu Yingjiu to choose.

 

Zhang Shuwan took advantage of Lu Yingjiu’s light, admired a lot of furniture between the human and ghost worlds, and also took a bunch of them away.

 

Before leaving, she said to Lu Yingjiu, “Your boyfriend is really virtuous.”

 

Lu Yingjiu thought to himself, isn’t that right, otherwise how could he be the Xian Concubine.

 

They stayed in the mirror world for two or three months.

 

In the meantime, the servants of Heavenly Way appeared again.

 

This time, Lu Yingjiu kept his promise and didn’t push Jing Xian away to face it alone.

 

The two of them fought together, shoulder to shoulder in blood.

 

Most of the time, the servants were all killed.

 

Occasionally, they were endless, and Lu Yingjiu and Jing Xian would go to the ghost world to take shelter, wait for a few days, and the servants would give up searching and then come back.

 

Lu Yingjiu wrote one notebook after another, piled up densely in the house, and rode hairball with Jing Xian all day, looking at the formation everywhere. Zhang Shuwan told him a lot of details about the formation, but there were too many and too miscellaneous things, she could not know all of them, nor could she understand all of them.

 

Xian Concubine was always in charge of three meals a day, fully demonstrating the teaching results of the new oriental teacher ghost. All kinds of delicacies came in turn, what Dongpo meat, lemon shrimp, stir-fried vegetable heart and boiled lamb chops…

 

Three months later, Lu Yingjiu didn’t gain weight, hairball didn’t gain weight, and Jing Xian didn’t gain weight.

 

Zhang Shuwan gained weight.

 

Every day she stood on the scale, she would sigh heavily, “Comparing oneself to another makes one angry to death, I obviously eat the least…”

 

In the third month, Lu Yingjiu’s research hit a bottleneck.

 

There was a place he just couldn’t understand.

 

And Zhang Shuwan also became anxious.

 

She said, “We may not have much time. From the fluctuation of Yin energy and my calculation results, that Hundred Ghosts Night Parade is coming.”

 

“How much longer?” Lu Yingjiu asked.

 

Zhang Shuwan shook her head, “I can only guarantee that we are safe within these two months – maybe it will come after two months, or maybe we have to wait one or two years.”

 

If it really was two months, then there was not much time left.

 

Lu Yingjiu then contacted other exorcists, reminding their families and the exorcist association to prepare. There were many exorcists who could do divination and speculate, and they were not unaware of this matter, and were actively predicting a more accurate time.

 

Back in the mirror world, he drank cup after cup of coffee and brewed pot after pot of strong tea.

 

He sat cross-legged at the table, twirling his pen, his handsome eyebrows slightly furrowed.

 

“Take a break,” Jing Xian told him. “Maybe you’ll figure it out after a good night’s sleep.”

 

“You said the same thing last night,” Lu Yingjiu continued to twirl his pen. “It didn’t help at all.”

 

Jing Xian leaned over to take a look.

 

He didn’t understand an exorcist’s talisman paper, but he still insisted on watching Lu Yingjiu take notes.

 

Exorcists have some drawing skills.

 

Lu Yingjiu, who was good at drawing, drew four vivid ghost gods with a few simple strokes: Ling Yuan, Li Snake, Di Ting, and Peacock God.

 

They correspond to the four major aristocratic families.

 

Seeing Jing Xian come over to look, Lu Yingjiu glanced at him and pointed to the formation, explaining, “The four corners here are drawn with talisman paper of inviting the gods. These four ghost gods need to be present at the same time, but why… why can’t I understand the next part at all? It feels like something is missing…”

 

He thought about it for a long time.

 

Until late at night, when he was lying in Jing Xian’s arms, he was still thinking about this matter in a daze.

 

Jing Xian chuckled, “It feels like before.”

 

“What’s like before?”

 

“Just that you’re still thinking about problems when you sleep,” Jing Xian said. “When you were in the ghost world, wasn’t there a place you couldn’t figure out?” He stroked Lu Yingjiu’s hair, “Another formation.”

 

Of course, Lu Yingjiu remembered this.

 

At that time, he was still studying the formation for going to the ghost world, and there was a place he couldn’t figure out.

 

He originally intended to continue his research, but ended up in the mirror world.

 

“Hmm,” Lu Yingjiu responded, “To be honest, these two places are quite similar…”

 

He paused.

 

Not just quite similar.

 

Now that he carefully recalled every detail, it was like there were thousands of connections!

 

A bold and crazy idea emerged in his mind.

 

He suddenly sat up, grabbed the paper and pen on the bedside table and started drawing, and ordered, “Jing Xian, can you bring me the two black books on the table?”

 

Jing Xian did as he was told, brought the books, and then hugged Lu Yingjiu from behind, watching him intently.

 

Lu Yingjiu nestled in his arms, writing and drawing, and after who knows how long, he tore off two pieces of paper with a “whoosh”.

 

On the paper, there were two formations.

 

One was “Kan”, and the other opened the door to the ghost world. Originally, their lines were very complicated, but after his simplification, only a large framework was left.

 

He stacked the two pieces of paper together and held them up to the light.

 

The formations overlapped under the light, entwining each other, seemingly without any pattern.

 

But Lu Yingjiu stared at them for a while and said, “They are related.”

 

Jing Xian listened silently.

 

Lu Yingjiu said, “No wonder I couldn’t understand it. What I saw was not the complete formation.” He pointed to the lines on the paper that converged together, “This is the complete one.”

 

Perhaps out of caution, they placed the last unfinished talisman in another formation like a sleight of hand.

 

“They might not have had time to complete the formation, so they temporarily recorded the last part. Or they might have been cautious, waiting for me to complete the last step,” Lu Yingjiu said. “They knew I would come into contact with the formation of the Ghost World Gate. As long as I made this connection, I could understand ‘Kan’.”

 

That night, he stayed up all night, depicting the newly pieced together formation bit by bit.

 

Jing Xian accompanied him, leisurely peeling an apple on the side.

 

The apple peel hung down in a long string, falling right into the mouth of hairball. It smacked its lips, eating with great satisfaction. Jing Xian peeled and fed Lu Yingjiu, not forgetting to steal a few kisses.

 

In the blink of an eye, several days passed.

 

Early in the morning, Lu Yingjiu handed the completed formation to Zhang Shuwan and asked, “Can you complete this formation before the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade begins?”

 

Zhang Shuwan glanced at it and nodded, “Yes, I can. Di Ting will help me.”

 

She asked again, “Are you going out?”

 

“Yes,” Lu Yingjiu said, “This formation still needs to summon four ghost gods, and moreover, they need to be summoned in different places.”

 

The entire “Kan” was based on the monkey, snake, peacock, and Di Ting. After all, they assumed that the people who could activated this formation must be from the aristocratic families.

 

Zhang Shuwan said, “I can do Di Ting, but the other three…” She hesitated for a moment, “I don’t know who to look for yet. I haven’t been in contact with the aristocratic families for a long time.”

 

For a long time, she had been guarding the formation alone.

 

Lu Yingjiu said, “I will find a way, don’t worry.” He said sincerely again, “Thank you.”

 

He said he would leave as soon as he moved.

 

In the afternoon, he was ready to go out into the mirror world with Jing Xian and hairball.

 

Zhang Shuwan sent them out.

 

Before leaving, Lu Yingjiu suddenly said, “I have one last question to ask you.”

 

“What?” Zhang Shuwan tilted her head.

 

Lu Yingjiu said, “According to you, in the early years, the Heavenly Way was not as active as it is now, and it didn’t even notice my existence. The servants it sent were few and far between, and those who approached my residence were all dealt with by the aristocratic families in secret.”

 

Zhang Shuwan nodded, “Yes. After your ghost marriage, there were even fewer servants.”

 

“But,” Lu Yingjiu said, “I’ve been plagued by bad luck since I was a child, often unable to sleep at night because of ghosts, until dawn. Why didn’t you guys deal with those ghosts as well?”

 

The memories of those ghost hands and those screams were still vivid in his mind.

 

He remembered the eyes under the bed, the woman in white standing on the roof, the whispers coming from the walls at night… These things have troubled him for many years.

 

Upon hearing this, Zhang Shuwan showed a helpless smile.

 

She said, “It’s not that we don’t want to, but we can’t. Your misfortune is a curse from the Heavenly Way, and those ghosts are more like your inner demons, so they are omnipresent and inseparable.”

 

Inner demons arose from the darkest part of the soul, and no one else could do anything about them except the person themselves.

 

Misfortune catalyzed this process.

 

That’s why he had such a lonely childhood.

 

Lu Yingjiu nodded, “I understand.”

 

“We can still do too little.” Zhang Shuwan still smiled helplessly, “Playing against the Heavenly Way, everyone is doing it for the first time in their lives. Aunt Zhang Nianyun often tells me that she wishes she could see you happier when you were a child.”

 

But Lu Yingjiu said, “It’s okay.”

 

He paused, “I used to care a lot, thinking that fate was unfair, but now I’ve let go. Life always has regrets, and I don’t have time to mourn one by one. Besides…”

 

He took Jing Xian’s hand and laughed, “Besides, if it weren’t for this, I wouldn’t have had a ghost marriage, and this guy would probably have to sleep for a few more years.”

 

It was fine when it was not mentioned.

 

But as soon as he mentioned the wedding, Jing Xian immediately became jealous and hugged him and kissed him on the cheek.

 

Zhang Shuwan: ??

 

Normal people’s brain circuits couldn’t understand this cause and effect relationship, she grumbled resentfully, “No wonder I’ve gained so much weight, it turns out I’ve eaten too much dog food.”

 

****

 

After saying goodbye to Zhang Shuwan, Lu Yingjiu and Jing Xian got in the car.

 

Lu Yingjiu said, “There is still a month of safe time, we need to find supporters of Ye, Chu, and Chen family to complete the formation together.”

 

“Who do you want to find first?” Jing Xian asked, “You should have someone in mind, right?”

 

Lu Yingjiu didn’t answer, he rolled down the window, and outside was the rustling Wutong trees.

 

He was still wearing a white shirt today, letting the wind blow up his collar, his hair was gilded in the light.

 

The sun was shining brightly, and the sky was a washed blue. He squinted his brown eyes like a cat. With a bit of laziness, he hooked up the corner of his mouth and said, “Of course… not at all.”

 

Jing Xian: “…”

 

Jing Xian volunteered, “Then I’ll go and kidnap a few for you, as many as you want, men, women, old and young, no problem.”

 

“You don’t commit crimes, I don’t want to cry behind bars with you.” Lu Yingjiu poked him and laughed, “But, let’s start with the Ye family.”

 

He lowered his head.

 

The chat page on his phone stopped at “Ye Feng”.