Chapter 477: Underworld Soldiers Borrowing the Path

"Destroying a soul-summoning child barehanded? How could Gao Jian's ghost art be at such a high realm?" She Qian's eyes filled with shock, which quickly twisted into greed. "It must be because the ghost art he practices is special. If I can get my hands on it, the next Lord Snake might be me!"

She Qian stared straight at me, filling me with an unexplainable irritability. This man was effeminate in appearance, and because he dealt with ghosts year-round, his body exuded a dense yin energy. It gave him an androgynous, deeply repulsive vibe.

"Are you alright?" I grabbed the steering wheel, giving the private car owner a moment to collect himself.

"What... what was that thing?" he stammered. His hands flailed around as if they had just grown in, and he kept glancing over his shoulder into the backseat, acting as if there were someone else in the car besides the two of us.

"It was probably just a hallucination. The people chasing me have some special tricks, but don't worry, it was all fake," I comforted the driver. I stepped on the gas and changed routes without his permission. By the time he snapped out of his daze, I had already steered the car in the complete opposite direction of Central Hospital.

"Let me drive. Where are you heading?" After that terrifying ordeal, the car owner's attitude had improved significantly. He took the wheel with one hand and gripped that page of the Profound Truth Dao Scripture with the other. Staring at the text mentioning the Immeasurable Heavenly Venerable and the Three Pure Patriarchs, his expression turned incredibly weird. "Are you a Daoist priest?"

"Half of one, I guess." Since he was willing to cooperate, my attitude softened as well. I had originally been prepared to use force to hijack the car.

"A Daoist priest who runs around in a suit carrying a carrying pole?" he asked with a bitter laugh. "Let's start over. I'm Wen Chao, an editor for the Jiangcheng Daily Agency."

"Your surname is Wen?" I thought back to Old Mrs. Wen on the Death Train. "That's a pretty rare name."

"My father married into the family, so I took my mother's surname. Anyway, let's not talk about that." Wen Chao handed that page of the Profound Truth Detailed Explanation back to me. "I've come across some bizarre things at the newspaper agency, but I never expected to actually run into them myself."

I initially wanted to ask if he was blood-related to Old Mrs. Wen, but hearing that, I dropped the idea. "Since you've dealt with similar things, I won't hide it from you. The world isn't as simple as it looks. You can't just divide it into black and white, good and bad. Take the people chasing me, for example. They once set up a Maternity and Children's Health Center to collect the vengeful spirits of aborted babies, and they even nailed a child's mother to a table..."

"Stop, don't say another word. The hair on my arms is standing up." Wen Chao waved his hands frantically. "We don't live in the same world. I just want to live my life as a normal citizen. I'll play the good guy to the end today and drop you off, but after that, it's best if we never cross paths again. I'm just a low-level office worker wasting my life away. I can't handle things like saving the world."

"Alright. I'll give you directions once we hit the Old Town District. You won't have to worry about anything once we enter Lightless Alley." I thought for a moment before adding, "Actually, it might be best if you escape inside with me. If the people chasing me catch you, they probably won't let you off easy."

Wen Chao nodded absently, likely still thinking about that ghost child from earlier.

The car tore down the road. In the blink of an eye, it was already 10:40 PM. Since we took a detour, it took a little extra time to enter the Old Town District.

'These people are certainly patient. They haven't made a move the entire way.' The number of vehicles tailing the private car had increased to six, each packed with people. Aside from the Daoist priests from the Snake Lord Disciples wearing black robes embroidered with colorful venomous snakes at the collar, I also spotted a woman bundled up tightly in layers.

This woman had shown up in the very last car. She dressed rather uniquely: silk shoes and linen clothes that looked like a cross between a Daoist robe and a Buddhist monk's habit. A yellow sash was tied around her waist, and from it hung a wooden tablet. The front of it read "Bridge of Helplessness," and the back read "What Can Be Done."

'That woman should be a disciple of the Three Yin Sect's Meng Po Lineage. They really did mobilize the entire sect's power to deal with me. I wonder if anyone from the Ghost Infant Lineage came?' If someone asked which branch of the Three Yin Sect I had the deepest grudge against, it would undoubtedly be the Ghost Infant Lineage. I had first saved Ye Bing, letting the Fate Ghost devour the three-eyed Shura Ghost Infant they had painstakingly cultivated. After that, I destroyed the Qicun Maternity and Children's Health Center. To evil cultivators, destroying the foundation where they raised ghosts was just like digging up someone's ancestral graves in the mortal world.

'The Snake Lord Lineage has the most disciples in the Three Yin Sect, but I absolutely can't let my guard down. A biting dog doesn't bark. The other two lineages might actually be the most terrifying.' I counted the evil cultivators in the vehicles; there were already more than fifteen of them. Back when the Primal Destiny Divine Fiends at Xinhu High School possessed an Upper Vehicle Talisman, the Three Yin Sect had only sent out a little over ten disciples.

"Wen Chao, drive faster!" As time ticked away, midnight crept closer and closer. The unease in my heart grew increasingly intense. That feeling of impending death was incredibly suffocating.

'They had multiple chances to overtake us along the way, but they never took them. They didn't try to block me in, nor did they use the Jiang family's connections to have the traffic police intercept me.' As a very cautious person, all these unreasonable circumstances put me on high alert. 'It's as if they don't care at all, just letting me run loose.'

Throughout the entire drive, She Qian was the only one who attacked me at the very beginning. After that, no one used any ghost arts.

'It's like they're intentionally herding me toward a specific place.' I rubbed my chin, an extremely bad premonition rising in my chest.

At 10:58 PM, the private car finally shook off the people from the Three Yin Sect and arrived at No-Lights Road.

It was an ancient neighborhood with low, two-story buildings. The character for "demolish" was painted in red across the peeling walls.

Nothing seemed to have changed since the last few times I had come here. It was dead silent, bizarre, and completely devoid of light.

Lightless Alley was like a piece of dead flesh in this city—out of place and carrying an indescribable stench of decay.

"Do I drive straight in?" Wen Chao had never heard of such a forgotten place existing in Jiangcheng. His voice trembled slightly.

"Drive!" The car slowed down. I turned my head to look back, only to find that the cars chasing us had completely vanished without a trace.

The road conditions in the Old Town District were terrible. Wen Chao hadn't driven far before he came to a stop. "The alley is too narrow. We can't get in."

I nodded, then handed him the luck talisman I had on me, as well as the House-Guarding Talisman I got from Lu Jin. "Listen to me, your situation right now is very dangerous. It's best if you leave the car and find a random building to hide in. I'll come pick you up after midnight. Remember, absolutely do not come out before twelve. Here is my phone number."

After giving my instructions, I pushed the car door open and sprinted into the alley. But before I could run more than a few meters, an old man's voice unexpectedly echoed from the mouth of the gloomy alleyway.

"The heavens are gray, the earth is sovereign! I invite the Five Ghosts and underworld soldiers to the altar! Treading on flying dragons in the cloudy skies, iron chains and iron locks follow my body! Soul-bewitching children and spirit-snatching boys, underworld soldiers and ghostly generals, follow my command! Capture souls, seize spirits, and bury human lives! I invite the Five Ghosts and underworld soldiers to heed my orders! Hurry out the gates, where heaven has no life and earth has no master! Sever and slay Gao Jian's three ethereal and seven physical souls, cut him down together without mercy! My soldiers, heed my orders! My generals, accept my judgment! If called at the third watch, you must listen; if called at the fourth watch, you must march! Those who obey me live, those who defy me die! I act on the imperial decree of King Yama, execute this command swift as law!"

The voice grew louder and louder, shaking my very mind. A moment later, an old man with completely white hair and beard walked out of the alley, wearing a plain black Daoist robe.

"It's you!" I cried out in shock. I had seen this man once before at Jiang Fei's door. He was the old man who divined that my fate was marked by the Nine Locks Binding the Body. "You're Lord Snake?"

Flicking the colorful venomous snake embroidery on his collar with a withered, bony finger, the old man remained expressionless. "When you previously sought your fortune using the character for 'Dao,' I divined that you had Nine Locks in your destiny. I also calculated the day of your death. The Seven Stars hide their brilliance, the midnight sun blocks the great gates, the end of the month draws near—it is precisely the thirtieth of the dew month."

"Old man, don't bite your tongue bragging in this wind. My fate is incredibly tough." The thirtieth of the dew month was the thirtieth of the tenth month. I stood at the mouth of Lightless Alley, watching the evil cultivators of the Three Yin Sect—who had been lying in ambush—walk out from the ruined buildings. My fists slowly clenched.

"No matter how tough your fate is, King Yama can still take it away." The old man walked toward me, chanting a curse. "Men hasten, ghosts hasten! I urge and drive Gao Jian's true ethereal and physical souls to receive punishment! I command evil soldiers and evil generals to march! Bind him in locks, throw his mind into frenzied chaos! Leave him raving mad, bereft of reason, his whole body burning like fire, his internal organs slashed as if by knives!"

After the old man finished his chant, gusts of yin wind swept through Lightless Alley. Following that, silhouettes abruptly materialized one after another, stretching as far as the eye could see.

My expression grew incredibly grim. I had only ever heard of the scene unfolding before me in legends.

"This is... underworld soldiers borrowing the path!"