Dread King's Bride

The green-clad false ghost warden, now exposed by QingWu, seemed to swell grotesquely, his already ugly head resembling a fly crammed into a human skin.

"Arrogant mortals! You court death!" he shrieked, swinging the soul-reaping chain toward QingWu.

With a cold sneer and a glimmer of ghostly light in her eyes, QingWu raised her hand. The chain abruptly reversed its trajectory, coiling tightly around the warden's own neck. A panicked scream tore through the air as his body deflated, the human disguise peeling away like a punctured balloon.

In a flash, Xiao Chenyuan's sword struck. A chilling glint pierced the fly-headed creature, pinning it to the ground as its grotesque body writhed. The chain that had once obeyed the imposter now constricted him like a serpent.

"I am a ghost emissaries! You dare attack me? Do you wish to be cast into the eighteenth level of hell?" the creature spat, though his bulging, grotesque eyes darted in terror.

QingWu approached with casual disdain, her gaze sharp and unforgiving. "A ghost emissaries? Truly laughable." Her voice turned icy. "The Underworld's seventy-six divisions are vast, but not one governs such a vile pest. Even the Yellow Hornet Master's beast-division officers wouldn't employ a filthy fly!"

The creature's horrified expression betrayed his faltering resolve. He attempted to bluster, but faltered when QingWu bent down and picked up the soul-reaping chain .

A spark of malicious glee flickered in his eyes—mortals couldn't handle such a tool without forfeiting their lives. But his confidence shattered as the chain quivered in QingWu's grip, trembling like a frightened animal.

"Pathetic." With a sneer, she crushed the chain with a single motion, the fragments scattering like dust.

"Who... who are you?" the fly-headed creature stammered, shivering with fear.

"You dare question me?" QingWu struck him with a backhanded slap. The fly's grotesque form collapsed into its original size—a bean-like pest, now ensnared by a globe of ghostly power.

"Speak!" she commanded. "Who gave you the audacity to impersonate a ghost emissaries and abduct living souls? What's your goal?"

The creature's bulbous eyes darted in panic. Sensing her mounting wrath, he finally whimpered, "I'll talk! I'll talk! I'm working for Master Qu Huang! All the beast spirits in this region answer to him. These souls were offerings—tributes to curry favor with him. He's a proper ghost emissaries related to the Yellow Hornet Master himself!"

Hearing this, QingWu let out a derisive laugh. "Qu Huang? Never heard of him. ghost emissaries may be plentiful, but insignificant pests like him hold no place in my memory."

"The Yellow Hornet's relative?" QingWu raised a brow.

The fly demon mistook her reaction for fear, secretly sighing in relief. The Judge's Pen chuckled coldly. "If the Yellow Hornet knew he had such a 'relative,' he'd likely be so enraged he'd rip out his own stinger."

"So, the children killed on Shiying Mountain—was that your doing as well?"

The fly demon froze, his expression betraying his guilt.

"And the souls of those children?"

"They were consumed, naturally."

A chilling glint filled QingWu's eyes as she gestured toward the boy's soul standing beside Xiao Yulang. "This one isn't a child. How do you explain him?"

"That brat was just unlucky. His wandering soul passed through the Yin-Yang Road, so I took it along." The fly demon tightened his jaw and sneered, "Listen, miss. I'd advise you to mind your own business. Offending Master Qu Huang will ensure your family never knows peace."

QingWu stared at him impassively before murmuring, as if to herself, "Ugly and stupid. No wonder the Yellow Hornet despises flies so much."

At her words, a cluster of ghostly flames emerged from the Underworld Lamp, instantly engulfing the fly demon. His anguished screams echoed along the Yin-Yang Road, sending nearby spirits fleeing in terror. Within moments, the ghost fire reduced him to ashes, leaving no trace behind.

The Judge's Pen spoke gravely, "QingWu, this matter isn't simple. Qu Huang is likely colluding with mortals to commit atrocities."

"Using the flesh and blood of children to nurture a horde of mountain demons, while consuming their souls to disrupt the balance of life and death—this is chaos across both realms!" QingWu thought coldly, fully aware of the implications. Still, her journey hadn't been in vain. Recovering Wang Yulang's soul and uncovering a traitor within the Underworld made it worthwhile.

"The one working with Qu Huang is likely the same person who gifted the Ghost Mirror to Madam Luo. Their shared target on children can't be a coincidence!" QingWu glanced at Mu Ying's lamp and said, "It's getting late. Let's return Wang Yulang's soul first."

She produced a red thread and tied it to the wrists of both Mu Ying and Wang Yulang. In his ethereal state, Wang Yulang was a fragile and timid boy. Yet, as QingWu approached, his wide eyes blinked, and an inexplicable sense of safety washed over him.

"Did the pretty lady come to rescue me for my mother? Thank you, pretty lady. Have we met before? You feel just like my mother…"

QingWu paused, a faint smile gracing her lips as she gently tapped his forehead. The dark aura lingering on his soul dissipated. When his spirit returned to his body, he would remember the journey on the Yin-Yang Road only as a fleeting nightmare.

"You've got it wrong. It's Aunty," Mu Ying corrected softly.

Behind her, Mu Ying stared at QingWu's back, her expression growing dazed.

Even Xiao Chenyuan's eyes flickered with a trace of emotion.

"Can the pretty aunty take my big brother go back too?" Wang Yulang asked, pointing at the dazed youth nearby.

QingWu had already noticed the boy earlier—not because of any unusual aura, but because his features were simply too striking. His face was delicately handsome, exuding an air of natural elegance. With eyebrows like painted strokes, he appeared to be around sixteen or seventeen years old. However, his situation was more complicated than Xiao Yulang's. He wasn't a soul but a po—one of the seven aspects of the human spirit.

A person's life depended on the balance of their three hun and seven po. Losing the hun often meant death, but losing a po resulted in a state of dazed idiocy, as though the person's spirit had been hollowed out.

QingWu couldn't help but wonder why Xiao Chenyuan's supposed "great fortune" would manifest here, on the Yin-Yang Road. After seeing the boy, she understood.

"Xiao Chenyuan, your great fortune has arrived."

Xiao Chenyuan had also taken notice of the boy, finding his face vaguely familiar. "Who is he?"

"You haven't figured it out yet?" QingWu asked, surprised. She smirked meaningfully. "I thought you'd recognize him at first glance—he looks quite a bit like you."

Xiao Chenyuan stiffened slightly, his gaze sharpening as he studied the boy. His features indeed bore some resemblance, particularly to his mother. Xiao Chenyuan's appearance was said to be seventy percent like his late mother, the former Crown Princess of the esteemed Xie clan.

She had a twin brother, and the siblings were nearly identical in appearance.

Xiao Chenyuan remembered that his uncle had a younger son, whose age and appearance matched the boy before him. The boy's identity became clear—this was a Xie family lad, his… younger cousin?