My Girlfriend is the Nether King

Two days had passed.

Since Chen Hao publicly taught a lesson to the school's "Four Little Tyrants" on Monday, they hadn't troubled him again; yesterday afternoon, after school, he made a trip to the Yin Yang Master Association and received the official appointment from Xie Da, becoming a formal Onmyoji.

The night was deep.

Chen Hao sat cross-legged on the floor of his room, slowly closed his eyes, and began to train his Nether Eye Power. Ye Yuqiao told him that the Nether Eye Power had four Spell moves—Nether Vision, Nether Light, Nether Fire, and Nether Acupoint. As long as he spent an hour a day practicing the Nether Eye Power, he would be able to cast the first three Spells within three months. However, the last Spell, Nether Acupoint, was the most difficult to master. With Chen Hao's current level of Yin Qi Spiritual Power, he was still a full thirty times short.

Since practicing Spells to increase Yin Yang Mana would suppress the Nether Eye Power in his left eye, Chen Hao had to temporarily give it up. Fortunately, a few days ago, Ye Yuqiao had passed some Yin Yang Mana to him, enough to handle the tasks arranged by the Yin Yang Master Association. During class today, Chen Hao carefully read the diary left by his grandfather and found a method for transcending Yin Souls on one of the pages. Thinking that this method might be useful, Chen Hao spent a morning learning it and memorized its incantation.

Not long after closing his eyes, Chen Hao entered that state of complete self-awareness without any other perception, where a splendid purple light at his left eye seemed like a source of a magnetic field, hiding tremendous energy.

Following the method taught by Ye Yuqiao, Chen Hao started to control the purple light with his mind. Soon, the light began to flicker slightly, like the flame of a candle disturbed by a gentle breeze.

Ten minutes later, the slightly jumping purple light was like water about to boil in a pot, showing signs of bubbling over. At this moment, there wasn't a single hint of color on Chen Hao's appearance, resembling a corpse that had been lying in a hospital's morgue for several days. Fortunately, he was without any sensation.

Twenty minutes later, the purple light was violently fluctuating, growing ever more dazzling and bright, like the magma in a volcano, awaiting eruption. Chen Hao's body was now covered with a layer of frost, as if he was a corpse frozen dead in the snowy wilderness.

Another ten minutes passed, and the purple light Chen Hao saw suddenly exploded, splitting into millions of photons. Chen Hao suddenly regained consciousness, feeling as if there was an icy energy within him. His body was now encased in a thick layer of ice. Ye Yuqiao had said that when the purple light split and dissipated, it meant that part of the Nether Eye Power had transformed into Spiritual Power within his body.

After the purple light scattered, the world seen through the left eye fell into darkness. But quickly, a purple dot appeared in the center of his vision. The dot started to flicker and grow like a rolling snowball, and in two minutes, the flickering dot had expanded into a sphere.

This session of cultivating Yin Qi Spiritual Power had ended smoothly. When the dot gradually coalesced and expanded into that dazzling purple light, Chen Hao would be able to proceed to his next training session.

Chen Hao suddenly opened his eyes, and the layer of ice enveloping him shattered and disappeared instantly. Feeling the cold, he shivered all over and quickly climbed into bed, wrapping himself tightly in the cotton blanket. Only after a long time did the color return to his body.

Just as Chen Hao was about to fall asleep, his room door was suddenly pushed open, and Ye Yuqiao walked in.

Since Ye Yuqiao had given a key to her place to Chen Hao a few days prior, it was only natural for him to reciprocate. Their relationship had developed well. However, Ye Yuqiao was still a mystery to Chen Hao. He knew very well that she didn't truly like him, yet he was gradually succumbing to the pleasure of enjoying her kindness.

"Chen Hao!" Ye Yuqiao called out his name urgently, her tone as cold as ever, "Get up, we have a job now!"

Chen Hao sat up with squinting eyes and asked with some complaint in his voice, "It's so late, how can there be work?"

"Isn't our job always done at night?"

Chen Hao laughed heartily twice. He got out of bed, walked up to Ye Yuqiao, naturally wrapped his arms around her waist, and looked into her enigmatic eyes with a smile, "Ye Yuqiao, I've found you can be quite cute sometimes. Hearing you say that, I find our profession a bit strange."

Ye Yuqiao lifted her eyes and glared at Chen Hao, speaking coldly, "Let's go, the client is waiting for us!"

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A quarter of an hour later, Chen Hao and Ye Yuqiao arrived at a coffee shop and found table number 8, as they had agreed with the client over the phone. At this time, a man in his forties and a boy who looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old were sitting at table number 8.

"Excuse me, are you Mr. Zhang?" Ye Yuqiao asked, standing next to the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man looked up, suddenly captivated by Ye Yuqiao's beauty. After a few seconds, he nodded hesitantly and nervously said, "You must be Miss Ye who answered the phone just now? I didn't expect you to be so young and beautiful!"

The boy sitting across from the middle-aged man first looked up at Ye Yuqiao, then turned his head to look at Chen Hao standing behind her, his face showing surprise as he exclaimed, "Chen Hao!"

Chen Hao was also surprised to see the boy and cried out, "Xie Xiaoluan!"

Ye Yuqiao and the middle-aged man looked puzzled at the two of them, and Chen Hao explained to Ye Yuqiao, "Xie Xiaoluan, Xie Xiaofeng's brother!"

Then, Chen Hao took the initiative to sit next to Xie Xiaoluan, raised his head, patted Xie Xiaoluan on the head with a smile, and said, "Are you supposed to call me Chen Hao without a 'big brother'? You rascal, you've grown up so much in two years!"

Xie Xiaoluan's face darkened in an instant. He said with displeasure, "Chen Hao, stop messing around. I'm discussing business with a client!"

Xie Xiaoluan, Xie Xiaofeng's biological younger brother, was sixteen years old this year. Born into a yin-yang family, both brothers possessed the hereditary gifts of a yin-yang family, though Xie Xiaofeng's talent was superior. However, after finishing junior high school, Xie Xiaofeng abandoned the practice of Yin Yang Arts and continued his education in high school. As a result, Xie Xiaoluan took over the family's mantle, joining the Yin Yang Master Association right after junior high school graduation and starting his job after a year of advanced studies.

"You're discussing business too?" Chen Hao exclaimed in surprise, then skeptically looked at the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man shrugged his shoulders awkwardly, explaining, "I did call Ye Yuqiao, but this young brother took the initiative to come to chat with me. He noticed that I've recently been troubled, so he asked me if I wanted his help."

"How's the discussion going?" Chen Hao's gaze returned to Xie Xiaoluan.

Xie Xiaoluan snorted a laugh, his eyes full of disdain as he said, "Chen Hao, is this any of your business? With what you're capable of, don't tell me you're trying to compete with me for the deal?"

Chen Hao looked at Xie Xiaoluan's attitude—it was just like his brother Xie Xiaofeng's. Without a second word, he moved closer to Xie Xiaoluan, squeezing Xie Xiaoluan to the edge of the couch. He had not initially planned to compete with Xie Xiaoluan for the deal, but now, he was determined not to give in to Xie Xiaoluan.

Xie Xiaoluan slammed his hand on the table and stood up, yelling at Chen Hao, "Chen Hao, what are you trying to do?"

Chen Hao ignored Xie Xiaoluan and gestured for Ye Yuqiao to sit next to him. Once Ye Yuqiao sat down, Chen Hao said to the middle-aged man, "No matter how much this kid is charging you, our price is only half of his!"

"Alright, Chen Hao!" Xie Xiaoluan, who stood aside, was so angry that his face turned green. "Just you wait, tomorrow I'll have my brother come to school and sort you out!"

"Childish!" Chen Hao chuckled, thinking to himself that just a few days ago, I had taught his brother a lesson, and he still dares to mess with me?

After huffing, Xie Xiaoluan left angrily.

Seeing Xie Xiaoluan go, the middle-aged man laughed awkwardly and said, "I didn't expect so many young people are involved in this industry today; it's quite an eye-opener. Hello, gentlemen. I…"

Then, the middle-aged man began talking about the troubling situation he was facing. His name was Zhang Chengren, and he was originally a factory worker at Y City's motorcycle plant. Half a month ago, which was a weekend, he was playing mahjong with three of his colleagues. They planned to play all night, but at three in the morning, a colleague named Peng Shun suddenly suffered a heart attack and died at the mahjong table.

Seven days ago, on the night of Peng Shun's seventh day after death, he dreamed about Peng Shun. Peng Shun wanted him to bid a proper farewell to his family and join him in the Netherworld for a game of mahjong.

At first, Zhang Chengren didn't take the dream seriously, thinking it was just stress. But when another colleague who had played mahjong that night died suddenly last night, he got scared when he visited that deceased colleague's family today and learned that the colleague also had the same dream a few days earlier. So, he immediately contacted Ye Yuqiao through a friend.

After listening to Zhang Chengren's story, Chen Hao scratched his head with a wry smile. He wondered whether they played mahjong in the Netherworld too, and if so, there surely wouldn't be a shortage of ghosts to play with, right?

"Mr. Zhang, have you finished speaking?" Ye Yuqiao asked with a serious face.

Zhang Chengren nodded his head repeatedly, "I've said all I had to say!"

"Is that so?" Ye Yuqiao, propping his cheek with his hand, scrutinized Zhang Chengren with an evaluating gaze. "Why do I feel like you're still hiding something from us?"

Under Ye Yuqiao's persistent scrutiny, an anxious look appeared on Zhang Chengren's face. He clumsily wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with a tissue, blinking rapidly as he stammered, "I… I don't… have anything hidden from you."

"That's too bad, Mr. Zhang!" Ye Yuqiao stood up swiftly, "Since you haven't been truthful with us, we can't take your case. You should seek someone more capable."

With that, Ye Yuqiao pulled Chen Hao's hand and left.

"Ye Yuqiao, what's going on? How did you figure out he was hiding something from us?" Chen Hao asked, confused.

Ye Yuqiao, pulling Chen Hao's hand and quickening their pace, explained as they walked, "Did you see that gold watch he wore? It would cost tens of thousands at least. How could a regular factory worker afford that? Plus, when he called me earlier, he immediately quoted a price of one hundred thousand yuan. If he wasn't guilty of something, why would he be so eager to spend money to avert disaster?"

"That makes sense! My dear, I didn't realize you were this clever!" Chen Hao said with a smile. But his expression quickly turned tense as he gasped, "Should we think it over, though? That's one hundred thousand yuan!"

"Idiot!" Ye Yuqiao hissed under her breath, "I was just pretending, trying to drive the price up, to earn you more money!"

"Oh!" Chen Hao's mouth formed a perfect circle, "So that's why!"

A few steps out of the café, Zhang Chengren also followed them out and shouted from behind, "Miss Ye, please wait, please wait…"