My Girlfriend is the Nether King

In silence, early autumn had arrived, and the autumn breeze began to stir. In the evening, Chen Hao returned alone to the foot of his apartment building from the Yin Yang Master Association. Just as he reached the entrance to the staircase, he suddenly stopped, lifting his gaze towards the sky, dyed a fiery red by the setting sun. At that moment, a cloud above his head seemed to be shaped by the wind into the contour of his grandfather's face.

For a moment, Chen Hao was filled with bitterness; he missed his grandfather. Staring at that cloud, Chen Hao stretched out his hand, attempting to touch it. Under the illumination of the sunset's afterglow, warmth gradually filled the palm of his hand. He closed his eyes, the warmth feeling as if it were the temperature of his grandfather's face.

After a long while, Chen Hao opened his eyes, silently swearing to himself: he would double his efforts in training his Nether Eye Power to rescue his grandfather from the Netherworld as soon as possible!

Two minutes later, Chen Hao entered Ye Yuqiao's room, where she was lying on the sofa with her eyes slightly closed. Chen Hao walked gently and quietly approached the sofa to crouch down, quietly admiring the sleeping Ye Yuqiao.

Ye Yuqiao's face was very tranquil, her breathing was exceptionally calm. Even in her sleep, her brows were furrowed as though she harbored deep worries in her heart.

Watching Ye Yuqiao, Chen Hao felt from his heart that the more he looked, the more beautiful she became. After a few minutes, feeling some numbness in his legs from squatting, he slowly rose, then bent down and leaned forward to leave a kiss on Ye Yuqiao's pale and fair face.

As if out of a fairy tale, his passionate kiss woke the sleeping beauty under his eyelids.

"You!" Ye Yuqiao opened her eyes slightly, her face bearing a hint of sleepiness, a display of coyness rarely seen in her usually cold demeanor. However, in an instant, her eyelid on the left trembled sharply, her gaze becoming fierce, and in an icy and deep voice she said, "Come out!"

"Come out?" Chen Hao was puzzled, "I'm not hiding though?"

Ye Yuqiao stood up from the sofa, her face stern, and she commanded authoritatively: "Do I really have to force you out myself?"

Chen Hao grew more and more confused. Holding Ye Yuqiao's hand, he fretted, "Ye Yuqiao, are you sleepwalking or something?"

"Idiot!" Ye Yuqiao raised her hand and lightly pinched Chen Hao's arm, "You're being haunted and you don't even know it. And you call yourself an Onmyoji!"

"Ah!" Chen Hao was astonished! After pausing, he mumbled to himself: "Beautiful ghost, please come out! Stop clinging to me, my girlfriend is getting upset! She can be fierce, you know. Be careful or she might destroy you and scatter your soul!"

Ye Yuqiao's face darkened, her eyes narrowing into slits as she looked at Chen Hao helplessly. She thought to herself that her anger was not from jealousy but from his lack of progress.

At that moment, a white shadow ran out from Chen Hao's body and hid behind him. Ye Yuqiao looked carefully and saw that it was a bald, middle-aged female ghost in white, completely inconsistent with the "beauty" Chen Hao had mentioned. Often those Yin Souls without hair were those who suffered from cancer and had undergone multiple chemotherapy treatments.

Feeling a chill behind his back, Chen Hao turned around and activated his Nether Eye Power. Seeing the bald female ghost clinging to his back, he was so frightened that he shivered and quickly retreated to Ye Yuqiao's side.

"Why are you following me?" Chen Hao asked, his voice trembling.

The female ghost hung her head, her lips pursed in a helpless expression as she explained: "You just passed by me, and I saw that you had a heavy Yin Qi, so I followed you. Please, give me something to eat; I haven't eaten in two days and two nights."

Ye Yuqiao crossed her arms and sat down on the sofa, her expression stern as she inquired, "You couldn't proceed to the Netherworld because of your lingering attachment. What happened in life that you can't let go of?"

The female ghost looked up at Ye Yuqiao and nodded slightly. After a pause, she suddenly burst into tears, emitting a wailing sound full of sorrow and despair.

Listening to the terrifying cries of the female ghost, Chen Hao trembled with fear, pressing himself close to Ye Yuqiao.

Ye Yuqiao glanced sideways at Chen Hao with a face full of disdain.

After a while of sobbing, the female ghost finally stopped crying. Then she looked up at Ye Yuqiao and began to recount her story:

Her name was Fang Xiaoxi, she lived at 71 People's Avenue in Y City and was an elementary school teacher. Three years ago, she felt discomfort in her stomach. After a hospital visit, she was diagnosed with late-stage stomach cancer. Nine months later, despite the support and encouragement of her husband, Zeng Jian, and her relentless struggle against the disease, she couldn't overcome the terminal illness.

In life, she and her husband Zeng Jian had a son and a daughter. When she passed away, her son was only eight years old, and her daughter was just three years old. Unable to let go of her children, she did not ascend to the Netherworld after her death; instead, she stayed in her home to silently watch over them. On festival days or other special occasions, her husband would bring their children to worship at her grave, offering fake money and food for her spirit. Even though she couldn't speak to her husband and children, just watching them grow up healthy and strong was enough for her to feel content.

Half a year ago, her husband suddenly brought home a young and beautiful woman, asking Fang Xiaoxi's children to call this woman "mom." At first, Fang Xiaoxi didn't mind, thinking it would be good for her husband and children to have a stepmother to look after them. For the first three months, the stepmother treated her children quite well.

Later on, because her husband did not want to have another child, the stepmother began to mistreat her children. She frequently scolded and looked down on them, seeing them as burdens; furthermore, she often deprived them of meals, leaving the children hungry. Fang Xiaoxi wanted to tell her husband about this, but his Yang Energy was too strong, preventing him from seeing her or even receiving her messages in his dreams.

Watching her two children grow thinner day by day and constantly in tears, she could no longer bear it and took the chance when the stepmother was alone at home to appear and frighten her, even invading the stepmother's dreams to intimidate her into treating her children better.

She had thought that the stepmother would be scared into changing her ways and begin treating her children nicely; to her surprise, not only did the stepmother not repent, but she also became even more fierce. Three days ago, she had even hired an Onmyoji to deal with her. The Onmyoji, after looking around the house, did not rush to drive her out but suggested that they set up a shrine at home to invite the eldest of the Seven Fairies, Bi Luo, promising that her presence would protect the home from any filthy disturbances.

The stepmother agreed to the Onmyoji's suggestion. The next morning, the Onmyoji conducted a ritual in their home and placed a porcelain figure of Bi Luo in the living room for veneration.

Shortly after Bi Luo had been invited, she appeared, riding on clouds, dressed in purple gauze, beautiful and elegant, her demeanour truly like that of a fairy from legends. Bi Luo approached her without saying a word, raised her fan, and with a fierce gust of wind, blew her out of the house, ordering her never to set foot in the house again.

Driven from her home and fearing Bi Luo's profound mana, she dared not return and was reduced to roaming the streets as a Wandering Soul. Until just now, on the street, she had encountered Chen Hao who was heavy with Yin Qi.

After listening to the bald-headed female ghost finish her story, Chen Hao was greatly shocked! When Niu Tou and Ma Mian took away his grandfather's Yin Soul, one of the conditions they set for returning his grandfather's soul was to get rid of the pretentious Bi Luo Fairy. However, this Bi Luo Fairy had been invited by an Onmyoji. Could it be that the Onmyoji was complicit in this deception?

Furthermore, Chen Hao thought of Xie Xiaoluan who had snatched business from him several times in the past few days. Mrs. Zhang from 28 Nanyuan Road had mentioned that Xie Xiaoluan had also suggested she invite deities to be worshipped at home; could it be that he wanted to bring a false deity into Mrs. Zhang's home as well?

It was puzzling; Chen Hao couldn't understand why these Onmyojis would do such things. Could it be that all these deities they talked about were fake? Or was there some unspeakable secret hidden beneath all this?

"Big sister, take us to your home to have a look," Chen Hao said to the female ghost.

The female ghost immediately showed a frightened expression and shook her head repeatedly, saying, "No, no, the Bi Luo Fairy said I must never go back, or she would never let me off lightly!"

"What nonsense Bi Luo Fairy!" Chen Hao couldn't help but curse. After a pause, his tone softened slightly and he said, "Big sister, there are no such things as deities in this world, only tricksters who pretend to be gods."

After speaking, Chen Hao turned to look at Ye Yuqiao. As to whether or not they should meet the Bi Luo Fairy, he felt it was better to listen to Ye Yuqiao's opinion, since he didn't know whether the Bi Luo Fairy was formidable and whether he and Ye Yuqiao could subdue her.

As their eyes met, Ye Yuqiao nodded slightly to Chen Hao without any expression.

Chen Hao's gaze then returned to the female ghost, his voice firm as he said, "Big sister, hurry and take us to meet that Bi Luo Fairy!"

...

Twenty minutes later, the female ghost brought Chen Hao and Ye Yuqiao to 71 People's Avenue. Just as they were about to reach the door, it opened and, to Chen Hao's surprise, out walked Xie Xiaoluan!

"Ah!" The female ghost screamed and hid behind Chen Hao. "It's him! He's the one who invited the Bi Luo Fairy into my home!"

"Chen Hao, it's you again!" Xie Xiaoluan called out in surprise as he emerged from no. 71, his eyes wide with fear. After a moment of shock, he suddenly shot a fierce glare at Chen Hao and shouted, "Fang Xiaoxi, you dare to come back? Let's see if I don't take care of you!"

Upon hearing Xie Xiaoluan say this, the female ghost became even more frightened, trembling as she said, "Young man, save me, please. You said I would be safe!"

"Don't worry!" Chen Hao reassured the female ghost in a soft voice and then raised his head to look at Xie Xiaoluan, pointing at him with a hint of contempt as he said, "Xie Xiaoluan, who are you acting tough with? Get lost!"

"Chen Hao!" Xie Xiaoluan glared angrily, "What are you doing bringing back the female ghost? Do you intend to let this lingering Yin Soul come back to scare people?"

Chen Hao walked up to Xie Xiaofeng arrogantly, reaching out to push him, dismissively adding, "What business of yours is it what I do? You have two choices, either disappear from my sight right now, or come with me for a walk and let me teach you some manners!"

"What you are doing is against the Association's rules, I'll report you!"

"Screw your rules, go report to your old fox of a grandfather! Don't think I don't know what you're up to. Just wait, once I've settled this family's matter, I'll deal with you!"

"You...!" Xie Xiaoluan's teeth chattered with rage, having learnt of Chen Hao's fists only yesterday, he was helpless against Chen Hao. So, he quickly took out his phone and dialed his grandfather Xie Da's number.

After the call connected, Xie Xiaoluan stepped aside to speak with Xie Da.

Chen Hao snorted with disdain and then walked towards the gate of no. 71. Seeing this, Xie Xiaoluan, who was urgently talking to Xie Da, ran over to block Chen Hao's path and handed the phone to Chen Hao, saying, "My grandfather wants to speak with you!"