Chapter Thirty-Two: Searching for Little Snow

  "I didn't mean to, you can see that, at the time I wasn't thinking of killing her, just wanted to get close to her, didn't expect her to wake up and hit me hard, I was also furious at the time, lost control and killed her, I really didn't mean to..." Li Chengdong knew things were exposed, and his father was here too, it seemed like there was no hope left, for a moment he couldn't help but burst into tears, crying with snot and tears everywhere, hoping to gain some sympathy. But Li Chengdong was destined to be disappointed, the people from the underworld are the most ruthless and impartial, because there's no need to consider human emotions, whether or not there's any personal connection, ordinary people can't provide what they want anyway, so even if Li Chengdong cried himself to death, no one would sympathize with him.

  Chui Chenghuan wasn't saying anything, but was flipping through the Book of Life and Death, checking how much longer Li Chengdong had to live. After taking a look, he shook his head: "Li Chengdong, your earthly lifespan hasn't expired yet, so I won't take you now. However, for the things you've done, you'll have to spend 500 years in the Eighteenth Hell - that's not too much! Hmph, just wait until your time is up, and then we'll settle this. For now, I'll send you back..."

  However, as Cheng Ye spoke, the cause-and-effect mirror began to reveal the punishment that Li Chendong would receive in the 18th level of hell. It was so severe that Li Chendong's whole body trembled with fear, and a strange smell wafted through the air, only to discover that he had actually shit his pants and urinated, leaving everyone speechless. It turned out that he was also a coward. Immediately, Li Chendong and his son Li Yan Zhong were escorted away, but tonight's events had already shattered their courage, and they believed that there would be no more unexpected incidents.

  Settling the matter, Cui Chengxiu looked at Wang Qianqiu and sighed: "General Wang. This small matter has passed, but the Ghost King's affair still doesn't have any clues, I don't know what General Wang plans to do?"

  Wang Qianqiu didn't say a word, he was a ghost general chasing after the Ghost King, which was already very difficult. The ghost general's methods were all understood by the Ghost King, so naturally they had cut off their breath. Wanting to find the Ghost King was even more difficult, and it would be better to ask the cultivators in the mortal world for help. So he looked at his master, but his master didn't seem to understand what he meant, and only gave a Daoist logic: "Both of you, I have already reported the matter of the Ghost King to our sect, and our sect has also sent out a large number of disciples. Moreover, we used the Heaven and Earth Five Elements Great Method to determine the general area where the Ghost King is located. This great method can definitely detect it as long as the yin and yang are unbalanced. Both of you can rest assured, once there's any news, I will immediately notify both of you."

  When the master agreed, Wang Qianqiu obviously breathed a sigh of relief. The means of the underworld were already well known to the ghost king, and he had long been on guard. Although he used the camera to search for clues, there was no news at all. Otherwise, Wang Qianqiu would not have sought help from the master. Signing a personal favor is something that needs to be repaid.

  "As long as Miao Dao Chang is fine, then I, Cui Cheng Huang, will take my leave first." Cui Cheng Huang bowed to his master and swung his sleeves, and immediately the grand hall began to shrink. We fell back into the vast fog, and the yin messengers also returned to their posts. Wang Qianqiu also bid farewell to his master and left, slowly disappearing into the distance as the mist began to dissipate.

  Finally, all the weapons have dissipated, and my master Zhang Jianhua and I are still in the same room, even sitting on the bed. Only Zhang Jianhua is timidly hiding behind me. Everything seems as if nothing had happened, but the clock on the wall already points to past three o'clock. My master stretched his waist: "Alright, everything's fine now, we should also go to sleep. You lead your friend to the next room, I'm not used to sleeping with others."

  I raised an eyebrow and responded with a "yeah", then led Zhang Jianhua out the door. However, Master's snoring sound had already started in the room, which was quite speechless. But Zhang Jianhua didn't seem to have any thoughts about it, after all, a superior person has their own demeanor. As we exited the door, I saw that the boss was already leaning against the wall at the entrance, sleeping. He rubbed his eyes and got up when he heard the door sound, then bowed and forced a smile on his face: "All done? Earlier it must have been something big, the whole corridor was so cold, even colder than air conditioning, haha!"

  He let out a wry smile and waved his hand at the boss: "Alright, it's fine now. You can go back to rest too. I've really caused you trouble."

  "Not bothering, not bothering..." The boss echoed and finally left. I took Zhang Jianhua to the next room, Xiaoxue's room. At that time, I was really sleepy, just casually said a word to Zhang Jianhua, fell on the bed and fell asleep, without even taking care of Zhang Jianhua.

  That night, I had a dream that I was with Xiaoxue. At first, we were very happy to see each other, but suddenly a strong gust of wind blew in and a dark fog appeared out of nowhere. The powerful suction pulled Xiaoxue towards the fog, and no matter how hard I tried to grab onto her, I couldn't catch her. As I watched Xiaoxue disappear into the fog, I involuntarily let out a loud cry: "Xiaoxue!"

  I suddenly woke up with a start, panting heavily, and only then realized that it had already dawned. Zhang Jianhua was looking at me in confusion beside me, with a chair placed behind him, but he hadn't squeezed together with me overnight, instead sitting on the chair to make do for the night. Back in reality, I felt a tinge of bitterness in my heart, and merely let out a sigh: "Why didn't you sleep on the bed? It's more comfortable that way."

  "I see you're tired, I'm afraid of disturbing you——" Zhang Jianhua's face always had a flattering expression, and his words seemed to be coming from a distant place, but the respect he showed me was undeniable. I didn't want to dwell on this small matter either, after all, just my few words couldn't change Zhang Jianhua's impression. I simply shook my head: "Zhang Ge, after we've eaten, take me to Daqiao Town for a look, won't that delay your business?"

  "No, I didn't have anything going on either—" Zhang Jianhua trailed off, as if there was something he hadn't said, but my mind wasn't on that at the time, so I didn't catch it.

  I went to see Master, but he wasn't there, which surprised me. When I asked the boss, I found out that Master had already gone out for dinner without even calling us, and was drinking mutton soup. By the time I found Master, he had almost finished eating. Seeing me, Master just casually greeted me: "Young one, sit down and eat. Later, I'll go investigate the Ghost King's affairs first. You settle your own matters before we talk."

  Master saw through my plan and I felt a bit embarrassed: "Master——"

  The master looked at me, snorted and didn't say a word, with some mystery on his face. He glanced at Zhang Jianhua, then drank a bowl of mutton soup by himself, only to wipe his mouth: "Eat your fill, kid, be careful yourself."

  Then the master didn't wait for me to speak, and had already left on his own, leaving me with no appetite for food, feeling like I was abandoned, and barely ate a mouthful with Zhang Jianhua before following him to hail a car and head straight to Daqiao Town.

  The so-called Dabridge Town was actually named after the bridge. In the 1950s and 1960s, a pontoon bridge was built on the Han River to connect the north and south. Originally, it was just a small village, but as transportation developed, more and more people gathered here. Now, it has become quite large in scale, much larger than an ordinary town. The restaurant we were looking for is just 500-600 meters away from Dabridge. Zhang Jianhua had apparently made contact with them beforehand, and when we arrived, the owner of the restaurant was already waiting for us.

  After exchanging a few pleasantries, I didn't have the mood to linger, and the boss obviously wasn't in the mood either. Once the news spread, all the waiters in the restaurant said they didn't want to work anymore. These two days had already driven the boss crazy. When Zhang Jianhua called to say that a master was coming, it was clearly what the boss wanted to hear. However, when he saw me, this so-called master, he looked somewhat skeptical, which is why he wasn't enthusiastic.

  This restaurant is very ordinary, and there's nothing different from any other restaurant. The only difference is that almost no one comes to work because it's haunted, so the boss has time to take me to the kitchen. The kitchen is very clean, at least nothing has happened yet, or maybe they just won't come to work anymore.

  "Boss, keep watch outside and don't let anyone come in. I'll just take a look." After a moment's thought, he instructed the boss to guard the entrance, lest someone interrupt him when he was about to use his Xuan Guang technique.

  The boss responded with a sound, and the suspicious person left. With no outsiders present, I casually picked up a water basin, slowly filled it with water, and placed it in front of me. Then, I took out the Ling Gathering Symbol from my pocket, took a deep breath, and followed the same method as before. I grasped the Ling Gathering Symbol with both hands, and immediately chanted the Nine-Character True Word Incantation to gather spiritual energy, forcefully compressing it into the symbol. Compared to last time, I was much more proficient in performing this action. After completing the incantation, I could feel a surge of powerful spiritual energy entering the Ling Gathering Symbol. The symbol that Master had given me couldn't withstand such energy and suddenly burst into flames. I quickly submerged it in the water basin and shouted loudly: "Daoist Lord's Divine Eyes, Mysterious Light Manifests Spirit, Supreme Elder Lord's Urgent Command, Forgive..."

  I saw the water surface spinning rapidly, and the spiritual power formed a whirlpool. I was guessing about the principle of this mysterious light technique. It should be that the Ling symbol is activated by the command flag, feeling the residual aura or spiritual energy on the scene, and then it can display the situation at that time. Every spell has its own reason, if you can understand this reason, it will be much easier to learn. I have been thinking about this question all along. For example, the Five Thunder Righteous Law, how did the heavenly thunder come from? In fact, it's not really drinking the heavenly thunder, but gathering the purest Yang energy and then rubbing against the powerful pure Yang energy between heaven and earth. When the two forces reach their limits, they will explode and form the power of thunder. Of course, this is just my guess.

  No more idle chatter, the water surface has slowly calmed down, and I don't dare to be distracted, after all, any magic needs spiritual consciousness to maintain. Looking towards the water surface, I see a piece of darkness in it, vaguely visible as the shape of this kitchen. It's likely that at two or three o'clock, there was no one around. However, after a moment, I notice another black fog surging up. If not for my Heaven Eye being open, I wouldn't have noticed all this. And then, a burst of ghost fire pops out from the black fog, and immediately the scene becomes somewhat brighter, allowing me to barely make out what's going on inside the kitchen.