Several people worked together to subdue the head of the Huang family…

The head of the Huang family froze for a moment. His face, full of wrinkles, showed no expression, but his eyes trembled slightly. “No,” he replied.

Red Jade did not sense anything unusual, but Li Xin’s sharp eyes immediately noticed that the head of the Huang family had not told the truth.

Red Jade asked, “Really?”

“Really,” the head of the Huang family said with a smile, “How could I lie in front of the Heavenly Master?”

“But my Soul-tracking Plate clearly detected its presence here,” Red Jade said, his face stern as he looked at the head of the Huang family. “It must be in the mountain. If even you, the head of the Huang family, haven’t seen it, then it must have been hidden by some mountain spirit or wild creature. I would appreciate it if you could help us search for it.”

“No trouble at all,” the head of the Huang family said, still smiling warmly. “I’ll have my grandchildren go search right away.”

He lowered his head and looked at the small yellow weasels behind him. “Go, tell everyone to come out and search the mountain. Look for the soul with cultivation that the Heavenly Master mentioned.”

“Yes, Grandfather,” the small yellow weasels responded and scattered to all directions.

Red Jade looked at Li Xin, who nodded. “Thank you, Head of the Huang family.”

The head of the Huang family smiled. “No trouble at all. My grandchildren may not be good at much, but they are all excellent at finding things. Just wait a moment, Heavenly Master.”

“Alright.”

The head of the Huang family, using the moonlight, glanced at Red Jade. Upon closer inspection, he realized that Red Jade was wearing the uniform of the underworld under his cloak.

He wondered, how did a Heavenly Master and a ghost messenger end up together?

Normally, Heavenly Masters worked with the living, and there would be friction with the ghost messengers. Even if there wasn’t any, the two sides rarely interacted. They basically kept to their own business.

Yet these two seemed to have a good relationship. In fact, this Heavenly Master seemed to care about the ghost messenger’s opinion, which was quite odd.

After pondering for a moment, he cautiously asked, “Is this gentleman here on official business?”

Red Jade replied, “Sort of.”

The head of the Huang family looked at him again, and after thinking for a while, he asked, “Did the soul you are looking for commit any crimes?”

Red Jade did not answer and instead gave him a serious look. “This is a matter of the underworld. It’s better if you don’t ask too much, Head of the Huang family.”

Feeling the weight of Red Jade’s words, the head of the Huang family, though unhappy in his heart, did not dare to ask further. He forced a smile and apologized, “I’m getting old and a bit confused. Please, don’t mind me, sir.”

Red Jade nodded, “It’s fine.”

The head of the Huang family forced a couple more smiles before turning to Li Xin. “It must have been a tiring journey for the Heavenly Master. I’ll have my grandchildren prepare some wine and fruits for you. Would that be acceptable?”

“No need,” Li Xin declined. “We came here to look for something, so there’s no need to trouble your grandchildren.”

Another cold rejection. The head of the Huang family felt a gnawing resentment in his heart. If it weren’t for these people’s immense power, and because his own grandchildren were not impressive enough, he wouldn’t have been willing to put on such a fake smile.

After about an hour, the head of the Huang family’s grandchildren still hadn’t returned with any news. Li Xin gave a meaningful glance to Chang Wu and Chang You.

Chang Wu and Chang You immediately understood and leaped into the mountain.

Seeing this, the head of the Huang family hurriedly said, “Heavenly Master, please don’t worry. The mountain is large, so it will take some time. There’s no need to trouble your spiritual beasts.”

“It’s fine. They have nothing to do anyway. Let them help, maybe it’ll speed things up,” Li Xin replied with a light smile.

The head of the Huang family forced a smile, “Well, well.”

Another half an hour passed, and suddenly, sounds of fighting came from the mountain. Everyone turned to look toward the mountain, where several different spiritual forces collided in the dark, clearly visible.

“What’s going on?” Li Xin glared at the head of the Huang family.

The head of the Huang family looked innocent. “I… I don’t know!”

Li Xin immediately recognized the presence of Chang Wu and Chang You’s spiritual power and furrowed his brows. “Are the Huang family trying to play tricks on me?”

“I’m innocent!” The head of the Huang family quickly explained, “My grandchildren wouldn’t have the guts to do something like that. There must be some misunderstanding. Please don’t wrong us, Heavenly Master!”

Red Jade stepped forward. “Stop talking, let’s go take a look.”

With that, he stepped into the mountain first.

Li Xin followed closely behind, and the head of the Huang family trailed after them.

When they arrived, they saw the small yellow weasels lying scattered on the ground and hanging limply from the trees.

Chang Wu and Chang You stood back-to-back in the middle of the forest, towering antlers like tree branches growing from their heads. Their faces now resembled that of a deer. Their eyes were blood-red, glowing with a fierce, murderous intent, and they were surrounded by spiritual currents that had not yet dissipated.

Red Jade was stunned and hurriedly asked Li Xin, “What happened to them?”

“They’re using all of their power,” Li Xin said in a deep voice.

Red Jade was worried. “Will they be alright?”

“Won’t happen. These two little brats are quite capable, but…” Li Xin paused, his gaze turning vicious as he glared at Huang Dangjia. “Your grandsons really have some skills, forcing them to reveal their true forms and fight you. It seems like you don’t want to leave me any face, do you?”

Seeing his grandchildren lying half-dead on the ground, Huang Dangjia’s suppressed rage surged up in an instant. “I haven’t asked you yet! What’s your intention behind repeatedly bullying my Huang family?”

Li Xin snorted coldly, “Huang Dangjia, are you going to flip the table?”

“And what if I do?” Huang Dangjia slammed his cane heavily onto the ground. “This is my Huang family’s territory. You bully my grandsons, and I’ve been patient, not arguing with you, thinking I could turn conflict into peace. But now you’ve gone too far, come to my home and bullied us. Do you think my Huang family is afraid of you?”

As he spoke, a green light flashed in Huang Dangjia’s eyes, and his cane subtly shifted, signaling that he was ready to attack.

“I bullied you?” Li Xin smiled wickedly. “I think I’ve been giving you face, but you’re refusing it?”

With that, a flame of spiritual power ignited in Li Xin’s hand, and the two stood facing off, neither backing down.

Chang Wu and Chang You, seeing Li Xin and Chi Yu approach, immediately ran over and surrounded Huang Dangjia. “You’d better be honest, or else we’ll have Master Li wipe out your entire family.”

“Big words,” Huang Dangjia couldn’t hold back any longer and made the first move.

He swung his cane horizontally toward Li Xin. Li Xin sent his flame out, aiming directly at Huang Dangjia’s face. Both of them dodged each other’s first strike.

Huang Dangjia quickly countered with another blow. Li Xin swept his leg out, sending Huang Dangjia’s cane flying. But what he didn’t expect was that the cane immediately turned into a venomous snake, twisting toward Li Xin.

Li Xin ignited another flame and shot it at the snake.

Boom—

A loud explosion rang out as the snake exploded into several poisonous barbs, shooting in all directions.

“Watch out!” Chi Yu leaped forward, shielding Li Xin, quickly tossing the Soul-Seeking Disk into the air. It expanded dozens of times, blocking the poison spikes flying toward them.

“Can it be used like that?” Li Xin marveled.

Chi Yu remained in front of Li Xin, just like a thousand years ago, firmly protecting his younger disciple.

“It’s the tool of the King of Hell; naturally, it can’t be underestimated,” Chi Yu said as he put the Soul-Seeking Disk away, looking at where Chang Wu and Chang You had been standing. He scanned the surroundings but saw no sign of them.

“Chang Wu, Chang You, where are you?” Chi Yu called anxiously.

“We’re here,” came Chang Wu’s voice from the dense forest not far off. “Master, this old guy is here too.”

Then came the sounds of fighting, along with the cries of deer and rats, signaling chaos.

“Shixiong, let’s go take a look.” Li Xin grabbed Chi Yu’s hand and jumped into the fray.

By the time they arrived, Huang Dangjia had revealed his true form: a massive yellow weasel, baring his fangs, letting out a howl that made the entire mountain tremble.

“So big!” Chi Yu exclaimed in surprise.

“Attack his neck,” Li Xin commanded. Chang Wu and Chang You immediately responded, jumping up into the air.

Huang Dangjia, having lived for centuries and possessing substantial cultivation, didn’t take Chang Wu and Chang You seriously. He straightened up, growing even larger, sweeping both of his claws, knocking Chang Wu and Chang You away.

After landing, Chang Wu and Chang You’s murderous intent grew stronger. They knelt on the ground and fully revealed their true forms.

Two muscular roe deer raised their hooves and let out sharp cries, instantly growing several times in size, charging toward Huang Dangjia.

Huang Dangjia grabbed a deer antler with each hand, locking into combat. Their magical energy flowed violently, lighting up the entire valley.

Li Xin stepped forward, standing in front of Chi Yu. “Shixiong, step back a bit. Don’t get hurt.”

Chi Yu also moved forward, standing beside him. “I’m not as weak as you think. I can fight alongside you.”

“But this old guy’s magic power is no small matter…” Li Xin tried to caution him, but Chi Yu interrupted.

“Even if he’s strong, he’s just a mountain spirit. Not something to fear,” Chi Yu said confidently. “I’ve merged with my soul, and my magic power is different from before. I can protect myself, and I can still protect you just like I did before.”

“Shixiong, I’ve grown up. I don’t need you to protect me anymore. Now I can protect you.” Li Xin insisted on keeping Chi Yu behind him. “Shixiong, you don’t need to charge into battle anymore. Let me handle things like this.”

Before Chi Yu could respond, Li Xin dashed forward, his sword “Liefeng” appearing in his hand, aimed straight for Huang Dangjia’s heart.

Huang Dangjia immediately released the deer antlers, bringing his hands together to catch Liefeng.

Liefeng gleamed with red light as it clashed with Huang Dangjia’s magic power.

Chang Wu and Chang You once again rammed their antlers toward Huang Dangjia. Surrounded by the three of them, Huang Dangjia couldn’t keep up. He wrapped his tail around Chang Wu’s antlers, freeing one hand to grab Chang You’s, and when Li Xin saw his opportunity, he made a decisive leap and struck Huang Dangjia in the back of the neck.

Huang Dangjia was struck in his vital spot, immediately writhing in pain, howling, and stumbling back a few steps.

The three of them worked together, breaking Huang Dangjia’s illusions with just a few moves, causing him to shrink back to his original size.

Chang Wu and Chang You returned to their original size. Chang Wu lifted his leg, pressing his deer hoof firmly on Huang Dangjia’s chest.

“Old man, if you dare move again, I’ll crush your head,” Chang Wu warned.

The rage and frustration Huang Dangjia had been suppressing erupted all at once.

“You… you… you’re going too far!”

Li Xin withdrew Liefeng and snorted. “I didn’t want to bully you, but you didn’t tell the truth. You brought this upon yourself, don’t blame us.”

Chi Yu saw that they had subdued Huang Dangjia and immediately ran over. “Not bad, I didn’t expect your magic to have improved so much. You’ve even trained Chang Wu and Chang You so well. Looks like I don’t need to worry about you anymore.”

“Of course.” Li Xin gazed at Chi Yu, his eyes softening instantly.

Chi Yu glanced at the fallen Huang Dangjia, recalling Li Xin’s words. “How did you know he wasn’t telling the truth?”

“When he said he hadn’t seen that remnant soul, his eyes were evasive, so I suspected he was lying. Then, when his grandsons had been searching the mountain for so long without any report, I was even more certain he wasn’t helping us find it, but instead trying to hide it.” Li Xin looked back at Huang Dangjia. “Well? Huang Dangjia, was I right?”

“I didn’t lie… I was just having my grandsons help you find things, and you… you’re repaying kindness with harm, heartless…” Huang Dangjia panted heavily, still trying to argue.

“You know where the remnant soul is, don’t you?” Li Xin glared at him, his voice stern.