At this moment, Huai An’s spirit body completely dissipated, and the Soul-Chasing Disc returned to Chiyu’s hand.

“Senior Brother?” Li Xin asked, tense and fearful.

Chiyu carefully examined the faint image on the Soul-Chasing Disc and let out a breath of relief. “It’s fine.”

Upon hearing that, Li Xin immediately stepped forward. “Let me see.”

Chang Wu and Chang You also leaned over. They saw two faint, broken, and extremely weak shadows floating on the Soul-Chasing Disc.

Chiyu pointed at one of them and said to Li Xin, “This one should be my remnant soul.”

“Then the other is the tree spirit?” Chang You asked.

“Yes.” Chiyu thought for a moment. “It was a spirit body nurtured by the spiritual energy from my remnant soul, so it naturally carries my aura. That’s why the Soul-Chasing Disc collected it too.”

“What does Senior Brother plan to do with it?” Li Xin asked.

“Take it back to the Underworld and deal with it as appropriate,” Chiyu said as he collected Huai An’s remnant soul into a Soul-Binding Pouch.

Looking at the remaining wisp of remnant soul, Chang You asked Chiyu, “Master, this remnant soul is so fragile—what should we do?”

“The Underworld Emperor taught me a spell. The Soul-Chasing Disc can help me repair the remnant soul, but it will take some effort,” Chiyu said, then turned to Li Xin. “Buyu, protect me.”

Li Xin answered and exchanged a look with Chang Wu and Chang You. The three of them formed a protective barrier around Chiyu.

Chiyu activated the Soul-Chasing Disc. After more than two hours, he had roughly restored the remnant soul’s form.

Chiyu asked it, “Are you feeling better?”

The remnant soul made a faint sound of acknowledgment.

“When did you fall onto that tree?” Chiyu asked.

After a long pause, the remnant soul finally said, “I don’t remember.”

Chiyu sighed inwardly: Forget it. Given how broken it is, it’s normal not to remember.

He asked again, “Are you a soul or a spirit?”

“Spirit.”

“Name?”

“Chu Hui (Purge Filth).”

Chiyu nodded. “Would you be willing to merge with me?”

“I couldn’t wish for anything more.”

Chiyu nodded with relief. This remnant soul still had some consciousness left; the fusion should not be too difficult.

Another hour passed. The sky gradually darkened. Li Xin, waiting outside the barrier, saw that the remnant soul was now fully restored and hurriedly urged Chiyu, “Senior Brother, we can’t stay here long. Quickly fuse with Chu Hui, so we can return early.”

Chiyu responded, “Alright.”

He began casting the spell to merge the remnant soul.

At that moment, a figure flew toward them from the distance at astonishing speed—even Li Xin couldn’t see clearly.

The newcomer wore a ghost-faced mask and, holding a long sword, slashed down from mid-air, tearing open the barrier and rushing inside.

Chiyu had just finished the final chant to activate the Soul-Chasing Disc and start the fusion when the figure kicked him aside—and the remnant soul merged into the intruder’s body.

By the time Chiyu reacted, it was already too late.

Li Xin stood frozen, staring wide-eyed at the two figures inside the broken barrier.

The man was holding none other than Chiyu’s old sword, the Honghu Sword. Both his body shape and movements were identical to Chiyu’s when he was alive.

“Master!” Chang Wu rushed over to help Chiyu up.

Chang You immediately moved to capture the intruder, but he was no match and was quickly sent flying.

Even Chang Wu and Chang You were dumbfounded—the intruder used exactly the same techniques as Chiyu.

Li Xin came back to his senses. “Who are you?”

The man didn’t answer. With a leap, he tried to escape.

Li Xin moved to block him, but the man swept his sword across, forcing Li Xin back. Chiyu also noticed something strange and threw the Soul-Chasing Disc at him, but the man easily dodged it.

Chiyu then flung out the Soul-Binding Chain, but it was blocked by the man’s long sword.

“Who the hell are you?” Chiyu suddenly felt a familiar sensation. “You’re the one who fought me over the female ghost that day!”

The man remained silent, leapt again, and swiftly disappeared into the forest.

Chang Wu and Chang You were about to chase after him but were stopped by Chiyu.

“Don’t bother. You won’t catch him.”

“But—” Chang Wu was unwilling. “Master, he stole your remnant soul!”

Chiyu stared solemnly at the forest. “That’s not the most terrifying part.”

“What?”

Chang Wu and Chang You exchanged confused glances, not understanding Chiyu’s meaning.

Li Xin, however, understood. He had also noticed how strange the man was.

“Let’s go back. We can’t stay here,” Li Xin said. He cast a spell to take Chang Wu, Chang You, and Chiyu back to his villa on the mountaintop.

This trip had been arduous, and now even the recovered remnant soul was stolen. Everyone’s faces were dark with frustration.

Chiyu stood absent-mindedly in front of the window. He already had some guesses, but there were still things he couldn’t figure out.

Li Xin sent Chang Wu and Chang You to rest first and stayed behind to accompany Chiyu.

He walked to stand behind Chiyu. Since Chiyu was in his spirit form and wearing the Underworld’s official uniform, only Li Xin’s tall figure was reflected in the floor-to-ceiling window.

Through the glass, Chiyu saw Li Xin behind him. He smiled faintly. “Why aren’t you resting?”

Li Xin asked back, “Why aren’t you?”

“I’m a spirit. I don’t need rest,” Chiyu said blandly.

“Then I’ll stay with you,” Li Xin said as he hugged Chiyu from behind and whispered into his ear, “Are you still thinking about that person from today?”

Chiyu hummed softly. “I think he…”

He paused, not knowing how to put it. That man’s aura was too familiar—and he even held the Honghu Sword he used when he was alive.

Although the answer was obvious, Chiyu couldn’t quite accept it.

“He is you,” Li Xin continued for him, speaking out what he couldn’t say.

Chiyu froze. “You noticed too?”

Li Xin nodded. “He can wield the Honghu Sword, he knows your techniques, and even his movements are almost identical to yours. It’s hard not to notice.”

Chiyu let out a long breath. “That day, the one fighting us over the female ghost was also him. He and I were once one—so why did he steal from me? And I can feel he’s not a spirit body… Could it be that my physical body from back then is still intact?”

“Impossible,” Li Xin said, unwilling to recall the events of that time. He took a deep breath and said, “Back then, after I was awakened by the Earth Soul, I rushed to the altar—”

He paused for a moment before continuing, “When I saw them cleaning up the bloodstains, I cast an illusion spell and blended in with the people sweeping the floor. I overheard them say that at the time… you drew a spell with blood, sacrificed your body, and were crushed to powder within the formation.”

Chi Yu had always imagined the scene back then must have been tragic, but he hadn’t expected it to be this tragic.

“That person’s aura is neither that of a living human nor that of a soul. There’s only one possibility,” Li Xin continued with his deduction. “He’s a puppet—a puppet carrying your soul.”

“A puppet?” Chi Yu suddenly understood.

“By injecting a soul into a puppet, it can have thoughts and consciousness like an ordinary person, and it can even inherit all the person’s martial arts and habits from before death,” Li Xin explained.

Chi Yu thought for a moment. “I seem to remember… this was a technique my master invented, right?”

Li Xin gave a small grunt of affirmation. “So I guess that when you died, your master saved your soul and placed it into a puppet.”

“Then why didn’t he recognize me?” Chi Yu asked in confusion.

“Maybe he, like you, lost his memories from before,” Li Xin said, but then he felt something wasn’t right.

Chi Yu sensed it too. “If Master was the one who acted, he definitely wouldn’t have let my soul lose its memories. Besides, the fragments of my soul only lost their memories because they wandered for many years, not because they were blank from the start.”

“You’re right, Senior Brother.” Li Xin nodded. “And if Master had saved you, he would have told me. Why would no one know about it…?”

Li Xin trailed off.

Seeing him hesitate, Chi Yu quickly pressed him, “Buyi, if you have something to say, just say it. You don’t have to be so cautious.”

Li Xin was still inclined to swallow back his words. He didn’t want Chi Yu to know what had happened to their sect and Master back then.

“It’s nothing,” Li Xin said, hugging Chi Yu a little tighter. “I just feel that someone must be orchestrating all of this behind the scenes.”

Chi Yu responded with a soft “mm,” “I think so too. And whoever it is… they must be someone well-versed in magic.”

“How did you figure that out, Senior Brother?”

“That female ghost mentioned it that day,” Chi Yu analyzed. “She said the man went to meet someone. From the way he behaved, that person seemed to be his superior. I guess the person behind all this definitely has hidden motives, and that puppet is just a tool for him.”

Li Xin frowned slightly. “He wants to collect these soul fragments too… Is it for cultivation, or something else?”

“I don’t know,” Chi Yu shook his head. “But I feel like his ultimate target is me. Just collecting a few soul fragments wouldn’t achieve whatever he’s after.”

“Has anyone tried to find you in the underworld before?” Li Xin asked.

“No,” Chi Yu recalled, “I was in the underworld for many years, and no one ever came looking. They probably didn’t know my main soul was there—or maybe they didn’t dare to snatch a soul directly from the underworld.”

“Then what are you planning to do next?” Li Xin asked.

“I haven’t decided yet.” Chi Yu gently pushed aside Li Xin’s arm. “Buyi, you should go upstairs and rest first. I need to take this tree spirit’s remnant soul back to the underworld for trial.”

“Alright. Senior Brother, go quickly and come back soon.” Li Xin obediently agreed and headed upstairs.

He had been exhausted these past few days too, but had forced himself to stay up because he couldn’t bear to leave Chi Yu alone to worry.
Now that they had some leads, he felt more at ease. Since Chi Yu needed to run an errand in the underworld, he decided to wait for his return.

Chi Yu watched Li Xin go upstairs before carrying Huai An’s remnant soul back to the underworld.

Since Huai An had harmed human lives, he was sentenced to punishment in the eighteenth layer of hell and could only reincarnate after serving his time.

The one assigned to escort Huai An was the green-faced ghost officer. Although he looked frightening, he was kind-hearted and couldn’t bear Huai An’s pleas. So he came to find Chi Yu.

At that moment, Chi Yu was just about to return to the mortal world. Seeing the ghost officer arrive, he paused.

“What is it?” Chi Yu asked.

The green-faced ghost officer smiled and said, “It’s about that tree spirit you brought in. He’s begging me to ask you to meet him one more time.”

Chi Yu chuckled. “Feeling soft-hearted again?”

The green-faced ghost officer laughed awkwardly, “You know me. I can’t stand this kind of thing.”

“No wonder you’ve never gotten promoted,” Chi Yu gave him a helpless glance. “As ghost officers, we’re supposed to follow the rules. There’s no room for personal favors.”

“He’s missing parts of his soul,” the ghost officer said sheepishly. “I’m just thinking… he might not even make it halfway through the eighteenth layer before his soul scatters. I thought maybe we could let him fulfill this one last wish.”

Chi Yu sighed. “Fine. Take me to him.”

Saying that, he followed the green-faced ghost officer to the prison.

When Huai An saw Chi Yu again, all his former arrogance was gone. He respectfully knelt and bowed deeply.

Seeing him so obedient, Chi Yu guessed he had something to ask. “Speak. Why did you call me here?”

Huai An raised his head and pleaded, “I know I’m guilty and don’t dare to ask for forgiveness. But before I face my punishment, I wish to see Xiaoxing one last time. Please, sir, grant me this.”

Chi Yu looked at the green-faced ghost officer. “About ten years ago, was there a little yellow fox spirit who came to the underworld?”

“I’ll have to check.” The ghost officer said while opening a scroll in his hand.

Seeing this, Huai An realized Chi Yu had agreed, and he quickly added, “Sir, could I offer my own soul in exchange for Xiaoxing’s rebirth?”

Chi Yu’s face darkened. “What do you take this place for? You think you can bargain however you want?”

“I didn’t mean it like that.” Huai An immediately knocked his head against the floor. “Please understand, sir. Xiaoxing was wrongfully killed. I beg you to show mercy. I’m willing to have my soul destroyed in exchange for his life.”

Chi Yu lowered his eyes, his face expressionless. “He died unjustly, and you already killed the ones who harmed him. Their sins and merits will be judged by the King of Hell. Everyone has their own fate, and it’s not something you can interfere with. Me helping you see him is already bending the rules. Don’t ask for more.”

Huai An choked up, realizing he was asking too much. But knowing he had no way out of the eighteenth layer of hell, he had to try—no matter how slim the hope.

“I found it,” the green-faced ghost officer said, handing the scroll to Chi Yu. “This little demon didn’t do any evil, served in the underworld for three years, and then reincarnated.”

“Where did he reincarnate?” Huai An asked urgently.

The ghost officer glanced at the scroll. “He went to the human realm, reborn in a small county town. He should be almost seven years old this year.”

“Can I see him?” Huai An looked pleadingly at both Chi Yu and the ghost officer.

The ghost officer hesitated and looked at Chi Yu. “Can we allow it?”

Chi Yu let out a soft sigh. “It’s up to you.”

With that, he turned and left the prison without looking back.

As soon as he stepped outside the prison gates, he unexpectedly ran into a familiar figure.

Chi Yu was a little surprised. “Why are you here?”