Chapter 26

Neither Mo Lin nor Lan Zhu expected Liuyu to leave the city in the middle of the night for the sake of this little girl.

“…Can’t you wait until dawn to go?”

The demon ghost master, leaning against the cart, had a gloomy expression, his furrowed brows clearly showing his dissatisfaction.

“That won’t do.”

Liuyu pondered, lightly pinching her chin:

“When we left Taiping City, we changed our carriage and disguised our appearances. With our levels, we should have sensed if anyone was following us… but this little girl caught up with us in just one day and night, reaching the Ghost Path Academy outside Yedu.”

Had she caught up because of her brother, that three-surnamed servant?

If Yue Niang had already spread the news that “the person claiming to be Ji Mo Gui returned to the northern Demon Ghost Great Wall,” it would greatly affect Liuyu’s plans moving forward.

As for this little girl named Yue Niang, she was likely just…

“Do you want to kill her?” Mo Lin asked.

Lan Zhu, who was outside the ghost cart, overheard and clicked his tongue:

“That little girl looks about ten years old, even shorter than that ghost girl by half a head…”

“Shut your mouth.”

Mo Lin’s tone turned colder than usual, as he remembered when Lan Zhu appeared tonight.

His gaze swept over to Liuyu:

“If you can’t do it, I will.”

Liuyu’s fingers trembled slightly.

She was reminded of something from her past life during her flight.

Back then, she was in the Western Territories, having just escaped an encirclement by several noble families from the region. Her qi was depleted, and even her disguise couldn’t be maintained. She was spotted by a family of tenants while passing by.

The elderly and the young of that family clearly saw her, drenched in blood.

They knelt before her, begging for their lives.

Liuyu tightly gripped the stone sword in her hand, staring at the old man’s bony spine and the innocent face of the child.

She knew she shouldn’t show mercy.

But in the end, she spared them.

Half a day later, the noble families pursuing her, having been informed by that family, found her hiding in a cave. Liuyu had to pay the price of injuring her left hand to escape with her life.

Filled with anger, Liuyu didn’t care about recovering. She immediately sought out that tenant family to take revenge.

But when she reached their doorstep and peered through a small window, she saw the family carefully dividing a small bag of rice.

The candlelight flickered, casting shadows on their wheat-colored faces. Their yearning for life was more intense than the flickering flames.

Liuyu lowered her eyelids, concealing the small spark of pity in her heart.

“Don’t underestimate people. I know when to act. When the time comes, I won’t hesitate.”

Mo Lin didn’t speak but simply watched her with lowered eyes, unable to help but find it amusing.

She should really look in the mirror.

See how she looked when saying such things—like a Bodhisattva with eyes lowered, a fairy lamenting the world.

---

At the time of Hai (around 9 PM).

The Ghost Path Academy’s detention room.

The sixteen Ghost Path Academies of the Nine Underworlds were located outside the cities, specifically to defend against the plague ghosts that hid in the steep mountains. Therefore, even late at night, the academy had a patrol team of night ghosts guarding it.

Usually, things were calm, with only a few plague ghosts captured here and there. But today, they had caught a soft and delicate little girl.

The demon ghosts on guard, feeling bored, gathered outside the detention room, curious to see what the ten-year-old girl who had ventured into the Demon Ghost City looked like.

Fang Fuchang, holding a slender blackwood smoking pipe, didn’t light it but just idly played with it in his hand.

He glanced at the demon ghosts peeking through the bars—some of them, without any decorum, didn’t retract their claws and tusks, leaning right next to the bars. Even without looking up, you could see many fox tails casting shadows on the ground.

Sitting in the center of the detention room, Yue Niang hugged her little bundle tightly.

The shadows swayed like water weeds in the candlelight, and Yue Niang was eager to know what they were. But she was too frightened to raise her head and look carefully.

—The demon ghost who had pressed her into the detention room earlier had six eyes. When their gazes met, Yue Niang felt all the hairs on her body stand up.

So terrifying.

So hungry.

She was so sleepy.

The uncle in front of her, who also seemed listless, knocked on the table.

“Quite calm, to be dozing off at a time like this.”

As soon as Fang Fuchang saw this child, he was reminded of that night in Taiping City when her older brother had seemed indifferent to the fate of their family.

It was really unfortunate to have such a cold-blooded and heartless brother.

He said:

“If you really want to sleep, you should tell me your purpose for coming here clearly. Then, you might have a chance to go home and sleep—this is the Nine Underworlds, the land of demon ghosts. If you keep hiding the truth, you see those strange-looking demon ghosts outside? They’ll eat someone like you in a heartbeat.”

The demon ghosts outside the detention room were not pleased.

“Stop tarnishing our reputation. We don’t eat children!”

“Hey, wait a minute. You’re here for an interrogation too, aren’t you? Why are you interrogating others now? This is turning the tables!”

Fang Fuchang ignored them.

It wasn’t until he came to the Nine Underworlds that he realized the girl he had seen in Taiping City wasn’t just some lover of the Nine Underworlds’ leader, but the true body of Yinshan Liuyu.

Fang Fuchang, already tired of the intrigue within the great noble families, had hoped to work in an environment with simpler relationships. Even if it meant collaborating with demon ghosts, he didn’t mind. Less trouble, higher pay.

But as soon as he entered the Nine Underworlds, he was questioned by a pair of twins who were supposedly Liuyu’s guards.

The noble families had many rules for selecting their staff. First, they had to check if anyone in his family was controlled by the Jiufang family. Then, they had to confirm whether he had any old grudges with the Yinshan family. Finally, they asked about his previous position in the Jiufang family and what responsibilities he had handled.

These matters can’t be cleared up in just a day or two, so Fang Fucang must temporarily stay in the detention room of the Ghost Path Academy until the investigation is finished before taking up his post.

…It’s like stepping out of a wolf’s den, only to enter a tiger’s cave.

“I’m telling the truth!”

The little girl curled up into a ball, revealing half of her face from beneath her knees.

“I want to go to the Immortal Dao Academy!”

Fang Fucang: “…This is the Nine Hells.”

“I know—that’s why I need to come here! I need to go to the Immortal Dao Academy to study, so I have to come here!”

“…Looks like you’re not just directionally challenged, you’re also deaf.”

Yue Niang didn’t want to bother with him anymore.

She just wanted to see the older sister she met during the Lantern Festival.

This was her only chance to enter the Immortal Dao Academy.

Just as she was thinking, the demon ghosts outside the detention room scattered, and the sound of footsteps grew steadily clearer.

It sounded like the footsteps of a woman.

Yue Niang’s eyes immediately brightened, and she pressed her face against the cold bars, her chubby cheeks slightly squished by the metal.

When Liuyu arrived, this was the image she saw of Yue Niang, full of eager anticipation.

“The Immortal Dao Academy is in Da Chao, south of the Great Wall, little girl, you’ve come to the wrong place.”

At this moment, Liuyu had revealed her true face, but Yue Niang seemed to immediately recognize her as the woman she had met during the Lantern Festival.

She urgently said:

“I didn’t come to the wrong place! The Immortal Dao Academy is in Da Chao, to the south, but the one built by the aristocratic families is only for their own nephews and nieces, I can’t enter. I heard you say that if I do something for you, you can help me enter the Immortal Dao Academy. I’m not just fooling around, I really came here on my own, and I can help you with your work…”

Liuyu looked down at this little girl, eager to prove herself, and found her somewhat cute and a bit amusing.

“Do you know where this place is?”

Yue Niang, who had been speaking non-stop, stopped and shook her head.

“Do you know who I am?”

Yue Niang looked carefully at the person before her.

Because she had hurried here, Liuyu had only tied her hair up simply with a white jade hairpin, but this plain attire made her already strikingly beautiful features even more eye-catching.

She’s really pretty.

Like a beauty painted on a silk screen.

…No, she really had seen her on a beauty painting.

“I think I’ve seen you before.”

Yue Niang blinked and said innocently:

“My brother has a painting scroll in his room that no one is allowed to touch, and the beautiful woman in it looks just like you.”

The green-clad demon ghost, who had been leaning against the wall with arms crossed, had eyes that were initially dull.

After hearing this, he adjusted his posture slightly and stood up straighter.

A secret painting of Liuyu hidden in the room?

“What’s your brother’s name?”

Yue Niang’s eyes moved, glancing at the tall, slender green-clad youth standing under the flickering candlelight.

Her intuition told her that by speaking this name, her brother would be in serious trouble.

But—

“His name is Yan Wushu.”

Yue Niang simply and clearly replied.

Mo Lin nodded.

It’s that person again. He remembered.

Fang Fucang wasn’t a fool. If his wife had secretly kept a painting of a strange man, no man would be happy about it, especially not a demon known for his cruelty.

Yet, he merely nodded lightly in response.

It was like the calm before a storm.

Liuyu didn’t have time to care about the painting, and just said to Yue Niang:

“This is the Ghost Path Academy of the Nine Hells, and I am the Empress of the Nine Hells, the eldest daughter of the Yin Mountain clan. According to the rules, I cannot leave the Nine Hells freely. I snuck out during the Lantern Festival. But you followed us all the way here—do you think you can leave the Nine Hells and go to the Immortal Dao Academy?”

Yue Niang was completely stunned, her dark, grape-like eyes wide open, staring at Liuyu in shock.

Liuyu, squatting outside the bars with her chin resting on her hand, smiled as she asked:

“What are you thinking?”

“I’m… thinking of my last words.”

The little girl looked pitiful, saying it in a dumbfounded tone.

Now, Liuyu couldn’t help but laugh.

“Your last words can wait for later,” Liuyu cut to the chase, “How did you follow us? We took a detour, changed vehicles, and there were trackers within ten miles, we would have noticed if anyone followed.”

Perhaps thinking she wouldn’t survive, tears welled up in the little girl’s eyes.

But she honestly took out a magical artifact from her bag.

“…It’s a Qi Ling Butterfly.”

The bronze butterfly-shaped artifact awkwardly flew under the control of the Qi, the palm-sized bronze butterfly, heavy as it landed in Liuyu’s hand, continuously tapping her palm.

Liuyu had a guess and formed a ball of Qi between her fingers.

As expected, the Qi Ling Butterfly immediately swallowed the Qi and its wing-flapping strength greatly increased.

…I see, this Qi Ling Butterfly works by absorbing life Qi to move, so even though they had isolated their own Qi, it was still traceable.

Because this tracking artifact tracks by absorbing the target’s Qi.

Liuyu and the onlooking Fang Fucang were both slightly surprised.

“You can make magical artifacts?”

Yue Niang paused, shaking her head vigorously.

“I didn’t make it. I just modified it.”

She wiped her face, which was stained with tears and snot, and seriously began to explain.

The raw materials for the Qi Ling Butterfly were small items that could be bought in any magical artifact shop.

Not only made of bronze, but also jade, emerald, dark iron, and gold-silver.

Beginners who have just opened their Qi Sea use these materials to practice controlling Qi through intricate mechanisms. These mechanisms can absorb and expel life Qi, but they need to be detailed enough to control every joint of the mechanism with Qi before the artifact can move.

In the end, Yue Niang concluded:

“The mechanism was ready-made. I dismantled it several times but never fully understood its structure, so I modified it. I changed the ‘passively receiving life Qi’ to ‘actively devouring life Qi,’ and that turned it into a tracking artifact…”

Liuyu was silent for a moment.

As someone who had never attended an immortal academy, it was naturally impossible for her to understand the intricate structure of magical tools in just a few attempts.

But despite being an outsider, she had modified a magical artifact capable of tracking Seventh Realm cultivators.

Liuyu looked at Fang Fuzang:
“What do you think?”

Fang Fuzang hadn’t expected this seemingly naive girl to have such skills. He said, after a calm assessment:
“This modification must be complicated. Otherwise, if it were simple, wouldn’t the top artisans from the Qi Refining Department have already made it?”

In Great Zhao, only the Qi Refining Department in the capital, under the management of the Minister of the Xiaofu, was allowed to create magical artifacts. Any other artifacts produced by civilians were considered illegal and subject to punishment.

— Of course, this was the law in name only. In reality, the aristocratic families were not bound by such laws.

Major families like the Yinshan Clan employed artisans who were just as skilled as those in the capital, while smaller families often had artisans who were not as skilled.

The most powerful artifact artisans in the world were concentrated in the capital.

However, these artisans did not serve the Zhao court.

They were loyal to the current Minister of the Xiaofu, Zhongli Kun, head of the Zhongli family, a Ninth Realm cultivator.

Zhongli family…

Familiar faces seemed to pass before Liuyu’s eyes.

Liuyu said, “So she has talent.”

Fang Fuzang replied, “She certainly has talent… But with her situation, you’re probably already considering how to use her, right?”

After all, this girl came from a family with a deep heritage. What if, after taking her in, she ended up producing another Yan Wushu?

“Why should I think about it?” Liuyu smiled slightly, eyes narrowing as she addressed him.
“You’re now a subject of the Yinshan Clan, so my money can’t be spent for nothing. It should be you thinking about it.”

“…”

That made sense. Fang Fuzang couldn’t argue with that.

Yue Niang, unaware that her brother’s background had already been logged, seemed to feel a sense of value upon hearing Liuyu’s tone. She quickly began to promote herself enthusiastically.

“My brother is a student of the Lingyong Academy, so I must have inherited some of his talent!”

Fang Fuzang looked up just in time to meet Yue Niang’s round face, full of a smile that seemed to be trying to please.

“…You better pray you didn’t inherit too much from your brother.”

Yue Niang looked confused.

“The Immortal Academy can’t teach you anything. If you want to learn real skills, you’ll have to go to Lingyong Academy, just like your brother. You’ll have to compete with the students of the Yinshan Clan for a spot. If you beat them, you’ll get their recommendation, but—”

Liuyu glanced at her bulging bag.
“What will your family say about this?”

“Don’t worry, Miss!”

Yue Niang quickly explained, fearing Liuyu had concerns.
“I already left a letter at home, saying I was going to make my way to the Immortal Capital, and no one knows I’m here!”

“And your father…”

“My father doesn’t matter!” Yue Niang’s youthful voice became firm.
“He will definitely ask my brother to find me, but my brother is too busy to care about me. I’ll just send letters home every now and then to reassure them, so they won’t think I’m dead. The rest doesn’t matter!”

Liuyu didn’t expect this young girl to be so thoughtful. It sounded less like an impulsive decision to follow the Yinshan Clan and more like a planned runaway.

“Last question—”

Liuyu blinked.
“Can you really forge family records?”

When Yue Niang heard this question, she knew that Liuyu was finally trusting her to help with something.

It meant her dream of studying had hope.

“Of course! I help my father when he’s too busy.”

Yue Niang smiled widely, eager to share all she knew with Liuyu.

“I can also forge fake household registers. The Lord of Taiping City often asks us to create fake ones to arrange for people to enter the Yinshan Clan’s Immortal Academy!”

Liuyu smiled:
“So your brother entered the Yinshan Clan’s Immortal Academy?”

“Yes, with a fake household register!”

Fang Fuzang, listening to Yue Niang’s cheerful tone, couldn’t help but rub his forehead.

She claimed to be tight-lipped, but she was practically spilling all their secrets.

Liuyu wiped the smile off her face and looked at Fang Fuzang.
“With her situation, you can see that she needs someone to keep an eye on her. It’s you.”

Fang Fuzang pointed at himself in confusion.
“Me?”

No, why him?

Where had he shown any signs that he could control this big sieve of a girl?

“In six months, I want her to reach a level where she can enter Lingyong Academy. Artifact masters don’t have such high requirements for cultivation. The youngest is twelve when they enter Lingyong, and with her talent, she should be fine in a year.”

Fang Fuzang was half-amused and half-angry.
“A year?”

Liuyu remained calm:
“If you can get her into Lingyong in a year, I’ll give you ten thousand gold. Can you do it? If you can’t, I can find someone else.”

“…What I mean is, a year is a bit long.”

Fang Fuzang, stunned by the offer of ten thousand gold, said softly and without complaint:
“I’ll do my best. She’ll reach the level needed for Lingyong within a year.”

Yue Niang’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Fang Fuzang.
“I’ll work hard, Master.”

… First, she needed to work on keeping her big mouth shut, or she might get kicked out of the Nine Netherworld.

It was late into the night, and returning to the Extreme Night Palace would be too late.

Liuyu thought for a moment and asked Mo Lin:
“Are there any empty rooms in the Ghost Dao Academy?”

“Yes,” Mo Lin raised his eyebrows, slightly surprised. “But the conditions aren’t as good as in the palace. You—”

“It’s fine.”

Liuyu yawned lightly.
“I’m too tired. It’ll take another hour to get back, and I don’t want to fly myself. I’ll just sleep here for now. I haven’t had the chance to explore the Ghost Dao Academy properly. I’ll take care of this tomorrow morning.”

Liuyu and Mo Li exchanged a glance.

That little girl they met during the Lantern Festival, Yue Niang?

Wait a minute.

From the Ghost Wall to Yedu, there were numerous checkpoints along the way… How did a little child manage to reach this place in just one day?