Staring at the two-story villa in front of him, Su Xun turned around with a face full of disbelief. “How much did you say?”
“Five hundred thousand,” Zhao Qiankun replied. “I even took out a two-hundred-thousand loan for it!”
“Buddy, it’s a villa! Five hundred thousand! Use your head—obviously something’s wrong!”
Zhao Qiankun stuck out his neck stubbornly. “The agent did say people had died here, but I thought, so what? Haven’t people died in every house? Don’t people die when they get old?”
Su Xun gave him a thumbs-up. “All right, all right. You win.”
He started toward the house. Zhao Qiankun hesitated, then asked, “I’ll wait outside, okay?”
Su Xun didn’t look back. He simply raised a hand and waved.
Watching Su Xun’s back, Zhao Qiankun looked deeply uneasy.
“Five people died here, and not all at the same time. This house...” Su Xun had barely stepped into the living room when he sucked in a cold breath. “This layout is so bad even a cockroach wouldn’t survive here!”
Over the past few years, whenever he had nothing else to do, he had studied the books left behind by his Master. They included information about the arrangement of buildings and residences. The layout of this house was a completely fatal configuration—evil energy gathered without dispersing. Even an immortal would have trouble saving it!
The entire house was terribly dark. An oddly placed decorative wall blocked the light from the balcony. Su Xun glanced at the sky, took out the odds and ends he carried with him, and began arranging them.
His Master had once told him that when dealing with earthbound spirits, he should try talking first. If talking failed, then he could fight. That way, he would still accumulate some hidden merit.
If this had happened in the past, he probably would have had to think twice. But over the past few years, without even realizing it, he had grown capable of standing on his own.
Once everything was set up, Su Xun sat cross-legged and quietly waited for nightfall.
He could clearly feel something watching him from the darkened rooms.
The sky gradually grew dim. The already gloomy house became even more oppressive. A gust of wind blew against the back of Su Xun’s head, but he didn’t move.
Soon, a faint, chattering sound arose beside his ear. It was a woman’s voice, reciting something indistinct at an incredible speed.
Su Xun didn’t turn around. He didn’t want some sudden apparition to startle him. Instead, he picked up a small hammer and struck the copper bowl in front of him.
The bowl rang out, trembling faintly.
After the sound faded, the surroundings fell silent.
“You no longer belong here. If you have any wishes, tell me. Once everything’s settled, I’ll send you on to reincarnation,” Su Xun said.
He took out a lighter, ignited a talisman, and stuffed it into the copper bowl. Then he narrowed his eyes at the burning paper. Suddenly, a gust of dark wind swept up the ashes and scattered them everywhere.
Su Xun frowned. This meant the spirits had no intention of negotiating.
That was hardly surprising. Earthbound spirits generally had powerful obsessions. Some had even lost the ability to think.
The voice beside his ear sounded again, still rattling off a string of unintelligible words—but this time, it was much louder.
Su Xun still didn’t turn around. He simply reached into his robes.
“I want you dead... You all deserve to die... Every last one of you must die...”
A terrifying, distorted face leaned close to Su Xun’s ear. Its eyes were completely black, filled with resentment.
Not far from the villa, a luxury car was parked by the roadside. The driver stood outside, quietly smoking as he waited.
Inside the car, a fat man bared his teeth. “He didn’t suspect you?”
Zhao Qiankun nodded, but unease still crept into his voice. “Boss Huang, he... he’ll be all right, won’t he? I mean...”
Boss Huang placed one broad hand on his shoulder. “Stop asking so many questions. Just remember this: what happens today has nothing to do with me. Afterward, I’ll have someone find you a house and sell it to you at the lowest possible price.”
“What? Boss Huang, weren’t we supposed to use this house to settle what you owed me...?”
“When did we ever agree to that?” Boss Huang’s expression suddenly changed. “Do you have a witness? A contract?”
Zhao Qiankun immediately grew anxious. “But you said—”
“Little brother, let me give you one piece of advice. If you don’t want to die without knowing why, think carefully before you speak.”
The man in the passenger seat turned around. A terrifying scar ran across his face. Zhao Qiankun swallowed the rest of his words.
“This dump, in this location—who would buy it?” Boss Huang sneered. “The fact that I’m offering you a discount is already me being kind!”
Zhao Qiankun clenched his teeth.
“Master Li, are you sure that brat won’t be able to get out of this house?” Boss Huang ignored him and asked the man in the passenger seat.
Master Li gave an ominous laugh. “If his Master had come, he might have had a chance of getting out. But this half-baked disciple...”
“Let me ask you something, Master Li. Why do you seem to want this kid dead too? I’m after that shop, but what’s your reason?”
Master Li instinctively touched the scar on his face, his expression turning vicious. “His Master set me up and had me sent to prison, then died. As the saying goes, a father’s debts are paid by his son. The same goes for a Master’s sins and his disciple.”
Boss Huang froze for a moment, then burst out laughing.
“This house was originally set up by my Master. Even an immortal would lose a layer of skin here! I want to see how long that kid can hold out!” Master Li ground his teeth.
The female ghost rapping beside Su Xun’s ear never imagined that when the young Taoist pulled his hand from his robes, he would already have a knuckle-duster strapped over it.
The knuckle-duster was made of peach wood, and each pointed tip had been carved with a talisman to suppress evil spirits!
In the next instant, he grabbed her by the throat. Then his fist made intimate contact with her face.
“AAAH!”
Su Xun watched the female ghost fly away and shook his hand. “My Master once told me that his Master taught him something: the reason people fear ghosts is because ghosts can’t be touched. But if they could be touched, what do you think would happen?”
The female ghost howled and tried to lunge at him. Su Xun reached into the bag on his back and pulled out another item—a baseball bat carved with talismans.
The female ghost was sent flying again.
“I tried talking to you nicely, but you insisted on getting beaten, huh?” Su Xun sneered. “These treasures were handed down to me by my Grand Master. Today, you’re all going to enjoy them too!”
The female ghost realized that things were going badly and turned to flee.
But she could only move within the villa. Where could she possibly run?
For a while, cries and shouts rang throughout the house.
Boss Huang watched the surveillance footage on his phone. The ghosts couldn’t be seen, but the camera clearly showed the kid chasing after something invisible and beating it with a stick. He looked at Master Li in confusion.
Master Li remained calm and composed. “Don’t worry. This is only an appetizer. Don’t forget, there are still two ghost kings in this villa.”
He was referring to the married couple who had been the first to die inside the house.
Their resentment was far stronger than that of the three who had died later.
Boss Huang nodded and continued watching the surveillance feed.
Beside him, Zhao Qiankun craned his neck to take a few looks, terrified that Su Xun might damage the furniture.
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
