I subdue demons and monsters, and cultivate immortality in hell to become a saint.

Staring at the ghostly phantom before her, Li Wanqiu clenched her fists, but a fierce fire burned in her eyes. She was determined to take this risky step!

"Go back and tell Huang Jingwen that if he wants to marry me, he must come in person with a grand sedan chair carried by eight men at dawn tomorrow! If any one of these conditions is missing, he can forget about the marriage!"

Her voice was firm and clear, without the slightest ambiguity.

The young man glanced at her sideways, his tone carrying a chilling underworld quality: "Young lady, you have quite the nerve. I'll pass on your message."

As soon as the words were spoken, a chilling wind swept up from the ground, making the lanterns in the corner of the courtyard sway wildly. When they looked again, the ghost had already disappeared into the night, leaving only withered leaves swirling on the ground.

Li Wanqiu took a deep breath of the frosty wind, her chest churning with a desperate resolve. She was gambling not only on her own reputation, but also on the life and death of the entire Li family.

Subconsciously, she touched the pale gold talisman on the inside of her arm, and the slight warmth from her fingertips eased her anxiety.

Meanwhile, inside the temple on the outskirts of the city, Zhong Jiu stroked the Ghost-Slaying Sword at his waist, a cold sneer curling at the corner of his lips: "This Huang Jingwen is quite a strange ghost. Ordinary vengeful ghosts only seek to absorb souls and refine spirits, but he's different; he's even thinking about marrying a wife in a grand sedan chair. He's got more tricks up his sleeve than a living person."

Zhou Sheng, standing beside him, quickly chimed in, "Your Excellency is wise! This evil spirit is hiding cowardly in the Ghost Realm; if he reveals himself tomorrow, it will be his death!"

"Tomorrow, let's see how he stumbles!"

A cold glint flashed in Zhong Jiu's eyes, and the runes on the sword sheath suddenly lit up.

When the news that "Li Wanqiu is going to marry a ghost" spread, the Li family mansion was already in an uproar, with noise filling the living room.

"Late Autumn, that's a man-eating demon! You're incredibly brave!"

Auntie slapped her thigh and wailed, but not a single tear fell from her eyes.

"That's right. Huang Jingwen said he would slaughter our Li family if you didn't marry him, but our Li family isn't cowardly. We'll just die together. It's just that your parents and my underage nephews will suffer."

My second great-uncle stroked his goatee, his tone full of coercion and enticement.

"The elders have already gone to invite a Taoist priest to exorcise the ghost, but they haven't found one willing to come yet. Perhaps we should postpone it for a while longer..."

A group of distant relatives surrounded her, their faces practically screaming, "You'd better agree quickly so we don't get dragged into this!"

Li Wanqiu swept her gaze across the hypocritical faces, her voice as cold as ice: "Don't worry, I'll marry you."

The moment these words were spoken, the living room fell silent, then erupted in uncontrollable elation.

Some secretly breathed a sigh of relief, some clutched their chests and laughed until their skin creased, and others wiped their eyes insincerely: "Child, why don't you think about it again? We're not afraid of dying, we're just worried about you..."

"Whether I want to or not is none of your business."

Li Wanqiu's eyes flashed sharply. "If you keep nagging me, I'll go tell Huang Jingwen right now that I'm not getting married."

These words carried more weight than an imperial edict. The group's faces changed drastically, and they didn't dare utter a single word. They slunk out of the room in disgrace.

Only Li's mother was still wiping away tears, while Li's father sat in a daze in his armchair, the cigarette between his fingers burned down to just the butt. The former richest man in Guiling City, once so powerful, was now nothing but a heart full of helplessness.

"Dad, Mom, don't cry."

Li Wanqiu suddenly smiled. It wasn't a forced smile, but a smile that conveyed a sense of relief and ease. "Prepare my most beautiful wedding dress. Tomorrow I want to get married in style."

The elderly couple were stunned.

Is this child perhaps scared out of his wits?

As night deepened, the Li family mansion was brightly lit and decorated, yet it exuded an eerie stillness.

Li Wanqiu, dressed in a bright red wedding gown and with a red veil covering her face, stood straight at the gate, like a statue engulfed in flames.

The wedding banquet was laid out in the living room, but the relatives were restless and uncomfortable.

"She's marrying a ghost, why are we getting involved?"

Someone complained in a low voice.

"You dare not come? Huang Jingwen holds a grudge!"

The person next to him quickly covered his mouth, "Keep your voice down, don't let that thing hear you!"

"What a pity about Wanqiu, she's as beautiful as a fairy, yet she had to marry a devil..."

"Is it a pity? If she weren't so strikingly beautiful, would Huang Jingwen have even set his sights on our Li family?"

As soon as the whispers ended, the talisman on Li Wanqiu's arm suddenly became hot, and the burning sensation spread throughout her body along her meridians.

This is a signal: Lord Chung Kyu has arrived!

In the shadows, Zhou Sheng bowed to Zhong Jiu and exclaimed in praise, "Your strategy is brilliant! By luring Huang Jingwen out of the Ghost Realm, his strength will be greatly reduced. Now we've secured our victory!"

Zhong Jiu stood with his hands behind his back, his black official robe fluttering in the night wind: "The plan isn't difficult; the difficulty lies in Li Wanqiu daring to use herself as bait. Send two soldiers to protect her."

Two soul soldiers obeyed the order, their figures instantly merging into the darkness, standing like two invisible barriers guarding Li Wanqiu on either side.

Just then, a sudden, overwhelming gust of wind swept in, bending the ancient trees in the courtyard, and whipping sand and pebbles across the red carpet. The relatives in the living room were so frightened that they crouched down, trembling with fear.

Strangely, the gale that could have blown over tables and chairs stopped abruptly in front of Li Wanqiu, and the red veil on her head remained completely still.

"Coming, coming!"

Someone pointed tremblingly to the doorway.

Under the moonlight, a bright red sedan chair slowly drove by; it turned out to be made of paper!

The eight sedan chair bearers were also paper figures, their faces outlined with cinnabar to form ferocious smiles, drifting in the wind, indescribably eerie.

Behind the paper sedan chair followed a group of blue-faced, fanged demons, surrounding the "groom" in the middle—Huang Jingwen.

The man was wearing a gold-embossed red suit, but unfortunately, his body had swelled up and rotted in the lake, his face was wrinkled up, and the stench could be smelled from more than ten meters away. The gorgeous suit on his bloated body made him look like a clown who had just crawled out of a coffin.

"My little beauty, you've finally agreed to marry me?"

Huang Jingwen's eyes, white from being swollen, gleamed with greed as he stared intently at Li Wanqiu's figure, drool dripping from the corners of his mouth.

Li Wanqiu's hands, hidden in her sleeves, were clenched so tightly they turned white; the warmth of the talisman was her only support. She forced herself to suppress her nausea, her fingertips almost digging into her flesh.

"What? You used to ignore me, but now you're scared?"

Huang Jingwen noticed her subtle movements and smiled sinisterly, "It would have been better if you had been this obedient from the beginning. You had to force me to use force."

His love for Li Wanqiu was always obsessive, and his hatred was always insane.

If he couldn't have her, he would destroy her. Now that he could "marry" her, he would trample on her pride in front of everyone, which made him even more excited.

"I want to personally lift your veil and let everyone see how beautiful my bride is!"

Huang Jingwen stretched out his wrinkled, sticky hand, about to lift the bright red stain.

"Get out of here!"

A sharp shout rang out, and Li Wanqiu abruptly threw off her veil, her eyes blazing with hatred: "Huang Jingwen, you freak who's about to die!"

"Who told you to flip it?!"

Huang Jingwen's face contorted instantly, her swollen skin cracking with fine lines. "Only I can lift your veil! If you dare break my rules, I'll slaughter the entire Li family right now!"

The Li family members were terrified, their eyes filled with resentment as they looked at Li Wanqiu. "Are you crazy?"

Wouldn't it be better to get married peacefully and steadily?

They just had to drag us down with them!

Just as someone was about to unleash a torrent of curses, a chilling voice suddenly rang out, piercing through the eerie wind: "With me here, try and harm even one member of the Li family!"

The room fell silent as soon as he said that.

Who is so bold as to challenge a vengeful ghost?

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw that a man had appeared beside Li Wanqiu at some point.

He was dressed in a black official robe, with a long sword at his waist, one hand on the hilt of the sword, and exuding an imposing aura.

Everyone tried to see his face clearly, but only felt a stinging pain in their eyes, as if they were staring directly at the blazing sun, and could only awkwardly look away.

"Who...who is this?"

"Such a powerful aura... My legs went weak, I just wanted to kneel down and kowtow!"

"With him around, does that mean we don't need to be afraid of Huang Jingwen anymore?"

The relatives had long forgotten to blame Li Wanqiu; they all stared at the mysterious man, their eyes filled with shock and hope.

"Your Excellency the Inspector..."

Li Wanqiu's eyes reddened, and she subconsciously moved closer to Zhong Jiu.

Huang Jingwen's disgusting behavior just now almost made her vomit. If she hadn't been holding back with sheer willpower, she would have exploded long ago.

Upon seeing Zhong Jiu, all her grievances and fears surged up. If it weren't for the official aura surrounding Zhong Jiu, she probably would have already thrown herself into his arms.