Slaying demons and eliminating evil, a martial saint among mortals.

Zhang Erniu's body, which was lying on the ground, suddenly twitched.

Qin Lie's brows immediately furrowed.

The rat, who was about to leave, stopped in its tracks upon seeing this scene.

Wisps of grayish-black yin energy began to emerge from Zhang Erniu's severed neck.

Instead of spreading outwards, the yin energy gathered little by little above the corpse.

Before long, a face so distorted it sent chills down one's spine emerged from the yin energy.

It was Zhang Erniu.

However, Zhang Erniu's face no longer showed the fear he had when he was begging for mercy.

His features were contorted, and his eyes were filled with barely suppressed resentment.

"Qin Lie, I told you, I will haunt you even as a ghost."

As soon as he finished speaking, the cloud of yin energy suddenly rushed towards Qin Lie.

Qin Lie stood still.

Seeing Zhang Erniu rushing towards him, he simply sighed and shook his head gently.

"When I was alive, you wouldn't let me go. Now that I'm dead, you still want to come back and harm people."

"Zhang Erniu, you really have no remorse whatsoever."

At this point, Qin Lie gripped the broken snow tightly.

"I originally hoped you could be reincarnated peacefully after death, but now it seems there's no need for that."

As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Lie drew his sword and slashed out, the shattering snow blade directly striking the swirling yin energy.

But when the knife fell, it missed its target.

The blade pierced through the yin energy, causing it to tremble slightly without causing much damage.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Erniu let out a piercing, eerie laugh.

"Qin Lie!"

"I've now become a vengeful ghost!"

"I'm no longer that cripple who can only sit in a wheelchair!"

"You are just a martial artist."

"Your blade is completely useless against a soul like me!"

Upon hearing this, Qin Lie paused for a moment.

He had hardly ever encountered this situation before.

Normal monsters can be killed without much trouble, but souls cannot be dealt with using ordinary methods.

Just then, the rat next to him suddenly burst into laughter.

"Hahahaha, I'm dying of laughter, I'm dying of laughter! I never expected to see so many funny things here today."

Zhang Erniu turned to look at Fushu, his eyes instantly turning gloomy.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Once I kill Qin Lie, you'll be next!"

The rat looked at Zhang Erniu's ghost with undisguised disgust.

"With a brain like yours, you shouldn't even think about killing anyone."

"Do you think that neither of us can handle a low-class ghost like you?"

At this point, he looked at Qin Lie.

"Qin Lie".

"Look at that booklet you're holding. Have you forgotten what it's for?"

Qin Lie's expression changed immediately upon hearing these words.

He looked down at the Soul Sealing Book in his hand.

The incident happened so suddenly that he almost forgot about it.

The Book of Sealing Souls.

This thing was originally designed specifically for souls.

The problem is, he doesn't know how to use it.

Just as Qin Lie was about to speak, Fu Shu had already seen through his thoughts.

"To deal with those truly powerful demon souls, manipulation methods are indeed necessary."

"However, there's no need to go through all that trouble with these newly formed, low-level vengeful spirits."

"Just open the booklet and point it at him."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Erniu's expression finally changed.

"Impossible! How could you possibly have such a thing?"

Qin Lie ignored him and shoved the Broken Snow back into its sheath.

He then raised his hand and slowly opened the Soul Sealing Book.

The moment the Soul Sealing Scroll was opened, a chilling aura emanated from its pages.

Qin Lie pointed the booklet at Zhang Erniu's soul.

next second.

Two dark red chains flew out from the Soul Sealing Book.

The chain's surface was covered in fine patterns, carrying an aura specifically designed to suppress souls, and it swept directly toward Zhang Erniu.

Zhang Erniu wanted to hide.

But as soon as he moved, dark red chains wrapped around his body.

"what!"

Zhang Erniu let out a painful scream.

His soul was firmly bound by chains, and he could no longer lunge forward.

The chains began to tighten little by little, then dragged him towards the Book of Soul Sealing.

Zhang Erniu struggled frantically.

The more one struggles, the more noticeably one's soul dissipates.

"Why!"

"Why do you still possess such a treasure?!"

Why does fate always favor you?

"I refuse to accept this!"

"I refuse to accept this!"

His voice grew increasingly shrill and weak.

Before the last few words could be completely uttered, the entire soul was dragged into the Soul Sealing Book by dark red chains.

The pages trembled slightly before returning to silence.

The City God Temple also quieted down.

Fushu looked at the Soul Sealing Scroll in Qin Lie's hand and raised his chin.

"You've already used up the Soul Sealing Scroll, shouldn't you return it to me now?"

Qin Lie glanced down at the Soul Sealing Book.

After Zhang Erniu's soul was dragged inside, the booklet closed again.

On the surface, there is no change.

But Qin Lie could sense an unsettling resentment emanating from it.

He tidied up the Soul Sealing Book and stuffed it directly into his pocket.

"When I return to Dongxuan City, I'll give it to Xu Qinghe for you, so you won't have to make another trip."

After hearing this, Fu Shu's face showed a hint of helplessness.

He looked at Qin Lie, paused for a while, and finally smiled and waved his hand.

"Fine, fine, you can return it if you want, anyway, this thing wasn't originally mine."

After saying that, Fushu took out a handful of small red flowers from his pocket.

The little red flowers looked very bright, and the petals had a faint smell of blood.

Qin Lie frowned slightly when he saw this action.

"What are you doing?"

Fu Shu casually scattered the little red flowers on Zhang Erniu's corpse.

The petals fell and quickly stuck to the bloodstains on Zhang Erniu's body.

"This is the mark of our Misty Rain Pavilion."

"Sprinkling this on the person proves that they were killed by the Misty Rain Pavilion."

After listening, Qin Lie turned and glanced at him.

"Aren't you afraid of causing trouble for Yanyu Tower by doing this?"

Upon hearing this, Fushu burst into laughter.

"trouble?"

"In the Great Qian Dynasty, there are really not many people who can cause trouble for Yanyu Tower. They don't even know who we have backing."

Upon hearing this, Qin Lie's gaze immediately shifted.

"Who is your backer?"

The mouse did not answer immediately.

He first looked to the left, then to the right.

He looked very cautious.

After confirming that there was no other noise around, he moved closer to Qin Lie, deliberately lowering his voice.

"I can't tell you that."

Qin Lie waited for a long time, only to receive this one sentence.

His face immediately showed a hint of speechlessness.

But the rat continued, "You'll have to discover it for yourself."

Qin Lie looked at him.

"I can't tell you. Why were you being so mysterious just now? I thought you were really going to tell me."

The smile on Fu Shu's face became even more pronounced.

"Isn't this just a reminder?"

"Some things are meaningless if someone else tells you them."

"It'll be more interesting if you find out for yourself."

Qin Lie was too lazy to argue with him anymore.

Fu Shu didn't linger. He glanced at Zhang Erniu on the ground, then at Qin Lie.

"Alright, things are settled here, I should be going now."

At this point, he raised his finger and pointed to Zhang Erniu's corpse.

"Just assume that this person was killed by Yanyulou."

As soon as he finished speaking, he lightly touched the ground with his feet, and his figure darted out of the City God Temple.

After a few leaps and bounds, it disappeared completely into the night.

Qin Lie stood still, looking in the direction the tamed rat had left.

He certainly understood the meaning behind the last sentence from Fushu.

Zhang Erniu's death can be attributed to the Misty Rain Pavilion.

Even if he doesn't say anything, no one will trace it back to him.

Qin Lie glanced down at Zhang Erniu's corpse.

The corpse was sprinkled with small red flowers from the Misty Rain Pavilion, and the resentment and unwillingness from just moments before still lingered on its face.

Qin Lie didn't look at it any further.

He turned and walked out of the City God Temple, heading towards the Zhang family's courtyard.

After returning to the Zhang family courtyard, Qin Lie did not make much of a commotion.

He went back to his room first and, using the little moonlight coming in from outside, quickly cleaned the blood off his body.

He also wiped the Snowcutter's Blade clean.

After confirming that there were no obvious marks on his body, he lay back down on the bed.

But after lying down, he couldn't fall asleep; his mind kept wandering to Zhang Erniu.

The person died, and died at his hands; this matter must be dealt with properly.

If we push everything onto the Misty Rain Pavilion, we can indeed save a lot of trouble.

After all, the rat had already left the mark of the Misty Rain Pavilion on Zhang Erniu.

There are also enough traces at the City God Temple to prove that the Misty Rain Pavilion once existed.

If outsiders really wanted to investigate, the easiest conclusion they would find would be that Zhang Erniu went out late at night, bumped into people from Yanyu Tower for some unknown reason, and was then killed by Yanyu Tower.

This is the safest and cleanest way for Qin Lie.

But handling this matter this way is not fair to Liu Yunniang and her two children.

No matter how despicable Zhang Erniu was, he was still Hu Zi and Xiao He's father, and Liu Yunniang's nominal husband.

Qin Lie rolled over in bed.

The sky outside the window gradually brightened.

He barely slept that night.

After an unknown amount of time, the sound of Liu Yunniang getting up was finally heard from outside.

Liu Yunniang was always the first one to wake up in the family.

Before anyone else wakes up, she has to boil water, prepare breakfast, tidy up the yard, and check on the clothes her two children changed out of yesterday.

She single-handedly managed everything in the family, big and small.

Upon hearing the noise, Qin Lie also sat up in bed.

He thought about it all night and finally decided to tell Liu Yunniang what had happened.

The matter can be kept from the child for now, but Liu Yunniang has the right to know.

As for whether or not to tell Hu Zi and Xiao He later, and how to tell them, that is Liu Yunniang's own choice.

Qin Lie got dressed, picked up the snowflakes, and went out the door.

In the courtyard, Liu Yunniang had just come out of the house.

He was holding a wooden basin, preparing to go to the well to fetch water.

She was clearly taken aback when she saw Qin Lie come out so early.

"Qin Lie, why are you up so early?"

As soon as she finished speaking, she seemed to remember something, and her expression became more puzzled.

Have you seen your brother Zhang?

"When I woke up in the morning, I found he wasn't in bed."

"The wheelchair isn't inside either."

Qin Lie stood still, looking at Liu Yunniang.

"Brother Zhang went out last night."

Liu Yunniang's brows immediately furrowed.

"They went out. When?"

Qin Lie spoke up, saying, "In the latter half of the night."

"I heard a noise, so I followed behind and took a look."

"Brother Zhang went to the City God Temple."

Liu Yunniang's confusion deepened.

"What was he doing at the City God Temple in the middle of the night?"

As she spoke, she glanced out of the courtyard gate.

"Even if he's on business, he should be back by now. Why is he still nowhere to be seen?"

Qin Lie paused for a moment.

Then, looking at Liu Yunniang, he said directly, "The person is dead."

Liu Yunniang's body stiffened, and the wooden basin in her hand wobbled slightly.

"I killed him."

boom.

The wooden basin fell from Liu Yunniang's hands, landed on the ground, and rolled once before coming to a stop.

Liu Yunniang raised her hand to cover her mouth, her eyes widening little by little.

She looked at Qin Lie for a long while before speaking.

"you……"

"You killed him?"

Her voice had begun to tremble.

Why did you kill him?