Duan Zhong clasped his fists. “Scouts report that the Night King’s ghost soldiers are attacking Peach Blossom Village, while the Night King himself is leading troops on the Yin-Yang Road, likely covering for the ghost soldiers at the village. This ties up the general, so he sent us to inform you, Young Master Lu, and head to provide support together.”
Lu Zheng was stunned, blurting out, “How did those ghost soldiers breach the Yin-Yang Road?”
By logic, Tonglin County’s underworld guards the Yin-Yang Road connecting to the Netherworld. Ordinary ghosts shouldn’t pass freely, and only powerful ones could. Allowing a large group of ghost soldiers into the mortal realm, wasn’t that negligence?
Duan Zhong, embarrassed, shook his head. “We don’t know. Probably some treasure. If the general hadn’t ordered us to patrol deeper into the south of the city, we wouldn’t have known a group of ghost soldiers bypassed the Yin-Yang Road.”
“Alright, I understand!”
Hearing Shen Ying was under attack, Lu Zheng didn’t waste words. Thanking Duan Zhong, he rushed back inside to change.
To deal with ghosts, he first pocketed an exorcism talisman, slung an embroidered spring saber across his back, and took a seven-star sword from the wall, hanging it at his waist.
This sword, bought from Wanren Ancient Sword Hall for practising *White Cloud Sword Technique*, was a modern, sharpened craft piece, matching the quality of the cloud-patterned sword he gifted Daoist Mingzhang.
Sharp enough to cut hair, perfect for display.
Stepping out, Lu Zheng shook off his drunkenness, slapped a divine travel talisman on himself, and sped south like the wind.
Duan Zhong, the other two patrol officers, and thirty underworld soldiers swiftly followed.
Dozens of figures vaulted over the city wall, vanishing into the night of the southern forest.
…
At Peach Blossom Ridge,阴风 swirled.
In Peach Blossom Village, ghostly wails echoed.
At the Peach Blossom Shrine, mist shrouded the air.
Shen Ying hovered above the old peach tree, pink peach blossom aura filling the void.
The shrine was protected by incense energy, safe from ghostly damage, so Shen Ying held her ground at the village, unmoving as a mountain.
Outside, over a hundred ghost soldiers gathered, led by three formidable ghosts probing her strength.
In the village’s front courtyard, Xiao Cui clutched the lingzhi horse, trembling. “Madam, should we call Young Master Lu to help?”
Shen Ying’s face was cold, and she shook her head calmly. “Mere small ghosts, no need to disturb Lu’s rest.”
Xiao Cui swallowed hard. Those outside weren’t small ghosts. The hundred ghost soldiers were each as strong as her, and the three leaders were likely ghost generals on par with Yan Jie, far from the “mere small ghosts” Shen Ying claimed.
“Peach Ghost, if you’d stayed quietly in your peach blossom grove, we wouldn’t bother with you. Even killing Yan Jie was your personal grudge, and Yelan Mountain wouldn’t interfere,” said the central ghost, a young man in white, handsome, fanning himself lightly.
But his face was pale, his pupils pure black, and as he spoke, black mist spewed from his mouth, eerie and terrifying.
Then, a female ghost in a blood-red dress spoke coldly. “But you shouldn’t have accepted the court’s decree, becoming some Peach Blossom Fairy and taking the people’s incense offerings!”
“So…” The third, an old crone with a cane, cackled, lifting her head to reveal a scarred, ugly face. She raised her hand, and a faintly pulsing, illusory heart appeared. “Hand over all the shrine’s incense energy, infuse it into this Nether Heart, and let me place three curses in you. We’ll spare your life, letting you linger for another century.”
Shen Ying’s cold face showed no emotion, standing with hands behind her back, floating in the void.
“No wonder you brought so many small ghosts past the Yin-Yang Road. The Night King spent ten years in seclusion to forge a Nether Heart, but…” Shen Ying’s lips curled, half-mocking, half-disdainful, her peach-blossom beauty sparking jealousy in the red-dressed ghost. “Is the Night King so confident letting you carry this heart into the mortal realm, not afraid you’ll get trapped here with no way back?”
The red-dressed ghost sneered. “Big talk. You’re barely on par with Yan Jie. Even with a month of incense energy, how much could you improve?”
The crone glanced at the young man, chuckling hoarsely. “With Young Master Ji leading, and Lady Hua and me here, no matter your tricks, you can’t escape us. Be good, and you’ll avoid suffering. Offer incense monthly, and we won’t drain you dry. A win-win, no bad blood, isn’t that nice?”
The young man, expressionless, said, “Ten breaths to decide, surrender or die.”
Shen Ying tilted her head, her hands in her sleeves forming seals. Countless peach blossom auras appeared, spinning faster and faster.
No need for ten breaths.
The young man snapped his fan shut, opened his mouth, and unleashed endless black mist, enveloping the hundred ghost soldiers around the village.
“Kill!”
“Kill!”
The ghost soldiers, eyes black and spirits high, raised their weapons, turning into dark shadows charging the village.
Though confident they could crush Shen Ying, Yan Jie’s death was a lesson, so the young man brought a hundred ghost soldiers as fodder to wear down her power.
“Hmph!”
Shen Ying snorted, her peach blossom aura falling like a rain of flowers, sharp as arrows, piercing the ghost soldiers.
“Ah!”
“Ah!”
Black smoke rose as the ghosts burned in pain. Only the most wounded were vaporised, while others, bolstered by the young man’s black mist, pressed through the aura sea, depleting it while charging the old peach tree.
“Young Master Ji’s black smoke armor is impressive. We’ll have the upper hand against the underworld,” the crone flattered.
The young man said calmly, “Once we take the shrine’s incense energy, the King can advance further. Then we’ll rise too, ruling our own domains.”
The red-dressed ghost gazed at him, enchanted, stepping closer.
By now, half the ghost soldiers were vaporised. The remaining fifty were blocked outside the village wall by the peach blossom aura, unable to advance, slowly worn down and vanishing.
But after their charge, the aura had noticeably thinned.
Killing a hundred ghost soldiers would exhaust even a ghost general. Despite Shen Ying’s incense energy, her power was likely less than half now.
“Enough, our turn. Quick and clean, don’t alert the underworld.”
“Attack!”
