Although the vengeful ghost seeking revenge disappeared after the black shadow appeared that day, He Yan didn't know if the ghost was torn apart by the shadow or just temporarily driven away. If that ghost still existed in this world, as long as the spell cast on him by that "expert" was not lifted, the ghost would continue to treat him as Yan Xixi and come to "seek revenge" sooner or later. So he had to find a way to break the curse as soon as possible.

Although completely dispersing the ghost could eliminate the hidden danger, the ghost itself was also innocent and a victim just like him. If possible, He Yan still hoped it could successfully take revenge on Yan Xixi.

Moreover, if the ghost really dissipated, how to deal with Yan Xixi would also be a tricky problem.

It's said that this world has so-called "karmic retribution". Yan Xixi only confused the ghost's judgment with the help of that "expert" to kill by borrowing the ghost's hand, and did not directly harm him. If he rashly sought revenge on Yan Xixi, it might instead taint him with karma and impact his own fate. So letting the ghost seek its own revenge on Yan Xixi was undoubtedly the best method.

But the problem was, Han Ziyu was just one among thousands of ordinary people. Abandoned by his parents on the roadside and then adopted by an ordinary old couple, if not for Yan Xixi, he probably would never have had the chance in his life to come into contact with these matters related to ghosts and metaphysics. So it was impossible for him to find any useful information from Han Ziyu.

So he could only try to make a breakthrough with Yan Xixi and that "expert".

Because he didn't know how capable that "expert" really was, He Yan originally planned to make preparations before investigating. But since he ran into Yan Xixi so coincidentally today, he couldn't possibly let this opportunity slip by, even if he could only follow to find out where that "expert" lived.

The antique street was located in a very remote area, with many alleys left over from the previous century nearby, giving it a sense of being a world apart in this city that had been almost completely invaded by modernization.

There were few people in the alleys. Yan Xixi was also vigilantly looking around. After He Yan followed Yan Xixi out of the antique street and into the alleys, he cautiously widened the distance between them and extended long, thin threads of spiritual power to lock onto Yan Xixi's position.

After passing who knows how many turns, Yan Xixi finally stopped in front of an ordinary residence and knocked on the door.

That wooden door with a sense of age was lightly knocked three times, then opened a crack from the inside. After Yan Xixi quickly slipped in, the door was immediately closed again.

This should be the residence of the "expert" who had been helping Yan Xixi from behind the scenes.

The courtyard walls of this type of old-style residence were not high, but after sizing it up, He Yan still gave up the idea of climbing over the wall to enter.

This body's physical strength was really not good due to long-term malnutrition. If he was accidentally discovered, it would probably be difficult to escape.

Although he was anxious to find a solution for the ghost, he also wouldn't recklessly take risks in this obviously unsuitable situation.

So this time He Yan only planned to scout out the path first. He carefully controlled his threads of spiritual power, letting them climb up along the rough courtyard walls and then slowly probe into the residence.

According to the information he had, many metaphysics masters would set up defensive formations around their own residences.

As he expected, his threads of spiritual power had just probed into the courtyard when they touched a layer of "barrier" that was invisible to the naked eye. However, the sensitivity of that barrier did not seem to be high. He Yan waited for ten minutes but the entire residence remained quiet with no one coming out to investigate. He Yan then felt at ease to probe around with his spiritual power.

After probing for a while, He Yan discovered that this barrier was also not very dense. His spiritual power had only probed less than a quarter of the barrier's area before finding three or four gaps.

It seemed that "expert's" abilities were not as high as he initially imagined.

He Yan's threads of spiritual power squeezed through one of the larger gaps and continued probing in the courtyard.

The length of the spiritual power threads was limited. The area of this residence was also not small. He Yan's sea of consciousness was still injured so he didn't plan to overly push himself. After roughly figuring out the situation inside the residence and making an initial estimate of the enemy's strength, he began to retract his spiritual power threads, preparing to head back.

But there are always accidents in everything. Just as He Yan was pulling his spiritual power threads back from the hole, a familiar sinister wind suddenly blew past him, followed by his body being enveloped in a chill, making him involuntarily shiver on this scorching summer day.

A bad premonition suddenly welled up in his heart: "......"

Then, he watched with his own eyes as a large bunch of black spiritual power threads rushed out from behind him, impatiently wrapping around his spiritual power threads that were still half inside the residence, casually shattering that not-so-sturdy barrier in the process.

Although the sensitivity of this barrier was not high, with it being directly and crudely broken like this, there was no way the people inside wouldn't sense it!

...This pig of a teammate!

Not only did it go off somewhere to fool around for an entire day, but the moment it showed up it caused him trouble!

Now it would be difficult to avoid alarming the enemy...

But now was not the time to settle scores with his pig teammate. After the barrier shattered, He Yan decisively used his spiritual power threads to wrap around the black shadow and pulled it along as he turned to run.

It's just that the speed of an ordinary person is ultimately limited. He had only turned two corners when he felt a stream of air carrying a strong malice rapidly assaulting him from behind!

He Yan's pupils constricted. He gathered his spiritual power threads into a bundle and took the initiative to meet the air current head-on. But the black shadow's movements were faster than his. He Yan only heard a muffled thud from behind him and the air current disappeared.

He Yan stopped, panting as he looked back.

This body was really too weak. He had only run a few steps but felt like his lungs were about to explode from the severe pain.

It was a black talisman the size of a child's fist, wisps of black energy still curling off its surface, lying all alone on the ground, its previously domineering aura completely gone.

Seeing him look over, the black shadow hurriedly used its tentacles to roll up the talisman and somewhat fawningly delivered it to him.

He Yan did not accept it.

He wasn't sure if there were any unknown formations or similar things on this square seal, and didn't dare to rashly touch it.

Although the dark shadow didn't seem to fear this strange square seal, considering their completely different types, He Yan didn't dare to guarantee that this square seal was equally harmless to himself.

So He Yan panted for a few breaths, then immediately pulled the dark shadow and started running again. Relying on his extremely strong memory, he turned countless corners along the way and returned to the antique street before slightly relaxing.

He Yan didn't dare to linger for a moment. He quickly walked out of the antique street and followed the crowd onto the subway.

It was now 1:30 in the afternoon, the peak of the subway rush hour. He Yan leaned against a pillar, deeply inhaling the somewhat turbid air in the subway, trying hard to calm his heartbeat.

The people beside him, seeing his pale face and looking like he could faint at any time, intentionally or unintentionally kept their distance from him.

One reason was the fear that if this person fainted later, it would be unclear who was responsible. Secondly... they didn't know if it was their misconception, but this young man who looked like he had some illness seemed to have a lingering chill around him. In the middle of summer, it inevitably made people feel a bit strange.

He Yan had run for so long that not only his lungs hurt, but his head also felt dizzy in bursts. He rested with his eyes closed for a good while before having the energy to care about his pig teammate.

As a result, when he looked, he almost choked on his breath from anger!

He saw that most of the dark shadow's body was stuck to his back, with only one tentacle wrapped around his calf, and at the end of that tentacle, a familiar square seal was rolled up.

Because the subway was very crowded and everyone was not paying attention to others, this square seal had not been noticed by people for the time being.

He Yan's heart collapsed: ".................."

Why hasn't it thrown this thing away yet?

*

Inside the courtyard, in a dimly lit room, a middle-aged man wearing a Taoist robe who looked to be in his early thirties suddenly opened his eyes, and a trace of fresh blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

Yan Xixi, who was sitting in front of him, immediately cried out in alarm when she saw this: "Master Fu--"

The middle-aged man wiped the fresh blood from the corner of his mouth with his hand, looked down at the slightly dark bloodstain in his palm, and a trace of hatred flashed in his eyes as he said coldly, "It's Han Ziyu!"

Just now, he was talking to Yan Xixi when he suddenly discovered that the barrier in his courtyard had been broken by someone. He immediately released the Seven-Sided Evil Seal to chase after them, but unexpectedly, it was destroyed in a single confrontation!

Although this Seven-Sided Evil Seal was not his life-bound magic tool, it was still connected to his mind and spirit after all. So after the Seven-Sided Evil Seal was shattered, he was also implicated and suffered a bit of internal injury.

And that person could also be considered an acquaintance. It was precisely Yan Xixi's purpose in coming to find him today, that Han Ziyu who had been turned into Yan Xixi's scapegoat through his spell!

Yan Xixi couldn't understand the middle-aged man's meaning for a while, maintaining an expression mixed with shock and confusion on her face. After a long time, she muttered in disbelief, "What?"

The middle-aged man snorted coldly and gave her a gloomy smirk. "Miss Yan, didn't you tell me he was just an ordinary person? Just now, he shattered my magic tool. Is this the ordinary person you spoke of?"

Yan Xixi said in a fluster, "Master! Believe me, I really didn't know. He... he clearly is just an ordinary person..."

Yan Xixi's mind was a bit chaotic. Could it be that Han Ziyu was also a practitioner? Then by choosing Han Ziyu as a scapegoat, didn't she overturn the boat in the gutter?

But at the time, it was clearly Master Fu who personally selected Han Ziyu, reportedly because he had a light fate, a yin-biased constitution, and was easy to attract ghosts to take the bait...

The middle-aged man gave her another gloomy glance and said slowly, "Of course, I believe Miss Yan is not intentionally deceiving me."

"Yes, yes, that's right." Seeing his words take a turn, Yan Xixi anxiously said, "Master, whatever compensation you need, just say it--"

"Don't be in a hurry, Miss Yan." The middle-aged man's temperament was apparently a bit unpredictable. One second ago, his words carried a threat, but the next second, he suddenly laughed. It's just that the smile carried malice. "No matter what, that Han Ziyu destroyed my magic tool. I will definitely get justice for this. He's just a little brat who hasn't even grown hair yet. This time I was careless."

Hearing that he not only didn't pursue her responsibility but also declared he would deal with Han Ziyu, Yan Xixi couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

She had pulled countless connections to find a true master. If Master Fu turned against her now, she really wouldn't know what to do...

The middle-aged man looked at the undisguisable relief on Yan Xixi's pretty face and sneered in his heart.

Actually, Yan Xixi didn't lie to him. Apart from the heavy yin energy on his body, Han Ziyu was indeed an ordinary person. That Seven-Sided Evil Seal was not destroyed by him, but by someone else.

He was connected to that Seven-Sided Evil Seal by a thread of his mind and spirit, so just now, through the Seven-Sided Evil Seal, he saw an extremely resentful evil spirit beside Han Ziyu!

Thinking of that evil spirit whose resentment rolled like thick ink, almost solidifying, the middle-aged man couldn't help but feel a bit greedy while being shocked and fearful.

The year before last, he obtained an extremely precious Dark Command Seal. It's just that this Dark Command Seal was damaged and needed to be nourished with sufficient resentment to be repaired. The middle-aged man had been searching everywhere for evil spirits to refine these past two years, but the Dark Command Seal's demand for resentment was too great. Until now, it could only exert less than a third of its power.

Although the Seven-Sided Evil Seal wasn't bad, it was simply not worth mentioning compared to that set of Dark Command Seal!

He initially took on this business from Yan Xixi in order to capture that female ghost who came to seek revenge, so he could refine her into the Dark Command Seal to repair the formation. But later, he discovered that although the female ghost had enough resentment, the troublesome thing was that she held a Underworld Warrant, so he had no choice but to regretfully give up.

The Underworld Warrant was a special kind of pass directly issued by the Yin Tribunal, indicating that this ghost's return to the mortal realm had been approved by the Yin Tribunal. If he made a move against a ghost holding a Underworld Warrant, it would directly attract the attention of the underworld. Perhaps underworld officials would even be dispatched to investigate. When the time came, it wouldn't end well.

But he didn't know if his luck had come. Although he couldn't touch that female ghost, in the blink of an eye, an evil spirit with resentment ten times greater than the female ghost had appeared!

If he captured this evil spirit, that set of Dark Command Seal of his would very likely be completely repaired!

Thinking this way, the middle-aged man's heart couldn't help but beat violently, and a greedy look surged in his eyes.