Gu Yan only froze for a moment before unhesitatingly flashing between the man and the soul. When he blocked in front of the soul-state Su Kun, he had already materialized into a physical form, then reached out and grabbed the hand reaching towards Su Kun's heart.

The reason he was so decisive was firstly because the appearance in soul state could not be faked, and secondly, even if Su Kun got into a fight with someone out of urgency, he definitely wouldn't be the type to directly use killing moves.

It was very obvious that Su Kun's body had been possessed by a resentful spirit. As for who that resentful spirit was, Gu Yan had a guess with just a turn of thought.

And the next second, the words blurted out by the resentful spirit occupying Su Kun's body directly confirmed his speculation: "...Why is it you?!"

If it wasn't because he was occupying Su Kun's body, Gu Yan would have directly snapped his hand long ago. But at this time, he had no choice but to use skillful force, not letting the person break free while also not causing any damage to Su Kun's hand.

"You aren't... We* clearly sentenced you to lingchi, how could you appear here?!" That fatuous emperor didn't see clearly the state of Gu Yan's soul just now.

*T/N: This is the royal 'we' that this emperor is referring to himself with.

Just when he was about to absorb Su Kun's soul into his body, an unexpected savior suddenly appeared, blocking his action. A soul obviously couldn't grab a person's hand, so the fatuous emperor subconsciously treated Gu Yan as a living person.

Gu Yan let out a cold laugh. Hearing that word "We", the anger and hatred in his heart began to surge and flow.

But facing Su Kun's face and hearing Su Kun's voice, he couldn't show an overly disgusted expression, so he just tightly furrowed his brows and said in a deep voice: "If you can appear here, why can't I? Speaking of which, I should really thank you for that round of lingchi punishment. If I hadn't lost my life under the knife, I wouldn't have been able to come here either."

"You died?" That fatuous emperor was obviously thrown off by Gu Yan's appearance, and spoke in a somewhat confused manner out of surprise, "Right, you died... I watched you being executed! But since you died, why have you become a person again now?!"

Gu Yan obviously didn't want to waste words with him, but he had no choice but to stall for time while rapidly thinking in his mind, how to deal with this fatuous emperor without causing damage to Su Kun's body, and then let Su Kun's soul return to his own body as soon as possible.

Waiting for the master to come was impossible. Not to mention that the formation in the residential area couldn't be resolved in a short time, even if it was really resolved, the master might still need to spend some effort on his junior apprentice brother.

By that time, the fatuous emperor would have stayed in Su Kun's body for too long. Let alone that Su Kun's soul floating outside would suffer serious consequences, even if the integrity of the soul was guaranteed, there might be rejection symptoms after returning to the body, to the point of losing his life.

In that case, there was only one way left...

Thinking of this, Gu Yan endured the disgust surging in his heart and spoke again, his tone icy: "When did I ever say that I am a person now?"

"You are also... how is that possible?" Just as Gu Yan guessed, the fatuous emperor obviously couldn't accept the reality that he was now a evil ghost that couldn't see the light of day, forcibly swallowing back the two words "a ghost" in his speech.

He stared at Gu Yan, his eyes full of shock, but amidst this shock, there was still a trace of lingering doubt that couldn't be dispersed.

"Impossible?" Gu Yan's cold laugh carried a hint of mockery: "Then what are you painstakingly absorbing souls and possessing bodies for now?"

Seeing that the doubtful expression on the fatuous emperor's face still hadn't withdrawn, Gu Yan grabbed his hand and pulled him towards himself: "Don't believe it? Then you might as well check if I have a heartbeat."

Su Kun, who was nestled securely behind Gu Yan, felt his eyelids twitch fiercely: !!! Checking heartbeat, isn't that touching the chest?! Your boyfriend is right behind you watching you pull someone else's little hand to let them touch your chest!!! Expressionless Comrade Gu, where is your integrity?!

Of course Gu Yan couldn't really pull someone to touch his own chest. Even if that was Su Kun's body, there was someone else's soul inside, so he felt quite repulsed, especially since he had an irreconcilable grievance with that soul.

That fatuous emperor was caught off guard, plus Su Kun's small frame basically had no resistance in front of the tall Gu Yan, so his whole person toppled towards Gu Yan's direction.

He was already a bit distracted by Gu Yan's words, and now being startled by this sudden action, his whole person was in a dazed state at the moment. And this was the state Gu Yan was waiting for.

The so-called never eaten pork but seen a pig run, although Gu Yan had never possessed a body, he had heard the master talk about it many times.

Moreover, it was almost like an instinct, making him, at the same time as this thought emerged, reflexively change back to soul state to complete the corresponding instruction. He only felt a world-turning sensation, his whole person seeming to step into a warm pool, enveloped by a warmth from head to toe.

Even in such a dizziness, he still didn't forget, before completely fusing with Su Kun's body, to forcefully push the squeezed out fatuous emperor away from Su Kun.

The soul-state Su Kun on the side: =口=

He was already dumbfounded, his heart frantically roaring: That's my body not clothes ah, what do you mean by taking turns?! TAT

But Gu Yan didn't give him any more time to roar. He extended a somewhat ethereal hand from his body and grabbed Su Kun's wrist, fiercely pulling.

Su Kun let out a low startled "oh", then once again experienced that dizzyingly dark feeling that almost made him vomit.

When he recovered a bit and his vision focused, he found himself slumped on the ground, his whole body limp, unable to lift even a finger, but none of that mattered, because he had returned to his own body.

Does this count as possession?! The first time, perhaps also the only time possessing, he actually possessed his own body, and the soul occupying the body at the time was even his boyfriend...

Su Kun maintained his posture of being limp on the ground, feeling that his life couldn't get any more bizarre than this! _(:з」∠)_

And Gu Yan who pulled him back had now returned to soul state, his back tall and straight, stepping on air and standing, blocking in front of him. A bit further away was a man also standing on air, his splendid attire already tattered and in tatters, even looking a bit wretched, his expression seeming cold and ruthless, but his waist and back ramrod straight, his whole person standing there with an aura that couldn't be underestimated.

If he didn't have this kind of personality and changed to a different expression, he should be a person in the prime of his life.

While the two were locked in a standoff, a series of hurried footsteps, seemingly from more than one person, echoed from the corridor outside.

Turning his head weakly, Su Kun saw Xiang Ge, Geng Zimo, and Stone all at the doorway.

Although the series of events that had just transpired seemed to have taken a long time from his perspective, in reality, only three to five minutes had passed since he entered the restroom.

However, even three to five minutes was too long for washing one's face, not to mention that the sound of running water had stopped for a while. The three sitting in the corridor felt that something was amiss and rushed over to take a look, only to see Su Kun's heroic figure sprawled on the ground.

The commotion caused by these three people instantly shattered the tense and frozen atmosphere between Gu Yan and the delusional emperor. The delusional emperor flashed towards Xiang Ge, who was at the head of the group by the door, but unfortunately, despite his speed, Gu Yan was even faster.

He leaped in front of Xiang Ge, tightly grasping the delusional emperor's wrist, and with a twist of his hand, flung the delusional emperor far away.

If he had to hold back before to avoid hurting Su Kun, now he had no such reservations. As the delusional emperor was still off-balance, Gu Yan teleported behind him, one hand tightly gripping his neck and the other twisting one of his arms behind his back.

"Go with Xiang Ge and the others!" Gu Yan shouted to Su Kun while fiercely kicking the back of the delusional emperor's knee.

As the delusional emperor's legs weakened and he was about to kneel, he suddenly froze, maintaining a half-squatting posture. With his other elbow, he turned and used force to push Gu Yan away.

Perhaps it was because Su Kun's body had just been possessed and his soul had not fully reintegrated with his body, but he could now see some things that he couldn't before.

Both Gu Yan and the delusional emperor were surrounded by swirling, dark, ominous energy, like a wind carrying knives and gravel. It made Su Kun's soul, which had just returned to his body, feel like it was about to float away again. From top to bottom, it felt like being torn and cut, causing him to let out a muffled groan.

This soft groan not only made the three stunned at the doorway quickly come to their senses and hurry in to support Su Kun's limp body and inquire about the situation, but it also made Gu Yan realize that fighting here would affect Su Kun.

So after a brief pause, he decisively took action, entangling the delusional emperor and kicking him through the wall, out of the hospital. Then he looked back at Su Kun, confirming that he was being protected by Xiang Ge and the others, before flashing out in pursuit.

Su Kun, still unable to speak clearly due to not having fully recovered, was carried out by Xiang Ge and the others, mumbling incoherently, and laid down in a hospital room.

He drifted in and out of consciousness, his mind somewhat muddled by the lingering pain and dizziness from being possessed. However, he was still pondering Gu Yan's chances of victory.

Generals who had fought on battlefields since ancient times naturally had a strong murderous aura, and Gu Yan, having died a tragic death, had become a powerful vengeful spirit.

But the fatuous emperor's murderous aura was also not light. He had also died a restless death and had been suppressed by someone for many years, unable to enter the cycle of reincarnation or ascend. He must have accumulated deep resentment, so he was not much weaker.

From this perspective, the two seemed evenly matched...

However, if it was a matter of cultivation, Gu Yan naturally had the upper hand. After all, he could already freely switch between his spirit form and physical form, while the fatuous emperor still needed to rely on possession. So Gu Yan should have a greater chance of winning...

But! Having a greater chance of winning doesn't mean I'm not worried, wahhh! TAT

Just as Su Kun was groaning, opening his eyes a crack, and wanting to struggle to get up and wait for Gu Yan to return safely, he saw Stone holding a talisman paper covered in strange patterns and slapping it on his forehead.

Before he could even react, his head lolled to the side and he completely passed out.

"Phew-- l-luckily I still had this on me. The s-soul is stabilized. Now w-we can wait for my master to return," Stone said, turning to the worried-looking Geng Zimo and the others.