After Marrying the Lord of the Underworld

Jing Xian and Lu Yingjiu came all the way to the top floor of Changliu Building.

The 8th floor was full of yin, but Zhang Nianyun was nowhere to be seen—it was unknown if it’s because she came from an aristocratic family, that after becoming a ghost, she was more alert than other fierce ghosts. Not only concealing and knowing how to attack the living, but upon seeing the nursing staff being defeated, she ran away very fast.

There were no windows, and the interior was very dim.

Lu Yingjiu originally wanted to go downstairs directly, but when he went down one floor.

In the corridor sign that was illuminated by the light, what was written in red block letters on the wall was: [8th floor]

He obviously went down the stairs, but he was still on the same floor.

Going down the stairs again, it was the same result, they were trapped here. The windows in the corridor were locked, and they couldn’t be opened no matter how hard they pulled.

Just like an amusement park that cannot be without a roller coaster, a ghost story also cannot be without a ghost hitting the wall-this was an item that countless ghosts had been obsessed with throughout the ages, and it had lasted for a long time. No one knew why they were happy to trap people in a small space instead of killing them directly.

Lu Yingjiu stood at the stair entrance, the light elongated the shadows of the two of them, all the way to the end of the corridor.

Lu Yingjiu stopped, took out a flashlight and shone it around.

The layout of the floor seemed to be different from before.

Most of them were very subtle changes, such as the number of beds changed from 3 to 4, all the items in the floor were mirrored in reverse, such as the group photo at the head of the bed was changed from blank to a family portrait… It’s more likely that they had entered a brand new space that peeled off a layer of the veil of the nursing home.

The most obvious was the last two rooms in the corridor, which had been changed from ordinary wards to wards for critically ill patients.

The doors of the critically ill patients’ wards were all reinforced doors. The steel was as thick as three fingers wide. Even a strong man wouldn’t be able to break them open, let alone a few old runes pasted on it.

Fortunately, it had been a long time ago, and there was no combination lock. Lu Yingjiu spread his hands, and a little paper puppet crawled out of his pocket, and floated lightly onto his hand- the paper puppet was still droopy at first, but after standing on his hand, it quickly became energetic.

It jumped to the ground, and it took a long time to squeeze through the gap in the door.

The lock on the iron door was heavy and rusty. The paper figurine stood on it and jumped up and down before stepping on the lock and unlocking the door from the inside.

Squeak——

Lu Yingjiu used some strength to push open the heavy door.

The object of entry was a moldy mattress, black binding straps hung from the bed frame, and the runes on the wall were mottled, most of which had fallen off.

After these patients received too much fright, they would lose too many souls. In fact, they were not much different from mental illness. When they went crazy, it would be a headache, especially for critically ill patients. And the most important thing was that people who were originally mentally unstable had weak yang energy and were more likely to attract ghosts. (TL: probably referring to 3 souls. The three hun/souls refer to three types of spiritual essence within the human body: the heavenly/Tian(天) soul, the earthly /Di（地）soul, and the human/Ren（人） soul. The heavenly soul represents a person’s consciousness, the earthly soul represents their emotions, and the human soul represents their vitality or life force)

The light of the flashlight swept across the room.

Back then, ghost exorcists had limited means, they could only restrain them, and then use talisman papers to slowly draw their souls back.

To prevent accidents, there were no windows in the room, which made it cramped and depressing.

Looking carefully at these mattresses, there were some blood stains and scratches, and cottons leaking on the crevices.

It was the mark left by the patients when they were manic. Even if it was merely scratches with their nails, it still broke and couldn’t be stopped either. Seeing it now, it still felt creepy.

He opened the bedside cabinets one by one. There were yellowed medical records and medication inside. He simply flipped through them, but there was nothing special.

After leaving the room, they went to the other ward.

There were no restraining belts on the bed and it looked like an ordinary ward, and there were also TVs and radios, making it look much more normal.

Lu Yingjiu released little Mao Tuanzi, and it ran around the room, sniffing around, and suddenly cried out near the hospital bed.

When Lu Yingjiu passed by, he saw Mao Tuanzi biting something under the bed and dragging it out with all its might——

Four or five cardboard boxes were dragged out in a row.

The cardboard box was heavy, just like the one left by Ye Deyong. It was covered with the unique runes of the Ye family, wrapping around the box like a giant snake.

Lu Yingjiu said, “I’ll let Ye Feng come up and take a look.”

He sent a message to Ye Feng, and Ye Feng said that he had arranged the talisman paper with Xiao Li, and he would come over soon.

While waiting for Ye Feng, Lu Yingjiu took a piece of talisman paper and blew away the heavy dust on the ground. The two sat on the ground in front of the cardboard box.

Lu Yingjiu remembered something, and said to Jing Xian, “Ye Feng told me something before.”

“What?” Jing Xian asked.

“There was one time in the compound that a critically ill patient was accidentally let out.” Lu Yingjiu said, “The old man has a gentle temperament unlike his fellow patients. He didn’t say he was going to kill the entire nursing home with a knife, nor did he claim to be summoned by ghosts and gods, nor going to commit suicide by jumping into the sea, he just simply went out for a walk.”

“It sounds quite friendly.” Jing Xian said.

“Yes, this uncle has very strong legs. He walked all over this mountain in just over a day, and then when he got hungry.” Lu Yingjiu said, “When he got hungry, and wanted to eat, and he would return to the compound obediently—if it weren’t for him bringing back a dozen ghosts from the mountain, the compound would be quite happy.”

Jing Xian: “…..”

Lu Yingjiu smiled, looked around the room, got up and picked up a syringe from the ground.

The needle of the syringe had been broken, and it had been stepped on several times, making it deformed.

Lu Yingjiu said, “Like the Chen family’s human skin mask, the Ye family also has some controversial points.”

He knew that Jing Xian was actually not very familiar with the past of the exorcism family, so he chatted casually.

Jing Xian sat down and listened attentively to his wife’s story, then stuffed a small bottle of yogurt into Lu Yingjiu’s hand.

Lu Yingjiu had yogurt in one hand and a syringe in the other, and felt that his profile was quite tricky.

He continued, “The Ye family can summon the ‘Li Snake’. Although Li Snake is famous for controlling flames, it also has snake venom.”

“Oh.” Jing Xian said, “This I know.”

Lu Yingjiu asked, “Have you seen the Li Snake in the ghost world?”

Even among all kinds of supernatural beings, the Li Snake was extremely powerful.

Jing Xian hesitated for a few seconds. “…I guess I’ve seen it before. I seem to have seen it in the backyard of my house.”

Behind his palace was a vast garden, with green waves swaying in the wind. Thousands of flowers grew on both sides of the road, with a strong fragrance. In the deep and terrifying ghost world, it was like a paradise, where one could pluck flower branches on sunny days, and enjoy the remains on rainy nights.

This garden was built beside the abyss, and under the beauty was a strong ghostly aura, which had attracted many ghosts—they all knew that the ghost king was generous and was willing to show mercy. It was a great honor for them to enjoy this infinite scenery.

So they all came in a cautious manner, restraining their fangs well. Even monsters that could turn the world upside down and overwhelm the rivers and seas were as innocent as little white rabbits in the backyard.

It was not without ghosts and naughty ghosts, who did not know what was good or bad.

At present, they already joined the luxurious ghost realm bone ash package.

In fact, Jing Xian was not generous.

He just thought that the backyard was too monotonous, thus needed to add more small animals to maintain the diversity of species.

Lu Yingjiu:???

Lu Yingjiu said, “You have a Li Snake in your backyard?”

Can this thing just be let roam freely?!

“That’s right.” Jing Xian said, “It’s a big one hanging on a tree, and I even fed it a few skulls.”

Lu Yingjiu:???

There were so many inappropriate points that he didn’t know how to vomit.

He said, “Where is your home situated…”

Jing Xian said, “Beside the abyss.”

Lu Yingjiu knew that many ghosts shied away from the abyss and were reluctant to approach it.

Jing Xian lives next to the abyss…

What to think, why does he feel that Jing Xian can only choose such a niche place to live in. Combined with the presence of the Li Snake in his backyard, it proves that it is a place where there is trouble or dispute.

Could it be that Jing Xian has been reluctant to reveal his name because he is an outcast priest!

The flow of Lu Yingjiu’s thoughts: Although Jing Xian’s strength is impressive, and may not seem like an ordinary person at first glance, there are still constraints between priests, so it is impossible to say that such a thing will really happen. 

He looked at Jing Xian again, his mentality had completely changed, he thought it was too unfair for Jing Xian to be so good at taking care of others, yet had a very bad ghost fate.

He returned the yogurt in his hand, patted Jing Xian’s hand and said, “I won’t drink it, you should drink more.”

Jing Xian:?

Holding the yogurt, he didn’t understand what Lu Yingjiu was thinking, and asked again, “So, what’s wrong with the Li Snake venom?”

Lu Yingjiu took a deep breath, let his thoughts come back, pointed to the needle and said, “In the past, the Ye family used Li Snake’s venom to kill many people. This kind of venom takes effect quickly, even to ghost exorcists that have already invited gods, it is also deadly. The venom, when used in light doses, is an extremely potent stimulant, surpassing modern stimulants, and was also popular on the black market for a while.”

“Later,” Jing Xian asked, “There shouldn’t be anymore now, right?”

“Yes.” Lu Yingjiu said, “Like the Chen family, the Ye family has also made changes. The venom is actually very effective for people who have lost their souls, allowing them to regain some sanity and maintain stimulation until their souls return. That’s why the nursing home let the people from the Ye family take charge all year round.”

He looked back at the room, his eyes swept over the black restraint belt, the scratches on the bed, the various graffiti on the wall, and finally his eyes rested on a family photo beside the bed.

In the family portrait, the family of three all smiled brightly.

The patient must have been discharged safely and lived in peace and stability.

He said, “It was said that the Ye family took charge in building this nursing home and really saved many people. As a result, there have been many obstacles on the road to exorcising ghosts, and the aristocratic family has a dark history, but overall it is positive. “

“I became a ghost exorcist not because I want to make money or to be famous. It’s because when I was a child, I often thought that if only a very powerful person could help me, I would definitely regard that person as a hero. “

“I didn’t wait for a powerful ghost exorcist in the end, I waited for you.” Lu Yingjiu smiled at Jing Xian, “Not everyone is as lucky as me, so I want to be ‘that person’ for them.”

Jing Xian stared at him intently.

“You have already done it,” he said.

“Yes.” Lu Yingjiu said, “But I’m a very skilled ghost exorcist, and I can do even better.”

He knew that he was very talented, and his requirements for himself were hundreds of times higher than those of others.

He asked again, “Jing Xian, do you have any ideals?”

“No.” Jing Xian answered very simply, “I am like other ghosts, and my plans for the future are very simple.”

Lu Yingjiu made a “tell me” gesture.

Jing Xian said, “For example, my staged small goal is to hold hands with you and then together be a dry firewood, heavenly thunder and earthly fire, Wushan cloud and the rain…”

(t/n: dry firewood-a metaphor for the blazing passion between men and women)

(t/n: heavenly thunder and earthly fire-abundance of passion and sexual energy)

(t/n: Wushan cloud and the rain-refer to a rendezvous between a man and a woman.)

“Stop, stop!” Lu Yingjiu quickly interrupted him, rubbed his brow bone vigorously, and took a deep breath before calming down, “Don’t you have any long-term and ambitious goals?”

“Yes,” Jing Xian said, “The long-term goal is to have a lot of dry firewood, heavenly thunder and earthly fire, Wushan cloud and the rain with you…”

Lu Yingjiu: “…..”

Lu Yingjiu said, “On behalf of myself, I oppose your ideals.”

“Oh.” Jing Xian was obviously disappointed, “You oppose, but I support it. It’s one-to-one, a draw.”

“No.” Lu Yingjiu said, “I have a veto power.”

No matter how he looked at Jing Xian, he felt that this person was evil and dangerous, thus he took back the yogurt in Jing Xian’s hand and started eating it himself.

Sounds of footsteps came from far to near.

It was Ye Feng who finally arrived.

He was sweating, broke into the room and said out of breath, “Hey, hey, why are you two sitting here? It’s a ghost hitting the wall here! We are trapped on the 8th floor!!”

“Yes.” Lu Yingjiu said, “I know.”

His reaction was too calm, Ye Feng widened his eyes, and looked at the two of them carefully. “There is a ghost hitting the wall, and you are still sitting here chatting?! Damn, what kind of calm is this!”

Lu Yingjiu said with a look on his face, “Yeah, so what, it’s just a small spectacle.”

Jing Xian said, “My wife is right.”

Ye Feng was stunned by this couple. He was so sad and indignant that he finally gave up on himself. ” Okay okay okay, I don’t care about it anymore. We’ll talk about it later. Where is the box you mentioned? Show me the runes.”

“Here.” Lu Yingjiu pointed to the boxes in front of him, “These are all of them, jia yu!” (TL: same as “fighting!”)

Next, Ye Feng concentrated on studying the talisman papers.

These talisman papers were much simpler than those on his second grandpa’s relics, and they were easy to solve. After working for more than half an hour, all the talisman papers on the carton came off.

Then he opened the carton and muttered, “Let me see what’s good…”

The three of them watched it together, and saw that there were black video tapes and CDs inside the cardboard box.

They were densely piled up, and there may be hundreds or thousands of them together.

Lu Yingjiu picked up a CD, and saw [9907] written in black pen on the CD.

Like some kind of numbering.

On other discs and videotapes, each one was numbered.

In the common ward on this floor, there were old-fashioned TVs and DVD players. The three of them moved the cardboard boxes over and sat in front of the TV tossing and turning.

“This TV has no power, what to use?” Ye Feng said.

Lu Yingjiu pressed the TV switch.

The TV was obviously not plugged in, but after he pressed the button, a snowflake screen flashed, buzzing and the light illuminated the faces of the three of them, which was quite evil.

“That’s right.” Ye Feng said, “My second grandma is still very powerful. She is more advanced than others when she becomes a ghost, and she can also generate electricity with ghost power.”

He casually put in a CD.

The green light of the DVD player blinked a few times.

A picture finally appeared on the screen.

The scenery shown was near the nursing home. Green trees could be seen, the white walls of the nursing home, and the extremely distant Mt. Gassan Village at the foot of the mountain.

The picture quality was very poor, black screen in most places, probably damaged. Ye Feng turned it to 5x speed and ran through it quickly, but didn’t find anything special.

He played several other discs.

Still the same result: either taking photos of the scenery, or the staff and patients in the compound, like recording the daily life.

Fragments were fragmented, and the dialogue was jumbled and meaningless.

“What’s going on?” Ye Feng scratched his head, “So there were people who were so trendy at that time and started to shoot vlogs?” He picked up the hundreds of CDs in the box again, “We can’t watch them one by one. When will we watch this? Say, let’s solve the problem of ghost hitting the wall first, then take the box back and watch.”

He shook the case, and the discs and tapes rattled, then added, “If you ask me, these things probably don’t make any sense at all.”

Lu Yingjiu silently flipped through the things in the box.

He stared at the number for a moment.

The numbers seem meaningless, but…

He said, “Ye Feng, there is a string of numbers in your second grandpa’s relics.”

Ye Feng was stunned for a few seconds. “Yes, I remember [103486].”

Lu Yingjiu picked up a CD, and the number on it was [103486].

He said, “Look at this.”

Ye Feng’s eyes brightened. “You are such a little genius!”

“However,” Lu Yingjiu held the CD and looked at it for a few seconds. He didn’t feel it just now, but when he held it in his hand, he realized that it has a wave of yin energy. “It must be a deadly trap. The correct way to leave is to touch the invisible window deep in the room, and then return to the seventh floor from the exterior wall of the building.”

Ye Feng was stunned. “Then why don’t we leave now? Go out and watch the CD again.”

“Because I kind of want to see what the trap is.” After Lu Yingjiu finished speaking, he inserted the disc into the DVD player.

Ye Feng:???

He will never be able to keep up with Lu Yingjiu’s brain circuit of exorcising ghosts.

When Lu Yingjiu stuffed the CD in, the temperature plummeted, and the darkness flooded into the light.

The TV screen began to flicker, and the sound was very noisy. It was sometimes piercing, like fingernails scratching the blackboard, sometimes low-pitched, mixed with many inaudible human voices, making people’s hair stand on end.

Ye Feng supported his forehead. “Okay, now my grandma is really angry.”

“Aren’t you curious about what’s on the CD?” Lu Yingjiu smiled.

“To be honest, I’m not curious…” Ye Feng patted the ashes on the hospital bed and sat on it, “Since you’ve already done it, then let’s just wait.”

It was a long wait. The light was pale, and it fell on Lu Yingjiu’s face. It stood to reason that this could be called death lighting, but it couldn’t hold up to his good looks, with his exquisite facial features, and the shadow of his eyelashes that hung down like a small fan.

Ye Feng rarely exorcised ghosts with him, now looking at Lu Yingjiu, his only thought was: He is extremely confident.

Otherwise, he will not be so calm and unperturbed.

Many people complained about Lu Yingjiu’s methods, but deep down in their hearts, they all admired Lu Yingjiu.

Just ask, who wouldn’t like a good-looking and confident person.

…And this good-looking and confident person was even really good at fighting.

It was almost three minutes of waiting.

After the black and white screen, a picture finally appeared.

It was of poor quality, and shaky camera, but within a few seconds they could barely see that the picture was a corridor of the compound.

A female voice came: “Still playing here?”

Subsequently, the camera was raised, and a boy’s face occupied the entire screen.

“Fuck.” Ye Feng took a look, and his scalp went numb instantly.

That was him when he was a child.

Little Ye Feng hopped around in the corridor.

The female voice continued: “Your second grandpa has no time to come and find you. You haven’t eaten yet, go to the cafeteria and come back to play.”

The female voice sounded old and hoarse.

The boy opened his eyes wide and looked a little shy: “I don’t know where the cafeteria is.”

The female voice laughed: “I’ll take you there.”

Ye Feng murmured, “This is the second grandma’s voice.”

Lu Yingjiu asked, “You don’t remember this incident?”

“Of course I don’t remember…” Ye Feng was still shocked.

In the picture, Little Yefeng hesitated for a few seconds and followed her footsteps.

He looked up and asked: “What are they busy with today?”

“Busy with sweeping the tomb.” (TL: to visit a grave to honor the memory of the dead)

“Sweeping the tomb?”

“Mn.”

Ye Feng tried hard to recall this conversation, but his mind was empty. He said, “I completely don’t remember……”

Then he froze.

The sun was shining brightly in front of his eyes, and the corridor was white. Zhang Nianyun took his hand and walked forward, with a pleasant fragrance on her body.

Is this a dream?

Ye Feng was a little dazed.

It was so real, as if he just wandered off this afternoon, and the plot of him and Lu Yingjiu became illusory and vague, like the butterfly dream by Zhuang Zhou.

(t/n: from ‘Zhuang Zhou’s dream of a butterfly’- Zhuang Zhou turned into a butterfly in his dream, roaming freely between heaven and earth, he did not know whether he really was a man who had dreamed he was a butterfly or whether he was a butterfly now dreaming he was a man. When he woke up suddenly, he found that he was still Zhuang Zhou. Later, it is used as a metaphor for the vagaries of life.) 

But in the next second, he immediately realized: Something is wrong! This was the trap that Lu Yingjiu mentioned about!

He is now on the video himself!!

Zhang Nianyun didn’t look back. “Have you forgotten me?”

Ye Feng wanted to let go, but Zhang Nianyun’s hand was like iron tongs, holding him tightly for a moment. The strength was terrifying, Ye Feng broke out in cold sweat on his forehead, and his finger bones creaked.

She said, “Have you forgotten about me?”

Blood dripped down her arm, dripping onto the ground. Ye Feng saw that the back of her head was sunken, as if she had been knocked flat by something.

She said softly, “Ye Feng, you forgot…”

Before she finished speaking, a steel pipe appeared out of thin air and slammed on her head!

Zhang Nianyun staggered, a hand stretched out from the wall of the corridor, then Lu Yingjiu came out with the steel pipe, and swung it on her head again. “He really forgot, so don’t ask.”

Bang!

Zhang Nianyun laid on the ground and did not move.

Ye Feng: “…..”

I felt like there was more blood coming out of the back of her head now.

Lu Yingjiu was holding a steel pipe—it looked like a leg of a hospital bed that had been removed. “I was a bit disappointed and thought it was a creative trap,” he said.

Ye Feng looked at his immature hands. “I think it’s quite creative…”

On the ground, Zhang Nianyun’s body suddenly twitched.

Her face became distorted, her nails grew longer, her body became rotten, and she turned into a horrible appearance in a short while, with her bloody mouth open, and wanting to scream!

“I don’t suggest you do this.” Lu Yingjiu said, “He is already very upset.”

Ye Feng didn’t understand who this “he” was.

Zhang Nianyun obviously didn’t have the sense to figure it out, she just felt that her throat was locked by an invisible force.

She couldn’t make a sound.

…No, not just the throat.

She was going to be very lightly, pulverized.

The wind whispered in her ear: [You are too noisy.]

In an instant, the disc in the DVD player cracked, the TV screen was also shattered, and the fragments exploded all over the floor.

Ye Feng’s eyes flickered, and when he came back to his senses, he had already returned to the ward, looked down at his hands and feet, and finally returned to his normal appearance.

Lu Yingjiu patted the TV, and said to Jing Xian. “I said that you are too destructive. This old antique can’t afford to be tossed about.”

Jing Xian, aware of his wrongdoing, handed him a packet of small nuts to apologize.

Looking back at the broken DVD player, there was a photo. Lu Yingjiu picked it up, it was a group photo of a dozen people.

There were five or six people in the front row.

Little Ye Feng was riding on Ye Deyong’s neck, making a “yeah”. Next to him was Zhang Nianyun. Although she was old, her unique temperament made the white dress on her body not obtrusive, but elegant. The sun was just right, the mountains and forests behind were lush, and everyone was smiling brightly.

Turning over the photo, there was an elegant handwriting:

[January 13, 1999, third tomb sweeping]