Chapter 137: Able to Do a Little More

Several deities from the various departments under the Prefecture City God gave chase, especially the chief official of the Yin-Yang Department, whose eyes, capable of tracking yin and yang, often made it impossible for many evil entities to hide.

Ji Yuan stood beside the restaurant diagonally opposite the City God Temple in Miaosifang. He watched as the seemingly declining Zhou Niansheng was led by soul-reapers into the City God Temple's precinct and disappeared, then looked in the direction where the white-furred woman had fled.

Often, mortals are easily enchanted by demons and evil spirits, frequently unaware they have been ensnared and thus needlessly depleting their vital energy.

At first, Ji Yuan wasn't sure about the situation between Zhou Niansheng and the woman he called Ruoniang. After all, genuine romantic relationships between humans and demons are extremely rare. Even in the story of the White Snake from his previous life, didn't Lady White initially deceive Xu Xian?

However, it was at the entrance to the Underworld that the woman's tearful farewell truly moved Ji Yuan. This genuine display of emotion deeply touched him and made him willing to believe in that human-demon love.

'The Prefecture City God's Underworld… not to be trifled with, it seems.'

He chuckled self-deprecatingly. Ji Yuan took a step, his form blurring, and like a dragon gliding over shortened ground, he moved towards Jinyufang.

With his conceptualization fully activated and movement techniques engaged, Ji Yuan quickly returned to the Zhou residence.

Inside the Zhou residence, weeping still filled the air. Everyone in the Zhou family, young and old, gathered around Zhou Niansheng's bed, pouring out their sorrow. Two servants were taking advantage of the body not yet stiffening to change Zhou Niansheng into his burial clothes.

The woman's physical body was temporarily placed on a straw mat laid on the ground; it had not been treated poorly.

'I, Ji Yuan, with my lifelong reputation, never thought I'd resort to stealing a corpse!'

With that thought in mind, Ji Yuan didn't hesitate. Using an illusion to conceal himself, he rushed into the room and, with a wave of his sleeve, drew the woman's body towards him from a distance.

As the body floated up, Ji Yuan felt something was off. Although its weight seemed to be that of a woman, it exuded a strange sense of falseness.

He widened his spiritual eyes for a closer look. Lo and behold, the body in his hands was merely a white tail transformed. This meant the demon soul that appeared to have been dragged away by soul-reapers was not just a soul!

Even Ji Yuan had been deceived by this trick. Although his spiritual eyes had only been half-open, and perhaps because the other party harbored no ill will, still, preventing Ji Yuan from noticing enough to scrutinize was quite a feat. It was certainly beyond ordinary illusion spells.

Despite his surprise, Ji Yuan didn't dwell on it. He immediately left with this "body."

When Ji Yuan left again, the woman's body floated beside him, disappearing from the room with him.

The Zhou family was still weeping when a servant suddenly noticed the woman's body was gone and immediately screamed in surprise.

"Lady Bai Ruo's body is gone!"

"It was just here a moment ago, and now it's vanished!"

"She was a demon to begin with; maybe she just ran off?" "Shush..."

"Today is too creepy!" "Come with me to look for it!"

As they spoke, Zhou's eldest son and two servants left the house and searched around the courtyard. Of course, they found nothing.

The Zhou family remained in a minor state of panic for a while before settling down. Meanwhile, Ji Yuan, having learned the woman's name was Bai Ruo, quickly left with her body. He moved through the city like a wisp of smoke, away from Miaosifang, and continued towards the Imperial City.

He avoided crowded areas and noise. Worried about being discovered by spirits or deities, Ji Yuan didn't dare to leap or jump high.

Less than a tea-drinking's time after Ji Yuan left with the woman's body, an Underworld patrol deity and a chief official arrived at the Zhou residence. After all, though a demon that escaped would largely not dare to return, they still had to guard against it coming back for its physical body.

Only upon arriving at the Zhou residence did they discover the demon's body was also gone.

Ji Yuan's thoughts at that moment were quite complex.

'Running away with someone's beloved's body – what a situation!'

But there was no alternative. Strictly speaking, with his immortal sword by his side, Ji Yuan might not truly fear the Prefecture City God in a direct confrontation, and the Tongtian River wasn't far either.

But he wasn't in the right, and he truly didn't want to clash with the Underworld. Although, upon closer thought, getting the Underworld to grant him a favor might work, that would be too troublesome. It was better to solve it simply if possible, so this was the only way.

About a quarter of an hour later, Ji Yuan entered a pavilion in the backyard of a prominent mansion within the city. He went directly to the third floor before waving his sleeve and setting down the woman's body.

This pavilion was a library, but it seemed rarely visited, with little human presence remaining. The corridor outside the rolled blinds on the third floor was already covered in a layer of dust, indicating that the mansion's servants only cleaned it occasionally.

"Only a short while has passed. Since you dared to send your lover to the City God Temple entrance, you shouldn't have been caught yet, right?"

He murmured, then stopped dwelling on it. Ji Yuan knelt beside the woman, his left hand touching her forehead. His right hand formed a sword-finger gesture, drawing a circle in the air, as a commanding incantation rumbled from deep within his throat.

"Bai Ruo, come quickly! Bai Ruo, come quickly!"

With a retraction of his sword-finger, he gently pressed it into the invisible circle he had drawn. A ripple of dim light spread through the air like a wave.

Soul Summoning.

It could be used this way too!

Within the prefecture city, the woman's soul was surprisingly too fast for several Underworld officials to catch. Not only was her speed strange, but her aura was also eerie. Every now and then, she would pull a trick similar to a cicada shedding its shell. If the chief official of the Yin-Yang Department hadn't persisted in the pursuit, she would have truly escaped long ago.

The situation was also critical now. The judge behind her had never stopped writing with his brush, constantly sketching the woman's form. Once registered by the judge, she would have nowhere to hide as long as she remained within the City God Temple's jurisdiction.

But as long as the Prefecture City God didn't personally come to apprehend her, Bai Ruo was confident she could escape. The cost, of course, would be significant: not only would her soul body be harmed and her vital energy depleted, but her tail would likely be irrecoverable.

However, it would be worth it if the physical body formed by her tail could be buried alongside Zhou Niansheng. Although Zhou's eldest son had a bad temper, he was at least genuinely filial and would surely ensure she and Zhou Niansheng were buried together after their deaths.

She couldn't stay in the Prefecture City any longer. After fleeing for so long, the city wall of the capital was now in sight. Bai Ruo unleashed her demonic energy and activated her magic, charging towards the wall ahead.

With a whoosh, she passed directly through the wall. Her heart immediately lightened; once outside the prefecture city limits, she wouldn't have to worry about the Prefecture City God's power and could use a breath-concealing escape talisman.

But her relief seemed premature. Just as she passed through the wall, a dense golden light appeared before her eyes: a large golden net woven from vines.

'The Earth God of the Prefecture!'

Not only did the Prefecture have a City God, but it also had a true regional Earth God—a genuine and righteous Earth God who governed the entire prefecture!

"You demon, you court death!"

As the Earth God's angry shouts reached her, Bai Ruo turned ashen. She never expected to alarm the Earth God so quickly. There was truly not even a sliver of hope left; even with a breath-concealing escape talisman, how could she escape under the Earth God's very nose?

'Perhaps it would be better to go and accompany Master Zhou!'

However, in the Earth God's eyes, the vine net swept through empty air. The demon had vanished before the net could even close.

"Hmm?"

Although the Prefecture's Earth God was an old man, he stood nine feet tall, clad in a magic robe, and held a thick vine staff. He gazed in the direction the demon had vanished, his face full of doubt.

He looked back towards the city's interior and then scanned its exterior, unable to detect the demon's whereabouts.

From behind the city wall, chief officials from the City God's various departments flew over. Reaching the outside, they saw the Earth God standing beyond the city and all clasped their hands in greeting.

"Greetings, Earth God!"

"Excuse me, Earth God, did you see a demon escape?"

The chief official of the Yin-Yang Department asked, his gaze also falling on the vine net in the Earth God's hand, which was empty.

The Earth God was also utterly perplexed at this moment.

"Earlier, someone was offering sacrifices at the temple. As I enjoyed the offerings, I noticed commotion in the city, with faint demonic energy and magical light flickering, so I came out to investigate. I was just about to catch that demon here, but unexpectedly... it simply vanished!"

"Vanished?"

The Underworld officials and ghost guards exchanged bewildered glances. With the Earth God present, for the demon to still escape was truly bizarre. If it possessed such powerful magic and divine abilities, why would it need to run?

On the third floor of the library in the mansion, Bai Ruo's true form, like an iron shard pulled by a powerful magnet, was yanked directly from the air's ripples and, with a thud, landed on her original "physical body" on the floor.

Her mind slightly dazed, she dazedly looked at her "physical body," noticing that the character 'Ni' (匿, conceal) encircled three triangular points on the outside of her body.

These characters were formed by dust gathered and piled from the ground, firmly adhering to three spots on the floor. A faint, concealing power emanated from them.

Looking around again, she then noticed a white-robed man sitting to one side, looking towards Miaosifang. He wore a thin, wide-sleeved robe, and his hair was loosely tied, adorned with an ink-colored hairpin.

Bai Ruo looked left and right, but could only conclude that this person was a "mortal." Yet, she knew this person was absolutely not a mortal!

"Ah... troublesome indeed! Fortunately, my ability seems to be a bit stronger than that Earth God's!"

The man sighed, as if mocking himself, then looked at Bai Ruo, allowing her to see his pale, calm eyes.