Chapter Twenty-Seven: Incense and Offerings

“Please, Young Master Su, save my husband!” The moment Xie Jiaoniang saw Su Ye, she immediately knelt before him.

“Zhao Qi? What happened to him?” Su Ye had just realized, upon seeing Xie Jiaoniang, that he hadn’t seen Zhao Qi for quite some time.

“My husband has spent too long with us, and now the chill of the netherworld has entered his body. He’s fallen into a coma. I beg you, Young Master, please save him!” Xie Jiaoniang’s face was filled with pain and regret.

Back when they parted ways with Young Master Su, he had specifically warned them not to spend too much time together. Unfortunately, their longing for those precious moments made them ignore his advice. By the time she realized her husband had been tainted by the ghostly aura, it was already too late.

“You really are…” Su Ye sighed helplessly, then produced a talisman pill and handed it to Xie Jiaoniang.

“Give this pill to Zhao Qi. It will dispel the chill from his body. Afterwards, bring your family to the Su residence, and I will send you to the Underworld.”

This pill was one Su Ye had refined earlier, specifically to expel evil and disperse ghostly energy; it was just what Zhao Qi needed.

Upon receiving the pill from Su Ye, a smile broke across Xie Jiaoniang’s face. She dared not waste a moment; her form transformed into a gust of ghostly wind as she left the Su residence.

The pill worked wonders. Not long after Xie Jiaoniang fed it to Zhao Qi, the chill within his body gradually melted away, and he slowly awakened from his coma.

Soon after, Xie Jiaoniang brought her children and Zhao Qi back to the Su residence.

“Zhao Qi, you have now lived with your wife and children for some time. Surely you understand that the living and the dead walk different paths. Continuing to live with them will only harm you. I am about to summon the ghost officials to escort their souls to the Underworld. Do you consent?”

Su Ye’s gaze fell upon Zhao Qi. He hadn’t sent Xie Jiaoniang and her children directly to the Underworld before, knowing they would not have agreed at the time.

Now that Zhao Qi had experienced the dangers of living with ghosts, if he still refused to listen, Su Ye would have no choice but to forcibly send Xie Jiaoniang and her children to the Underworld.

“I have nothing more to ask for. Please, Young Master Su, do what must be done!” Xie Jiaoniang glanced at Zhao Qi, took her children’s hands, and knelt reverently before Su Ye, bowing three times.

“Thank you for your kindness, Young Master, but I refuse. When I die, I’ll join Jiaoniang as a ghostly couple. That will be enough for me!” Zhao Qi’s eyes reddened, sorrow etched deeply across his face.

“Husband, what nonsense are you speaking? Becoming a ghost is not as simple as you imagine!” Xie Jiaoniang was so frightened that she stood up at once. The only reason she’d been able to spend so much peaceful time with her husband was thanks to Young Master Su’s protection.

Once the ghostly aura leaked from her body, being suppressed by a righteous cultivator would be bearable, but the true terror was falling into the hands of an evil cultivator like Zhao Huaisheng again. Then, truly, death would be preferable to life.

“Please don’t be angry, Young Master Su. Let me speak to my husband once more!” Anxiety clouded Xie Jiaoniang’s face as she looked at her resolute husband, her heart wracked with torment.

Even so, she could not bear to see her husband die.

Though Zhao Qi was stubborn, he could not stand to see Xie Jiaoniang distressed. After her gentle persuasion, he finally relented.

“小狸, take Zhao Qi outside and don’t let anyone disturb me,” Su Ye ordered. Once Little Li had led the reluctant Zhao Qi away, Su Ye tightly closed the door.

He did not immediately use the spirit-summoning incantation to call the Underworld officials. Instead, he brought out the incense and offerings he had prepared in advance.

It was a habit from his previous life. The last time at Blackstone Mountain, he had been in too much of a hurry to prepare properly.

The summoning incantation could forcibly call the Underworld officials once or twice without trouble, but repeated summons would certainly incur their displeasure.

Incense and offerings served as a form of respect; after enjoying them, the officials would not blame him for the summons.

Su Ye lit the incense, arranged the offerings, and began the spirit-summoning incantation.

Moments later, a wave of pure ghostly energy swept in from afar, and within it, a ghost official clad in black appeared before Su Ye.

The official’s form emerged from the mist. His gaze did not linger on Su Ye or Xie Jiaoniang and her children, but settled instead upon the incense and offerings.

“Thank you for coming, Honorable Official. I have prepared incense and offerings for your enjoyment,” Su Ye said softly.

The official paused for a moment, then drifted over to the offerings. He inhaled gently, and a grayish mist rose from the offerings and was drawn into his nostrils.

When the mist was gone, the official turned and nodded to Su Ye. He then cast a pitch-black soul chain, which instantly bound the bodies of Xie Jiaoniang and her children.

Without further delay, the official summoned a wind of the netherworld, enveloping himself and Xie Jiaoniang’s family. When the wind faded, they had vanished.

Su Ye let out a sigh of relief. Sending Xie Jiaoniang and her family into the Underworld was a weight off his shoulders.

He wrapped up the incense and offerings, now tainted with the scent of decay, and carried them to the courtyard. Summoning a servant, he instructed him to bury them carefully.

These offerings, having been consumed by a ghost official, brought no benefit to the living.

Once he had dealt with the offerings, Su Ye turned to answer Zhao Qi’s questions.

“Your wife and children have been taken into the Underworld by the official. As for what awaits them there, I cannot tell you.”

All he knew were rumors from the mortal world about the Underworld; the true nature of that realm was beyond him.

One thing, however, he was certain of: those like Zhao Huaisheng, who wreaked havoc in the mortal realm, would surely suffer torment once their souls entered the Underworld.

“Don’t dwell too much on your wife and children. Their souls have returned to the Underworld; surely they would not wish you to linger in the past. It is better to look forward.”

Su Ye regarded the still-grieving Zhao Qi and asked, “What do you plan to do next?”

“I don’t know,” Zhao Qi shook his head, his mind in disarray, unsure of what to do.

“The Su family is short-handed these days. Take a few days to settle your mind, then return to work for me,” Su Ye said.

Zhao Qi was skilled in martial arts and capable in his duties. Su Ye planned to have him manage the family’s guards, and to recruit more as well.

The materials and herbs he needed were extremely valuable, and more importantly, might attract the greed of cultivators. It was difficult for ordinary people to deliver them safely to the Su family.

He now intended to impart cultivation methods to Zhao Qi and others—not expecting them to reach great heights, but so they could at least generate spiritual power.