43: Chapter 43: A Small Shock to the Underworld for the Rogue Relative

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Open up! Big Brother, stop playing dead! I know you’re home!"

"If you don't open up now, I'll have these few big internet celebrities livestream smashing the door! When that happens, the whole internet will know your family refuses to save someone on the verge of death. How will Pei Duo ever be able to hold her head up in public again!"

"This beast... I'll fight him to the death!"

Father Pei trembled all over with rage, his eyes bloodshot. He snatched the fruit knife from the coffee table, ready to rush the door.

He had lived an honest life, never losing his temper with anyone, yet now his own younger brother was pushing him to the point of murder.

"Old Pei! What are you doing! You're holding a knife; even if you're right, it will be hard to explain later!" Mother Pei desperately clung to her husband's waist.

"Dad, put the knife down."

Pei Duo walked over, gently pressed down on her father's trembling hand, and smoothly took the fruit knife, tossing it back into the fruit platter. "It's not worth getting a criminal record for people like them."

Father Pei was stunned. Looking into his daughter's deep, calm eyes, the explosive anger that had been building up inexplicably subsided.

Pei Duo turned around and pulled the black jade pendant, still warm from her body, out from her collar.

Her fingertips caressed the rough cracks on the pendant's surface, and she silently called out in her heart: Brother.

Buzz—

The jade pendant trembled slightly, emitting a faint, almost imperceptible black glow.

The next second, a familiar voice, carrying a hint of laziness as if just waking up, sounded directly in the depths of Pei Duo's mind.

"What? Someone’s looking for trouble right after you got back?"

Hearing that voice, Pei Duo’s nose stung, and she almost lost control, but she managed to suppress it in front of her parents.

She briefly explained the situation outside the door.

"Heh."

A light chuckle came from her mind.

"Perfect. I’m extremely bored down here. Since this group of people is so eager to touch the 'immortal aura,' I'll grant their wish."

"Do you still remember the 'Sacrificial Art' I taught you in the Inner Vault?" Pei Fei’s voice became playful.

Pei Duo’s eyes lit up.

Outside the door, there was a loud 'crash'!

Pei Dongsheng had clearly lost patience. He had found a hammer from somewhere and started frantically smashing the door lock.

Those internet celebrities became even more excited. Their camera flashes blinked wildly, and they shouted, "Subscribers! If likes break one hundred thousand, we break the door! Let everyone see the legendary Eldest Princess's boudoir!"

"Duo Duo..." Mother Pei's face turned deathly pale with fright.

"Mom, step back."

Pei Duo swept the fruit platter and water cups off the coffee table in one swift, clean motion.

Her gaze swept across the living room, finally landing on a dusty glass crystal ball next to the TV cabinet—it was the so-called 'housewarming gift' Pei Dongsheng had sent years ago, the cheap kind sold three for ten yuan at street stalls.

"You'll do."

Pei Duo grabbed the crystal ball and placed it in the center of the coffee table. She pressed one hand onto the sphere's surface, took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and her lips moved as she recited that obscure and ancient sacrificial incantation.

"Netherworld order, all things equal price..."

As the mantra was recited, the lights in the living room flickered twice without warning.

Whoosh—!

An intensely cold wind swept up out of nowhere in the sealed living room.

Father and Mother Pei felt a chill run down the back of their necks. Before they could react, a shocking scene unfolded—

The originally unremarkable glass crystal ball melted and evaporated at a visible rate, like an ice cube dropped into strong acid, leaving not even a speck of residue behind.

In its place, a bead suspended in mid-air, emitting a faint, eerie green light.

The bead was only the size of a dragon's eye. Its surface was not smooth but carved with countless twisted, agonized human faces. Looking at it made one's scalp tingle.

"This is the 'World-Shunning Bead.'"

Pei Fei's voice sounded again. "Throw it to the door. This thing can deploy a temporary 'barrier.' Since they like blocking the door, let them wander around outside to their heart's content."

Pei Duo grabbed the ice-cold bead.

Without hesitation, she walked to the entrance and, as if tossing out trash, forcefully rolled the bead out through the gap beneath the door.

Rumble—

The sound of the bead rolling was very light.

Outside the door.

Pei Dongsheng was holding the hammer, his jowls trembling with excitement: "Folks! Watch closely! This first hammer is for justice!"

Suddenly, a dark bead rolled toward his feet, hitting his leather shoe.

"What the heck is this?"

Pei Dongsheng looked down.

Buzz—!!

The bead transformed into an invisible, transparent ripple that instantly spread throughout the entire third-floor hallway.

The previous clamor of smashing, cursing, and the internet celebrities' heckling abruptly ceased at that moment.

That sudden dead silence was more unnerving than the earlier noise.

"What... what happened?" Mother Pei shivered, clutching Father Pei's arm.

Pei Duo said nothing, only moving to the peephole to look outside.

Pei Dongsheng and the internet celebrities were still standing in place.

But their expressions had changed.

The greed and arrogance vanished, replaced by extreme fear and confusion.

From Pei Dongsheng's perspective, the anti-theft door, which had been just within reach, suddenly 'receded,' becoming an unreachable black dot.

The familiar hallway walls around him began to ooze scarlet blood, and the tiles under his feet turned into a swamp of soft, rotten flesh.

"Ghosts... there are ghosts!!"

Pei Dongsheng suddenly let out a piercing scream, dropped the hammer, and turned to run.

However, no matter how he ran or how large his strides were, he was perpetually circling within the small confines of the third floor.

The internet celebrities were in a worse state.

The female streamer holding her phone looked like she had seen something terrifying, frantically kowtowing to the empty air, her forehead bleeding from the impact; the male assistant holding the fill light was fiercely choking himself, his face turning the color of pig liver, as if trying to strangle himself to death.

The phone was still live-streaming.

The tens of thousands of viewers in the livestream room watched helplessly as the image twisted and changed color, watching the group that had been so arrogant moments before spin around and scream in the hallway like rats tossed into a tumble dryer.

[Holy crap! What is happening?! Is this special effects?!]

[Retribution! This is retribution! They deserve it for daring to harass the Underworld Son of Heaven's family!]

[To the person above, this isn't special effects... I study metaphysics, and this is encountering the real deal! It’s a ghost maze! This Pei family really can’t be messed with!]

[Hahaha! This is so satisfying to watch! Is this the legendary 'Magic Circle of Love' spin?]

Inside the living room.

Pei Duo withdrew her gaze and turned to face her stunned parents. "Dad, Mom, it's fine now. It was just a 'ghost maze.' No one will die; it’s just to teach them a lesson."

"Ghost... ghost maze?" Father Pei swallowed hard. Looking at his daughter’s composed demeanor, he felt both unfamiliar and reassured.

Just then, the black jade pendant on the coffee table suddenly vibrated again.

This time, it was no longer a voice transmission in their minds.

Whoosh—

A thick wisp of black mist surged out from the jade pendant, slowly condensing in mid-air, finally taking the form of a tall, slender, semi-transparent phantom wearing plain dark robes.

That face, even though somewhat blurry, the contours of the eyebrows and eyes were recognizable even if the old couple had turned to ash.

"Dad, Mom."

The phantom spoke.

Pei Fei's voice was exceptionally gentle, carrying a hint of guilt and trembling that had never been there before.

"Son... I came back too late."

Mother Pei tried to hug the phantom, but her hands passed right through, grasping only a mass of cold mist.

"Xiao Fei... is that really Xiao Fei?" Mother Pei collapsed onto the floor, looking up at the phantom, tears streaming down uncontrollably.

"It’s me, Mom, it’s me."

The phantom crouched down, making a gesture as if to embrace them.

"I am indeed working down below now, essentially managing the entire Underworld."

"It's just that official duties are a bit busy, so I can't come back temporarily." Pei Fei told a kind lie. "Once I finish the work at hand, I will definitely find a way to return to kowtow to you both."

"Good... good! As long as you are well, how high an official you are doesn't matter!" Father Pei wiped away a tear. The previous dejection vanished completely, and his back straightened unconsciously. "I knew my son would amount to something! You are a man of great affairs. Don't worry about things at home; Duo Duo is here!"

"Mhm, Duo Duo has made progress now; she can handle things on her own." Pei Fei looked at his sister, a flash of admiration in his eyes.

The family of four, separated by the realms of Yin and Yang, was finally reunited in this somewhat messy living room.

They chatted for over ten minutes.

It wasn't until the black mist began to thin that Pei Fei's voice developed a slight, unstable stutter.

"Manifesting across realms consumes too much energy; I can't stay long. Duo Duo, take good care of Mom and Dad."

Buzz.

The black mist dissipated, and the jade pendant fell back onto the coffee table, resuming its originally inconspicuous appearance.

The living room returned to silence, only the faint wails drifting from outside the door served as a reminder that everything that had just happened was not an illusion.