49: Chapter 49 Deceiving the Heavens

The moment the options appeared, Lin Ye felt completely at ease.

Solving things with violence was indeed satisfying, but in the metaphysical world, karmic contracts were the most troublesome of all.

Sending the driver to the afterlife physically would be easy, but to save Lin Xiaoxiao's life, he had to erase that muddled debt from the level of the rules.

"I choose C."

With his mind made up, Lin Ye patted Fatty's shoulder, signaling him to rest easy.

Then, taking steady steps, he crossed the aisle and walked alone toward the Faceless Driver at the very front of the bus.

He was now only a single step away from the driver.

The stench of rotting moisture almost pressed right against Lin Ye's face.

The smooth face of the Faceless Driver didn't ripple in the slightest; it merely pushed the floating, illusory register slowly in front of Lin Ye.

"Hand... over... the person..."

The hoarse, urgent voice rang out once more.

Lin Ye sneered, a disdainful, sinister pride flashing in his eyes.

"Hand over the person? When I, Lin Ye of Taiping Street, want to protect someone, even King Yama has to think twice. A wandering ghost driving an illegal bus like you thinks you're worthy of asking me for someone?"

Lin Ye flipped his right hand, pulling out the [soul-fixing mirror fragment] he had found in the ruins of the Ghost Market from his inner pocket.

The moment this palm-sized, rust-covered Bagua mirror fragment appeared, the resentment inside the bus actually came to a subtle standstill.

Without any hesitation, Lin Ye lowered his head and bit his left index finger open.

Blood rich in pure Yang essence gushed out.

Using blood as ink, he rapidly drew a "Heaven-Veiling Qi-Hiding Talisman" on the broken surface of the mirror.

"By the decree of the Supreme Lord, deceive the heavens to cross the sea, reverse Yin and Yang, vanish without a trace!"

As the incantation ended, Lin Ye abruptly flipped the soul-fixing mirror, which was stained with pure Yang blood, pointing its surface directly at the illusory register of life and death.

A beam of dark golden light shot out from the mirror fragment, striking the three bloody characters of "Lin Xiaoxiao" with absolute precision.

A miraculous chemical reaction occurred.

Under the illumination of this special light, the three originally bright and piercing bloody characters began to melt rapidly, like ice and snow under a blazing sun.

In just two or three seconds, that page of the register became completely blank.

The scapegoat mark had been forcibly erased!

The smooth facial skin of the Faceless Driver suddenly squirmed violently, as if something was about to break out of its cocoon beneath the surface.

It sensed the loss of its prey, and a wave of wild, violent rage instantly swept through the entire bus.

The lights inside the bus turned entirely blood-red, and countless pale handprints appeared on the glass windows, slapping against them.

"Throwing a tantrum in front of me? Who gave you the nerve?"

Lin Ye didn't give it any chance to erupt.

Instead of retreating, he flipped his hand and planted the lightning-struck peach wood sword heavily onto the floor of the bus.

At the same time.

Leng Yue, who had been standing quietly in the back, slightly raised her delicate chin.

Her deep crimson eyes instantly transformed into a piercing golden-red.

The terrifying pressure of a Half-step Hanba was no longer restrained in the slightest, crushing down toward the driver's seat like an overwhelming tide.

Boom!

An invisible wave of air exploded inside the bus.

The violent resentment that the Faceless Driver had just gathered instantly dispersed into nothingness before this hierarchical pressure that reigned supreme over all ghosts.

Its bloated body trembled violently, and its head, which had been twisted a hundred and eighty degrees backward, actually let out a series of crisp cracking sounds as it forced itself to turn back, returning to a normal driving posture.

It had chickened out.

"Smart move."

Lin Ye put away the soul-fixing mirror fragment, took out three sheets of yellow ritual paper drawn with cinnabar runes from his pocket, and slapped them casually onto the coin box.

"I'm taking the person. These three Pure Yang Evil-Suppressing Talismans will serve as toll money. It should be enough for you to live comfortably down there for a while."

No sooner had he spoken.

Screech!

The front door of the bus swung open in response.

Outside the door was no longer fog, but the familiar abandoned bus stop in the northern suburbs of Jiangzhou City.

In the distant eastern sky, a faint touch of dawn was already beginning to show.

Dawn was approaching.

Lin Ye turned around and waved to the back row. "Get off. Let's go home and sleep."

As if granted a grand amnesty, Fatty scrambled out of the bus door, clutching his bone-cleaving knife.

Leng Yue and Frost Star followed calmly behind Lin Ye, stepping onto the solid asphalt road.

Just as the four of them stood firm, the dilapidated Route 404 bus couldn't wait to slam its doors shut.

The engine let out a terrified roar, and the vehicle quickly vanished into the dispersing morning mist, leaving no trace behind.

"We... we survived!"

Fatty Wang slumped onto the dew-slicked curb, taking deep gulps of the crisp morning air.

He looked at the butcher knife in his arms, then at Lin Ye's upright figure ahead, and his eyes actually grew a little red.

"Ye-zi, words can't express my gratitude. From now on, my life belongs to you. If you tell me to go east, I'll never go west!"

Lin Ye walked over and gave the fat guy a kick.

"Cut the melodrama and go unlock two shared bikes by the roadside. We're in the middle of nowhere, and there isn't even a ghost around. We can't walk all the way back to the city."

...

Eight in the morning, Taiping Old Street.

The rising morning sun bathed the entire old street in a warm golden hue.

Breakfast vendors had long since set up their steaming bamboo baskets, and the aroma of soy milk and deep-fried dough sticks filled the air.

The second floor of the Funeral Shop.

Lin Xiaoxiao lay on the single bed at the center of the formation, slowly opening her eyes.

She sat up in a daze and touched her neck.

The burning, stinging pain that had been there was completely gone. When she ran to the mirror to check, the black strangle mark hadn't left even a trace.

"Brother! Boss Lin!"

Lin Xiaoxiao rushed down the stairs. Seeing everyone eating breakfast in the lobby, tears of excitement welled up in her eyes.

"Alright, alright. It's fine as long as you're okay."

Fatty Wang stuffed a deep-fried dough stick into his sister's hand.

"Eat up quickly, and then head back to school for class. Don't wander around outside at night for the next few days."

After sending off the deeply grateful Lin Xiaoxiao, the Funeral Shop returned to its slow-paced tranquility.

Lin Ye sat behind the glass counter with a steaming bowl of small wontons in front of him.

Leng Yue sat beside him, holding a cup of warm ginseng tea.

The morning sunlight filtered through the glass door, casting a soft halo over her silvery-white hair.

She quietly watched Lin Ye eat, her eyes filled with the peaceful serenity of a quiet life.

Frost Star was leaning in front of the brand-new double-door refrigerator, a rag in hand, carefully wiping down its outer shell.

She hummed an unfamiliar tune, clearly extremely satisfied with her new "bedroom."

Lin Ye finished his last bite of wonton and set down his spoon.

One by one, he laid out the spoils he had scavenged from the outskirts of the City of Wrongful Deaths the night before on the counter.

Three black ores containing pure Underworld energy, and the [soul-fixing mirror fragment] that had played a major role.

"Leng Yue, take these Underworld ores later and bury them in the eye of the Yin-gathering formation in the backyard. It will significantly speed up the formation's gathering rate." Lin Ye pushed the ores over.

Leng Yue nodded slightly and swept the ores into her sleeve.

Lin Ye picked up the soul-fixing mirror fragment and examined it closely in his hand.

Although it was broken, its ability to conceal aura and erase contracts at critical moments was nothing short of a divine skill.

If he could find a master to repair it, it would surely be a rare, top-grade Mystic-rank magical artifact.

"Husband."

Leng Yue picked up the teacup, handed it to Lin Ye, and spoke softly,

"The outer city of the City of Wrongful Deaths last night had an unimaginably dense death energy. I faintly felt that behind those city gates, there seemed to be something calling out to my origin. Once I fully step into the Drought Demon realm, I must accompany you, Husband, to explore it once more."

Lin Ye took the teacup, took a sip, his gaze deep.

The wave of spiritual qi recovery had only just begun, yet even fragments of the Netherworld had already appeared.

The secrets hidden in this world were far vaster than he had imagined.

"No rush."

Lin Ye leaned back in his chair, enjoying this rare moment of leisure.

"We have to take things one step at a time, and fight monsters one by one. Right now, the top priority is to get our money's worth out of sleeping in that three-meter-wide bed."

Hearing this, two blushes of rosy red instantly flew onto Leng Yue's cold and beautiful cheeks.

She gave Lin Ye a reproachful glare, turning her head away to leave only an incredibly charming profile.

Ring, ring!

At that moment, the sound of wind chimes drifted in from outside the shop's glass door.

Lin Ye instinctively looked up, but the space outside the door was empty; there was no one there.

But he keenly caught that in the reflection of the glass door just now, a bloated figure wearing an old uniform seemed to be standing behind him.

He whipped his head around, but there was no one behind him except Frost Star, who was wiping the refrigerator with a bewildered look.

He turned back to look at the glass door again. The phantom had vanished, but where the figure had just stood, a small patch of condensed mist remained on the glass, faintly forming an ancient seal script symbol.

Lin Ye's pupils contracted slightly; this symbol was identical to the characters on the gates of the City of Wrongful Deaths.

It seemed that although they had successfully escaped on this return journey, some karmic ties had quietly taken up residence in this peaceful old street along with the cold morning breeze.