The Restriction Lifts

The rosy light scattered across the horizon, and the sky took on a deep blue hue.

Xu Hour was nearly over, and yin winds began to rise.

In the courtyard outside the ruined temple, the dead old tree cast wavering shadows. Qing Li's figure slowly emerged atop its branches.

As soon as she returned to reality, she immediately looked toward the temple's gate.

The lord in the Underworld had just raised her cultivation once again. Now, even if she encountered a ghost from the sixth level of Tongue-Pulling Hell, she could fight it!

That Human Race brat's cultivation was only at the Second Layer of Qi Refining. His tribulation would probably involve nothing worse than a ghost from the third or fourth level of Tongue-Pulling Hell.

Now your granny could take on a hundred of them!

At the thought, Qing Li let out a sinister laugh.

The daylight in the distance was swiftly swallowed up. The outlines of the distant mountains faded into the pallid gloom, and darkness completely descended.

At the instant night fell, the entire town suddenly wavered, as if some barrier separating it from the outside world had crumbled to dust in that moment, leaving the town completely exposed to the night.

The yin energy between heaven and earth surged in an instant. The temperature all around plunged rapidly, and tiny, glittering crystals quickly gathered on the tips of the grass.

Qing Li immediately turned her head toward the town entrance.

She sensed that a great many ghosts had suddenly rushed into the town!

And...

Qing Li slowly raised her head. The moonlight was as clear as water tonight, and a gigantic skeletal hand floated across the deep blue canopy of the sky.

The bone hand had seven fingers. It was pale and clean, without a trace of flesh. When spread wide, it could cover the entire town. Vast, surging black clouds swirled around it, and its bone-white fingers, almost glowing with light, appeared and disappeared among the clouds.

Every bone finger was linked to countless black threads, like the strings used to control puppets. They spilled across the town, blanketing all of Changfu Town.

One of the black threads hung down into the ruined temple where Zheng Que was cultivating...

The Underworld.

Zheng Que stared at the name that had just appeared in the Life and Death Book and froze.

Xu Houde—that was the town chief's name!

The town wasn't large, and as far as he knew, no one else in town shared the chief's name. His age matched, too.

Had Qing Li killed the town chief??

No!

Dying suddenly at Xu Hour—that manner of death was wrong!

If Qing Li had killed him, the town chief should have been hanged.

As Zheng Que pondered this, more names continued to appear in the Life and Death Book...

"...Xu Chengshi. Native place: Changfu Town, Taiping County, Tu Prefecture, Great Li Dynasty. Lifespan: fifty-three years, six months, and one day. Died suddenly at precisely Xu Hour."

"...Xu Mao. Native place: Changfu Town, Taiping County, Tu Prefecture, Great Li Dynasty. Lifespan: exactly twenty-five years and ten months. Died suddenly at precisely Xu Hour."

"...Xu Chang. Native place: Changfu Town, Taiping County, Tu Prefecture, Great Li Dynasty. Lifespan: seventeen years, eleven months, and four days. Died prematurely at precisely Xu Hour."

"...Xu Xiaobao. Native place: Changfu Town, Taiping County, Tu Prefecture, Great Li Dynasty. Lifespan: six years, eight months, and two days. Died in childhood at precisely Xu Hour."

This...

Zheng Que's eyes widened. Those were the names of everyone in the town chief's family!

Had the entire town chief's family been killed?

Had some other ghost broken into the town chief's home?!

And the town chief's home wasn't exactly close to the ruined temple. The Life and Death Book could record deaths from this far away?

Before he could think further, more words continued to appear in the Life and Death Book, streaming down in neat rows like flowing water.

"...Cui Fugui. Native place: Changfu Town, Taiping County, Tu Prefecture, Great Li Dynasty. Lifespan: forty-one years and five days. Died suddenly at precisely Xu Hour."

"...Cui Ni'er. Native place: Changfu Town, Taiping County, Tu Prefecture, Great Li Dynasty. Lifespan: fifteen years, three months, and twenty-four days. Died prematurely at precisely Xu Hour."

"...Zhao the Second. Native place: Changfu Town, Taiping County, Tu Prefecture, Great Li Dynasty. Lifespan: eighteen years, nine months, and sixteen days. Died prematurely at precisely Xu Hour."

At this, Zheng Que's brows furrowed. The names of the Cui father and daughter and Zhao the Second had appeared in the Life and Death Book, too. They were all dead!

What on earth had happened?!

Had the ghost that killed the town chief's family suddenly gone to the Cui home and killed the father and daughter? Then had it instantly moved to Zhao the Second's home and killed him?

As he wondered in confusion, the names in the Life and Death Book continued to multiply rapidly.

"...Zeng Liniang... died prematurely at precisely Xu Hour."

"...Chi Da... died in childhood at precisely Xu Hour."

"...Chi Acheng... died suddenly at precisely Xu Hour."

"...Yin Cao'er... died prematurely at precisely Xu Hour..."

More and more names appeared in the Life and Death Book.

Every person had died at precisely Xu Hour. Though the terms for their deaths varied according to their age, in essence, every one of them had died suddenly!

Gradually, Zheng Que's expression darkened.

Changfu Town was small to begin with, with only about a thousand people in total.

Given what was happening, it seemed this wasn't just a few households in trouble. The entire town was in danger!

He was from this town, too!

His lifespan lasted until Hai Hour, just one hour longer than the people who had died.

An irresistible danger was about to wipe out the entire town!

At the thought, Zheng Que broke into a cold sweat. He instantly understood what tribulation he was about to face—and why his master had seemed to know he wouldn't live long when he left...

Perhaps his master hadn't seen Zheng Que's tribulation at all. Perhaps he had seen the disaster that was about to befall all of Changfu Town!

With that thought, he anxiously stared at the black qi between his brows.

Until the Life and Death Book finished absorbing all the yin energy, he couldn't return to reality.

There was still an hour until Hai Hour, but in a situation like this, the sooner he fled the town, the better!

He couldn't possibly believe that a disaster or ghost capable of destroying an entire town was something a puny Second Layer of Qi Refining cultivator like him could handle!

At that moment, names continued to pour into the Life and Death Book. The total number of new names had already exceeded a hundred!

Fortunately, as the Life and Death Book rapidly absorbed the yin energy, the black qi between his brows had grown thinner and thinner.

At last, the final wisp of black qi, so faint it was almost gone, was swept away by the Life and Death Book.

Zheng Que breathed a quiet sigh of relief, ready to return to reality.

But in the next instant, a great mass of inky yin energy burst from the Life and Death Book before him. It seemed to have been specially purified—dense and pristine—as it surged and spun through the air like a calligrapher's brush sweeping across the page. In the blink of an eye, it became a symbol resembling both an insect and a fish, hovering above the open book and radiating an ancient, timeworn aura.

This was...

An Imperial Edict!

Zheng Que's expression changed at once. The formation of an Imperial Edict was tied to the number of names recorded in the Life and Death Book.

Now that the entire town had been struck by disaster, the Life and Death Book had recorded enough names to form its second Imperial Edict all at once.

But...

If this Imperial Edict had come a little earlier or a little later, either would have been good for him.

But it had to come at this very moment!

As he thought this, the newly formed Imperial Edict turned into a streak of black light and sank into the space between his brows.

Just like last time, Zheng Que felt his mind explode in an instant. As searing pain swept over him, his consciousness plunged into a blank void...