How could he turn the tables?

Lin Feng could no longer get away. He waved, signaling for the other three to leave first. Li Pusa hesitated, wanting to say something, but Lin Feng called out to Lord Zhu. Lord Zhu pressed his blade against the small of Li Pusa's back, ready to stab him at any moment.

Lin Feng shrugged.

Look, we only met by chance. Why worry about me?

Just go, all of you.

Hundred-Household Officer Zhu knew Lin Feng must have his reasons for saying that. Watching them leave, Lin Feng drew his sword and rested both hands on it like a walking stick, waiting.

The warning from [Sword Heart Clarity] felt like needles digging into his back.

It had grown so intense he could barely breathe.

That meant danger was imminent.

Usually, that meant Ghost Uncle was coming.

Lin Feng checked himself. Several effects on his status panel—[Mountain God’s Blessing], [Mountain God’s Wrath], and [Mountain God’s Power]—had all stopped working here.

Just as expected.

This was the Underworld, not the Western Hunan Mountains.

Even a Mountain God could not exercise authority beyond its territory.

Even with those effects, Lin Feng might not have been a match for the Head-Taker.

Let alone now, with only ninth-rank cultivation.

The Head-Taker was at least an Eighth Rank expert, if not higher. Fighting her would be a serious struggle for Lin Feng.

He had tried several times already. In the Underworld, he was no match for her.

Even in the world of the living, it would be hard.

Still, there had to be a way. Lin Feng felt he had yet to uncover what those effects could really do.

Standing alone on the path, Lin Feng mulled it over.

Having decided to take her down with him, Lin Feng no longer felt nervous. He relaxed and surveyed his surroundings.

The Underworld was an immense realm.

The Underworld Bureau was only one part of it, and a small one at that.

Most of the Underworld's lands were an "uncharted map." In Li Pusa's words, "Who knows what's actually out there in the Underworld?"

This place was merely one corner of it.

The routes here had been charted over thousands of years by people pursuing shady trades, paid for with human lives.

They were relatively safe. Under ordinary circumstances, nothing would happen.

With his mind at ease, Lin Feng sensed that quite a few things in the Underworld were secretly watching him.

This supposedly safe route was actually a shadowy little path, visible only to those whose heavenly eye was open. He had suppressed his living aura to a very low level, but he still could not see the path.

Lin Feng scratched himself.

[Sword Heart Clarity] had one drawback: its warnings came with the sensation of needles prickling his back.

In plain terms, it was like being drenched in sweat.

Then getting hair clippings down your clothes.

The sweat and hair clippings mixed together, bringing both itching and pain.

Lin Feng raised his arm and saw his fine hairs swaying like seaweed, as though charged with static.

He glanced once more toward the collapsed village in the distance. There was no sun in the Underworld, nor any visible moon. Its light was forever like dusk, dim and murky, as though a dark yellow bed curtain hung over the entire world.

As he looked, the Head-Taker arrived.

Seeing Lin Feng standing there waiting for her, the Head-Taker smiled.

Lin Feng raised a hand in a polite gesture of refusal, stopping the Head-Taker from speaking.

Her voice was truly unpleasant, and Lin Feng did not want to hear it.

"We're old acquaintances. Let's skip the formalities."

As he spoke, Lin Feng wiped the Human Salve off his forehead. With nothing left to lose, he said, "Let's die together."

The Head-Taker's expression changed in alarm.

In that instant, Lin Feng felt the Underworld's sky darken further. A cough came from the ruined village.

All at once, Lin Feng felt he had aged several years. He lowered his head to look at his hands.

Wrinkles had appeared on them.

They looked like old tree bark.

Deeply shaken, Lin Feng stared into the distance.

What was that thing?

At some point, wisps of cooking smoke had begun rising from the ruined village. Seeing the change, the Head-Taker turned to flee.

She had never imagined it.

Lin Feng would be this determined!

Even if he died, he would take someone with him!

[Wild Fox Zen] took effect, and an old man appeared beside Lin Feng.

The old man took his hand.

He did not kill him.

Lin Feng had thought he was certain to die this time.

Yet the old man did not kill him. Instead, he spoke.

He wanted the two of them to make a deal.

He asked Lin Feng to make offerings to him.

To acknowledge another ancestor.

It was an ancient pact. The old man would let him return alive, establish an ancestral hall, build a temple, alter his feng shui, and replace his fate.

Replacing his fate meant living with someone else's fate.

The old man said they needed incense offerings and spirit tablets, with offerings of sheep and pigs on festivals and holidays.

The price Lin Feng would have to pay was steep, too.

First was his fate. He would no longer be Lin Feng, but someone else.

Second, the eldest son born to the principal wife in every generation of his family would belong to the old man and his companions.

In return, they would ensure harmony in Lin Feng's household and lasting prosperity. After ten generations, the Lin family line would die out.

Their pact would then end.

Lin Feng refused.

The old man was very disappointed.

Then he opened his mouth and ate him.

Lin Feng opened his eyes. Heavy rain, suona music, women's cries, low throat singing. Lin Feng had not been lifted up.

Looking at the various grayed-out options before him, he broke into a sweat.

He had thought he already understood the great terror that lay between life and death.

As it turned out, he did not know what things were like in the world of the living.

He had seen the Underworld, at least.

The Underworld was truly terrifying.

The Underworld really lived up to its name.

Taking off his headset, Lin Feng slumped bonelessly onto the sofa. He found his phone and a glass of iced cola. After taking a sip, Lin Feng searched for Bufuna on Wandu.

He actually got a result.

Lin Feng took a look and discovered that it was the name of a fruit variety.

On the bright side, Bufuna seemed to be a word in the Miao Language.

He searched again for Miao myths, legends, and unusual folk customs. He found nothing about the Ghost Yamen, but Lin Feng did find Clouded Leopard and Black Tiger.

Clouded Leopard Granny.

Black Tiger Granny.

Both were man-eating monsters from the mountains.

Lin Feng sat up straight and tapped the table.

Could the two figures in the Ghost Yamen be these two?

After pacing a few steps, Lin Feng made a mind map and wrote down all his skills. He put a check beside [Embroidered Uniform Guard] and a cross beneath [Wild Fox Zen]. [Sword Heart Clarity], [Swordsmanship Mastery], and the others were useful, but not useful enough.

Finally.

Lin Feng turned his attention to [Mountain God’s Power].

[Mountain God's Power] was his most likely means of turning the tables against the odds. But the question was, what power did [Mountain God's Power] actually grant?

What could Mountain God’s Power do?

As usual, he searched online. Everyone's descriptions of the Mountain God's authority were vague.

Some said it could bestow blessings, appear in dreams, command beasts, or sense things. Others made even grander claims, saying that depending on the mountain, it could govern life and death or control yin and yang. The claims grew increasingly outlandish. Lin Feng thought he would have to test it himself.

One hour. Lin Feng sat cross-legged and began Qi Gathering.

The hour passed in a flash. Lin Feng opened his eyes and entered the game again.

This time, he was no longer thinking about Ox Head Stronghold.

All he wanted was to kill Ghost Uncle, who was blocking his way!