When she spoke of the boy, the Earth Goddess was filled with guilt. Thinking back now, she had even been prepared to receive his departed soul and send it to the Underworld Office.
Not every death brought a Netherworld Official to the scene. Local land gods and lesser deities often handled the escorting of the dead in their stead, particularly in remote places subject to other interference, or in "accidents" like this, which even the Underworld Office might not foresee.
"Alas, I brought this upon Gouwa... cough, cough, cough. Since you have come here, True Lord, I presume you have encountered that ghost? Cough, cough..."
The Earth Goddess was clearheaded now, so she could naturally guess why the Manifest Holiness True Lord had suddenly come here.
As she spoke, however, she began coughing violently. Through Yi Shuyuan's magical sight, every cough sent a wisp of incense essence mixed with ghostly aura spilling from the corner of her mouth.
This was both a source of injury and the result of the Earth Goddess using her own divine Dao power to expel the evil within her, determined to purge the stubborn affliction even at the cost of harming herself.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
The Earth Goddess coughed violently several more times, then retched up something resembling a clot of blood. The moment it left her body, it began dissipating into a cloud of evil aura that sought to drift away.
With Yi Shuyuan here, however, he would naturally not allow the evil aura to escape. At a mere thought, divine light from the Manifest Holiness True Lord's manifested body shone upon it, melting it away instantly like fierce sunlight upon lingering snow.
Yi Shuyuan then answered the Earth Goddess's question.
"I did indeed encounter the ghost. Rest assured, that child was fortunate enough