I was still worried when the shackles of the red-robed civil official snapped onto my wrist. Just as the cuffs were about to tighten, a sharp arrow, shot from who-knows-where, shattered a red-robed ghost soldier in mid-air and landed among the crowd.

As the civil official turned his head abruptly, the long arrow standing on the ground exploded, and the splashing flames cleared a space in the ghost soldier ranks.

I breathed a sigh of relief. It was Killer Wang Liehuo making his move.

At the same time, a man dressed in black, his aura as cold and sharp as a blade, appeared at the edge of the crowd. "Li Po's life is ours. Anyone who dares touch our prey will die."

It was Dao Hun!

The red-robed civil official, instead of getting angry, laughed and said, "Li Po, you are indeed resisting the Underworld. Come on—"

Before he could finish his sentence, I slapped him away. "Are you an idiot? Can't you see he's trying to kill me?"

"I've been waiting for him here!"

"Do it!" I shouted. Ye Yang's sword swept towards Dao Hun first.

Blade light and sword light.

Like two bolts of lightning, they collided in the air.

Brilliant light scattered, and murderous intent filled the air.

The aftermath of blade and sword qi danced wildly in the whistling wind, snapping the trees around us!

Ye Yang and Dao Hun each took a step back.

The red-robed civil official finally realized—we weren't acting.

Such violent killing intent.

Such intense collision.

It couldn't be acting!

The red-robed civil official shouted sharply, "Send the signal! Someone is intercepting the prisoner!"

As the ghost soldiers' signal soared into the sky, wave after wave of ghost soldiers burst out, instantly surrounding the hillside where we were.

The red-robed civil official shouted sternly, "Search! Find all those who ambushed us!"

"And bring Li Po back to me!"

Judging by the ghost soldiers who suddenly appeared, the red-robed civil official had prepared for a major battle with the Embroidered Uniform Guards before he came. Otherwise, he wouldn't have ambushed so many ghost soldiers.

However, this was also in line with my calculations. The ghost soldiers against the fake Nine Ghosts were destined to suffer heavy losses on both sides, which was just right for me to solve some of the trouble.

While the civil official was directing the ghost soldiers to capture people, I imperceptibly stomped on the ground.

A stream of true qi flowed silently from my foot into the water vat.

Besides Zhu Ziyan's clothes, I had mixed something else into the water vat. Simply put, from the moment Ye Yang and I buried the water vat, Zhu Ziyan's clothes had already begun to dissolve inside.

I estimated that by now, the contents should have turned to ash.

I deliberately shattered the water vat with one kick to mix the soil and ash together, so that when the red-robed civil official dug up the ground later, he would only see fragments of the water vat and find nothing related to Zhu Ziyan.

Besides, aura, although it could be captured by ghost soldiers, couldn't be used as evidence.

As long as I insisted that I was just waiting on the mountain for the decisive battle of the Nine Ghosts, even if the other party filed a lawsuit in the Yama Palace, the result would be insufficient evidence.

Just as I shattered the water vat, five Embroidered Uniform Guards surrounded me, and the leader raised his saber and said, "I want to see today who dares to take our young master without any evidence. Do you really think the Embroidered Uniform Guards are made of mud?"

The red-robed civil official sneered, "I knew the Embroidered Uniform Guards would interfere. Please, Lord Nalan."

After that person sent the signal, Nalan Huaide and Shang Xingyan walked out of the void one after another. Although both were civil officials, they remained calm amidst the slaughter between the Nine Ghosts and the ghost soldiers.

I then glanced at the outer edge of the battle. The fake Nine Ghosts were completely surrounded by ghost soldiers.

The splashing phosphorus fire outside had turned half the hillside green. Because of the heavy defenses in our location, an incongruous calm prevailed amidst the earth-shattering cries of battle.

I knew very well that the only one who hadn't moved was Gui Da.

He was waiting for an opportunity to launch a fatal attack on me with forbidden techniques.

I needed someone with enough weight to help me block this crisis.

Wasn't Nalan Huaide just the right person?

Before Nalan Huaide could speak, Shang Xingyan preemptively said, "Lord Nalan, isn't it inappropriate for you to send out heavy troops to encircle my young master for no reason?"

Nalan Huaide feigned anger and said, "Yang Lin, what's going on? Blocking Young Master Li without cause is a serious crime, you know? You must give this official a reasonable explanation."

Yang Lin quickly stepped forward and explained the whole story, including the appearance of the Nine Ghosts, of course.

While he was speaking, I kept paying attention to the movements on the outer perimeter of the battle. There were still six of the Nine Ghosts left, and five battles had reached a fever pitch.

The five battle groups were like five erupting springs of green flames, consuming the attacking ghost soldiers at an alarming rate.

It wasn't yet time for Gui Da to use his forbidden techniques. I had to make Nalan Huaide wait a little longer.