One of the main objectives tonight was to release all the ghosts locked in the fierce painting, allowing the ghost messengers to take them into the netherworld. This would give them a chance to return to life, re-enter the cycle of reincarnation, and no longer be enslaved by the vengeful spirits within the painting.
Coincidentally, Bai Wuchang was waiting outside. This was a perfect opportunity.
Ye Huohuo hung the painting on the bookshelf in the inner room. She unrolled it, bit her right middle finger, and drew a talisman on her left palm, chanting incantations. Instantly, the talisman on her palm transformed into a golden light, which she then used to shine upon the painting.
Dozens of black ethereal figures flew out from within, transforming into dozens of humanoid shadows before Ye Huohuo. They all knelt before her. Though they could not speak, their actions clearly conveyed their intentions.
They were thanking her. The longest among them had been trapped in the painting for several hundred years, believing they had no hope of reincarnation. They were astonished that Ye Huohuo was willing to help them, seeing it as a gift of a second life, and they were filled with immense gratitude.
Ye Huohuo waved her hand, "Alright, don't waste time. The ghost messengers are just outside. I hope you all find good families and become good people. It would be worth all my effort."
Dozens of black shadows drifted towards the door.
Ye Huohuo turned around and met Li Mohan's gaze. Unbeknownst to her, he was standing at the doorway of the inner room, having witnessed the entire scene.
Although the person before him had Qin Chu's appearance, he could genuinely feel Ye Huohuo's soul within.
His previously chilling gaze, which he usually directed at Qin Chu, now softened considerably when looking at the same body.
"How much merit can you accumulate from this? Will it improve your luck?"
Ye Huohuo felt a little unaccustomed to meeting Li Mohan's gaze directly. She chuckled, "I don't know. My luck has never been good, but I'm used to it. No matter how good or bad it gets, I still have to endure the 'Five Sha' for a day, and at worst, it's just death.
There isn't much difference. It's just that by helping others within my capabilities, I can at least be true to my cultivation. Also, I have a nature that compels me to right wrongs and a disposition to manage injustices.
To be able to live according to my own will is also a form of happiness."
Qin Chu was already very handsome, but he usually carried a slightly roguish air, and his smiles were often playfully charming.
Now, with Ye Huohuo inhabiting this body, he was still handsome, but it was a different kind of handsomeness, exuding a mischievous and captivating aura.
Li Mohan momentarily felt as if he were looking at Ye Huohuo's face in Qin Chu's features, experiencing an impulse to kiss her.
He raised his hand, intending to touch her cheek. Ye Huohuo closed her eyes slightly...
Just as Li Mohan's hand was about to make contact, the door was suddenly flung open from the outside, and someone rushed in.
Lu Dayong, who had been bound and left in a corner awaiting the police, had remained silent and struggled. Everyone had forgotten about him. Unbeknownst to them, he had managed to free himself from the ropes at some point.
A Cheng was guarding the main entrance. Knowing A Cheng's capabilities, Lu Dayong had intended to run into the inner room and escape through the window.
He coincidentally stumbled into the nearly intimate atmosphere between Li Mohan and Ye Huohuo.
Lu Dayong was momentarily stunned, then his eyes flared with desperation. "You two continue what you were doing. As long as you let me go, I won't guarantee I won't expose your affairs. Otherwise..."
He sneered and pointed at Li Mohan, "I know you. You're the CEO of Li Corporation. You're a big shot, and you fear scandals most. If the media finds out you like men..."
His face was filled with smugness and a sickeningly lecherous expression.
Li Mohan narrowed his eyes, and the chill that warned others to stay away emanated from him once more. A faint smile played on his lips, but it was a smile that made him appear even more bone-chillingly cold. "Oh, really? You absolutely must say it. I can have my lawyers add another charge of defamation to your record, making you serve a few more years in prison! Along with a civil damages claim, even after you're released, you'll owe me tens of millions.
Given your income level, you'll be working as a laborer your entire life!"
Ye Huohuo, listening from the side, felt a tightening in her heart. She thought, *I must not offend him. If he wants to ruin you, he doesn't even need to think about it.*
Lu Dayong was clearly intimidated. However, even a cornered rabbit will bite. He had dared to stab someone when caught stealing before. Now, to avoid being caught by the police, his courage had amplified.
He pulled a folding knife from a drawer. With a "snap," the blade sprang out.
"Get out of my way, you fools! I'm a nobody, not afraid of someone with something to lose. Trading my worthless life for the CEO of Li Corporation's life is a good deal!" he declared, brandishing the knife and lunging forward.
Ye Huohuo had just taken over Qin Chu's body. Her previous body was small and slender, but this body was tall and broad. Fighting in it felt awkward, with her limbs being cumbersome.
She intended to block Lu Dayong's knife in front of Li Mohan, but unexpectedly, her legs were too long. She didn't step properly and tripped over her own heel, lunging directly towards Lu Dayong's blade.
As the knife was about to pierce her, Ye Huohuo inwardly sighed, *Even after switching bodies, my bad luck followed me. If I trip and fall onto a knife and die, will people talk about it as a joke for a while?*
Lu Dayong was stunned. He couldn't believe someone wanted to die so badly that they would throw themselves onto his knife. For a moment, he forgot to move his hand, watching as the knife was about to stab Ye Huohuo.
At this critical moment, Ye Huohuo's body stopped less than an inch from the blade, inexplicably not falling further.
Ye Huohuo quickly rolled over, dodging the tip of the knife, and glanced behind her.
It turned out that at the most crucial moment, Li Mohan had grabbed the back of her clothes, forcefully pulling her back and preventing her from causing her own demise.
Li Mohan playfully looked at her long legs, "Glad they didn't get tied in a knot!"
Ye Huohuo's face instantly flushed red, "No, it's just that I'm new to this body, and I'm not used to it yet. And it's also because of my bad luck..."
The more she tried to explain, the more it sounded like she was digging herself into a deeper hole. Despite it being Qin Chu's annoying face, Li Mohan saw a certain cuteness in her demeanor, and a smile touched the corners of his eyes.
However, it was precisely because of this interaction that neither of them noticed a wisp of black energy drifting out of the fierce painting.
That wisp of black energy, with unerring accuracy, drilled into Lu Dayong's forehead.
Lu Dayong closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his gaze had changed...
He glared viciously at Ye Huohuo and thrust the knife towards her back.
Ye Huohuo had her back to him, but Li Mohan was facing him directly. Seeing the glinting blade about to stab into Ye Huohuo's back, he shouted, "Careful..."
He forcefully pushed Ye Huohuo to the side. Ye Huohuo was shoved away, narrowly avoiding the fatal blow. But Lu Dayong's knife did not stop; it continued its forward thrust.
Bright red blood splattered out...