Chapter 452: Chapter 416: Broken Marriage
"Ning Fang!"
Zhang Junyao, standing to the side, couldn’t help but call out softly when he saw Ning Fang appear.
Beside Ning Fang was the lecher Wang Shijie. Zhang Junyao had already inquired about their matters thoroughly; no argument was needed, only swiftly dealing with the marriage agreement between them.
Yao Zhen, in front of the altar, nodded slightly at Sang Que, immediately clasped two fingers together, dipped them quickly into the prepared vermillion ink, and swiftly drew a talisman on the Peach Wood Sword.
Without a word wasted or giving Wang Shijie and Ning Fang a moment to prepare, Yao Zhen swung the Peach Wood Sword, slashing it down on the marriage contract on the table.
The marriage contract was instantly split in two, and the red thread binding the two also snapped with a sound.
Ning Fang regained her freedom. Wang Shijie rose up in anger, but before he could act, Sang Que brought the blood-stained Hundred Blade down, splitting Wang Shijie in half from head to toe.
Sang Que shook open the scroll in his hand, and the Paper Macher appeared by his side. The flying paper scraps wrapped around the gradually recovering Wang Shijie, forcibly dragging him into the drawing to become its nourishment.
Because of this paper marriage contract and the high-level ritual, both Wang Shijie and Ning Fang became Third Layer Evil Spirits and were no match for Sang Que’s power.
Ning Fang, still somewhat ethereal, stood to the side, seeing Wang Shijie taken away by Sang Que. Overjoyed to tears, she immediately knelt down, kowtowing in thanks to Yao Zhen and Sang Que.
After transforming into an Evil Spirit, Ning Fang could no longer speak like a normal person and could only express her gratitude through actions.
Yao Zhen stepped out from behind the altar, gesturing for Ning Fang to rise.
"You too are an innocent sufferer. Now that you have become an Evil Spirit, I can offer you two choices: one is to disperse your soul, vanishing into the universe forever."
In the Deceit Dynasty, it is believed that only those who die normally have souls that can reincarnate.
Once transformed into an Evil Spirit, it is no longer a normal soul. Either it continues to develop and grow, or it is devoured by other Evil Spirits, or it is eliminated or tamed by humans.
Ning Fang looked at Yao Zhen, unable to control her retreat, clearly frightened.
Yao Zhen glanced at Zhang Junyao and continued, "Today, your escape was thanks to this Miss Zhang retrieving your marriage contract. Now, Miss Zhang wishes to become a Yin Walker. If you’re willing, we can help you form a contract with Miss Zhang, so you’ll live and die alongside her from now on."
Ning Fang thought for a moment, looked at Zhang Junyao again, and nodded.
The subsequent matter was quite simple. Sang Que assembled Ning Fang and Zhang Junyao together.
Zhang Junyao was well-prepared, and the assembly process went smoothly without Ning Fang struggling much.
Compared to Evil Spirits born from obsessions, Ning Fang’s transformation due to this paper marriage contract left her relatively clear-headed, which was a boon for Zhang Junyao.
However, an Evil Spirit is still an Evil Spirit, and some instincts cannot be suppressed by Ning Fang alone. Zhang Junyao still needed to satisfy Ning Fang’s desires as much as possible or use the Heart Lamp to suppress her urges when using Ning Fang’s power.
"Now I finally have the ability to protect myself and my family," Zhang Junyao cried excitedly once she was settled.
Yao Zhen gave a word of caution, "The person who made this marriage contract has some skills. You’d better be vigilant."
Zhang Junyao nodded, "I know. That person is an Evil Taoist worshipped by the main branch of the Wang Family. Wang Shijie’s father spent quite a bit of resources to have the Evil Taoist craft this marriage contract. I have no direct conflict of interest with the Evil Taoist, so he won’t come after me."
Sang Que said, "You need to quickly understand Ning Fang’s specific abilities. We can still help you if you run into problems before Yao Zhen and I leave."
At this, Zhang Junyao’s joy of becoming a Yin Walker dimmed significantly, and her face fell.
"I have a vague sense that Ning Fang’s abilities are related to needles and embroidery. I need to prepare some embroidered works in advance to maximize their effects. Enough talking; I’m going home to embroider now."
Sang Que chuckled, noticing that Zhang Junyao didn’t seem fond of embroidery, but perhaps with Ning Fang inside her, her embroidery skills would see significant improvement.
"The city gate of Sanchuan City is closed for the night, and the city is under curfew. We won’t be able to enter, so we’ll have to make do outside for the night."
Speaking of which, Sang Que had the Paper Macher quickly make a paper house.
After the paper house was made, it burned on its own, and the ashes blew with the Yin wind, turning into a thatched cottage at the edge of the forest in the blink of an eye.
Zhang Junyao’s eyes lit up, "The ability of your ghost is so interesting! Can it fold gold ingots? Turn directly into gold!"
Sang Que laughed, "It can, but only at night. When daytime comes, the gold ingots will disappear."
"That’s great too. Encountering unscrupulous merchants, you can make a deal at night to trick them and redistribute wealth!"
The three of them made do for the night in the thatched house while Zhang Junyao, too excited to rest, kept asking Sang Que and Yao Zhen about the techniques for taming Evil Spirits.
The next morning, the trio returned to the city, with Sang Que and Yao Zhen going back to the inn for a rest while Zhang Junyao returned alone to the Zhang Mansion.
In the early morning of Sanchuan City, there were few pedestrians on the road, only those small vendors busy making a living rising early to set up stalls at the market or various alleyways.
Zhang Junyao walked leisurely down the street without a carriage, the number of people dwindling the closer she got to the Zhang Mansion.
In the area where wealthy merchants resided, vendors were absent, leaving Zhang Junyao’s footsteps the only sound on the street.
As she walked, Zhang Junyao suddenly sensed something amiss. After becoming a Yin Walker, she found her senses had sharpened considerably. Whereas previously, Zhang Junyao would never venture out alone, she would at least have a martial master accompanying her.
But the circumstances today were different from the past.
Zhang Junyao remained calm, circling to the alley on the east side of the Zhang Mansion.
The two individuals trailing Zhang Junyao saw this and brightened up, hastily stepping up their chase.
They were assassins hired from the martial underworld by the third branch of the Zhao Family, after an incident with Third Young Master Zhao’s unexpected death, which was vaguely linked to Zhang Junyao, while the main branch of the Zhao Family Head did not want to delve further.
Unable to swallow the grievance, Third Young Master Zhao’s birth mother determined Zhang Junyao should pay with her life and hired two assassins, paying a substantial amount, to bring Zhang Junyao back forcibly.
Upon entering the alley, a chill wind hit their faces, making them shiver to their bones.
The assassins suddenly lost sight of Zhang Junyao, causing them to panic and quicken their steps forward.
Suddenly, one of them felt a stab of pain in his eye as if a wisp of a thread appeared out of nowhere, hanging in midair. He stopped in his tracks, his eyes wide, not daring to move.
His partner, upon careful examination, broke into a cold sweat. A single embroidery thread had pierced directly through the man’s eye, exiting the back of his head.
As the two stood bewildered, silver light sparkled before their eyes, resembling mosquitoes, while simultaneously, minor pangs of pain emerged all over their bodies.
As the pain subsided, they looked again, finding the alley crisscrossed with embroidery threads of different colors, all passing through their bodies, trapping them.
The two immediately panicked, trying to pull the threads off with their hands, only to experience a ripping pain as if their internal organs were tearing apart.
"Big Brother, don’t these thread marks look like a word?"
They squinted forward, and amidst the interlacing threads, a single character had formed: ’Death.’
"Ahhh!!!"
The piercing screams echoed skyward, alerting residents on both sides of the alley, soon drawing out the servants from the Zhang and neighboring houses, sticks in hand, who found the two fallen figures in the alley.
They lay facing up, eyes wide with terror, each with a fresh red ’Death’ character across their chest.
Upon closer inspection, the character turned out to be meticulously embroidered, stitch by stitch!
