Hearing Hua Shan say he was there to kill him, Chen Hao smiled dismissively and asked, "So you guys are a bunch of professional assassins? I thought your group was secretly undertaking some great endeavor, that you had more lofty aspirations."

"We do have lofty aspirations," Hua Shan said with a slight smile, "but money is also one of them. Strange, aren't you the slightest bit worried that I'm really here to kill you? In your eyes, am I just a good guy who can't bring himself to kill?"

"The reason I'm not worried is that you can't kill me," Chen Hao explained.

Hua Shan's expression darkened, and the smile suddenly left his lips as he said helplessly, "I have to admit, I was really surprised the night I saw you beat Tai Shan to the point where he couldn't fight back. I didn't expect there to be someone like you in this world. Actually, my main purpose in coming here today was to invite you to join us."

"Not interested!" Chen Hao rejected the offer without a second thought.

"You have two choices before you," said Hua Shan. "One is to join us in pursuit of higher aspirations; the other is to be killed by me!"

Chen Hao chuckled and said, "I choose to be killed by you!"

Hua Shan was at a loss for words, his expression tinged with disappointment.

"Where exactly is the City of Yin and Time, and what kind of person is Tai Shan?" Ye Yuqiao asked, anger evident in her tone.

Hua Shan first shrugged his shoulders, then pointed at Chen Hao and said, "Persuade your boyfriend to join us, and I'll tell you everything you want to know."

Suddenly, Chen Hao slapped the table and said coldly, "Haven't I made my choice? So when do you plan on killing me?"

Hua Shan gave a wry smile and only after a long pause did he say, "Not to hide the truth from you, but I have a premonition that one day you will join us. That's why I won't kill you. And besides you, there's that boy who goes around showing off in his Campus Hero black clothes—he will also join us one day."

"No, he won't. Rest assured," Chen Hao said, shaking his head with a resolute look in his eyes. His life goal was clear: to defeat the Ghost King and restore order to the Netherworld, then to enter the painting with Ye Yuqiao and fulfill their beautiful, eternal pledge.

"What if I told you I have the ability to foresee the future? Would you believe that?" Hua Shan asked.

Chen Hao shook his head and said, "I'm not interested in knowing what abilities you have. In any case, you guys are just a bunch of freaks."

"Alright, let's not talk about this any more. What's meant to come will come eventually," Hua Shan suddenly changed the subject. "I won't lie to you, I was very happy last night when I found out someone had offered thirty million to kill a person. But I couldn't be happy when I saw your photo. On one hand, I knew we couldn't kill you; on the other hand, the person who wants you dead must be plotting some earth-shattering conspiracy. You'll tell me the plot of the one who wants you dead, won't you?"

"Give me one reason to tell you?"

"I'll tell you a secret: you once killed a woman I had feelings for," Hua Shan said, a sudden murderous look flashing in his eyes.

"King Xin!" Chen Hao exclaimed in surprise. "So you really had feelings for her! That being the case, I might as well tell you..."

Chen Hao then told Hua Shan about Luo Pengfei crafting Soul Corpses and his attempt to control the city through them.

After hearing this, Hua Shan burst into laughter and said, "That's hilarious. Someone actually wants to leverage Soul Corpses to control a city, and then a country or even the whole world. It's just the delusional talk of a madman; that will never happen. To be honest, I could wipe out a few Soul Corpses in no time, not to mention those mysterious government organizations."

"Since you're so capable, would you like to help stop the Soul Corpses?" Chen Hao looked at Hua Shan and asked. "Even though Luo Pengfei's plot is bound to fail, if those Soul Corpses really do get released, a lot of innocent lives will be endangered."

Hua Shan nodded: "Of course, I will help. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come to you personally. My people and I have been in this city for a few days, so if there's anything you need help with, just come to us!"

With that, Hua Shan disappeared from before Chen Hao and Ye Yuqiao.

However, in the blink of an eye, he reappeared with a hurried look on his face, "I almost forgot, the thirty million has been transferred. I need to put on a show and fake a fierce battle scene."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than all the glasses in the coffee shop shattered, and every table and chair—except where the three of them were—was flipped over, creating a complete mess.

"I can't beat you, so I have to run away!" Hua Shan said with a slight smile, "I'll anonymously compensate the owner of this shop later. By the way, beauty, I've actually been investigating the incident from eighteen years ago when Tai Shan entered the Netherworld, as well as that baby."

After saying this, Hua Shan disappeared again.

Because of what Hua Shan had said before leaving, Ye Yuqiao was left feeling unsettled.

What was the purpose of Tai Shan taking a ghost baby into the Netherworld eighteen years ago?

After leaving the coffee shop that Hua Shan had destroyed with his mysterious power, Chen Hao and Ye Yuqiao went to another coffee shop.

By this time, Luo Luo and Zhang Chuiping had already been waiting inside for a long time, accompanied by over twenty other Onmyoji. As they were worried about being discovered by members of the Yin Yang Master Association, they had sealed the Yang Energy within themselves with spells.

"Chen Hao!" As Chen Hao approached the entrance of the coffee shop, Luo Luo and Zhang Chuiping waved at him excitedly.

"Ah! That's Chen Hao!"

"Chen Hao, so young!"

...

The other Onmyoji who had never met him before expressed their amazement. In today's world of Onmyoji, Chen Hao was known by everyone for consecutively taking down King Ning, King Xin, and King Mieji, and no one could match his prominence. These Onmyoji had dared to come to D City to testify and report against Luo Pengfei and several other council members, mainly because Chen Hao was coming and had repeatedly declared his intent to take down the Onmyoji Discipline Management Committee.

When Chen Hao and Ye Yuqiao approached, all the Onmyoji immediately gathered around them, shaking hands and talking with Chen Hao incessantly.

To Ye Yuqiao's eyes, this group didn't seem reliable at all, so she quietly instructed Chen Hao, "Boyfriend, make sure you don't tell these people about the Soul Corpse."

"Mm, Yuqiao, I know!" Chen Hao replied.

After some pleasantries, Chen Hao and Ye Yuqiao finally sat down.

"We're short on time, so let's get straight to the point!" Chen Hao said.

"Okay!" Zhang Chuiping nodded in agreement.

However, just as he was about to speak, a strong surge of Yang Energy wafted over.

Smelling the Yang Energy, everyone turned their gaze toward the entrance.

"Ah!" The crowd exclaimed in shock, "Ma Xiaokang!"

"Ma Xiaokang? Who's that?" Chen Hao asked, puzzled.

"The heir of the demon-hunting Ma family, and one of the seven directors of the national Yin Yang Master Association."

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