When Ouyang Jue was first detained, he acted completely relaxed, even proactively cooperating with all kinds of interrogations, putting on the perfect model citizen façade.
It was obvious he was absolutely confident about ultimately escaping punishment.
But once Shi Pengpeng provided a new angle, and the Mystic Sect shifted to investigating from a supernatural perspective, uncovering his trickery, Ouyang Jue began to grow anxious.
No matter how powerful his deceitful arts were, they couldn’t stand against the might of the state.
The Mystic Sect joined forces to battle him and after several days, finally broke through the spell he’d used to deceive heaven and earth, revealing the shocking secret he carried.
“Ouyang’s family has done evil for generations—their fate records were long ago stripped away. By rights, Ouyang Jue’s fate should have seen him, like his father and grandfather, die in his forties due to a bloodline affliction,” Zhong Ziqing said gravely.
“Moreover, according to the Underworld’s records, the Ouyang line ends with Ouyang Jue; his Juesha Fate means he will never have any children.”
Ouyang Jue had always claimed publicly that he would never marry or have children, but from the revealed fate, it was clear he was destined for the Juesha Fate from the start.
He must have known about his own destiny long ago.
“That’s not right, is it?” Xiao Lingshu couldn’t help interjecting, “Sister Liu clearly gave birth to a daughter for him! She couldn’t have lied, could she?”
Juesha Fate means a fate utterly devoid of descendants.
The killing aura is so intense that children can’t even be born.
“That’s precisely another secret Ouyang Jue has been hiding,” Yin Cong took over.
“At first, we thought he only used trickery to conceal his fate, so the authorities couldn’t uncover his crimes. But now we’ve realized—he used two fates, confusing the Yin-Yang Bureau and deceiving heaven and earth.”
Xiao Lingshu was stunned and he asked, “How can a person use two fates?”
Shi Pengpeng had already thought of something, her face was cold.
“A method that destroys all human relationships?”
“Correct.” Zhong Ziqing nodded.
After discovering Ouyang Jue’s Juesha Fate, they sensed something was off and investigated Liu Ruyan’s birth details.
Her Four Pillars and Eight Characters showed she was destined for later blessings and strong children’s luck—a fate of many offspring.
But fate is fickle, fortune and misfortune alternate.
Liu Ruyan was manipulated by Ouyang Jue and tricked into going abroad.
Once she crossed the boundary of yin and yang, the world’s oversight loosened.
Liu Ruyan’s fate was altered.
If she wasn’t lying, she only ever had one daughter.
But Ouyang Jue’s fate was Juesha—any daughter sharing his bloodline was destined not to survive.
Of course, it’s even more likely that Ouyang Jue never intended to let that daughter live from the very start.
Xiao Lingshu’s eyes widened.
“Don’t tell me Ouyang Jue… used his daughter’s fate?”
Zhong Ziqing and Yin Cong didn’t reply.
Silence was an answer in itself.
From Ouyang Jue’s grandfather onward, the Ouyang family had committed every imaginable evil.
The police had already found evidence against them back then, but both his grandfather and father died suddenly of illness, cutting off all leads.
When it came to Ouyang Jue, he worked hard to clean up his image, donated money to build roads, and appeared to have abandoned evil for good.
But the Ouyang family’s power only grew, surpassing even his predecessors.
Businesses linked to Ouyang Jue were still frequently exposed for scandals: real estate fraud, forced demolitions and sales, all sorts of gray and violent enterprises, even shocking murders.
His latest investment, an MCN company, was involved in pornography, violence, kidnapping, and money laundering.
All these incidents could only have happened under Ouyang Jue’s protection, but whenever the clues pointed to him, they would mysteriously become muddled and lead nowhere.
The Mystic Sect had finally pierced this layer of deception, but still couldn’t figure out exactly how Ouyang Jue operated.
They could only guess that he borrowed the fate of his closest kin to accomplish his tricks, using some method that transcended yin and yang to conceal all his crimes.
“So ruthless…” Xiao Lingshu sucked in a cold breath.
“He’s utterly heartless…”
“Utterly heartless,” Yin Cong said coldly.
“We investigated three generations of the Ouyang family, and it’s all the same to the core…”
Ouyang Jue’s grandfather, after being diagnosed with leukemia, demanded a bone marrow transplant from his son.
But Ouyang Jue’s father, eager to inherit the family fortune, tampered with the process, essentially sending his father to his death with his own hands.
Realizing the family’s genetic issues, Ouyang Jue’s father married early and had many mistresses, hoping to have more children.
But it wasn’t out of love for children or a desire to continue the family line—he just wanted a backup blood bank for himself.
But the Ouyang line was destined to be thin.
In the end, he only had Ouyang Jue.
He, too, couldn’t escape an early death.
Ouyang Jue inherited the family’s cold-blooded cruelty.
The Ouyang family was immensely wealthy, and he held an extravagant funeral for his father, using it as an excuse to amass money and consolidate power.
Yet he never truly performed a proper ritual for his father, never offered any sacrifices, not even burning a single piece of gold or silver paper himself at the family tomb.
At this, Yin Cong clicked his tongue.
“But even if he did have some filial piety and handled the ancestors’ affairs, it wouldn’t matter. The previous two generations of Ouyang men were seized by the Underworld as soon as they arrived. His grandfather was thrown straight into the Hungry Ghost Path, condemned for eternity…”
“That’s not right.” Yan Jing suddenly spoke up.
“Ouyang Jue couldn’t possibly have ignored the family’s ancestral rites…”
Normally, only those who don’t believe in ghosts and gods would neglect rituals.
But Ouyang Jue understood yin and yang and was skilled in trickery—he should value these things more than most.
The family was able to set up Tomb Arrays and refine Corpse Ghouls thanks to Ouyang Jue’s guidance.
He might be cold and ruthless, uncaring about his ancestors’ fates, but there’s no way he’d ignore tomb feng shui and ritual ceremonies.
These are all tied to the family’s fortune—his own lifeline.
Yin Cong and Zhong Ziqing exchanged looks.
Yan Jing’s words made sense.
Yet, their investigation had shown that Ouyang Jue paid no attention to the ancestral tomb and never offered sacrifices.
“Maybe he already knew that no matter how many rituals he held, it wouldn’t help?” Shi Pengpeng said.
“Don’t forget, he bribed the Underworld, colluding with the Underworld Registrar. How could he not know his ancestors had been cast into the Hungry Ghost Path, doomed forever?”
Everyone was suddenly enlightened.
Shi Pengpeng tapped her finger lightly on the armrest, slowly analyzing, “If he knows the fate of his ancestors, he must also know what awaits him after death…”
The previous two generations of the Ouyang family thought they’d planned for everything, but died young and still faced retribution after death.
Ouyang Jue learned the family’s fate from their example.
To change his destiny, it wasn’t just about living longer—he couldn’t die at all.
Otherwise, no matter how many years he gained, the moment he died, all his sins would come back upon him.
He’s already achieved half of it.
He’s outlived his destined age, and outwardly, he looks much younger than he really is.
But who knows how many innocents have suffered for it.
Still, the Heavenly Net is vast and unyielding.
His trickery has finally been exposed.
Shi Pengpeng pressed on, “Since his illusion was broken, how did he still manage to escape?”
At this, Yin Cong and Zhong Ziqing looked embarrassed.
Yin Cong gritted his teeth and said, “It’s our fault. We didn’t clear out all the spies Longevity Island had planted earlier.”
Previously, Zhong Ziqing had revealed that Longevity Island had far-reaching influence, committing crimes abroad and infiltrating the Mystic Sect with many agents.
Because of this, the Mystic Sect had to halt recruitment, nearly causing Shi Pengpeng to be unemployed right after graduation.
Although the Mystic Sect had conducted a thorough internal investigation, time was limited and a few traitors still slipped through.
After Ouyang Jue realized the Mystic Sect had unraveled his trickery, he was terrified and began plotting his escape.
Those traitors from the Mystic Sect also knew that if Ouyang Jue was caught, none of them would end well.
So, at the critical moment when the Mystic Sect broke his spell, they joined forces with the Imperial Preceptor and coordinated with Ouyang Jue from within and without, escaping together.
By the time the rest of the Mystic Sect noticed, Ouyang Jue had long since vanished.
Strangely, everyone assumed he’d immediately flee far away.
But instead, he doubled back to Yuan Yi Temple and kidnaped Woodie.
“That old bastard was just pretending before—his cultivation is terrifying! Even Xiao Nian and E Beast together couldn’t defeat him!” Xiao Lingshu started to ramble again.
“Sister Liu’s the real deal—she always steps up in a crisis. But that old man had too many powerful artifacts, and he had the Zigan Sword in hand. Sister Liu took a blow and nearly died, but luckily Woodie shielded her, though Woodie lost half its hand. Who knows how it’s doing now…”
The more Shi Pengpeng listened, the more puzzled she became.
“I’ve been meaning to ask—why did Ouyang Jue kidnap Woodie?”
“No idea,” Xiao Lingshu shrugged.
“He just came and took it, never told me why.”
Zhong Ziqing said, “I heard that Woodie was brought back from Longevity Island’s mausoleum. Maybe Ouyang Jue wanted to reclaim what was his?”
“It can’t be that simple,” Yan Jing interjected.
He knew Ouyang Jue better than anyone present.
“He’d discard even his own flesh and blood—why would he care about a mere Woodie?”
Unless this Woodie had some special purpose for him.
And it had to be a purpose so important that he’d risk everything to come to Yuan Yi Temple for it.
“But Woodie isn’t special at all!” Xiao Lingshu scratched his head.
“It’s not even as strong as Xiao Nian. If Ouyang Jue wanted someone, he’d have taken Xiao Nian instead…”
The lion dog curled up in the corner, licking its wounds, suddenly sneezed.
“No, there is something special about Woodie,” Shi Pengpeng suddenly remembered.
“Remember, it wasn’t naturally cultivated into a spirit—it was refined by Longevity Island. In its chest is a drop of Vengeful Blood.”
She looked at Yin Cong and said, “Teacher, didn’t you once say that a drop of blood carried the sin of kin-slaying is an unforgivable curse…?”
Everyone in the room felt a chill down their spines.
Xiao Lingshu shivered, stammering, “Don’t—don’t tell me that drop of blood is…”
He didn’t finish, unable to continue.
But everyone knew what the rest of the sentence was.
It was their shared suspicion.
That drop of Vengeful Blood was very likely left behind by Liu Ruyan’s daughter.
That’s why Liu Ruyan felt an instant connection with Woodie.
That’s why Ouyang Jue risked everything to steal the Woodie.
But regardless of the truth, the most urgent matter was still to find Ouyang Jue and the remnants of Longevity Island.
“We’ve already increased our manpower overnight, but the Imperial Preceptor has the Wang Xiang Eye Bead, and Ouyang Jue can use the Yin-Yang Concealment Art. They’re incredibly hard to track,” Zhong Ziqing rubbed his forehead after saying.
“It’s strange—we set up a massive array around West Luo early on, but haven’t sensed even a trace of them. Now, I’m worried they may have already left West Luo…”
“Or maybe,” Shi Pengpeng said, “they never planned to leave West Luo in the first place?”
Yin Cong: “You mean…?”
“I’ve been wondering—why does Longevity Island insist on stirring up so much trouble in West Luo?”
Shi Pengpeng pulled out the yellow talisman containing the Clown Spirit, tossing it up and down as she pondered.
Before being captured, the Clown Spirit had said something: I thought West Luo was so chaotic that you exorcists and monks would be too busy to pay attention to me.
Where demons and monsters run wild, it’s the best place to fish in troubled waters.