I finally understood what had been bothering me all along.

It was that I had never figured out Sun Qing's motive for killing.

Whether it's a person or an evil spirit, except in very rare cases where they kill simply for the sake of killing, there is always a motive behind it.

My thoughts had been stuck on the questions of "Why did Sun Qing look for Zhao Yuezhu?" and "Why did he look for me?" I had overlooked Sun Qing himself.

Tattoos, human skin, Qian He Tang, Sun Qing, and the coffin tattoo must all be connected somehow. My train of thought had been interrupted during the encounter at Qian He Tang.

If I kept defending against Sun Qing, it would be the same as falling into his rhythm, forever being on the defensive. Only by tracing the root of the problem could I break through this maze.

The first thing I did was contact Ye Yang: "Ye Yang, are you chasing someone? If so, let him go immediately. Contact Zhao Ci to check on the situation at Sun Qing's old home. If there are pursuers, kill them as they come. Also, be careful yourself."

Ye Yang said coldly, "The greatest guarantee of my safety is not having to save you."

That Ye Yang, he always said things that got on my nerves!

At that time, I didn't know that Ye Yang was standing in a dead end, facing a brick wall while talking to me.

Ye Yang couldn't lift the arm that had been injured, so to answer the phone, he had to stand his long sword on the ground and hold the phone with one hand.

Ye Yang was talking to me, but his eyes were fixed on the wall.

The moment I hung up the phone, Ye Yang suddenly let go, letting the phone fall to the ground. His right hand drew his sword, and just as the sword turned into a stream of light piercing the wall, Ye Yang caught the phone again and put it in his pocket.

Only after Ye Yang had put away the phone did the sound of a weapon falling to the ground come from behind the brick wall.

Ye Yang walked to the wall and slowly pulled out his long sword. Traces of blood seeped from the sword marks on the wall, and the sound of a body falling to the ground also came from behind the brick wall.

As Ye Yang turned and walked into the alley, someone pressed their eye to the crack in the wall, looking at Ye Yang from behind.

Ye Yang acted as if he didn't know there was an eye with bloodshot veins spying on his back. He walked all the way to the street corner before standing in the shadows and saying:

"Xiao Chun, notify the ghost soldiers to clean up the other side of the wall. Also, make it clear to the ghost soldiers in the area that whoever took the Prefect's Seal must return it to me immediately."

"If the Prefect's Seal isn't returned within three days, I'll slaughter all the ghost soldiers in Wan City."

"Ah—" Nie Xiao Chun cried out in fright, "Ye Yang, you're not joking, are you?"

Ye Yang said, "I'm serious. If I slaughter all the ghost soldiers in Wan City, I'll go to the Yama Palace with my grandmaster and file a complaint with the Emperor of Hell. I don't think anyone would dare to intercept me on the way, would they?"

Ye Yang sneered, deliberately turning his head to look at the wall. The owner of the eye behind the brick wall was so frightened that he shuddered.

Ye Yang didn't even bother to say another word before striding away.

Without Nie Xiao Chun relaying the message, Ye Yang's words shook the entire Wan City. Wan City wasn't too big, but there were hundreds of ghost soldiers active in the area. That night, all the ghost soldiers gathered at the Land God Temple.

The leading ghost soldier said with a gloomy expression, "Brothers, I think we all know why we're gathered here today, so I, Wang Qing, won't say much more, right?"

"That Ye fellow is too arrogant. He thinks he can kill all the ghost soldiers in Wan City just because he's a Yang Jian Jie Ming Ren? Who gave him the right? What gives him the confidence?"

Someone said in a low voice, "I heard that Ye's grandmasters are the Black and White Impermanence deities, and that he has direct contact with them. I'm afraid..."

"Afraid of what?" Someone slammed the table and stood up. "Even if the Black and White Impermanence came in person, they wouldn't dare to say they'd slaughter a city of ghost soldiers."

"When we were working in the underworld, that Ye fellow didn't even know where he was being reincarnated! We've been ghost soldiers for so many years, we deserve some credit, even if we haven't done anything great. Why does he, Ye, think he can just open his mouth and say he's going to slaughter a city?"

"That's right!" Wang Qing roared, "There are so many Yang Jian Jie Ming Ren in the world, but none of them are as arrogant as Ye Yang!"

"This matter can't be left like this," Wang Qing said. "If we let Ye Yang act so arrogantly, all of us ghost soldiers will have to walk with our heads bowed when we see a Yang Jian Jie Ming Ren in the future. We have to teach that Ye fellow a lesson today."

Someone immediately stood up and said, "Brother Wang, tell us what to do, and we'll do it."

Wang Qing said, "Ye Yang is a disciple of the Black and White Impermanence, so we definitely can't kill him. But we can still teach him a lesson. We..."

Before Wang Qing could say what he wanted to do, someone said, "Ye Yang is quite skilled. When I went to Ao Xue Sect to retrieve a soul, I saw him force back a thousand-year-old corpse demon with my own eyes. If we make the first move, I'm afraid... I'm afraid we won't get any advantage."

Wang Qing's face was also ashen. He knew his own limitations. If he encountered a top expert like Ye Yang, he probably wouldn't even be able to withstand a single move.

Among the hundreds of ghost soldiers, there weren't many who dared to risk their lives against Ye Yang. The Land God Temple fell silent for a while.

After a long while, someone finally said, "I think we can make sure Ye Yang dies without a burial ground without confronting him directly."