Mi Tianyue, who was lying on the wall drinking wine, really couldn't understand what Zero was doing. She simply asked, "Zero, who are you playing chess with?"

"With ghosts and gods!" Zero said, "The so-called *Thousand-Year Wood* of the Mu family isn't as mysterious as the legends say! To put it bluntly, the Mu family used a special method to sign a contract with ghosts and gods, allowing the ghosts and gods to guard the feng shui array and change the feng shui when necessary."

"I killed the Mu family, so the ghosts and gods they worshipped naturally won't let it go. We have to give each other an explanation."

Zero gently pushed the chessboard, "Isn't your Excellency going to choose a piece?"

As soon as Zero finished speaking, Shen Qingbai, who was standing with his sword in his arms, immediately tensed up. The long sword in his arms was also vibrating slightly in its scabbard, as if it could be unsheathed at any moment.

Mi Tianyue, who was lying on the wall drinking wine, only glanced at Zero before turning her head to look at the moon in the sky, as if the moonlight was more attractive than a beautiful woman.

In an instant, the bright moon in the sky was covered with a layer of bloody light.

A figure walked slowly out of the blood-colored moon, step by step towards the small courtyard. With each step the other party took, the scenery in the small courtyard changed once, sometimes with the scorching sun, sometimes with ice and snow, sometimes with the earth returning to spring, and sometimes with the autumn breeze.

The person didn't speak pretentiously until he sat opposite Zero, "Beauty should be paired with flowers! Bloom."

As soon as the other party's voice fell, hundreds of flowers bloomed around Zero, but the colorful flowers surrounding the beauty didn't dare to compete with Zero for beauty, and could only be used as a foil to decorate the surroundings.

"Mm!" The man nodded slightly, "That's much better!"

Zero seemed unable to see the changes around her, "Please choose your piece, Your Excellency!"

The man looked at the black and white pieces, "Are you qualified to play chess with me?"

Zero smiled without saying a word, so the man could only speak again, "For thousands of years, you are the only one I have taken a fancy to and personally invited. I can forgive your unreasonableness. State your conditions, and I can consider them."

Zero picked up a black piece and said, "Withdraw your subordinates. That's all."

The man was slightly startled, "The Mu family has been destroyed. I need new believers. If you convert to me, the Mu family's subordinates will be your subordinates, and you can order them to do things at any time."

Zero shook her head, "I'm not a feng shui master, and I don't need feng shui secrets."

The man said in a deep voice, "But, I have taken a fancy to you."

Before Zero could speak, the other party continued, "Apart from the first family head, only three or two members of the Mu family could catch my eye. And you, you were able to decipher the secret language I left in the secret book in just half an hour, which shows your extraordinary intelligence."

"You didn't say a word in the Tiangong Gate, not because you disdained communicating with the Mu family, but because you have been wary of me. Knowing that the Mu family has my protection, you still dare to bet that I will abandon the Mu family. This composure is remarkable!"

"The fact that I abandoned the Mu family for you is my greatest appreciation for you."

"As long as you are willing to work for me, you will gain fame and fortune in the world of magic. What else can you hesitate about?"

Zero said lightly, "The Mu family's transaction with you must have cost them a lot, right?"

The man sneered, "If I didn't want to break the rules I set, I should have chosen the Ye family. The Mu family is not the person I like, so I naturally have to raise the conditions, even to the point of being harsh."

"You are the person I like, so I will naturally not propose harsh conditions."

The transaction between sorcerers and ghosts and gods is actually not much different from transactions in the human world. Whoever is eager to succeed is the loser.

From the other party's words, Zero could roughly deduce one thing: that is, the Mu family was very eager when they traded with the ghosts and gods back then. If you think deeper, without this transaction, the status of the Mu family and the Ye family might have been reversed.

Because the Mu family paid too much, they would hate the Ye family. Without this transaction, there would be no grievances between Nan Yimu and Bei Yiye, and there would be no contract between Ye Qianyang and the demon god.

Zero said calmly, "The Mu family has been passed down for many years, and they have been fighting endlessly with Bei Yiye. I'm afraid they paid a lot of price to you, right? Didn't they ever think of resisting you?"

"Hehe..." The man sneered, "The Mu family members are of mediocre talent, who dares to resist me? But! The Mu family did produce a fairly clever Mu Wenmin. He is using the secret technique of *Thousand-Year Wood*, but he is not calling servants from me. If this little cleverness can be considered resistance, I can only say that I am not bothering to argue with him."

The doubts in Zero's heart were finally resolved.

Zero tapped lightly on the chessboard and said, "It seems that Your Excellency is not a Si Fang (four directions) level ghost or god!" (referring to a regional or lower-level deity)

"Otherwise, the Mu family, who call themselves 'One Wood Doesn't Cross the River', wouldn't have quietly run to the Northeast. They were actually trying to avoid you. You wouldn't dare to go to the Northeast to settle accounts with him, would you?"

Ghosts and gods have their own territories, unless they are high-level ghosts and gods, no one dares to cross the border rashly.

The man was furious, "Presumptuous! The fact that I value your talent does not mean that you can be unscrupulous in front of me again and again."