I looked at the old man Zuo with a half-smile. He was getting nervous from my gaze but didn't dare to speak carelessly.

Before long, strands of hair began to fall from old man Zuo's head, and the wrinkles on his face deepened rapidly, at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Old man Zuo panicked and grabbed his hair, "Young Master, spare me! Young Marshal, spare me! I really haven't done anything against the rules. I swear, I swear on my original life spirit!"

I raised my hand slightly, "Duan Xiang, give him a chance to speak."

Nie Xiaochun slashed her finger, cutting the yellow incense in two.

Old man Zuo's hair stopped falling.

I said calmly, "Stand up and find a place to sit down and talk."

Old man Zuo found a chair and sat down properly across from me, honestly saying, "You two, I really haven't done anything against the rules."

"Back then, my ancestor of the Zuo family relied on the Tong Yang Che Ma (vehicles for traversing between the realms of the living and the dead) to do a lot of things in the Yin and Yang realms and made many friends."

"Later, the Second Master of the Zuo family, I don't know how, directly broke into Fengdu City."

"When my ancestor saw the cart entering Fengdu City, he knew that disaster was coming to the Zuo family. He didn't bother to care about his brother's life or death and drove the cart out of the underworld."

"The ancestor knew that the Zuo family was finished, so before the ghost officers arrived, he hid his concubine and son who were raised outside."

"That's how my branch managed to save our lives."

"That child was the later Zuo family ancestor, Zuo Hanyue."

Hearing this, I pondered, "So, the Zuo family can no longer be considered the original Zuo family?"

Ye Yang also nodded, "No wonder they were able to escape the pursuit of the underworld."

In ancient times, the hierarchical system was strict. Children born to concubines could be written into the family tree, but they could not inherit the family business. Children born to mistresses didn't even have the right to enter the family tree.

The child that the Zuo family ancestor raised outside, although also surnamed Zuo, was not a member of the Zuo family in the strict sense.

It seemed that the Zuo family ancestor was preparing for the day when he would be subjected to the punishment of extermination of the entire family, which was why he raised a wife and children outside.

Old man Zuo continued, "Yes, ancestor Zuo Hanyue established a separate lineage and continued the Zuo family."

"Originally, according to the meaning of my ancestor's grandmother, she wanted ancestor Zuo Hanyue to leave the path of术道(Shu Dao - Daoist arts), and live a stable life."

"However, ancestor Zuo Hanyue was used to a life of luxury with the old ancestor, and he couldn't stand suddenly living a hard life."

"The old ancestor was in too much of a hurry when she left, and didn't bring out anything valuable. The Zuo family children didn't have any capital to do business. They tried a few jobs, but they could barely fill their stomachs."

"Zuo Hanyue kept chanting: the Zuo family relies on Tong Yang Che Ma (vehicles for traversing between the realms of the living and the dead) to make a living. Without the secret arts, what else can the Zuo family do?"

"The old ancestor, however, refused to let him touch the secret arts, even threatening to die."

"When the old ancestor was alive, Zuo Hanyue didn't dare to mention the matter of restarting Tong Yang Che Ma."

"He waited until the old ancestor passed away before he found the secret arts of Tong Yang Che Ma based on the old ancestor's fragmented words."

Hearing this, I interrupted him, "Do you know how Zuo Hanyue obtained the secret arts?"

Old man Zuo shook his head, "I'm not sure about this, but..."

Old man Zuo paused and said, "Ancestor Zuo Hanyue once left a will, saying that it could only be opened when the Zuo family was in trouble."

"I think the old ancestor probably left something similar back then."

"Mm!" I nodded, "Continue."

Old man Zuo continued, "Later, Zuo Hanyue also cultivated the secret arts and reorganized the Tong Yang Che Ma. However, he didn't dare to go to the underworld to take on business again, so he had been taking on the business of ghosts, gods, and Demonic Daoists."

"Over the years, we have only traveled to forbidden areas of ghosts and gods, doing a little business."

"I really haven't broken any rules!"

I stood up and walked to the corpse, "You surnamed Zuo, I think your business is quite big!"

"You've made more than a dozen Tong Yang Che Ma (vehicles for traversing between the realms of the living and the dead). This guy's nostrils are almost turned to the sky, and he doesn't put anyone in his eyes."

"You're telling me that you're doing a little business? Do you think I'll believe it?"

My eyes suddenly turned cold, "If you don't tell the truth, don't blame me for completely erasing your Zuo family."

"What I said is true!" Old man Zuo was almost crying, "Lord Li, if I have told even half a lie, you can exterminate my whole family, and I won't say a word."

I turned around and said, "Old Zuo, are you playing 'squeezing toothpaste' with me? I ask a question, you answer a question. If I don't ask, you don't say anything!"

I looked down at old Zuo, "I'm asking you, where did the ominous things that appear in the Yang realm come from?"

"Back then, who brought out that Yellow Spring Twin Lotus from the Yin realm, the one from the Coffin Gate?"

Old man Zuo was so frightened that he knelt on the ground on the spot, "That wasn't me, it wasn't me! That was done by someone from another branch of the Zuo family, it really wasn't."

"My branch has a clear order not to do business in the underworld. We have never been to the underworld."

Ye Yang and I looked at each other and saw the surprise in each other's eyes.

I didn't even expect that a casual sentence would explode such a big secret.