On the other side, the red palanquin floating on the water had already been intercepted by a large net downstream. Dozens of strong men pulled it ashore with ropes, but the moment the curtain was lifted, everyone was stunned.

Even the two ghosts were shocked. They had no idea how they were exposed.

They had indeed transformed to look like Chu Yi and Jiang Guo, which should have easily deceived the nearby townsfolk. But the problem was that those two children never got into the red palanquin in the first place.

It was like copying the wrong answer on a test. Even if they matched the handwriting perfectly, the answer was still wrong.

Immediately, someone shouted, "Drag them out!"

The two ghosts let out a shriek and reverted to their original forms, attempting to flee. But the defenses today were tight, and cultivators were standing by on high alert.

The moment the ghostly figures turned into green smoke to escape, they were struck down without hesitation.

They would've never figured out why they were recognized at first glance.

Someone had already reported the matter to the patriarch of the Xiao Clan.

Xiao Youde rubbed his forehead in frustration. While shaking his head, he groaned, "There was trouble yesterday, and now we've got ghosts stirring things up? Why is this year's ritual so cursed? Get all the boats from town, and have everyone go downstream to search. We have to find the Spirit Children!"

"Yes!"

With that order, the people of Lingguan Town sprang into action, heading downstream to search for the two children.

Meanwhile, amid the chaos, Xiao Youde felt a wave of dizziness and quickly returned to his residence to rest, instructing his clansmen to report any news to him immediately.

Once his son helped him into bed, he finally let out a long breath. "Whew… Go back and keep watch. I'm fine here. If there's any news, come tell me right away."

"Alright, Father. Don't worry too much," Xiao Youde's son said quickly, helping him lie down before leaving the room.

Moments later, the pain on Xiao Youde's face disappeared, and a sinister look took its place as he swiftly flipped out of bed.

He walked over to a lamp in the corner, twisted it firmly three times, and with a mechanical clatter, a hidden door slid open in the wall.

Without hesitation, Xiao Youde stepped inside.

Beyond the door was a narrow, descending staircase. Xiao Youde followed it down, walking steadily through the darkness until he reached the deepest part underground.

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

What lay before him was a vast chamber, far larger than he had expected.

A single lamp burned overhead, its flame flickering with eerie purple light. It seemed to have been placed there to illuminate the rows of spirit plants growing silently below.

On either side of the open space stood rows of enormous Human-Faced Jade Essence Flowers.

These spirit plants, exceedingly rare in the outside world, formed two full flowerbeds here. The Human-Faced Jade Essence Flowers emitted waves of jade-colored luminescence that drifted toward the two white jade coffins at the center, as if being drawn into them.

As if sensing Xiao Youde's arrival, the two coffins began to tremble. Then, two heavy thuds echoed through the chamber.

Boom! Boom!

The lids suddenly flew open.

"You are here?" a hollow, ethereal voice echoed.

From the coffin on the left rose a figure of pure black. It was humanoid in shape, its entire body seemed to be made of obsidian. The surface was smooth and lustrous, glowing with divine light.

From the right, another figure sat up. This one was pure white, as though sculpted from polished white jade.

Neither of the two figures had facial features—only humanoid silhouettes. It was impossible to tell where they heard from or where their voices came from.

"Greetings, Grand Ancestors," Xiao Youde knelt at once in reverence.

Inside these jade coffins were none other than two peak seventh-realm Human-Faced Xiao demon kings—the Twin Ghost Xiaos whom the dragon race had been hunting for thousands of years!

…

The Black King Xiao spoke in a deep voice, "Has the situation over there been handled?"

"Grand Ancestors, I followed your instructions and pretended to know nothing," Xiao Youde replied. "I had the clansmen go search for the Spirit Children. As expected, the ones in the red palanquin had been swapped out. By now, it's likely that they have been taken to the ghost lair beneath the water mansion."

"Whether they wipe out those little ghosts or get devoured by a malicious ghost, it has nothing to do with us," the Black King Xiao said with a laugh. "Heheh, we can rest easy here."

The White King Xiao disagreed. "No. This place has already been noticed by human cultivators. We must leave."

"Again?!" Black King Xiao snapped, clearly dissatisfied with White King Xiao's response. "It took us centuries to find a stable place like this and nurture a clan willing to worship us. If we leave now, we'll have to start from scratch!"

"It's better to start over than to lose our lives," the White King Xiao replied. "The dragons have hunted us relentlessly for millennia, and even after ten thousand years, they won't stop! Human cultivators won't tolerate us either. The moment we're exposed, there's only one path left—death."

"But how long are we going to keep running like this?" Black King Xiao said as he stepped closer to White King Xiao's jade coffin.

White King Xiao replied, "Until we attain the Heavenly Origin."

"We've waited for thousands of years," said Black King Xiao. "The most compatible Great Dao of the Myriad Forms belongs to the Fox Clan in the Far West, and the Great Dao of Reality and Illusion is incredibly difficult to comprehend. Now… with these Human-Faced Jade Essence Flowers nearly mature and our bodies nearly complete, we may finally have the chance to become the master of the Great Dao of Reality and Illusion. But if you insist on leaving again, all of these flowers will go to waste. It'll take us hundreds of years just to grow them again!"

"Then we'll spend those extra hundreds of years," White King Xiao replied firmly. "We've survived this long because we've been cautious. If we had chased comfort over caution, we would have died three thousand years ago."

"This…" Black King Xiao still seemed unwilling.

Just then, a new voice echoed through the underground chamber.

Suddenly, a voice rang out. "That one is right. Both of you really should leave."

A young man in brocade robes stepped out of the shadows. The two Ghost Xiaos hadn't sensed his presence at all.

It wasn't because they'd been careless. Chu Liang had used a stealth technique designed specifically to evade detection—Spirit Cat's Tiny Steps.

The downside was that this technique was painfully slow—so slow, in fact, that a grandma heading out to buy groceries in the morning could do two laps before he even got there.

The upside was that it allowed him to have near-perfect stealth. Once activated, it erased his presence completely. Even a cultivator of the same cultivation level as him could not sense his steps.

When Xiao Youde first snuck down here, Chu Liang followed immediately. But because of his slow pace, he had only just arrived at this point. Still, it had all been worth it. He had successfully tracked down the two oversized Human-Faced Xiaos, and he could barely contain his excitement.

"You…" Xiao Youde recoiled in panic. "How did you find this place?"

"With the Heavenly Star Unusual Art," Chu Liang replied with a smile.

Since Ye Yongxing and Lin Bei had yet to reach the seventh realm, Chu Liang hadn't brought them down to confront the enemy directly. Instead, he gave them other tasks. But in truth, it was thanks to both of them that he had been able to find this place.

"You hid yourselves well. And you've got items that block heavenly detection, so tracking you wasn't easy," said Chu Liang. He then pointed at Xiao Youde and said, "Unfortunately for you, he doesn't carry such treasured items.

"You've had the members of the Xiao Clan worship you for years. Without the help of the patriarch—the one leading the rituals—this tradition would've never lasted. So I figured, even if the others were unaware, the patriarch had to be involved."

Chu Liang stared at the two Human-Faced Xiaos, his gaze blazing like fire and lighting up the dim chamber. He continued, "The ghost lair you set up beneath the water mansion was quite convincing. If I had been just passing through, I might have believed it was all the work of those ghosts."

He paused for a moment, then added quietly, "Unfortunately for you… I came here for you."

Earlier, Chu Liang had used his divine sense to observe Jiang Guo as she slaughtered the ghosts in the ghost lair. Almost immediately, he sensed something was off. If everything had truly been caused by a few low-level ghosts, there would have been no connection to the Twin Ghost Xiaos, and the divination results from the Omniscience would have been wrong.

Then, Xiao Youde suddenly disappeared. That was when Chu Liang grew suspicious and asked Ye Yongxing to use the Heavenly Star Unusual Art to track him down. Since Xiao Youde didn't carry any item that blocked heavenly detection, the divination placed him in his own bedroom. That alone wouldn't have raised concern, but everything beyond the bedroom was a blur, which was strange and suspicious.

Meanwhile, Lin Bei also made a major contribution by watching over the children, ensuring they didn't disturb Ye Yongxing's focused divination.

"You came here… for us?" White King Xiao asked in confusion.

"That's right! I have a reason I must eliminate you. And that reason is…" Chu Liang drew the Demon-Slaying Sword, his voice ringing out like a bell. "Justice!"

Indeed. He stood here today for justice and righteousness! He stood here today to eliminate evil!