Tian Sha, the leader of the Seven Fiends, was a cautious and suspicious man who valued security above all else.
Years ago, Ji Shiyou had killed Wen Sha, the second-in-command, during an interception, causing the Seven Fiends' mission to fail.
Not only did the Seven Fiends lose billions in rewards, but their reputation also plummeted, becoming a laughingstock among their peers.
At the time, several leaders of the Seven Fiends demanded a full mobilization to confront Jiu You head-on and avenge the insult.
However, he chose to lie low, suppressing their demands.
On the surface, he appeared to have surrendered, intimidated by Ji Shiyou.
For several years, the Seven Fiends took no action against Jiu You.
In reality, he knew that after the interception incident, Jiu You would be highly vigilant against the Seven Fiends.
Acting at that moment would have been unwise. The Seven Fiends were an assassination organization.
Their modus operandi was to remain hidden, strike unexpectedly, and eliminate their targets.
Jiu You had a hundred times more personnel than the Seven Fiends, and a direct confrontation would not be advantageous.
If they provoked Yan Luo Ji Shiyou, he might lead Jiu You to raid the Seven Fiends' stronghold.
It was even possible they could be wiped out entirely, which was why he had endured and remained dormant for years.
Only recently, sensing that Jiu You's guard had relaxed, did he bribe Ji Shiyou's driver and orchestrate the car accident.
He had intended for the plan to be flawless, believing that Ji Shiyou would surely die from the powerful impact of the truck.
However, news spread that Ji Shiyou had survived, merely falling into a coma, and the plan had failed.
Upon learning that Ji Shiyou was unconscious, everyone wanted to go to China, infiltrate the hospital, and kill Ji Shiyou to avenge Wen Sha.
Tian Sha immediately stopped them. After much deliberation, he suspected it was a trap.
He ordered everyone to refrain from impulsive actions and first sent the Male and Female Fiends to China to scout the situation.
After more than half a month, the Male and Female Fiends had only reported some valueless information at the beginning.
Then, they went completely silent. Tian Sha became even more convinced it was a trap.
However, with the Male and Female Fiends missing, they couldn't simply ignore it.
So, he dispatched Gui Sha, one of the Seven Fiends, to China to find the Male and Female Fiends and ascertain the situation.
Gui Sha appeared to be an old man in his sixties, a Southeast Asian, so thin his skin was stretched over his bones, resembling a skeleton.
In reality, he was only in his early thirties. The reason for his aged appearance was that he was a Ghost General, and raising ghosts consumed his vital essence.
Upon exiting the airport, Gui Sha hailed a taxi and headed straight for the Seven Fiends' secret base in Di Jing.
Although Di Jing was Jiu You's headquarters and they had suppressed the Seven Fiends repeatedly over the years,
the Seven Fiends were, after all, a world-renowned assassin organization, operating a business with no overhead.
Money could move mountains, and it was still possible for them to establish a secret base in Di Jing.
The car stopped in front of a tea house with an ancient decor. Gui Sha alighted and looked up at the sign.
Four large characters, "Qi Bao Tea House," were displayed. In the bottom right corner of the plaque was a small blue skull emblem.
It was the size of a coin, faint and barely visible. If one didn't look closely, they wouldn't notice it at all.
He stepped into the tea house. A few sparse customers were inside, and business seemed poor.
"A pot of good tea for the Seven Fiends!"
Gui Sha walked to the counter and instructed the proprietor.
To outsiders, his words sounded like, "Brew me a pot of good tea."
However, the proprietor heard clearly. He looked up, and his body trembled.
"Esteemed guest, the environment in the backyard is tranquil and suitable for tea appreciation. Please follow me."
The tea house proprietor, surnamed Wu, was a gaunt man in his fifties.
On the surface, he was the tea house owner, but in reality, he was an operative for the Seven Fiends in Di Jing.
Although he had never met Gui Sha, the chilling aura of ghosts emanating from Gui Sha was unique.
Coupled with Gui Sha's utterance of the code phrase, Proprietor Wu immediately stepped out from behind the counter and personally led Gui Sha to the backyard of the tea house.
"Di Jing Liaison of the Seven Fiends, Wu San, greets you, sir.
According to regulations, you must present your token to prove your identity."
Although he was certain that the ghost-like old man before him was Gui Sha, the fifth leader of the Seven Fiends,
Proprietor Wu still had to follow protocol. Otherwise, he might be directly executed by Gui Sha.
After all, as an assassin organization, the Seven Fiends placed great emphasis on caution and discretion.
"Well done. Here is my token." Gui Sha casually produced an object, palm-sized and crystal clear like jade, shaped like a skull, and tossed it to Proprietor Wu. "Are Old Six and Old Seven at home?"
"Greetings, Fifth Leader. To answer your question, the Sixth and Seventh Leaders have not returned for three days.
I sent people to search, but there has been no news, as if they have vanished into thin air.
I was extremely anxious and didn't know what to do. Now that you are here, I feel relieved."
Proprietor Wu took the white skull, as if it were a hot potato, and immediately returned it.
Everyone in the Seven Fiends knew that the token of Gui Sha, the fifth leader, was refined from an infant's skull.
It was Gui Sha's magical artifact, extremely sinister, capable of taking a person's life out of thin air.
He dared not hold onto it for long, lest he lose his own life by accident.
"Indeed, something has happened. Prepare a quiet room for me.
Cover the doors and windows so no light can enter. The rest is up to me."
Knowing that the Male and Female Fiends were missing, Gui Sha's expression did not change, nor could it.
His face was merely skin stretched over bone, sallow and yellow, incapable of showing any emotion.
Proprietor Wu hurriedly led Gui Sha to a room, pushed aside a bookshelf, revealing a hidden chamber behind it.
This hidden chamber contained items related to the Seven Fiends.
Once the bookshelf was returned to its place, not a sliver of light entered, meeting Gui Sha's requirements.
"This place is fine. You may leave?"
Gui Sha was clearly satisfied with the hidden chamber. After Proprietor Wu left, he sat cross-legged in the center of the room.
From somewhere, he produced a candle, about two inches long, placed it before him,
then closed his eyes and began to mumble strange syllables, which sounded obscure and difficult to pronounce.
He chanted like this for about two minutes, and suddenly, the candle before him ignited without fire.
However, the flame had a peculiar color, like the eerie ghost fire that appears in graveyards on summer nights.
The flame was weak, like a candle in the wind, as if it would extinguish at any moment.
Yet, it emitted a bone-chilling coldness. With the appearance of the flame, the temperature in the hidden chamber instantly dropped by more than ten degrees.
Gui Sha seemed oblivious, continuing to chant the incomprehensible syllables.
Then, from all directions in the chamber, ghostly cries were heard, and black mist began to rise.
"Ghosts of the capital, heed my command! Appear!"
Gui Sha silently recited the incantation, then formed a sword-finger with his index and middle fingers, bending the other three, and pointed it at the blue flame of the candle.
He was summoning the wandering spirits of the capital, hoping to glean information about the Male and Female Fiends from them.
The candle was called a Soul-Guiding Candle. The flame served as a signal, combined with the spell.
It could summon spirits within a hundred-mile radius for questioning.
The blue flame of the Soul-Guiding Candle suddenly surged, and within the hidden chamber, ghostly shadows flickered, revealing hundreds of spirits.
Fortunately, spirits do not occupy space, otherwise, this hidden chamber of only fifty square meters would have been packed.
Despite the large number of spirits, they dared not approach Gui Sha or the candle, cowering from Gui Sha's aura and huddling together.
But at this moment, a change occurred among the ghosts. Two spirits began to fight, tumbling and rolling.
All the other spirits scattered, some hiding on the ceiling, others on the antique shelves in the hidden chamber.
Gui Sha looked at the two fighting fierce spirits and, after careful observation, was greatly astonished.