I never considered using a contract or making the Nine-Tailed Fox acknowledge me as its master.

Those methods might work on ordinary ghosts, gods, or demons. But for an ancient great demon like the Nine-Tailed Fox, it wouldn't be very effective and could easily lead to me being devoured by her.

Just as I was fretting, Hei Ye Xiao pulled me aside, "I think I can try."

"You?" I looked at Hei Ye Xiao, puzzled.

Hei Ye Xiao nodded, "If there's nothing wrong with my Houqing corpse, returning to my original body should restrain the Nine-Tailed Fox. Back then, the Emperor chose me to guard Ghost Wind Valley because Houqing can restrain souls."

How did I not think of that? Houqing, the legendary ancestor of zombies, could not only suck blood but also devour souls.

Hei Ye Xiao said, "When we designed Misty Rain Pavilion, we installed a mechanism in the main building. As long as the Nine-Tailed Fox's sealed tomb changed, the Houqing corpse's coffin would directly plunge from the roof into the main burial chamber."

"That did happen when Zhu Zining went to tamper with the tomb."

"If I had returned to my corpse then, the Nine-Tailed Fox wouldn't have had a chance to come out."

"So that's how it is!" No wonder I felt Hei Ye Xiao's strength didn't quite match his title of Witch King of Miao—it turned out he hadn't been able to control the Houqing corpse in time.

Zhu Zining must have anticipated this, using the flood and Arena to continuously obstruct Hei Ye Xiao. Otherwise, the battle at Misty Rain Pavilion would have turned around long ago.

Hei Ye Xiao said, "These past few days, I've been having people pump water out of the tomb. It should be about done now, and I'm going to go down and take a look."

I stood up and said, "Little Milk Dog, get up and work! Move the coffin down to the tomb."

"Are you a heartless capitalist?" Lin Zhao almost jumped up. "Even landlords aren't as black-hearted as you! I haven't even had a bite to eat, and you want me to work?"

I patiently explained, "This isn't my fault, you can only blame yourself for eating too slowly. You should open your bloody maw and bite down hard! The way you're nibbling, anyone would think you're kissing a pig's head!"

"Hurry up and eat! I'll watch you eat."

After I finished speaking, I stared unblinkingly at Lin Zhao.

Lin Zhao cautiously took a bite of the suckling pig, then stopped, looking at me.

I narrowed my eyes, grinned, half-raised my chin, and waved one hand upward, urging, "Eat, eat, eat... eat heartily..."

"Get lost!" Lin Zhao grabbed the suckling pig and threw it at my face. "I'm not eating, it's disgusting."

I caught the suckling pig and took a bite. "Shijie (Senior Apprentice Sister) really knows how to roast a suckling pig. Jianghu (martial world) people don't have so many rules. Camping out in the open is basic."

"When necessary, you have to be able to eat even while squatting in a latrine."

"Move the coffin, let's go!"

Before Wang Tufu and the others could speak, I preemptively said, "This coffin really has to be carried by Little Milk Dog. The coffins of the Coffin Gate have too many stories; no one else can lift it except her."

"Shut up!" Lin Zhao was about to go crazy.

In the end, Hei Ye Xiao summoned a few ghosts and gods to carry the coffin.

There was no other way. The coffin was made of pig iron. Lin Zhao could carry it for a few steps, but if she had to carry it down to the tomb, she'd have to keep the Nine-Tailed Fox company.

The tomb had been flooded, and the ground was extremely slippery. As I carefully made my way deeper into the tomb, I asked, "Lao Hei, what's the deal with the Human Emperor Rule in the legend of Misty Rain Pavilion?"

Hei Ye Xiao said, "To be honest, I don't know what's going on."

"If it weren't for that Human Emperor Rule, we wouldn't have needed to build Misty Rain Pavilion here. We could have suppressed the Nine-Tailed Fox easily."

"Back then, it was because of that Human Emperor Rule that the Emperor couldn't set up a barrier here, so he had no choice but to leave me behind to suppress her."

"Our Left and Right Four Guards only have one mission, and that is to help the Emperor return with all our might."

"However, there are too many factors that can affect the Emperor's return. We four vanguards are basically suppressing things that are detrimental to the Emperor."

"The Earth Master lineage is clearing the obstacles blocking the Emperor."

I retorted, "What obstacles?"

Hei Ye Xiao said, "I don't know either."

"You also know that balancing the relationship between subordinates is one of the Emperor's tactics."

"The Left and Right Four Guards and the Three Palaces are all the Emperor's subjects. The Emperor needs us to cooperate, but also to be wary of each other."

"The Emperor never gives anyone one hundred percent trust."

Hei Ye Xiao added, "From this point of view, you don't seem like someone who can become an Emperor."

I gave Hei Ye Xiao a look, imitating Ye Yang.

Hei Ye Xiao walked to the place where Arena's soul dissipated, quickening his pace unconsciously.

Following behind, I quietly said to Ling and Wang Tufu, "Don't you guys think Hei Ye Xiao and Arena are a little strange?"

"In their era, it was possible to have multiple wives. A Yao Duo was able to compromise on this matter, so why didn't Arena and Feng Luoluo ever take a step back?"

"Maybe they could have reconciled back then, right?"

Hei Ye Xiao suddenly turned around, "What did you say?"

I was startled by Hei Ye Xiao, "Nothing, nothing, just talking, really just talking."