Jiangli took the Soul-Suppressing Nail.
Fu’er immediately added, "The thing below, it must have been unable to suppress—"
Before Fu’er could finish, a chorus of ghostly cries and howls erupted from the courtyard.
The next second, a fierce wind rose in the courtyard, shaking the flowers and plants around them.
Jiangli’s expression darkened as he flipped his palm, sending the remaining few pebbles flying out, hitting several flower pots.
The sound of wind in the courtyard suddenly stopped.
As if the fierce gales and dark clouds were just a momentary illusion experienced by Xia Xin and Fu’er.
In just an instant, the skies cleared again.
Only a faint sobbing sound remained.
It sounded like gusts of wind yet also like a woman’s crying.
Xia Xin felt a chill run down his spine.
He instinctively moved closer to Jiangli’s side.
At that moment, he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye, a hand emerging from under the Feng Shui Jar.
It was a bony white hand, smeared with traces of blood and soil, with a large hole on the back of the hand.
Xia Xin hadn’t even reacted when the hand grabbed his ankle.
He was standing right next to the Feng Shui Jar.
"Damn it, damn it!" Xia Xin’s face turned ashen and he cried out in horror, "Ancestors, save me, please!"
"What are you yelling for?" Jiangli coldly glared at him.
Xia Xin suddenly clamped his mouth shut, the cry at his lips immediately ceased, but his features were knotted in desperation, his eyes spelling out pleas for help.
Jiangli clicked his tongue in impatience, glancing at the hand gripping Xia Xin’s ankle.
He suddenly raised his foot and stomped on the bony arm.
At the same time, as if the bone felt pain, it released Xia Xin’s ankle with a jerk, trying to retract but unable to move.
Jiangli coldly said, "Behave yourself."
Xia Xin leaped away in fear, frantically shaking his leg as if trying to shed something that had clung to him, then saw the bony hand tremble and, seemingly resigned, lie flat on the ground, patting it.
Jiangli understood and said directly, "You should know, I’m the one who let you out."
The skeletal hand patted the ground again.
Jiangli continued, "I let you out for a reason. You died unjustly, and I can guess how. I released you for your sake and for the others who were killed by him. I know who you want to confront, and he is also someone I want to deal with."
The skeletal hand paused.
Jiangli watched her reaction and went on, "So we are neither enemies nor friends. I let you out to make a deal with you. Help me, and I will help you. After it’s done, your grudges will be avenged, and I can send you to reincarnation. But you must promise me, you won’t kill indiscriminately, otherwise—I can release you, and I can also seal you back. I suppose you wouldn’t want to be sealed again, would you?"
The skeletal hand trembled, then furiously patted the ground, as if to agree.
Only then did Jiangli lift his foot.
The hand immediately retracted as if in pain, and then another hand emerged from underneath the Feng Shui Jar, rubbing the part that had been stepped on.
"Alright, come out first, then we can discuss the plan,"
Jiangli reminded her.
Right after that, Xia Xin witnessed a horrifying scene.
The two bony arms scratched at the ground, grasped the grass as if finding leverage, and soon a full skeleton began to crawl out slowly.
First a white skull appeared, followed by its body...
Xia Xin’s temples throbbed wildly, nearly passing out from the shock.
But he felt that as a member of Xuanmen, fainting at such a time would be too embarrassing. So he bit his lip, twisted his thigh, and somehow stayed conscious.