Chuyi picked up the Courtier Drum from the ground. He observed the item then handed it to me.

I studied the drum carefully. It was made of two skulls hooked together and felt heavier than I had imagined. There was a layer of mercury that covered the skulls. The bottoms of the skulls were polished and covered with two pieces of human skin as thin as cicada wings. 

One side of the drum had a drawing of a wolf while the other side had a deer. Both animals belonged to the Manchurian totem.  

If we ignored its creepy vibe, this drum was a masterpiece. According to rumors, when the Manchurian warriors engaged in battles, they also captured excellent craftsmen and kept them in the imperial palace to serve the royal family. They were called inner-court consecrators.

This drum was definitely crafted by those guys.

At this moment, Yin Xinyue, Li Mazi, and the girl got out of the forest and joined us. They were startled when they saw Cheng Xiaohu lying on the ground. Then, they saw the Courtier Drum in my hand and wanted to see it. I had to remind them not to beat it. 

When the girl held it, she curiously hit the drum once. I was so scared that my heart almost stopped beating. 

“Do you want to die? We’ve had enough trouble already.” Li Mazi snatched the drum from her hand. 

“It’s just a drum. How dangerous could it be?” The girl didn’t sound worried. 

Chuyi suddenly drew his long sword and aimed at her throat. Of course, he was just bluffing. However, the girl was scared, and her face turned pale. “Big brother, what are you doing?!”

“If it’s just a sword, why is it so scary to you?” Chuyi said with an indifferent face. His humor was pretty cold.

However, I noticed that the girl addressed him as ‘Brother’ while she called me ‘Uncle.’ 

What kind of discrimination was this?! 

After toiling for the whole night, I felt my body falling apart. “We should go home and rest.” 

However, Chuyi asked us to bury Cheng Xiaohu first.

The layer of dried leaves in this suicide forest was very thick, and it was almost impossible to dig up a hole here. Moreover, we didn’t have any tools.

We could only use the leaves to cover Cheng Xiaohu’s body. Chuyi burned some paper money and chanted the rebirth mantra. “I have to do this to prevent Cheng Xiaohu from becoming an evil spirit and harming more people.” 

The girl was curious. “Who are you guys?” 

I said mysteriously, “We’re Immortals.” 

After we left the forest, we returned to the car. 

“Chuyi, who’s your client?” I asked. 

“Except for Kangxi and the Cheng family, who else has a relationship with this drum?” asked Chuyi.

“Ao Bai’s later generations?” A flash of wit came to my head.

Chuyi nodded. His client was Ao Bai’s descendant. Although Emperor Kangxi had beheaded his entire family, some relatives managed to escape to Nanyang. They changed their names and lived there.

Their ancestors’ remains had been turned into an otherworldly item, which was even crueler than killing them and putting their bodies on display. As such, they tried everything in their power to locate the Courtier Drum and asked Chuyi to bring it back.

When it was around dawn, we reached the city. Yin Xinyue gave the little girl all the money she had. It would be enough for the girl to survive for a while. 

The girl got out of the car but lingered and didn’t want to leave. Then, she whimpered, “You fooled me!” 

“What?”

“You told me that you would help me kill my stepfather! Adults are not to be trusted!” scolded the girl. 

“Little girl, you know you have to go to jail if you murder someone, right? Also, you can’t just kill all the people you don’t like,” said Li Mazi. 

“You fraud! You big cheaters!” The girl cried and turned away, but Chuyi suddenly stopped her. 

He took a jade doll out of his pocket. It was around the length of a finger. He gave it to the girl and said, “Feed this doll blood from your fingertip for seven days. Then, place it under your stepfather’s bed. On the second day, he will bleed to death through his seven orifices.”  

Chuyi rarely fooled people, so I was a little shocked at this moment. “Are you going to help her murder her stepfather?”

“Evil people should die. Moreover, killing people to take revenge is the main function of an otherworldly item.”

Although he was a Daoist priest, Chuyi had his own view about good and evil.

“Thank you, big brother!” The girl was elated. She hugged Chuyi and planted a kiss on his cheek.

Before she left, Chuyi called her again.

“What?” asked the girl. 

“Why didn’t you ask me about the price of using this item?” Chuyi asked mysteriously.  

“I don’t care about the price!”

“After you kill him, you will lose twenty years of your life,” said Chuyi. 

The girl gawked as if she couldn’t believe it. But in the end, she nodded. “I understand. Thank you!”

There was nothing in this world that you could take for free. There was always a price. The moment you obtained something, you had to give something in return. 

The Cheng brothers wanted too much, and when they exhausted their tricks, they were done for.

I watched the girl disappear into the night. I just hoped that she could think about it more carefully. 

Once you stepped into the darkness, there was a chance that you’d never be able to return!