Capítulo 10: 010 Niu Tou Ma Mian
In the early morning, Chen Hao and Ye Yuqiao walked hand in hand on the path to school. Like yesterday, he once again attracted the envious gazes of passing men. A gentle breeze swept by as he turned his head to look at Ye Yuqiao beside him—her profile was impeccably beautiful, the more one looked, the more attractive she seemed.
Feeling Chen Hao's admiring gaze, Ye Yuqiao glanced sideways at him with a proud smile and said coldly, "Your grandfather came to see me last night, asking me about your left eye!"
"What did he say?" Chen Hao asked anxiously.
Ye Yuqiao shook her head and sighed, "He just came to ask me, he didn't tell me anything."
Chen Hao's brow furrowed, his eyes squinting as he pondered. Suddenly, he noticed up ahead, the "Four Little Tyrants" and a group of others closing in on them.
"This is bad, they're coming for revenge!" Chen Hao exclaimed.
Ye Yuqiao followed Chen Hao's gaze calmly and said, "If you aren't afraid of a fierce ghost, then why fear these people?"
As she spoke, the Four Little Tyrants and their group had already approached. Without a word, Xie Xiao Feng rushed forward and leaped into the air, kicking out with his left foot when he was less than a meter away from Chen Hao. Besides studying the art of Onmyoji exorcism with his grandfather since childhood, Xie Xiao Feng had also trained in martial arts for three years, making him the second strongest fighter among the Four Little Tyrants.
Seeing Xie Xiao Feng's left leg coming, Chen Hao was so startled that he froze. Just as Xie Xiao Feng's left foot was about to hit his abdomen, a figure suddenly stepped in front of him. He never imagined that at this moment, Ye Yuqiao would actually stand up to protect him!
Ye Yuqiao extended her hands and expertly captured Xie Xiao Feng's left ankle, then with a flick of her wrists, she flung him onto the ground.
All onlookers were stunned, Chen Hao with his mouth agape the widest. Xie Xiao Feng's flying kick was so fast, yet Ye Yuqiao managed to catch his ankle; moreover, it would have required significant strength to stop the momentum of such a kick.
"Ouch!" Xie Xiao Feng, thrown to the ground, groaned, clutching his buttocks.
"You.." Niu Dawei, the leader of the Four Little Tyrants, was enraged, "Everyone, attack, beat them to a pulp!"
Ye Yuqiao raised her hand and shouted, "Wait, are you not afraid that we'll tell the police about that matter?"
At this moment, Zhang Sheng, who was standing behind Niu Dawei, stepped forward, sneering, "My dad is at the police station; I asked him last night, and this won't affect Lin Yifei at all!"
"Why aren't you attacking yet!" Niu Dawei roared. As soon as the words left his mouth, a dozen students rushed towards Chen Hao and Ye Yuqiao.
Ye Yuqiao's expression turned vigilant as she slightly turned her head and said to Chen Hao with her back to him, "I've got this covered; you run! Don't worry, they won't do much to a girl like me!"
Looking at Ye Yuqiao's figure, Chen Hao felt a mix of emotions. The warmth he felt knowing Ye Yuqiao was willing to step out for him, but also a sense of humiliation, how could a man rely on a girl for protection? If this got out, how could he ever hold his head up high again!
"What are you waiting for, run!" Ye Yuqiao's tone became urgent.
Chen Hao suddenly straightened up, pulled Ye Yuqiao into his arms from behind. With a twist, he used his own back to shield against the incoming blows. Then, he crouched down with Ye Yuqiao under him, extending his body and arms as much as possible to protect her from harm.
Listening to Chen Hao's gritting moans from pain, Ye Yuqiao, who tightly embraced him, turned to look at him, her beautiful face and large eyes showing utter shock. She was quite confident in dealing with these dozen students, but Chen Hao, whom she thought was fearful of death, had surprisingly stepped forward. She was completely stunned at this moment.
Three minutes later, the assault stopped, and Chen Hao was now pale, on the verge of passing out. Ye Yuqiao came back to her senses, supporting Chen Hao's back while helping him stand up.
The Four Little Tyrants approached them, with Xie Xiaofeng being closely supported by Lin Yifei due to the pain in his back. Niu Dawei lit a cigarette and took a puff before saying, "You've got guts, girl. If it weren't for my brother here who took a fancy to you first, I would definitely consider making you my girlfriend!"
The person from the Four Little Tyrants who fancied Ye Yuqiao was, of course, the handsome Xie Xiaofeng—though at this moment, he was limping and looked rather disheveled.
Ye Yuqiao ignored him and looked at Chen Hao with concern.
Seeing himself ignored by the beauty, Niu Dawei, who was accustomed to having his way in the school, instantly became furious. He threw the cigarette butt to the ground and took a step forward, grabbing Ye Yuqiao's right hand harshly, and bellowed, "Damn it, I'm talking to you."
Ye Yuqiao glared at Niu Dawei with a frosty expression. Unintentionally, her left eye suddenly flashed with a green light.
Startled by the green light, Xie Xiaofeng quickly pulled Niu Dawei behind him and urgently signaled him to be careful with his eyes. Being versed in the art of Onmyoji exorcism since childhood, he knew Ye Yuqiao was about to summon a Yin Soul to entangle Niu Dawei; only Onmyoji with deep spiritual power could perform such a spell.
Though unsure, Niu Dawei caught the warning in Xie Xiaofeng's eyes and refrained from moving recklessly forward.
Having restrained Niu Dawei, Xie Xiaofeng staggered a few steps to face Ye Yuqiao and said, "Ye Yuqiao, you have two choices now: one is to leave Chen Hao and become my girlfriend; the other is to transfer schools with Chen Hao, and don't let us find out which school you've gone to!"
"You're afraid of me," Ye Yuqiao looked into Xie Xiaofeng's eyes as she coldly spoke, "You know very well the consequences of provoking me further!"
Xie Xiaofeng quickly avoided Ye Yuqiao's glance and turned to the weakened Chen Hao, saying, "Chen Hao, you need to think this through for yourself!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Xie Xiaofeng immediately turned around and left with a group of people.
"Are you okay?" Chen Hao asked Ye Yuqiao.
"Hmph!" Ye Yuqiao didn't respond, but felt inexplicably angry with Chen Hao.
"Don't forget," Chen Hao suddenly grasped Ye Yuqiao's hand, "you are my girlfriend, no matter what they say, if they dare... let them kill me then."
Ye Yuqiao rolled her eyes at Chen Hao and said, "I know! You really love to act tough!"
..
Midnight, twelve o'clock, Chen Family. Unable to sleep, Chen Hao lay on his bed, looking out at the sparsely starry night sky through the window, troubled by everything he had experienced since waking up from the car accident. Aside from Ye Yuqiao becoming his girlfriend, he hadn't encountered a single good thing.
The Four Young Overlords were looking for trouble with him; the mysterious power in his left eye seemed to be related to the old fortune teller who had sealed his Yin-Yang left eye when he was just born; the Old Liu who had helped their family find that fortune teller had died, and his Yin Soul couldn't be summoned, leaving no way to find out the whereabouts of that fortune teller.
Suddenly, the night changed! A cloud of dark clouds quietly enveloped the entire night sky, and the autumn wind began to ravage outside the house without warning, causing the window glass to shake violently.
"Ding-a-ling" came the crisp sound—the broken wind chime hanging in the living room suddenly rang. Chen Hao was surprised; he remembered that the wind chime had been broken since he was very young, and no matter how one played with it, it made no sound. Several times he wanted to replace it with a new one, but Grandfather always opposed it.
Driven by curiosity, Chen Hao got out of bed and walked out of his room. As he opened the door, Grandfather Chen Che's door also happened to open at the same time. The two met eyes, and Chen Hao asked in surprise, "Grandfather, that wind chime rang just now, did you hear it?"
Chen Che furrowed his brows, his eyes appearing to hide an unspeakable secret. He walked over to Chen Hao, raised his hand to make a shooing gesture, and said impatiently, "It's none of your business, go back to sleep!"
"What's going on?" Curious, Chen Hao couldn't help but ask.
"I already told you it's none of your business!" Chen Che's wrinkles twitched.
Chen Hao was about to retort when he suddenly froze, his eyes filled with horror.
Chen Che turned around to see a man with a bull's head and a man with a horse's face standing behind him. These two creatures with human bodies and animal faces were Niu Tou and Ma Mian, guards of the Netherworld's gates, primarily responsible for the registration of souls who have died. Unlike soul reapers and Heavenly Masters, the battalion of Niu Tou and Ma Mian obeyed no one in the Netherworld and did not interfere with any matters there.
"Grandfather," Chen Hao said, frightened, hiding behind Chen Che, "are they Niu Tou and Ma Mian?"
"I suppose so?" Chen Che guessed, looking at Niu Tou and Ma Mian. Although an Onmyoji who had served the Netherworld for decades, this was the first time Chen Che had ever seen Niu Tou and Ma Mian. According to the rules of the Netherworld, except for the Nether King, no one was allowed to contact Niu Tou and Ma Mian, or they would be cast into the Eighteen Levels of Hell.
"Chen Hao, come here, follow us!" Niu Tou said to Chen Hao, its deep voice echoing with a continuous tremble. With that, it drew a long knife from its back and slammed it heavily into the ground.
Chen Hao trembled inwardly and asked, "Where are you taking me?"
It was then Ma Mian drew a long spear from within itself and commanded, "Your life ended days ago; of course, you are to report to the Netherworld with us!"
"What!" Chen Hao's face turned ashen, his gaze stunned.
"Let's go; any further delay, and you'll miss the chance for reincarnation!" Niu Tou urged.
Clinging to Chen Che's arm in a panic, Chen Hao asked, "Grandfather, what should we do?"
Chen Che sadly shook his head and sobbed, "Hao'er, go on, in the next life we'll still be grandfather and grandson!"
Hearing this, Chen Hao's heart sank into despair. After a moment, he knelt in front of Chen Che, bowed his head thrice, crying out, "Grandfather, I've been unfilial, causing you so much trouble from a young age. It's too late to acknowledge and repent now, but if there's another life, I will definitely take good care of you, and be the obedient grandson you'd be proud of!"
With that, Chen Hao hugged Chen Che's legs.
Overcome with grief, Chen Che trembled, bent down, and hugged Chen Hao's head tightly, breaking down into tears.
After a while, Niu Tou waved its blade, and suddenly, a dark purple void appeared in the air—a gateway to the Netherworld. Ma Mian stepped in front of Chen Hao, lifted the long spear in its hand, and thrust it at Chen Hao. Its spear, known as the Soul Snatching Spear, could capture the essence of any Yin Soul in this world.
However, at that very moment, a flash of purple light...
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