A bird flew past the clouds.

Then, it was shot straight in the neck by an arrow—

"Damn! I missed!" There was the sound of a Qinghe Nie disciple cursing, as he quickly withdrew his bow, then added another arrow on his string.

The sound of more arrows flying, and the sound of ghosts' cries and anguishes.

"ESCAPE!" In the end, there were only fifty ghost soldiers left. They saw that they couldn't stand a chance, and instead, chose to flee. "DON'T LET THEM ESCAPE!" A Qinghe Nie disciple cried. He had personally witnessed his own friend die at the ghost soldiers' hands. He needed to get his revenge.

All of a sudden, a flash of red had passed him.

Luo Binghe unsheathed his sword, then swung it like a mad-lad. It only took one second, and nobody could follow his movements. He sheathed his sword—with ten ghost soldiers falling to the ground right afterwards, dissipating into ashes.

His red demonic mark glowed strongly, as he wiped the blood off of his lips. "Get the rest of them. Don't leave a single behind."

The remaining forty ghost soldiers began to escape.

However, they were all suddenly slammed onto the ground. A humongous force rendered them immobile, with the silver butterflies glowing even brighter. Hua Cheng stared at them, bored.

One by one, the ghost soldiers had dissipated into ashes.

There were only five remaining.

One of the ghost soldiers had clawed at the ground, as if trying to dig himself into the earth. "IDIOTS! OUR TRUE TARGET WAS NEVER QINGHE NIE!"

Hua Cheng lowered his eyes. The pressure increased. However, that ghost soldier did not stop. Mania was written across his face, as he screamed, "JUST WATCH! THE FOUR GREAT CLANS WILL BE OVERTAKEN BY GHOST NATION! STARTING FROM—"

A smile fell on his chaste lips, "Lanling Jin."

Only 1,000 ghost soldiers marched in front of Lanling Jin's gate entrance.

In their hands were sharp spears, gleaming with the intent to kill. They stopped, with their eyes flickering to look at the gate.

"Let's go." The ghost soldiers nodded.

They marched forwards, with the crowd of citizens parting ways. The citizens looked at the ghost soldiers weirdly, and didn't understand what these group of... maniacs were doing.

All of a sudden, a ghost soldier bumped into something—

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" That ghost soldier scowled. It was then, he paused. The person who he bumped into wore a black robe, with the hood draped over his head. Nobody could tell what the man's figure was beneath that robe.

The black-robed man lifted his head, revealing only his chin. "Oh."

His voice was deep and baritone-like.

The ghost soldier sneered. "Stay further away if you don't want to get hurt!" He turned away, then continued to go towards the gate.

Instead, he felt something clamp onto his shoulder—

The ghost soldier turned around and scowled, "WHAT IS YOUR GODDAMN DEAL!?!"

The black-robed man didn't respond. He shoved a hand into his pocket, felt around, then took his hand out. Laying in the palm of his hand were several gold ingots. "If I give you this, can you and your brothers leave?"

The ghost soldier was stunned.

His eyes thinned at the gold ingot, with greed beginning to pollute his mind—

"SHUT UP!" The ghost soldier snatched the gold ingot, then shoved the black-robed man away. "I have better things to do than to mess around with you, peasant." He sneered, stuffing the gold ingot in his pocket. Then, the ghost soldier turned back to his army-

"Wait." The black-robed man said.

His voice became deep, with a hint of tremor. "You took my gold ingot. Aren't you going to leave now?"

The ghost soldier ignored him, thinking that this man was probably a lunatic. The "lunatic" fell silent, seeing that the ghost soldier had left.

"I see." He laughed.

Suddenly, the air thickened and went stagnant. The night sky seemed darker and more mysterious than ever, as if a beast was just looming beneath the clouds. The black-robed man tore off his hood, revealing his handsome face, with a straight nose and deep brows. He sneered, "You still want to run without paying your debt. Who do you think you are?"

The ghost soldier turned around, wanting to stick his tongue at the "lunatic".

Instead, the moment that he turned around, his head was torn off of his neck—the ghost soldier dissipated into ashes.

Quan Yizhen bent down, then picked up the gold ingot, which the ghost soldier had dropped after his death. He huffed, then looked at the remaining ghost soldiers, who were alert.

"Let's fight."

The Martial God laughed, clearly angry and hot-tempered. He had long unsheathed his sword, then dashed at the army of ghost soldiers.

At the same time, an army began marching towards Ghost Nation. If Luo Binghe or Shen Qingqiu were to see that army, they would've recognized them as demons. The demons arrived at the gate of Ghost Nation. Guarding the gate, the two ghost soldiers were confused.

"Am I blind?" A ghost soldier blurted. "Or why else do I see a horde of demons coming our way? They are even carrying axes... spears... swords..."

His companion shut him up, "Go and alert the main base-"

Before he could say anything else, a sword pierced through his mouth. Liu Qingge looked at his state with disdainful eyes. "Not just a horde of demons."

Additionally to the Demon Army, there was also Cang Qiong Sect joining.

"ATTACK!" Liu Qingge charged, with the army of demons and Cang Qiong Sect's disciples joining him.

A demon girl dressed in red. Sha Hualing jumped from left to right, dodging every incoming attack with grace and beauty. By her side, there was a female cultivator from Cang Qiong Sect. Liu Mingyan dashed across the terrain, slaying ghost soldiers from her radius of one metre.

Her purple robes swayed, and her veil covered the bottom half of her face.

"I will kill more than you!" Sha Hualing declared.

Liu Mingyan just blinked, stabbing into a ghost soldier, deeming it dead.

The war between the Four Great Clans and Ghost Nation ended after a week.

All of the ghosts in Ghost Nation had been eliminated, and their wicked souls no longer haunted the ancient ruins of their home. And a sole Martial God—Quan Yizhen managed to wipe out the 1,000 ghost soldiers that attacked Lanling Jin.

Not to mention two powerful contributors—Shi Qingxuan and He Xuan—who both assisted in eliminating the back-up ghost soldiers at the ocean.

The Four Great Clans would never forget the help that the Heavenly Realm gave when they were in need.

After the war, which lasted for a week, the Martial Gods had left back to the Upper Realm. They took the Strongest Sword with them, and handed it over to Ling Wen.

"I still don't know how to feel." Shen Qingqiu blurted. He poured himself a pot of tea, then drank elegantly with his sleeves draped like a curtain.

"Me neither." Wei Wuxian sighed.

The three couples had returned to Cang Qiong Mountain, and resided in Qing Jing Peak. There, they enjoyed the calm tea that the place had to offer.

"It feels strangely peaceful." Xie Lian agreed.

The green bamboo sprouts grew, and the green leaves outstretched themselves to relax in the wind. Luo Binghe poured tea, and set the pot down. He nudged his Shizun, "We might as well enjoy ourselves, while the peace still lasts."

Hua Cheng flicked his eyes at him. "You're going to jinx yourself."

Lan Zhan didn't mind the two red-robed men. He turned to look at his lover, who cupped his cheeks in boredom.

The skies were cerulean blue, and the clouds parted to make way for the sun. The wind blew gently upon the cabin, making the wood quake like a leaf on the wind.

"It makes me feel like something is about to happen." Wei Wuxian sighed. "I feel like there is nothing that we've overlooked."

"Let's stop thinking about this." Shen Qingqiu snapped open his fan.

Luo Binghe nodded. "I agree with Shizun."

"What shall we do for the rest of the day?" Xie Lian asked. He smiled, and waited patiently for an answer. Wei Wuxian shrugged, then suggested, "How about, let's go and water the plants about Cang Qiong Mountain?"

The three couples agreed without a hindrance, then skipped off.

The Mo Clan was the first incident, where the three couples did a commission together. (A/N: It is the case where demons were reported for using female disciples as human cauldrons. Where the three couples transformed into girls... yes yes?)

The building had long been burnt down.

It was forgotten in society's eyes. Thus, it was the perfect place to hide. Rodents crawled all over the place, with their eyes wrinkling in disgust at the burnt smell.

"Has everything proceeded as planned?"

Yi Ran; the demonic cultivator lady had stretched her limbs. She sat on the throne of the Mo Clan, pretending as if she was the leader.

She was quickly overthrown. Bo Fan shoved her off of the throne, and sat on it. "Yes, everything has proceeded as planned." Only Nu Wang, the ghost slave was willing to answer.

"Good." Yi Ran yawned. "Boss would be proud of us."

She heard about how Ghost Nation declared war on the Four Great Clans for stealing the Strongest Sword. In the end, Ghost Nation lost—as expected. A cruel smile fell over Yi Ran's lips, as she went over their plan.

The reason why Bo Fan, Nu Wang, and her went to Ghost Nation's auction was not for the Strongest Sword. They knew that other cultivators would go there for the sword. Thus, all they needed to do was to make sure that the Four Great Clans get ahold of that sword.

If the Four Great Clans get the Strongest Sword, then Ghost Nation would for sure declare war on them. And in war, it was only natural that people would lose their lives.

"Do you think that that was enough destruction?" Nu Wang asked. "Would the ancient dragon bestow itself upon the world?"

"I don't know." Bo Fan scoffed.

Yi Ran punched him in the gut for talking back. The demon had fallen over in pain. Yi Ran turned to look at Nu Wang, and answered, "Perhaps, only Boss knows."

A silence filled the Mo Clan's base.

"Speaking of Boss," Bo Fan recovered from the punch. "He arrived."

A wisp of wind flew past the three cannon fodders' cheeks. The surroundings seemed to shake and tremor, with darkness plummeting. The burnt double doors were pushed open. Nobody was insight. Suddenly, the sound of pebbles ad footsteps had crumbled along the pathway.

There was a yellow cheongsam, which swayed to the never ending winds.

The ghost host from the auction had smiled. "I'm back." In her hands was the Body-Changing Mirror, which had been thrown away during the chaos.

The ghost host sashayed inside the Mo Clan's base, with the doors shutting behind her back. She stared deeply at the Body-Changing Mirror. Gradually, her figure began to blur. It was like a filter had been placed over her, with mysterious elements transforming her.

Her yellow cheongsam dress had faded away, and a black robe replaced it.

The ghost host turned into a tall man—it was the Boss.

"I prefer this form more." His voice was deep, and seemed to be drained of emotions.

Yi Ran nodded. In fact, many people may have wondered... how did the righteous cultivators learn of Ghost Nation's auction in the first place? It was because of their Boss—the ghost host, who spread the news.

The Boss wore a hood, which draped over his head. Black mist covered his face.

"How did you guys escape from Ghost Nation?" The Boss asked. "Have you done everything I've asked you to do?"

Yi Ran, Bo Fan, and Nu Wang kneeled on one leg. "Yes, we did."

"Oh really?' The Boss asked. His voice had a hint of inquiry. "Did you tell anyone of my identity?"

Instantly, a bucket of cold water seemed to wash over the three cannon fodders. They stiffened on the spot, and didn't dare to move. They did. They talked about the ancient dragon to the three couples... that was how they escaped.

"No, we didn't." Bo Fan remained unwavering. He clenched his hand into a fist, trying to calm his shaking.

The Boss turned away from them. "Good." He touched the walls of Mo Clan's base, feeling the burnt texture on his fingers. "This place needs a renovation."

"Yes, Boss." Nu Wang replied.

"By the way, Boss." Bo Fan added. "Have we killed enough? I mean... will the ancient dragon finally descend onto the mortal realm? We've done so much destruction already..."

The Boss stilled for a second. His back wavered, and the black robe danced to the winds.

"Bo Fan." He turned to look at the demon. "Are you sure that you didn't tell anyone about my identity? Or about... the ancient dragon?"

Bo Fan stiffened. He could feel immense pressure topple over his shoulders, which even rivalled to the Ghost King's.

"Yes, I'm sure." Bo Fan continued to lie.

The Boss chuckled. "Good."

All of a sudden, a cut sliced through the air. The Boss' pale lips moved, as he watched Bo Fan's decapitated head drop to the ground, with his body collapsing. The demon died. Blood soaked the Boss' hands.

The Boss smiled, "But just in case, it's better if your mouth stays shut."

Welp, there goes one (〃'∀｀〃)。

Did any of you guys expect the demon boy to leave before the demonic lady? I decided to kill off Bo Fan before his backstory is revealed—besides, does the dead even have backstories? ^-^