Chapter 807: Haze Pot

To Tang Prefect, those few glances appeared as furious, wide-eyed stares; seeing the red-robed ghost woman captured and the surrounding yin energy vanish, he hurried over and asked, "Only one? I saw two."

Pan Yun's expression didn't change. "That was her illusion. That's why her power was greatly weakened—I captured her within twenty moves."

Tang Prefect exhaled in relief. "How will Master Pan deal with this ghost woman?"

Pan Yun gazed at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle, her voice filled with compassion. "Naturally, I will take her back to Sanqing Temple, open the Heavenly Gate beneath the Three Pure Ones, and send her to rebirth."

Tang Prefect nodded repeatedly, cautiously asking, "So I won't see her again, right?"

"Unless her resentment is so heavy she escapes from the Underworld, you won't."

"If her resentment is heavy, she will?"

Pan Yun: "When justice is denied, her Dao heart cannot accept it. Stubborn souls gain the courage to break out of the Underworld. Tang Prefect, escaping the Underworld is no easy thing—ten ghosts go, nine are destroyed."

Tang Prefect was not foolish; on the contrary, those who passed the imperial exams and rose to the position of Prefect only feigned ignorance—they were never truly stupid.

He pondered briefly and grasped the key point: "So any ghost who successfully escapes to the mortal realm must be extremely powerful?"

Pan Yun nodded. "Such ghosts are like humans—resolute in will, never giving up until their goal is achieved."

Tang Prefect hurriedly asked, "Then, Master Pan, do you have a way to deal with such ghosts?"

"Tang my lord, such ghosts always carry great injustice. Daoist Priests must uphold Heavenly Harmony—we don't act like the tales say, smashing every ghost we see into oblivion. Instead, we fulfill their wishes, so they willingly go to reincarnation."

Tang Prefect nodded thoughtfully. "So if I encounter ghosts again, I merely need to clear their injustice and fulfill their desire."

Pan Yun nodded. "But not all ghosts carry grievances—each ghost must be analyzed individually, and also…"

"I understand," Tang Prefect raised his hand to interrupt her. "Judging cases and discerning truth—I'm best at this. I still have the ability to read people and detect deception."

Pan Yun swallowed the rest of her words, looked up at the sun on the horizon, and reminded him, "Tang Prefect, time is late. I must take my leave."

Tang Prefect snapped back to reality and pretended to urge her to stay.

Pan Yun firmly refused. Tang Prefect gave a slight nod to his steward.

The steward immediately brought forward a small tray, lifted the cloth covering it, revealing five silver ingots—ten taels each, totaling fifty taels.

Pan Yun didn't refuse. She reached out and took them, then took her leave.

Watching them hurry away, Tang Prefect stroked his beard and asked, "Why was He Shi in such a rush?"

The steward smiled. "Said she must return to Mount Sanqing for the first meal of the New Year."

Tang Prefect brightened, tugging his beard as he chuckled. "A person of feeling. Master Pan truly is as County Magistrate Wu said—a good Daoist."

The steward nodded.

He'd expected the affair at the prefecture to take considerable effort; he never imagined it would be settled in less than an hour.

The speed left him slightly disoriented.

Pan Yun led Seeing Miao Zhen and the others away in haste. On New Year's Day, the streets were empty—no people, let alone vendors.

The only sound on the entire street was the hurried footsteps of four people. Sister Hong Yan reverted to her true form and soared swiftly along the rooftops, soon overtaking them. She leapt down, transformed back into human shape, and squeezed beside Pan Yun: "Where's Xiao Hong?"

Pan Yun patted her waist. "She's sleeping in her box."

Sister Hong Yan relaxed, glancing around. "We're going back empty-handed? Don't we buy your senior brother a chicken?"

Pan Yun: "My senior brother doesn't like chicken. I think you're the one who wants to eat it."

Sister Hong Yan muttered under her breath: "Wu Zhihong is too stingy—I haven't eaten chicken in three days."

Pan Yun pulled her along. "There are no vendors in town today. To buy a chicken, we must go to the village."

She dragged the four of them to the city's edge. Wang Cong, Xue Shao, and Xi Jin carried chickens, ducks, and fish. Bangchui and Pan Xiaohei sat inside a bamboo basket filled with red tangerines. Bangchui kept pulling tangerines from beneath his buttocks, peeling them, and handing a segment to Pan Xiaohei.

Pan Yun lifted him up, inspecting the tangerines in the basket. "Can cats eat tangerines?"

Pan Xiaohei: "What can't I eat? You just won't let me!"

Pan Yun looked at it with clear disgust. "Can't you have some cat dignity? Don't shove everything into your stomach."

"Don't worry, Little Auntie, it won't hurt it," since Pan Xiaohei could speak human language, communication had become effortless. Wang Cong had recently studied cat demon care—he found cat demons quite easy to raise, as long as they weren't overly pampered.

Wang Cong waved the chicken. "Taihe black chicken—we bought it straight from the village. The villagers even cleaned it for us. We can stew it as soon as we get home."

Taihe black chicken, hailed as the white phoenix of medicinal cuisine.

Seeing Miao Zhen swallowed hard and raised his hand high. "Me, me, me—I'll stew it!"

Xue Shao held up the fish and smiled. "Bighead carp!"

Xi Jin beamed. "And red-feathered duck! Master Pan, let's hurry!"

Pan Yun took down her Three Treasures Cauldron and released it. Everyone happily climbed inside.

Pan Yun lagged behind, casually tossing the bamboo basket into the cauldron. Xue Shao caught it and set it down. Bangchui and Pan Xiaohei immediately crouched back into the basket—clearly, they truly loved eating tangerines.

The Three Treasures Cauldron rose into the air, paused briefly, then shot across the sky like a meteor.

The people inside, standing or sitting, instantly collided, screaming "Ah! Ah! Ah!"

Pan Yun laughed heartily. "Feels like a roller coaster, right?"

Who among them, besides her, had ever ridden one? None had even heard of such a thing.

But it didn't matter—after the rapid flight back to Mount Sanqing, their brains were mush. When they crawled out of the cauldron, they felt the sky beneath their feet and themselves floating in the heavens, the surrounding mountains and rivers drifting all around.

Wang Cong staggered to his feet, saw his father floating out from the temple, and walked toward him with tears in his eyes. "Dad, Dad—"

Wang Feiyin rarely opened his arms to welcome his son—only to see Wang Cong stagger, stumble sideways at a sixty-degree angle, and walk past him without even brushing his sleeve…

Wang Feiyin: …

Wang Cong walked past, froze, and turned his head left and right. "Where's my dad? My big, huge dad?"

He felt his brain might fall out. He quickly grabbed it, took a few steps, staggered more and more, nearing the cliff's edge.

Wang Feiyin: …

The others were the same—clutching their heads, stumbling, taking two steps then falling, taking two steps then lying flat on the ground.

Xue Shao was smarter. Once he realized he couldn't tell direction, he lay down, stared at the sky, and quietly felt the earth.

But soon, even his quiet recovery became impossible—Wang Feiyin dragged the children away from the cliff, and they wandered randomly. One accidentally stepped on Xue Shao's hand, another kicked his leg, then landed right on top of him…

Xue Shao let out a groan of pain, silently struggling to crawl aside, but the moment he moved, he realized his head was being pinned down.

Pan Yun sat right on top of his head, not moving at all.