The shape-shifting spell could only last for the duration of one incense stick.
Therefore, it wasn't until the grand formation was completely set up and the midnight soul-summoning was approaching that Hongjiao was finally transformed into Xiaomi's appearance by White Cat.
It curiously raised its hands to look at them; the ten fingers were as white as scallion roots, the nails neatly trimmed, and the fingertips round and cute.
Suddenly, it felt a chill down its back. Turning around, it saw its master standing in front of the door, looking at it with cold eyes, a flash of threat passing through them.
As if saying: If you dare to mess around while in her form again, you are dead meat.
Hongjiao instantly behaved, sitting obediently in place without moving an inch.
Midnight was approaching.
Ouyang Huai, who had originally said he would come to observe, made a last-minute excuse of feeling unwell and went back to rest, leaving the soul-summoning entirely in their hands.
Because the dark, malevolent energy was too heavy, the servants also followed White Cat's instructions and stayed behind closed doors.
Only the three of them were left in the garden.
White Cat guarded the formation and couldn't leave for a single step; Jiang Zhiyu held the soul-guiding banner to summon the soul and needed to stand in the center of the formation.
Only Wu Li was free to move. He was responsible for guiding the soul and could freely enter and exit Ouyang Rui's room, just waiting for the soul to appear to guide it into the body.
The door was pushed open.
Wu Li glanced at the pale and haggard man on the bed, walked straight over, and sat down on the edge of the bed.
As if finding the man in the way, he grabbed him along with the blanket and casually tossed him onto the floor.
Then, he unceremoniously leaned against the headboard and closed his eyes to rest.
With his wrist resting on his knee, his fingertips tapped rhythmically, quietly waiting for the soul to appear.
About half an incense stick's time passed.
The surrounding temperature dropped sharply without warning, the candlelight in the room flickered, and the door rattled gently.
It was here.
Wu Li curled his lips and slowly lifted his eyelids, his gaze so deep it seemed bottomless.
The soul of Ouyang Rui's true body had arrived, but he was in no hurry to get up, as if he was still waiting for something.
It wasn't until the door rattled slightly again, as if something else had entered the room.
Only then did he slowly raise his hand, sending a wisp of a soul-guiding spell from his fingertips into Ouyang Rui's body.
The vengeful spirit found a physical body.
The man on the floor suddenly opened his eyes.
In those eyes, there was a bone-chilling sharpness and hatred.
He sat up rigidly, as if still unaccustomed to this body. He twisted his neck and stretched his limbs a bit before kneeling down to the young man by the bed, his face still bearing a trace of fear.
"Thank you, Master... for granting me a body."
Previously, it had been tortured half to death by this young man's malevolent aura, and most of it had been devoured by that snake, leaving only a single wisp that escaped into Ouyang Rui's body.
Now that the vengeful spirit had been drawn into the body by the youth before it, the first thing it had to do was acknowledge him as its master.
"No need to thank me, and certainly no need to call me master. I never intended to spare a monster like you. It was my snake's incompetence that allowed you to escape, which can only be considered your good luck. Leaving a wisp of malicious energy in Ouyang Rui's body, and having your soul follow his soul, was quite clever of you." Wu Li slowly raised his eyes, a strange and gorgeous smile on his face, his tone dismissive. "You hurt my most precious treasure, so I will definitely not let you live. It's just that right now, you still have some use."
His gaze fell upon it, not looking, but bestowing charity:
"I give you the time of half an incense stick to take the revenge you seek. Once you're done, cast yourself into hell and die."
The kneeling man, however, acted as if he had received a tremendous grace, his eyes turning red.
"Master's great kindness and virtue will never be forgotten for all eternity!"
Ouyang Rui's controlled body quickly leaped out the window, heading straight for its target.
Wu Li turned his head, his gaze shifting to the incense stick on the table.
Half of the incense ash collapsed into the burner. The originally straight wisp of white smoke was now twisting and turning, as if someone was circling it, pacing anxiously.
It was Ouyang Rui's true soul.
Wu Li stared at the twisting smoke and suddenly let out a soft sneer.
The laugh was low, as if spilling from deep within his throat, carrying a touch of sinister laziness.
What great kindness and virtue.
Applying such words to him felt ridiculous even to himself.
Wu Li lowered his eyes, his fingertips gently tapping his knee.
Letting the vengeful spirit possess the body, using Ouyang Rui's flesh to kill Ouyang Huai.
Not only would the person Mimi hated be gone, but his own hands would remain perfectly clean, without a single drop of blood on them.
And that pathetic worm whose body was taken over—when his soul returned to its place afterwards, he would find that he had killed his own father with his own hands.
For the rest of his life.
Would he still have the leisure... to pine after someone else's wife?
The smile in his eyes slowly surfaced, thick and chilling.
He suddenly really wanted to see with his own eyes the moment Ouyang Rui truly woke up.
That shattered, disbelieving, yet irrefutable expression.
It would definitely be a beautiful sight.
This was simply much more interesting than killing him.
The hotpot gathering in the suburbs lasted until midnight.
If Song Yueyao hadn't dragged Xiaomi away by force, who knows how much longer she would have kept pulling at Hongxiao, chattering away.
It all started after Hongxiao blurted out that secret.
For some reason, as if a certain chord had been struck, Xiaomi actually pulled out a jar of aged Nu'er Hong wine from her Qiankun bag.
It was obvious she didn't know how to drink; she chugged it down like water, gulping it loudly.
After downing two bowls, she was instantly drunk.
That scene, that spectacle.
She grabbed Hongxiao's shoulders, shaking her back and forth, her mouth running like a burst dam:
"You! Attention! At ease! Listen to me carefully, you must love yourself first! Do you hear me? Love yourself first... then love others!"
"Sigh, you silly little fox! Why don't you go confess your feelings? What if, what if he likes you too!"
"If you don't say it, how will he know? If he doesn't say it, how will you know? If neither of you says it... then, then who knows!"
Chai Xiaomi became more and more agitated as she spoke, her body swaying like a blade of grass in the wind, relying entirely on Song Yueyao to prop her up from behind.
"Let me tell you—hic."
She let out a drunken hiccup, paused for a moment, and then continued as if nothing had happened:
"If you like someone, you have to say it! Saying it won't hurt, but not saying it... not saying it is a huge loss!"
As she spoke, her eyes actually turned red, though it was unclear whose grievance she was feeling so deeply.
Hongxiao smiled helplessly. "But I am a demon, and he is a human."
The topic eventually led to the most fatal point—humans and demons walk different paths.
Chai Xiaomi waved her hand heroically, almost knocking herself over in the process. "So what if humans and demons walk different paths! Enjoy happiness while it lasts. When he dies, you can just find another one, right?"
She patted Hongxiao's shoulder, though her gaze wandered aimlessly. "One after another, an ironclad Hongxiao, a flowing stream of boyfriends, how wonderful, hahaha."
So Hongxiao asked, "Xiaomi, if the person you loved died, would you find another one?"
When people advise others, they are always so heroic and free-spirited.
But when the same question fell on her own head, she froze.
Chai Xiaomi's cheeks were flushed from the alcohol, and she blinked her eyes.
Just imagining that scene made her mouth turn down in a pout.
She didn't even dare to dwell on the hypothetical scenario of Lili dying, let alone finding another one.
But on second thought.
That wasn't right.
She suddenly raised her head, her eyes clearing up for a brief moment.
Lili had an immortal body, so wasn't his nature just like Hongxiao being a demon?
After all this time, it turned out she was the one who would be sent off.
According to the comforting logic she had just used, wouldn't that mean after she passed away, Lili could just move on to the next girl, and the next?
Then she would just become his tragic, unforgettable lost love.
At this thought, Chai Xiaomi suffered a complete emotional breakdown.
She sniffled a few times, her eyes turning red in an instant, and burst into loud sobs.
"Stupid Lili, if you dare to stop loving me, I won't let you off even as a ghost! Waaah!"
Crying until she was gasping for breath, she still managed to squeeze in an addition:
"I... I will press my face against your window every night! I'll scare you to death! Waaah..."
Song Yueyao was completely baffled. How did Wu Li suddenly get dragged into this out of nowhere?
She supported the swaying Xiaomi, breaking into a sweat.
If she had known, she never would have let her drink.
