To achieve the best results, He Yan bought high-quality materials such as talisman paper and cinnabar. After returning to his rental apartment, he meticulously followed the steps from the information he found today, spending three hours to complete a formation.

He tried a total of three times, only because he was not proficient in the process. The first two attempts failed, and it was only on the third try that he barely succeeded.

The last stroke was a bit crooked, but it wasn't a big problem. He Yan added a small correction formation to ensure the formation could operate normally.

After confirming there were no flaws in the formation, He Yan wiped the fine sweat from his forehead with a tissue, poured himself a cup of hot water, and sat at the desk, lost in thought as he gazed at the night outside the window.

It was already late into the night, but the lights in this prosperous city were still shining brightly. He glanced at his phone; there were only a few dozen minutes left until midnight.

If that female ghost were to come tonight, she would definitely choose this moment when the yin energy was at its peak.

The formation he had laid out this time was not actually a killing formation, but a composite formation combining a trapping formation and a soul-calming formation.

The trapping formation was to trap the female ghost, while the soul-calming formation was to help her break free from the illusion caused by the curse.

The difficulty of completing a two-layer composite formation was far more than just one or two times that of completing a single formation. Even with He Yan's strong mental strength, he failed twice before succeeding.

The reason he went to such great lengths to set up this composite formation was simply to bring this matter back on track.

He and the female ghost had no real grudges in the first place, so He Yan still wanted to try to see if he could bring her back to the right path. If the female ghost could come to her senses, it would naturally be a happy ending for all.

He could continue his ordinary college student life, and the female ghost could go find her real enemy to seek revenge. He could secretly help the female ghost in the background and take the opportunity to avenge the original Han Ziyu.

Part of the reason He Yan did this was for the sake of the female ghost, but in fact, it was more for his own selfish reasons. Although this method was roundabout, the benefits were also very obvious. With a female ghost holding the underworld's warrant at the forefront, he, a small supporting character who helped to push things along, would not have to worry about karmic retribution and could avoid a lot of subsequent trouble.

However, if the curse on the female ghost was too deep and this formation that he had spent so much mental effort on could not remove it, then he could only choose to kill this female ghost and then go face Yan Xixi and that expert himself.

He Yan slowed down his drinking speed and licked the corner of his mouth.

Actually, there was a very strange point in this matter.

The Underworld Warrant was not something that could be issued casually. Only the Court of Ghost Prison had the right to issue it, and the Court of Ghost Prison was notoriously strict. Ghosts who did not have a severe grievance had no chance of obtaining the Underworld Warrant.

Moreover, letting ghosts return to the mortal world was inherently risky. Who knew if the ghosts, after returning to the mortal world, would be unable to control themselves and use their strength to harm innocent people in the mortal world?

Therefore, while the Underworld Warrant granted ghosts the special amnesty to return to the mortal world, it also placed many restrictions on the ghosts.

First, after the ghost returned to the mortal world, its strength would be directly reduced by half. Second, the Underworld Warrant would be engraved with the name and birth date of the person the ghost was seeking revenge on. If the ghost who returned to the mortal world for revenge harmed anyone other than the person on the Underworld Warrant, they would immediately suffer the lashing of the Underworld Warrant, and then an underworld official would come to the mortal world to take the ghost back to the underworld for punishment.

The lashing of the Underworld Warrant was directly on the soul, and it was said that the pain was extremely horrifying, having once been listed as one of the "Top Ten Cruel Punishments in the Metaphysical World".

However, when the female ghost attacked him two days ago, she did not show any signs of pain from beginning to end. It was unknown whether the female ghost's endurance was too strong or the Underworld Warrant did not react.

According to common sense, even if the curse laid by that expert could confuse the female ghost, it was impossible for it to also shield the Underworld Warrant.

The Underworld Warrant contained the power of rules, and the power of rules was endowed by heaven and earth. If it were one of the few great powers on the metaphysical world's list, there might be a few chances to shield the Underworld Warrant's perception, but the expert invited by Yan Xixi, who made hundreds of mistakes in setting up a barrier outside his own lair, was obviously not among those great powers.

He Yan had not originally thought of this point until he had immersed himself in the metaphysical forum for an afternoon today and learned about the power of the Underworld Warrant before realizing the strangeness of this matter.

Could it be that something had gone wrong in hell again?

He Yan pondered these things, and before he knew it, he had finished the glass of water.

He put the empty glass back on the table and drove these thoughts out of his mind.

In any case, the matters of hell were not something for a small fry like him to worry about. He himself had a battle to fight later.

Just as he was about to stand up, a black tentacle crawled up the desk along the corner of the table, then used its dexterous tip to circle the handle of the small electric kettle and refilled the empty glass with water.

He Yan: ".................."

Its learning ability was quite strong.

Although He Yan was no longer thirsty, in order not to discourage the black shadow's enthusiasm, he still politely picked up the glass of water on the table and took two sips, then rewarded the little tentacle that was lying on the table and wriggling towards him after pouring the water by reaching out and stroking it.

The tentacle immediately climbed onto his hand, then continued to spread upward, squirming bit by bit along his forearm.

He had been busy from morning until just now, so busy that his head was spinning, and he hadn't had much intimate contact with the tentacle. It was already quite remarkable that it had been able to behave until now.

However... He Yan glanced at the phone screen. There were still three minutes until midnight, and now was not a good time.

He used his other hand to tear the tentacle off his arm and used his spiritual power to give it a warning flick. That flick was not hard, but after the tentacle received the meaning of his rejection, it immediately drooped down dejectedly, as if it had been bullied.

Metaphysics and spiritual power were essentially related. After He Yan had devoured a lot of metaphysical knowledge, he also realized some tricks for communicating with spiritual power. Now he could accurately convey his meaning to the black shadow using spiritual power.

The two of them, no, one person and one unknown creature, could now engage in shallow communication through spiritual power. Although it was not as precise as verbal communication, since the black shadow had been particularly cooperative these past two days, there was no need to worry about this guy dragging him down anymore.

If he took the black shadow to investigate that expert's residence now, there definitely wouldn't be another misunderstanding like last time.

However, there was no need for that at the moment, because after startling the snake in the grass the other day, He Yan estimated that expert would come looking for trouble on his own initiative.

Worried that the black shadow's presence would make the female ghost, a fellow ghost, wary, He Yan simply used spiritual power to create a barrier around the black shadow to conceal most of the resentment on its body.

Time ticked by second by second, with the final few minutes feeling especially long. He Yan gently stroked the tentacles with his fingertips, the white threads of spiritual power all extending out from his spiritual sea, hovering motionlessly in the air, ready to strike.

As expected, the moment the time arrived, the lights in the room instantly went out, and a familiar resentful energy surged into the room.

Following the direction the resentful energy came from, He Yan looked down and saw a puddle of dark red blood rapidly spreading into the room from the crack under the door, bringing an indescribably foul and bloody stench.

A black energy mixed with traces of blood also rushed into the room, charging towards his face. But this time, the female ghost's power seemed to have weakened significantly. He Yan only needed to flick it lightly with his spiritual power threads to block that black energy, its momentum completely gone compared to the first night.

Something wasn't right...

Seeing that black energy assaulting He Yan, the black shadow immediately became restless. Its entire body, like a mass of black fog, slowly expanded, extending countless tentacles, vigilantly targeting the black energy with a fierce look as if ready to pounce and tear it to shreds at any moment. The barrier He Yan had set up to conceal its aura was broken in mere seconds.

He Yan swiftly used his spiritual power threads to smooth its hackles, barely stopping it from directly charging over and ripping the black energy apart.

In the few short seconds it took He Yan to soothe the black shadow, the blood on the floor had already rapidly spread to cover nearly half the room. Then, the blood began surging and finally condensed into a human form - it was the same female ghost with a tattered body they had seen two days ago.

This female ghost...

With his excellent memory, He Yan keenly noticed that this female ghost's body was even more broken than last time. Everywhere he could see was a bloody pulp, barely recognizable as a human form. It was a horrific sight. Those with slightly weaker mental fortitude would faint immediately upon seeing it.

Even with He Yan's decent psychological resilience, he felt extremely nauseated.

Since the female ghost's power was clearly much weaker than before, He Yan didn't expend much effort to bind her with spiritual power and toss her into the ritual array.

As the array operated and the resentment on her body dissipated, the female ghost's appearance gradually changed, her blurry flesh mending and broken limbs regenerating.

Judging from this, the curse on the female ghost's body should have been lifted.

The female ghost's form slowly returned to normal. In the end, she actually turned into a pretty young woman with long hair, wearing a blue and white school uniform like a high school student.

This female ghost was only seventeen when she died, still in high school. If not for being unjustly killed a year ago, this girl should be a college freshman just like Yan Xixi.

Thinking of the grudge between this female ghost and Yan Xixi, He Yan's ill feelings towards Yan Xixi deepened further.

Just as he was holding a talisman, preparing to try communicating with the female ghost, her face that had returned to normal suddenly became ferocious again, resentment starting to gather once more. He Yan sensed something amiss and immediately took an alert step back.

But before the female ghost could make a move, an icy murderous intent abruptly came from behind.

It was a very small, inconspicuous black lump, nearly impossible to detect in the night. However, He Yan's spiritual power told him this lump was extremely dangerous!

Without the slightest hesitation, disregarding the female ghost in the array, while dodging with his body, he condensed his spiritual power threads into a beam and took the initiative to charge at the lump!

Although his reaction was fast, someone else was even faster. Before the lump could strike, a mass of black fog suddenly shot out from the side, intercepting it ahead of He Yan with overwhelming momentum!

The ensuing battle was no longer one He Yan could intervene in.

That lump's origins were unknown, actually fighting the black shadow to a draw. He Yan knew that with his current body, jumping in would only be a hindrance. He wanted to extend his spiritual power to assist the black shadow, but it directly used its spiritual power and resentment to restrain him in place. The originally intimate black spiritual power threads suddenly turned cold and hard. He Yan's spiritual power threads struggled for a long time but only managed to create a small opening.

Through that small gap, He Yan witnessed a scene that made his eyes nearly pop out in rage!

He saw that lump-like magic tool suddenly erupt with surging black light. Originally at a slight disadvantage, it now directly pierced into the black shadow's body!

The black shadow's movements paused strangely for a moment, then it seemed to collapse, the black energy thinning and dissipating, quickly spreading to the surroundings and filling the cramped rental unit.

He Yan had a bad premonition. He opened his mouth, but before he could make a sound, he felt a tremor from his spiritual sea. After a roaring in his ears, he completely lost consciousness.

Before blacking out, his only memory was the boundless black fog.

At the same time, in the depths of hell, the Sea of Resentment that had been still for two thousand years suddenly rippled with a hint of disturbance.

...Then quickly returned to tranquility.