return robbery

Chapter 526
20xx. 12. 20
Take a few girls back to the bedroom to sleep, and Xiang'er is with us.Hei Xuan probably went to fight again and never came back.

After lying down for about half an hour, I suddenly remembered that I hadn't summoned Mingyu from the contract space just now, so I jumped out of bed and rushed into the study.

"Did I just summon five wounded people from the space?" I asked.

"Yes." Shaw replied.

"I missed summoning Mingyu, he was the most seriously injured!" I was anxious.

"Mother, I sent six down, including Ming Yu." Xiang'er said.

"No, I really didn't summon Mingyu just now. And when I summoned them, I asked you repeatedly if there were only five of them, and you all said that the number was correct. Now why do you say that you have sent six?" I really don't know. untie.

"I also saw six." Xiao Leng said abruptly.

"What the hell are you doing? Sometimes you say five, sometimes you say six. You all saw that I summoned five great gods with my fingers. At that time, you also confirmed that there were five, so who summoned the fish?" ?” I was shocked.

"It should be your human soul that summoned Mingyu, and Ting and Ba are overlapping, so we all see it as one, and Mingyu only sees five." Xiang'er said .

"Oh, just make sure there is a sea fish." I said.

"Sure." Xiang'er replied.

"Dad Xiao seems to be often confused, and his behavior is a bit weird. Last time I asked you to check him, did you get any results?" I asked.

"Papa Xiao's primordial spirit wants to seize the house." Xiang'er said surprisingly.

"What do you mean?" I was shocked.

"For normal people, the human soul and primordial spirit will slowly merge after death. However, Papa Xiao's primordial spirit wants to integrate into his human soul in advance now." Xiang'er continued.

"What will change after the early fusion?" I asked.

"Once integrated in advance, Dad Xiao's temperament will be affected and will change to a certain extent." Xiang'er replied.

"Does Yuanshen want to integrate into the human soul and control Dad Xiao's thinking?" I continued to ask.

"Not ruled out." Xiang'er replied.

"He knew I was going to go down, so he wanted Dad Xiao to go down too, right?" I was shocked.

"Uh, it's not ruled out that he has this idea." Xiang'er replied.

"Before, Papa Xiao's primordial spirit was separated and sent down because he couldn't integrate into the main body. He planned to merge after Papa Xiao's lifespan was exhausted.

Some time ago, in order to move the treasure house into my internal body, Yuanshen exhausted his soul power and fell into a deep sleep.At that time, he also refused to accept that Lu Zu's zero seal could be preserved.

As a last resort, we sent Yuanshen back to Papa Xiao's body.Yesterday, Papa Xiao even went down to save Youyao and Min with his soul power, and he seemed very active. I think Papa Xiao's primordial spirit wanted him to go down early.

But haven't we already agreed?Xiao's father wants to stay and take care of Yaoer until he grows up.What exactly does Papa Xiao's primordial spirit want to do? !Is he trying to turn on me? "I was stumped.

"Father Xiao is the reincarnation of Bai Ze's remnant soul, and only [-]% of the soul is taken away," Xiang'er said.

"You mean to say that [-]% of the ancient Bai Ze Yuanshen remains in the lower body?" I asked.

"Yes, but now he has returned to Papa Xiao's body and fused [-]% of his previous body, so he only has a sense of fighting at present.

So he wanted to integrate Papa Xiao's human soul in advance to control Papa Xiao's consciousness.But Papa Xiao's human soul has been resisting his integration. "Xiang'er said.

"If Bai Ze's body doesn't come out to join the war, neither can the Yuanshen. Isn't it you who have been responsible for sealing up Bai Ze's body? How did he get out? Who released him?" I was shocked.

"Mother, I didn't release it, and I don't know who released it." Xiang'er felt aggrieved.

"If no one released him, why did he come out? That day I casually asked Bai Ze why he didn't come out to join the war, but he did come out the next day! What do you mean?" I was even more surprised.

"Actually, Bai Ze's physical body has reached the sub-sage cultivation level, no one can control him." Xiang'er said.

"Then do the separation again, send Papa Xiao's primordial spirit to work in the underworld first, and then merge after Papa Xiao dies. He really has a lot to do." I was very angry.

"The current conditions for separation are insufficient, because he output too much soul power yesterday, and now he has entered a deep sleep, and it is easier to integrate into the human soul after deep sleep.

The human soul can't resist his integration, and it has already absorbed [-]% of it.Once the fusion reaches [-]%, it is impossible to separate. "Xiang'er said.

"Then let me communicate with him and tell him not to do anything to hurt Dad Xiao." I shouted.

"Mom probably won't be able to communicate with him either." Xiang'er looked helpless.

"I understand, Bai Ze's primordial spirit is also planning, right? He is the [-]% primordial spirit that has always stayed in Bai Ze's body, and was buried with Bai Ze's physical body for thousands of years. .

Now that he was able to come out after merging the [-]% Yuanshen, he now wants to integrate into Papa Xiao's human soul in advance to control Papa Xiao's thinking.

I want to understand, this is his abacus!Then tell him I don't agree.If he must do that, then let Dad Xiao go first, and I will stay! "I stood up quickly and rushed out of the study.

External turmoil, internal turmoil, I feel exhausted!Everyone has their own ideas.

Sixty percent of the primordial spirit who has been accompanying Bai Ze's physical body has not gone through reincarnation. He maintains the consciousness of the ancient times, and only the consciousness of the ancient times.

His mind is full of fighting, I think he is a savage comeback, he won't even accept Yaoer's existence.But my soul is different from him, it has accompanied me through ninety-nine lives, and has been affected by the consciousness of each life.

Although my primordial spirit didn't quite accept the current child at first, after communicating with her, she has let go of many prejudices.

I lay down on the bed angrily, but Xiang'er didn't follow the bedroom.Because my mood fluctuates too much and my evil spirit leaks out, it will make him feel uncomfortable.

The phone flashed, and I picked it up subconsciously.

"Thunder God was attacked, Bai Ze's body rescued him, and all the primordial spirit left in Bai Ze's body was exhausted. Hell was counterattacked by the western gods to the fifth floor, and I have rushed there.

Thunder God returned to Leichi to recuperate, and Bai Ze's soul might be affected, Jiu Jie looked at Bai Ze.I am worried that he will be countered by Tiandao.

Forcibly dividing the body of the primordial spirit in the underworld is already against the law of heaven, and in addition, using soul power to save people.Bai Ze, who currently has no soul power, is easily stared at by Tiandao.I asked Hei Xuan to bring back a talisman, hoping that Bai Ze could survive these few days. "

After I read it carefully, I called Xiao and Xiang'er into the bedroom to let them know the contents of the letter.

"It was counterattacked to the fifth floor? Why? How did you defend the Western Hell? We paid so much to break into the eighth floor, but we were counterattacked to the fifth floor. What are you doing?" I asked furiously. .

"Uh..." Xiang'er was speechless.

"Have you still not restored the ten powers? Is it because the troops sent to defend are not strong enough to be counterattacked? I have always said to defend, to defend, don't you listen?!" I couldn't control my emotions.

"Mother, I'm going to lead the soldiers to fight in." Xiang'er said.

"You are gone, who will watch at home, this is your task." I asked.

"Ling Ze'er can maintain the formation, I will try to come back as soon as possible." Xiang'er replied.

I had no choice but to agree, and Xiang'er left.

It hurts my heart. Although there are only nine levels of hell in the West, we also took a lot of effort to break into the eighth level.But I didn't expect to be counterattacked to the fifth floor all at once. It can be seen that the protection is weak, and I was panting angrily.

"Why hasn't Hei Xuan come back? Didn't he be asked to bring back the sky-shielding talisman?" I asked.

"You call him back." Xiao said.

When Hei Xuan came back, he threw the sky-shielding talisman directly on Xiao's Yintang, and it disappeared instantly.

"Hasn't the western gods been increasing their troops to attack the underworld? Why did they suddenly counterattack and enter the western hell? Didn't we set up military defense on the first floor? Do you feel that victory is within our grasp?" I was displeased.

"I have joined the battle in the underworld since I went down last night, and the western gods have been increasing their troops. Then they suddenly announced their withdrawal. When they retreated, they played self-destruct while retreating.

We couldn't see what they were doing at all, and we didn't expect them to suddenly turn into the hell of the West.We have always been fortified, but there are too many of them, and they rushed over all at once. "Hei Xuan panted.

"Speaking of which, your vigilance is still not high enough, they just took advantage of the injuries of the ten great powers, and took advantage of the sharp decline in our strength before launching a counterattack.

What is the concept of being counterattacked back to the fifth floor?It really hurts me.How many do they currently have? "I gradually calmed down.

"One hundred billion." Hei Xuan replied.

"So many? Can you be more specific, how many demons? How many Western gods?" I stared at Heixuan dissatisfied.

"There are more than [-] billion demons, and more than [-] billion Western gods." Hei Xuan replied.

"It's really exciting. When will the ten great powers recover? Isn't my soul always down there? What is she doing?" I became angry again.

"Uh... your primordial spirit is always there." Hei Xuan glanced at me out of the corner of his eyes while lying on his stomach.

Xiao said that he was going to be busy with work, and he sent me a message soon after returning to the study, saying that the big time retrospective charm had been burned, and the ten great powers would be restored soon.

"It has been fought back to the seventh floor, and the opponent's force has been reduced to [-] billion. I am now suppressing the seventh floor with the Ancestral Witch Hall. When the Eastern Emperor returns, I will withdraw." I received the email again.

Xiao was called into the bedroom by me again.

"This approach seems to be done by my primordial spirit. Currently, only she can use the Ancestral Witch Hall." I said.

"It should be." Xiao replied.

"The opponent's force has been reduced to [-] billion, how do you understand it?" I asked.

"It should mean that most of the opponent's troops have retreated to the eighth and ninth floors, but moving the Ancestral Witch Hall to suppress will consume essence and blood." Xiao replied.

"Is it exhausted?" I was shocked.

"If you are not attacked, the consumption may not be too great." Xiao said again.

"The Eastern Emperor should be restored, right? If he rushes over, our Yuanshen can remove the Ancestral Witch Hall. At present, we can only suppress those demons and Western forces, and there are too many of them." I said.

"Yes." Shaw replied.

I stopped asking and talking, the atmosphere in the bedroom was very tense, and Xiao returned to the study to continue working.I turned off the light and let myself soak in the darkness. The more I thought about it, the more my heart ached, and the anger in my heart gradually piled up.

"In the name of Zhu Jiuyin, curse the eighth and ninth floors of Western Hell, the big devils, demons, and all Western troops are wiped out!" I cursed three times with anger in my heart.

After the curse ended, my mood calmed down a little.It's already [-]:[-] in the morning, it's time to go to bed, and I hope I can sleep.

Yao'er and grandma's voices were heard outside the door, and I was awakened.Pick up the phone to check the time, it's [-]:[-] in the morning, after a while, it's time for Yao'er to go to school.

I slept peacefully for four hours without dreaming.At 05:[-], Yao'er went to school, and the downstairs was also quiet.I continued to sleep without seeming to have any stress in my mind, and soon fell asleep again.

When I woke up again, it was already half past eleven in the morning.Feel free and energized.I got out of bed very satisfied and went to the study, where Xiao stayed overnight again.

Xiao also woke up. I opened all the floor-to-ceiling curtains on the balcony, and the sunlight outside flooded into the study instantly, covering the whole room with warmth.

"From [-]:[-] to [-]:[-] in the morning, I was still writing. I always heard the same sound, and the interval between each sound was not long, as if something was being hit." Xiao told me .

"Is it a sound from around here?" I asked.

"It seems to have come from the underworld. I also asked Ling Ze'er, but he didn't know very well." Xiao replied.

"Did Xiang'er not come back?" I asked again.

"Xiang'er hasn't come back yet. Later, after I fell asleep, I went down to have a look. There were wreckage from the explosion in many places." Xiao replied.

"Explosion? Someone must have been injured. Xiang'er is really, there are other brothers below to take over, he is coming back, otherwise how will Ling Ze'er maintain the formation at home by himself?" I asked.

"Mother, I can do it." Ling Ze'er quickly replied.

"Uh... If the sound you heard came from the underworld, could it be the sound of the Eastern Emperor Bell being struck?" I asked.

"Oh, yes, it seems to be the sound of hitting a bell." Shaw replied.

"Anyway, something serious happened, Hei Xuan, go down and inquire, and come back quickly." I said.

Hei Xuan disappeared instantly.

I started to try to summon the child, but You Yao didn't show up, neither did Ting and Xiang'er, but Thunder God did come back.

"Mother, the eighth and ninth floors of Western Hell suddenly exploded between three and five in the morning, and there are only seven floors left in Western Hell," Thor said.

"Why did Hell suddenly explode? Who detonated it? Aren't the demonic and Western forces concentrated on those two floors? They were all blown up?" I was very puzzled.

"Yes, at that time our forces were all concentrated on the seventh floor, and we were about to attack the eighth floor, but found something unusual. Fortunately, Mingyu swallowed the seventh floor in its entirety, protecting everyone, and then Huang also took out the Donghuang Bell to cover Ming Yu.

Every floor of Western Hell is a middle-thousand world, and the explosive power is very great.Therefore, the Donghuang Bell was blown up and Donghuang was injured.

Ming Yu was also seriously injured, only half of his head was left, and everyone in his mouth was injured.Ming Yu went to the contract space with Ting and You Yao. ’ Thor replied.

"Being able to enter the space is considered to be life-saving, and then try to save him. But why did hell suddenly explode by itself? And it also blew up all my troops, something is wrong!" I felt puzzled.

"It should be the foreshadowing set by Lucifer earlier, he knows that we can finally break into the eighth and ninth floors, which means we will win.

He may have set up the detonation to blow up our troops.The ninth floor of Western Hell is composed of nine middle worlds, and its explosion is even more powerful.

The ninth floor is in the shape of a cone. After escaping from the western hell, it directly smashes into the underworld and explodes, so it also causes injuries to everyone in the underworld. said Thor.

"Even the underworld was bombed? Your statement is reasonable. Lucifer knew that he was bound to die, and he also knew that we would inevitably invade the bottom two floors, so he set up the detonation mechanism early on.

But why did he blow up his own troops?It seems unreasonable.In the early hours of the morning, I cursed their entire army annihilated. Could it be that my curse power detonated their settings? "I really don't understand.

"It should be, the power of the mother's curse is very powerful." Thor replied.

"So the following war is over? Is it unified?" I asked.

"Well, yes, it's over," Thor said.

"Didn't you stay in Leichi to recuperate? Why did you come out?" I asked again.

"Yes, I stayed in the Thunder Pond and watched everything, but I couldn't save them. When the Eastern Emperor Bell was blown apart, Ming Yu was also blown to the point where only half of its head remained.

Then I saw white lights flashing one after another, it was the contract space that took them all away. said Thor.

"Hey, it must be very painful without the protection of the contracted space. How many people were injured?" I sighed.

"Xiang'er is back." Xiao said suddenly.

"Xiang'er, I summoned you just now, why did you come up now? I thought something happened to you too." I asked.

"Mother, after the explosion below, there were a lot of space turbulence bubbles. When I came back, I walked around. If I touched it, I would be sucked in and it would be difficult to get out." Xiang'er replied.

As soon as I heard it, I quickly gestured to summon Heixuan. I summoned him three times in a row, but I didn't see him appear.I summoned Li Yin again, but he didn't appear.

"It's broken, they won't be sucked into the turbulent flow of space, right?" I feel worried.

"I don't know." Xiao replied.

"What's the matter with Li Yin? After he recovers, he should return to my side! As long as he has a lot of things to do, I think we have to salvage him again." I was not happy.

While we were talking, Hei Xuan suddenly appeared on the sofa, gasping for breath, but fortunately he was not injured.

"Why did you go? Why can't you call me back?" I asked.

"As soon as I went down, I was sucked into the turbulent flow of space, and I tried my best to climb up. But the suction of the turbulent flow was too strong. Fortunately, I saw your summoning light, so I ran back along it.

My claws also worked, so I ran back by myself.In fact, if there is no guiding light, I can climb slowly by myself, and I can come back tomorrow. "Hei Xuan started bragging.

"If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have summoned you, just let you climb slowly." I glared at Hei Xuan angrily.

Hei Xuan stopped talking, and continued panting on his stomach.

"Li Yin is just looking for trouble. What's the matter with him? Where is he?" I started to worry again.

"The Southern Emperor is turbulent in space." Mrs. Meng sent an email.

Halo, I'm speechless, he has his business everywhere.

"Ninth Sister, Southern Emperor's luck was a little bit bad. He was the last one to recover him. When he recovered and was about to leave, the Western Hell happened to explode." Mrs. Meng sent another email.

"Xiang'er, what should I do? No matter what, I have to find a way to rescue Min first." I frowned.

"Okay." Xiang'er replied.

"Is Lu Zu not injured?" I asked.

"No, he recovered and was sent to the seal of the Three Realms, and just missed the explosion. Your primordial spirit was also injured while protecting the Ancestral Witch Hall," Xiang'er said.

"Dizzy, my primordial spirit has been injured again, how can I treat it?" I asked anxiously.

"Avalokitesvara still has two drops of holy water, which can be used to heal your primordial spirit." Xiang'er said.

"That's good. It's a big deal for my primordial spirit to be injured. The two empresses are also injured. Someone has to take charge of the overall situation." My brain was spinning rapidly.

"Well, your soul is currently in charge of the overall situation. The heavens of the underworld have begun to swallow the heavens of the western hell." Xiang'er said.

"Unified after devouring?" I asked.

"Yes." Xiang'er replied.

"How long does it take to swallow?" I asked.

"I don't know, it may take a long time." Hei Xuan interrupted to answer.

"What? I don't know? Niang Niang wrote to me yesterday and said that it is estimated that the underworld can be unified in two days." I was very unhappy.

"It will take at least two days." Xiang'er said.

"That's about the same. You all need to speak more concisely and reliably in the future. Don't you think it's too stressful?" I glared at Heixuan.

I did the math, except that Chi didn't enter the space, Ting, Youyao, Qifeng, Sassafras, Ming Yu who were fighting in the western hell at that time, and Maitreya who was fighting in the underworld also entered the space.

Sigh... There are other great powers and warriors, even if they didn't die, they were injured countless...

"Can Donghuang enter the space to recuperate?" I asked.

"No, because we forcibly signed the contract with him at the beginning." Thor said.

"Then there's no way to help him, where is he?" I asked.

"Nobody knows," Thor replied.

"What about those extraterrestrial demons? There should be some that haven't been suppressed by the seal?" I asked again.

"Yes, when the mansion exploded, some demons from outside the territory escaped." Thunder God replied.

"Where are you fleeing to?" I heard it without being surprised.

"Every world, there will be some on Earth." Thor replied.

"Well, it's time to come at me again, you have to work hard again." I sighed.

The war between the Eastern and Western gods in the underworld has temporarily come to an end, and the underworld has finally annexed the western hell.This piece of meat was sent by the Western gods themselves, and it tastes very good!
In the ancient lich war, the prehistoric world was broken, causing the underworld to split into two.Part of it is occupied by the Western gods and has been established as the Western Hell to this day.

The other part is the underworld, which belongs to one of the three realms of the Eastern God System.As a child of the underworld, I finally waited for the return of the complete underworld.

"No wonder I was able to sleep during the time of the explosion in the western hell, and I slept soundly, and now it is the biggest concern in my heart." I said.

"What you said is indeed true, haha." Xiao smiled.

"It's just how many people are injured in the underworld? Well, what should we do? There is still a hard battle to be fought, where is Houtu now?" I said.

"That's right, there's news from Guardian Houtu that some Taoist priests had an accident again, and five lamps went out again," Xiao said.

"There are only thirteen lamps left. Sigh... You should strengthen the protection of Houtu. Now that they can't attack the underworld, they will concentrate their forces and move to Houtu's side." I sighed.

"They may not attack Houtu." Xiang'er replied.

"Not necessarily? If they succeeded in preventing Hou Tu from returning, wouldn't they be preventing my achievements?" I asked back.

"Perhaps the West Dao Sage wants you to become a Dao Sage before destroying you, so that their achievements will be greater." Xiao said.

"Maybe they can indeed achieve greater achievements, isn't it also risky? Is it true that I must be weaker than them after I achieve it? Besides, your logic is obviously wrong.

If the sages of the Western Dao want me to achieve success sooner, then why keep blocking Houtu from returning?If the green light was given all the way, Houtu should have returned long ago. ' I said quickly.

"Well, your analysis is fine." Xiao said.

"In short, you have to protect Houtu. The more I think about it, the more I get angry. The enemy's invasion is not terrible, and they can be beaten away.

The most hateful thing is Hongjun. As a sage of heaven in the Eastern gods, he doesn't protect the Three Realms properly, and only thinks about his own little interests, which is why the West covets the Three Realms.

If it hadn't been for Hongjun to get in the way, I should have achieved it in August.The development of the Eastern God System has only produced seven saints so far, and the two of the Buddhists even betrayed the Eastern God System, which is really sad and hateful!Where is Houtu?I want to come back! "I shouted angrily.

"Sometimes I can sense Empress Houtu, she should be near the Three Realms, but I can't enter." Thunder God said.

Xiang'er went back to the underworld to prepare how to rescue Li Yin. He said that at least the locator should be activated, and then Hei Xuan would go to the turbulent flow to bring Li Yin back.

When I was packing the disposable mask, the slender wire inside pricked my right index finger.

"Look, there are iron wires in this mask. My hands are bleeding, and it seems that I have to spend money again." I helplessly stretched out my index finger, blood was bubbling.

"Uh..." Xiao was speechless.

I'm tired and bothered by all sorts of things.Xiao went down after receiving the notice, and I also leaned on the sofa to rest.

The alarm clock went off at [-]:[-] p.m., and Shaw and I woke up.

"Six Paths of Reincarnation will resume operation soon. I went down to sort out some information about the Department of Reincarnation." Xiao said.

"Where are Xiao Ling, Zhu'er and Wei'er? They shouldn't be injured, right?" I asked.

As I said that, I made a summoning gesture, and the three great gods all appeared in the study, sitting on the desks in rows.

"We are just dizzy from the shock, just replenish our soul power." The three great gods said.

"If you need to go back to the underworld to supplement, I will send you back." I said and gestured.

"No, it can be supplemented by resting at home." The three masters replied.

"Is Po Meng and Madam Heping Xin injured too?" I asked.

"Yes, your soul is currently sitting below, and she seems to be preparing for a big move." Zhu'er said.

"Big move? What big move? If she is powerful, she will find a way to restore all the injured people. But I think she must have a plan. I suspected that my earth soul had secretly confessed to her before." I said.

I picked up my phone casually and saw a new email I received a few minutes ago, it was from my mother.

"Ninth Sister, find a fee to rescue everyone. Ninth Sister's Yuanshen intends to sacrifice to the Heavenly Dao of the Underworld and use the Heavenly Dao of the Underworld to rescue everyone."

"Um, wasn't what I just said purely coincidental?" I asked.

"It's not a coincidence, it's your own arrangement." Xiao replied.

"I have to look for fees again, can all the people be saved by offering sacrifices to the heavens in the underworld? Including Min?" I asked.

"Yes, mother, you can save all those who participated in the underworld war with meritorious deeds, as long as there are still souls or true spirits." Thunder God said.

"Hey, then Dad Xiao and I will work hard to prepare the expenses." I sighed.

I asked the three great gods to rest in the bedroom, and they drifted to the bedroom obediently.

Hei Xuan arranged for Yao'er's grandpa and grandma to buy some mutton for dinner, but the mutton bought this time was not prepared properly, it was not tasty and hard.

During the meal, grandma kept talking about grandpa, saying that the mutton he bought was not good, which made grandpa very unhappy.

Tomorrow is the winter solstice. An old friend of my grandfather invited us to eat mutton and play mahjong together.But I didn't really want to go, so Hei Xuan simply made proper arrangements.

After a while, grandpa's friend actually called and said that he would bring the mutton to our house for dinner tomorrow, including mutton and beef.

"You said you didn't want to go, but he actually planned to bring the whole pot. It's really amazing." Grandma Yao'er finally felt my specialness.

"Yes, as long as I have an idea and a need, someone will do it." I said.

The ceremony about offering sacrifices to the underworld to save people is scheduled to start around eleven o'clock tomorrow morning.

After ten o'clock at night, Yao'er fell asleep, and Xiao didn't need to rush to work.We went to the bedroom early to lie on the electric oven, Xiao leaned on the bedside to read the materials, and the children and I watched videos on the mobile phone together.

The war in the underworld is over. As long as the underworld and heaven devour the western hell and heaven, the unification will be completed and everyone's strength will be improved.

But the current Three Realms are still in danger, surrounded by heavy troops led by the Saints of the Western Avenue.They are constantly attacking the sealing array at the entrance of the Three Realms, and at the same time looking for new entrances.

Houtu continued to wander away, and I still couldn't return.

(End of this chapter)