Chapter 92 Part 1

In the quiet chamber deep within Silent Night Palace, two Black-Armored Cultivators stood guard outside the door.

Lin Yu hurried through the long corridor and arrived before the large door. He ignored the Black-Armored guards and kicked the door open with one foot.

The room inside was still empty. In the center stood a massive Crimson Tree Branch Throne, upon which gleamed brightly flashing gemstones and gold and silver treasures. It was covered with a thick blanket of beast fur, but the person who should have been sleeping atop it had vanished.

In his place perched a Punk Bird that looked utterly ridiculous.

Lin Yu drew in a sharp breath. Incredulous, he said, “How did you turn back into this? Weren’t you already restored? You…”

The Punk Bird slowly turned its head. Its uneven, explosive feathers looked comical, but its scarlet eyes held nothing but blank killing intent and rage—no trace of any other emotion.

Lin Yu immediately fell silent.

After a long pause, the Punk Bird finally spoke slowly. “You’re just in time. Drag those old undead coots out from the depths of the dungeon and prepare the sacrificial ritual.”

Lin Yu froze, his expression turning grim. “Now? But—but you’ve regressed to an infant form again. You…”

“The Xuanming Sect has already divined that something will go wrong with this Silent Night Long Chant. Then we’ll advance it.”

Pei Jiye’s emotions were unexpectedly calm, carrying a sense of utter indifference and complete abandon.

“Hold the Nine Lives Sacrifice and move up the timeline. Anyway, some talented disciples are still in the True Realm. The rest are all damned souls tangled in unresolvable debts.”

“Pull the Ancient Graveyard to the South Sea. The moment they overlap, open the gate between the True Realm and the Demon Domain. If the True Realm seals its gates, then fully stabilize that spatiotemporal corridor between Silent Night Palace and Nine Spirits Sect.”

The Punk Bird closed its eyes, and fine gray runes slowly emerged across its body.

“The sooner, the better.”

Lin Yu hesitated, wanting to say more, but he first replied with an “alright.” After a few seconds of delay, he added, “What happened at Jiuxia Mountain? Why did you degenerate again? If you’re really advancing the Silent Night Long Chant, and you as the vessel for their overlap can’t withstand the erosion from both sides, then you…”

Pei Jiye: “Everything is in Shang Jun’s hands. You don’t need to worry.”

With those words, Lin Yu could only turn and leave to carry out Pei Jiye’s orders.

The quiet chamber fell silent once more. The Punk Bird slumped on the Crimson-red Tree Branch Throne. After a long while, Pei Jiye murmured lowly, “Why? Why did you stop me back then?”

His scarlet eyes suddenly buzzed and turned into pure gold.

A hoarse, heavy voice rang out.

“Then why did you throw away the Soul Guiding Lamp all those years ago?”

Pei Jiye fell silent.

“We all saw it. The Soul Guiding Lamp is on that child—on Xie Linlang.”

The voice, like an echo from ancient times, said faintly, “He can guide those children home.”

“But that old undead Pei Feng is still in the Ancient Graveyard.”

“I bet he’s thrilled at the chance to kill Pei Feng with his own hands.”

Pei Jiye said with a hint of mockery, “Shang Jun, you must be delighted at the chance to kill off Chengzhou’s descendants, right?”

The voice carried a trace of amusement. “Yes, he deserves to die by my hand. Xuan Shang fell because of Chengzhou. He can seek revenge, and so can I. Heaven’s Dao has always emphasized fairness—fortune and misfortune intertwined, retribution swift and unrelenting.”

Pei Jiye fell silent once more.

After Xie Linlang tumbled into the rift of the Ancient Graveyard, his mind had gone blank. He knew nothing, leaving everything to his body’s instincts.

When he awoke, he discovered that Jiuxia Mountain had been bisected by someone. The Chengzhou Remnant Bloodline had vanished, leaving only Shen Wei’s tattered corpse behind.

Pei Jiye’s power had been nearly exhausted, unable to maintain his body’s stability any longer. Flames had ignited soundlessly from his feet. When he awoke again, Pei Jiye was already back in Silent Night Palace.

At first, Pei Jiye had been furious, but upon realizing what Xie Linlang might have encountered in the Ancient Graveyard, dread filled his heart.

“If Linlang sees me like this there, will he be angry? If he learns what happened to me, do you think he’ll hate me… or come find me?”

If the heavens were truly fair, always balancing fortune and misfortune, retribution unrelenting, then what could his centuries of torment and Xie Linlang’s agony of crafting countless Pei Jis from heavenly demon hides bring in return?

If their meeting, understanding, and love only brought pain to each other, then why cling so stubbornly to one another’s hands?

Shang Jun said no more.

The human heart was unfathomable, ever-changing—a question even he could not answer.

Meanwhile, in the Ancient Graveyard.

Xie Linlang suddenly turned back, gazing distantly toward the far end of the black-gray sky.

Liu Yue looked at Xie Linlang in puzzlement. “Fellow Daoist Xie?”

Xie Linlang shook his head. “It’s nothing. I just thought I heard someone calling me. Probably my imagination.”

Liu Yue’s tone was subtle. “…Not necessarily. Time in the Ancient Graveyard is disordered. Past, present, and future tides rise and fall like waves. The call you heard now might come from a century hence… or a century past.”

Xie Linlang’s heart skipped a beat.

Wen Jingyan had opened this rift, and Pei Ji had once opened the gates to the Ancient Graveyard. Could that call just now have been…

Xie Linlang looked once more in the direction from which the voice had come.

Liu Yue asked considerately, “Shall we go take a look?”

Xie Linlang pondered for a moment before turning to Liu Yue. “Didn’t Fellow Daoist want to head to the Shang Jun Tomb to find an exit passage?”