Chapter 44: The Abyss – You Two Are So Intimate…

There were too many suspicions, and it wasn’t feasible to investigate each one personally, so they decided to split into two groups. Gu Changhuai and Rong Ye would go in search of the place where the white bone souls were trapped.

Meanwhile, Kong Huai and Jin Shuang would investigate the truth behind the disappearance of the Immortal Abode, keeping in constant contact. During the discussion, Gu Changhuai took a moment to send a transmission to Hua Mei, inquiring about Pei Tianyi’s situation.

Hua Mei replied, “He headed toward Lingtai Slope.”

Wasn’t that the place where they had infiltrated the Xinnan Immortal Sect’s training team? Gu Changhuai guessed, “Perhaps he couldn’t accept his greatly reduced strength and wanted to participate in the elder selection half a year from now. Keep an eye on him a bit. If it gets out of hand, just knock him out and bring him back. Don’t let him die in the inner layers of Lingtai Slope.”

Hua Mei snorted coldly. “You just keep ordering me around. Aren’t you afraid I’ll die?”

“…Oh.” Gu Changhuai responded indifferently, fully aware of Hua Mei’s true nature. His admonitions carried not a trace of emotion. “Then be careful.”

Hua Mei: “…”

Hua Mei: “So love can shift? Is Rong Ye your new favorite?”

Gu Changhuai was greatly startled. “Please don’t slap a sordid label on our pure relationship. Rong Ye and I are in an assassin-and-target relationship.”

Hua Mei huffed. “So when do you plan to make your move?”

“…” Gu Changhuai thought about the recent chaotic events. Han Ya hadn’t returned yet, and he still didn’t know the current situation in the Demon Realm. “We’ll wait until Han Ya comes back. Although the message it brought cleared my name, I still don’t know if Xue Lao Er added any embellishments.”

He pondered for a moment before saying, “But you’re right to remind me. The Demon Venerable has grown suspicious of me. Right now, I need to do something.”

For example, rack up some achievements.

It was no wonder the Demon Venerable was suspicious when there had been no activity at all.

*

The two malign spirits hid inside the compass, and its needle spun, pointing toward the direction of the white bone souls. On the way, Gu Changhuai deliberately asked, “How many white bones are there in total? Have you counted them clearly?”

Rong Ye’s voice was deep and cold. “Three hundred thousand.”

“Three hundred thousand?” Gu Changhuai was stunned. All these white bones came from the battlefield, meaning three hundred thousand heroic souls and bones. He asked, “Exactly three hundred thousand?”

Rong Ye affirmed lowly, “Fully three hundred thousand.”

What a shocking number. Gu Changhuai fell silent, his gaze wandering aimlessly over the surroundings as he zoned out, lost in thought.

At this point, the compass’s needle stabilized, pointing toward the direction where the heroic souls were trapped—in the southeast.

…

Thousands of miles away.

The southeast was full of mountain clusters with dense river distributions. The human realm had just entered spring, followed by frequent plum rains. In less than two days of travel, they encountered two or three instances of light sun showers.

Fortunately, the climate was pleasant. Proceeding along the river, the view opened up ahead, revealing a water town where boats glided between waterways, and staggered pavilions and houses hid amid the mist on both sides.

Vast fields of rapeseed flowers bloomed around the water town, a brilliant golden expanse that was truly inviting.

The position indicated by the ghost malign spirits in the compass first stopped here, with another location elsewhere. Following the principle of proximity, they stopped here first.

They took a boat into the town. On the shore, pedestrians passed by from time to time, but no one lingered. Occasionally, there were stalls selling mung bean soup, but business was dismal. The vendors were all elderly folks, hunched over on stools, sighing dejectedly.

Restaurants and inns had their doors tightly shut, the lanterns at their entrances faded. A gust of wind made them sway with a desolate, forlorn air. Yet the ground still bore traces of red paper from exploded firecrackers—it must have been lively before.

Gu Changhuai furrowed his brow slightly.

The boatman, a middle-aged man around forty, couldn’t help but say, “Looking at you two fine gentlemen, why would you come to a place like this? If there’s no urgent business, this old man advises you young masters to leave quickly.”

“What do you mean by that?” Gu Changhuai turned back with a faint smile. “The town has nice scenery, fields nearby—it should be a good place to live. Why has the population dwindled instead?”

“Sigh, that’s all in the past.” The boatman smiled bitterly. “Ever since those strange ghosts started eating people, everyone who could flee the water town did so. Even the county magistrate resigned and left. No one wants to come here anymore. Those who couldn’t leave are just the elderly with no children, or folks like me without roots but with families to feed—we can only rely on the mountains and rivers.”

Gu Changhuai exchanged a glance with Rong Ye, who had a stern expression. When Rong Ye spoke, his voice was low and deep. “Please elaborate, boatman.”

“It was about half a year ago.” The boatman paused his long pole, pointing into the distance. From this spot on the river, they could see three parallel mountain peaks shrouded in clouds and mist. “The tallest one in the middle is called Water Moon Mountain. No one knows if it’s the feng shui or the soil, but it grows lots of herbs and wild fruits. It’s deep in the mountains, but if you’re familiar with the paths, you can make it out.”

He continued, “There was a herbalist family in our water town, with the wife called Dou Niang—a household of four with a pair of children. In autumn, two of them would go together to Water Moon Mountain to gather herbs, setting out at dawn and returning by dusk. But one time, for some reason, the father and daughter didn’t return even by the third watch of the night. Dou Niang, left at home, grew anxious and sought help everywhere to go up the mountain and search.”

Gu Changhuai listened with keen interest. “What happened next?”

“The depths of Water Moon Mountain at night are full of fierce beasts. Luckily, Dou Niang was kind-hearted and managed to rally a few strong young men. They lit lanterns and went up the mountain to search. After a whole night, they finally found the herbalist unconscious under a tree at dawn, covered in wounds and blood. The men quickly rescued him and brought him back.”

The boatman sighed. “When Dou Niang saw the herbalist clutching a piece of fabric from her daughter’s clothing but no sign of the girl, she was overcome with grief and went up the mountain with the others to search.”

Gu Changhuai asked with interest, “Did they find her?”

“She was probably eaten by wild beasts long ago.” The boatman said regretfully. “The little girl from the herbalist’s family was clever and sensible, yet not even a bone was left. They searched for two days, but those young men hurried down the mountain in a panic, refusing to go back no matter what—even packing up to move away in a frenzy. When the herbalist woke, he was deranged, and no one knew what happened that night they went missing.”

He paused, then shifted tone. “Half a month after their incident, a rich young master arrived in the water town, accompanied by two or three immortals of remarkable bearing.”

As he spoke, the boatman glanced at Gu Changhuai and Rong Ye, clearing his throat. “Though compared to you two young masters, they were like clouds and mud.”

Gu Changhuai accepted the praise without modesty, raising his brow. “Of course, I’m quite good-looking.” He turned to Rong Ye, who stood expressionless, and nudged him. “He’s praising you too. Give some reaction.”

Rong Ye lifted his eyelids to glance at him, his voice steady as he gave a slight nod without a word. Just standing there, he exuded an oppressive presence. The boatman didn’t dare speak to him and instead smiled at Gu Changhuai. “You two are so intimate—your relationship must be very deep. It’s a pity you came late. If you’d arrived a year earlier, you might have caught the Qixi festival to pray to the Matron of Matchmaking.”

Choked by the boatman’s bold words, Gu Changhuai sneaked a peek at Rong Ye’s reaction—and collided with those deep amber eyes. The depths held an inscrutable emotion; it was impossible to tell if he was pleased or not.

Could Rong Ye think he was too close? Gu Changhuai subtly pulled back a bit and smiled at the boatman to change the subject. “Where were we? What happened after that rich young master arrived?”

He turned away, unaware that Rong Ye’s gaze behind him had silently turned possessive and invasive, as if he wanted to glue his eyes entirely to Gu Changhuai, scanning every inch—like a fierce beast lurking in the deep sea, coiled and waiting for the moment to strike.

This terrifying edge vanished in an instant just before Gu Changhuai could notice it. Rong Ye lowered his eyes, burying everything back into the dark abyss.