Xiang Xian: “When did I get nervous?”
A Huang: “You’re plucking the fur on top of my head! You do that every time you get tense, and you never stop.”
Xiang Xian: “…”
Xiang Xian released A Huang and tried to use the Earth-Shrinking Wall-Piercing Technique, drawing talismanic runes. However, the shackles on his wrists emitted a purple-black glow and began to tighten.
Xiang Xian cried out as they cut into his skin, drawing blood. The iron ring around his neck also constricted rapidly, so he immediately dispelled the spell.
Iron rings appeared on both wrists, both ankles, and his neck—five in total.
“These things can seal spells,” Xiang Xian said. “The rings themselves aren’t hard to remove, but the problem is there’s no one around. Xiao Kun would be perfect for this.”
Xiang Xian didn’t dare to channel spiritual power again. He looked left and right, then craned his neck upward.
“Go take a look up there,” Xiang Xian said.
“Forget it,” A Huang said. “The passage is sealed off completely.”
After dispelling the spell, the collar around Xiang Xian’s neck loosened a bit. He adjusted its position, straightened his neck, and endured the discomfort for a moment before turning toward the seat at the top of the high stone steps. With a calm expression, he sat down on Mr. Liu’s throne, crossed his legs, rested his elbow on the armrest, tapped his fingers against it, and gazed down at the thousands of empty stone coffins below.
“This is tricky…” Xiang Xian muttered to himself.
A few breaths later, Xiang Xian’s head began to droop downward.
“Hey!” A Huang slapped him across the face with his wing, jolting Xiang Xian awake.
“I’m so tired,” Xiang Xian said. “It must be nighttime by now.”
The cave knew no day or night, and Xiang Xian hadn’t slept for a full day and night. He was utterly exhausted.
A Huang: “Is this the time to sleep?”
“Let’s contact Xiao Kun first,” Xiang Xian said, forcing himself to stay alert. “I hope the Echoing Voice Insect works.”
A Huang asked dubiously, “Are you sure you want to use magical power?”
“It’ll hold for a bit. It won’t strangle me to death.” Xiang Xian touched the Phoenix Butterfly and brought his sleeve up to his face. Instantly, the iron hoops around his body sensed the flow of magical power and began to tighten.
“Xiao… Kun…” Xiang Xian said with effort.
In the vast desert, in the dead of night, the world was lit only by starlight. The towering Tianshan Mountains loomed darkly to the north, slumbering in the blackness.
“Our Ghost Clan reveres the Celestial Maiden Hanba as our god,” Jing Pian Ge’s voice still echoed in his ears. “In ancient times, Hanba transcended the path of life and death, possessing the power of a corpse immortal and standing beyond the rules of the Heaven-Earth Veins’ cycle of rebirth. After Qin Jin, the spirits of millions of war dead from a cataclysm that scorched the fertile lands of Shenzhou were transformed by Chiyou. By a twist of fate, they were reborn unexpectedly. In the end, the First Generation Ghost King led us to submit to Hanba, granting us eternity within the flow of time.
“But is this immortality a curse or a blessing? Over thousands or tens of thousands of years, who could say for sure? After breaking free from the wheel of reincarnation, the Ghost Clan paid the price of losing the ability to experience birth, aging, sickness, death, love, and hate—forever trapped in the memories of our former lives.
“The Ghost Clan branched into many factions. One was the Eastern Army, stationed at Dunhuang Yadan. They later followed the Demon King out of the Western Regions into the Central Plains to guard the Demon Clan Holy Land. The Western Army, which I led, remained in the Western Regions, generation after generation guarding the Wheel of Fate—until the day it was stolen…
“…When I left the Western Regions for the Central Plains to search for the Wheel of Fate, I encountered Le Wan Shuang from Kunlun. Years ago, she had descended into the mortal world to investigate the theft of an Immortal Seed and ran afoul of the Mo Sect, a mortal organization serving the Heavenly Demon. She sensed the Heavenly Demon’s reincarnation calamity and the tangled web of karma behind it, so she gave me a green leaf plucked from Jumang, granting me a fleeting human life that allowed me to act in the mortal world.
“That was how I was able to meet your mother as a human.”
In the quiet of the long night, Xiao Kun turned back, bewilderment in his eyes. Chaosheng had fallen asleep, sprawled on Wu Yingzong’s back from exhaustion, while Hulü Guang kept running tirelessly.
“Let’s rest for a bit,” Xiao Kun said suddenly. “Sorry, I’ve been too anxious.”
“I want to rescue Master as soon as possible too,” Wu Yingzong said. “I’m not tired.”
Wu Yingzong was burning with anxiety as well. Though he had acknowledged Chaosheng as his master, Xiang Xian remained an extremely important person to him.
“I am a bit tired,” Hulü Guang admitted, “but if we don’t hurry north, I’m afraid Master will be in danger.”
Xiao Kun signaled for them to stop talking and rest on the spot. Ever since leaving Jing Pian Ge’s cave, he had been hearing “Master” this and “Master” that, which made his head spin.
Hulü Guang collapsed and fell asleep immediately, unconcerned with anything else. Wu Yingzong set Chaosheng down and kindled a campfire with a spell.
In the latter half of the night in the desert, stars hung low over the vast plain, with the Tianshan Mountains marking the world’s edge.
