Before Zhu Yuanmo could process what the “Yin Realm” was, a flock of crows in a distant tree suddenly took flight with a loud “whoosh,” all rushing straight toward Yan Sanhe and the others.

Thousands of birds flew together, a dark mass blotting out the sky.

No matter how familiar Zhu Yuanmo was with supernatural and sinister things, he was scared half to death.

“Quickly, get behind me!”

As Yan Sanhe shouted, she pulled a dagger from her sleeve.

Zhu Yuanmo could barely move his legs—they had gone soft as cotton. He practically crawled on the ground, rolling and scrambling until he reached Yan Sanhe’s feet.

The flock of crows flew before Yan Sanhe and suddenly stopped.

It was then that Yan Sanhe noticed that each crow’s eyes resembled human eyes—extremely dark, extremely deep, extremely cold.

Being stared at by several thousand such eyes, no matter how brave she was, she felt a chill throughout her body.

The lead crow looked at Zhu Yuanmo on the ground for a moment, then glanced at Yan Sanhe. Its expression seemed somewhat fearful.

Zhu Yuanmo trembled as he climbed up from the ground, pressing his body closer to Yan Sanhe and saying in a low voice:

“They… they seem afraid of you.”

Really?

Without thinking, Yan Sanhe took a step forward.

With a “whoosh,” the flock of crows retreated in unison.

Yan Sanhe stepped forward again; the crows retreated again.

So the person the crows had wanted to rush over and tear apart was Zhu Yuanmo—a human who shouldn’t appear in the Yin Realm.

The wilderness was silent, deathly still.

Two people and several thousand crows confronted each other.

What to do next?

Yan Sanhe didn’t know.

The Yin Realm was different from the Underworld. It was a buffer zone between the Yang World and the Underworld. When the dead had demons in their hearts and refused to enter the Underworld, they could only linger in the Yin Realm.

She, as a demon resolver, could only stay in the Yin Realm for a brief moment.

Yan Sanhe tilted her head slightly, using her peripheral vision to glance at Zhu Yuanmo.

Zhu Yuanmo’s expression was extremely pained at this moment.

He was too cold—so cold that even his bones felt torn with pain.

“We need to find a way to leave here.”

Yan Sanhe’s voice was extremely low. “Otherwise you’ll freeze to death.”

Just as her words fell, the color of the sky suddenly changed, and a blood moon appeared out of nowhere in the sky above.

The flock of crows instantly became agitated, flapping their wings as they prepared to rush at Yan Sanhe and the others.

“Miss Yan…”

Zhu Yuanmo was frightened to the bone. “What do we do, what do we do?”

Yan Sanhe’s eyes tightened, then relaxed.

There was only one method.

She drew her dagger and lightly cut across the pad of her index finger.

A drop of blood fell to the ground.

In the sky above, the winds and clouds suddenly changed.

The flock of crows scattered with a “whoosh,” and the blood moon instantly vanished into the night sky.

Zhu Yuanmo felt his vision darken as an enormous force pulled at his chest, as if trying to drag him into endless darkness.

“Miss Yan, save me!”

Too late.

Half of Zhu Yuanmo’s body had already been pulled in, and an indescribable icy coldness spread from his chest.

It’s over—I’m going to die here today.

Just then, a small, cold hand grasped his.

“Zhu Yuanmo, hold on tight to me. Don’t let go.”

As his consciousness faded, he heard Yan Sanhe’s voice in his ear.

…

Li Buyan felt she was going to die—literally die of anxiety.

The black fog rose and fell, fell and rose, mixed with sobbing, wailing wind sounds.

No, wait!

Listening carefully, it wasn’t wind at all.

It seemed to be… the sound of a hundred ghosts crying together, a thousand ghosts crying together.

Li Buyan had never feared heaven or earth.

After her mother died, she had followed Yan Sanhe, yet this was the first time she’d encountered something so eerie. She was frightened until her three souls scattered and her seven spirits wandered.

She thought that had she known it would be like this, she should have taken all the talismans, incantations, and scriptures from Young Master Pei’s arms.

What if they’d been useful?

Just as Li Buyan was waiting anxiously, the sobbing suddenly disappeared and the black fog dissipated all at once.

Li Buyan’s heart relaxed, but before joy could surface on her face, she cried out:

“Yan Sanhe!”

“Boss Zhu!”

Yan Sanhe and Zhu Yuanmo lay on the ground, both completely still.

Li Buyan sheathed her soft sword at her waist, rushed over to lift Yan Sanhe into her arms, then ran like mad toward the stairs.

Leaving the ice cellar, she ran a few steps like a headless fly, realized something was wrong, and shouted at the top of her lungs:

“Someone come! Come quickly… Imperial Physician Pei, where is Imperial Physician Pei… Damn it all, where has everyone gone?”

“Miss Li, Miss Li!” Zhu Yuanmo staggered after her.

Li Buyan turned around, firing questions like a machine gun:

“How are you awake? You’re actually fine? Then why did Yan Sanhe faint? What happened inside that black fog?”

Zhu Yuanmo’s face was pale green—he couldn’t answer a single question.

“Big Brother, Big Brother!”

Just then, Second Master Zhu came running over. “Mother has awakened, and Third Sister-in-law has awakened too!”

Zhu Yuanmo instinctively asked, “When did they wake up?”

“Just now, they suddenly woke up. I was afraid you’d worry, so I… Eh, what happened to Miss Yan?”

As he drew near, Second Master Zhu noticed that Yan Sanhe lay motionless in Li Buyan’s arms, her face even paler than paper.

“Never mind that for now, Miss Li, come with me to the guest courtyard.”

Zhu Yuanmo: “Second Brother, quickly go fetch Imperial Physician Pei.”

Second Master Zhu had more to say and had just started to speak when Zhu Yuanmo roared at him with unusual fury:

“What are you standing there for? Hurry up and go!”

“But…”

Though Second Master Zhu was completely confused, seeing his elder brother’s anger, how could he dare delay? He ran off as if flying.

…

In Third Madam’s courtyard.

Pei Yu slumped in his chair, drenched in sweat, thinking hazily: Could he change professions?

If not, he would likely be the first imperial physician in the Great Hua Kingdom to die from exhaustion treating patients.

“Father, come quickly and look! Chengyu says he’s still dizzy—what’s going on? Should you give him two more needles?”

Can’t you let your old man catch his breath?

This old man is still dizzy too!

Pei Yu wiped the cold sweat from his face and was just bracing himself against the chair arms to stand when a voice came from outside:

“Imperial Physician Pei, Imperial Physician Pei, something terrible has happened…”

Pei Yu jumped up as if by conditioned reflex, stamping his foot: “Here we go again, here we go again! Can’t a person get a moment’s peace?”

Amid the shouting, Second Master Zhu rushed in.

“Imperial Physician Pei, Miss Yan has fainted!”

“What?”

Pei Yu was completely stunned.

What kind of extremely inauspicious day was today? Even the spirit medium had fainted—could it be that this Zhu family…

“Uncle Pei, I’m begging you, stop spacing out and hurry over to look!”

Pei Yu gritted his teeth and glared back at Xie Zhifei—this old man’s undergarments are still soaked!

Glaring aside, he ran faster than anyone.

Second Master Zhu had wanted to ask, “Third Master, how are you feeling?” but seeing that Imperial Physician Pei had already vanished, he stamped his foot and could only chase after him.

On the bed, Xie Zhifei threw off the covers and tried to stand with all his might, only to collapse back down.

The world was spinning!

Young Master Pei at his side was startled and quickly supported him: “What are you doing?”

What else would he be doing?

“Going to see her!”

“This isn’t about whether to see her or not.”

Young Master Pei pressed him down firmly, his expression more solemn than ever.

“Haven’t you noticed that this heart demon is different from all the heart demons we’ve resolved before?”

Did he need to say that?

Also, what did he mean by “we’ve resolved before”?

At most, they were just errand boys.

Xie Zhifei’s mind was in chaos as he anxiously called toward the outer room: “Zhu Qing, Zhu Qing, come carry me!”