These words were so dispirited, quite unlike her formerly lively character.

Meng Wan thought he had been too severe and quickly softened his tone: “That’s not what I meant. It’s just that for such major matters, it’s better to let the Supreme Immortal handle them. Your cultivation is still shallow; you’d be better off coming with me to the Qian Clan Immortal Sect to study immortal techniques.”

With her head drooping, Er’er shook her head.

She definitely couldn’t go with him to the Qian Clan, nor could she just leave like this.

Waving her hand listlessly, Er’er turned to continue forming hand seals to search for resentful energy. Meng Wan watched her from behind for a while, then sighed helplessly.

A blue light descended, and the needle on the compass swiftly twisted toward the northwest.

Er’er froze, turned around, and looked up to see her senior brother holding Taihe Xianshi’s tracking compass, saying as if in concession: “It’s over there.”

Joy rising to her brows, Er’er rushed over and grabbed his arm: “Senior Brother will go with me?”

“How could I feel at ease letting you run around alone?” He flicked her forehead with his finger, shaking his head and sighing as he guided her onto his sword and pursued in the direction the compass pointed.

…

…

The wind brushed against their faces as Er’er clutched his sleeve tightly, narrowing her eyes to look ahead. Her senior brother, however, seemed to have something on his mind and hesitantly began: “You…”

“Hmm?” She raised her eyebrows.

Meng Wan paused, hesitating for a long while before saying softly: “I once asked Master why you were so determined to ascend to the Nine Heavens. Master said you had important matters to attend to, that you had to go.”

“Now that I can also ascend to the Nine Heavens, would you be willing to tell me, Junior Sister, what exactly is this important matter that makes you so anxious?”

This was not something she could talk about. Er’er lowered her head quite guiltily, vaguely saying: “Why are you suddenly asking about this?”

“We’ve spent several hundred years together at the Immortal Sect.” Meng Wan pressed his lips together, his expression complex. “From my observation, you never had any obsessions with anything before.”

Before her heavenly aperture opened, Er’er was just idling away in the Taihe Immortal Sect. Because her cultivation wasn’t progressing, she even skipped many practice sessions. While other fellow disciples were competing for spiritual energy and immortal technique manuals, she wouldn’t even glance at the manuals he placed before her.

But now, she seemed to have become obsessed with her cultivation. A casual remark could even upset her.

The person beside him looked at him in confusion, seeming a bit guilty as she rubbed her fingers and said: “Isn’t immortal cultivation all about protecting all living beings? How is my search for the Death-Life Door an obsession? I just don’t want to see more innocent people die unjustly.”

“What about Li Ye then?” He looked up toward the distant void. “Your refusal to leave him—is that also for protecting all living beings?”

“You might not believe this, Senior Brother,” Er’er pursed her lips, “but it truly is for protecting all living beings.”

Meng Wan: “…”

He truly didn’t believe it.

His little junior sister had lived for so long but hadn’t interacted with many people. And that Supreme Immortal Li Ye was already an old immortal of several tens of thousands of years. If he had cast some kind of enchantment on her, how could this little girl resist?

After a moment of silence, Meng Wan said: “Do you still remember why your Senior Sister Yan Cha cultivates?”

Not everyone wanted to become an immortal. After all, the path of cultivation was dry and dull, far less enjoyable than life in the mortal realm. Yan Cha was forced into it—born with an immortal root and abandoned by her parents, she was picked up by Taihe and brought to the Immortal Sect at the age of three, with no choice but to begin cultivation.

Er’er remembered that Senior Sister Yan Cha had once said her background wasn’t good. Even though her cultivation was sufficient for ascension, she would not go to the Nine Heavens but would remain in the Immortal Sect forever.

“Why bring this up?” Er’er asked, puzzled. “Senior Sister naturally has her hardships.”

“Her hardship is the result of immortals’ sins,” Meng Wan frowned. “The immortals in the Nine Heavens are merely longer-lived than mortals; they are no different otherwise. They too indulge in casual affairs, engage in illicit relationships, meet privately with people other than their immortal companions, and bear illegitimate children whom they abandon elsewhere.”

Her body stiffened as Er’er stared wide-eyed: “Are you saying…?”

“Your Senior Sister Yan Cha is the daughter of a Supreme Immortal from the Nine Heavens,” Meng Wan looked at her deeply. “Supreme Immortals hold lofty positions with profound cultivation; there are plenty of female immortals willing to follow them, just like the wives and concubines of wealthy mortals. The only difference is that in the Nine Heavens, only one pair of immortal companions is recognized; all others are illicit unions. Most Supreme Immortals are happy to use female immortals for entertainment, but are extremely unwilling to take them as immortal companions. Even if they have children, they would rather abandon them than care for them.”

Her small face wrinkled into a ball as Er’er shrank her shoulders.

The world of Supreme Immortals was truly chaotic. No wonder the boss Li Ye had always been so guarded against her.

“Therefore,” her senior brother said seriously, “you must not get involved with them.”

Her heart skipped a beat as Er’er clenched her teeth.

What counted as getting involved? The boss was quite intimate with her, but he didn’t care for her at all. Even if he wanted to get involved with someone, he wouldn’t choose someone like her.

Someone who couldn’t even stop the Death-Life Door.

Her dejection intensified as Er’er buried her head, thinking that there were many powerful female immortals in the Nine Heavens. If another female immortal had been present today, perhaps she could have detected his unusual movement and caught the Death-Life Door in time.

Meng Wan intended to warn her to be careful of Li Ye, but when he turned to look at her, why did this child seem more and more distressed the more he advised her?

His handsome brows knitted together as he raised his hand, hesitated, then slowly lowered it: “No matter what, even if everyone in the world deceives you, your Senior Brother will never lie to you.”

Touched, Er’er grabbed his sleeve and nodded: “Thank you, Senior Brother.”

The resentful energy moved extremely fast, leading the two of them on a chase for several hundred li. As they approached a desolate mountain, Meng Wan suddenly stopped.

“Found it?” Er’er peered ahead.

“No,” Meng Wan frowned as he looked up at the mountain ahead. “It has already escaped back to the netherworld below.”

This mountain was the boundary between the mortal realm and the netherworld, covered in black mist and swamps. Mortals couldn’t step in at all, and even cultivators like them didn’t dare to venture recklessly.

“The Death-Life Door belongs to the underworld; this matter is beyond our control now,” he said. “It’s better to return and report to the immortals in the Nine Heavens.”

Her nose twitched slightly as Er’er waved her hand, grabbing a strand of immortal energy hanging in the distance.

Fiery red immortal energy, intertwined with threads of black, familiar beyond familiarity.

“He has already gone down,” she clenched her hand. “Senior Brother, I must hurry down too.”

With that, she summoned her cloud and was about to rush in.

Meng Wan reached out to stop her, but it was already too late. He watched as she broke through the first barrier, only to be met by a large flock of swirling ravens.

“Be careful!” He stepped forward quickly, pulling her back and raising his sleeve to block the attacking ravens.

Waa—

The hoarse cawing of ravens echoed throughout the mountain. Things that had been lurking seemed to catch the scent of humans and rustled as they converged in this direction.

***

Li Ye’s advancing step suddenly halted.

In the dim passageway, blue ghost fires burned on both sides. The Netherworld Envoy leading the way noticed his pause and turned around: “It’s just ahead.”

Coming back to his senses, Li Ye was quite impatient: “What’s the hurry?”

The Netherworld Envoy was startled, hurriedly falling silent and leaning against the nearby wall, not daring to urge him again.

Zhu Yan smiled and handed him a bundle of paper money: “The Supreme Immortal has been in a poor mood lately, please forgive him.”