“Don’t be afraid, that’s not a ghost.” Qin Jianglan gently patted Little Skull’s back, his voice also very soft. “That person just has an unstable primordial spirit. We need to help him.”

Little Skull was kind-hearted, and now, hearing that someone needed help, he wasn’t particularly afraid anymore. Under his little uncle’s comfort, he calmed down and hid behind Qin Jianglan, craning his head to look. Seeing that the figure seemed incomplete, as if it could be scattered by a gust of wind, he also asked anxiously: “Then what should we do?”

Qin Jianglan said, “Wu’er, your spiritual energy is pure. First, wrap him up to prevent his primordial spirit from dissipating.” Although he didn’t know if it would be effective, that person’s primordial spirit was too weak. Just now, he could still mutter a few words, but now he was like a wisp of smoke. If they didn’t find a way, he would dissipate between heaven and earth.

Originally, this was inside the Liuguang Mirror, so he would probably scatter even faster.

“Oh.” Wu’er nodded. He was very skilled at this task, having used spiritual energy to wrap around Xiaoxiao for years to prevent Big Sister from seeing her. From time to time, Big Sister would also have him conceal Qinghe, so using spiritual energy to wrap things was his specialty. Little Skull agreed and deployed his spiritual energy to gradually wrap around that primordial spirit, completely encircling it within a spiritual energy barrier without missing a bit.

Although the True Spirit Realm inside the Liuguang Mirror was problematic, the things within were real. It seemed that during refinement or sacrifice, the entire realm had been collected into the mirror. The magical treasures, pills, and such inside could all be used and could also be brought to the outside world. However, if taken out, they would become very worn, but they were still usable inside.

After thinking, Qin Jianglan added, “I’ll go into the city to look around and see if there’s anything that can gather souls and nourish spirits.” Even knowing that entering would drain his vitality, he couldn’t care about that now.

Hearing Qin Jianglan say this, Little Skull was immediately stunned and hesitated: “But the people inside are all lifeless. They don’t move, like clay figures.” He clenched his fists and drew circles on the ground with his toes, appearing very nervous. After a moment, he lowered his head and said, “Little Uncle, let me go.”

He lowered his head with tears in his eye sockets. Because his head was down, those teardrops fell directly onto the grass tips.

It would naturally be good if Wu’er could go. If Qin Jianglan entered, the people inside would come alive. Although they would generally satisfy his conditions, those people also had consciousness and thoughts. To smoothly obtain what he wanted would take considerable time. But Wu’er was so afraid, and he might not be able to distinguish what were soul-nourishing and spirit-gathering items. Therefore, Qin Jianglan slightly shook his head, having Little Skull watch over that primordial spirit that was about to scatter. He turned to leave but was grabbed by the sleeve by Little Skull.

“Little Uncle, I’ll go.” Little Skull raised his head. In his skull, eye sockets were two clusters of ghostly green flames, and his mouth corners stretched as if smiling. “You’re different from them.”

You still have vitality on you.

You have flesh and blood, you’re different from them. And in these years of not seeing each other, Little Skull could sense it – he could feel changes in Little Uncle. Previously, he didn’t know what those changes were, but after seeing those “clay figures” this time, Little Skull felt that Little Uncle was beginning to resemble those clay figures.

His mouth stretched wider, as if his smile deepened, and he patted his chest with his left hand: “I’m the same as them.”

Although he had always stayed at Luoxue Peak without going out much, Little Skull’s divine consciousness was so strong that even sitting on Luoxue Peak, as long as he consciously looked, he could see the other peaks of Gujian Sect, see other disciples, and their newly accepted disciples.

In recent years, the Gujian Sect had also accepted a young boy and a girl. Those disciples said they were brought from Fuquan Town. Those two children had good aptitude and greatly admired Big Sister and Elder Sister.

Those two children were about the same age as Little Skull. He secretly heard that one was called Wang Baolu and the other Li Ruifeng.

They had flesh on their bodies and faces that were fair and tender, especially that little girl whose round face would turn red like a red apple when she ran urgently.

Little Skull had wanted to go play with the children.

Previously, Big Sister said he was too thin and might scare others, so she didn’t let him show himself. So he had always been obedient and didn’t dare appear before others. But for those few days, he secretly watched those two children, secretly watched them play, watched them eat and watched them cultivate…

After watching for a long time, Little Skull really couldn’t resist and secretly went to find that little girl to play one evening, bringing his beloved little things – woven grass figures and a beautiful flower…

However, as soon as he showed his face, that little girl was frightened to tears.

Tears and snot flowed out as she screamed at him in terror: “A ghost!”

Just like how he feared those ghosts.

Little Skull was first stunned, then immediately disappeared. When he disappeared, no one could detect him, so everyone just thought the little girl had a nightmare, and finally, the little girl also thought she had just had a nightmare.

But Little Skull understood everything.

He wasn’t stupid at all. He understood immediately.

He also had no vitality on him – only spiritual energy.

He had no flesh and blood, was just a skeleton frame, and couldn’t grow taller because he was a ghostly creature.

Only Big Sister and the others weren’t afraid of him. So Big Sister had him hide and not let others see him.

He became increasingly afraid of ghosts.

Wasn’t it because he feared this kind of self?

But he was a sensible child. He also knew it wasn’t right for Big Sister to raise a ghost, so he said nothing and still appeared carefree every day. He already had small sorrows in his heart, just quietly hidden away.

At first, he worried Big Sister would notice something wrong, but Big Sister worked so hard cultivating every day that she didn’t notice, which put his mind at ease. Later, when Cancan wrapped him in silk and he looked much better, he gradually forgot the worries and unhappiness of that time, only to have them resurface now in that ghost city. He wondered if he would eventually only be able to stay in such cities, staying with those lifeless “clay figures,” never again seeing Big Sister, Xiaoxiao, and the others?

He was so afraid of such a day.

“Little Uncle.” Little Skull tugged Qin Jianglan’s sleeve. “I’m the same as them. You can’t become like them…”

“I know what soul-gathering and spirit-nourishing things are. There are many spirit beasts in our backyard mountain that teach me things. There’s a kind of spirit-nourishing flower that’s very beautiful. The snakes and flowers on the mountain fight over that flower every day.” After saying this, the two flame clusters in his eyes suddenly became bright and dazzling. Then he stomped his foot, clenched his fists, and charged into that dead city with a loud shout. Little Skull was very powerful – even Qin Jianglan couldn’t hold him back when he charged like this. Moreover, his speed was extremely fast, like a white light that appeared inside the city in the blink of an eye. The city was full of thick fog, and Qin Jianglan couldn’t see clearly from outside what the scene inside actually was.

During these few days with Little Skull, Qin Jianglan felt that the murderous aura in his heart had decreased considerably.

He thought Su Zhuyi must have had great changes in this lifetime, too, because she had such a kind child accompanying her.

“Thank you.” Qin Jianglan looked at that blurry town, at that flickering white light in the mist, feeling grateful.

Thank you for staying by her side in my place.

Thank you for still thinking of sharing my worries despite being so afraid.

…

Su Zhuyi was in a bad mood.

She had encountered someone who knew about the Liuguang Mirror, but that person had disappeared. She didn’t know if he had crashed into the mirror. What a strange affair.

She had no clues now, and overthinking was useless. Since Qin Jianglan wouldn’t contact her and there was nothing she could do, fortunately, Little Skull was now with him, so when Little Skull returned, she could ask clearly. Therefore, Su Zhuyi stopped thinking about what she couldn’t understand and instead wandered around the area, collecting some things that caught her eye before boarding Qinghe’s flying magical treasure to head home.

On the magical treasure, Qinghe asked again. This time Su Zhuyi said: “A death warrior from Xueluo Sect.”

“Someone probably paid Xueluo Sect’s death warriors to kill. The only person I’ve offended should be that Hua Yining, right? I disfigured her face, and in just a few years, how could that face of hers heal? Now she probably wants to tear me apart alive every time she sees my face.” Su Zhuyi chuckled coldly. “Only she has the financial resources to hire Xueluo Sect’s death warriors.”

Hua Yining’s father was a pill elder of the Yunxiao Sect. Last time, to buy a spirit-nourishing pill from him for Master Luo Ying, even the sect master was severely overcharged.

“Xueluo Sect?”

Today’s Xueluo Sect could at most be considered a second-rate sect. It was normal that Qinghe didn’t know about them.

Although Xueluo Sect was of the demonic path, they hadn’t done anything spectacular outside. They generally killed people and selected disciples from remote, small villages of mortals, and their ability to destroy evidence was extremely high – basically nothing could be traced back to them. Mortal lives were cheap, and if they were too remote and particularly far from cultivation sects, they really could just die, and even if nearby cultivators investigated, they basically couldn’t find out who did it, ultimately leaving things unresolved.

Therefore, Xueluo Sect was unknown in the early stages. In her previous life, if Qin Jianglan hadn’t happened to encounter them, Xueluo Sect could have hidden even deeper with no one knowing. In this lifetime without Qin Jianglan, it was even more normal that no one knew about Xueluo Sect.

But internally, Xueluo Sect was an asura field. Out of a hundred disciples, if one could survive after ten years, that was already considered good. The Su Zhuyi of that time had fought her way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. The fellow disciples she had killed probably numbered in the thousands. So at that time, how could she possibly have any fellow disciple affection? Every fellow disciple was an enemy to her.

“Yes, Xueluo Sect.” Su Zhuyi had been in a somewhat bad mood, but mentioning Xueluo Sect made her eyes brighten. “A demonic path sect that specializes in training assassins. I estimate this time it was Hua Yining who found Xueluo Sect’s death warriors to kill me…”

She was now sitting crookedly, propping her chin with one hand. She winked at Qinghe and chuckled softly: “Xueluo Sect has quite a few good things inside. Should we go raid them?”

Su Zhuyi was accustomed to being a demoness. Displaying her beauty before men was also one of her methods. Throwing seductive glances was completely unconscious behavior. After speaking, she looked at Qinghe with smiling eyes and brows, only to see Qinghe glance at her coldly: “I cannot kill people.”

Indeed, what a pity. Su Zhuyi thought to herself. The Xueluo Sect had several very powerful cultivators who were also deeply hidden. In her previous life, she never completely figured out that sect even to the end. Speaking of which, Xueluo Sect was just the knife. What she currently needed to deal with was the person behind the scenes, and also the spy hidden in the shadows at Gujian Sect.

Without someone informing them, how would they know she had gone down the mountain and headed toward Suyue Sect?

Su Zhuyi thought while brushing aside disheveled hair at her temples. Just as she was about to change to a reclining position, she heard Qinghe say coldly: “Sit properly.”

This junior sister of his didn’t seem like a sword cultivator at all. What misfortune for the sect.

Whether to kill or not to kill made no difference to Qinghe, but her manner, resembling a Hehuan Sect female cultivator, was truly unseemly behavior. Now Qinghe wouldn’t constantly say she disgraced their master’s face. He would only feel that he hadn’t guided his junior sister well and planned to seriously teach her when they returned.

Su Zhuyi: “…”