“Other shore flowers? Aren’t those the demonic flowers that bloom by the River of Forgetfulness, where the three realms connect?” Yu Ling’er asked in shock.

Those other shore flowers were demonic flowers that bloomed at the intersection connecting the underworld, the human realm, and the heavenly realm. It was said their fragrance was enchanting and bewildering, making people forget all their pain and happily proceed to the realm of no worries.

Why would Wei Jie say magnolia flowers smelled like demonic flowers?

Hearing Yu Ling’er’s question, Xiaoxiao said in a heavy voice: “Perhaps these two types of flowers simply have similar scents. For instance, what we smelled during the day was indeed magnolia fragrance, but the scent now… Ling’er, don’t you feel that the darkness isn’t so frightening anymore?”

Earlier, Yu Ling’er had been timid, constantly clutching Xiaoxiao’s arm, but ever since smelling this refreshing floral fragrance, she had unconsciously released Xiaoxiao’s arm and even ran to the front, eager to cross the river quickly and pick the flowers on the opposite shore.

Yu Ling’er stared wide-eyed after hearing this, suspecting Xiaoxiao was playing a prank to frighten her, so she laughed: “Bad Xiaoxiao, you’re trying to scare me again! If the flowers across the river are other shore flowers, wouldn’t that mean we’ve reached the banks of the River of Forgetfulness…”

Yu Ling’er’s smile gradually faded because she saw Xiaoxiao’s completely serious expression, with no hint of joking.

The little fox shivered violently and couldn’t help pointing at the ferryman by the shore: “If this is the underworld, then how can there still be people here?”

Xiaoxiao looked at the dark shadow standing on that lonely boat and said softly: “Look more carefully—is he… human?”

Yu Ling’er suddenly turned to look and saw that the boatman standing on the lonely boat wearing a straw raincoat had never raised his head to look at them, and beneath his wide raincoat, it was empty, suspended in the air!

That dark shadow had no feet at all, floating in mid-air like a ghost, with only skeletal thin hands with long fingernails gripping the oar, constantly stirring in the water.

The fish and shrimp in the water seemed disturbed by the oar, jumping out of the water one after another.

Yu Ling’er had seen the particularly large fish and shrimp that Wei Jie had brought—these were the extremely yin-natured fish and shrimp that could only be found in the River of Forgetfulness at the boundary with the human realm…

Yu Ling’er thought about how she had almost boarded that boat just now and was so frightened her soul nearly flew away.

As a member of the fox clan, she naturally knew many things about the underworld’s River of Forgetfulness.

That boat ferried departed souls. If a living person mistakenly boarded the soul ferry, the moment their foot touched it, their physical body and soul would automatically separate. The body would sink through the bottomless boat into the River of Forgetfulness to become food for fish and shrimp, while the soul would be ferried to the opposite shore by the ferryman.

In other words, she had almost died just now!

But she and Xiaoxiao had been perfectly fine heading to Luoyi—how did traveling at night suddenly bring them into the underworld?

How did they enter? Could it be that the Wei family members who guarded the underworld hadn’t noticed that living people had entered the underworld?

Xiaoxiao had also almost boarded the soul ferry with Yu Ling’er just now. If not for the Demon Pearl suddenly speaking at that critical moment, both she and Yu Ling’er would have been doomed forever.

She had heard Wei Jie say that ordinary living people had strong yang energy and couldn’t enter the underworld. But if someone had smelled the fragrance of other shore flowers, they could temporarily suppress their yang energy, weaken their spirit, and be guided by the demonic flowers into the underworld.

This was also the method the Wei family used to enter and exit the underworld, except the Wei family had ancestral silver artifacts to maintain their heart and soul, so they wouldn’t get lost in the underworld.

That’s why Wei Jie extremely detested the magnolia scent that was similar to other shore flowers.

In Wei Jie’s view, this scent, similar to demonic flowers, was an invisible death warrant. He even quite disliked Yu Ling’er wearing sachets with similar scents.

After thinking this through, Xiaoxiao suddenly realized that the large magnolia grove that Young Master Ye Yi had created during the day, ostensibly to commemorate his late wife, was actually to guide them into unknowingly smelling the other shore flower fragrance mixed within.

He had even given Yu Ling’er a packet, making the fragrance-loving little fox carry these death warrants on her body.

That Young Master Ye’s reputation as a wastrel was too foul, but he was such an extraordinary and otherworldly figure that it aroused endless curiosity.

Moreover, when he spoke, his tone had an inexplicable ability to soothe people’s hearts, so even Xiaoxiao was mysteriously bewitched by him, unconsciously falling into the trap he had set step by step.

The path getting darker and darker earlier wasn’t because night had fallen, but because they were guided by the demonic flowers’ fragrance, crossing the boundary between yin and yang, and inadvertently entering the underworld’s borders, arriving at the River of Forgetfulness.

Because they had smelled the other shore flowers and were stained with the floral fragrance, masking the scent of living people, probably even the Wei family members guarding the underworld hadn’t detected that they had entered this forbidden place.

The more Xiaoxiao thought about it, the more alarmed she became. Recalling that gentle, jade-like Young Master Ye, if he had done this deliberately, how deeply terrifying would that be?

Or was he merely being used and manipulated by that fake King of Changshan?

If it was the former, this was truly killing without seeing blood, cutting throats without using a blade!

After understanding this, Xiaoxiao silently recited an incantation and raised a ball of fire in her palm to illuminate the surroundings.

Ever since the Five Phoenix possessed her, she had become quite skilled at using fire techniques.

But before the fire in her hand could even flicker, it automatically extinguished.

Xiaoxiao knew it was because the yin energy here was too heavy, and fire would also be suppressed by this dense yin energy and unable to ignite. Living people also couldn’t stay long in the underworld, or they would eventually be suppressed by the yin energy here and die…

However, Xiaoxiao herself had heavy yin energy and was possessed by the Demon Pearl, so she was relatively more adaptable. But Yu Ling’er was gradually becoming unable to withstand it, her whole body beginning to shiver.

She carried the fox clan’s spirit stone, but such treasures, to preserve their energy in the underworld, instead more quickly drained the yang energy from Yu Ling’er’s body. At this rate, Yu Ling’er probably couldn’t hold on much longer.

Xiaoxiao discovered this and felt anxious. She couldn’t find an exit for the moment, but couldn’t let Yu Ling’er suffer like this…

Thinking of this, Xiaoxiao made a decisive decision: “Ling’er, give me the spirit stone.”

Ling’er shook her head vigorously, not because she didn’t trust Xiaoxiao, but because giving Xiaoxiao the spirit stone at this time would harm Xiaoxiao!

She could feel the spirit stone absorbing her yang energy, and Xiaoxiao would probably not escape the same fate. Now she only hoped Xiaoxiao could take her corpse out and hand it over to other clan members to ensure the fox clan’s spiritual energy could continue.

In the end, the little fox burst into tears with a “wuwah” sound.

She was still so young, yet she was about to die. If she had known her life would end today, she wouldn’t have quarreled with Tang Youshu.

She would have told him properly that he was the first man in her life who truly made her heart flutter…

Xiaoxiao had no patience to listen to Yu Ling’er’s last words. She reached out with her energy and protected Ling’er’s navel, and before long, had removed that deadly spirit stone.

Then she placed the spirit stone in her navel according to the old method. Before the spirit stone could settle, the old stone in her body became violently agitated: “Dead girl! Crazy girl! You move everything onto yourself! Isn’t housing five birds enough—now you’re bringing a spirit stone up the mountain! Did a dog eat your brain? I’ve truly had eight lifetimes of bad luck to be attached to your body!”

Xiaoxiao apologized insincerely in her mind: “Sorry for not giving you a spacious private guest room! If you don’t want us all to die here, quickly help me think of a solution. How should we escape this underworld?”

She was certain this Demon Pearl should have been taken to the underworld with Wei Jie before. When the great upheaval occurred in the underworld years ago, Wei Jie had been present.

Hearing this, the Demon Pearl fell silent for a moment, as if weighing the pros and cons. But the moment the spirit stone entered her body, the Demon Pearl felt the new tenant greedily absorbing Xiaoxiao’s yang energy like a glutton. This made him, the local boss, very uncomfortable.

In this underworld territory, if he lost his living host and was left behind in the underworld, it would be difficult to escape.

After weighing things this way, the Demon Pearl began instructing the crazy girl: “The underworld has no gates—what you humans call gates is just your terminology. Only those with declining fortune or whose time has come arrive at the underworld’s entrance. However, if there are places where yin energy gathers in the yang realm, it’s more convenient for living people to pass through. Qilao Mountain has been a place contested by military forces throughout history, with countless deaths and injuries, corpses once piled like mountains, so it became what you humans call an entrance to the underworld. If you want to get out, you must find that weak barrier at Qilao Mountain.”

Xiaoxiao silently regulated her breathing, enduring the erosive sensation of the spirit stone, and asked how to find it quickly.

The Demon Pearl said, “You have naturally yin-yang eyes. As long as you resist the attraction of the other shore flowers and stabilize your mind, you can see the flow of yin and yang energy in the underworld. Whether you can find it depends on your comprehension!”

Hearing the Demon Pearl’s advice, Xiaoxiao tried looking around.

But the other shore’s flower fragrance seemed to bypass her nose and drill directly into her brain. She kept unconsciously being attracted by the flowers across the river, even walking to the riverbank several times.

Xiaoxiao thought about what the Demon Pearl had said, then suddenly reached out and pulled out a handkerchief, using it to cover her mouth and nose completely. This way, she couldn’t breathe, but it also blocked the demonic flowers’ invasion.

At this point, she looked around intently and finally discovered the mystery of the intersecting yin and yang currents.

In what had originally been a pitch-black void, two different colored gases continuously intersected. Among these constantly intersecting currents, Xiaoxiao could distinguish and sense the presence of yang energy, which all seemed to be flowing from the northeast direction.

After identifying where the yang energy was entering from, she grabbed Yu Ling’er’s hand and quickly headed there…

Setting aside Xiaoxiao and Yu Ling’er, who were led into the underworld by the demonic flowers, let’s talk about the master and disciple Wei Jie and Tang Youshu at the Luoyi City inn.

Ever since Wei Jie had seen Xiaoxiao and gone mad, chopping up the flowers and trees on the back mountain, he had settled with Tang Youshu at the inn where Xiaoxiao had previously stayed.

Tang Youshu now also couldn’t understand his master’s thoughts. For instance, he had suddenly changed his tune and accepted disciples from the Four Great Sects that he had previously looked down upon.

Another example was that among so many inns in Luoyi City, his master had chosen only the one where Xiaoxiao had stayed, and among so many rooms in the inn, he had chosen the one Cui Xiaoxiao had lived in.

Cui Xiaoxiao and the others had just checked out, and according to the shop assistant, even the room’s pillows and bedding hadn’t been changed, but his master had waved his hand grandly, saying no need to change, and moved right in…

Tang Youshu now looked at his master with a sense of trepidation.

By rights, Wei Jie with his restored divine nature should have been like his master from the previous life when his demonic nature wasn’t acting up—cold as a person, but still a gentleman. His treatment of disciples wasn’t exactly kind, but he taught wholeheartedly.

But the current master, with those purple eyes always dark and gloomy, moody and unpredictable, was exactly like Wei Jie from the previous life when his demonic nature was acting up.

Tang Youshu had just watched those newly accepted disciples trying to flatter Wei Jie several times, especially Ling Zhishan, who always tried to make conversation with their master.

Several times, their master’s slender fingers had caressed the Heaven’s Punishment Sword.

This made Tang Youshu’s heart pound with fear, worried that their master would grow impatient and, like when his demonic nature erupted in the previous life, create a bloodbath over the slightest disagreement, with corpses strewn everywhere.

When their master entered the room alone, Tang Youshu truly breathed a sigh of relief.

He had been thinking lately whether he should find a way to reverse time again. He really shouldn’t have let his master restore his divine nature so early, making him so moody and unpredictable, as if possessed by demons. If Xiaoxiao were here… would master’s temper become more normal?

Thinking of this, he looked up at that pitch-black room, thinking his master must be taking advantage of the beautiful moonlight to meditate and cultivate!

At this moment, his master, who should have been meditating and cultivating, was in the dim room, slowly removing his robes, revealing his strong, powerful chest, then sitting on the bed and slowly lying down on the somewhat disheveled bedding…

The bedding had long grown cold, no longer holding the warmth of that person, but when he pressed his face against the pillow, carefully sniffing, he could still capture a trace of sweet scent on the coarse cloth pillow.

Wei Jie now indulged himself, closing his purple eyes and immersing himself in this fleeting sweet scent, as if he were embracing that woman in wet, soaked clothes, entwined intimately on this pillow and bedding…

Before he could become more wanton, that tearing pain in his forehead struck again! Stopping his further lascivious thoughts.

Frustrated and agitated, Wei Jie roughly tore the coarse cloth pillow in his hands in half, and an indescribable emptiness scattered throughout the room along with the pillow stuffing and grain husks flying everywhere…

He painfully half-closed his increasingly dark eyes, his thin lips slightly parting then tightly closing, finally moaning softly in the room’s coldness: “Xiao… xiao!”

In the room’s complete coldness, he slightly extended his hand, wanting to grasp something. But the clear moonlight passed through his fingers—he could grasp nothing.

He couldn’t help but close his eyes and, as usual, judge her current location based on the Demon Pearl’s aura on her body.

In the past, this had been very simple. When Xiaoxiao’s emotions fluctuated greatly, he could even sense her joy and sorrow.

But today, after searching with closed eyes for a long time, he found nothing.

Cui Xiaoxiao… had seemingly vanished into thin air!

Wei Jie suddenly sat up, closed his eyes, gathered his energy, and searched again. This time he still found nothing, as if that young woman’s aura had suddenly disappeared from this world…

How could this be?

An indescribable panic struck again along with a splitting headache, but he ignored the pain, thinking only of one thing: he… seemed to have lost control of something important…

When Cui Xiaoxiao had left Ghost Stone Cliff, he could remain calm and composed. During those days when he couldn’t see Cui Xiaoxiao, he could also maintain his composure.

All of this had one major prerequisite—that he could know Xiaoxiao’s exact location at any time, who she was with, what she was doing, and what great joys or sorrows she was experiencing at that moment!

As long as she was somewhere he couldn’t see, cultivating well without bothering each other, that was the ideal state he found most desirable.

But once Xiaoxiao did something beyond his expectations, that damn girl would disturb his peace of mind and affect his ascension progress.

For instance, her wanting to establish the ridiculous Hehuan Sect! Even changing the name couldn’t hide the impropriety of this sect!

Otherwise, why would those traitors from the Four Great Sects circle her drooling like wolves seeing fresh meat!

If not for fearing the loss of cultivation and degradation of his divine nature, for a moment, Wei Jie had wanted to very simply pierce through those lechers one by one with his sword, making them thoroughly cool.

To prevent Xiaoxiao from causing trouble, he reluctantly accepted those persistent pests for her, actually hoping Xiaoxiao would focus and properly improve her cultivation.

But now he couldn’t find her!

When he discovered she had escaped his control, Wei Jie’s anxiety lurking at the bottom of his heart immediately blazed up like wildfire.

He couldn’t even wait a moment—he had to find that damn girl immediately!

Just then, someone below the inn called out loudly: “Is Wei Jie of Ghost Stone Cliff here? The King of Changshan, having heard that the Immortal Lord has come here, specifically sent this humble one to invite the Immortal Lord!”

As if the host anticipated that Wei Jie might not accept the invitation, the person added: “Our King of Changshan says that if the Immortal Lord cannot find a certain old friend, he might as well come sit at his manor—there might be some unexpected gains… Aiya!”

The messenger below hadn’t finished speaking when he felt a flash before his eyes, and his throat was instantly gripped by a cold, tall man who was grinding his teeth and asking word by word: “Who is this old friend you speak of? Tell me again!”

The messenger was frightened by Wei Jie’s cold aura and could only whimper and struggle: “I don’t know either. You should go to the manor early to ask our prince…”

Before his words were finished, the man gripping his throat disappeared again. A scholar in white cloth robes carrying a bamboo basket jumped from the inn’s second floor, chasing while shouting: “Master, wait for your disciple…”

That lingering voice echoed in the midnight, able to travel far, but couldn’t reach the underworld’s nine springs.

At this time, Xiaoxiao’s mouth and nose had been covered for a long time, holding her breath as she moved forward. Fortunately, her inner core had initially formed, allowing her to hold her breath for an hour, or she would have suffocated long ago.

Fortunately, both of them were agile, and Yu Ling’er simply transformed into a fox, carrying Xiaoxiao as they moved quickly forward.

Like this, the two followed that ethereal yang energy, wandering in the underworld for who knows how long, and finally reached a bright entrance.

Yu Ling’er could no longer smell that alluring floral fragrance.

She couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief and said to Xiaoxiao, “I can’t smell those other shore flowers here anymore. Are we about to escape?”

Xiaoxiao looked at the yang energy continuously flowing into that bright place and nodded: “This should be the entrance.”

After speaking, both prepared to head toward the entrance. But when they approached, a repelling force suddenly bounced them both back.

Yu Ling’er fell heavily to the ground, crying out in pain: “What’s happening? Why can’t we get out?”

Xiaoxiao tried touching it with her finger and was also repelled.

She stared intently for a while, then said seriously: “It seems someone on the other side has sealed this exit.”

Yu Ling’er panicked upon hearing this: “Then what do we do? We can’t get out?”

Xiaoxiao knew that someone had deliberately tricked them into coming here and didn’t want them to return alive. It seemed that the person had also anticipated they might find the exit, which is why they had sealed this rare exit.

But Xiaoxiao was worried about more than Yu Ling’er.

This exit was at the Wei family’s Qilao Mountain. The Wei family wouldn’t seal the underworld they guarded without reason.

Could it be that someone had controlled the Wei family? Thinking of the Wei family’s tragic fate in the previous life, Xiaoxiao’s heart involuntarily tightened.

Just then, she inadvertently turned around and suddenly discovered that in the direction opposite the exit, there was a water pool. Above that pool, water drops had somehow begun dripping steadily, drop by drop, gradually forming a pool on the empty ground.

When Yu Ling’er and Xiaoxiao approached, they discovered the water surface was like a mirror, actually reflecting human figures.

Yu Ling’er stared in amazement at the image of Tang Youshu sobbing in the water, asking in confusion: “What’s wrong with Young Master Tang? Why is he crying so sadly?”

In the mirror, Tang Youshu seemed to be in Lord Can’s manor.

He dispersed the burnt talisman ashes in his hand and couldn’t help but murmur with tears in his eyes: “How can this be? They’re gone… Even using soul-summoning techniques, I can’t find any trace of them…”

Beside Tang Youshu stood a tall man in black robes, cold as ice—it was Wei Jie.

From beginning to end, his expression hadn’t moved at all, as if he were a statue carved from a thousand-year-old ice.

Opposite Tang Youshu was a man in fine clothes with his face wrapped in gauze, speaking in Lord Can’s voice with a low laugh: “Two young girls were also easy to deceive, following the flower fragrance to the underworld. Now they should have already boarded the soul ferry, with their bodies sunk into the River of Forgetfulness to feed the fish and shrimp, right? What to do—even if Master Tang has a way to summon back their departed souls, he can’t summon back their bodies. Please accept my condolences and don’t be too sorrowful.”

It seemed this master and disciple had also discovered the fake King of Changshan’s flaws and had personally come to confront him.

That fake King of Changshan took this opportunity to reveal the situation of the two trapped in the underworld.

Seeing this, Xiaoxiao’s heart sank heavily.

She suddenly remembered that Wei Jie had once said that when people died and entered the underworld, if their beloved relatives in the yang realm missed the deceased extremely, they would shed tears of heartbreak.

These tears would condense into a mirror in the underworld for the deceased to see their beloved relatives’ situation.

After viewing, it would be the end of earthly ties, from then on separated by yin and yang, never to meet again.

From their conversation, it was clear that tricking them into the underworld was indeed the work of this fake King of Changshan.

Tang Youshu and the others had just learned of this, so Tang Youshu had used the Talisman Sect’s soul-summoning technique to determine their life or death. Unable to find Yu Ling’er and the others, Tang Youshu’s heartbroken tears gathered in the underworld to form a mirror, allowing Xiaoxiao and Yu Ling’er to see this final meeting…

If Tang Youshu had used deception against Cui Xiaoxiao and heartlessly driven away Yu Ling’er, the sincere tears he shed now contained no false elements; otherwise, they wouldn’t have formed a mirror in the underworld for Xiaoxiao and the others to see.

Unfortunately, belated true feelings were cheaper than grass. Now they were separated by yin and yang, and might never meet again.