Just as Lady Fu was speaking, the pearl she held in her palm once again emitted a dazzling light that made people’s hearts and souls sway, wishing they could immediately claim it for themselves…

As their thoughts raced, the Qin father and son didn’t even need to discuss it—they simultaneously lunged toward Lady Fu, trying to snatch the pearl from her hands.

Unfortunately, Lady Fu merely waved her hand, and the pearl immediately vanished.

Even when Qin He grabbed her neck with trembling hands, squeezing tightly, Lady Fu only smiled faintly: “This humble servant is merely someone assigned to work on the island. My life is worth nothing—even if you kill me, sir, it won’t help your situation at all!”

Her seductive voice still echoed beside Qin He’s ear, but the woman he was strangling suddenly disappeared. When he came to his senses, Lady Fu had appeared on the opposite corridor, smiling charmingly: “This island is most understanding—it can discern what each person desires most in their hearts. As long as you pay a sufficient price, plus a little gambling luck, you can have your heart’s desire fulfilled!”

After speaking, accompanied by soul-stirring laughter, Lady Fu vanished again, leaving only her lingering voice echoing around them: “I forgot to remind you all—the island master has a strong gambling nature. If you insist on not approaching the gambling table, then you’ll never be able to leave the island! Hahaha…”

Hearing Lady Fu’s incredibly arrogant threatening words, Yu Ling’er said indignantly: “If we don’t gamble, can they send people to stop us?”

However, Wei Jie looked around and, after pondering for a while, said: “Come, let’s go back to the dock and see.”

When they walked toward the dock, no one stopped them.

Many ships were moored at the dock—it seemed many more people had come to the island. But the ship they had arrived on suddenly raised its sails, turned around, and had already sailed away for some time.

It turned out that when they disembarked earlier, Boss Jia and his severely injured attendant had insisted on not getting off the ship, fearing that bringing a shipload of demons and monsters would anger the island master.

Taking advantage of Cui Xiaoxiao and the others disembarking, Boss Jia discussed with his steward that they’d rather give up those twenty years of life—after all, even if they could only survive ten more years, it was better than dying immediately on the island.

But unexpectedly, just as they secretly began to turn the ship around, it was suddenly pulled by a suction force, and the bottom began gurgling with water—the entire ship gradually sank into the sea.

Boss Jia and his attendants came stumbling out of the cabin, but before they could get to the island, they were swept up by the seawater whirlpool and gurgled down into the water.

Even when Cui Xiaoxiao tried to raise water currents to pull them up, it was useless—there seemed to be an invisible barrier wall built between the island and the seawater. Even when Wei Jie struck forcefully with the Heaven’s Punishment Sword, it was ineffective.

It seemed that Lady Fu’s words were all true—those who refused to gamble on the island could never leave…

And this barrier could only be crossed by those who had sat at the gambling table.

Wei Jie observed this scene, took Xiaoxiao’s hand, and said: “Come, let’s go back and see what tricks their gambling house has.”

The island’s gambling house was in the great hall at the island’s center, where all the people who had come to the island seemed to be gathered in this brightly lit hall.

Having grown up on the streets with her adoptive father, engaging in fraud and deception, Xiaoxiao had often lurked near gambling house entrances waiting for fat sheep, so she had seen all kinds of gamblers and could easily identify these people.

Without exception, when entering and leaving the gambling house, their eyes all flashed with excited yet pathological light.

Even the most virtuous person, once tainted by gambling addiction, would sink into it, as if they could find happiness nowhere else.

At this moment, all the people in the hall were the same—they crowded around various card tables, concentrating intently on the pai gow in their hands, shaking dice, either excitedly shouting loudly or dejectedly clutching their clothes and hair.

After watching from the entrance for a while, Wei Jie asked Xiaoxiao in a low voice: “What did you notice?”

Xiaoxiao whispered: “Their backs… seem to all be carrying something…”

With her natural yin-yang eyes, Xiaoxiao could see things tainted by demons and monsters especially clearly. Although the great hall was brightly lit, the arm-thick candles burning there all emitted a faint corpse-oil-like stench that was properly hidden within heavy fragrance, but Xiaoxiao still caught it.

And those people gambling enthusiastically all had skeletal, gaunt ghosts clinging to their backs. These ghosts were pressing their mouths to the gamblers’ ears, seeming to murmur something.

When the ghosts on their backs spoke, those gamblers’ eyes widened even more, filled with pathological madness: “I need to bet one more round—the next hand will turn my luck around!”

As they spoke, they frantically emptied their pockets. Those who ran out of money would make bold strokes on the debt books brought by the gambling house’s servant girls, mortgaging their lifespans to gain capital to continue gambling.

Some had disembarked around the same time as Xiaoxiao and the others—they had just sat at the gambling tables and didn’t yet have ghosts climbing on their backs, but skeletal evil spirits were already crouching at their feet with wicked smiles, slowly climbing toward these new customers.

Xiaoxiao gasped—where was this a gambling house? It was a ghostly, curse-filled ritual ground thick with yin energy!

Just then, Xiaoxiao suddenly thought of something and turned around, wanting to see if there were also “gambling ghosts” climbing on her back to bewitch people.

Unexpectedly, several ghosts were baring their teeth, huddled together in a distant corner, making faces and glaring at her.

It seemed these ghosts also wanted to possess them, but for some reason kept their distance.

After entering the demonic path, Wei Jie had also gained demonic sight and could naturally see these ghosts. He stepped forward, actively walking toward those ghosts, but when he approached, those ghosts panicked and fled in all directions.

However, Xiaoxiao didn’t seem to have this ghost-repelling effect. When she moved slightly closer, those ghosts seemed to smell some fragrant meat—they became excited, their nostrils flaring, looking eager and impatient to possess Xiaoxiao’s body.

This wasn’t surprising. A fine body like Xiaoxiao’s, inlaid with treasures all over, wasn’t commonly seen. Those ghosts were quite discerning and naturally wanted to possess Xiaoxiao.

Seeing them approach, Wei Jie pulled Xiaoxiao into his embrace, frightening away those ghosts.

Xiaoxiao protested to Wei Jie that this wasn’t fair—they were both demonic beings, so why did the ghosts fear Wei Jie but not her?

Wei Jie didn’t know either, but Xiaoxiao guessed that Wei Jie was once the master of the Underworld, and although his divine nature was shattered, his divine soul had somewhat awakened.

Previously, his emotional fluctuations could be sensed by the demons and monsters of the Underworld, making them restless and causing earthquakes that nearly overturned the underworld—this was clear evidence.

These ghosts could not possess a former master of the Underworld, so Wei Jie had become a walking protective charm in this great hall.

Yu Ling’er and the others also stayed close to Wei Jie—for a moment, neither gods nor ghosts could approach!

Just then, the seductive Lady Fu appeared again, but this time she stared directly at Wei Jie, her smile fading somewhat as she probed: “May I ask who you are, sir?”

Wei Jie lowered his eyes and said coldly: “You can see through people’s hearts and desires, yet you can’t tell what I am? It seems the supernatural powers on this island are nothing special… You’re desperately urging us to enter the gambling games—dare I ask which table is reserved for us?”

Since these mind-bewitching “gambling ghosts” couldn’t possess them, Wei Jie wanted to see what other harmful tricks the demons and monsters on this island had.

Hearing this, Lady Fu recovered her charming smile and pointed toward an empty table in the inner hall: “Since you distinguished guests have extraordinary status, naturally you needn’t associate with common people. Please take your seats inside…”

After saying this, Lady Fu turned to look and said with a smile: “What auspicious day is today? These distinguished guests with great backgrounds are also coming to the island in pairs…”

Following her gaze, Xiaoxiao saw that there was another person in the crowd who hadn’t been possessed by ghosts.

That young master wore a light gauze veil hat and had an extraordinary bearing with an ethereal, fairy-like temperament.

When that young master and his attendant were also invited into the inner hall, Xiaoxiao focused on his walking posture and immediately guessed his identity: “Ye Yi?”

The visitor smiled lightly, reached up to remove his veil hat, and said to Xiaoxiao: “Miss Cui, truly sharp eyes.”

This person was indeed Ye Yi, possessed by Immortal Dong Yuan. Although his divine nature had been slightly damaged previously, with his immortal body protecting him, the filth in the hall naturally couldn’t possess him either.

When Lady Fu indicated that Young Master Ye should also sit in the inner hall, Ye Yi pointed to the Qin father and son still wandering in the outer hall: “Please invite those two gentlemen in as well.”

At this time, ghosts had already begun climbing onto the Qin father and son. If this continued, they would soon be bewitched and lose everything on this island.

Seeing Young Master Ye’s insistence, Lady Fu complied graciously, smiling as she invited the father and son into the inner hall.

In the inner hall suppressed by one immortal and one demon, evil ghosts couldn’t enter.

The moment the Qin father and son stepped in, they suddenly felt much lighter, and even their breathing became much smoother.

These two weren’t ordinary people either. Although they hadn’t noticed the ghost possession before, the sudden lightness upon entering the inner hall was enough to explain the problem!

Qin Lingxiao stared at everyone at the table in disbelief, somewhat confused about the current situation.

Young Master Ye Yi was the first to warmly greet Young Master Qin, briefly explaining that he and his father had been possessed by something earlier.

Ye Yi, possessed by Dong Yuan, carried a natural divine aura that easily inspired mortals.

Sure enough, Qin Lingxiao was also moved by his jade-like gentle temperament. Learning that he had actively invited them into the inner hall to avoid ghost possession, he immediately developed endless goodwill toward Young Master Ye Yi.

Xiaoxiao knew Ye Yi’s true nature. She had previously held endless goodwill toward this jade-like young master, only to be deceived into the Underworld and nearly boarded the death ferry.

So now that Young Master Ye Yi was suddenly being so attentive to Qin Lingxiao, it was clearly up to no good. Xiaoxiao was certain that even if Young Master Qin didn’t lose his underwear on this island, he wasn’t far from being swindled out of his family fortune.

Although the inner hall was ghost-free, those arm-thick candles were still burning vigorously, emitting their bewitching aroma.

Xiaoxiao looked up and extinguished those candles, then created several balls of fire from her palms, suspending them high in the hall for illumination.

After the corpse-oil smell in the inner hall dissipated, Xiaoxiao felt she should greet her old acquaintance, so she smiled and asked: “Dare I ask, is this gambling house also established by Lord Immortal Dong Yuan? This business spans quite a wide!”

Hearing this, Ye Yi smiled slightly. He wasn’t surprised that Cui Xiaoxiao had discovered that he was Immortal Dong Yuan.

After all, when his divine nature was damaged, all the Dong Yuan statues in temples had sensed it—it was unavoidable.

“Miss, you jest. I do wish this were my territory—then I could better entertain you all.”

Seeing that Ye Yi didn’t deny it, it seemed he was Dong Yuan manifesting in the world. Hearing that he didn’t admit to being the island master, Xiaoxiao didn’t entirely believe him.

Before meeting Dong Yuan, Xiaoxiao had thought that all immortals in heaven should be pure and noble with high moral character.

But after being thoroughly deceived by Dong Yuan, she discovered that among the heavenly immortals, there were plenty with despicable character.

When she and Wei Jie chatted together under the moon, she had expressed some confusion about this.

Wei Jie had laughed dismissively: “Those cultivators who ascended to immortality aren’t all saints. There are plenty who killed their masters to prove their dao or abandoned their wives and children. How can you expect these people to become spotless saints just because they ascended to heaven? They merely suppressed all worldly temptations to focus entirely on ascension. Those who can so ruthlessly resist their irrepressible desires—can you expect them to be kind-hearted toward all living beings?”

Listening to Wei Jie say this, Xiaoxiao found it quite reasonable.

Moreover, Dong Yuan didn’t even need to endure the suffering of ascension—he was a god’s child, superior to all immortals who cultivated from mortality from the moment of his birth.

From this, she gained some understanding of gods. At the very least, the gods’ words couldn’t be entirely trusted, especially since Dong Yuan could lie without even drafting his deceptions!

However, hearing this, Qin Lingxiao’s pupils suddenly contracted—this gentle, jade-like young master was Lord Immortal Dong Yuan?

All cultivators knew by heart the legends of Emperor Dong Yuan pacifying the evil demons of the three realms.

Among all the heavenly gods, Emperor Dong Yuan and Emperor Gu Yan, master of the Underworld, were both famous for their divine martial power.

However, in the eyes of lower realm cultivators, Emperor Gu Yan was more inspiring. After all, they weren’t sons of heavenly gods and needed to cultivate and ascend through their power like Emperor Gu Yan.

Moreover, there were rumors from the immortal realm that Emperor Gu Yan’s cultivation surpassed that of divine son Dong Yuan, but due to the Holy Maiden’s protection, Emperor Gu Yan took Dong Yuan’s place and went to guard the Underworld.

Of course, these were all hearsay. After all, in the mortal world, there were statues of Emperor Dong Yuan in temples everywhere, but no one worshipped the master of the Underworld.

Regardless, Emperor Gu Yan’s divine traces had disappeared long ago and were rarely heard of.

Thinking of this, Qin Lingxiao looked at Young Master Ye Yi again and indeed saw the divine seal on his forehead, identical to those in temple statues. He immediately had to offer additional courtesies, thanking the lord immortal for his help earlier.

Ye Yi smiled and said gently, “Young Sect Leader Qin is young and promising. If evil ghosts had contaminated your spiritual platform, it would surely damage your body. How could I stand by and watch?”

Cui Xiaoxiao watched coldly, feeling that Ye Yi’s sudden kindness to Qin Lingxiao was so excessive it made her hair stand on end.

She wanted to warn Qin Lingxiao to be careful of this fraudulent immortal’s ill intentions.

But she had barely begun when Qin Lingxiao coldly interrupted, scolding Cui Xiaoxiao for being rude and not knowing how to respect gods.

Fine, Xiaoxiao had to withdraw her goodwill toward him.

Besides, what was so great about immortals that warranted such boot-licking?

Wei Jie, who cooked for her every day, was also a genuine god! What was so rare about that?

She just didn’t know—if Qin Lingxiao learned that Wei Jie was the former master of the Underworld, Emperor Gu Yan, whether he could maintain this reverence for immortals and be equally respectful to Wei Jie?

At this point, the three groups at the gambling table became distinctly divided—the Qin father and son naturally sided with Lord Immortal Ye Yi.

Lady Fu, as the host, smiled as she looked at the table full of gods and demons, saying meaningfully: “If this were elsewhere, I would naturally burn incense and pray for blessings for you, lord immortals. Unfortunately, this island is a place without divine or demonic protection. If you want to obtain what you desire, you must stake your beloved possessions at this gambling table and rely on your abilities to win them through fair gambling!”

Wei Jie looked at Lady Fu and said in a deep voice: “You know what we want?”

Lady Fu smiled and again extended her palm. In her palm appeared a statue of Zhu Jiuyin, identical in style to the one Cui Xiaoxiao had found two hundred years ago.

This Lady Fu seemed able to perceive the deepest desires in people’s hearts; without them speaking, she had immediately guessed what they wanted.

Seeming to see that both Ye Yi and Wei Jie’s expressions weren’t kind, as if they wanted to snatch it by force.

Lady Fu smiled: “This sea island was formed from the breathing soil that ancient Da Yu’s father Gun used to fill the flood waters. Because it’s not ordinary earthly soil, it cannot be shaken by divine power. As long as any of you display even a trace of supernatural ability, this sea island will sense it and sink into the sea… Earlier, when Young Master Qin and his father acted, they had already shaken the island’s surroundings, and a ship sank to the sea bottom… Do you understand my meaning?”

Lady Fu’s meaning was simple: whether you’re a high god or an earth demon, you simply cannot use force against her, or she could make the sea island sink at any moment.

So what if you’re mighty beings? Aren’t you still in mortal bodies? This place is far from the coast—even if you could fly on swords, you’d get tired and fall into the sea to feed the fish halfway there!

Everyone sitting at this table was an intelligent person. Hearing Lady Fu’s words, no one moved, only exchanging probing glances with each other.

Cui Xiaoxiao twirled her fox-tail long hair with one hand, taking the opportunity to probe Ye Yi: “You say this isn’t your business—do you know Lady Fu’s background?”

Ye Yi still wore his inscrutable smile, looking at Xiaoxiao, who was propping her chin and tilting her head: “Miss Cui, like you, this is also my first time on this island. If you want to know something, you’d better ask your disciple—he should be visiting the island for the second time.”

Xiaoxiao knew he was referring to Wei Jie. Since Zhu Jiuyin was in Lady Fu’s hands, Wei Jie must have found the statue here in his previous life.

Counting his previous life, Wei Jie was indeed visiting the island for the second time. Unfortunately, he knew nothing about his first visit—asking would be pointless.

Although Ye Yi hadn’t answered directly, for some reason, Xiaoxiao felt his gaze toward Lady Fu was quite malevolent, seeming to contain barely hidden killing intent…

It seemed this Ye Yi wasn’t entirely ignorant about this mysterious sea island.

Xiaoxiao asked again: “So you came here also to obtain Zhu Jiuyin’s statue?”

Ye Yi smiled: “Miss Cui asks knowingly. You had King Changshan report to the court, having my current appearance painted on wanted posters and posted everywhere. With nowhere to find shelter, I could only go to sea to avoid the situation. However, this statue is exquisitely carved and truly worth collecting. Coming to the mortal world once, I should bring back some gifts.”

Hearing his roundabout explanation, Xiaoxiao nodded to show she understood—this Ye Yi was indeed here for this time-reversing statue.

Since Dong Yuan was so obsessed with opening the gates of the Underworld, when the red moon no longer appeared, he would find a way to reverse time and space. It seemed he was determined to get this statue!

Lady Fu knew this Zhu Jiuyin statue was highly sought after, saying with a smile, “There’s only one statue, so it depends on whose abilities are greater to win it.”

With that, Lady Fu brought out a set of pai gow tiles.

Xiaoxiao turned to quietly ask her group: “Do any of you know how to play pai gow?”

Wei Jie looked at her and said quietly: “I never gamble…”

Yu Ling’er and the group of foxes widened their eyes: “How do you play that thing? Xiaoxiao, you must know, right?”

Xiaoxiao laughed dryly. Although she used to be a street thug skilled at pickpocketing, when it came to gambling, she was clueless, too.

However… Xiaoxiao looked toward Ye Yi and Qin Lingxiao on the opposite side. These two—one a heaven-born immortal, one an earthly self-proclaimed gentleman sect leader—naturally couldn’t possibly know pai gow either!

When asked, indeed, none of these temporarily assembled card partners knew how to play!

Lady Fu didn’t mind and was about to explain the rules to them.

But Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes and quietly asked Wei Jie: “If you were going to gamble with someone, what method would you choose?”

Given Wei Jie’s former Demon Lord temperament, he wouldn’t have the patience to learn pai gow from anyone.

Based on her understanding of Wei Jie, this man would domineeringly change the rules and make people follow his methods.

If she could guess what method he had won with in his previous life, wouldn’t this life be easily resolved?

Wei Jie indeed had no patience to learn this from Lady Fu. With one sweep of his hand, he scattered the pai gow tiles to the floor and directly picked up two dice from the table: “There are hundreds of ways to gamble—why make it so complicated? Rolling the dice to guess big or small also saves everyone’s time.”

Lady Fu seemed somewhat troubled by this.

Xiaoxiao decided to use Wei Jie’s method and also supported him: “Since it’s gambling, it should emphasize fairness and justice, each relying on their abilities. These dice are simple and clear, making it hard to cheat. I just wonder if you have crystal glass covers so people can see clearly and avoid any trickery…”

Lady Fu smiled: “My island has all kinds of treasures—naturally, I have transparent dice cups. But are you two certain you want to use this method to gamble? Don’t blame me for not warning you—you’ve chosen the most difficult of all gambling methods.”