Que Mountain had set up a simple camp outside the city, inhabited by those who showed slight anomalies when passing through the Stone Mirror at the city gate, but had not manifested any evil energy.

The unconscious “Miss A’Gou” was brought to the camp by soldiers and simply settled in a corner.

Soldiers guarded outside the camp, while the people inside could move about freely.

I didn’t particularly like this arrangement.

Among those who had shown abnormal states before the Stone Mirror, some might have already been invaded by evil energy, while others might be “misdiagnosed” like “A’Gou.” But if they were all placed together, evil energy could easily spread among them.

However, thinking carefully, there seemed to be no better way to handle these anomalous people.

They couldn’t… just kill anyone who showed the slightest irregularity at the Stone Mirror, could they? That would be too terrible, although…

Later, the City of Undying in the Northern Wilderness… had turned into such a place.

I stayed by “A’Gou’s” side, first examining everyone around. They all appeared dejected.

With homes destroyed and loved ones scattered, no one could be happy.

Unable to discern who might harbor evil energy by their appearance, I temporarily set aside my concerns and focused on figuring out how to reconnect with this young woman’s body.

But after a whole day of research, despite my passing in and out of the unconscious young woman’s body, she never woke up.

I was getting worried.

I decided to wait until the young woman awoke, then try again.

This wait continued until nighttime.

Bonfires were lit in the camp. The experiences of recent days seemed to have left most people unable to sleep. They gathered in small groups around the fires—some staring blankly, some trembling with fear, others beginning to converse quietly with those nearby.

I had no interest in listening to their conversations, but the words “Snow Wolf Tribe” uttered by one of them successfully diverted my attention from the young woman.

“In that demon tribe settlement in the innermost part of our Northern Wilderness, the Snow Wolf Tribe, I heard this catastrophe was triggered from there!”

I saw a burly man by the bonfire speaking to those around him, stating it as if he had witnessed it himself.

“They say the last Snow Wolf demon, to practice some demonic art, killed his closest kin and slaughtered his entire tribe!”

In my current soul form, I had no body or blood, yet hearing these words made me feel as if all the blood in my body was boiling with anger.

“I heard it on my way fleeing to Que Mountain! Someone passed by the Snow Wolf Tribe’s place, and everything was gone—everyone had vanished! That last Snow Wolf demon stole the power of the entire tribe, escaped, and incurred heaven’s wrath, bringing about this disaster!”

Each sentence, each word he spoke that I heard further fueled my anger.

Analyzing rationally, these rumors were very likely spread by the Evil God himself, portraying Xie Zhuo as the culprit behind everything. This would ensure that Xie Zhuo would not only be attacked by evil corpse ghosts but would also have to fight against ordinary people.

I shouldn’t feel angry about these words; I should be thinking about how to suppress this rumor.

But rationality remains just rationality.

Almost the instant I heard this, I recalled Xie Zhuo’s expression on the day of the “tribal extermination”…

That emptiness.

He had already shouldered so much; why should he bear this unwarranted infamy and slander here as well?

I couldn’t restrain the anger in my soul as the burly man continued embellishing his words.

Looking around, I angrily darted through the camp. First, I tried to reenter the young woman’s body without success, then I attempted to crash into everyone else’s body.

No one’s body could accommodate my current soul, until!

I crashed into the body of a middle-aged woman who had been huddled in a corner, trembling.

She seemed to have been frightened out of her wits by her experiences along the way. While in the camp, she had remained curled up in the corner, hugging herself and muttering fearfully.

There were quite a few such people in the camp, and they hadn’t attracted any attention during the day.

When I crashed into her body, I discovered that her extreme fear somehow aligned with my current rage, creating a compatible gap.

I immediately seized this opportunity and plunged into her body!

Then I stood up.

Having merged with the woman’s body, I tore off the cloth that had been covering her head and strode toward the still muttering burly man.

“Hey, you.”

I slapped the back of the head of the burly man who was sitting on the ground with his back to me.

The action wasn’t painful, but it was extremely insulting.

The muttering man, his head suddenly struck from behind, turned to me with anger and confusion: “What are you—”

Before he could finish, I took a deep breath, gathered the soul energy from around me into my right fist, then, without another word, I twisted my waist, swung my arm, and landed a heavy punch on the burly man’s cheek.

The “thud” of the punch seemed overly loud in the quiet night.

The burly man toppled over beside the bonfire, blood spilling from his mouth. After a good while, he just lay on the ground, breathing heavily, unable to get up.

My knuckles were red and swollen from the blow.

The camp fell into an eerie silence.

A skeletal woman who appeared incapable of any sorcery had knocked down a bull-like man with one punch—no one could react immediately.

“Don’t spread rumors,” I said to the man panting on the ground, rubbing my knuckles, secretly using magic to heal the injury on my fist.

“With a flip of your lips, you might distort the truth, ruin someone’s reputation, or humiliate a hero.”

After I spoke, no one responded; everyone around still seemed to be in shock.

But the soldiers outside the camp had reacted. They shouted, “What’s going on!?” and rushed in.

“This person was spreading unverified slander, fabricating the cause of the disaster. I was merely stopping him…” I explained, looking solemnly at the soldiers who had rushed in.

But even as I maintained my composure, I suddenly saw someone else following behind the soldiers…

Xie Zhuo…

I stared at him blankly, not knowing how much he had seen or heard, nor whether the burly man’s rumors had affected him.

I gazed at him, and his eyes also fell upon me.

He tilted his head slightly, as if trying to recall whether he had seen me before.

And upon seeing him, I completely forgot the explanation I had prepared for the soldiers about hitting the man.

A thought crossed my mind—”Please don’t be upset by his words.”

But I didn’t have time to say anything.

Xie Zhuo’s arrival instantly extinguished the anger in my heart.

With the disappearance of that anger, I immediately felt a strong rejection; the middle-aged woman’s body forcefully expelled my soul.

Without that overwhelming anger, I could no longer maintain our emotional connection…

I floated back into the air and saw the woman realize she was standing up and being watched by everyone. Her expression suddenly turned panicked, as if not knowing what had happened, looking at a loss.

The Que Mountain soldier approached the woman and said, “Even if you had a reason, you can’t just hurt someone!”

“I… hurt someone?” The woman’s gaze swept across the crowd, finally landing on the man who most looked like he had been hit.

She stared blankly at the burly man by the bonfire. “I hit you?”

She was confused.

But these words seemed to take on a different meaning to the burly man.

He seemed frightened by my punch and looked timidly at the woman: “It’s… it’s nothing serious…”

The woman didn’t ask for anything more. Trembling, she gave the soldier a somewhat helpless look. The soldier waved his hand: “Never mind, if it’s nothing serious, go back and stay put. Tomorrow you’ll have to pass through the Stone Mirror again. Everyone, get some rest early.”

The woman sat back down.

Xie Zhuo followed the soldier into the camp. The soldier seemed much more respectful toward him than earlier in the day. I didn’t know what he had discussed with Principal God Ji, but it appeared he had gained some privileges in Que Mountain.

“Young master, the young lady you’re looking for has been asleep since she was brought to the camp during the day, and she’s still not awake. She’s over there.”

Xie Zhuo looked in the direction the soldier pointed and saw that the young woman was indeed still sleeping peacefully. He nodded without saying much and turned to leave.

But before leaving, he paused, and under the somewhat puzzled gazes of everyone, he walked to the middle-aged woman.

The woman had just wrapped the cotton cloth around her head again. Her weathered face looked up at Xie Zhuo.

Xie Zhuo opened his lips and said two words: “Thank you…”

The woman looked utterly confused.

But I felt a warmth in my soul.

I floated in front of Xie Zhuo, looking at him, and softly said, “You’re welcome…”

After speaking, Xie Zhuo didn’t linger any longer and left the camp.

It seemed he had come only to confirm the young woman’s safety, but inadvertently, he had received another bit of kindness from this world.

I suddenly thought, if my soul had crossed thousands of years to come here, and had only done this one thing, perhaps it would have been worth it.

Because…

Xie Zhuo is worth it…