Yusang’s footsteps stopped. After a moment of hesitation, she turned around. Though her complexion was extremely poor, the expression in her eyes already indicated that she had agreed to this deal.

Outside, the wind was fierce, and snow fell urgently. Yusang walked with deep and shallow steps, Yan Qige following behind her. The wind gradually stopped, leaving only snow falling silently.

Because the snow was too thick, Yusang failed to step steadily and slipped heavily, falling into the snow. The ice-cold snow immediately covered her entire body. She cried out in pain inwardly, struggling to lift her arms, and unconsciously looked at Yan Qige, discovering he was standing behind her, watching coldly with no sign of concern or intention to help her up.

Yusang suddenly felt as if her eyes were blurred by snow, somewhat misty. She raised her sleeve to wipe her face carelessly, then supported herself on the ice-cold snow blocks to stand up. While lowering her head to pat the snow off her body, she turned to continue walking forward.

A figure brushed past her side. Yusang looked up and discovered that Yan Qige had quickly moved ahead of her. She was startled for a moment, but then, looking at the footprints Yan Qige had pressed into the ground, she seemed to understand his intention. Yusang lifted her foot to try stepping in those footprints, but thinking of Zi Feng and her clansmen, she withdrew her foot and bypassed those prints, continuing forward along the side.

Yusang led Yan Qige to Dajing City, which remained quiet as always. Without wind, everything was eerily still. Walking through the ruined yet magnificent palaces, Yusang kept her head lowered in silence. The grandeur existed in memory, the decay before her eyes—she dared not look directly at it.

At the shore of Taiyi Lake, Yusang stopped. Yan Qige stood beside her, seeing a thick, large tree growing suspended above the calm, azure lake surface. The tree had no leaves, only countless glowing pink buds, each harboring a Fengjian Clan soul. A lantern hung beneath the branches.

Yusang curved her fingers toward the tree and chanted an incantation. The tree began to sway, moving without wind. The pink buds on the tree flickered bright and dim, showing extreme unrest. Points of light flew out from the buds one by one, gathering into the lantern. At the same time, countless mournful voices arose from all around—some reproachful, some cursing, some weeping.

“We don’t want to go back. We’re not resigned to this.”

“We hate.”

…

…

“Revenge, revenge…”

Those were the voices of the Fengjian Clan members. Their souls had gathered together due to resentment, serving as wicks in the lantern for a thousand years. Now that Yusang was collecting them back into the lantern to ignite it, all their hatred poured out madly toward Yusang.

Yusang gritted her teeth, her hands trembling as she dared not relax. Her eye sockets ached from being filled with tears, yet she refused to let them fall. When she had collected all the Fengjian Clan souls dwelling in the buds on the tree into the Soul Collector, several hate-filled spirits struck her head-on, causing her to stagger backward several steps and nearly fall to the ground.

Yan Qige seemed to reach out instinctively, about to support Yusang, but his hand stopped just before touching her shoulder. His five fingers slowly clenched and dropped.

Yusang glanced at Yan Qige’s withdrawn hand, her lips curling in a cold, mocking smile. She flicked her sleeves, endured the pain, and stood up. Looking across at the great tree growing on the water, she saw the lantern beneath it had been lit. The originally pink and crystal-bright flowers covering the tree had all withered darkly, but because there was no wind, the petals had not fallen.

Yusang leaped up, her toes touching the water in rises and falls until she stood beneath the Fengjian Divine Tree. Yan Qige followed. As if sensing its master’s summons, the Soul Collector flickered several times before dropping from the branch. Yan Qige reached out his hand, and Yusang also reached out hers. The lantern ended up being grasped by both of them simultaneously.

Feeling the warmth from Yan Qige’s palm, Yusang’s body trembled slightly. Both their gazes fell on the Soul Collector, neither looking at the other.

“Yan Qige, do you know? After today, no matter how we meet next time, I will kill you.”

“Then don’t hold back.”

Yusang slowly withdrew her hand from the lantern. Yan Qige turned to leave.

“May I ask you something?” Yusang called out from behind.

Yan Qige’s footsteps stopped, but he didn’t turn around. After a moment of hesitation, he said indifferently, “Speak.”

“The first time I brought you to Dajing City—do you really not remember any of it?”

Yan Qige’s gaze fell on the calm water surface before him. After a moment, he said, “Whether I remember or not, asking now is meaningless.”

Yusang clenched her fists and stepped back. Seeing the jade bracelet on her wrist, she removed it and threw it fiercely at Yan Qige, saying, “I’m returning this to you.”

Yan Qige didn’t turn around. He simply raised his wrist and flicked his fingers lightly. The jade bracelet was deflected by him and struck the tree trunk behind Yusang. The jade shattered with a clear ring, breaking into three pieces that fell beneath the tree. At the same time, due to the force of this strike, the withered petals on the tree fell like snow.

“Why must it be you? Of all the people in the world, why did it have to be you?” Yusang shouted angrily amid the snowfall of petals, more helpless and sorrowful than angry.

Through the falling petals, Yan Qige stood motionless. After a moment, he leaped up lightly, his toes touching the water as he drifted away, disappearing among the petals before Yusang’s eyes.

When the flowers finished falling, only bare branches remained on the Fengjian Divine Tree. Yusang turned around amid the ground covered with fallen petals and saw Zi Feng still lying beneath the tree with his eyes closed. She approached and crouched down to wipe the flower petals from Zi Feng’s forehead, then touched his brow with her hand. His soul had been returned at some unknown time, but having been separated from his body for so long, she didn’t know when he would awaken.

Half a day later, Yusang returned to Jiwu Mountain. When she went to the small shop on the mountainside, she saw Uncle Xue was already there, still holding his beloved wine gourd and dozing by the fire.

Yusang entered and gently closed the door behind her, then walked to sit by the fire across from him. Uncle Xue had been on Jiwu Mountain for a very, very long time—so long that she couldn’t even remember. She only remembered that Uncle Xue had been very kind to her since childhood, playing with her and finding her delicious things to eat, day after day for hundreds of years. It wasn’t until Bai Zhi saw that she was gradually growing up that Uncle Xue stopped coming up the mountain, staying instead at this place on the mountainside to guard this small shop that never had any customers.

This was the first time Yusang had really looked at Uncle Xue closely. She discovered he was actually a handsome man, only with completely white hair and beard, wearing coarse hemp clothing, unkempt and constantly dozing with closed eyes, so that Yusang had never paid attention to his appearance.

“Is there something you need?” Uncle Xue woke up while Yusang was staring at him in a daze, asking drowsily.

“Nothing.”

“I just had a dream—I dreamed that the Mountain Master had returned,” Uncle Xue said groggily.

“Mountain Master? You mean Bai Zhi?”

“No, no…”

“The master of Jiwu Mountain is Immortal Lord Bai Zhi. Uncle Xue, you’re drunk,” Yusang laughed.

“It’s him, it’s him…” Uncle Xue muttered confusedly for a few sentences, then tilted his head to one side and fell into a drowsy sleep.