Hearing this, Xie Gutang froze. Jian Xingzhi turned and walked out.
Seeing the two come out one after the other, Qin Wanwan quickly approached, her expression excited: “Master, you’re amazing! First place!”
“What do I do that isn’t first place?”
Jian Xingzhi tugged at his outer robe, suppressing the small pride in his heart: “Let’s go back.”
With that, Jian Xingzhi took the lead. Qin Wanwan turned back to see Xie Gutang following behind with a frown, finding it somewhat strange: “What’s wrong with Daoist Xie? He doesn’t look very happy.”
“Not really,” Xie Gutang shook his head. “Just somewhat puzzled.”
“Puzzled about what?”
“Just now, senior told me,” Xie Gutang spoke very seriously, “that Daoist Qin’s real name is Gu Beicheng. For a moment, I didn’t know how I should address the young lady.”
Walking ahead, Jian Xingzhi heard them talking and suddenly felt somewhat guilty, inexplicably having the feeling of secretly bullying a classmate and being found out by the teacher.
He glanced back at the two and saw Qin Wanwan smile, waving her hand: “Daoist Xie needn’t mind. Gu Beicheng is a name exclusive to my master. You can just call me Qin Wan.”
Hearing this, Jian Xingzhi felt satisfied.
His disciple truly knew how to distinguish between close and distant relationships. She only gave Xie Gutang a fake name—Gu Beicheng was his exclusive name!
He immediately let go of his anger toward Xie Gutang, raised his hands behind his back, and walked leisurely ahead.
The three returned to the small courtyard together. Shortly after entering the yard, they saw servants carrying wedding robes, coronets, and boots inside. Qin Wanwan looked curiously: “What’s this?”
“Tonight, Young Master Jian is requested to change into the wedding attire. After the hour of You, the City Lord will send someone to escort the bride.”
The servant spoke respectfully, then placed the wedding clothes on the table and bowed before withdrawing. Qin Wanwan raised her hand to touch the wedding clothes, somewhat curious: “What’s this for? You have to get married before attending his bed?”
With that, Qin Wanwan couldn’t help but sigh: “How romantic.”
Jian Xingzhi said nothing, raising his hand to tug at the wedding clothes on the table, showing a disgusted expression.
Qin Wanwan glanced at the doorway. Seeing that Nanfeng hadn’t returned yet, she sensed Nanfeng’s position in her heart. Seeing that Nanfeng seemed to still be in the manor, she felt slightly reassured, but was also somewhat worried: “Why hasn’t Nanfeng come back yet?”
“What did he go to do?” Jian Xingzhi looked up, frowning.
Qin Wanwan answered honestly: “I had him go inquire about which young masters went this time. He left and hasn’t returned until now.”
“Does it take this long to inquire about such things?”
Xie Gutang frowned. Qin Wanwan felt uneasy: “I’ll go find him.”
“Wait,” seeing Qin Wanwan about to leave, Jian Xingzhi immediately remembered his task. He cleared his throat and pointed to Xie Gutang. “You go too.”
“Me?”
Xie Gutang was stunned. Jian Xingzhi nodded, speaking very sincerely: “Her cultivation is so poor. If you don’t protect her and something happens to her, what then?”
“Then why don’t we all go together…”
Xie Gutang hesitated, glancing at Qin Wanwan. Jian Xingzhi waved his hand: “I still need to bathe and change clothes. You two go first.”
“Master,” Qin Wanwan saw how concerned Jian Xingzhi was about tonight’s wedding escort, feeling somewhat suspicious. “You’re not actually planning to go attend his bed, are you?”
“Get lost!”
Jian Xingzhi raised his hand, grabbed a banana from the table, and threw it. Qin Wanwan caught the banana in one hand, stuck out her tongue, and turned to look at Xie Gutang: “Daoist Xie, let’s go.”
Seeing that Qin Wanwan didn’t mind, Xie Gutang got up and left together with Qin Wanwan.
Qin Wanwan sensed Nanfeng’s position, holding the banana. A magical seal on the banana lit up, and Qin Wanwan heard Jian Xingzhi’s voice by her ear: “Beicheng, Master is helping you out. Grasp this opportunity well.”
Qin Wanwan froze: “What did you say?”
Hearing this, Xie Gutang looked over: “Miss Qin?”
Qin Wanwan smiled awkwardly: “Nothing.”
With that, she glanced at the banana in her hand. Seeing the magical seal on it, she understood Jian Xingzhi’s meaning. She and Xie Gutang walked toward Nanfeng’s position, listening to Jian Xingzhi’s instructions: “Spend half an hour alone with Xie Gutang, look at flowers, look at birds. If Nanfeng gets into trouble, then go save him.”
Jian Xingzhi spoke lightly, but warned her: “However, remember—Master is always the most important!”
Qin Wanwan immediately understood. This must be Jian Xingzhi’s task, having her spend half a shichen alone with Xie Gutang.
She rolled her eyes and stuffed the banana into her sleeve.
Nanfeng’s position was in the garden. Qin Wanwan and Xie Gutang walked along. Xie Gutang didn’t talk much—when Qin Wanwan didn’t speak, he remained silent. Seeing the awkward atmosphere, Qin Wanwan cleared her throat: “Daoist Xie seems not to like talking much?”
“Not really.”
Xie Gutang smiled: “It’s just that my words don’t make people happy. Later, I just stopped talking much.”
“Would there be people who don’t like Daoist Xie?”
Qin Wanwan found it strange. Xie Gutang thought for a moment: “When I was young, I was too respectful toward my elders and too strict with my junior disciples, always talking about principles. Everyone didn’t like it. At that time, I was sensitive and noticed others’ dislike, so I simply stopped talking. Now I’ve figured it out and gotten used to it.”
“Daoist Xie also had such times,” hearing this, Qin Wanwan suddenly felt Xie Gutang much more approachable. In an instant, she could almost imagine that young senior brother, sensitive yet pretending to be aloof. She couldn’t help feeling somewhat nostalgic. “I was like that as a child too. I always felt others didn’t like me, afraid of saying the wrong thing, so I simply stopped talking. Fortunately, I later met many good people who unconditionally accepted me and praised me.” Qin Wanwan thought of her parents, her mood somewhat downcast. “Now I feel that what I said wasn’t really anything. Most people won’t take your words to heart. Others don’t have time to like you much or dislike you much—you shouldn’t take others too much to heart either.”
“The young lady is wonderful,” Xie Gutang shook his head. “No one would dislike you.”
While talking, the two arrived at a rockery in the garden. Qin Wanwan sensed for a moment in her heart, confirming that Nanfeng was at this location. She couldn’t help but have a bad premonition.
Seeing her grave expression, Xie Gutang turned to ask: “What’s wrong?”
“Nanfeng is right here, but…” Qin Wanwan looked up at the rockery. “What is he doing here?”
Xie Gutang’s expression remained calm as he walked directly into the rockery: “Let’s go in and see.”
The two entered the rockery together. The passages inside were narrow. Qin Wanwan followed behind Xie Gutang as he held his sword, exploring the path ahead, instructing Qin Wanwan: “If you’re afraid, you can hold onto my sleeve.”
“Mm.”
She wasn’t actually that afraid, but when Qin Wanwan heard these words, she still felt a secret delight at being cared for. She raised her hand to grasp a corner of Xie Gutang’s sleeve and followed him forward.
In the bathtub, Jian Xingzhi scrubbed himself, hearing the two talk. He rolled his eyes, also feeling somewhat guilty.
Through the magical seal on the banana, he sensed the situation around the two. He vaguely felt something wasn’t right.
He closed his eyes, using his spiritual consciousness through the seal to carefully observe the flow of spiritual energy inside the rockery. There seemed to be no spiritual energy here…
No, that’s not right.
Jian Xingzhi suddenly realized—it wasn’t that there was little spiritual energy here. There was no spiritual energy at all!
He quickly expanded the range of his spiritual consciousness, looking down from above. Only then did he discover that the entire rockery was like a hollow zone. Spiritual energy flowed everywhere around it. In fact, the closer to the rockery, the denser the spiritual energy concentration. But right at the rockery, all the spiritual energy seemed to have vanished into thin air.
Jian Xingzhi immediately called out: “Beicheng, get out of there!”
But at that very moment, a formation array beneath Xie Gutang’s feet blazed brightly. Xie Gutang suddenly fell into the formation. Qin Wanwan, clutching his sleeve, immediately dropped down with him!
Sensing this, Jian Xingzhi shouted: “Hold tight to the banana!”
With that, without hesitation, he rose from the bathtub, grabbed the wedding robe and draped it over himself, picked up his sword, and rushed out.
Qin Wanwan and Xie Gutang fell together. Xie Gutang raised his hand to embrace the screaming Qin Wanwan, steadying her as they landed, asking anxiously: “Are you alright?”
As soon as he spoke, Nanfeng’s voice rang out from the side: “Master! Daoist Xie!”
Qin Wanwan turned her head to see Nanfeng running quickly toward her from not far away. Only then did she notice that this seemed to be a huge cavern. Above was pitch black, and all around were white bones.
White bones piled up like mountains. Nanfeng climbed over one small hill after another, crawling to Qin Wanwan’s feet. He grabbed Qin Wanwan’s skirt and began crying: “Master, you came to save me! Nanfeng was so scared!”
“What happened?”
Xie Gutang, having spent much time with Nanfeng, raised his hand to help him up. Qin Wanwan also frowned: “Weren’t you going to gather information? How did you end up here?”
“I was gathering information,” Nanfeng explained earnestly. “I went to the back courtyard to look around and found that usually there are many people, but today everyone was gone. I went to a familiar young master’s room. I sensed there was someone inside, and after searching for a while, I found that young master in the room.”
“And then?”
Qin Wanwan was curious. Nanfeng recalled: “That young master was hiding under the bed. After I found him, he kept telling me to be quiet and dragged me under the bed. Before long, someone came—he wore armor, carried a huge scythe, had no face, and started patrolling everywhere. That young master told me to cover my mouth and not breathe. After that armored person patrolled the room for a while, he left. Only then did that young master tell me that this person captures them to attend the Gathering of Beauties.”
“Attending the Gathering of Beauties requires capture?”
Xie Gutang didn’t understand. Nanfeng nodded: “Yes. This young master told me that actually, the Gathering of Beauties is a death assembly. Each time, the City Lord selects one young master, dresses him up like a groom, and after he goes that night, he never comes back. So after experiencing this a few times, no young master is willing to go. Each time it’s the new young masters from that month who go. To make them go, Cuilu sends that scythe guard to capture them.”
“What happens if they’re caught? Are they sent to attend the Gathering of Beauties?”
Qin Wanwan was curious. Nanfeng shook his head: “If there’s no confirmed young master for that day’s Gathering of Beauties, they’re sent. If there is…”
Nanfeng made a throat-slitting gesture: “They’re executed on the spot. But as long as you survive the day of the Gathering of Beauties, you’re safe for that month. Cuilu won’t pursue it.”
Hearing this, Qin Wanwan thought for a moment and understood: “So you were discovered earlier?”
“Yes.”
Nanfeng nodded, still shaken: “Just now that scythe guard suddenly came back. He lifted the bed and was about to kill us. I pushed that young master away, we ran separately, and when I ran to this rockery, I fell down.”
Qin Wanwan understood. She observed her surroundings and took out the banana, only to discover that the magical seal on it had completely dimmed. This place seemed to be completely cut off from the outside world.
Qin Wanwan didn’t know if Jian Xingzhi knew they were in trouble or if he would come save them. She also didn’t know whether she should let him come.
She quickly scanned the surroundings, closed her eyes, and used her spiritual consciousness to sense the flow of spiritual energy here.
Unlike the completely spiritual-energy vacuum state inside the rockery outside, the spiritual energy here was almost explosively abundant.
Spiritual energy continuously flowed in from the outside world, then seeped into the ground, flowing like a river toward the distance.
Why were there so many corpses here?
What did they need so much spiritual energy for?
Qin Wanwan frowned in thought. She turned to look at Xie Gutang: “Daoist Xie, could you clear away these white bones?”
Not understanding Qin Wanwan’s meaning, Xie Gutang still nodded. He raised his hand and slashed with his sword. The white bones instantly flew up. Xie Gutang’s sword energy swept horizontally to both sides, organizing the white bones to the sides, revealing the smooth ground surface below.
A formation array was carved on the ground surface. Within the array, small channels were soaked with blood. Qin Wanwan instantly recalled that dream she once had—in the dream, she lay in a coffin, blood continuously flowing out through tubes.
Qin Wanwan descended from the height and stood in the center of the formation array.
She observed the specific carving method of the formation. Formation arrays were also a variation of runes, essentially just a language with its specific means of expression.
This formation was one that gathered spiritual power, but it seemed more than just gathering spiritual power. This was only a corner of the formation. The source of its spiritual power should have something serving as a container to collect the power extracted by these formations.
The blood only reached halfway through the formation. There was still one-third of the blood that hadn’t entered the formation, but on the paths where the blood hadn’t stained, Qin Wanwan could see with her spiritual consciousness that blood lines extended upward, connecting to something unknown.
One man resembling Lin Yanzhi per month, the person supplying blood from a coffin in her dream, the formation extracting enormous energy.
Qin Wanwan closed her eyes, filtering through all the information piece by piece.
“At that time, City Lord Hua was merely a child that Mingjing Divine Lord had rescued and raised, cultivated for a hundred years, only at the Nascent Soul stage. After that battle, he immediately advanced to Tribulation Transcendence and became the Lord of Ghost City.”
“What is City Lord Hua’s spiritual beast?”
“Mizang.”
As Qin Wanwan pondered this information, Jian Xingzhi also arrived at the rockery. After entering, he raised his hand and directly slashed with his sword. The sword crashed and bumped against walls inside the rockery before circling back. The rockery showed no tremor whatsoever.
He observed for a moment, then raised his hand to create a formation array on the ground. He thrust his sword into the formation, and in an instant, it blazed brightly. Jian Xingzhi slashed down with his sword, and the entire rockery shell shattered with a roar, revealing the appearance of a temple.
Spiritual energy poured madly into the temple. Jian Xingzhi looked around and could clearly see spiritual power converging toward one place.
This spiritual energy was magnificent and extraordinary, vaguely surrounded by dark energy—it didn’t look like a natural blessed land at all.
Jian Xingzhi walked to where the spiritual energy gathered, carrying his sword. Looking down, he saw blood-red surging waves, countless blood lines gathering here, densely packed like flowing streams.
Jian Xingzhi looked down, then heard the sound of Sanqing bells ringing behind him. The sound of suona horns came loudly and mournfully from not far away. Jian Xingzhi raised his sword and looked up to see a coffin being carried, swaying as it approached. Maids wore pink long skirts, scattering paper money, holding green underworld lanterns, walking to the main gate.
The maids all had no faces. Only the lead maid, Cuilu, still had her usual appearance.
Cuilu respectfully bent at the waist, bowing as she spoke: “Daoist Jian, please enter the coffin.”
Jian Xingzhi said nothing. He looked up to see the entire City Lord’s Manor filled with bloody energy reaching the sky.
He sneered, raising his hand to thrust his sword beneath the formation at his feet.
When Jian Xingzhi found the rockery, Qin Wanwan was closing her eyes, thinking through all the clues. Jian Xingzhi’s appearance and Lin Yanzhi’s appearance repeatedly flashed through her mind. She suddenly realized something, opened her eyes wide, turned to look at Nanfeng: “Today in the back courtyard, did you see a young master named Song Shi?”
Nanfeng froze.
“Song Shi?” He seemed somewhat confused. “Didn’t he die long ago?”
Qin Wanwan instantly reacted.
When someone would use any means necessary to obtain so much power, needing spirit-gathering formations, summoning fragments of the Linglong Jade, and finding a body—the purpose was often just one thing:
He perhaps wanted to resurrect someone.
He’d searched for so long, trying one body per month, but never achieving results. Now, seeing Jian Xingzhi who resembled Lin Yanzhi so closely, within the temple, that Song Shi’s true purpose was perhaps to ensure Jian Xingzhi would definitely go find her.
Among all those people present, the artifact refinement was randomly done but still got full marks. Even if Shen Zhiming’s group were truly illiterate in arithmetic, Xie Gutang shouldn’t have gotten a negative score. For Jian Xingzhi to take first place with just one point was simply a joke.
To say there was no favoritism would be absurd. From the very beginning, Hua Rong wanted Jian Xingzhi!
Realizing this, the entire ground instantly shook violently. Xie Gutang quickly steadied Qin Wanwan, feeling a formation array suddenly fall from above and spread across the ground.
Jian Xingzhi’s voice came down from above: “Xie Gutang, take her away immediately. Wait for me outside Ghost City. If I don’t return in one day, leave immediately.”
“Jian Xingzhi, Hua Rong is setting a trap for you!”
Qin Wanwan immediately called out: “Don’t be impulsive. Let’s leave together.”
Jian Xingzhi didn’t respond. After a moment, he spoke calmly: “This master didn’t raise you, so consider yourself filial. Don’t worry. This master will go retrieve the Linglong Jade for you right now.” With that, Jian Xingzhi drew his sword, turning to look at Cuilu. “And along the way, slaughter them all.”
Jian Xingzhi’s voice disappeared. Qin Wanwan stood there stunned, unable to speak.
Xie Gutang glanced at the formation on the ground and quickly told Qin Wanwan: “Miss Qin, senior’s formation can work with my sword intent. Perhaps we can open a passage here.”
Qin Wanwan didn’t speak. She raised her eyes toward the direction where spiritual energy converged.
In that instant, images of Jian Xingzhi’s bold and unrestrained appearance these past days flashed through her mind one by one. That final sentence “If I don’t return in one day, leave immediately” remained in her thoughts.
Did he not know the danger?
He knew, but he still chose to leave her in a safe place and go alone.
He said he was going to retrieve the Linglong Jade for her, but most importantly, he was drawing away Cuilu and these powerful figures to make it easier for them to escape.
Perhaps he couldn’t be considered a good person. He was domineering and overbearing, using his sword to bully others. He caused her downfall to this point, and beat and struck her.
But undeniably, he was a good master.
“I’m not leaving.”
Qin Wanwan took a deep breath. She sat down cross-legged, raised her hand to cut her forehead, and laid down Jishan’s spirit-gathering formation. In any case, this wasn’t the first time she’d waited for him. She didn’t owe others—this time would be the same.
Xie Gutang froze: “Miss Qin?”
“You hold this banana.”
Qin Wanwan raised her hand and handed the banana to Xie Gutang. Xie Gutang was confused, then heard Qin Wanwan tell him with rare calm seriousness: “Through this banana, you can sense my master’s position. Right now, you take Nanfeng out first, then find the other few people from today’s Gathering of Beauties. Tell them that Jian Xingzhi was captured by Hua Rong to summon the Linglong Jade to appear. You bring them to save Jian Xingzhi.”
These people all came for the Linglong Jade. Each had extraordinary skills. Even if they wouldn’t save Jian Xingzhi, they could still hold back Hua Rong.
“What about you?” Xie Gutang looked at the formation beneath her. Though he’d never seen this formation before, he could vaguely sense a kind of law that transcended this small world.
“I need to stay here,” Qin Wanwan looked coldly toward the direction of spiritual energy flow. “To form my Nascent Soul.”
—
**Author’s Note:**
**[Mini Theater 1]**
Qin Wanwan: “I knew it—how could he possibly take first place without favoritism?”
**[Mini Theater 2]**
Qin Wanwan: “Gu Beicheng is an exclusive form of address for my master.”
Jian Xingzhi: “I knew I was special in my disciple’s heart.”
Qin Wanwan: “Indeed, you’re very unique. All these years, you’re the only man who can make me angry.”
**[Mini Theater 3]**
Qin Wanwan: “Daoist Xie, hold this banana to contact my master.”
Xie Gutang: “Is your master a monkey?”