“What’s wrong with my name?”

Jian Xingzhi expressed his dissatisfaction directly. Seeing Ning Huihe clench her fists, Qin Wanwan quickly smiled apologetically: “Miss Ning, don’t mind him. Please continue.”

“My master chose my name. What right do you have to say it’s not good?”

Jian Xingzhi was very displeased. Ning Huihe steadied her emotions, forcing herself to calm down. She turned to Jian Xingzhi and raised a polite smile with difficulty: “I was impulsive. Your name is very good—shows strong action capability, just slightly lacking in wisdom, but that’s not a big deal.”

Then Ning Huihe turned to look at Qin Wanwan, who was willing to listen to her speak: “This young lady, and you are?”

“I’m called Qin Wanwan.”

Ning Huihe looked at Xie Gutang, Cuilu, Nanfeng and the others. Everyone reported their names one by one. Ning Huihe nodded.

Seeing Ning Huihe calm down, Qin Wanwan quickly pressed on: “Then where did those two immortals go?”

“I don’t know.”

Ning Huihe shook her head: “They took Yanzhi away and had me stay here, saying it would nourish my soul and that they’d return to save me in the future. But I’ve already waited here for two hundred years. Aside from that time at the Twelve Gates of Life and Death when my lingering attachment sensed you all, I haven’t seen anyone else.”

“Then they were lying to you!”

Jian Xingzhi excitedly concluded.

Qin Wanwan immediately refuted: “You’re talking nonsense!”

Only then did Jian Xingzhi remember that these two people might be Qin Wanwan’s parents. He quickly backtracked: “I was talking nonsense. They definitely wouldn’t lie.”

This statement sounded even stranger.

“Before they left, did they leave any clues about where they were going?”

Qin Wanwan ignored Jian Xingzhi and asked curiously. Ning Huihe shook her head: “The situation was urgent at the time. They didn’t say much, only told me to wait here, then left.”

“What about before then?” Qin Wanwan frowned. “Had you seen them before?”

“Never seen them, but I heard Yanzhi mention them.” Ning Huihe recalled thoughtfully, “Yanzhi once came to tell me that two unreliable immortals would help him seal the evil demon in order to cure their daughter’s illness. Speaking of which,” Ning Huihe smiled, “those two immortals apparently said they wanted to recruit Yanzhi as a son-in-law, but unfortunately Yanzhi refused.”

Hearing this, both Jian Xingzhi and Qin Wanwan’s expressions turned ugly.

Qin Wanwan forced herself to save face, pretending not to care as she spoke: “Good thing he refused, otherwise their daughter wouldn’t have been willing either.”

“Exactly!” Jian Xingzhi nodded heavily. “She wouldn’t have liked him!”

“I don’t like hearing you say that,” Ning Huihe turned to look at Jian Xingzhi. “What’s wrong with my Yanzhi? Well-read and reasonable, profound cultivation, and his appearance made female immortals in the cultivation world flock to him—is he not worthy of the Nujun of Jishan?”

“I…”

“Of course he’s not worthy.” Jian Xingzhi decisively cut off Qin Wanwan’s retort, staring at Ning Huihe. “The Nujun of Jishan has noble birth, the richest family in the immortal realm, beautiful and strong with a good temper, gentle, lovable, intelligent and charming.”

“Not that bad, not quite that excellent.” Qin Wanwan felt a bit embarrassed by Jian Xingzhi’s praise. Then she heard Jian Xingzhi continue: “And she studied under the world’s number one, Daojun Suiheng. Her future husband will also be number one in the world. Can Lin Yanzhi defeat Daojun Suiheng?!”

Qin Wanwan: “…”

She was suddenly a bit amazed by Jian Xingzhi’s skill at praising people.

Ning Huihe was also stunned speechless by Jian Xingzhi. After a long while, she finally asked: “Who is Suiheng?”

“That’s not important,” Jian Xingzhi bypassed the topic, only looking at Ning Huihe earnestly. “In short, Lin Yanzhi is not worthy of the Nujun of Jishan.”

“Are these topics important right now?” Cuilu, hearing them drift into small talk, felt anxious to leave and somewhat irritable. “Get things clear and leave quickly. Ning Huihe,” Cuilu turned to look at her, “just tell me one thing—is the Divine Lord dead or alive?”

Ning Huihe’s movements paused. A trace of sadness appeared in her eyes: “I don’t know. The last time I saw him, he’d already been devoured by the Evil God. I don’t know if that counts as dead or alive.”

“That is to say, if that immortal couple didn’t successfully convert him, then Lin Yanzhi is the Evil God, right?”

Xie Gutang frowned. Ning Huihe nodded with difficulty.

Everyone fell silent. After a moment, Jian Xingzhi once again persistently inquired: “So, can we leave now?”

“You can now.”

Ning Huihe seemed a bit weary, urging Jian Xingzhi: “Over there is a teleportation array. Leave quickly.”

“Before we go, I have one unreasonable request.”

Jian Xingzhi unexpectedly spoke, his tone a bit embarrassed. Ning Huihe turned curiously and saw Jian Xingzhi cough lightly, lowering his head to ask: “This tomb—since we came all this way, could you perhaps give us something?”

Then Jian Xingzhi added: “In the past when I entered ancient tombs, the tomb spirits inside would all say I was a fated person and give me things.”

Hearing this, Ning Huihe’s eyes widened. After a long while, she finally recovered: “How can you be so shameless?”

“If you don’t want to give anything, that’s fine. I’m just asking.” Being rejected, Jian Xingzhi wasn’t embarrassed. He turned toward the teleportation array. “Wanwan, let’s go.”

“Wait.” Ning Huihe called out to him. “Help me with one thing, and I’ll give you something.”

“Please speak.”

Jian Xingzhi immediately turned back, his eyes sincere: “I will definitely work hard to accomplish it.”

“When my soul scattered, one soul and one spirit remained in my body, but my body was taken away by the Ning clan’s ancestor in the chaos. Right now my soul is incomplete. Even if you give me a body and I’m resurrected, I’ll become an idiot. I’m troubling you to find that one soul and one spirit and bring them back to me.”

As she spoke, Ning Huihe gave them a piece of talisman paper: “Carry this talisman paper with you. When you crush it, I can sense your location and open the tomb entrance to receive you.”

“You can’t sense people and events outside the tomb?”

Hearing this, Qin Wanwan speculated and asked. Ning Huihe nodded: “Without special connections or methods, I have no way to sense anything.”

Qin Wanwan didn’t speak. Ning Huihe looked at Jian Xingzhi: “I’ve already stopped the mechanisms in the tomb. Take whatever you want.”

“Great!”

As soon as Jian Xingzhi finished speaking, he vanished in a flash.

Xie Gutang, Cuilu, Nanfeng and the others also seemed somewhat eager. Ning Huihe glanced at them and only said: “If you want something, go ahead.”

“Thank you, Senior.”

Xie Gutang bowed, but instantly disappeared as well.

Only Qin Wanwan and Ning Huihe remained in the room. Ning Huihe poured tea for Qin Wanwan. Qin Wanwan thought for a moment, then asked: “The second half of the murals—you carved those, right?”

Starting from when Lin Yanzhi left the Ning home, the murals changed to Ning Huihe’s perspective.

“Yes.”

Ning Huihe nodded: “A hundred years is too boring.”

“So there are many things you don’t know.” Qin Wanwan turned to look at her. “For instance, back then in Ghost City, how Lin Yanzhi became possessed by demons—you don’t know, do you?”

“He never told me about his affairs outside. I only heard rumors. I always thought he was doing well.” Ning Huihe smiled bitterly. “I truly don’t know what specifically happened in Ghost City.”

“You’re still hiding some things.”

Qin Wanwan picked up her teacup. Ning Huihe’s movements froze. Qin Wanwan’s voice was steady: “Since you don’t know about things outside the tomb, how could you repeatedly and accurately open the tomb door and bring Jian Xingzhi and me into the tomb?”

Ning Huihe remained silent. Qin Wanwan turned to look at her: “Jian Xingzhi and Lin Yanzhi have a blood connection. The tomb itself would sense him, right?”

“What’s the point of asking these things?” Ning Huihe laughed lightly. “You know the past and won’t be deceived—that’s already enough. Jian Xingzhi lives very happily. Why trouble him?”

“Since you can sense him, when we entered the tomb, why didn’t you stop the various mechanisms in advance?”

“I was sealed in the main tomb. I had no way.”

Ning Huihe smiled bitterly: “Only after you opened the seal could I control this tomb.”

“Then who sealed you?”

Qin Wanwan looked up. Ning Huihe’s expression changed. Qin Wanwan glanced outside: “The murals were carved by you, that large paper outside the door was written by you—meaning all these years you’ve moved freely throughout the tomb. But you were suddenly shut in the main tomb, which means this all happened recently. Recently, who came to the tomb and locked you in the main tomb?”

Ning Huihe didn’t speak.

At this moment, Jian Xingzhi came back carrying a sword, using his outer robe to wrap a huge pile of things strapped to his back, returning happily. From far away he excitedly shouted at Qin Wanwan: “Wanwan, I dismantled the wall with sword techniques painted on it from that secret chamber. I also brought back that training illusion realm for you. I took so many things,” he said, running to her front, overjoyed. “I even scraped off the gold powder from the walls!”

Hearing this, Ning Huihe quickly drank some water to calm her shock.

At this time, Xie Gutang, Cuilu, Nanfeng and the others also returned. Each of the three carried bundles on their backs—probably the situation after their storage pouches were filled. Everyone looked very happy.

Seeing everyone had returned, Qin Wanwan turned to bid farewell to Ning Huihe: “Miss Ning, since there’s nothing else, we’ll take our leave first. Thank you for your help this time.”

“It’s all as it should be.”

Ning Huihe looked at the four people carrying bundles beside her, her heart bleeding. She grasped Qin Wanwan’s hand, trembling slightly: “Can you… can you… return…”

“Farewell!”

The four people beside her heard that word “return” and immediately bowed together in unison. Led by Jian Xingzhi, they charged toward the array and jumped down without hesitation, carrying their bundles.

Qin Wanwan turned to glance at the four people fleeing beside her, then looked at Ning Huihe gripping her hand and refusing to let go: “As you can see, I can’t control them.”

With that, Qin Wanwan withdrew her hand and walked toward the teleportation array. Before she reached it, she saw Jian Xingzhi poking his head out from the teleportation array again. He’d changed to another face, using an ordinary young man’s face as he braced himself at the edge of the teleportation array, looking at Ning Huihe.

“Ning Huihe,” he called out. Ning Huihe turned back in surprise and saw Jian Xingzhi casually tell her, “I won’t take your things for free. Wait a bit longer. I’ll reshape your body and come back to save you.”

“Oh, and there’s that bastard Yan Wushuang,” Jian Xingzhi remembered. “I’ll send him down to keep you company so you won’t be bored.”

Hearing this, Ning Huihe couldn’t help but laugh.

“Good.” Her voice was gentle. “I’ll wait for you.”

“Alright then,” Jian Xingzhi didn’t speak with her anymore. He turned to look at Qin Wanwan beside him. “Change your face. Who knows where we’ll end up—what if we run into people?”

Qin Wanwan knew Jian Xingzhi made sense. She nodded, randomly changed to a maid’s face, then jumped down together with Jian Xingzhi.

Jian Xingzhi grabbed her and accelerated to catch up with Xie Gutang and Cuilu ahead. He leaned close to Qin Wanwan, speaking happily: “Wanwan, today we all took so many things—what a profit!”

“Exactly.” Nanfeng had long since transformed into an ant in Xie Gutang’s embrace. He poked his head out: “So wealthy!”

Hearing such words, looking at Jian Xingzhi’s excited and happy expression, Qin Wanwan suddenly asked: “If this tomb was yours, would you still be happy?”

Jian Xingzhi’s expression stiffened. He immediately turned to glance at the two people beside him. Cuilu and Xie Gutang vigilantly clutched their bundles. Jian Xingzhi thought for a moment, turned back, and said seriously: “No, impossible. This can’t possibly be my tomb.”

The fields I led people to divide up can’t possibly be my own.

The five jumped out of the teleportation array together. After landing, they looked up and saw Ning clan guards resting all around.

This was where they’d left via teleportation array. The guards had just finished repairing the floor tiles blasted open last night. Seeing them, they immediately stood up with raised blades: “Who are you?!”

Xie Gutang reacted fastest. He turned to look at Cuilu with an earnestly studious expression: “City Lord Cuilu, this teleportation array still isn’t precise enough. You still need to modify it.”

Cuilu nodded, her face serious: “You’re right. Let’s return to our rooms to research it.”

With that, Xie Gutang and Cuilu swaggered out together. Jian Xingzhi and Qin Wanwan quickly lowered their heads, following behind them like maids and guards, calmly and composedly walking all the way out.

The guards stared blankly at the four people. Only after they walked out the door did they react: “Who are they?”

“They seem to be those two currently confined in the guest rooms. Lord Buyan ordered us—we absolutely can’t let them escape!”

“Someone come!”

The guards finally realized what was happening and shouted: “Those two from Heavenly Sword Sect and Ghost City are trying to run!”

As soon as the words fell, a teleportation array lit up beneath the four people’s feet, about to leave. But at that very moment, a sword light descended from the sky, instantly splitting open the teleportation array. Seeing this, the four immediately flew away on their swords.

Their storage pouches were filled with items, their back bundles were heavy—their swords immediately sank down, flying especially laboriously.

Seeing this, Qin Wanwan shouted loudly: “Throw everything away!”

“No way!” Jian Xingzhi decisively refused. “This is all my capital!”

Coming here for so long, aside from those fifty spirit stones from selling himself, he’d been eating off Qin Wanwan the whole time. How could he hold his head up?

Before, it was fine when he was her master being provided for. Now he was no longer her master—he was a man!

A man must be economically independent. Only by being an independent male could he have the foundation to pursue a girl.

Everything he’d obtained today was his capital for making a comeback!

After Jian Xingzhi spoke, the three people beside him all fell silent, but all used their actions to show that the wealth they’d worked so hard to excavate from the tomb—they couldn’t possibly just let it go.

Qin Wanwan immediately felt a headache. This team was truly difficult to lead.

The cultivators behind relentlessly pursued, growing more numerous. She made a decision: “This won’t work. We can’t escape.”

“Then we fight?” Jian Xingzhi asked back.

Qin Wanwan immediately denied it: “We can’t fight!”

The losses would be too catastrophic.

“Then what do you say we should do?”

Jian Xingzhi flew on his sword with her, rushing into the forest. Qin Wanwan shouted loudly: “When Lin Yanzhi was devoured by the Evil God, my parents took him away—unknown if he’s alive or dead. The way Ning Wenxu looked at you wanting to kill you shows Lin Yanzhi is probably still alive.”

“Right!” Jian Xingzhi responded. “Before, Hua Rong’s array was also used for suppression, not resurrection.”

“If Lin Yanzhi is alive, then he must have become the Evil God. A hundred years ago, the one who forced him to become demon-possessed was the Ning clan’s ancestor. The one who caused Ning Huihe’s death was also the Ning clan’s ancestor. So that curse was either given by him, or by Yan Wushuang seeking revenge for Ning Huihe. Now that you’ve come, the culprit doesn’t want you to save the Ning clan’s ancestor, so they simply killed him.”

“So what?!” Jian Xingzhi didn’t understand. “What exactly are we going to do?”

“If Lin Yanzhi is the Evil God, then the Ning clan definitely has people with demonic seeds in their bodies already. The Evil God couldn’t possibly let go of the people who harmed him back then. Leaving the Ning clan alone for a hundred years was probably only because he lacked the ability to take revenge. As long as we can prove the demonic seeds exist and insist they did it, the Ning clan’s focus won’t be on us anymore.”

What the Ning clan feared and cared about most was Lin Yanzhi.

Once Lin Yanzhi, who had truly become the Evil God, appeared, Jian Xingzhi would no longer be their target.

Then they could take advantage of the chaos to negotiate with them for the Exquisite Jade…

Qin Wanwan pondered, dodging a sword light from behind, turning to look at Cuilu: “Cuilu, do you know how to detect demonic seeds?”

“You need a special medicinal agent.”

Cuilu had transformed into a jade bird, flying nimbly in the air to dodge, calling urgently: “I don’t have any right now.”

“Take Jian Xingzhi to find it!”

Qin Wanwan ordered: “Xie Gutang and I will hold off the Ning clan. Quickly get the medicine and bring it back. We’ll wait for you!”

“No, I’ll stay with you.”

Jian Xingzhi refused outright, turning to glance at Xie Gutang: “I don’t trust him.”

“He can act, you can rob. We’ll divide the work and cooperate.”

“I can act too!”

Jian Xingzhi immediately felt indignant. Seeing he wouldn’t respond to the hard approach, Qin Wanwan moved closer to him, grabbing his sleeve, her face completely serious: “Xingzhi, stealing the medicine is more important. The hope of our entire team rests on you—don’t let us down!”

This “Xingzhi” made Jian Xingzhi’s heart flutter. Thinking that he was the entire team’s hope, he coughed lightly: “Alright, I understand. Rest assured, I’ll definitely come back to save you.”

With that, Jian Xingzhi raised his hand and tapped her forehead: “If you encounter danger, call my name. You’ve used this talisman before.”

Qin Wanwan was stunned, then reacted. She turned, a sword light meeting the pursuers behind them.

Jian Xingzhi called out “Cuilu.”

Cuilu instantly transformed into a huge jade bird. With a flap of her wings, raising a gale, she swept past above Jian Xingzhi’s head. Jian Xingzhi grabbed her claws. His flying sword beneath his feet charged directly at the pursuers behind, assisting Qin Wanwan and Xie Gutang in blocking a wave of pursuers. Then he shouted: “Wanwan, wait for me!”

With that, he recalled his flying sword.

As the flying sword flew back, Qin Wanwan suddenly thought Jian Xingzhi might not be able to find them. She quickly called to Nanfeng: “Nanfeng, become palm-sized.”

Nanfeng confusedly transformed to palm size, lying on Xie Gutang’s shoulder: “Master, what are you doing?”

Qin Wanwan held her sword in one hand, blocking a cultivator, kicking him away, then grabbed Nanfeng. She turned back toward the direction of Jian Xingzhi in the sky and flung him out, roaring: “Jian Xingzhi, catch the navigation!”

In the instant Nanfeng was thrown, there was only a muffled grunt, then a sword was directly pressed against Qin Wanwan’s neck.

Qin Wanwan calmly turned back: “Don’t kill me. I have a tip-off!”

The person holding the sword, Ning Buyan, was stunned. Qin Wanwan panted heavily, her face completely serious: “Daoist Ning, I just saw Daojun Ming Jing. He became the Evil God. He confessed—your Ning clan’s chickens were stolen by him, the dogs were touched by him, the Ning clan’s ancestor was killed by him, all the bad deeds were done by him. He’s recovered his power and is coming back right now to kill your whole family!”

—

**Author’s Note:**

**[Mini Theater]**

Jian Xingzhi: “Wanwan, what do we do if someone frames us?”

Qin Wanwan: “Use magic to defeat magic, use framing to defeat framing.”

**[Mini Theater 2]**

Nanfeng: “I knew it all along—in your hearts, I’m just a GPS.”