Just with such a simple sentence, she wanted him to keep the appointment?

Zhang Tang almost couldn’t believe his own ears. The thin blade between his fingers turned once, and he had almost wanted to first kill these two little ghosts who knew about his past dealings with Jian Chou. But just as the blade’s gleam was about to burst forth, he suddenly stopped.

Jian Chou…

The person who had sent this message to him was Jian Chou.

The woman who had ultimately married Young Master Xie San on that isolated island in the mortal world, the woman with exceptional strength in the Killing Red Small Realm, and also the woman who had displayed outstanding ability and meticulous thinking in the Cauldron Contest, and even…

Her most accurate identity was actually as a disciple under Yashan of the Nineteen Continents.

That was a place that had previously only appeared in the ancient texts and classics he had read, and also a place that he, now a ghost cultivator, could never reach no matter what. He had always only heard of the stirring winds and clouds of the Nineteen Continents and their distinguished figures from others’ mouths, but never had the chance to see them with his own eyes.

One could imagine that after eighty years, Jian Chou would only be stronger.

She had already been clever, sharp, bold, and careful back then—how could she possibly now use a sentence that couldn’t persuade him at all to make him take risks alone?

Though he didn’t know exactly how Jian Chou had re-entered the extreme domain, since she could come once back then, it wasn’t surprising for her to come a second time now.

Zhang Tang wasn’t someone who loved to investigate everything thoroughly; he cared more about results.

Things in this world were such that once you didn’t think about them, that was fine, but once you started thinking, it would make one hesitate greatly, like at this moment.

He couldn’t control himself from speculating about Jian Chou’s intentions and purposes.

As clever as he was, just by putting himself in her position, he instantly formed in his mind a complete set of methods to threaten and coerce him into submission!

If he could think of it, Jian Chou naturally could too.

So in just the instant his finger turned the thin blade in a circle, Zhang Tang’s already harsh and indifferent face became even more ice-cold.

His emotionless gaze fell back upon those two little ghosts.

Little Head Ghost and Big Head Ghost had no idea they had already circled around the King of Hell several times. Seeing Zhang Tang thinking, they thought there was hope for this matter and hurriedly added: “Though Dazun didn’t say anything else, she’s waiting right there in the eighteenth level of hell, right in those collapsed wall ruins past the entrance…”

As they spoke, their voices grew smaller and smaller.

Only then did Little Head Ghost realize that Zhang Tang’s gaze seemed different from what he had thought.

This was clearly the look one gave to tender lambs awaiting slaughter!

He immediately fell silent, swallowing back all the remaining words he wanted to say and hadn’t had time to say, carefully forcing a smile and not daring to say another word.

No one knew what Zhang Tang was thinking.

After one glance scared Little Head Ghost into silence, he merely waved his hand indifferently: “You may go.”

Both ghosts were stunned.

Big Head Ghost, being simple-minded, still foolishly asked: “But you haven’t said whether you’re going or not…”

“Would you shut up!”

Little Head Ghost was standing right beside him. Upon hearing this, he was so startled he broke out in a cold sweat. He immediately pounced forward to cover Big Head Ghost’s mouth, not letting him make a sound, then repeatedly apologized to Zhang Tang.

“Judge Zhang, please forgive us. You know my brother here is simple-minded. We’ll leave right away, right away…”

As he spoke, he dragged Big Head Ghost away without explanation.

After retreating outside the door, he even pulled the other along in a mad dash down the sparsely populated street, disappearing in a flash.

Big Head Ghost completely didn’t understand why they needed to run.

They didn’t know how far they had run before finally stopping, gasping for breath. Big Head Ghost was so tired he was panting with his tongue out, only supporting himself on his knees as he looked at Little Head Ghost, who was equally exhausted and panting beside him, asking in confusion: “Why did we run? He, he hadn’t even answered whether he was going to see Dazun or not…”

“Stupid, you’re really fucking stupid!”

Little Head Ghost was nearly exhausted to death, leaning against a wall by the street. If he still had strength, he really wanted to poke his brother to death with one finger!

“Whether that dead-faced Zhang Tang goes or not, what’s it to us? The message has been delivered. When someone doesn’t kill you, you should run quickly instead of rushing forward to let him silence us?!”

“Ah…”

Big Head Ghost’s thinking obviously couldn’t keep up with Little Head Ghost’s speech speed and didn’t understand.

But Little Head Ghost didn’t expect him to understand anyway, only saying simply and directly: “Anyway, don’t ask why. Wherever I tell you to go, you go there. Absolutely won’t be wrong!”

Big Head Ghost understood this sentence, responding with an unambiguous “Oh” and nodding repeatedly.

The two little ghosts stopped to rest for a while, finally catching their breath.

Here, regardless of whether Zhang Tang kept the appointment or not, their mission for this trip was half completed.

As for the rest…

Little Head Ghost pulled up the hem of his clothes to fan himself, looked around in all directions, identified the direction, then beckoned to Big Head Ghost: “Done, about right. Good thing I was clever when I came out and didn’t run in the wrong direction. It’s not far ahead. Come on, let’s go find Immortal Wuzhong.”

“Oh.”

Big Head Ghost answered dully and followed Little Head Ghost’s footsteps.

Actually, eighty years wasn’t very short for cultivators, let alone for these two little ghosts with minimal cultivation. Normal people might not remember roads they had walked years ago, but these two had spent almost all of these eighty years hiding in the ruins beneath the eighteenth level of hell, never going anywhere else. Their old memories hadn’t been much covered by new ones, so their minds were actually quite clear.

Coming all this way, Little Head Ghost actually didn’t take a wrong turn.

He led Big Head Ghost through the intricate maze of streets in this city, turning left and right. In less than two quarters of an hour, they saw that dilapidated old alley they had visited before.

After eighty years, this alley seemed even more broken.

The alley was still so empty you couldn’t find even half a ghost’s shadow.

Collapsed, rotting wooden boards lay on the dust-covered ground without a single footprint; occasionally, in shaded, damp stone crevices, tenacious withered grass had grown.

No matter how you looked at it, there wasn’t half a trace of human habitation.

But the more it was like this, the more Little Head Ghost could confirm he hadn’t found the wrong place. He was actually somewhat afraid in his heart, but thinking that nothing had happened when they came years ago, and moreover…

Could there be anyone more terrifying than Zhang Tang and Jian Chou in the extreme domain?

Obviously not.

Having experienced these two terrifying people, what else was there to fear?

So after giving himself some encouragement, Little Head Ghost pulled Big Head Ghost into the alley.

Occasionally stepping on rotting wooden boards underfoot made sharp sounds.

This made the old alley seem even more deathly silent.

It was clearly a very short stretch of road, yet Little Head Ghost felt as if he had walked for a very long time. When he reached the two half-closed doors at the deepest part of the old alley’s end, his heart was already hanging in suspense.

“Knock knock.”

Not daring to push the door directly, Little Head Ghost properly knocked on the door first, then tentatively spoke.

“Is anyone there? We’ve come to deliver a message.”

No one answered from inside.

Little Head Ghost became somewhat nervous. He waited for a moment, then knocked on the door again and repeated what he had just said about his purpose.

But still no one answered from inside.

Only then did some doubt arise in his heart, and his courage grew somewhat. He just brought his pointed little head close, pressed it against the crack of the half-closed door, and looked inside.

A pitch-black mass, nothing could be seen clearly.

But there was sound.

“Rustle, rustle…”

Sometimes light, sometimes heavy, like something knocking and scraping against stone, with large and small debris falling down.

Clearly chaotic, yet when listened to, it seemed to have some strange rhythm.

Little Head Ghost’s head felt dizzy, guessing there was actually someone inside. He had originally wanted to step back and continue knocking until the person allowed them to enter.

Who would have thought that when he stepped back, he actually tripped over Big Head Ghost, who was standing extremely close!

“Hey hey hey—”

“Bang!”

The two little ghosts had no preparation for this development of mutual hindrance. Almost tripping each other, they fell down together and also knocked open the originally half-closed door.

With a “clang,” the two door panels slammed against the wall, causing countless dust particles to fall down, choking people and making them cough.

Big Head Ghost and Little Head Ghost were covered in dust all over their faces, extremely disheveled.

But how could they care about being disheveled at this moment? They were scared half to death!

Though they had never seen him, they knew that the person living here was extremely, extremely formidable, definitely not someone they could provoke.

After falling to the ground, Little Head Ghost’s survival instinct was extremely strong. Before even getting up from the ground, he had already hugged his own head, shouting explanations: “Senior, spare our lives, senior, spare our lives! We little ones are only here at someone’s request to deliver a message to you. We knocked for a long time earlier with no response and accidentally fell in. We absolutely had no intention of offense…”

No one answered.

The strange rustling sound continued to come from inside the house.

Big Head Ghost naturally hadn’t reacted to what had happened yet. Little Head Ghost, not having received any retaliation from the master of this place, found it somewhat strange.

He boldly raised his eyes to look.

This house in the depths of the old alley had originally been pitch-black with nothing visible, but when he and Big Head Ghost accidentally fell just now, they had opened the door, letting light from outside leak in, finally allowing people to see the general situation inside the house.

An extremely simple house.

Almost all the furnishings visible within sight were carved from stone, and what was placed on them were also various stone carvings of different sizes and forms.

But for some reason, every stone carving was broken.

Little Head Ghost had never had much of an eye for such things, only feeling that each stone carving seemed to be of a woman, but the facial features couldn’t be seen clearly on the statues—either they had never been carved at all, or they had been carved but were completely shattered, making it impossible to see the original contours.

The sounds he had heard earlier came from the darkest corner of the house.

He could vaguely see an old man.

Gray, dusty robes, an aged profile facing diagonally outward, his appearance also unclear. Dust had already accumulated all around him, but like outside, there wasn’t half a footprint of anyone having passed by, as if he had been sitting in this corner for decades without ever moving.

In front of the old man was placed a three-foot-tall stone carving, and in his hand was a gray stone knife, carving stroke by stroke on that stone sculpture.

Large and small stone chips fell from beside the knife tip, accumulating on the ground.

What he was carving seemed to still be a woman—upright posture, complex robes, holding a scroll in her palm, with hanging wide sleeves like willow leaves in the wind…

Every line conveyed a kind of smooth flow that seemed to return to simplicity, easily allowing people to feel that this should be an extremely beautiful woman.

But there were no facial features.

All the large and small details on the statue had actually been polished almost perfectly, reaching perfection, yet only the face was completely blank.

Just like all the other statues in this house.

Beautiful indeed, yet with blurred features.

The commotion of Big Head Ghost and Little Head Ghost falling in like this couldn’t make this old man turn his head to look at them even once. As if he hadn’t heard anything at all, he continued carving his statue.

The two ghosts immediately looked at each other.

They tried calling out twice more, but the old man still had no reaction, as if he were completely in another world, not even pausing in his hand movements.

Seeing this scene, Big Head Ghost became dumbfounded again, asking: “What, what should we do?”

Little Head Ghost also had a headache.

But his mind was also flexible. He thought that since he had brought the words he was supposed to bring and done what he was supposed to do, Jian Chou Dazun was such a good person that she probably wouldn’t make things difficult for him.

After thinking it over, he simply stood behind that old man, properly bowing and saluting: “Senior, hello. We two little ones have come to relay a message for Jian Chou Dazun, who visited you in the past—that’s the Jian Chou from Yashan. This is what she ordered us little ones to personally deliver into your hands.”

The old man continued carving, with no reaction.

Little Head Ghost’s forehead started sweating again. Thinking this old man probably wouldn’t pay attention to him, after standing for a long time, he simply steeled his heart and brazenly walked forward.

“Well then, we little ones will leave this thing here. You can look at it when you have time…”

As he spoke, he placed the jade slip that Jian Chou had personally given him earlier on the stone table beside the old man.

At this, the big stone in his heart finally fell to the ground.

The two little ghosts who had completed their task, as if having gone through a great calamity, hurriedly ran out of the old alley after taking their leave.

In the dust-covered broken house, only Immortal Wuzhong remained alone.

“Rustle, rustle…”

Stone chips continued to fall.

Soon, the last line on this stone statue’s body was also approaching perfection, with not half a flaw to be picked out.

Thus, the carving knife finally stopped.

On his aged face, the wrinkles were like cracked, winding gullies on the earth. A pair of eyes that couldn’t be said to be murky or clear slowly lifted up.

Passing over these flawless lines, finally falling upon this statue’s “face.”

A blank face.

How many years had it been?

Even he himself couldn’t remember clearly.

Couldn’t remember how much time had flowed through this space, couldn’t even remember clearly what that female cultivator who had casually stuffed something in and changed his entire life’s destiny actually looked like…

He clearly felt she was vivid in the depths of his memory, yet when it really came time to put down the carving knife, he had no clue at all.

Everything was her.

Yet nothing was her.

Immortal Wuzhong just like this, across this short span of empty space, “stared” at this female cultivator statue that had not yet had its features carved, and only after a long time did he turn his head to look at that jade slip placed on the table.

The broken house was full of dust.

The old alley was silent and soundless.

Little Head Ghost and Big Head Ghost, who had long since run away without a trace, didn’t know that when the jade slip left their hands, a certain talisman mark on the jade slip had already changed and was transmitted to Jian Chou’s heart, who was currently not in the eighteenth level of hell but had already arrived at the watchtower.

She naturally wasn’t completely at ease with these two little ghosts.

So on the jade slip she had left two secret marks—one related to Big Head Ghost and Little Head Ghost. Once the jade slip was delivered from their hands, the mark would dissipate and be sensed by her no matter how far away; the other was related to the jade slip itself. If the senior she wanted to ask for help examined the words recorded on the jade slip, the mark would also dissipate and be detected by her.

Relying solely on these two marks, she could grasp quite a bit of information.

At this moment, when the sensation of the first mark dissipating reached her, Jian Chou felt it and guessed that those two little ghosts should have already completed their assigned tasks. What remained was to see whether Zhang Tang and that senior “Immortal Wuzhong” were willing to help.

“His Highness Chu Jiang King is currently in cultivation and has instructed that he not be disturbed unless there are urgent matters. Elder, please return first. Tomorrow morning when His Highness finishes cultivation, he will naturally summon you.”

The towering black palace was built underground.

There was no one else in front of the palace, only a slightly plump, round-faced judge standing there, reaching out to stop Elder Kong Yin of the Wuchang clan who had come for an audience, blandly asking them to go back first.

Hearing this, Kong Yin naturally felt somewhat displeased, thinking privately that this Chu Jiang King was putting on airs and was difficult to serve, but on the surface he had to respectfully and submissively agree.

Others reacted differently.

Whether others were unhappy or pleased, Jian Chou didn’t know. She only knew that when she heard this judge say that Chu Jiang King wasn’t seeing anyone for the time being, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Ever since being ambushed halfway by Xie Buchen, they had traveled without delay, following Elder Kong Yin to reach this place where the “watchtower” was located.

This inevitably caused some surprise.

Because completely different from the name “watchtower,” this crucial building, despite having the word “tower” in its name, was actually not built on the ground surface but set underground!

No sunlight, no light.

Ten li behind the Ghost Gate Pass, beneath the ground surface, relying on the power of ghost cultivators, they had forcibly carved out intricate underground passages connected together like a spider web. The walls were all hard rock, and the earth’s yin essence flowing in the air was so concentrated it could make one feel a dizziness almost like drunkenness.

One could imagine that the watchtower must be right here.

But from the moment they entered from outside, they had come here together with Elder Kong Yin, only passing through completely identical passages, seeing nothing more crucial, and knowing nothing about the watchtower.

At this time, going in to see Chu Jiang King actually carried risks—

After all, they still knew nothing about the watchtower at this time, and Chu Jiang King’s cultivation wasn’t low. If there were some method they didn’t know about, he might instantly see through their disguises.

Then trying to investigate the watchtower again would be difficult.

But now Chu Jiang King was in cultivation and would only summon them tomorrow morning, which happened to give them a buffer time. Though it was only one night, with her and Qu Zhengfeng’s abilities, they might not be unable to discover something.

The group had come with hopes of achieving merit but received a cold reception upon leaving, inevitably feeling displeased.

There had always been some friction between the ten great ghost clans and the Eight Directions Yama Palace.

After all, they were not actually subordinates of the Eight Directions Yama Palace in name, only that the power of the eight Yama Kings, especially Qin Guang King, was too strong, so other forces could only bow to the strong.

But this didn’t mean they were willing.

Especially in situations like this where the other side obviously wasn’t giving face.

Politely and courteously bidding farewell to that judge outside Chu Jiang King’s palace, Kong Yin led them away from this excavated spacious cavern, entering another passage leading to the Wuchang clan’s garrison.

He was in a bad mood, so naturally his tone wasn’t good either.

He only said: “Since Chu Jiang King His Highness won’t see us today, we’ll rest and reorganize. But these two Nineteen Continents cultivators must be strictly guarded. With a whole night until tomorrow morning, you few should interrogate them properly. It would be best if you could get some crucial information out of them before seeing Chu Jiang King His Highness.”

Capturing people was certainly meritorious, but if they could also clarify the cause and effect, it would naturally be more appropriate, leaving no room for criticism.

Jian Chou and the others all understood this principle.

So currently no one objected, all properly responding in agreement.

Thus the group traveled through these intricate, extremely complex passages. Along the way they encountered several waves of patrolling ghost cultivators, all with serious expressions, not speaking.

After a while, they reached the Wuchang clan’s garrison.

The ten great ghost clans had all assigned certain military forces to be stationed here. Each clan had its own area, keeping to themselves without interfering with each other, which could be considered quite peaceful.

The low-status ghost soldiers all lived together, while those with identities like “Lian Zhao” and “Xiao Mou” had their own rooms.

Square-shaped, not large rooms.

No matter how you looked at them, they were quite crude, without even tables and chairs, but they excelled in having sufficiently concentrated earth’s yin essence, almost to the point where one’s cultivation could naturally increase just by being in such an environment without deliberately cultivating.

After Jian Chou entered her room, she carefully studied the interior for a while, found nothing abnormal, then swaggered out of her door again.

If she had a different identity, she might still need to be cautious and find some reasons for herself.

But now?

She was the frivolous and dissolute Lian Zhao. Going out at this time, even knocking on another male cultivator’s door—such as that sickly but handsome Xiao Mou—was extremely normal.

“Knock knock.”

Fingernails painted with bright red nail polish lightly tapped twice on the stone door, and the door opened. Qu Zhengfeng’s pale face disguised as Xiao Mou appeared before Jian Chou’s eyes.

Without needing many words, the other party knew what she wanted to do.

He wore that quite graceful white robe, coughed twice as if wrapped in sickness, walked out from inside the door, then followed her footsteps.

The passage was very long, some straight, some curved.

Every so often, a cluster of ghostly fire would light up, illuminating the nearby ground in an eerie and distorted way.

The ghost soldiers guarding under the ghostly fire looked even more frightening.

But of course Jian Chou didn’t need to be afraid.

The guards in the Wuchang clan garrison were naturally all Wuchang clan ghost soldiers.

She walked forward for a while, saw the solemnly standing ghost soldier, and asked: “Where are the two cultivators we captured being held? Xiao Mou Junior Brother and I are going to interrogate them on Elder Kong’s orders.”

“Reporting to Lian Zhao sir, they’re imprisoned in the two torture chambers at the end, but…”

That ghost soldier naturally couldn’t afford to offend Lian Zhao. Seeing her walking over barefoot, just hearing the light jingling of the jewelry on her ankles was enough to make his heart race. He buried his head, not daring to raise his eyes to look, but his words hesitated toward the end.

Jian Chou’s eyebrows, outlined like willow leaf tails, immediately arched: “But what?”

That ghost soldier quickly glanced at her once, then hurriedly lowered his head again, feeling as if his soul was about to fly out, but replied: “Senior Xue Yin has already gone in to interrogate them.”

Xue Yin?

Her again.

Truly could be considered Lian Zhao’s mortal enemy, getting in the way everywhere.

Jian Chou really hadn’t expected that there would be someone even more concerned about Xie Buchen and Lu Xiangleng than she was, and who had gotten there before her, taking the first step to interrogate them. At this moment, a few parts dangerous light showed in her eyes, but on the surface she only gave a cold laugh: “She certainly moves quickly.”

The ghost soldier didn’t dare speak again.

Qu Zhengfeng, disguised as Xiao Mou, naturally continued to be aloof and taciturn, also remaining silent.

Jian Chou then waved her hand: “Xiao Mou Junior Brother, let’s go take a look too.”

Having said this, she directly passed by that ghost soldier, walking all the way toward the depths of this underground passage.

At the end there were indeed two stone chambers.

Jian Chou spread her spiritual sense in a sweep, then unceremoniously pushed open the door on the left side, slightly raising that delicate chin as she walked in.

Inside the door was indeed a torture chamber.

Xie Buchen had been bound securely with new Immortal-Binding Ropes, restrained against a three-foot stone pillar connected to the entire floor.

The pillar’s surface was inscribed with countless strange, ancient symbols, all currently activated, glowing with stern crimson blood light, transforming into waves of sinister, violent power that drilled into several major acupoints around his body, penetrating directly into his bones!

This was a kind of pain that ordinary people couldn’t endure!

Even with Xie Buchen’s cultivation, he couldn’t completely bear it.

His usually stern, cold eyebrows furrowed, his thin lips already tinged with a few parts eerie blue-purple. He was clearly extremely cold, yet a thin layer of sweat had appeared on his forehead.

Xue Yin, who had arrived one step ahead of Jian Chou, was currently standing close in front of him, only inches away, holding that soul-hooking rope in her hand, seemingly about to do something.

But the commotion of Jian Chou pushing the door open was really too loud.

She heard it, and her eyebrows jumped hard. She temporarily stopped her hand movements, turned her head to look, and saw that seductively beautiful face that was nauseating.

Yet the other party seemed completely unaware of her sudden wariness and disgust, those ambiguous eyes turning back and forth between her and this Nineteen Continents cultivator who hadn’t even revealed his identity yet. After a moment, she actually laughed.

Her graceful figure trembled with the laughter.

At this moment, one could only think of the phrase “flowers swaying on their branches.”

“What are you laughing at!”

Being looked at by her gaze, though Xue Yin knew she hadn’t done anything wrong, somehow she inexplicably felt guilty, as if she had actually done something, feeling somewhat embarrassed and angry for a moment.

But Jian Chou didn’t mind at all, instead saying with interest: “So Senior Sister Xue Yin likes this type of good-looking, refined scoundrel…”

“What?” Xue Yin didn’t react at first, but after reacting, she became completely embarrassed and furious: “What exactly are you babbling about! Do you think everyone is like you, promiscuous and shameless, sleeping with any man?!”

“Cough cough cough…”

With this string of words, before Jian Chou could react, Qu Zhengfeng was already coughing behind them.

Obviously holding back laughter, Jian Chou could tell.

But this posture, falling in Xue Yin’s eyes, obviously became evidence of their guilty conscience from having had an affair. The look she gave Jian Chou became even more contemptuous.

But Jian Chou remained relatively calm, only feeling that these words were too harsh. After all, though she wasn’t someone like Lian Zhao, she also didn’t feel she had the right to judge others’ ways of living. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she really began to dislike this person.

As her eyes flowed, she raised an eyebrow slightly.

The smile on her face disappeared, and with a movement of her steps, she had closed in on Xue Yin, almost face to face with her!

The too-close distance brought multiplied danger!

Xue Yin instantly became alert.

She wanted to retreat, but felt that retreating at this moment would weaken her momentum, so she forced herself to remain in place, coldly demanding of Jian Chou: “What do you want to do?”

“Nothing much, just wanted to remind Senior Sister Xue Yin that this person was caught by Junior Sister me, so naturally I should be the one to interrogate him. There’s no need for Senior Sister to worry about it. Moreover, as Senior Sister said, in ‘this kind’ of matter, I’ve always been skilled at it. How is Senior Sister so ignorant of her limitations as to dare compete with me for someone?”

Jian Chou’s softened, gentle voice was like a soft hook.

When she reached this point, she carried a few parts mocking malice, pulling up the corners of her lips, lowering her head to lean close to Xue Yin’s ear, clearly and deliberately adding the remaining half sentence word by word.

“Especially for competing for men.”