“Young master?” Lin Hu pushed the door open and entered. Seeing that Huan Zong’s face actually showed signs of panic, his heart filled with dread. He had followed his young master for several hundred years and had rarely seen him in such a flustered and distressed state.

“Kong Hou’s soul has left her body.” Huan Zong retrieved a soul-summoning lantern from his storage ring. “Protect me while I work.”

Lin Hu strode to the bedside to examine her and indeed found symptoms of soul separation. But Kong Hou had been perfectly fine—how could this situation suddenly occur? Could someone be casting spells to cause mischief? He couldn’t help but think of the evil cultivator realm’s formation master who had set up the Ten Thousand Bones Withering Array. But at this moment, it wasn’t the time to investigate this matter. Turning his head, he saw his young master actually using his heart’s blood to light the soul-summoning lantern and urgently said, “Young master, you…”

The soul-summoning lantern lit up, and hazy mist rose throughout the entire room. Huan Zong formed a hand seal: “Yin and Yang dual poles, heed my summons—soul, return!”

The window suddenly flew open and a fierce wind swept up the tree leaves from the courtyard. Without lifting his head, Huan Zong waved his hand to block the attacking gale, and the soul-summoning lantern remained completely still.

“Whoever is committing evil deeds here today, once this matter is resolved, even if I must chase you to the ends of heaven and earth, I will not let you go.” Raising his palm to close the window, Huan Zong extended his hand and grasped at the air. A bell formed from spiritual power materialized in his palm. With a gentle shake, it produced a clear ringing sound.

“Where is that bell sound coming from?” The Crown Prince, who was helping Emperor Jing Hong handle affairs, raised his head and looked around in confusion. This bell sound was extraordinarily strange, as if it didn’t belong to the mortal realm.

Emperor Jing Hong stood up. Just as he pushed open the window, a fierce wind arose outside. The wind swept through the palace corridors, producing a piercing howl that was quite terrifying. A tree leaf struck Emperor Jing Hong’s face. He stepped back two paces and gestured for the attending young eunuch to quickly close the window.

“Don’t go outside.” After pondering for a long while, Emperor Jing Hong said, “Pass the order to the Imperial Guards commander to stand guard before the palace where Kong Hou Xianzi resides. If any suspicious creatures approach, none are permitted to enter.”

“Remember, any creatures—not just people.” As an emperor, Emperor Jing Hong possessed keen judgment regarding unusual matters.

“Father Emperor, what has happened?” The Crown Prince was somewhat worried.

“It’s a matter we cannot interfere with.” Emperor Jing Hong’s thoughts went deeper. What worried him most was that Kong Hou Xianzi had violated heavenly laws by helping the common people of the realm, and now the punishment was coming.

“Been discovered?” In a concealed dark cave, the formation master looked at the cracked clay figurine on the stone table. With a darkened expression, he tossed the figurine aside, let out a cold snort, plucked out a strand of hair, and wrapped it around the figurine’s neck.

“Strange…” Kong Hou looked at the fog surrounding her on all sides and slowed her flight. This suddenly appearing dense fog arrived suspiciously, as if deliberately blocking her path.

In her current spiritual form, many of the magical artifacts she usually carried couldn’t be used. Only her life-bound artifact Fengshi, which was united with her spirit, could be summoned at will. She gripped Fengshi in her hand and walked forward step by step.

The long path seemed to have no end in sight. Kong Hou could only hear her own footsteps.

Before her eyes she could only see this one path, but was this path truly the correct one?

Kong Hou stopped walking and simply sat down cross-legged where she was, no longer continuing forward. With Huan Zong and Senior Lin guarding her body, given their level of cultivation, they would surely discover something was wrong with her.

Rather than rushing about blindly and possibly falling into an even greater trap, it was better to wait honestly right where she was.

Closing her eyes, she carefully used her divine sense to perceive her surroundings. She gradually heard the sound of flowing water, bird calls, and the sound of tree leaves being blown by the wind. In the distance, there seemed to be the clamor of talking voices.

She shouldn’t be too far from the city gate, and there was a river nearby.

In the cavern, the formation master discovered that the hair wrapped around the figurine’s neck had stopped moving. He frowned. “She’s actually not taking the bait?”

A small cultivator who had practiced for less than ten years was actually this formidable?

The monks from Pure Tranquility Temple had already left this realm—who else was helping her? The formation master performed divination calculations with his fingers, but couldn’t calculate anything. Everything seemed to be hidden by heavenly secrets.

“Ruin my great plans, and you won’t think of returning alive.” The formation master became ruthless. He bit his finger open and drew a talisman on the figurine. “Summon malevolent ghosts from all four directions!”

Countless fierce ghosts with bared fangs and brandished claws approached Kong Hou. She opened her eyes and furrowed her brows tightly. Last night, Queen Qingluo had entered her dreams, then lured her soul to the Queen’s tomb. She had already felt something was strange—a female ghost from the mortal realm shouldn’t possibly be able to do this.

Now blocked by these fierce ghosts, Kong Hou finally understood. It wasn’t that Queen Qingluo was powerful, but rather that someone had tampered with things. She placed her ten fingers on the strings of Fengshi, plucked the strings to repel the fierce ghosts closest to her, and sternly said, “If you don’t retreat, I’ll scatter your souls and spirits.”

How could the fierce ghosts care about such threats? They swarmed densely toward Kong Hou. Kong Hou hesitated no longer and raised her hand to eliminate a large swath of ghost souls, carving out a bloody path. But looking at the road ahead, she didn’t move.

Four directions, and only one direction had no fierce ghosts blocking the way. Wasn’t this clearly telling her there was a problem with this path?

Trying to trick her when she was in a panic and choosing her route carelessly?

Kong Hou snorted coldly. She was a clever and intelligent young woman—how could she fall for such a trick?

The fierce ghosts weren’t difficult for Kong Hou to deal with. The troublesome part was that there were too many fierce ghosts. No matter how many she exterminated, it seemed endless—after eliminating one wave, another wave would crawl out from the ground.

Ding ding ding.

The sound of a bell rang out. Kong Hou turned her head and saw a shadowy figure fly out from the dense fog. The figure gripped a precious sword and swept away countless fierce ghosts with one strike, displaying exceptional grace. Although it was just a wisp of shadow whose face couldn’t even be seen clearly, Kong Hou recognized at first glance that this was a strand of Huan Zong’s divine consciousness.

The shadow swung its sword just twice, and the large swath of fierce ghosts disappeared cleanly beneath his blade.

The shadow flew to her side, grasped her hand, and soared through the air. Soon they passed through the dense fog, and the prosperous capital city lay beneath their feet. The shadow holding Kong Hou’s hand gradually disappeared, but the clear bell sound still echoed.

Kong Hou accelerated, flying into the magnificent imperial palace. Just as she was about to approach the palace gates, a pitch-black serpent as thick as an adult’s leg blocked her path. She had just raised Fengshi, preparing to attack, when suddenly several arrows flew past, all piercing into the black serpent’s body.

Several Imperial Guards wearing armor dragged the black serpent away, while several young eunuchs came over carrying water buckets and washed the floor completely clean.

Kong Hou: “…”

“Stay alert, everyone. Don’t let even a single cricket inside.” The Imperial Guards commander said loudly, “If you let these beasts disturb Kong Hou Xianzi’s peaceful rest, can your consciences bear it? Can you face the common people of the realm?”

“No!” the Imperial Guards responded in unison.

“Good that you know this.” To demonstrate his determination, the Imperial Guards commander looked down and, seeing an ant crawling very quickly past, lifted his foot and stomped down hard, then ground it with the bottom of his foot. “See that? This lord won’t even spare an ant.”

“Yes!”

The formation master was so angry he smashed the clay figurine on the table. Why couldn’t even the ant he had raised using parasite techniques get close to Ji Kong Hou’s side? He took a deep breath and used his divine consciousness to transmit commands to the ant, but received no divine consciousness transmitted back from the ant.

What was going on? Had even the parasite ant been discovered?

Seeing the situation turning bad, the formation master didn’t delay any longer. He gathered up the items in the cave and ran away without looking back.

Be as ruthless as possible when you can, flee when you should—this was the principle of being an evil cultivator.

Kong Hou’s spiritual form entered the room’s doorway. Huan Zong sensed it and lifted his head to look toward the entrance, but he couldn’t see anything.

“Young master?” Seeing Huan Zong suddenly look toward the entrance, Lin Hu followed his gaze but only saw the door swaying slightly in the wind.

Lin Hu turned to look at Kong Hou on the bed, not daring to shift his eyes even half a fraction.

Kong Hou struggled to open her eyes. She felt her eyelids weighed more than a thousand pounds, as if her body was pressed down by a pile of stones, and her hands and feet didn’t feel like her own. Barely managing to open her eyes a crack, she opened her mouth wanting to speak: “Huang…”

Huan Zong.

“Don’t speak.” Huan Zong grasped Kong Hou’s wrist with trembling hands and fed a vial of spirit liquid into her mouth. “Your soul left your body. Your body will be temporarily uncomfortable.”

Except for cultivators who had reached the Soul Separation stage or higher, other cultivators would experience uncomfortable symptoms when encountering such soul separation incidents.

Kong Hou swallowed the spirit liquid in her mouth with difficulty and blinked at Huan Zong.

“The epidemic has been resolved. This realm’s emperor sent ministers to the epidemic region to help the local people handle post-disaster affairs. You don’t need to worry.” Huan Zong guessed what she wanted to ask. “Everything is fine. The only thing not fine is you.”

Kong Hou noticed there was something in her palm. Thinking this might be the box Queen Qingluo had given her, she struggled to raise her hand and placed the box in Huan Zong’s palm, then fell asleep with peace of mind.

“Kong Hou, Kong Hou…” Seeing Kong Hou faint again, Huan Zong urgently gripped her hand and channeled spiritual energy into her body.

Seeing his young master’s actions becoming chaotic, Lin Hu couldn’t stand it anymore and spoke to remind him: “Young master, Miss Kong Hou has just fallen asleep. She just experienced soul separation—being able to sleep peacefully is a good thing.”

Only then did Huan Zong react. Recalling his earlier loss of composure, Huan Zong stared at Kong Hou in a daze.

“I wonder where this box came from?” Lin Hu found it strange. Miss Kong Hou’s soul had left her body—how did she gain a strange box? And what surprised him even more was that this box contained rich spiritual energy.

This was the mortal realm—how could there be something with such abundant spiritual energy?

Huan Zong handed the box to him, stood up, and used a damp cloth to wipe Kong Hou’s hands and face. “Lin Hu, Kong Hou’s mortal ties with this realm are complete. Once she wakes, we’ll return to Lingyou Realm.”

“But…” Lin Hu’s expression showed some hesitation. “We still have one medicinal ingredient we need to find in this realm…”

“It’s not necessary anymore.” Huan Zong said, “What meaning is there in making Kong Hou follow me rushing about everywhere, humbling herself for these few illusory medicinal ingredients?”

Lin Hu was silent for a moment. “Young master, I know you can’t bear to see Miss Kong Hou toil, and even… But have you thought about this—if one day you’re gone, there will be other people standing beside Miss Kong Hou, accompanying her as she continues forward?”

“If that day truly comes, and there’s a very good person accompanying her…” Huan Zong paused and tucked in the blanket corners for Kong Hou. “I… can also feel at ease.”

“Indeed. From then on, other men will hold her hand, accompany her day and night, travel the world with her, and finally ascend together through tribulation, becoming an immortal couple envied by all…”

Huan Zong turned his head to look at Lin Hu. Lin Hu shook his head helplessly. “Since you care, don’t pretend to be magnanimous. The person you care about—to whom could you entrust her and feel at ease? What if that person bullies her, deceives her, betrays her? And you’re not by her side, unable to protect her. If she’s all alone, what should she do?”

“You help me…”

“Young master, you should know.” Lin Hu slowly shook his head. “Years ago, I promised to remain by your side because you saved my life. If you’re no longer here, I’ll return to the mountains and forests and never again concern myself with the mortal world.”

“Your own woman, you must watch over yourself. Entrusting her to anyone else isn’t suitable.” Lin Hu said this sentence half-seriously, half-jokingly, and casually opened the box Huan Zong had handed him.

Better not to have opened it at all. Once opened, it gave him quite a shock. This jade-like ear-shaped object inside—wasn’t this… wasn’t this… Cangyu Ear? What on earth had Miss Kong Hou done when her spiritual form separated? She couldn’t possibly have gone to dig up someone’s grave, could she?

Lin Hu stood stunned for a long while before saying, “Young master, being her ox and horse in this lifetime won’t be enough—you won’t escape it in the next life either.”

Huan Zong wiped Kong Hou’s palms and even every crevice between her fingers until they were completely clean, not responding to Lin Hu’s words.

“Miss Kong Hou found Cangyu Ear for you.”

“What did you say?” Huan Zong turned his head to look at Lin Hu, thinking he had misheard.

Lin Hu held the already-opened box before Huan Zong. “Look.”

Huan Zong gripped Kong Hou’s hand. After a long while, he said, “You’re right.”

“About being her ox and horse?”

“No, about being able to be her ox and horse in the next life as well.” Looking at the crystal-clear Cangyu Ear, Huan Zong placed Kong Hou’s hand back under the blanket. “This is very good.”

Lin Hu: “…”

A sword cultivator who had fallen into an emotional tribulation—whatever he said couldn’t surprise him.

Kong Hou slept very sweetly. The entire world was exceedingly peaceful, and she didn’t even want to wake up. When she opened her eyes, she saw auspicious clouds embroidered on the canopy. Struggling to sit up, Kong Hou saw Huan Zong seated several steps away in meditation.

She had only moved her hands a few times when Huan Zong awakened from his meditative state. He opened his brilliant star-like eyes, and their gazes met.

Her entire body was still somewhat stiff, and even her brain seemed to have become less agile. Kong Hou stared blankly at Huan Zong. After a moment, she said, “Huan Zong, how long did I sleep?”

“Not long.” Huan Zong strode to Kong Hou’s side and reached out to grasp her wrist.

“Huan Zong?” Kong Hou was somewhat confused by his sudden action.

“I’m checking your pulse.” Huan Zong’s hand moved up slightly as he channeled spiritual power into Kong Hou’s body. Her meridians had calmed, but the spiritual energy in her spiritual platform was insufficient.

“Don’t do such dangerous things next time.” Huan Zong withdrew his hand. “You’re severely injured and still need to recuperate for some time before you can completely recover.”

Kong Hou sat up from the bed and stretched her somewhat stiff limbs. “Huan Zong, accompany me to a place.”

Seeing her pale complexion, Huan Zong wanted to dissuade her, but seeing Kong Hou’s resolute attitude, he couldn’t voice his objections. He could only retrieve a set of robes from his storage ring and place them in her hands. “Change your clothes. I’ll accompany you out.”

Only then did Kong Hou notice she was still wearing tattered robes, though her body was clean and fresh without the slightest trace of dirt. Had Huan Zong cleaned her up?

“I’ll wait for you outside.” Huan Zong stood up and walked to the door.

Kong Hou quickly changed her clothes. Her arms were very stiff, so she styled her hair in a simple bun without applying makeup. When Huan Zong entered, Kong Hou was still holding an eyebrow pencil, comparing it to her brow peak but unable to bring it down.

“What’s wrong?” Huan Zong saw Kong Hou’s expression looked somewhat dejected.

“My arms aren’t very cooperative. I can’t draw my eyebrows well.” Kong Hou put the eyebrow stone back in the box, her expression somewhat disappointed.

“I’ll help you.” Huan Zong half-knelt before her, his expression gentle. “All right?”

Kong Hou was quite skeptical that Huan Zong would draw two earthworms on her face. But facing Huan Zong’s such gentle expression, Kong Hou… Kong Hou couldn’t bear to refuse.

Never mind just the possibility of him turning her eyebrows into earthworms—even if he drew two extra eyebrows on her, she couldn’t bear to refuse.

Huan Zong took the eyebrow pencil and leaned forward slightly, drawing near Kong Hou’s face. Kong Hou held her breath, blinking as she watched this face so close to her own. His skin was flawless, his lip color somewhat pale, and all his features were just right—so perfect that she could find no fault whatsoever.

A faint medicinal fragrance lingered around her nose, and she could even sense Huan Zong’s breathing. Kong Hou felt somewhat uncomfortable and leaned back.

“Don’t move.” Huan Zong gently cupped her face, his voice carrying laughter. “Your eyebrows are very beautiful. I don’t want to destroy their inherent beauty.”

Kong Hou blinked, and this time even her face reddened along with her eyes.

Facts proved that a sword cultivator’s hand was very steady. Not only had he mastered excellent swordsmanship, he could also draw a pair of beautiful willow-leaf eyebrows. Kong Hou took the mirror Huan Zong handed her and examined it several times. “Huan Zong, your eyebrow-drawing technique is really good. Have you drawn them for others before?”

“No.” Huan Zong returned the eyebrow pencil to the box. “You’re the first.”

Kong Hou cupped her somewhat burning face. Fortunately, she hadn’t applied powder today, so even if she cupped her face repeatedly, she didn’t need to worry about the powder coming off.

So she was the first girl Huan Zong had drawn eyebrows for. Although this was just a small matter, Kong Hou’s low spirits gradually improved because of it.

Putting down the bronze mirror, she stood up. “Let’s go.”

“Wait.” Huan Zong took out a cloak and draped it over Kong Hou’s back, then walked before her and knelt down on one knee.

“Huan Zong?” Kong Hou looked at Huan Zong’s bent back, confused, and stepped back. This was a perfect man—so perfect that one felt he wouldn’t easily bend his spine.

“Your limbs are currently stiff and your spiritual energy depleted. You shouldn’t use spiritual power.” Huan Zong smiled. “I’ll carry you onto the flying artifact.”

Kong Hou felt somewhat embarrassed. “Won’t this be too troublesome?”

Huan Zong laughed. “Hurry up.”

Kong Hou rubbed her hands together and climbed onto Huan Zong’s back. This back was warm, solid, and filled with a sense of security. Kong Hou rested her hands on Huan Zong’s shoulders and softly thanked him.

Huan Zong carried her and leaped onto his flying sword, asking, “What are we doing now?”

“To retrieve some bones.” Without realizing it, Kong Hou wrapped her arms around Huan Zong’s neck, seeking some warmth from him to drive away the sadness of King Sangyu and Queen Qingluo’s love. “I promised someone I would let her be buried together with the one she loved.”

“All right.” Huan Zong didn’t ask Kong Hou where to find the bones, nor did he ask when she had promised someone else. He simply accompanied her to find those bones.

Holding the box containing the bones, Kong Hou entered Queen Qingluo’s tomb chamber again and placed King Sangyu’s bones in the jade coffin beside Queen Qingluo.

Closing the coffin, Kong Hou lit a stick of incense for them both.

Though they lived in different times, in death they could share a grave.

She exited the burial chamber and waved her hand to establish a barrier around the tomb, summoning fresh earth and stones to seal all the passages. Even if grave robbers came, they could no longer disturb their peace.

They had been separated for one thousand eight hundred years before reuniting. For all the days and nights to come, let them lie quietly together. Unrelated people could never disturb them again.

As the tomb chamber merged with the mountain, Kong Hou looked at the red flowers covering the ground and turned to Huan Zong. “Huan Zong, let’s go.”

Huan Zong held her around the waist and seated her on the flying sword. “All right.”

The wind rose, lifting countless red flower petals, raining down a romantic shower of blossoms.

One thousand eight hundred years ago, when King Sangyu planted that cluster of red flowers, he surely never imagined that cluster would bloom so brilliantly and occupy several mountain peaks.

Time was the most beautiful thing, and also the most cruel thing.

“Huan Zong, will people who violate the Heavenly Dao have their souls completely scattered and dispersed?”

Huan Zong glanced at the red flowers covering the mountains and fields below. “Not necessarily. If the person did good deeds while alive and accumulated merit, perhaps Heaven will preserve a wisp of their soul. After being nurtured by heaven and earth, there may come a day when they can form a soul again.”

“That… is quite good.” Kong Hou smiled. “At least there’s still hope.”

“By the way, your sect sent a letter a few days ago.” Huan Zong handed an unopened letter to Kong Hou. “Don’t miss important matters.”

Kong Hou opened the envelope. After reading the letter’s contents, she couldn’t help but reveal a brilliant smile.

“Huan Zong, my eldest senior brother successfully formed his Nascent Soul some days ago and is already a Nascent Soul cultivator.” Kong Hou read the letter twice over. “In half a month, the sect will hold a Nascent Soul ceremony for my eldest senior brother. I need to prepare a gift for him.”

Huan Zong froze. The Nascent Soul ceremony for Qiyue Peak’s head disciple—did this mean Kong Hou would return to her sect?

“Huan Zong, let’s return to Yong City together.” Kong Hou’s eyes were exceptionally bright. “I’ll take you to taste all of Yong City’s delicacies.”

Huan Zong wanted to say that as a Liuguang Sect disciple, if he visited without receiving an invitation, it wouldn’t be appropriate.

“All right.”

Given Kong Hou’s current physical condition, he had to escort her back to Yunhua Sect before he could feel at ease.