Chapter 280: Ritual Money, Old Capital (7)
When Yan Shixun mentioned Baizhi Lake, Ye Li’s brow furrowed ever so slightly, barely noticeable. In that brief moment, he understood exactly what Yan Shixun meant.
The ruins of the old Fengdu were now buried beneath Baizhi Lake.
He turned his head toward the shimmering surface of the lake in the distance, slowly blinking as he recalled the Fengdu from a thousand years ago.
It had been mysterious and ancient, lofty and proud.
So proud it refused to grant mortals even a single chance to defend themselves.
Back then, when he tried to speak, none of the ghost officials or Lord of Fengdu would listen.
So, he took matters into his own hands and dragged every last ghost official and emperor from their divine pedestals—just so they would finally have the time to listen to him.
But by then, he no longer had any desire to speak. The look he gave Fengdu was the same as the one he gave the mortal world—filled with disappointment and disdain.
After that, he became Ye Li.
He turned and walked away from the Southwest, never setting foot there again.
From then on, no living person knew the exact location of Fengdu.
Its legacy was severed that very year, and while the common people remained unaware, a dramatic upheaval had taken place in the hidden world behind history.
Many sect founders and enlightened monks, during that upheaval, glimpsed faint traces of divine secrets through narrow gaps. They attuned themselves to the heavens and wrote down what they perceived to pass it on.
Afterward, among later generations of exorcists, the name “Southwestern Ghost Domain” began to circulate.
While wandering the mortal world, Ye Li once overheard some exorcists discussing this, thinking they were being discreet. They mentioned the old city of Fengdu, but he paid them no mind—he simply turned and left indifferently.
His past as a battle general had ended with that final war a thousand years ago. He had no intention of looking back.
Naturally, he also excluded old Fengdu from his sight. He never gave it a second thought.
Ye Li had always believed that after suffering such devastation, and with him intentionally allowing it a shred of final dignity, the old Fengdu would surely retreat into some hidden corner, never to reappear.
And for a long time, things unfolded just as Ye Li expected.
But then, that balance was shattered on a night decades ago, when firelight flickered in the darkness.
It began with the most insignificant of events.
To the Great Dao, it was too trivial to be worth mentioning.
Death, which always lingered, and new hatred, which emerged every day.
Even though Carpenter Zheng’s family had suffered in despair and agony, to the Great Dao, its concern was the survival of humanity as a whole—not of individuals.
It had been just another ordinary night, indistinguishable from any other.
Whether it was the Great Dao or ghost deities, every entity clearly understood: joy and sorrow always coexisted.
One family raised their cups in celebration, smiling from ear to ear, while another froze to death in the cold on the streets, lacking food and clothing.
Throughout countless times and spaces, they had seen far too many tragedies. So many that the brutal fate of Master Zheng’s family seemed hardly worth mentioning.
But if even ants knew right from wrong—how could humans and ghosts not?
Of the two children from Master Zheng’s family, one knelt by the lakeside, heart filled with hatred.
The other sank to the lake’s bottom, drawing in the lingering ghostly aura of the old Fengdu.
And from that, the ghost infant was born.
All the accumulated resentment and malice of the old Fengdu, festering for thousands of years, found perfect expression in Xie Jiaojiao.
All the karma built up over millennia erupted—triggered and guided by the ghost infant—into an unstoppable chain of events.
When the Great Dao finally tried to intervene, it was repeatedly obstructed by Zheng Shumu, Xie Lin, and others. It missed the best chance to stop it. Eventually, under the will of the ghostly energy, the ghost infant grew powerful enough to challenge heaven and earth.
Even though Yan Shixun had reversed the dire situation by a miracle, using the other child, Zheng Shumu, to kill the ghost infant, the ghost path still continued to spread.
Though Ye Li’s power had been heavily suppressed due to the ebony statue, as the master of Fengdu and one who stood above all ghosts, he still clearly sensed—after leaving the ghost plays—what it felt like when the Ghost Dao began to overturn heaven and earth.
—It felt as though he stood above the Great Dao itself.
The entire world seemed to lie in his palm, life and death his to command.
As a ghost deity, he naturally felt more at ease and powerful in a world ruled by the Ghost Dao than one governed by the heavenly Dao.
Ye Li believed that the King of Hell must be experiencing something similar right now.
You could see it from the joy on the King’s face when he had just struck back and destroyed the puppets in the deserted village.
It wasn’t just centuries of suppressed frustration toward the Great Dao that the King of Hell wanted to release. It was also the sudden surge in strength.
If it had been an ordinary ghost deity, they might have become addicted to this wonderful feeling and no longer cared to restore balance to the world.
But the one standing here was Ye Li.
A ghost deity who had never once felt any tenderness or attachment to the human world or to power.
The King of Hell, noticing Ye Li looking at him, tapped his folding fan thoughtfully. He likely guessed what Ye Li was thinking.
The only thing that could ever sway Ye Li… was probably that tender paradise named Yan Shixun.
The King of Hell glanced toward Yan Shixun, his eyes filled with a meaningful, amused smile.
That silly little fool had always been single. Now, following Yan Shixun and his partner around every day—tsk, tsk—he was practically turning into a third wheel.
Aside from the two ghost deities who already knew the truth about the world, neither the Taoists nor the rescue team had caught on yet.
The official in charge recovered a beat too late, his vocal cords returning just in time. He pointed toward Baizhi Lake but couldn’t find the words for a long while.
“Mr. Yan means…”
The official in charge glanced at Baizhi Lake, hesitated, and asked, “Are you saying we need to go to the bottom of the lake?”
Yan Shixun nodded naturally.
Wasn’t that obvious? What else could it be—stand by the lake and fish while waiting? If you don’t enter the tiger’s den, how can you catch its cub? If they didn’t go to the bottom of the lake and find a way into the old Fengdu, how could they possibly break the stalemate?
Yan Shixun saw right through the Ghost Dao born from the ghost infant. He understood very well—since the Ghost Dao had developed to this extent, even vaguely overpowering the Ebony Statue and continuing to spread outward—then trying to completely eliminate it had already become an extremely difficult task.
The Ghost Dao in the southwest was like the Great Dao to the heavens and earth.
And to resist the heavens and earth—how could that be easy?
The Ghost Dao was formless, lacking even a physical body. It couldn’t be touched, let alone have any discernible weakness.
To deal with the Ghost Dao, the only viable move now was to strike at its foundation.
Even though the Ghost Dao was formless, the old Fengdu stood here like a bullseye.
As long as the foundation from which the Ghost Dao was born collapsed, then the great structure would crumble, and the Ghost Dao would fall into decline.
While speaking to the rescue team members, Yan Shixun was meticulously planning each step in his mind, just like he always did.
But this time, he included Ye Li and the King of Hell in his plans.
—He was no longer a lone wolf.
He now had companions he could trust.
Yan Shixun trusted the only two ghost deities in the world, and was even willing to entrust part of his plan to them.
As he thought of this, a warm smile softened his usually lowered eyes and brows.
The King of Hell, who had been watching Yan Shixun, was momentarily stunned. Suddenly, he felt… like he could understand why that silly little fool had wholeheartedly trusted Yan Shixun.
Besides the fact that Yan Shixun had the Evil Spirit Bone Transformation and could support the Great Dao once more, Zhang Wubing had not only approached Yan Shixun because of some guidance from a soul’s shadow.
It was because Yan Shixun himself shone brightly—who could resist a person like that?
The King of Hell couldn’t help lifting the corners of his mouth and let out a soft laugh.
Ye Li: …………
Tch.
He had said it before—his exorcist was outstanding, but that also meant he constantly attracted strange and bizarre things.
Like a certain King of Hell who should’ve been long dead a hundred years ago.
His previous wariness hadn’t been without reason. Precious treasures, if not well guarded, were always at risk of being snatched away.
Ye Li slowly turned his gaze toward the King of Hell, his eyes shadowy and filled with an intimidating air.
The King of Hell gave a small shrug, looking innocent.
But he still had no intention of changing.
With a cold, expressionless face, Ye Li thought to himself—maybe he really should kick the King of Hell out while Shixun wasn’t paying attention.
“Actually, there’s something I’ve never told Mr. Yan.”
The official in charge hesitated for a moment before speaking to Yan Shixun with utmost sincerity: “I grew up in the capital. Even though there are several places named ‘Hai’ in the city, they’re actually just tiny lakes. And I… I’m a landlubber.”
Yan Shixun tilted his head, looking puzzled and a bit lost, unsure why the man was suddenly bringing this up.
“What I mean is…”
The official clenched his jaw, finally making up his mind. “I can’t swim, let alone dive. Asking me to go to the bottom of a lake—I… I probably just can’t do it.”
It wasn’t that he wanted to back out, but as someone who couldn’t swim, just imagining the scene made his calves cramp.
It was the dead of winter. The southwest wasn’t as warm as Binhai City. Especially out in the remote mountains, where the temperature dropped below freezing.
Even though Baizhi Lake hadn’t frozen over, anyone could guess just how bone-chillingly cold that water must be.
The official seriously suspected that the moment he entered the lake, he’d freeze to death before even starting to dive.
Although the other rescue team members could swim, they hesitated as they looked at Baizhi Lake.
It was just too cold. And diving to the lake’s bottom? The difficulty level was off the charts.
When Yan Shixun heard their tentative suggestions, he was first surprised, then couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation.
“Even though the old Fengdu is under Baizhi Lake, going there doesn’t require actual diving in the usual sense—I couldn’t manage to dive to the lake bottom and stay there for hours in this temperature either.”
Yan Shixun was amused by their concerns. As he laughed and shook his head, he felt a helpless urge to pry open their heads and see what exactly they’d been thinking.
He raised his hand and pointed to Ye Li standing beside him. “Since we’re going to the old Fengdu, and its master is right here, why would we take the long way around instead of the shortcut?”
Everyone’s gaze shifted toward Ye Li.
Ye Li stood tall and silent beside Yan Shixun, completely unfazed by their attention, as if long accustomed to being the focus of all eyes from his place on the divine platform.
Since he didn’t care about anyone other than Yan Shixun, he naturally wasn’t affected by the attention of others.
Ye Li merely lowered his eyelashes, dark as raven feathers, and looked at Yan Shixun with eyes full of affection.
He liked the feeling of being included in Yan Shixun’s plans.
Trust him, and walk side by side with him.
Those were the words of Yan Shixun, and Ye Li naturally wouldn’t refuse.
Even his voice carried a gentle, smiling tone as he said softly, “Although I haven’t paid any attention to the old Fengdu since that battle a thousand years ago, since Shixun wants to go…”
Then the old Fengdu must open its main gate.
As Ye Li’s voice faded, a black mist rapidly spread out from where he stood, enveloping everyone and forming an impenetrable barrier.
Ye Li raised his arm, and with one sweeping motion, he wrapped it around Yan Shixun’s slender waist, pulling him into his embrace.
Yan Shixun only saw a blur before he found himself crashing into a firm, cool chest. Ye Li’s broad, powerful arms felt as if they could hold up a collapsing sky.
When he looked up, he was met with Ye Li’s smiling gaze.
“After all, it’s a ghost city that’s been sealed for a thousand years. We don’t yet know what awaits inside.”
Ye Li chuckled and said, “There’s no need for you to get injured at a time like this, Shixun. It could weaken your strength when facing the Ghost Dao later. So for now, let me handle it.”
As he spoke, Ye Li’s breath fell gently by Yan Shixun’s ear and the corner of his eye, tickling him until his ears turned hot.
With this unexpected distraction, the words Yan Shixun had prepared—to ask Ye Li to let go—got stuck in his throat. He momentarily forgot what he wanted to say.
Seeing that Yan Shixun wasn’t resisting, Ye Li carefully tightened his hold. His distinct, bony hand didn’t rest on the thick black coat but silently landed on the shirt underneath.
Right beneath his palm were Yan Shixun’s warm, well-defined abs.
He was like a cautious hunter, carefully approaching a large feline, slowly testing its boundaries, then silently breaking past them—raising the cat’s tolerance for his presence step by step.
Until eventually, the cat became fully accustomed to having him nearby.
Not far away, the King of Hell: “……”
He stared helplessly at the two, pressed together so tightly that there wasn’t even a sliver of space between them, and cursed his excellent eyesight—he could see it all clearly, even in the dark.
His hand trembled, nearly dropping the folding fan he was holding.
His expression shifted several times before he barely managed to collect himself and regain his refined, composed demeanor.
In stark contrast were the official in charge and the rescue team members, whose faces were filled with panic.
Even though they had long become accustomed to dealing with ghosts and had slowly accepted phenomena beyond the understanding of ordinary people while working with all sorts of masters and Taoists, what they were witnessing now still left them stunned and confused.
The power to move mountains and fill seas had faded with the decline of the Great Dao and had become mere legend. To modern cultivators, such stories were nothing more than tales of ancient grandeur, relics of imagination, never something they believed could actually happen.
The official in charge felt the same—until now.
The black mist had quickly formed a tight, airtight shield around everyone. Beneath their feet, faint patterns of formation symbols flickered with a cold, eerie aura—but it didn’t carry the malice typical of malevolent spirits.
In that instant, the official in charge felt like a soul standing trial beneath a judgment platform, exposed under the eyes of ghost deities who could see through his every deed.
All past deeds—both good and evil—were laid bare before the ghost gods, subjected to their impartial judgment.
It was nothing like the usual encounters with evil spirits.
The ghost deity carried no righteous, positive energy, yet in their cold and eerie presence, they treated all beings with the same indifferent fairness.
The guilty would tremble and beg for mercy. The innocent… could face them with a clear conscience, upright and unafraid.
After the initial shock, the official in charge quickly steadied himself and looked toward the outside of the mist.
The earth was trembling.
Mountains, forests, and lakes rumbled with a deafening roar. Waves surged across the lake surface, and nearby mountain ranges began to shake violently—then slowly sank downward.
In their place rose a mountain no one had ever seen before.
Crimson light and flames glowed beneath the night sky like palace lanterns lighting up one by one.
The black mist that had surrounded the mountain began to disperse, and as everyone squinted to see more clearly, they finally realized what it really was—
Those were no palace lanterns. They were blazing flames, burning fiercely in clusters.
Blood flowed down the mountain slopes in streams, merging into a roaring, turbulent river of blood at the base.
From the churning surface of the river, vengeful spirits shrieked and surfaced, only to be slammed back down by the waves and dragged beneath again, unable to escape.
Rotting, skeletal arms clawed desperately out of the river, trying to reach the shore.
But on the shore, ghost wardens patrolled. With ferocious, terrifying faces, they refused to let even one evil spirit escape.
Sheer cliffs like blades disappeared into the dark and mist, flickering in and out of view with the flames.
The mountain had risen from the earth like a sharp blade, piercing from the deepest ground straight up into the crimson sky.
As if it were a furious challenge to the Great Dao, demanding answers for all sins and karma.
The air rang with wailing screams and ghostly cries. Malevolent spirits thrashed in the rolling sea of fire.
Everyone stared at the scene, dumbfounded, unable to react.
It was the Taoist who first snapped out of it.
He remembered what Yan Shixun had said earlier when introducing Ye Li—the Lord of Fengdu. He suddenly realized—
This place…
Was the legendary Fengdu.
The place countless people had searched for over the centuries, yet never even found an entrance to.
The most mysterious and ancient of legends. And for years, no one had seen a single ghost official from Fengdu.
There were even rumors that the Lord of Fengdu had once declared, “There is no salvation for the human world,” and thus closed the Ghost Gate, never stepping into the human realm again.
But now, that mythical Fengdu had reappeared in the world.
The Taoist stood frozen in shock, staring blankly up at the towering mountain, completely unsure what he should do next.
If this really was Fengdu, then the intricate formation beneath their feet—could it be the legendary Imperial Seal of Fengdu, something found only in ancient texts?
The Taoist felt like even the top of his skull had been jolted open in shock.
In just a single night, the things he had witnessed far surpassed everything he had seen over the course of his decades-long life.
He was so stirred in spirit that he suddenly had the impulse to run home and show his master.
Master, look! Your disciple has made something of himself! I not only saw Fengdu with my own eyes, but I stood right beside its ruler!
But for the rescue team members—although they had been handpicked for their experience—this scene was far beyond what any ordinary person, let alone a non-cultivator, could have ever imagined.
“So, the scenes described in ancient poetry… they were all real…”
Someone murmured in awe, unable to stop the words from slipping out.
The next moment, the entire stretch of land outside the black mist suddenly collapsed with a deafening roar.
The newly born world beneath the Ghost Dao could not withstand the weight and power of Fengdu. The ghost city under Ye Li’s control crushed the ground beneath it without mercy and plummeted deeper into the Ghost Dao.
—The gates of the old Fengdu were tightly shut, hidden, impossible to find?
Then let him shatter all the false façades of the old Fengdu, using overwhelming force to crush everything in his path and descend straight into its deepest core!
The earth split open. Chunks of dirt tumbled down as the lake water surged backward in a flood.
The dark blue waters crashed against the ground and mountains, roaring as they surged toward the group.
Someone instinctively closed their eyes and cried out in alarm.
Ye Li neither dodged nor flinched. His cold and sharp face showed not the slightest ripple of emotion.
He merely lifted his eyelashes, his icy gaze fixed on the incoming waves of lake water.
In the next moment, the entire space shrouded in black mist was swallowed by the surging lake.
Light fractured and scattered across the water’s surface. Before their eyes, everything turned into a deep and shadowy blue.
Even though the black mist blocked the real lake from touching them, just looking at what felt like an arm’s reach from the lakebed sent a chill creeping into everyone’s bones, stirring a deep, instinctual fear.
In the gloom, Yan Shixun stared at everything in front of him without blinking, not relaxing for even a second.
But suddenly, he felt the person beside him shift.
The arms wrapped around his waist tightened, and the person lowered their head, leaning in toward him.
Cool yet soft lips pressed gently into his hair.
Yan Shixun heard Ye Li’s raspy voice, tinged with a suppressed laugh, whisper into his ear.
“Shixun…”
That voice carried a lingering tenderness, the warmth of his breath turning into a fine mist that hooked softly around the curve of his ear.
Yan Shixun opened his mouth but didn’t know how to respond.
His face slowly turned red, and his eyes burned with a startling heat as his heart began to race wildly.
The hand that had been clutching Ye Li’s palm hesitated, but instead of pushing away the arms around his waist, he relaxed his grip and gently laid his hand over Ye Li’s.
In the rippling glow of the lake, Ye Li noticed the subtle change in Yan Shixun.
His eyes softened with a smile as he once again lowered his head and leaned closer.
A soft kiss landed on the bridge of his beloved’s straight nose, followed by a trail of delicate kisses upward.
In the darkness, everyone else was overwhelmed with anxious dread as they awaited whatever unknown place they would arrive at next.
Only the King of Hell, whose eyesight was far too sharp, had a face as dark as the surrounding shadows.
He nearly snapped his folding fan in half, cursing Ye Li silently in his heart.
How had he not realized before that the Lord of Fengdu, who always seemed so cold and indifferent to the world, actually had this side to him?!
This guy was completely shattering his impression.
But the worst part…
The King of Hell closed his eyes. He had never realized that having sharp eyesight could be such a curse.
It made him want to claw his own eyes out!
In the darkness, everyone’s sense of space and time was completely thrown into disarray, making it impossible to judge anything accurately.
The wait stretched endlessly, as if an entire lifetime had passed.
Bit by bit, the group lost all sense of their surroundings. All their unease slowly dissolved into a dead silence in the dark, until even the sound of breathing became faint and barely audible.
After what felt like an eternity—no one could tell how much time had truly passed—a faint light appeared in their vision.
It flickered in the distance, like a candle at the bottom of the lake, ready to be snuffed out at any moment.
But that single flicker of light slowly grew larger, spreading outward until it enveloped them all.
The murky lakebed vanished from around them.
In its place appeared a jagged and menacing mountain landscape, rough and uneven. The terrain was covered in stones and massive boulders, and here and there lay scattered bones. Wild grass grew from hollow skulls, whose dark eye sockets stared blankly at the group.
Everyone felt a jolt in their hearts. Before they could even begin to guess where they were, the black mist that had been cloaking their vision finally dispersed.
Even their sight seemed to clear up instantly.
At the very moment the light burst forth, Yan Shixun stepped calmly back, putting distance between himself and Ye Li.
Ye Li readily let go of Yan Shixun without pushing further.
He knew very well just how wary the large, adorable feline in his arms was. He could only test the waters, inching forward slowly to feel out its limits.
Approaching too abruptly would only make the big cat bare its claws in alarm, rejecting his closeness.
It might even turn and leap away.
Ye Li had already waited for a long time. Ever since that day at the marketplace more than a decade ago—long before he was even aware of it—his eyes had always followed Yan Shixun.
He didn’t mind waiting a little longer.
As long as his exorcist remained within reach of his embrace.
His gaze settled on Yan Shixun’s back, and in Ye Li’s eyes, the smile shimmered like melted snow, almost overflowing.
As for the King of Hell…
He quietly took a step to the side, standing on the other side of the official in charge, deliberately placing some distance between himself and Ye Li.
King of Hell: Care for ghost deities, starting now. Cherish life—stay away from the Lord of Fengdu.
Ye Li glanced lazily at the King of Hell and let out a mocking snort.
But Yan Shixun paid no attention to the silent standoff between the two ghost deities. He strode forward with long legs, stepping ahead of everyone and standing before them all, shielding them in an unfamiliar and potentially dangerous place.
“This is…”
The official in charge looked around, his expression blank.
Though he had a guess in mind, the possibility was so far beyond his understanding that he couldn’t bring himself to say it aloud.
“This is the bottom of Baizhi Lake,”
Yan Shixun said in a low voice, calmly observing the surroundings. “After a thousand years of upheaval, the old Fengdu, which once belonged to the human world, had no choice but to find the best possible concealment after its power was reduced to its weakest. And so, it sank to the lakebed, cutting itself off from all investigation.”
In the past, there hadn’t been sufficient technology for ordinary people to dive to such depths. Even for accomplished Taoists, while they might be able to resist the water temporarily, their fragile human bodies couldn’t withstand the pressure of the deep lakebed.
Thinking from the perspective of the old Fengdu, Yan Shixun believed he would’ve chosen the same—hiding the ruined ghost city beneath the lake’s surface.
After all, this had once been a dwelling of ghost deity.
Even though it had been defeated by others, and even suffered complete destruction, to ordinary humans, the lingering power of the ghost deity here was still enough to allow dangerous acts against the human world.
And if those with malicious intent truly succeeded, the Great Dao would surely place the blame for failing to guard this force upon the old Fengdu when settling the karmic consequences.
Just like with Xie Lin.
Because he had saved the ghost infant, brought it to Binhai City, and failed to properly keep watch over it, many people had died because of the ghost infant.
At the same time, the Great Dao had seen the future tainted by the ghost infant.
So, a portion of all the ghost infant’s sins had been placed upon Xie Lin by the Great Dao.
That was why, when Yan Shixun first saw Xie Lin, he had been shocked to find the man wrapped in thick karma, black mist almost engulfing him.
—I didn’t kill Boren, yet Boren died because of me.
The old Fengdu was in the same situation.
But unlike Xie Lin, the old Fengdu had already lost its ruler and authority—it had no way to bear the weight of the Great Dao’s punishment.
So, in order to preserve what remained, the old Fengdu altered the surrounding geography—mountains, rivers, and lakes—causing itself to sink beneath the water and use the lake to hide its existence.
What the lingering ghosts of the old Fengdu hadn’t anticipated was the presence of the Bai family’s ancestor.
And—the ghost infant’s death in the lake.
Thus, a thousand years of scheming by the old Fengdu fell apart completely.
Despite all its efforts to evade detection, it ultimately became nourishment for the Ghost Dao.
With Ye Li and the King of Hell beside him recounting events from thousands of years ago, and with ghost deities’ excellent memories, which never forgot a single detail, Yan Shixun suddenly found himself with access to two vast libraries filled with ancient knowledge. He quickly pieced together the history that led to the old Fengdu’s current state.
Even Yan Shixun couldn’t help but sigh as he unraveled the old Fengdu’s timeline.
It had calculated everything—but still couldn’t escape the will of Heaven.
Just like how a nation cannot tolerate two rulers.
Now that Fengdu had a new master, the Great Dao would never allow the old Fengdu to persist.
Even though Ye Li had completely defeated the former emperor of Fengdu and lost all interest in it—so much so that he couldn’t be bothered to spare even a glance, letting it rot on its own—the Great Dao wouldn’t spare its remains.
Not even if the old Fengdu voluntarily sank into the lake and adopted a stance of total retreat from the world.
Yan Shixun couldn’t help but wonder: the King of Hell had been suppressed by the Great Dao for a hundred years and still bore resentment in his heart.
Then what about the old Fengdu?
For thousands of years before Ye Li, it had stood as the ruler of all ghosts, proud and commanding, worshiped by countless people.
That pride, rooted in being a ghost deity, couldn’t have completely vanished, even after being beaten to the ground by Ye Li and rendered powerless. It wouldn’t suddenly transform into a meek little rabbit obedient to the Great Dao.
The old Fengdu had been suppressed for a thousand years. Could it really hold no resentment?
The Great Dao even wanted to dissolve it entirely into the world. Would the old Fengdu obediently comply?
When the ghost infant died decades ago, wasn’t that also an opportunity for the old Fengdu to resist Heaven?
Ghostly energy had poured into the stillborn fetus that had once been marked with its mother’s talisman, shaping the ghost infant’s form.
After that, the ghost energy had lain dormant until the ghost infant awakened from the illusion of Xie Lin’s love, remembered its identity, and returned to the Southwest.
Baizhi Lake got its name from the string of deaths among villagers with the surname Bai.
Then—those villagers’ deaths, Zheng Shumu’s successful revenge—could it be that the old Fengdu had never once interfered?
Out of caution toward ghostly matters, countless suspicions began to form in Yan Shixun’s mind.
He raised his head in thought, eyes fixed ahead, but when he looked at the old Fengdu, it was no longer with the gaze one gave a victim.
Instead, he was speculating about a possible perpetrator involved in the conspiracy.
“Ye Li, what I’ve never understood is—why did you choose to attack Fengdu a thousand years ago?”
While everyone else was still marveling at the strange sights around them, Yan Shixun asked this quietly, “Back on Nanming Mountain, Ritual Master’s words implied that among the ghost deities, you are the most unique. Just now, Zhang Wubing also brought it up.”
“This uniqueness of yours… does it stem from your grudge with Fengdu a thousand years ago?”
Yan Shixun looked steadily at Ye Li, waiting for an answer.
He believed that as long as he asked, Ye Li would tell him.
That was a promise Ye Li had once made to him—
To never deceive, and to allow him to seek the truth freely.
The smile on Ye Li’s lips faded slightly, but the gentleness in his gaze toward Yan Shixun remained unchanged.
For ghostly beings, anything involving death and burial grounds was a fatal weak spot.
Many young people, curious and bold but with only a shallow understanding of ghost deities, often made a deadly mistake when playing games like “pencil spirit” or trying to summon souls—
They would ask the ghost about its death.
Even Jing Xiaobao, when his mother Lin Ting asked about his death with concern, couldn’t suppress a violent outburst of power that nearly caused a disaster.
If even ordinary vengeful spirits reacted that way, how much more dangerous would it be to provoke someone like Ye Li, the Lord of Fengdu?
If the Lord of Fengdu were ever to become truly enraged, even the Great Dao would tremble and retreat. No one dared provoke the hundred thousand underworld soldiers of Fengdu, lest it throw the balance of Yin and Yang into chaos.
Yet at this moment, Yan Shixun calmly asked the question.
As casually as if he were asking Ye Li what he wanted for dinner.
Even King of Hell, who had been casually observing the surroundings, froze in place when he heard Yan Shixun’s question. He turned back in disbelief, utterly shocked that a living person would dare to ask the Lord of Fengdu something like that.
Having personally lived through the war a thousand years ago, King of Hell knew better than anyone how terrifying Ye Li had to be to rise to power among the ghost deities and become Fengdu’s ruler. It wasn’t something even those born from heaven and earth could match.
Anyone—human, spirit, or deity—who dared to offend him would surely perish under Fengdu’s wrath.
And now Yan Shixun had just asked that kind of question, so nonchalantly… Wasn’t that pushing it, even for someone with the Evil Spirit Bone Transformation?
Waves of alarm surged through King of Hell’s heart.
He kept a close eye on the two of them, silently tightening his grip on his folding fan. His knuckles turned pale from the pressure, as if ready to leap forward at any sign of danger.
King of Hell understood how important Yan Shixun was.
Even though he had once despaired after Jing Xiaobao’s death, even doubting the Great Dao’s judgment, the appearance of Yan Shixun—and everything he’d experienced alongside the living Zhang Wubing over the years—made King of Hell realize the Great Dao truly had a far-reaching, unparalleled vision.
The Evil Spirit Bone Transformation was the only hope for life in a world threatened by the collapse of the Great Dao.
If there was anyone who could reverse a doomed fate and bring about a miracle—it had to be Yan Shixun, the one who carried this Evil Spirit Bone Transformation!
To King of Hell, Yan Shixun was more important than even himself.
He hadn’t planned to keep living. Escaping the Great Dao’s judgment to preserve his soul was only so he could one day save it. In that context, someone like Yan Shixun, who had the power to redeem the Great Dao, meant everything.
It wasn’t about friendship or emotion—only about the power Yan Shixun possessed.
King of Hell grew more anxious by the moment. He thought Yan Shixun was being far too bold. As an exorcist, did he not know that such questions were forbidden? Why provoke someone like this?
Still, though he grumbled inwardly, he never took his eyes off Yan Shixun. He was fully prepared to act the moment Ye Li showed signs of anger.
Even dragons had a reverse scale—touch it, and they would lash out.
For the Lord of Fengdu, that reverse scale was the battle a thousand years ago, one that had claimed countless lives.
King of Hell held his breath, silently watching from the side.
But Ye Li didn’t react as King of Hell had expected. Instead of becoming enraged, he chuckled softly.
“Shixun, are you curious about my past? Want to know me more deeply?”
Ye Li said with a quiet laugh that resonated in his chest.
“The battle from a thousand years ago, huh…”
Ye Li lifted his gaze slightly. His eyes glimmered with nostalgia, as if lost in the memories of those distant days.
Yan Shixun held firm in his resolve and continued to wait for Ye Li’s answer.
“The old Fengdu wasn’t feared by the Great Dao. In the eyes of heaven and earth, it wasn’t much of a threat,”
Yan Shixun frowned slightly. He voiced the question in his heart. “To the Great Dao, the old Fengdu seemed no different from other ghostly entities. But that doesn’t match the legends—the ones that say Fengdu was born of heaven and earth and followed no law of the Dao. If that’s true, then the Great Dao’s attitude doesn’t make sense.”
“What exactly did you do to the old Fengdu that caused it to fall so far?”
Heaven and earth were merciless.
As a cultivator, Yan Shixun respected the heavens, but he also understood clearly how cold and ruthless they could be.
To uphold the crumbling Great Dao, it would sacrifice every ghost and deity, even if it meant nearly causing the underworld to collapse.
The Dao operated with utter detachment, devoid of sentiment—it wouldn’t treat the old Fengdu so dismissively for no reason.
The only possible explanation was that during his battle with the former emperor of the old Fengdu, Ye Li had utterly destroyed the foundation upon which it was built—seizing control and ascending to become the ghost deity who ruled over judgment and death.
And the old Fengdu had then completely declined, never to rise again.
But that was just a logical deduction Yan Shixun had made based on everything he currently knew.
To uncover the truth, he needed Ye Li to tell him directly.
Only then could he fully understand the situation before entering the old Fengdu—and avoid making a fatal mistake.
That was what Yan Shixun thought as he continued to gaze steadily at Ye Li.
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