From Yu Yi's appearance, Xue Chenjing couldn't tell at all that she was very lonely, lost, and helpless.
She had always wanted to escape, but only to flee from him, her "sole salvation".
The system was terribly afraid that its host truly intended to just sit and wait for the female lead to perish, and was anxiously fretting.
Just then, a leaf on the task tree within the system suddenly lit up, indicating a temporary task.
[System: Ding— A temporary courtship task has been triggered. Research shows that appropriate physical contact can promote emotional warmth between two parties and accelerate courtship progress. Please entice the target to touch you of their own accord within twelve hours.]
[Holding hands earns 5 points, touching the cheek earns 10 points, touching other body parts under clothing earns 15 points, and initiating a kiss earns 20 points.]
Xue Chenjing coldly laughed without concern, "Hah."
[System: When the host accumulates 100 points, a plot clue will be unlocked.]
The words "plot clue" perfectly struck Xue Chenjing's weak spot.
The casual smile at his lips faded as his expression turned serious. He angrily said, "If points can unlock plot clues, why didn't you say so earlier?"
The system replied very innocently: "Host's points were far too low. Even if I had told you earlier, it wouldn't have made a difference."
Xue Chenjing pondered briefly, then began to haggle with the system: "Only 20 points for a kiss? What do you take me for, some cheap male courtesan from a brothel?"
The system said sourly: "The male courtesans in brothels are far better at pleasing people than you."
To think the host was seriously haggling over points with it. Did he really believe that with such little affection, he could actually manage a kiss?
After careful analysis, the system concluded that the chances of its host kissing the female lead were essentially zero, but it ultimately refrained from saying so to avoid dampening the host's enthusiasm for completing tasks.
It explained: "Master, these point values are set by the main system. I can't change them either. Moreover, the point values for this temporary task are already quite high, higher than those you've earned from previous tasks."
The system was telling the truth. The points Xue Chenjing had earned from previous tasks were all just scattered values.
At that time, he didn't know points could be exchanged for plot clues, so he hadn't paid much attention. This allowed the system to take advantage and arbitrarily waste the points he had worked hard to earn, exchanging them for some ridiculous Ghost Cloud Robe meant to guard against him.
The more Xue Chenjing thought about it, the angrier he became. Grinding his back teeth, he laughed in exasperation: "Don't humans have even more intimate acts? How many points would those be worth?"
System: "..." Aren't you getting a bit ahead of yourself! Why was its host always so overly ambitious?
The system fell silent for a moment, then emphasized: "Master, the temporary task issued by the system requires the target to touch you of their own accord to earn the corresponding points. You can't force her!"
Xue Chenjing snorted coldly, displeased: "Of course I know that."
The system breathed a sigh of relief. "It's good that you understand. If the host can get the target to willingly perform more intimate acts with you, naturally the points earned will be correspondingly higher."
At this moment, the red-crowned crane beside them woke up. Xue Chenjing stopped arguing with the system and gave some instructions to his crane senior. Watching its head tilt back and forth with a foolish expression, he wasn't sure how much it understood.
...
At midnight, Xue Chenjing's figure dissipated into mist in the earthly realm, silently seeping into the ruins of the Ghost City.
The night in this gloomy ghostly place wasn't particularly dark. A layer of eerie red light shrouded the wilderness, silent and still. Occasionally, ghostly fires would float by, flashing momentarily before vanishing behind broken walls.
The shadows of plants swayed in the night, resembling writhing snakes. Faint rustling sounds came from within the ruins, as if the entire Ghost City had come alive in the night.
A black shadow flashed in the corner of Xue Chenjing's eye. He whipped his head around, but at the edge of his vision was only a lush locust tree. Somehow, the tree had become full of flower buds, with snow-white blossoms linked in clusters hanging from the branches, glowing faintly like piles of ice and snow.
During the day, there hadn't been such a flowering tree here.
Xue Chenjing stood in place, tilting his head slightly to examine the out-of-place locust tree, completely unaware of the changes occurring in the muddy ground beneath his feet.
Countless black shadows emerged from the damp soil, with distorted human faces and grasping fingers materializing from the shadows. More and more such shadows appeared, popping up from collapsed walls and from among the roots of lush vegetation, sizing up this rare intruder.
"He's mine, he's mine, this person is mine."
"Let him replace me, I want to leave this place..."
"Replace me, replace me, replace me, please let me go, I don't want to experience those things again..."
Xue Chenjing made a gesture of listening intently, and the rustling ghostly cries suddenly fell silent, making one think it was just the wind whimpering as it passed through the ruins.
He deliberately walked towards the flowering tree. With each step he took, countless dark shadows grasped at the hem of his robe, like drowning people trying to grab onto a final lifeline. All the ghost shadows urgently tried to grab him, to drag him into this sunless ghost realm in exchange for their own freedom.
But for some reason, after grasping him, these ghostly hands suddenly let go. As a result, Xue Chenjing walked brazenly through this ghost city for quite some time without a single ghost shadow managing to drag him away.
As time passed, the ghost shadows lurking around him actually grew fewer and fewer.
The system sighed: "Master, it's bad enough that you have poor relationships with people, but how is it that even ghosts reject you?"
Xue Chenjing frowned. Just as another ghostly hand released his ankle, he suddenly crouched down, lifted his hem with his left hand, and swiftly reached out with his right, plunging it into the layers of ghost shadows at his feet. In a flash, he tightly grasped a withered ghostly hand.
Shrill ghost screams erupted around him. All the ghost shadows instantly retreated into the ground like receding black water, leaving only the one Xue Chenjing had grabbed.
He gripped the ghost hand forcefully, his fingers sinking into the spaces between its fingers. He said in a friendly tone: "A scapegoat has delivered himself to your door, and you don't want him?"
The ghost hand was unable to break free from his grip. After a moment of silence, black shadows seeped out from the ground, rose up rapidly, and quickly enveloped his entire body.
Xue Chenjing remained motionless as the ghost shadows swallowed him. After a moment of disorientation, he sensed that his surroundings had changed, presumably having been dragged into the Ghost Realm by that earth-bound spirit.
As soon as he entered the Ghost Realm, the system spoke up to remind him: "Master, time flows differently here compared to the outside world. One day outside is equivalent to a year here. The female lead entered three days before you, which means she's been trapped here for over three years already."
The earth-bound spirit harbored extremely deep resentment and would be bound to its place of death, constantly repeating its past experiences.
Those pulled in as substitutes could only act like puppets on strings, following the spirit's actions until their own consciousness was devoured and they fell completely into the role of the earth-bound spirit, trapped here in its place.
Three years—could her consciousness truly endure for three years?
But then he remembered how hard-hearted Yu Yi was. Even he couldn't easily tame her, so it seemed unlikely that she would completely lose herself.
The system asked hopefully: "Master, if the female lead appears before you, you'll surely be able to recognize her immediately, right?"
"Of course," Xue Chenjing replied with absolute certainty and full confidence. Just as the system was feeling reassured, it heard him continue, "She bears my mark."
System: "..." This implied that without the mark, he wouldn't be able to recognize her.
How frustrating. In other novels, the male lead could always recognize his wife at a glance.
Even Pei Jingchao could immediately recognize Yu Yi after five years, and he had only seen her once while severely injured and unconscious! Yet Xue Chenjing, who had spent so many days with Yu Yi, still relied on a mark to identify her.
Its host truly was the most useless male lead under the heavens.
Xue Chenjing remained completely oblivious to the system's grief and disparagement. After entering the Ghost Realm, his vision remained dark, with a cloth covering his face and his hands tied tightly behind his back with hemp rope.
The rope was imbued with magical power, preventing him from breaking free.
Uncertain of his current situation, he refrained from rash actions. The shadow beneath him rippled as transparent tentacles lifted the hem of his robe, emerging from underneath him. In an instant, the tentacles filled the surrounding space, dancing flamboyantly in the air.
The information gathered by the tentacles quickly fed back into Xue Chenjing's mind.
The room was brightly lit, with two candlesticks placed on the table by the window. Festive red candles were inserted in the candlesticks, already burned halfway down. The melted wax had formed small pools of red liquid on the golden candlesticks, as red as drops of blood.
Red wedding decorations were pasted on the windows, and red silk hangings adorned the room everywhere. Clearly, this was a wedding chamber.
The bride, dressed in a big red wedding gown with a red veil covering her head, sat on the edge of the bed with her hands behind her back.
There was only one person in the room. No, to be precise, there was only me in the room.
Xue Chenjing thought this way, as one of his tentacles curled back and wrapped around his body, its tip brushing from his waist up to his flat chest—he was a man.
A man wearing a woman's wedding dress, face covered by a veil, waiting in the bridal chamber - this scene was abnormal no matter how you looked at it.
The system asked in confusion: "Bridal chamber? Why a bridal chamber?"
Xue Chenjing replied calmly: "It's a past memory of that earth-bound spirit."
The system anxiously said: "No, no, how can you consummate a marriage with someone else? Master, you don't have many good qualities left, you must preserve your chastity for the female lead."
Xue Chenjing scoffed, only ignorant humans would obsess over such things.
The emperor wasn't worried, but the eunuch was anxious. The system frantically searched through its inventory and finally found something. It happily said: "Master, I have the Five-colored Cloud Robe that I exchanged for the female lead last time. It still has six hours of effect left, which translates to about half a year in this Ghost Realm. Let me put it on you!"
If the system had a physical form, Xue Chenjing would have torn it to pieces right now. He sneered and said in an increasingly gentle tone: "You can try."
The system's excited voice cut off abruptly, intimidated by him.
Xue Chenjing still retained his own consciousness at the moment and wasn't completely controlled by the earth-bound spirit.
A tentacle wrapped around his waist, its tip hooking onto the veil on his head and pulling it off. Xue Chenjing opened his eyes, but his vision remained pitch black, with no light entering his pupils.
This earth-bound spirit that had dragged him in as a substitute was actually a blind person who couldn't see.
Xue Chenjing controlled a tentacle to crawl up his cheek. The rounded tip pried open his eyelid, and transparent soft flesh directly covered his eyeball. Countless fine threads seeped from the tentacle into his pupil. After a moment, the fine threads withdrew, and the tentacle retreated from his face.
These eyes were completely dead. Not only were the eyes dead, but his meridians were also in tatters, and the bones throughout his body were shattered beyond recognition. If it weren't for a spirit wood supporting his spine, he wouldn't have been able to sit up at all.
His face was heavily made up, with white powder applied like a wall, and rouge thickly smeared on his eyelids and cheeks. His lips were dyed as red as blood, even redder than the candle wax on the windowsill.
Heavy jeweled earrings hung from both of Xue Chenjing's earlobes, with blood scabs congealed at the stretched piercing holes.
Judging from this ridiculous attire and makeup, this earth-bound spirit had not lived a good life. It must have been because of this that its resentment was difficult to dispel, binding it here, unable to transcend.
Being bound as a substitute by such a crippled earth-bound spirit, Xue Chenjing could only blame his bad luck. Unable to move his body, he had to rely on the information transmitted back through his tentacles to observe his surroundings.
Transparent tentacles extended from beneath him, sweeping around the room, pushing the door open a crack, and creeping outside.
Red lanterns hung from the corridors on all four sides of the courtyard. Every building, tile, blade of grass, and tree here was bathed in a festive red glow. Even the moon in the sky was tinged with a layer of red.
Beyond the many courtyard walls, sounds of laughter drifted from the front courtyard, and the wind carried the rich aroma of food and wine.
The tentacle that had stretched out of the room stood erect in the middle of the courtyard. Suddenly, the inside of the thick tentacle began to gurgle and move. After a moment, fist-sized fleshy bulbs grew out of it. These bulbs separated from the tentacle, and under the fist-sized umbrella-like caps hung countless tiny fleshy tendrils.
Small and light transparent jellyfish rode the flowing air, scattering like flowers from heaven. Their tails were attached to threads as fine as spider silk, connecting them to the main body.
The scattered jellyfish floated in the air, and soon Xue Chenjing's mind had a clear picture of the layout of this area. The Hidden Yin Land of the future was still a spirit land a thousand years ago.
Locust trees grew everywhere here, their flowers absorbing abundant spiritual energy and glowing faintly in the night. At the very center was a large locust tree with lush branches and leaves, its flowers hanging down white as piled snow. This was the tree Xue Chenjing had seen earlier.
Semi-transparent tree spirits fluttered among the treetops; the locust tree had developed a spirit form.
Xue Chenjing's tentacles were also spirit forms, but of the demonic kind. To avoid being detected by the possible sensing between spirit forms, he directed the jellyfish to bypass that large locust tree and float towards the most lively area.
There, the lights were as bright as day. Banquet tables stretched from the majestic great hall all the way to the square outside. People clinked glasses, musicians played, dancers twirled - it was a grand scene indeed.
The demonic jellyfish in mid-air divided again, becoming even smaller, like floating dandelion seeds, silently falling into the crowd. The fleshy tendrils hanging from the spirits brushed over every person they passed, sniffing everywhere for Yu Yi's aura.
A group of maids hurriedly carried trays of food into the hall, the slight breeze from their steps carrying a group of transparent little things into the great hall unnoticed.
Inside the great hall, many figures moved about. It was the height of the drinking, with many drunk people sprawled on their seats.
To call them people wasn't entirely accurate. Some had animal tails swaying behind them, some had animal horns growing on their heads, and some who had completely passed out had transformed entirely into their original forms.
In the center of the great hall lay a writhing python, a wine cup held in its mouth, clearly having drunk itself unconscious.
Another crimson snake tail slithered out from under a nearby table. This red snake still maintained a human upper body - a voluptuous man draped in red gauze. Only his lower half had transformed into a snake tail, tightly entwined with the tail of the unconscious python, openly mating in front of everyone.
Small snakes slithered everywhere in the hall. The overwhelming demonic aura in the hall had almost solidified, feeding back to Xue Chenjing's consciousness through the jellyfish's tentacles.
"I didn't expect it to be a demon city," Xue Chenjing narrowed his sightless eyes, unconsciously licking his lips, then spitting in disgust at the taste of the sweet lip rouge.
At the banquet, the red snake demon raised his wine cup towards the person in the main seat, swaying his head as he said, "Although the Xuan Dan Mountain Lord forcibly abducted Ji Hanyi to humiliate him, Ji Hanyi has lost all his cultivation and his meridians are ruined. Mountain Lord, you're actually at a disadvantage to form a contract with such a useless person."
The Mountain Lord at the main seat drained a cup, spilling wine from the corner of their mouth onto their chest, revealing alluring curves under the wedding robe.
They stood up unsteadily, turned the cup upside down on the table, and laughed loudly, "Tell me, when you saw Ji Hanyi stripped of his white robes today, forced to let down his hair, painted with rouge, adorned with hairpins and earrings, dressed in a big red wedding gown, pressed to the ground to bow and marry me - didn't it feel satisfying?"
The red snake demon flicked out his long forked tongue to lick the wine in his cup. His bewitching eyes narrowed slightly as he uttered two words from his throat, "Satisfying!"
Not just satisfying - merely recalling the humiliation on that white-robed immortal lord's face was enough to serve as a drinking snack for another jar of wine.
Following him, cries of "Satisfying!" resounded throughout the great hall one after another.
The crowd of demons was utterly drunk, crying and laughing. Some poured wine to mourn their dead clan members and friends, while others drunkenly pointed at the air, cursing and swearing.
"Ji Wangye, Ji Yunwu, Ji Liuyan... these Ji clan people, it's good that they're dead, it's so good that they're dead! I think even the heavens couldn't stand the atrocities of the Ji clan, that's why they were made to fall into demonic cultivation and kill each other."
The Ji clan despised all non-human races, viewing them as lowly creatures unworthy of being mentioned in the same breath as humans. Under the Ji clan's leadership, human cultivators would kill any demon on sight.
The Ji clan, which had long oppressed them, had fallen. These once lofty immortal lords of the Ji clan, who had terrified countless demons and spirits to the point where they dared not even mention their names, were now being cursed at will.
They had endured in fear for too long and needed to vent this long-held terror.
As the name "Ji Hanyi" kept reaching his ears, countless images flashed through Xue Chenjing's mind - the past memories of this earth-bound spirit that had dragged him into the Ghost Realm as a substitute.
Xue Chenjing's mind throbbed with pain, his body uncontrollably trembling. He heard his own rapid breathing, his heartbeat so strong it made his broken bones ache, his chest churning with intense disgust.
He was forced to feel the surging emotions of another soul, but moments later, these emotions gradually settled, leaving only the desire for death.
Unfortunately, he couldn't die now. His powers were gone, his limbs bound, unable even to take his own life. Even if he were to die later, his soul would be imprisoned here, reliving these past events over and over.
Xue Chenjing closed his eyes, struggling to separate these numb and cold suicidal emotions from his true self, not letting himself fall into them. When he successfully suppressed the emotions of the earth-bound spirit and came back to his senses, his demon spirits had already scattered everywhere.
Among the chaotic and fragmented information transmitted back by the demon spirits, Xue Chenjing caught a familiar aura. He immediately traced it, and in a corner of the smoky and hazy demon hall, he discovered a small figure hunched over, eating.
The demon spirit landed on her shoulder, its jellyfish-like tentacles sticking to her neck, detecting the mark he had placed on her.
"Found her," Xue Chenjing said with pleasure.
...
The demon spirits in the great hall instantly converged on that corner, surrounding her, sniffing her scent, "watching" her from all directions.
Yu Yi was oblivious to this. She was focused on peeling a handful of sunflower seeds. After peeling a small bunch, she stuffed them all into her mouth at once, her cheeks puffing out as she chewed with contentment, her eyes narrowed.
She wore a deep cyan-colored dress with silver-embroidered locust flowers in full bloom. On her brow were five-colored demon markings, and her hair was adorned with bright feathers. Her round, lively eyes moved about, taking in every bit of excitement among the demons in the hall.
Xue Chenjing found the five-colored demon markings on her brow somewhat familiar; he seemed to have seen her appearance in Ji Hanyi's memories of his past life. He closed his eyes, guarding his own soul, and scanned through the earth-bound spirit's memories again.
Finally, he found that splash of five-colored demon markings.
In Ji Hanyi's memories, three years ago, out of a moment of compassion, he had spared a five-colored bird. This bird demon would, three years later, on the night of his grand wedding with the Xuan Dan Mountain Lord - which was tonight - betray the Xuan Dan Mountain Lord and try to sneak into the bridal chamber to rescue him.
Unfortunately, her rescue attempt failed. While carrying Ji Hanyi on her back, fleeing from Dark Cinnabar Mountain, they were surrounded by the mountain's demon guards.
The Xuan Dan Mountain Lord, enraged at being cuckolded on her wedding night, threw this five-colored bird demon into a fire pit in front of Ji Hanyi, roasted it, and forced Ji Hanyi to eat it, bones and all.
Yu Yi had been dragged in as a substitute by such a useless little bird demon, and had been trapped here for three years, unable to escape.
Xue Chenjing said in an displeased tone, "It seems she used all her energy to deal with me, her 'only salvation'."
The system remained silent, feeling guilty.
Xue Chenjing sat calmly in the bridal chamber, waiting for the little bird demon to sneak in to rescue him, so he could then take her out.
However, he waited and waited, but Yu Yi remained steadily seated in the corner of the demon hall.
She finished a plate of sunflower seeds on the table, drank a pot of floral dew, emptied all the vegetables and pastries from the bowls and plates, without touching the meat dishes. Finally, she stretched lazily, her eyes scanning the demons sprawled drunk all over the hall, and crouched up to stand.
Xue Chenjing perked up, thinking she had finally remembered to come rescue him.
Unexpectedly, Yu Yi crouched and sneaked around the hall, pilfering a plate of fruits and pastries from each table. Half an hour later, she returned to her original spot with her full harvest.
This newly filled table of dishes was enough for her to eat until late afternoon. Where would she find time to rescue him, a fallen immortal lord trapped in the bridal chamber?
Xue Chenjing, as a substitute pulled into this ghost realm, though retaining his own consciousness, was still controlled by the earth-bound spirit's every move, repeating its experiences and encounters from its past life, unable to act freely.
But judging from Yu Yi's behavior, she had clearly broken free from the earth-bound spirit's constraints and could act freely.
With the little bird demon not coming to rescue him, Xue Chenjing began to feel restless in the bridal chamber. Two tentacles wrapped around to his back, their mucus covering the hemp ropes binding him. The demonic aura quickly eroded the magical charms on the ropes, and with a gentle tug of the tentacles, the ropes loosened.
But although he had undone the ropes, this body still couldn't move an inch, hands behind his back, maintaining the bound posture. This earth-bound spirit was so deeply mired in the past that it didn't even realize the ropes on his body had come loose.
After many attempts, Xue Chenjing still couldn't break free from the earth-bound spirit's constraints. He had no choice but to turn his attention back to the demon hall.
Over there, the great hall was in chaos, the demons indulging in debauchery, too obscene to look at, various demonic auras intertwining.
The Xuan Dan Mountain Lord, satiated with food and drink, finally remembered there was an immortal lord in the bridal chamber eagerly awaiting her favor. The legs under her long dress transformed into a snake tail, suddenly coiling around a maid who was pouring wine for her, lifting her high into the air before slamming her down hard.
The maid couldn't even let out a scream before all the bones in her body were crushed, dying on the spot. Her blood slowly spread along the cracks in the floor.
The great hall suddenly fell silent. Yu Yi was so startled she dropped her sunflower seeds, craning her neck to look towards the front of the hall.
The Xuan Dan Mountain Lord's snake tail retracted under her skirt. Her bewitching eyes glanced at the trembling maids in the hall, her crimson lips parting to scold, "Useless things, what time is it now? Why didn't you remind me? If I had missed the auspicious time for my wedding night, I would have flayed you all alive."
The maids in the hall all knelt down at once, prostrating themselves on the ground, begging for mercy.
They were all humans abducted to the demon mountain. If they didn't serve well, they would truly be skinned and have their bones picked clean, made into dishes on the table to be eaten by these demons.
Now that the Ji Clan had fallen, the world was in chaos, and all the dormant demons and monsters had emerged. The righteous immortals were struggling to protect themselves, with no one to spare a thought for these pitiful mortals.
The Ji Clan had once led cultivators to kill countless demons. Now that the demon race had turned the tables, they wanted to eat as many humans. The enmity between humans and demons was as deep as the sea, irreconcilable.
The human blood meandering across the floor was still steaming, its scent stirring the surrounding demons. The Xuan Dan Mountain Lord rose, her snake waist twisting as if boneless, smiling as she said, "This lord is going to enter the bridal chamber now. Everyone, please enjoy yourselves."
With that, she beckoned two maids to support her as she walked towards the inner hall.
Once the Xuan Dan Mountain Lord had spoken, the demons went wild. Screams erupted throughout the hall. A maid, chased by a cat demon, stumbled and crawled to Yu Yi's feet, grabbing her skirt in panic, begging for help.
The cat demon leaped up, its six long tails flying in the air, its agile body pouncing down from above, pinning both of them under it. It extended its barbed tongue, licking from the maid's neck all the way to the five-colored bird's face.
Yu Yi felt half her face burning with pain. The maid in her arms had already been frightened stiff, her full weight pressing down on Yu Yi, hot tears soaking her shoulder.
The cat demon transformed into a human face, with golden eyes slanting upwards at the corners. It glanced at the sunflower seed shells scattered on the ground and said disdainfully, "Huai Li, is this all you know how to eat?"
The little bird demon looked up at him, her eyes quickly filling with tears, and said timidly, "We birds all eat these things."
"Nonsense. Golden Hook is also a bird demon, and he's already eaten several people," the cat demon said, materializing a human hand to grasp the back of her head, pressing her face towards the maid's neck. "Eat her."
The little bird demon shook her head desperately. "I don't eat people. I... I only eat insects."
"If you don't eat her, I'll eat you!" the cat demon youth bared a mouthful of fangs, threatening.
Under his intimidation, the little bird demon cried, snot and tears streaming down her face as she begged, "Li Su, if you bully me again, I'll go tell Grandma..."
Her appearance reflected in the cat demon's clear golden eyes, causing him to freeze.
He stared at her tear-stained face without blinking. After a long while, he suddenly came to his senses, angrily raking a claw through her hair bun, grabbing a feather in his hand, and cursed, "Tattletale, when the old woman dies, I'll definitely catch you and eat you."
As he spoke, he lowered his head, baring his teeth to bite her neck. He didn't notice the hand seal the bird demon quickly formed beneath him.
Suddenly, the sunflower seed shells on the ground moved without wind, pelting the cat demon's face. As he clawed and swatted away the shells attacking his face, a tremendous boom erupted in front of him, as if compressed air had suddenly exploded. The force blasted him flying backwards, leaving only a shrill cat's cry.
Yu Yi grabbed the nearby maid and fled from the great hall.
Only after they had run far from the bustling area to a quiet corner did the two stop. The maid, dragged along the whole way, collapsed to the ground panting as soon as they stopped, looking at Yu Yi with some fear.
Yu Yi said, "I only eat insects, I won't eat you. Go find a place to hide yourself."
Hearing this, hope flickered in the maid's eyes, but before she could speak, Yu Yi had already vanished from the spot. She knew what the other wanted to say - she was just a small bird demon, unable to protect anyone.
Moreover, these people were already dead long ago.
As Yu Yi walked, she couldn't help but sniffle, her eyes like opened faucets that couldn't be shut off. She always seemed to encounter crybabies.
"There, there, don't cry anymore." Yu Yi wiped her face with her sleeve, patting her chest to comfort herself.
Another voice inside her body sobbed, "Wuwuwu, I was so scared, I almost got eaten!"
Yu Yi burst out laughing, her face a twisted mix of laughter and tears. She comforted the little bird demon, "Don't worry, Li Su won't eat you."
"How is that possible? His teeth are so sharp, I almost got eaten by him just now!" Huai Li said fearfully, recalling his mouthful of sharp teeth. Tears welled up again, "He'll eat me sooner or later, wuwuwu."
Yu Yi could only let her cry. She re-tied her loosened hair bun, and after some thought, decided to tell the little bird demon, "Li Su likes you, so he won't eat you."
When that cat pounced on her earlier, the purring in his throat was unmistakably loud.
The little bird demon hiccupped from crying, falling completely silent in shock at her words.
It wasn't until quite a while later that she noticed Yu Yi was not heading towards the courtyard where the Immortal Lord was trapped. She hurriedly called out, "Weren't you going to save the Immortal Lord? Hurry and go, or it'll be too late!"
"I'm not going," Yu Yi flatly refused.
Huai Li was an earth-bound spirit here, trapped in the past. She only knew the present and didn't realize that if she went, not only would she fail to save the Immortal Lord, but she would end up as roasted little bird.
That cat demon called Li Su who leapt into the furnace trying to save her would have six of his tails cut off, burning to death together in the raging fire.
When Yu Yi fell into this place, she had seen Huai Li's memories from when she was alive. She knew Huai Li couldn't go. Rather than repeating the tragedy of trying to save that Immortal Lord, she had more important things to do.
She was skilled in both swordsmanship and talisman arts. Although she didn't have much talent in talisman arts, she had finished reading the talisman books her master left behind.
Talismans and arrays go hand in hand. She had investigated the terrain of Dark Cinnabar Mountain. At this time, Dark Cinnabar Mountain had not yet formed into the Hidden Yin Land of later generations. To trap so many ghosts here, unable to transcend even after thousands of years, there must be something supporting the formation of this Ghost Realm.
Only by finding that thing and releasing all the earth-bound spirits on the mountain could they be freed from reliving these painful past events over and over again.
Huai Li didn't know her plan and just kept insisting on going to save people. "You promised me you'd go save the Immortal Lord! You said you were a cultivator, how can you stand by and watch someone die?"
"You're a demon, aren't you? There's a deep blood feud between humans and demons. Why do you want to save a demon-slaying cultivator?" Yu Yi countered.
Huai Li fell silent for a moment, then stubbornly said, "He's different. He only kills evil demons. He lets go of demons who haven't committed any atrocities."
"Then earlier today, when he was stripped naked and tormented by the demons, why didn't you jump out and tell everyone he was different? Huai Li, you know too that he's just an Immortal Lord who has slain countless demons. Whether he killed good demons or evil demons, his hands are stained with the blood of many demon souls. Compared to him, weren't those maids in the great hall just now more innocent?"
Huai Li was left speechless by her questions, torn as she said, "But, but I can't save so many people."
Yu Yi covered her mouth and lowered her voice, "Do you know what would happen if other demons found out about your thoughts? You'd be treated as a traitor to demonkind. Not only would you end up as a roasted little bird, your grandmother would also be implicated because of you."
The timid bird demon fell silent again, frightened by her words. This bird was easily scared. When she was first pulled into the Ghost Realm, just a couple of simple threats had her crying and confessing, saying she didn't mean to grab Yu Yi as a substitute.
Having lived with her for three years, Yu Yi understood her temperament all too well. She sighed softly and rubbed her forehead. "I promised you I'd find a way to save him, but not now."
After a long while, Huai Li finally gave a low "chirp" and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you."
"Good girl." Having placated the little bird, Yu Yi immediately gave instructions, "Change into your bird form. Let's fly to the highest point and take a look."
Though confused, Huai Li obediently transformed into her original form. The palm-sized little bird shook out her wings, her five-colored feathers shimmering faintly, as she flew towards the highest point of Dark Cinnabar Mountain.
Tonight was the busiest time on Dark Cinnabar Mountain, when all the earth-bound spirits would likely come out. She had altered Huai Li's behavioral trajectory, making her deviate from her experiences when alive. The Ghost Realm here must have fluctuations, so they should be able to discover something.
As for that Immortal Lord, he would just have to fend for himself.
...
When Yu Yi ran out from the demon hall, the magical jellyfish had clung to her skirts and escaped with her.
However, Xue Chenjing could no longer focus his attention on her side, because the Xuan Dan Mountain Lord was already being escorted into the courtyard, walking step by step towards the bridal chamber.
The Xuan Dan Mountain Lord was supported as she stumbled drunkenly, forcing out the alcohol in her body with each step. Her gait gradually steadied, and the drunken look in her eyes disappeared.
Before the door was even pushed open, tentacles had already sniffed out the fishy scent of snake demon on her body. In terms of physical cultivation, this snake demon far surpassed him. Xue Chenjing was also restricted by the earth-bound spirits, unable to do anything or summon any magical beasts.
As the maids pushed open the doors, the Xuan Dan Mountain Lord entered. The transparent tentacles silently writhed, parting like the sea to make way, only able to cling to the walls and ceiling, watching helplessly as she drew closer.
The Xuan Dan Mountain Lord's footsteps suddenly paused as she stepped into the inner chamber. She raised her eyes to look at the rafters. The tentacles crawling on the rafters carefully retracted, hiding behind the cover of the beams.
The snake demon opened her mouth, flicking out a bright red forked tongue. The split tongue swept back and forth through the air several times. After this, she seemed unable to detect anything unusual, and resumed her steps into the room.
Xue Chenjing's back was propped up by a spirit wood, a veil covering his head as he sat upright on the edge of the bed. He had retied the loosened hemp ropes.
The Xuan Dan Mountain Lord stood before him and called out one word at a time: "Ji Hanyi."
This single call elicited a violent reaction from the earth-bound spirit. If not for his current state of lost cultivation and shattered spirit bones, he would have surely leapt up and drawn his sword to slay her.
The more intense Ji Hanyi's reaction, the more delighted the Xuan Dan Mountain Lord became.
She reached out to stroke the tassels hanging from the veil, deliberately provoking him: "You should know who you're marrying today, right? It's me, Xuan Dan, the most cunning, treacherous, cold-blooded and cruel of the snake clan. I'm in the top three of your Wild Hunt Ranking, to be killed on sight."
The Ji Clan would lead their disciples on a "Wild Hunt" every five years to slay demons and monsters disrupting the mortal world. They would rank talents based on the number and grade of demons killed.
Under the Ji Clan's leadership, other cultivators followed suit. Each "Wild Hunt" became a grand event for righteous cultivators. At the same time, it was also a great disaster for demons and spirits every five years.
The snake demons ranked in the top three of the Wild Hunt Ranking, becoming the target that all righteous cultivators competed to hunt down.
"What's wrong with us eating humans? Don't you eat snakes too? Why can you eat whatever you want, but it's an unforgivable sin when we eat humans? Ah, that's right, the Immortal Lord also ate human flesh today. The Immortal Lord is now just as unforgivably sinful as us."
Ji Hanyi's body began to tremble violently, his stomach cramping. This earth-bound spirit's emotions were on the verge of collapse.
Xue Chenjing's head throbbed from its intense emotions. He once again reflected on himself, thinking that when he had reached for the ghost hands earlier, he really should have grabbed a few more to choose from carefully.
The Xuan Dan Mountain Lord was amused by his reaction and giggled for a while.
Suddenly, she reached out and grabbed his neck through the veil, tightening her grip forcefully. She said hatefully, "My father, mother, brother, and all my siblings who hadn't yet cultivated to take human form, they all died at your hands. You lords of the Ji Clan, sitting high above, killing us was like stomping on a nest of ants to you. Did you ever think that one day the Ji family would also fall from the clouds into the dirt, becoming a nest of ants for others to trample?"
"The Ji family, favored by the gods, your pure ancestors, in the end you all became demons through your cultivation, even worse than us evil spirits. Hahaha, how ridiculous!"
Xue Chenjing's throat bones crackled, crumbling under her grip.
As he listened to the piercing laughter in his ears, he also had to suppress the out-of-control emotions of the earth-binding spirit, guarding against being swept up in its feelings and losing himself.
Xue Chenjing was extremely agitated. A breath of demonic energy leaked from his mouth, wanting to devour all the ghosts and demons on the ground, regardless of whether it was Yu Yi or not.
The Xuan Dan Mountain Lord tensed, keenly sensing danger. She abruptly let go and stepped back. Her slender nails hooked the silk ties of the veil, causing it to gently fall and slide off the man's head.
Under the falling red silk, a face with white skin and red cheeks was revealed. His once pure and noble countenance was now covered in rouge and powder. His hair was styled in a woman's bun, full of pearls and jades, with heavy earrings hanging from his earlobes.
The immortal lord had never pierced his ears, so these jeweled earrings had been forcibly inserted. The slightest touch would tear open the wounds again, causing blood to seep out.
The rouge on his face and the jewels in his hair all came from the civilians he had once protected. Xuan Dan controlled his broken body, killing one person and taking an item from them to add to his dowry.
Humans value propriety, so as demons wanting to marry an immortal lord, they of course had to observe all the proper customs.
The Xuan Dan Mountain Lord admired his resentful expression, a sense of triumph surging to her head, causing her to overlook the fleeting sense of crisis from earlier. Until he raised his head.
Ji Hanyi originally had a pair of clear, dark eyes, but now those eyes only contained dullness, with red threads crawling across the whites, being slowly eaten away by venomous insects. He had long since lost the ability to see light.
But when those eyes looked up at her, the Xuan Dan Mountain Lord still felt a pang of fear. The feeling of being watched that she had when first entering the room returned, coming from all directions, as if countless eyes were staring at her.
The Xuan Dan Mountain Lord saw his disheveled state and recalled how he had been helplessly toyed with by the demons. She regained some composure and shrieked, "You're already a useless wreck, don't tell me you still want to resist?"
She didn't like his eyes. A sharp knife materialized in her hand, and she stabbed fiercely towards his eyes. The moment the knife tip pierced his left eye, her hand suddenly stopped.
Fresh blood trickled down from Xue Chenjing's left eye, carving a shocking red trail on his pale cheek. His other eye had somehow transformed into a snow-white vertical pupil.
The Xuan Dan Mountain Lord's gaze was captured by that sharp, snow-white pupil. In an instant, something pierced into her mind. She stood rigid by the bed, her eyes fixed on that vertical pupil.
The snow-white pupil grew larger and larger in her eyes, almost completely engulfing her. In a daze, she saw countless eyes opening within that pupil. They weren't human eyes, but snake eyes. A coiled nine-headed demon snake looked down at this audacious little snake.
With just one glance, the bloodline pressure crashed down on Xuan Dan's shoulders like a mountain. Under this instinctive fear, her knees bent inch by inch until she finally knelt at the feet of the person before her.
The knife tip was finally pulled out of Xue Chenjing's left eye. Blood flowed from his left eye, tears from his right. Looking at the snake demon kneeling on the ground, he curled his lips in a smile and twisted his throat bones, forcing out a hoarse, unpleasant sentence:
"Of course I thought about it, because the Ji family's ancestor fell into demonic ways due to my temptation."
The system wailed in distress: "Master, you're crying in pain, please don't force yourself to speak!"
Xue Chenjing: "..." Shut up!
