ATLAS TRANSLATES

The tunnel reeked of rotting corpses. Xing Shuishui held her nose, thinking she should quickly kill that old scoundrel and leave this wretched place.

As she walked deeper, she encountered several fierce ghosts. Without a second glance, she raised her hand and burned them with separation fire.

Another ghost foolishly approached. Xing Shuishui kicked it against the wall, grabbed its arm, and swiftly cut off its head, which rolled away.

Her fingers were covered in dark blood.

“Little girl, who gave you such courage! You think you can just break into this ghost prison as you please? I happen to need a human bone lamp in my chamber, and your delicate flesh would make the perfect one.”

“What do you say to that?”

A harsh, grating voice emerged from the darkness, accompanied by several sinister laughs.

Xing Shuishui looked toward the source of the voice and threw the ghost head in that direction.

The head stopped mid-air, hung for a moment, then exploded, scattering brain matter everywhere. From within emerged an unkempt old man with no whites in his eyes, holding a menacing curved blade.

Though this should have been their first meeting, Xing Shuishui felt she had seen him somewhere before.

Li Yiqiu was chained to a stone, a binding curse around her neck. Upon seeing Xing Shuishui, she shouted: “Run away! You’re no match for him!”

Her voice trembled. The old man smiled with pleasure.

Xing Shuishui gazed at him calmly, a smile tugging at her lips as she remembered.

“Run? Do you think any of you can escape today? Including those useless ones outside. How presumptuous.”

The old man’s pupils glowed red as he cackled: “In life, I was the leader of the Eight Freaks of Luo Dan, True Person Shaku. Whether cultivator or demon, all fled at the mere mention of my name. Unfortunately, little flower spirit, your life ends here. Though it’s a pity you fell into my hands, I’ll treat you both well.”

True Person Shaku turned to smile at Li Yiqiu. Despite her efforts to hide her fear as she glared back at him, her face was deathly pale and her legs shook.

Before he could finish speaking, he raised his curved blade toward Xing Shuishui’s brow and charged forward like a gale! But the little demon didn’t dodge. Instead, she said casually: “Old scoundrel, why should I fear you! For all your grand reputation, didn’t you still end up dead?”

Hearing this, True Person Shaku’s eyes turned cold. He began forming an evil curse to give her an ugly death. The little flower spirit’s expression finally wavered. True Person Shaku laughed inwardly, but halfway through his incantation, he suddenly sensed something wrong. He looked up sharply to see sparks flying around the little flower spirit’s body, her ribbon rising, her black hair floating in the air.

Xing Shuishui crossed her hands. Lifire burst forth, devouring the evil curse and destroying the curved blade. True Person Shaku clutched his chest and violently coughed up black blood. Before he could even get angry, he cried out: “separation fire!!! How can it be separation fire!!!”

The girl’s clear pupils glowed brightly as she kicked him to the ground. Looking down at him, she smiled: “Have you forgotten? I was the one who killed you in your previous life. The reason was disrespecting my sister. Still haven’t learned your lesson?”

True Person Shaku: “Xue Jiuling! Didn’t they say you were struck by heavenly lightning and your soul scattered? No! You didn’t look like this!! I understand now, you’ve possessed someone to be reborn! Truly a thousand-year scourge! Unbelievable, truly unbelievable!”

Without another word, Xing Shuishui crushed his inner core. True Person Shaku stared at her intensely, as if he would devour her alive if he weren’t so weak.

Xing Shuishui’s face showed only coldness as she pressed her blade to his throat: “What business is it of yours whether I’m reborn or not? Tell me, who gave the blood curse to the Ghost King of Yin Candles, and when did they start working together?”

True Person Shaku refused to cooperate: “You destroy my inner core, ruin my plans, and still have the nerve to question me?! Die, you girl, and your worthless sister too, get lost!”

Xing Shuishui said softly: “If I kill you now, you’ll vanish completely from this world.”

True Person Shaku: “So what—”

Before he could finish, the separation fire consumed his pupils, burning his soul to nothing. Li Yiqiu looked at her; Xing Shuishui had clearly been provoked. If the old dead man wouldn’t talk, there was still the Ghost King. She didn’t believe they would all stay silent.

The sound of breaking chains rang out. Li Yiqiu knelt on the ground, supporting herself against the wall. Her limbs were numb from being bound for so long. But ignoring her own condition, she stumbled before Xing Shuishui, her lips bloodless: “About what happened before… I’m sorry… Don’t worry, I’m not ungrateful. If anyone speaks ill of you again, I’ll teach them a lesson!”

Xing Shuishui stared at her for a long while before saying flatly: “I’ve almost forgotten what happened before.”

Li Yiqiu clenched her hands. These words cut deep – ultimately, they were too weak, never worthy of her notice from the start.

Having wasted time here, Xing Shuishui sent a mental message to He Liansheng as soon as she left. The sky remained dark, without stars or moon. Outside the prison was chaos. As several ghosts lunged at her, she threw fireballs while saying: “I’ve rescued everyone. He Liansheng, where are you? I’m coming now!”

He Liansheng quickly replied: “Go west, to the topmost room.”

Xing Shuishui was puzzled how He Liansheng knew her location until she glimpsed the Xian Cloud on her wrist and understood. Using her lightness skill, she soon saw the room He Liansheng mentioned and broke through the door.

Upon entering, she smelled strong alcohol. Xing Shuishui stood still, withdrawing the fire from her blade as she looked up at the white-clad youth standing amid the chaos.

He had placed a restriction here – entry allowed, but no exit.

He Liansheng turned his sword to cut through the beaded curtain; the wine table had been reduced to splinters. The Ghost King of Yin Candles stared wide-eyed as the beads bounced on the ground. The youth’s Peach Source Sword pointed at his throat, his expression cold, his eyes cruel, as if looking at a mere barking dog.

He said impatiently: “Answer what I ask. Don’t make me repeat myself.”

The lesser ghosts had long since hidden under tables, while the other Ghost Kings kept their heads down, not daring to move.

The Ghost King of Yin Candles raged: “Who are you people? What do you want? Do you know where this is? Where’s True Person Shaku? Quick, call True Person Shaku!”

All around was silence. Xing Shuishui walked brazenly to He Liansheng’s side. He glanced at her, but she lifted her chin and threw the bloodied curved blade before the Ghost King.

“That old scoundrel is dead! Who are you calling for?”

Ghost King of Yin Candles: “…”

He couldn’t believe his eyes.

After weighing his options and forcibly suppressing the throbbing veins on his forehead, he said: “What do you want to know?”

Xing Shuishui asked: “The blood curse – who gave it to you?”

The Ghost King narrowed his eyes: “You want it too?”

He Liansheng swung his sword, cutting off one of his fingers, and said coldly: “I said, answer what’s asked.”

The Ghost King gritted his teeth, glaring hatefully at the pair before turning away: “I don’t know who it was! They suddenly approached me, saying they could help me take over all of Feng Du City! Seeing their genuine ability was considerable, I agreed to ally with them.”

Xing Shuishui asked: “They gave you the blood curse – what did you give them?”

The Ghost King said: “A hiding place beyond Lingshan’s sight.”

That must be Guan Wushan then. Xing Shuishui recalled how Guan Wushan had refined blood curses for so many years without Lingshan’s notice – clearly there was more to it.

She said: “Lingshan is the foremost of the immortal sects, with followers throughout the world. Nothing under heaven escapes Lingshan’s notice – how did you manage to avoid them?” And Du Dizhu.

The Ghost King sneered: “Though Lingshan’s reach is long and their eyes are everywhere, there are many places they cannot interfere with even if they wanted to. Like the netherworld’s Feng Du City – even Lingshan must follow the King of Hell’s rules and request passage from the ghost soldiers to enter. The place I know of is similar, just in the mortal world.”

Xing Shuishui said: “And we should just believe you? Lingshan can’t interfere with Feng Du because it deals with the dead. There is no second Feng Du City in the world.”

The Ghost King burst out: “Why can’t there be? You inexperienced little flower spirit, isn’t Unwitting City by Xishan a second Feng Du? Eternally dim light, both living and dead, unreachable by both ghost officials and Lingshan…”

Realizing he’d been tricked into talking, the Ghost King immediately shut his mouth.

Xing Shuishui hadn’t heard of Unwitting City, but Xishan… she had heard of that. Years ago, when she and He Liansheng’s group left Qingzhou for Lingshan, she’d heard a legend of the Beauty’s Bones of Xishan at an inn: It was said there was a peach grove in Xishan that bloomed vigorously year-round because a beautiful person’s bones were buried there. This sounded too mysterious, though the truth might be less supernatural – with so many versions passed down, some errors were natural.

She had only met the owner of that peach grove a few times. After so many years, she couldn’t quite remember if General Fu Qi had any romantic history, but with his bad temper it was probably a tragic ending. Actually, even centuries later, she still didn’t understand why he eventually died so miserably under the mirror technique for her sake. Why he suddenly fell in love.

Though she didn’t understand the meaning of his final words.

But out of humanity, she had given him a proper burial.

Following the timeline, the legend of the Beauty’s Bones of Xishan appeared after his death, so it must be false – the dead cannot come back to life.

Xing Shuishui had been lost in thought for a long while. He Liansheng narrowed his eyes as he stared at her, as if trying to see through her entirely.

He said coldly: “Thinking of other men?”

Admit that and there’d be trouble! Xing Shuishui’s scalp tingled as she denied it firmly: “I was thinking how strange Unwitting City is. I’d never heard of it before!”

No matter what, she only liked He Liansheng.

She liked his good looks, his high cultivation, that he was both the foremost swordsman and Lingshan’s top traitor, liked how he held her in his arms, both fierce and caring… The feeling of being with him couldn’t be replaced by anyone else.

Xing Shuishui was slow to warm up to others – she fell in love day by day, not at first sight.

Thinking of this, she turned her head and commanded He Liansheng: “Hold me.”

The youth lowered his head to meet her gaze, not moving: “What scheme are you plotting now?”

His hair fell forward, his gaze strange, the scattered wine fragrance swirling between them as if the spring breeze would intoxicate them both. Unknown who first blushed as they lowered their head: “He Liansheng, hold me.”

He Liansheng finally sheathed his sword and walked to her, breaking into a wicked smile as he pulled her close, gripping her wrist: “Satisfied now, young miss?”

Shadow fell as he encircled her, leaving no escape.

Compared to He Liansheng’s warrior’s build, the peach blossom spirit’s frame was more delicate and graceful, her head level with his warm breath.

Being held so gently by him, Xing Shuishui was stunned – so He Liansheng could address someone this way! Her heart skipped a beat.

Ghost King of Yin Candles: “…”

Other Ghost Kings: “…”

These two are completely crazy!!!