“Is something wrong with his head?” Xing Shuishui thought alertly. “He Liansheng, this isn’t appropriate… it’s dark out, and we should maintain proper distance between men and women.”
She held Li Guanyu’s arm tighter, afraid he would hand her over to He Liansheng.
He Liansheng glared at her. “Will you get up on your own, or—”
His thin lips moved slightly. “Would you prefer I dislocate your arm?”
The pressure on her arm increased. Xing Shuishui gritted her teeth in frustration but finally stood up to bid Li Guanyu goodbye.
On the way back to her room, she kept her distance from He Liansheng, staying far away as if he were the monster.
The night was quiet, lanterns flickering under the eaves.
She wondered if He Liansheng’s suspicions were gone.
The alcohol made Xing Shuishui unsteady. Lost in thought, she missed her step. Her skirt lifted slightly as she began to fall toward He Liansheng. Fortunately, her reflexes were quick enough to grab the wall.
The rough wall scraped her fingertip, drawing blood.
“Can’t you watch where you’re going?”
He Liansheng stopped walking.
Xing Shuishui looked up and backed away several steps, clutching her finger.
She retreated into the shadows beneath the trees, away from the moonlight. She stayed silent, but the distance between them grew wider.
Blood dripped steadily onto the ground.
He Liansheng wanted to see her lose composure. He advanced step by step until she had nowhere to retreat. Leaning down to block the moonlight, he smirked: “Why are you hiding? Am I going to eat you?”
They were suddenly so close she could see the fine hair on his face. The young man’s expression was playful, his narrowed eyes long and beautiful yet dangerous.
Xing Shuishui felt uncomfortable. “He Liansheng, move aside. I can return to my room alone.”
He Liansheng: “Isn’t your hand bleeding?”
Xing Shuishui was startled: “It’s just a scratch, it’ll scab over quickly. It’s not like my hand was cut off.”
“Human blood attracts ghosts. Do you want to be caught and eaten?”
The chances of that were very, very small…
Xing Shuishui shook her head. “I’ve always had good luck.”
He said: “Good luck like almost being eaten by the fire toad?”
Xing Shuishui understood – this dead man was determined to monitor her. She couldn’t even prove she wasn’t a demon after drinking that useless alcohol! What more did he want?
She took a deep breath and looked up. “Then… do you have any medicine?”
He Liansheng glanced at her finger that had already started clotting, his tone almost cruel: “You need medicine for such a small injury? Are you made of water? So delicate.”
Xing Shuishui said innocently: “I’m not like you cultivators who can survive being stabbed dozens of times. I’m just an ordinary person, of course I need to treat it. What if I get tetanus?”
She added: “We should take care of our bodies.”
The young man stared at her coldly for a long time before tossing her a porcelain bottle.
The more he looked at her, the more annoyed he became. “Stop talking nonsense.”
After a while, he heard her voice again.
“He Liansheng…”
He Liansheng impatiently: “What trick are you playing now?”
“No tricks. Just this lid—”
Xing Shuishui pointed: “I can’t open it.”
There was a seal on it – only spiritual power could open it!
He Liansheng took it back, taking the chance to mock her: “Stupid.”
Xing Shuishui: “You forced me to drink alcohol and now you’re insulting me.”
He Liansheng sneered: “Do you know why I made you drink the realgar wine?”
Xing Shuishui poured medicine powder on her finger: “I know.”
She quickly regretted speaking. In her original world, there was the Legend of the White Snake, where realgar wine forcing demons to reveal their true form was common knowledge.
But in this world— she secretly observed He Liansheng’s expression and felt things were going badly.
Sure enough, He Liansheng narrowed his eyes and stared at her.
Xing Shuishui jumped: “In my hometown there’s a story called the Legend of the White Snake. The White Lady turned back into a snake demon after drinking realgar wine. You made me drink it because you suspect I’m a demon too, but I drank it, so stop suspecting me. Being constantly suspected makes me feel terrible.”
Medicine powder spilled everywhere. He Liansheng mocked: “I’ve been down the mountain this long and never heard of your White Snake Legend?”
The young man’s black pupils were full of suspicion.
Xing Shuishui: “You haven’t even heard of my hometown, how could you know the Legend of the White Snake?”
“Heh… I’ve been to more places than your worthless words,” He Liansheng held his sword and said coldly, “Unless it’s some backwater place.”
He really knew how to talk… Xing Shuishui laughed awkwardly twice and said: “Jiangsu. Have you heard of it?”
Seeing his silence, Xing Shuishui said: “You haven’t even heard of it, yet you call it backwater. I grew up hearing many versions of the Legend of the White Snake.”
“It’s about a scholar named Xu Xian who once saved a white snake. To repay his kindness, the white snake took human form and entered the mortal world with her sister Xiaoqing.”
“The white snake was called Bai Suzhen, but people in our area liked to call her Lady White. Lady White and Xu Xian fell in love at first sight and quickly married.”
“But good times didn’t last. The abbot Fahai of Jinshan Temple discovered everything. He had Xu Xian give Lady White realgar wine, revealing her true form. But Xu Xian, who loved her deeply, wasn’t frightened and stayed with Lady White.”
“This clearly angered Fahai. He imprisoned Lady White under Leifeng Pagoda, forever separating the lovers.”
Xing Shuishui held up two fingers: “I swear, I’m not making this up.”
Unexpectedly, after hearing this, He Liansheng said with contempt: “They should have been separated. How can humans be with demons?”
Has this demon hunter gone mad from hunting demons? Why won’t he listen to reason!
Xing Shuishui said softly: “Fahai doesn’t have a good reputation where I’m from… you shouldn’t say such things. Be careful not to get beaten up.”
“Got something to say?” He Liansheng stared at her coldly, smirking, “Keep it to yourself even if you do.”
Xing Shuishui ground her teeth secretly – he must be sick.
He had mental problems…
They had to descend to Fengdu City today, so Lingshan’s people got up especially early, including Xing Shuishui. Li Guanhang looked at her like he’d seen a ghost early in the morning. Xing Shuishui greeted him first: “Although I drank last night, I slept deeply. How about you?”
Li Guanhang: “Shouldn’t you be sleeping at this hour?”
And then wait for these Lingshan people to go down to Fengdu City without her, right?
Xing Shuishui said: “Aren’t you all going to the netherworld today? I’m curious how you’ll do it.”
Li Guanhang: “What an unpleasant way to say ‘going to the netherworld.’ You’re not going down to Fengdu anyway, just watch from the side. He Liansheng is going alone.”
Xing Shuishui: “What about you all?”
Li Guanhang: “Protecting from the side.”
Xing Shuishui looked worried: “I heard Sister Guanyu say you caught some demons before. If He Liansheng goes to the netherworld and you’re protecting up here, what if demons suddenly escape? I’m just a weak woman, I can’t fight them.”
Li Guanhang couldn’t be bothered to correct her, folding his arms: “As if they could escape! The place we keep them is—”
Xing Shuishui perked up her ears – is what? Say it!
“Li Guanhang. Are you very free right now?”
He Liansheng’s voice came from behind.
Although Li Guanhang also disliked He Liansheng, he feared him. He glared at Xing Shuishui before going to find his sister.
Xing Shuishui felt this He Liansheng must have been her nemesis in a past life!
Always ruining her plans.
“What are you looking at?” He Liansheng turned to her and sneered, “Don’t start complaining about hand pain or stomach pain later, or I’ll throw you down there too, let you become a hungry ghost’s meal.”
We’ll see who’s afraid of whom.
After all, even separation fire could burn souls to ash along with their bodies. On the surface, Xing Shuishui showed fear: “Stop scaring me. I’m timid.”
She said softly: “You know, since I was little—”
He Liansheng cut her off: “You’ve been afraid of ghosts since you were little.”
Xing Shuishui nodded frantically, glad this dead man remembered.
The young man changed his tone, saying coldly: “But I remember you said last night your luck was always good. I suppose they wouldn’t even need to chew when eating you, just swallow you whole.”
Who taught him to talk like this? Li Guanyu seemed normal, why was he always so sarcastic?
Xing Shuishui chose selective amnesia: “Did I really say that? I don’t remember at all. Don’t take drunk words seriously. I think I’m quite unlucky, always running into demons or corpses coming back to life. I’ve encountered all the bad luck others wouldn’t see in a lifetime.”
He said fiercely: “You seem very clear-headed to me.”
At the funeral site, the crying continued throughout the mansion, but without the soul-catching formation, the atmosphere wasn’t as gloomy.
Xing Shuishui habitually looked around. Li Guanyu was communicating with the family head, Li Guanhang kept staring at the coffin. Where did He Liansheng go?
Coming back to her senses, Xing Shuishui felt something cold on her forehead.
She saw the blood on He Liansheng’s hand and was stunned for a moment, thinking his blood was as cold as the person.
He Liansheng paid no attention to his cut finger, just said coldly: “I’ve opened your yin-yang eyes. Don’t make a fuss later. If you see anything troublesome, warn those two idiots.”
He was looking at her with those dead eyes again.
“If you delay things because of you, don’t blame me for making trouble for you!”
He marked her forehead with his blood, adding a beauty mark to the young woman’s delicate face. He Liansheng looked once, didn’t move away, and only realized something was wrong after a while, his expression instantly darkening.
Xing Shuishui nodded, naturally knowing the two idiots He Liansheng referred to. This person showed no mercy even to his fellow disciples…
If she followed him to the netherworld and was discovered, there would definitely be consequences. It would be even harder to inquire about the earth god’s capture later, let alone save anyone.
But she wasn’t satisfied not going down. Such a clear opportunity was right here – what if Sister was really in Fengdu City? Moreover, from that person’s tone that day, they seemed to know about her, Guan Yinzi, and even all of Lingshan. Had they met in her past life?
Xing Shuishui pondered.
When the funeral reached a certain stage, the surroundings grew dark.
The white ribbons on the rafters flew against the wind, the mourners still kneeling before the coffin crying hysterically, relatives wiping tears, completely unaware of these sudden changes.
The candles before the portrait began flickering, the roast chicken, two piles of braised pork, and several bowls of rice on the table all simultaneously collected ash.
Xing Shuishui composed herself – the netherworld officials were coming.
Her vision became very dark, white paper money began floating in the sky, and the mortal world’s funeral hall scene grew increasingly blurry.
A ghost official wearing a bamboo hat appeared before her, holding chains, with several octagonal copper bells hanging under the brim. As the ghost official approached the coffin, the copper bells jingled.
The soul emerged from the coffin. The ghost official’s iron chains wrapped around the deceased’s soul.
He Liansheng also began moving.
His hands formed seals, the sword tassel on Taoyuan Sword began swaying. The end of his headband tangled with black hair.
Xing Shuishui watched him, trying to secretly memorize the incantation for borrowing the way from ghost officials. Then she listened for a long time.
She couldn’t learn it.
The ghost official seemed to sense something and looked at He Liansheng. His gaze was empty: “Who are you?”
He Liansheng said: “He Liansheng of Lingshan’s He family.”
Ghost official: “What do you seek?”
He Liansheng: “Following my master’s orders to investigate a family massacre, discovered the culprit is hiding in Fengdu City. Borrowing passage.”
The ghost official nodded slightly, producing a candle. Li Guanyu took the candle. The ghost official’s voice was hoarse: “If the candle extinguishes, the living soul entering the netherworld will never return.”
Li Guanyu carefully protected the candle.
Li Guanhang asked from the side: “Senior, when the soul-catching formation took so many living souls before, didn’t you notice?”
The ghost official’s eyes remained empty, as if not hearing his words. Li Guanyu gave him a look to stop. The ghost official escorted the soul to open the Yellow Springs path, and He Liansheng stepped one foot in.
Xing Shuishui was waiting for a chance to sneak in, but these Lingshan people were too vigilant, leaving no gaps.
What to do?
While troubled, Xing Shuishui heard a faint sound by the wall and discreetly looked that way. Suddenly, dozens of death soldiers descended from above! It seemed whoever was behind this didn’t want He Liansheng to come out alive.
Everyone’s faces changed, the whole hall panicked.
Li Guanyu drew her sword: “He Lian, you go in first, we’ll handle this. Guanhang and I will protect the candle waiting for your return!”
Perfect timing.
Xing Shuishui pretended to panic and ran inside. Li Guanhang tried to stop her, but she dodged at a clever angle. The young woman raised her pale face: “Suddenly so many bad people came, they’re after us!”
In her peripheral vision, she saw an upturned floor tile.
She deliberately stepped on it and fell, suddenly grabbing He Liansheng’s clothes and falling into the passage with him.
This unexpected development.
The young man hadn’t anticipated this, shouting angrily: “Xing Shuishui! Do you want to die?”
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