In a dimly lit underground space.
The ground suddenly loosened and then, with a roar, collapsed downward.
Zhang Ye and his two companions were instantly covered in dust and dirt.
Brushing the dirt off their heads, they groped their way out of the pit in darkness.
“Ptooey! Zhen Fan, quick! Light a lamp!” Zhang Ye, unconcerned about the dust on his face, spat out the dirt from his mouth, and loudly clamored.
A quarter of an hour later, Kui Tuo looked at Zhang Ye with a sidelong glance. “Just like taking something out of a bag, huh…”
“Shut up!” Zhang Ye’s face turned beet red, his bushy beard unable to hide it.
He glared at the chests full of swords, shields, and armor, fuming with anger.
“The audacious Li Wenlin, hiding so many weapons, is he actually planning a rebellion?!” Zhang Ye was so angry that his liver hurt.
The dream of wealth, just like that, shattered unexpectedly.
“Brother, come take a look,” Zhen Fan suddenly shouted.
“Treasure?!” Zhang Ye, who had just been despondent, was instantly excited and rushed towards the corner.
Kui Tuo followed closely behind.
The three of them looked at the stone floor beneath their feet, adorned with patterns, and then at the scattered tools nearby, exchanging glances in confusion.
Tools of various sorts lay about: grappling hooks, candles, shovels, crowbars, bronze mirrors, red string, and a small chest of black gunpowder.
Zhang Ye’s face lit up with astonishment. “Not only is Li Wenlin thinking of rebellion, but he’s also tomb-raiding?”
Suddenly, he couldn’t help but smile, “Isn’t this our chance to strike it rich?”
“The great tomb found, tools all ready, even chests to hold the treasure are prepared.”
“Isn’t this buried fortune just like taking—mmph… mmphmm!”
Before he could finish, Kui Tuo covered his mouth.
“Would you just shut up!”
…
Inside the Underground Secret Chamber of Tianyi Studio.
Chen Mu fell silent.
He narrowed his eyes, and Soul Strength gushed forth. His muscles quickly swelled, and in the blink of an eye, he transformed into a burly man of one meter ninety.
Cui Cui looked on in amazement. “Your strength is incredible!”
But Chen Mu ignored her and suddenly unleashed all his strength, trying desperately to lift his hands, only to be suppressed once more by the omnipresent force around him.
Cui Cui breathed a sigh of relief, looking at Chen Mu with even more surprise. “There’s no use struggling unless you cultivate Spiritual Light.”
He thought to try again when he suddenly felt a wave of comfort beneath his skin, much like the itchiness upon waking from sleep.
At the same time, his skin began to rapidly change, with a cool sensation spreading throughout.
It was as though a net of silk threads was swiftly converging and weaving together.
With these changes, the invisible pressure around him began to slowly lessen!
Instead of feeling like he was trapped in ice, it now felt more like a soft, viscous gel.
“Cloud Mirage Spirit Armor Technique!” Chen Mu’s heart soared with joy.
He quickly contained his expressions, feigning a gloomy demeanor.
In reality, he actively regulated his breathing to coordinate with the Spirit Armor Technique transforming his skin.
…
At the entrance to Tianyi Studio, Bai Miaojin stood quietly amidst the thick fog.
A figure quickly burst through the fog to approach. The two stood five meters apart.
“Sikou Qing, alive.” Zuo Sheng put the person he was carrying down and warily regarded the robust figure before him, his sense of danger rising sharply.
Bai Miaojin looked at Zuo Sheng calmly and tossed two jade gourds his way.
Zuo Sheng tore his sleeve, caught the gourds with his palm, examined them for a moment, and then securely tucked them into his bosom.
“Are we even?” Zuo Sheng asked in a relieved and quiet voice.
“We are even,” Bai Miaojin nodded indifferently.
“I take my leave!” Zuo Sheng bowed with his fists and turned to enter the mist, disappearing rapidly.
…
“Just like that, you let him go?” Cheng Yi emerged from Tianyi Studio. “Aren’t you afraid he’ll spill your secrets?”
Bai Miaojin spoke calmly, “There’s no need for him to do that, nor does he dare.”
“Are you that confident?” Cheng Yi asked gravely. “I only believe dead people can keep secrets.”
Bai Miaojin glanced at Cheng Yi. “No need to probe; I won’t touch him, and I certainly won’t touch you.”
“The connection between Qingfeng Observatory and us goes back even farther than you know.”
Cheng Yi snorted with a cold sneer.
But Bai Miaojin no longer paid him any attention.
They dragged Sikou Qing into the room and laid her parallel to the unconscious Shangguan Yu.
Then he took out a palm-sized yellow gourd from his sleeve.
“This gourd?” Cheng Yi’s pupils shrank. Wasn’t this Wu Yin’s personal magic artifact?
“I’ve said that our connection with Qingfeng Observatory runs deep,” Bai Miaojin said flatly, then immediately opened the gourd.
Two wisps of white mist flew out of the gourd and burrowed into the bodies of the two.
The unconscious duo immediately began convulsing violently.
Bai Miaojin turned to look at Cheng Yi and tilted her head, signaling him.
With a solemn face, Cheng Yi took out the Heartless Bell and shook it vigorously.
Accompanied by a bell sound, two visibly larger wisps of white smoke were ejected instantly.
Bai Miaojin immediately shook the yellow gourd and captured the two wisps of white smoke inside it.
An idea struck Cheng Yi, and he suddenly asked, “Can any ordinary person withstand the Heartless Bell?”
“No,” Bai Miaojin gently shook her head.
Cheng Yi’s eyebrows instantly furrowed.
Had he really made a mistake in his handling back then?
“I have to go,” Cheng Yi spoke up.
“There’s one more person,” Bai Miaojin turned and said.
“You want to renege?!” Cheng Yi, holding the Heartless Bell tightly, stared coldly at Bai Miaojin.
Bai Miaojin looked at Cheng Yi calmly, “Are you sure you want to fight with me?”
…
Inside the underground space.
Chen Mu, expressionless, silently activated the Spirit Armor Technique, hoping to make the binding force around him a bit weaker.
Seeing Cui Cui constantly sizing him up, Chen Mu couldn’t help but feel a pang in his heart.
He immediately looked back calmly, “Why do you want to coexist with ghosts?”
Still swinging her legs, Cui Cui said with a smile, “Have you heard the folk tale about the water demons?”
“To break free from the shackles, you need a substitute,” she said.
Cui Cui shrugged her shoulders and looked up at the group of black threads behind her, her usually cheerful and cute face showing a rare hint of gloom, “I’ve been here too long.”
Chen Mu turned his attention to the bundle of Netherworld Thread.
Through tiny gaps, a faint black and red light could be seen shining through.
Looking closely, he saw a basketball-sized sphere of black and red smoke expanding and contracting inside, pulsing tirelessly like a heart.
Was that Cui Cui’s true form?!
Was he trapped here by the Netherworld Thread and the four sacrificial altars?!
“I wasn’t originally part of your plan, was I?” Chen Mu asked with narrowed eyes.
With a giggly smile, Cui Cui said, “Running into you was an unexpected delight.”
“I need a counterpart of the same level.”
“Ordinary cuties don’t have that potential.”
“Even though I have specifically cultivated them, they’re still domesticated, not as potentially powerful as you, a wild one,” Cui Cui said with a laugh.
“What if you can’t extract the coexisting ghost from my body?” Chen Mu probed.
He truly didn’t have one!
“That’s impossible, the Heartless Bell is the best at cleansing the soul and capturing spirits, especially effective against ghosts. It won’t go wrong,” Cui Cui said nonchalantly.
The Heartless Bell?!
Chen Mu’s heart skipped a beat.
A long-lost memory suddenly surfaced in his mind.
“Not recognizing the chaos in the profundity, how can one know the lotus grows best in fire. Lead the White Tiger home to raise, and produce a pearl as round as the moon…”
Qingfeng Observatory, Ancestral Master Hall!
So that’s how it is!
“But originally, wasn’t Cheng Yi the one who secretly used the Heartless Bell on me? And yet…”
“Ha!”
At that moment, two figures suddenly jumped down from the hole above.
“Is that him?” Cheng Yi asked with a troubled look on his face.
Looking at Cheng Yi, dressed as a Taoist priest and holding a familiar bell in his hand,
Chen Mu couldn’t help but curl the corners of his mouth.
Hey!
Isn’t this serendipity?!