Inside the caves of the Immortal Maiden Temple.

At first, Feng Bei was in the lead, followed by Dou Xie, then Zheng Xiu, with Yue Yan fourth, as they walked through the cave.

Yue Yan zipped past the others, snatching a spot right behind Feng Bei.

They hadn’t gone far before they were shocked by the cave’s interior—a complex structure like a winding, narrow path.

The light grew dim. After a few more steps, it was so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.

"Heh!" Dou Xie, who seemed to have been waiting for this moment, couldn’t hold back any longer. With a smirk and a rustle of pages, he flipped through his textbook. "Finally! It’s my, Dou Xie’s, time to shine!"

He flipped to a page where the two words "Firefly Candlelight" were prominently written.

Dou Xie unleashed his Miracle Technique. The two words faded, transforming in an instant into specks of light like fireflies, which floated around the four of them and illuminated a small area.

Dou Xie was just about to look for Yue Yan, hoping for some praise, but before he could, Zheng Xiu poured cold water on him from behind: "It’s still pretty dark. The light specks are small, the range is small, the distance is small... everything’s small. In short, it’s just small."

Dou Xie stumbled, nearly crashing into the wall.

"Make way."

Zheng Xiu took the opportunity to move forward, sidling past Dou Xie and squeezing past Yue Yan to change his position.

Now, he was the one right behind Feng Bei.

Sensing the commotion behind her, Feng Bei stopped and turned slightly. Her long hair fell beside her ear, and she reached up to tuck a stray strand behind it, her left eye questioning.

"I’m a little scared."

Zheng Xiu said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Hearing this, Dou Xie’s fists tightened.

’When this guy was pummeling me in the face, he didn’t say he was scared, did he?’

Dou Xie was about to argue.

"Alright. Stay by my side, and I’ll keep you safe."

Feng Bei, suspecting nothing, smiled and nodded in agreement.

’I must protect the son of an old friend.’ 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Feng Bei resolved herself.

At these words, Dou Xie wanted to cry but had no tears.

’Those who are favored are always fearless.’

After walking a few dozen more steps, Feng Bei came to a fork in the path.

Back in the Immortal Maiden Temple, Zheng Xiu’s Flying Saber had wounded Fairy Mei.

Looking down, they could easily follow the trail of blood on the ground.

Zheng Xiu thought it was a pity. ’If only I had a spare slot to equip the [Tracking] Skill. In a situation like this, wouldn’t its Experience Level be shooting right up?’

Feng Bei led the way, not moving too quickly, but advancing at a steady pace.

Taking advantage of the lull, Zheng Xiu asked about the strange phenomenon they had seen in the sky earlier.

Feng Bei was happy to answer.

A short while later, combining her explanation with his own experiences in Baili Village, Zheng Xiu finally understood the strangeness of it all.

It involved a crucial component of the Human Soul—the "Direction."

When a Human Soul separates from the body, even without guidance, it is naturally drawn back to its Main Body. This is the effect of the "Direction" that exists within the Human Soul.

Ancient texts preserved in Ye Weiyang speculated that after a person dies, their Human Soul, guided by its "Direction," would drift toward the same place.

There were many ancient theories, and Zheng Xiu had heard some of them before.

Some said it was the Underworld, some the Netherworld, some said it reached Reincarnation, and others that it went to the Other Shore. The theories were numerous and impossible to verify.

But now, Ye Weiyang had a more definitive theory.

That is, if a person is alive and their Human Soul separates from their body, the soul will be guided by its "Direction" and be drawn back to its Main Body.

But once a person dies, their Human Soul, guided by its "Direction," will drift to another place—Darkness.

If a large number of ownerless Human Souls appear in the same place within a very short time, the gathered souls, guided by their collective "Direction," will simultaneously pass through the Ghostly Realm and enter Darkness. If too many Human Souls gather in a short period, they can instantly shatter the barrier between the Common World and Darkness, connecting the two.

"So that’s how it is."

Zheng Xiu mentally translated Feng Bei’s words.

’In simple terms, if we assume a Human Soul has mass, then if too many Human Souls with the same directional vector gather, the immense energy generated in that instant can pierce the membrane between the Common World and Darkness?’

Thinking of it this way, Zheng Xiu understood.

Recalling the incident at Baili Village, the realization hit him.

In Baili Village, the vengeful souls of those who had died over so many years attached themselves to the Baili, creating human heads.

The momentum generated by the Human Souls of the Treasure King and his party alone was not enough to break through the barrier between Darkness and the Common World.

But the Baili were different. A vast number of Human Souls had attached to them over many years. When so many of these Baili were killed in the village, all the Human Souls rushed toward Darkness at once, ultimately opening a "Passage" to Darkness.

He understood one thing, but there was still something else he couldn’t figure out. "You’re saying Fairy Mei is deliberately trying to break through to Darkness? What for?"

"Blech~"

The moment Zheng Xiu uttered the name "Fairy Mei," it was as if he had remotely flipped a switch on Dou Xie. At the rear of the group, Dou Xie turned, leaned against the wall, and started dry heaving as if he had morning sickness.

Feng Bei didn’t answer, but Yue Yan, behind him, jumped in first. "If I’m not mistaken, her Path should be ’Divine-Tuning Witch’."

"Divine-Tuning Witch?" Zheng Xiu was stunned to hear this.

He knew of this fringe profession. It was rarely seen on the streets, mostly appearing in the south.

He never would have expected it to be a viable Path.

’So you really can make a Path out of anything.’

There were many folk names for a Divine-Tuning Witch.

"Witch," "Drum and Bell Immortal," "Pole Lady," "Shaman Dancer."

In Zheng Xiu’s mind, they were old women wearing hawk ornaments on their heads, their faces painted with chicken blood patterns, and dressed in long, ribboned skirts. They had a bell tied to their left waist, a drum to their right, and nine Copper Mirrors hanging on their bodies. This was the unique attire of a Divine-Tuning Witch. When they began their dance, they would erect a flagpole, sprinkle blood on it, and write the name of the "God" they wished to invoke. This step was known colloquially as "raising the pole," or, well, "planting the flag."

When the Ceremony began, the Divine-Tuning Witches would perform a frenzied, ritualistic dance, shaking their bells and beating their drums. They would make all sorts of strange movements to the beat of the drum, signifying that the "Invoking Gods" was successful.

As for which gods they invoked, there were all sorts of varieties, too many to list clearly.

But when Yue Yan mentioned the Immortal Lady’s Path, Zheng Xiu instantly connected the "Dang Lang Immortal" worshiped in Danglang Town with the Immortal Lady’s bizarre appearance.

"You mean, Fairy Mei invoked a mantis into her body?"

Zheng Xiu couldn’t help but shudder.

’What a bizarre taste she has.’

"Blech~"

Zheng Xiu had just said "Fairy Mei," and Dou Xie—who was ten steps away, having just finished retching and about to catch up—couldn’t stop himself from leaning against the wall and heaving again.

"That Fai—"

Zheng Xiu started to say something about Fairy Mei, but before he could finish the name, a pair of soft mounds pressed down on top of his head. An exasperated Yue Yan couldn’t take it anymore. She clamped both hands over his tactless mouth, nearly suffocating him. "Don’t you dare say that name again!"

Listening to Dou Xie’s miserable retching twenty paces away, Zheng Xiu offered him a few seconds of silent mourning. ’Good thing you’ve got a strong stomach... for vomiting.’

He nodded and nudged upward, signaling his silent agreement. A triumphant look appeared on Yue Yan’s face. With a couple of huffs, she released the young man.

’If I don’t teach you a lesson, you’ll never learn the rules.’

The small points of candlelight drifted beside them. Ahead, the path split into three forks.

After pausing for a moment to check the bloodstains on the ground, Feng Bei decisively chose the path on the left.

The sound of gurgling water echoed through several layers of rock, becoming the only sound in the silence.

As they walked, Zheng Xiu felt the light was too dim and casually asked, "Say, why doesn’t he just copy ’sun, moon, and stars’ or something into his book? It would be much brighter than these little fireflies."

Yue Yan was speechless. "Do you really think the book-copying ways of the Scholar Path are so easy that you can just say whatever you want and it’ll happen?"

"What else? What good is he then?" Zheng Xiu pointed at the faint glow of the fireflies, which looked as if they could go out at any moment.

Yue Yan said, "We have a saying: if you’re not on the Path, don’t ask about the Path’s affairs. Dou Xie’s Path might seem versatile, but you don’t know its Restrictions and rules."

Zheng Xiu added, "Fine, so sun, moon, and stars are a no-go. But a normal sentence like ’I wish for this place to be as bright as day’ should be possible, right?"

Huh?

Yue Yan paused at his words.

’That sentence... seems possible.’

She was just about to turn back and call out to the endlessly vomiting Dou Xie, to tell him to stop heaving and try a new trick.

The hair on Zheng Xiu’s body stood on end, and a chill ran down his spine. He instinctively drew his Broken Saber and slashed at the wall beside him.

But just as his Broken Saber left its sheath...

A slender, gloved hand reached out toward the wall.

SPLAT!

A half-human, half-insect monster had just poked its head out when Feng Bei slammed it back in, turning it into a pulp in the blink of an eye.

A foul stench spread through the cave. Feng Bei shook her hand and continued forward, saying calmly, "Be careful. There are things hiding around here."

Zheng Xiu used the dim light to examine the wall.

He saw that the spot where the monster had appeared was something like an insect egg.

It had hatched but hadn’t fully emerged before Feng Bei instantly destroyed it.

The eggs were embedded in the wall. In the dim, faint light, they looked just like the ordinary earthen wall at a glance, making them hard to spot.

"Hey! Mr. Stubborn! Hurry up and give us some light!"

Zheng Xiu yelled behind him, wanting Dou Xie to switch to a brighter bulb.

’That’s about all he’s good for right now.’

No one answered from behind.

PFFT.

The faint glow of the fireflies, which had been floating peacefully around the three of them, was extinguished in an instant.

The surroundings plunged into a pitch-black darkness where one couldn’t see their hand in front of their face.

"Young Brother Xie?"

Yue Yan brought a Silver Needle to her lips, her fingers tensed and ready, as she called out.

The lingering echo reverberated through the long, narrow, winding cave, but there was no reply.

Zheng Xiu fell silent, gripping the Broken Saber in his right hand.

Dou Xie of Ye Weiyang, one of the Twenty-Eight Constellations, had vanished in the middle of vomiting.

In the darkness, Young Master Zheng nodded, a look of regret on his face as he said:

"Dou Xie... danger."