Blade Master Hai Bian was sincerely impressed. In his eyes, Jiang Zuo hadn’t come for some ritual at all; he had come for that Secret Realm.

That place was definitely no ordinary location.

’It’s a shame I’m about to die, or I’d really love to go see it.’

They had pretty much asked everything they needed to ask, and Jiang Zuo had nothing more to say.

Just then, Mo Yan asked, "Do you have any last words to leave behind? If not, I’m leaving."

Blade Master Hai Bian thought for a moment before saying, "I still have quite a few Spirit Stones on me. You all can take them and split them. As for my life’s savings, they’re mostly at my residence. Bring Fellow Daoist Po Xiao with you, and you’ll find it.

You can take that and split it among yourselves, too.

Just remember to give me a proper burial. Don’t just toss me aside."

Mo Yan: "..."

Chi Xue Child and Liuyue Xue: "..."

Even Jiang Zuo was a little speechless. ’He’s really giving his last will and testament.’

As for Mo Yan, he excitedly agreed, of course.

At that moment, Jiang Zuo’s phone rang. It was a call from Su Qi.

Jiang Zuo held his phone and said to Chi Xue Child, "I’ll be back tomorrow. Don’t throw away that stone rod."

After speaking, Jiang Zuo turned and left.

Chi Xue Child immediately called out, "Fellow Daoist, what about Fellow Daoist Hai Bian..."

"He can still hold on for two more days." Jiang Zuo walked away without looking back.

’If I don’t leave now, the person on the other end of this call is going to be difficult to handle.’

At this point, Liuyue Xue looked at Chi Xue Child, her expression seeming to say: ’Does that mean I don’t have to heal him?’

Chi Xue Child was shocked to find he could read her expression perfectly. ’But I’ll just pretend I didn’t see it.’

’Who knows if he can last two days only because Liuyue Xue is healing him? What if he dies tomorrow without treatment?’

Chi Xue Child yawned and said, "I’m sleepy. I’m going to get some rest."

Liuyue Xue: "..."

******

The moment he was outside, Jiang Zuo answered the call. Su Qi’s voice came through, demanding, "Where did you run off to? And how did you end up burning the house down?"

Hearing Su Qi’s interrogation, Jiang Zuo actually breathed a sigh of relief. He had been afraid she would just sound worried.

Jiang Zuo took out the Life-Protecting Treasure Su Qi had given him and glanced at it. He knew this thing was likely the reason.

In the Holy Land, this Life-Protecting Treasure had a few extra functions.

’It’s something like detecting danger through emotions. If he showed any signs of panic or fear, this jade would pick up on it.’

’A pretty impressive setup.’

"Hello? Say something," Su Qi urged, not getting an immediate reply.

"Didn’t I learn how to play with fire? I got carried away having fun and burned it down."

"That’s a complete lie."

"..."

’Getting caught in a lie is never a good thing.’

Then, Su Qi’s voice came again, "See? I was just bluffing, and you gave yourself away."

Jiang Zuo: "..."

Before long, Jiang Zuo arrived back at the Rainy Cottage.

Su Qi was already waiting for him at the entrance to the path.

Jiang Zuo took Su Qi’s hand and headed toward the reception hall. He needed to get a new room key.

"It’s been a whole day. Did you miss me?" Su Qi asked suddenly.

"I did." He had thought Su Qi would press him about the lie, but she just asked this instead.

Jiang Zuo, of course, knew how to answer that question.

"Oh, really? If you missed me, then didn’t you think I’d be worried when the house caught fire? You weren’t planning on telling me beforehand? Just because your phone is off doesn’t mean I won’t turn mine on when I come out.

Do you have any idea what my expression was when I saw the house had nearly burned to the ground?

Huh?

My dear Mr. Jiang Zuo?"

For the first time in countless years, he started to break out in a cold sweat while being questioned.

’Why didn’t I notify Su Qi?’

’Since when do I need to report my actions to anyone?’

’I’m completely out of the habit, so I subconsciously overlooked it.’

"At the time..."

Jiang Zuo had just started to speak when Su Qi cut him off. "Go on, keep making things up. Spin a better reason, and maybe I’ll find it in me to forgive you. Otherwise, it won’t do for you to say I’m being unreasonable later."

Jiang Zuo: "..."

For the first time, Jiang Zuo felt that all the experience he’d gained from living for so long in his previous life was completely useless now.

Finally, Jiang Zuo said, "Then... I’ll sleep on the couch tonight?"

"The couch? Why? Is that supposed to be a punishment for you, or a punishment for me?"

"..."

******

Deep within the Holy Land was the gathering place for a group of Elders known as the "undying old-timers."

This place could be called the command center of the Holy Land; all major orders were issued from here.

"What did I say last time? We never should have let Yue Xi go out. Now she almost didn’t make it back. When that person returns and doesn’t see her, won’t he raise hell and turn the Holy Land upside down?"

"The matter with Yue Xi is in the past, so let’s drop it for now. That person didn’t return when he was supposed to, so he’s probably not coming back in this lifetime. No need to worry about him.

We should hurry up and decide on the specific location for the ritual.

That place has appeared."

"Mm, true, the ritual is what’s important. But what about the Ghost Cultivators? We can ignore their other objectives, but we have to be concerned if they try to cause trouble during the ritual."

"We’ve already set up checkpoints at every node and sent out many people to patrol. If any outsiders enter or exit the Grand Array, they will definitely be detected.

If the Ghost Cultivators really do succeed, at worst, we’ll just be giving them a free assessment.

The Ghost Cultivators can’t make any significant waves."

"I hope so, but I have a bad feeling about this."

Here in the depths, only two people were currently conversing. The others all had their own matters to attend to.

Meanwhile, in the Forbidden Lake, the clear, watery figure appeared again, followed by a pitch-black watery figure.

The two figures looked at each other for a moment before swiftly merging together.

After the watery figures fused, an elegant and beautiful young woman stood in the middle of the lake’s surface.

She gazed into the distance, her eyes filled with reminiscence, though it was tinged with desolation. "You’ve come again, but you can never truly return.

I heard the Ten Thousand Leaves Immortal Spirit you planted has matured. You said you would be back before it did.

But I know you were never going to make it back."

A tear glinted in the corner of the young woman’s eye. "The Celestial Stele Divine War... a battle with no survivors. The Martial King fell, and you fell too. The inheritance truly exists, which means you were deceiving me from the very beginning.

You lied to me, you sealed me away, and you wanted to resurrect me... I..."

Before the young woman could finish, her body dispersed once more, transforming into good and evil aspects that flowed into the lake.

Then, the good aspect surfaced. As Zhi Shan, she didn’t know what to say, because she couldn’t console herself.

At that moment, Yue Xi arrived. She glanced at Zhi Shan and asked, "Did I come too late, or too early?"

Zhi Shan said, "Too late. The primary consciousness just became too emotional and was forced to disperse."

Yue Xi sat by the lake and asked, "Is that so? Does the Saintess know about the primary consciousness?"

"She’s starting to notice. She should be able to perceive it next time."

"That’s good too. But I think we should let Xiaojiu come in and talk to you. After all, she’s been through similar things, and she even got married."

"...," Zhi Shan said. "The primary consciousness wants to throw you out of here. Jiu Xi only has ten years of experience; the primary consciousness has a hundred thousand."

"So, no marriage, no descendants... what have you two been doing for a hundred thousand years?

Feeding it to the dogs?"

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Thank you to Xiao Xia, Miao Yanxue, Book Friend 20181024222928332, Stray Lazy Sheep, Blind Book-Listener, and ⊙﹏⊙ for their generous tips.