"Do you really believe what that Qingping Daoist says?" Zhou Xuan expressed his worries, adding, "Lao Yun, even if what he says is true, you should have realized that attaining enlightenment in the Gui Ruins is extremely dangerous."

"If you succeed, it’s nine sticks of incense. If you fail, you’ll forever remain in the Gui Ruins."

Zhou Xuan advised repeatedly, "Danzi also mentioned earlier, if you become entangled in the Gui Ruins, your current Eight Incense Sticks won’t save you. Even if you were at the Heavenly God Level, you wouldn’t be able to leave."

"Alas, how could I not know."

Yun Ziliang’s emotions grew heavy again. With reddened eyes, he gazed at Zhou Xuan and said, "So many disciples, although it’s not my intention to kill them, they indeed died by my hand. I can’t get past this in my mind."

"So what?"

"So, my life or death is entirely left to fate."

Yun Ziliang said, "If I penetrate the Life and Death Gate in the Gui Ruins, it’s destined for me to avenge the disciples of Hidden Dragon Mountain, and I’m not meant to die."

"If I forever remain in the Gui Ruins, then that is my fate."

"Does it have to be this way? Is it worth it?" Zhou Xuan wanted to persuade him further, but seeing Yun Ziliang’s resolute gaze, he refrained and merely said, "Since you’ve made up your mind, I will not dissuade you further. Take care, Lao Yun."

"Xuanzi, if I forever remain in the Gui Ruins, come and visit me occasionally. Listening to you talk would make me feel energized all over."

"Naturally."

Zhou Xuan glanced at Danzi and said, "We head back."

Danzi didn’t rush to lead everyone out of the Gui Ruins but advised Yun Ziliang, "Mr. Yun, if you intend to comprehend the Life and Death Observation, I must take the Ghost-faced Butterfly away."

"This Ghost-faced Butterfly periodically sprays Butterfly Powder. Within this Butterfly Powder, you won’t die. If death is absent, how can you understand the Life and Death Observation?"

"Hmm, take it away."

"If you comprehend it, swallow my severed little finger, and it will naturally guide you back to the Jingyi Shop."

Danzi tore off the newly grown finger and handed it to Yun Ziliang.

"Mr. Yun, if you can’t comprehend it, it’s best to return promptly; a bad death is not better than a poor life."

After Danzi finished speaking, he picked up the lantern originally belonging to Yun Ziyi.

Within the lantern, the Ghost-faced Butterfly fluttered gracefully.

As the butterfly danced, Danzi entered Zhou Xuan’s Secret Realm, and the figures of the others also became dim,

leaving Yun Ziliang alone within the Gui Ruins.

Yun Ziliang gazed at the continuously deteriorating Gui Ruins, filled with deep sentiment...

...

As Zhou Xuan and the others departed the Gui Ruins, they entered a bizarre, colorful space.

He was somewhat curious and asked Danzi, "Why didn’t we enter this space when we came?"

Danzi replied from within Zhou Xuan’s Secret Realm, saying, "Mr., you arrived by relying on the flesh of my severed finger. Now we’re returning through the Ghost-faced Butterfly’s divine skills."

"This Ghost-faced Butterfly also possesses the ability to traverse spaces, but the types of spaces it can enter are limited, naturally not as versatile as mine.

The colorful place we’re experiencing now is its Butterfly Chamber, akin to the Jing Country’s cars."

"Oh... So this Ghost-faced Butterfly is like a space-traversing vehicle, and the space we’re in is its cabin?" Zhou Xuan asked.

"You could understand it like that," Danzi said.

Upon hearing Danzi’s words, Zhou Xuan was delighted and said, "With this Ghost-faced Butterfly, I won’t need your flesh for every trip to the Fire Pit in the future?"

"That’s the logic, but... Mr., why aren’t you saddened?" Danzi asked.

"Why should I be saddened?" Zhou Xuan said, "The Heavenly God slaughters Hidden Dragon Mountain. Although I’m also considered a disciple of Hidden Dragon Mountain, I’m not like Lao Yun; I have no ties with those people from three hundred years ago. Their deaths are merely a thought in my mind."

Danzi shook his head and said, "The sadness I’m referring to isn’t regarding that matter. It’s about Mr. Yun, your friend, who may likely die, yet you don’t seem worried."

"Why worry? You gave Lao Yun that newly grown finger, surely with a plan to pull him back to the Jingyi Shop at a crucial moment."

"You actually saw through my hidden hand?" Danzi asked curiously.

"You’re just a child; what hidden hand could you have," Zhou Xuan laughed, "But if you pull Lao Yun back too early, he might truly gain some insight only for it to be ruined by you.

If you pull him too late, Lao Yun might truly remain in the Gui Ruins forever."

"Don’t worry, I have confidence," Danzi said...

...

Yun Ziliang’s surroundings of Butterfly Powder continually lost its effect; he felt the space around him being slowly eroded by the Gui Ruins,

the presence of death seeping in through the spatial gaps, giving him a particularly cold feeling.

At this moment, he was engulfed by deep sorrow,

Three hundred years ago, during Hidden Dragon Mountain’s zenith, the disciples’ voices and smiles were vividly appearing before his eyes.

And these images have surfaced in his mind every night for the past three hundred years,

"Such good disciples, and they died just like that."

His sentiments, his sorrowful emotions flowed like water into the Gui Ruins, as if at this moment, he merged with the Gui Ruins.

The Gui Ruins, understanding his feelings, continually birthed images of those disciples within this vast space.

Some disciples, fishing in the mountains.

Some disciples, endlessly chanting the Taoist Scripture within Hidden Dragon Mountain’s Daoist Temple.

Some disciples, foretelling the future fortunes for the mountain folk who came in admiration.