Chapter 437 – A New Gravekeeper; Xue Ning Enters the Coffin; First Glimpse of Hell - Part 3

“Girl,” the voice said, “this old man only wishes to teach you, to make you strong. That would benefit us as well. You’re special. You’re worthy of my instruction. Once you understand us, you might even serve as our hand in the world beyond.”

“Are you hiding in one of the coffins, talking to me from there?” Sheng'er asked.

At her word, crows came flurrying down and settled across the coffin lids.

There were only a little over 8,000 coffins here; soon the birds had every single one under watch, eyes fixed on the sleeping gods within.

Even a god would struggle to speak here without a ripple. Under so many stares, the slightest stir would give the talker away.

Whether it was truly a god, Sheng'er couldn’t be sure. She was testing a hunch.

“Say one more thing,” she coaxed. “Let me see which one you are.”

Silence.

“So you are lying in a coffin,” she said, and giggled.

Then she summoned more birds. When five crows perched on every coffin. With no blind spots anywhere, she finally felt satisfied.

Sure enough, once the Deathless Tomb was buttoned up that tight, the voice didn’t dare make a peep.

The Deathless Tomb sank back into its mystery. Only the girl, the crows, the Yin-Yang twin-fish stone, and the hanging coffins, all steeped in stillness.

Then the crows burst up in a flurry of wings.

“Alright,” Sheng'er called lazily, “I thought it over. Maybe I’ll hear you out after all. I do want to get stronger.”

The voice began again, slow and patient. “Jade husks cannot cultivate because their innate Yin is too deep, too thick. That’s why the fools of the world assume jade husks—”

“Oh, so you’re in that section, huh.”

The crows arrowed toward one cluster of coffins.

The voice cut off at once.

After a while, Sheng'er waved the birds away again.

This time the voice waited a long time before whispering, brittle with restraint, “Girl, do you take me for a joke?”

“I don’t believe you anyway. Whatever you say, I won’t believe it,” Sheng'er said sweetly. “Go on.”

Under so many watchful eyes, the voice finally fell completely silent.

Beneath Sheng'er’s prim, well-behaved shell lived a very mischievous heart. She started to toy with the owner of that voice, sending the crows hopping from coffin to coffin like sound-activated switches. Whoever it was had patience to spare, matching Sheng'er beat for beat.

Elsewhere, in the blizzard, Ping’an finished a frenzy of sword drills, then swung onto the back of a direwolf and headed for the Trueflame Tribe.

He was going to challenge Naran.

In the rawness of his grief, it felt like the only way to find direction and keep from slipping into ruin.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

When Li Yuan reappeared near the black market ghost domain, he didn’t go straight in. A small group was trudging that way, and they piqued his curiosity.

They weren’t particularly strong, and some were undying husks.

So he settled in to watch, patient, to see what they were after.

The little troop was led by Ge Zhengyou and padded out with Lotus Cult disciples who dreamed of leaping straight to the top.

They kept their voices low as they walked.

Li Yuan listened for a while and could only marvel. They’d somehow sniffed out Yan Yu’s identity but hadn’t found a single one of her family. So their plan was to wave around a pile of worthless

leverage

to

threaten

her.

Of course, the

thread

came with a

lockdown

.

The Lotus Cult disciples were fanning out from every direction to seal off the black market ghost domain so no one could get in.

Under those conditions, a not-too-bright ghost might learn her identity had been exposed and actually believe a clumsy bluff.

Even so, Li Yuan was baffled. What kind of plan was this? He’d half expected them to track him down in the far-off Cloudpeak Province. He wasn’t flawless, after all, and careful digging could turn up a thread or two. But...this?

He kept watching, gathering details with care. He got a handle on the team. Most of them were Lotus Cult grunts coming to seek fortune in danger.

The funniest piece was the man everyone called

Elder Ge

.

The man kept saying, “Relax. Yan Yu’s killing rule is that she never strikes the good. We’ve been doing good deeds these last few days. She won’t kill us.”

Li Yuan blinked at that.

The man wore his confidence like a halo, cheeks glowing, every gesture flavored with the airs of a leader.

His bravado was contagious.

The disciples around him puffed up too.

“Elder Ge is right. Maybe Yan Yu was human once, but now she’s a ghost—no brain, just an obsession. As long as we crack the obsession, we’re safe.”

“When we get back, they’ll have to tilt more resources our way. I’ve already booked a banquet to celebrate. Elder Ge, don’t forget to put in a word for us.”

“Ghost or not, she’s still just a woman, made for men to use. What’s there to be scared of? Hahaha.”

Li Yuan listened a while longer and pieced it together. This Elder Ge was someone Yan Yu had once saved—who had repaid her by selling her out, and now swaggered over to

threaten

her with a borrowed crowd.

He blinked, and couldn’t help but stifle his laughter. Lacking a moral compass was one thing. Add stupidity to it, and that was fatal.

Before long, Elder Ge reached the black market ghost domain. He made a show of it, rolling in the mud until he looked half-dead, then gritting his teeth as he scored a few bloody lines into his arm with a branch. He glanced at the black-and-white miasma boiling over the ghost domain and, with a theatrical breath, dashed in.

He ran and shouted, “Yan Yu! Yan Yu! Bad news, those people, they’ve learned who you are! They know they can’t fight you, so they’re going after your family!”

As his voice fell, a figure in a black dress stepped from around a corner.

On that dress, patterns moved like dreams, a hundred ghosts, an iceberg, a bronze mirror, a pool of blood, and iron cages.

He lifted his head. The female ghost was breathtaking—lips like a fresh-cut flame, hairpin dark as coal, a trailing black gown that made her look both stately and uncanny.

Ge Zhengyou gaped. He had never seen, never even imagined, a woman with such radiance. Then he remembered his part and hurried his lines, “Yan Yu, I-I risked my life to escape them, just to bring you this news. You saved me. I, Ge Zhengyou, will never forget. I’ve brought my brothers here to pledge ourselves to you.”

He put his whole body into it, righteous fury, tears and all.

But such clumsy acting wouldn’t fool Yan Yu. Besides, she could read a person’s past with a single glance.

She turned away without a word.

Ge Zhengyou shot a look back at the Lotus Cult disciples tailing him.

They followed at once.

Their goal was to get inside the black market ghost domain. When it came to dealing with people, they had people-handling tricks. With the outside sealed off, they figured Yan Yu would use them to sniff out news of her family.

Their future glory and their cultivation resources...those lay right here.

Putting on their best tragic faces, Ge Zhengyou and his men trudged after her.

They didn’t get far. Their feet left the ground all at once. They flailed, glanced about, and found themselves penned in rust-flecked iron cages.

One by one, cages dropped over them. Then a vast mirror bloomed before their eyes.

In it, their lies and their rot crawled into view.

Ge Zhengyou and the Lotus Cult disciples stared at one another, terror rising like floodwater.

From a distance came a hesitant, dragging clatter, like many creatures shuffling on dead legs.

Moments later, the creatures rounded the corner.

They were gaunt to the bone, white-faced corpses, starving ghost servants.

They stopped in front of the cages.

Click, click, click!

The doors swung open. The hungry ghosts poured in. What followed was a chorus of screams.

Hell on earth, its curtain lifted.