After the main character who took the blame retired, the female lead quit.

He carefully released his grip, straightened Xiao Yu's collar which he had pulled into a few wrinkles, and put it back on. "Yes, it's been a long time. I didn't expect that you would come up from down here, Senior Brother Ye. Um... I remembered that my wife and children are waiting for me at home for dinner, so I'll go back first."

Zheng Fei turned to run away, but a hand landed on his shoulder and grabbed him.

"Hey! I remember you're not married yet, Junior Brother Zheng, are you?"

Xiao Yu smiled slightly. Since he had been recognized, there was nothing he could do about it. He took the opportunity to clarify a few things. "Besides, speaking of food, it's been a long time. Junior Brother Zheng, won't you treat me to a meal?"

In the restaurant, Xiao Yu could only watch others eat while he drank tea that had been diluted countless times. He was already feeling hungry, and Zheng Fei's arrival was just in time, a real lifesaver.

.........

After a hearty meal, Xiao Yu let out a satisfied burp.

During this time, he also learned from Zheng Fei about the current situation of the Xuanling Sect and Li Yunshang's decision to live a life of widowhood for the protagonist.

This scene, which was so out of character, caught Xiao Yu's attention.

Sure enough, to find out how the protagonist Ye Feng died, we still have to find Li Yunshang, whom we met last. It is said that she was the one who brought back the protagonist's body, so the clue is probably on her.

In other words, we need to go to the Xuanling Sect next.

At this moment, Zheng Fei sat opposite Xiao Yu, trembling uncontrollably. He was a grown man, but now he was shaking like a little girl.

Are you that scared?

Xiao Yu looked at him strangely, wondering if he didn't have a shadow or if he couldn't feel the warmth of his hand.

Upon being looked at by Xiao Yu, Zheng Fei immediately knelt down with a thud. "Senior Brother Ye, every wrong has its source and every debt its debtor. I did offend you because I thought you were easy to bully."

But didn't you vent your anger later? What do you want from me, a mere outer disciple? Go find Li Yunshang! She might be the one who killed you, yes, it must be her.”

Xiao Yu: "…………"

Look how scared the child is.

"Fine, you can go now." He waved his hand helplessly. The other person was blind and couldn't see the shadow, so he wouldn't force him.

Zheng Fei breathed a sigh of relief and immediately kowtowed three times to Xiao Yu.

The sound was loud and clear, making Xiao Yu's eyelids twitch. Damn it, big brother, I'm not dead yet!

"Thank you, Senior Brother Ye, for sparing my life. When I visit your grave another day, I will burn extra paper money and paper fairy figures to accompany you. Please forgive me, ghosts and gods."

He muttered to himself as he stumbled and ran out.

It can't be blamed on him. Xiao Yu's appearance was too coincidental. Just a few days ago, the person had been buried, and today happened to be the Ghost Festival, which is also the seventh day after death.

As a cultivator, he scanned Xiao Yu with his divine sense and found nothing. It was as if there was just a cloud of air sitting in front of him, which even a ghost could detect.

Who wouldn't be afraid? Especially before he came, he was still angry and even cursed a few bad things at Ye Feng's grave.

Although the dead cannot be brought back to life, cultivators with strong souls can become ghost cultivators based on their soul foundation. However, ghost cultivators face far greater restrictions in cultivation than demons, and are even less fortunate than humans. Rather than that, it is better for them to obediently reincarnate and continue cultivating as humans.

Therefore, unless one harbors extreme resentment or obsession, a cultivator who dies will generally not be reborn as a ghost cultivator.

All that can be said is that it is indeed a concealment talisman produced by the system, which cannot be detected even by divine sense.

Ugh!

Watching Zheng Fei's departing figure, Xiao Yu pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling slightly worried.

Li Yunshang was the second most troublesome female lead after Xia Nianmo. If it weren't for investigating the situation, he really wouldn't want to get close to her. Moreover, he had deliberately punched her before leaving, and he wondered if she still remembered it.

Seriously, someone kowtowed three times before I even died. Won't that shorten my lifespan?

Xuanling Sect.

"Waaaaah... Junior Brother Ye, how could you die like that? You died such a tragic death!"

Boom boom boom!

Three more kowtows.

Having finally managed to sneak into the Xuanling Sect, Xiao Yu, hiding behind the mound of earth behind the tombstone, felt his eyelids twitching wildly. Damn it, he felt like all his merits were about to be deducted.

The person wailing at his grave was a man with a somewhat weathered appearance, white hair, an extraordinary bearing, and dressed in the robes of a Xuanling Sect disciple.

"Junior Brother Ye!!! We've been fellow disciples for years. You were so young, with such a bright future ahead of you. How could you die like this?"

Do you remember that poem you recited when we went to the brothel in the small town at the foot of the mountain? "Riding a swift horse in the spring breeze, I've seen all the flowers of Chang'an in a single day." I laughed at you then, saying, "Be careful you don't die on a woman's belly!" Little did I know, you died out there before you even slept with your woman. I feel so sorry for you!

A smile appeared on the white-haired man's face, as if he were recalling the friendly times they had spent together. He looked at the black and white photo of the white-clad man holding a "V" sign, smiling happily in the sunlight on the tombstone.

A few tears fell, and his already white hair made him look even older.

Hiding behind the grave, Xiao Yu witnessed this scene and felt a pang of emotion. Although he was merely a substitute for the main character and had experienced these lives with them, the feelings he had invested were genuine.

They went drinking together, secretly watched female disciples shower, fought with newly initiated junior brothers and sisters for food, and ran together in the sunset—that was their lost youth.

The tombstone bears the name of the protagonist, Ye Feng, but the black-and-white headshot on it is actually him.

Honestly, why choose this portrait to put on the tombstone? Xiao Yu covered his mouth, feeling somewhat moved.

"It's truly a case of an elderly person burying their young! Junior brother, what will I do now that you're gone!"

The white-haired man started wailing again, even banging his head on the ground.

Um... the saying "the elderly bury the young" doesn't seem to fit this situation.

"Fine," Xiao Yu smiled slightly, "I'll let it go since you're crying so badly."

"Junior brother! Why did you have to die?!"

The white-haired man suddenly roared, as if the atmosphere had reached its peak. He pounded the ground in frustration and gritted his teeth.

"You still haven't paid back those dozens of mid-grade spirit stones you owe me! Why don't you pay them back before you die!"

That was the money I was saving to buy a new Spirit Sword. Now that you're dead, who's going to pay me back?

"Damn it! Dozens of mid-grade spirit stones, that's my entire month's salary! You said you'd pay me back when you got back, you bastard, you're going to be eating dirt this month!"

"........."

Xiao Yu remained silent. Well, he had been moved for nothing.

Speaking of these dozens of mid-grade spirit stones, he thought about it and realized that he had indeed borrowed them before setting off to find Li Yunshang. He remembered that he had said he would return them when he returned.

But now that he's retired, and the main character who was supposed to be in the story has died mysteriously, there's really no one to pay him back.

"Waaaah... Junior Brother Ye."

Before the tombstone, the white-haired man wailed again, whether he was grieving for his junior brother Ye's departure or for the mid-grade spirit stone that would never return.

Before the tombstone, a gentle breeze rustled the leaves, and the white-haired man's eyes were indeed red.

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Demonic Cult's Enchantress Tastes Delicious

After a long silence, the white-haired man finally relented, his expression filled with sorrow. He took out two cups and placed them before the tombstone, then pulled a flask of wine from his storage ring and poured it into the two cups.

"Sigh! I've come to terms with it. Junior Brother Ye, you're already dead. What's the use of saying all this now? I hope you didn't waste my dozens of spirit stones before you died. I hope you enjoyed yourself and died a full-fledged ghost. That way, my spirit stones were well spent."

He raised his glass, touched it to the cold tombstone from a distance, then tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp.

"Brother Ye, may you rest in peace. I hope you can find a Daoist partner in the afterlife and not be as pathetic as before, with not a single girl visiting your grave until the very end."

"Don't worry, I've already found out what happened. Junior Sister Li said it was the remnants of the Cold-Blooded Demonic Sect who did it. I will avenge you."

He picked up the glass of wine that belonged to Xiao Yu and slowly tilted it to pour it onto the ground. The crystal-clear wine spilled onto the soft earth, carrying a faint aroma of wine. Xiao Yu, behind the tombstone, took a sniff and knew that this was the wine that he and Xiao Yu often drank. It wasn't expensive, not even considered a spirit wine, but it was cheap and plentiful.

But what about the Bloodlust Cult?

Xiao Yu narrowed his eyes. Was it Ye Feng, the protagonist they killed?

After thinking about it for a moment, he dismissed the idea. The Bloodlust Demon Cult had neither the ability nor the motive. He was extremely familiar with the missing leader of the Bloodlust Demon Cult.

Master Leng is a regular customer of his.

Xiao Yu naturally knew what kind of person the vice leader of the Blood Demon Sect was—a cowardly and timid man.

The white-haired man in front of me, named Li Qingming, is a genius that the Xuanling Sect has only seen once in a hundred years. He is special and has two natal flying swords. The names of the flying swords are currently unknown. One of the flying swords has been kept in seclusion for decades in order to improve its quality. Since it began to cultivate, it has never left its body.

Unfortunately, his cultivation has been stuck at the peak of the Golden Core stage for ten years. Now he is a well-known problem disciple and a notorious troublemaker in the Xuanling Sect. He spends most of his time in brothels and brothels. Even though he has already reached the Golden Core stage, he has failed the true disciple assessment several times. He is a complete repeater. He himself said that he has come to terms with it and that this is probably how his life will be. Being an inner disciple is not bad.

Some people speculate that his chance to break through the barrier lies in that second flying sword that has never been unsheathed, but so far he has never thought of unsheathing that second flying sword, and no one knows why.

Now that his most trusted junior brother has died, as the senior brother, he should draw his sword once, not for anything else, but to seek justice for the dozens of mid-grade spirit stones that he can no longer get back.

"Junior brother, I am not entirely confident about this trip. It's a matter of success or death. The vice leader of the Blood Demon Sect is a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator."

Since the disappearance of the leader of the Bloodthirsty Demon Cult, he has been unrestrained and committed countless atrocities. He especially enjoys torturing and eating young children for pleasure. His body is as fat as a ball of fat, resembling a pig. People call him the Pig Demon. Killing him is considered ridding the world of a scourge.

Or perhaps he had considered another outcome, for the dejected senior brother Li gave a helpless smile:

"If I fail, I'll come down here to keep you company. Remember to prepare some good wine. Your wine is too strong; it'll sting your throat and eyes. It won't be easy for you to walk the road to the underworld."

Li Qingming carried the still-filled jug of strong liquor, taking sips with each step, and slowly walked away, leaving Xiao Yu with only a desolate silhouette.

Behind the small tombstone, Xiao Yu crouched down, concealing his figure, watching Li Qingming walk away with a complicated expression. Senior Brother Li's so-called Bloodlust Demon Sect was absolutely impossible. A mere demon sect without its leader was not capable of killing the protagonist. There was another murderer who killed the protagonist Ye Feng.

Hopefully, Senior Brother Li will return safely. After all, he rarely sees his senior brother so energetic. Perhaps that's his chance to break through to the next level. Besides, with Senior Brother Li's strength, killing a Nascent Soul Realm guy shouldn't be a problem. After all, he's a genius who appeared in the later part of the novel.

Silently reciting a phrase to himself, Xiao Yu turned over and stepped out from behind the tombstone. Senior Brother Li was gone, and there was no one else around. It was time for him to get down to business.

Rubbing his hands together, Xiao Yu looked at the tombstone in front of him with his own black and white portrait pasted on it, but with the two big characters "Ye Feng" written on it, and took out a shovel.

Unboxing!

Autopsy.

By simply having the system scan the wounds on the protagonist's corpse, it can determine the method, weapon, location, time, and person by which the protagonist was killed.

There might still be a chance to save them. After all, the reason the protagonist is the protagonist is because he plays a very important role.

When the world-destroying boss arrives later, without him shouting about friendship and love at the end, the world will be doomed, and so will he.

If things go wrong, there's no point in talking about retiring and enjoying life.

I'm sorry, please don't blame the ghosts and spirits. I've found out the truth for you. If you have any grievances, remember to go find Zheng Fei. He's very good to ghosts. I've tried it for you, highly recommended.

Before digging, Xiao Yu bowed to Ye Feng's grave and silently prayed.

Although the system had already stated that the protagonist Ye Feng's soul had been scattered and there was absolutely no possibility of him becoming a ghost, Xiao Yu still felt it was better to hold a memorial service just in case, as a ritual before opening the box.

It feels strange to worship in front of your own black and white photo.