Holding a lantern, guiding souls across, Lady Hou comes from the underworld.

Ren Fengjue called out twice but received no response, and he began to feel anxious.

He dared not loosen his grip, but his feet couldn't help but move a few steps closer to Xia Ximo.

It was too dark all around, and I couldn't see anything.

Fortunately, he remembered her approximate location, and the two were not far apart.

Suddenly, he gently bumped into her and quickly stopped in his tracks.

"Miss Xia!"

Even in the darkness, he could clearly hear his own voice overflowing with joy.

But she still didn't respond to him, and stood there motionless.

Ren Fengjue realized something was wrong and had no choice but to reach out and gently touch her.

However, the next second, the body fell effortlessly into his arms.

Within the formation, Yan Zhengchu's soul witnessed everything before him, frozen in place, at a loss for what to do.

Tianwen's primordial spirit turned to ashes right before his eyes.

When he realized what was happening, his legs went weak and he fell to the ground.

The woman in red turned her head and glanced at him; it was a familiar feeling.

Yan Zhengchu recognized him immediately.

"That night...you came to my room, it really happened! I wasn't dreaming."

He was so excited he was almost incoherent, and instinctively asked, "Who are you?"

As soon as she finished asking the question, she immediately regretted it and quickly covered her mouth.

He was afraid that if he knew too much, he would be silenced.

The woman in red didn't reply. She simply walked up to him, still with that arrogant gaze, looking down at him, and asked, "After you leave, you'll know what you should and shouldn't say, right?"

Yan Zhengchu blinked and nodded vigorously, "I know, I know, I would never say anything carelessly in front of the young marquis!"

Fearing she might be unhappy, he added, "I wouldn't say such things to anyone!"

The woman in red nodded in satisfaction, said nothing more, leaned slightly forward, and reached out to grab his collar...

Master Yan was so frightened that his heart was pounding, but the next second, his entire soul suddenly felt lighter and he was thrown out of the formation.

"..."

Light gradually returned to the cave.

It was as if the smog had dissipated, allowing the faint light from above to shine through again.

Yan Zhengchu suddenly regained consciousness, and what came into view was a corpse worm that had already stiffened. He was so frightened that he shook off the corpse worms all over his body.

"!"

Looking at the mountain of corpse worms at his feet, Master Yan jumped up and down, feeling a chill run down his spine.

Immediately, he felt that the other end of the ink line was still in Ren Fengjue's hand, and he was about to remind him to reel it in.

I glanced at it, then stopped.

Ren Fengjue gripped the ink line tightly with one hand, while holding Xia Ximo in his arms with the other.

Xia Ximo has not yet woken up after his soul was drawn out of his body.

Lord Ren, unaware of the situation, heard Yan Zhengchu's commotion and immediately called out, "Daoist Master, take a look at Miss Xia..."

"..."

Thinking back to what he had just witnessed in the formation, Yan Zhengchu still felt a slight sense of dread.

He glanced at it reluctantly and said, "Young Master, there's no need to worry. Miss Xia is incredibly lucky; even the King of Hell..."

Before she could finish speaking, Xia Ximo opened her eyes.

Master Yan awkwardly shut up, took the ink line back from Ren Fengjue's hand, and turned to check on Li Cheng and Ge Chuan.

Fortunately, the two were only frightened into unconsciousness and were not harmed by the corpse worms.

Master Yan breathed a slight sigh of relief, but when he looked at Tianwen's body beside him, his feelings were somewhat complicated.

Once the primordial spirit is destroyed, the physical body becomes a corpse and rapidly ages.

He originally looked to be only around thirty years old, but in the blink of an eye, he became a seventy-year-old man with white hair.

"Master Tianwen, you've done so many evil deeds for this physical body, but in the end, won't you still return to dust?"

He sighed, feeling a pang of sadness.

When Xia Ximo woke up, she was slightly taken aback to find herself lying in Ren Fengjue's arms.

Upon seeing her awake, the concern in his eyes immediately turned into joy.

"You're awake..."

"Um."

Xia Ximo wanted to get up, but found that he couldn't use his hands and feet, which puzzled him.

Wuyou explained to her from inside the Soul-Crossing Lamp, "You are now in a mortal body. How can your soul be allowed to come and go as it pleases without any impact?"

"Besides, it consumed so much soul power, it needs to rest for a while to slowly recover."

Hearing Wuyou's words, Xia Ximo frowned slightly.

Ren Fengjue observed her every move and quickly asked, "Are you alright?"

She simply stated frankly, "I can't move."

Ren Fengjue immediately understood and picked her up in his arms.

Xia Ximo felt a sense of peace upon sensing his familiar aura. Feeling tired, she rested her head on his shoulder.

Lord Ren's hand involuntarily tightened.

-

Inside the Cloud Inn, A-Xia brought over a bowl of dark soup and walked to Yu Lang's side.

Because Yu Shaoqing insisted on not returning to his room to rest, everyone left him to lie on the table in the shop for a whole day and night.

Yan Zhengchu, carrying a small jar, followed behind. He glanced at Yu Lang's expression and knew that he couldn't delay any longer.

"Wake him up and force-feed him the medicine."

Without hesitation, A-Xia stepped forward and nudged the unconscious Yu Lang: "Young Master Yu, wake up!"

Despite being nudged several times, Yu Lang remained unresponsive and showed no sign of waking up.

Yan Zhengchu shook his head helplessly and gestured, "Just roll up his sleeves."

When the sleeve was pulled up, a large, shocking wound was revealed, which not only showed signs of decay but also emitted a faint stench.

Yan Zhengchu frowned: "No wonder I can't wake him up, his wounds are almost festering."

He then instructed Ah Xia, "Hold him down. If he struggles, you absolutely cannot let go."

"Yes."

Yan Zhengchu took out the black ash from the jar and, without hesitation, sprinkled it directly on Yu Lang's wound.

Yu Lang, who was in a deep sleep, suddenly let out a painful scream and almost jumped up.

A-Xia didn't expect him to react so strongly, and she increased the pressure on his hand.

Yu Lang winced in pain, finally regaining consciousness.

He was terrified to see black smoke billowing from the wound on his arm.

"Master, what happened to my hand? It hurts so much!"

Yan Zhengchu gasped in shock, but said seriously, "Once all the poison in your body is forced out, the pain will stop."

Then, he brought the bowl of dark soup to his lips and said, "Here, drink it."

"..."

Yu Lang glanced at it only once and immediately looked away with disgust: "What is this thing now?"

"The antidote, drink it quickly."

Hearing that it was the antidote, Yu Lang reluctantly leaned closer, but after just one sniff, he couldn't take it anymore.

"Just let me die..."

He was on the verge of tears, a wave of despair washing over him: "What on earth is this filthy thing made of?"

Xia, who was in charge of brewing the medicine, immediately looked troubled.

"Young Master Yu, I advise you not to know..."

"..."

Yu Lang glanced at Yan Zhengchu again, who nodded at him with an ambiguous expression.

"Let's drink it while it's hot; it'll be harder to drink when it's cold."

With no other choice, Yu Shaoqing had to suppress his nausea and gulp down the dark soup.

A moment later, he felt a churning in his stomach and began to vomit uncontrollably.

I don't know how much time passed, but the wound stopped hurting, and my senses returned to normal. However, I felt a little lightheaded.

It's like ascending to heaven...

Yu Lang was still unwilling to give up, and grabbed A Xia again, asking, "Tell me, what exactly is it? Let me die in peace..."

A-Xia felt a little guilty and stammered for a long time, "What I applied to your wounds was... the ashes of that Gu King..."

"What you drank was... a soup made by boiling corpse ash with talisman water."

Yu Lang rolled his eyes and almost fainted.