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

A year ago, after Hall Master Zhan Yi received a message from the Marquis of Zhenbei's mansion, the entire Xuanjing Hall was shrouded in a terrifying atmosphere.

Yuwen Ji, as an elder of the hall, was imprisoned by the hall master simply for saying the wrong thing...

Not only that, but a few days later they announced that they had expelled him from Xuanjing Hall.

The usually kind and generous Hall Master Zhan Yi seemed to have become a completely different person overnight.

Zhai Hui noticed that he started going out frequently, often late at night…

At that moment, he knew that the hall master must be hiding something.

One night, Zhan Yi once again slipped away from the crowd and quietly left the house.

After discovering this, Zhai Hui decided to follow them.

However, to his surprise, Zhan Yi went to the mass grave in the back mountain of the east of the city...

Although it is common for people who travel the world to eat and sleep in the open, they do not have many taboos.

But it was midnight, the time when the yin energy was at its strongest. The surrounding desolate graves, shrouded in darkness, appeared even more gloomy and terrifying.

Zhai Hui felt a little uneasy, but curiosity eventually overcame his fear and drove him to follow Zhan Yi into the mass grave.

After walking for a while, he saw Zhan Yi walk to a tree and seem to say something to someone in the shadows.

The next second, they vanished without a trace.

At that moment, Zhai Hui felt a sudden light on his back, and his heart skipped a beat.

He thought he was seeing things and stood there stunned for a moment before thinking of looking for someone.

However, after searching for a long time, there was not a single person in sight except for him and a bunch of lonely graves. Terrified, he stumbled back to the Suspended Mirror Hall.

Zhan Yi didn't return until dawn.

Zhai Hui had doubts but dared not ask. It wasn't until that night, when he heard Zhan Yi open the door, that he resolutely followed.

Just like the night before, the other party walked into that mass grave again.

This time, however, he didn't suddenly disappear. Instead, he stopped, turned around, and said, "Come out."

Zhai Hui knew he had been discovered, so he showed himself.

Zhan Yi saw him but wasn't surprised. He simply said, "This isn't a place for you. Don't follow me."

Hearing this, Zhai Hui was filled with confusion. "Brother Zhan, why would you come to a place like this in the middle of the night?"

Zhan Yi's face was as cold as frost: "Don't ask, I'm not telling you."

Zhai Hui hesitated, still feeling somewhat aggrieved.

Their relationship was so good, yet now the other person is keeping everything from him.

The two remained locked in this stalemate for a long time in the darkness. Finally, Zhan Yi gave the order: "Let's go back."

Zhai Hui knew his temperament and understood that even if he continued to press him, there would be no result.

He turned to leave, but Zhan Yi suddenly called him back and said something cryptic…

"No matter what happens, you have to survive first."

As he spoke, Zhai Hui's voice choked with emotion.

Yuwen Ji quickly asked, "And then?"

Zhai Hui said, "That night, he didn't come back. We searched the entire Liangzhou city, including that mass grave, but we couldn't find any trace of him."

"He just disappeared like that?"

"Yes."

Yuwen Ji grew increasingly agitated, and he shouted at Zhai Hui, "You knew he was hiding something, so why didn't you ask him?"

Zhai Hui paused for a moment, then replied, "Because I know I'm not the person he trusts most, so he won't tell me."

"Bullshit!" Yuwen Ji continued to curse, "You've followed him for so long, and he's always treated you like a younger brother. How could he not trust you? He secretly shouldered everything alone, while you—"

"He's been missing for so long, yet you never told me. Why is that?"

Despite Yuwen Ji's hysterical rant, Zhai Hui remained silent for a long time.

Only the closest member of the guild noticed that his shoulders were trembling slightly, clearly indicating that he was suppressing his emotions.

After a long silence, he finally said, "Because you have been expelled from the Suspended Mirror Hall. This was the Hall Master's order. He doesn't want anyone to know that you are imprisoned here, and he forbids me from saying anything to you about the Suspended Mirror Hall again..."

Now it was Yuwen Ji's turn to be stunned and speechless.

Ren Fengjue then seized the opportunity to steer the conversation back to the Three Holy Sons: "The Three Holy Sons only appeared after your hall master went missing?"

Yuwen Ji was clearly curious as well, and asked, "What exactly is going on with this Third Holy Son? Is the Hall Master's disappearance related to him?"

Zhai Hui clearly favored the Third Holy Son, saying, "The Holy Son did indeed appear after the Hall Master disappeared, but without him, our Suspended Mirror Hall might have disintegrated long ago."

It turned out that after Zhan Yi went missing, morale in Xuanjing Hall plummeted.

Zhai Hui was at odds with Li Feng, and under such circumstances, the members of the hall immediately split into two factions.

Those willing to follow Zhai Hui are all old acquaintances.

However, Li Feng's high level of martial arts skills and decisiveness in killing made him even more convincing to newcomers.

In just two or three months, Xuanjing Hall was beset by internal and external troubles, and its business was not as good as before.

The turning point came one night.

A mysterious man came to the door, took out three ingots of gold, and asked Xuanjing Hall to settle a matter for him.

When they encountered such a wealthy patron, both Zhai Hui and Li Feng naturally wanted to seize the opportunity.

The mysterious man readily agreed, asking them to go to Lianjiabao and clean up the "trouble" inside.

Zhai Hui had certainly heard of Lianjiabao, a renowned family of doctors and poisoners in the martial arts world, who were also extremely skilled in using traps and mechanisms.

He knew all too well that the place was a den of wolves and tigers, and even though the money was tempting, he wouldn't risk his life.

The mysterious man saw his concerns and said plainly, "I'm not asking you to kill the people of Lianjiabao, but to clean up the 'things' inside."

Zhai Hui became even more curious and was about to ask what it was when Li Feng, who was standing to the side, readily agreed.

Seeing this, the mysterious man said nothing more, handed three ingots of gold to Li Feng, and added, "After the matter is done, there will be three more ingots."

After the mysterious man left, Zhai Hui immediately got into an argument with Li Feng.

However, Li Feng said dismissively, "If you're scared, you can stay home for a while. I'll take care of this."

Zhai Hui angrily rebuked him for not valuing the lives of the members of the hall.

Li Feng remained steadfast in his belief: "When has the Suspended Mirror Hall ever not risked its life for money? If someone really dies, it can only be attributed to bad luck."

He was always arrogant, and that very day he carried his sword case and led a group of people to Lianjiabao.

Zhai Hui knew this was no trivial matter, and that Xuanjing Hall was a unified entity. After careful consideration, he decided to lead the remaining people to lend a helping hand.

At this point, Zhai Hui paused for a moment, seemingly recalling his situation and feeling a lingering fear.

He said, "By the time I led my men to Lianjiabao, it was already late at night. I had a bad feeling then, that something had happened to Li Feng!"

"And as it turns out, my guess was right; the 'thing' in Lianjiabao was simply not something we could touch!"