Passerby: Secret Image of Ancient Scrolls

Shen Xun looked up at the black mist that blotted out the sky, raised his left hand, pressed his thumb on the sharp fangs of the snake head on the peach wood staff, and slashed downwards fiercely.

The sharp fangs pierced the fingertip instantly, and a drop of blood with a shimmering golden luster seeped from the fingertip, dripping into the dark patterns on the snake's head.

The peachwood staff instantly burst forth with dazzling golden light, and all the patterns on the staff lit up. Shen Xun activated the blood pact, summoning the shadow entity that came from the chaos.

It sacrificed itself several times to shield him from the deadly backlash of evil spirits, protecting him completely.

He was grateful and chose the name "Xie Bi'an".

Thank you for your selfless help. May all those around me and all living beings in the world be safe and sound.

He never imagined that this name, which belonged only to him and this extraterrestrial being, would flow into the human world through the gap between the realms of Yin and Yang, be embellished by storytellers and sorcerers, and be attached to the body of a divine messenger in the underworld.

For thousands of years, whenever he summoned it to appear, to convert evil spirits and quell chaos, there were always people on the verge of death, cultivators with opened heavenly eyes, and wandering souls who had seen its two forms.

A girl in white with pigtails, and an endless black shadow that blots out the sky.

One is dressed in white, gentle and harmless, only discerning evil spirits; the other is shrouded in black light, fierce and incomparably malevolent, only devouring evil ghosts.

In addition, when he summons it, he always pronounces the three words "Xie Bi'an".

These accounts flowed through the cracks between the living and the dead into the common people, and gradually evolved into the two divine messengers in the underworld: Xie Bi'an, the White Impermanence, who was in charge of reporting peace and guiding benevolent souls; and Fan Wujiu, the Black Impermanence, who was in charge of punishing evil spirits and capturing vengeful ghosts.

Even its formless and ever-changing nature has been condensed by the human world into the word "impermanence." The world is impermanent, and form is not constant, which unexpectedly fits the name Shen Xun gave it in his heart.

When Shen Xun later saw these records in folk tales, he simply lowered his eyes in silence.

To him, a name is nothing more than a code. Whether it's Xie Bi'an or Wuchang, this shadowy entity from the realm of chaos is his only companion on his solitary journey of thousands of years.

The moment the golden light exploded, a white figure darted out from the gourd jade pendant and landed beside Shen Xun.

This was a girl who looked no more than sixteen or seventeen years old. Her twin ponytails hung down her shoulders, and she wore a tall white hat on her head. The ends of her hair shimmered with fine white light. She wore a plain white dress, and her eyebrows and eyes were soft. Although she was surrounded by a faint white mist, she did not have the slightest bit of ferocity.

As soon as she appeared, she hurriedly hid behind Shen Xun, only revealing half of her head. Looking at the overwhelming black mist, her twin ponytails trembled, and her voice quivered, "Shen Xun... this thing is so fierce..."

This is how it takes human form, and it is also the form agreed upon in the blood pact, the form in which it will not disturb the world.

Lin Jian was stunned. She had thought that this girl she had met before would be the key to breaking the deadlock, but she found that apart from being able to sense the movement of the black mist and warn Shen Xun to dodge, she did not have any fighting power at all.

Seeing that the summoned creature was merely a harmless young girl, the black mist let out a shrill laugh. Countless bluish-gray hands condensed once more and slammed down fiercely towards Shen Xun, the force so great that even the ice surface trembled.

A cold light flashed in Shen Xun's light golden pupils. He raised his hand and pressed the still-healing spiritual mark on his fingertip against the snake head of the peach wood staff. A drop of gilded spiritual blood flowed along the snake's pattern—the spiritual mark was not yet exhausted, so there was no need to draw it again. He only needed to activate it to make Bai Wuchang switch to battle form. He said in a deep voice to the girl in front of him, "Reveal your form."

The moment the words fell, the girl's figure suddenly disintegrated, turning into a surging black mist that expanded wildly at a visible speed, instantly condensing into a huge black shadow that reached the sky.

It has no fixed outline or shape. Its edges flow and disperse constantly in the wind and snow, sometimes transforming into mountains that crush the ice field, and sometimes splitting into abysses that devour everything. It has no facial features, no torso, and not even a distinction between upper and lower. There is only pure, overwhelming, chaotic coldness. Wherever it passes, even the howling wind and snow freeze instantly, and even the obsessions and resentments in the air are instantly swallowed up by it.

This is its true form, a shadowy entity from the realm of chaos, without fixed shape or state, capable of transforming into all things in the world, or into chaos that devours all things.

The dark figure let out a low roar, a sound that reverberated deep within everyone's consciousness. It was murky and heavy, unlike any syllable that humans had ever heard before. When it reached their ears, their very souls trembled and went numb. Even the several-meter-thick ice beneath their feet cracked with more spiderweb-like fissures from the roar.

The shadowy figure of Hei Wuchang lunged forward, its boundless chaotic energy coalescing into a colossal hand that blotted out the sky, slamming down fiercely towards the evil creature at the bottom of the river.

The moment the two dark figures collided, the entire ice field trembled violently. The black mist and chaotic aura tore and collided wildly, emitting sizzling and burning sounds. Countless tiny, sinister fragments scattered and flew in all directions, landing on the ice surface and instantly eroding the solid ice into bottomless pits.

Shen Xun's fingertip wound was still throbbing. Every time Hei Wuchang used the Chaos Origin, that wound would send a sharp pain through his soul.

He knew better than anyone that once this battle ended and it returned to the Chaos Realm, the backlash of the blood pact would fall as promised, and the original golden blood of the soul would be directly drawn away, not a single bit less.

But that evil creature at the bottom of the river, relying on the karmic obsession it had accumulated over thirty years, and the continuous supply of evil energy from the shadows, actually withstood the attack of Black Impermanence. It even grew larger again, fueled by the guilt surging in Old Gu's heart. Countless bluish-gray hands tightly entangled the shadow of Black Impermanence, frantically devouring its chaotic aura.

Black Impermanence roared again, struggling to break free of its restraints. Its chaotic aura surged once more as it clashed with the evil creature.

Each collision only managed to scatter the evil entity, but could not completely defeat it. The scattered black mist could always re-condense and take shape again with the help of the resentment surging at the bottom of the river, even more ferocious than before.

Lin Jian's heart was in her throat. She could clearly see that the shadow of Hei Wuchang gradually thinned out in the repeated battles, and the flow at the edges became more and more sluggish. Meanwhile, that evil thing was like an unkillable monster, coming back again and again. Even this shadowy body from the Chaos Realm could not easily defeat it.

As the battle between Hei Wuchang and the evil creature intensified, his spiritual blood was increasingly depleted. Shen Xun lightly pressed his fingertip against the spiritual mark, and another drop of gilded spiritual blood seeped out, flowing down the staff and into the illusory image of Hei Wuchang, making its chaotic aura even more solid.

Ye Zhuo's hands, gripping the riot shield, were sweating profusely. She could vaguely see the dark shadows that blotted out the sky, and she could clearly feel the tremors coming from the depths of her soul, but she was completely unable to intervene in this battle that did not belong to the human world. She could only stare intently at her surroundings, protect Lin Jian behind her and the old Gu who was paralyzed on the ground, and be alert to any possible sudden movements.

Shen Xun's expression grew increasingly somber, the golden blood from his fingertips still seeping down the peach wood staff, the mark on his left chest flickering between light and shadow.

He could see clearly that this thing's roots were planted at the bottom of the river, on Xiulian's remnant soul. As long as Old Gu's obsession continued, and as long as the energy supply from the shadows never stopped, this thing would never die. No matter how strong Hei Wuchang was, he could only fight it, but could not completely annihilate it.

Shen Xun activated the peach wood staff, and the golden light on the staff surged again. The red rope and copper bell at the top of the staff trembled slightly with the movement. The sound of the bell was barely audible, but it dispelled the surrounding fine evil energy. The black patterns of the snake's eyes flickered with light. Each strike was aimed precisely at the core area of ​​the black shadow from the snake's head. As the golden light flashed, the shadow scattered and disintegrated one after another.

Old Gu had recovered from the shock of the illusion. Looking at the chaotic battle before him, and the black shadow that was scattered and then reformed again and again, he felt that he had harmed Xiulian and these innocent people.

Only when he dies will this obsession end, this thing lose its nourishment, and these people will no longer be dragged down by him.

He glanced back at the world, then resolutely turned his head, softly saying, "I'm coming to join you," and with his arms outstretched, he leaped into the deepest icy crevice.

Just as Old Gu's body was about to sink into the ice crack, a gentle white light suddenly appeared, and a slender hand reached out from the white light, gently supporting Old Gu's falling arm.

It is the remnant soul of Xiulian.

Her illusory figure was so faint that it almost melted into the wind and snow, yet she still exerted all her strength to push Old Gu back onto the ice.

Seeing this, the evil creature at the bottom of the river let out a frantic shriek, shook off the Black Impermanence who was entangled in the fight, and countless bluish-gray hands reached out to grab Xiulian's remnant soul, wanting to devour her completely.

Xiulian's illusory figure was swept by the black mist and instantly faded by more than half, but she still stood in front of Old Gu, her brows and eyes cold, and she gave a silent rebuke to the evil thing.

Xiulian didn't speak, but her voice struck straight into everyone's hearts, and also into the core of that evil creature, causing its form to freeze instantly and tremble violently.

Black Impermanence seized the opportunity, and boundless chaotic energy condensed into a giant blade that split the heavens and earth, slashing fiercely at the core of the evil creature, cleaving it in two. The black mist surged wildly, but could no longer condense as quickly as before.

Seeing this, Shen Xun slammed his peachwood staff hard onto the ice. The pale golden light spread along the ice, forming a cage that trapped the dissipating black mist inside, preventing it from merging again.

He looked up at Xiulian's faint, almost ethereal figure, nodded slightly, and a barely perceptible emotion flashed in his eyes.

But no one expected that the black mist trapped in the golden light would suddenly contract and unleash a devastating power, instantly breaking through the golden light cage.

The power was so overwhelming that even the shadowy figure of Hei Wuchang was momentarily shaken apart, before it reformed into the shape of a girl with twin ponytails. Her twin ponytails hung limply as she slumped to the ground, her face deathly pale, and her figure even became semi-transparent.

Immediately afterwards, an invisible force erupted from the core of the black mist, like a giant net that instantly enveloped the entire ice field, engulfing Shen Xun, Lin Jian, Ye Zhuo, and even Old Gu, who had just regained his footing.

In a dizzying spin, the icy plains, the snowstorm, and the river all vanished, leaving only boundless darkness and countless surging images imbued with the scent of time. They were dragged into Shen Xun's illusory memory by this evil entity.